LET IT... SNOW?

Living in Southern California, I am lucky enough to have a lot of interesting scenery during my bike rides: Sandy beaches. Spanish Missions. Orange groves. Ski lifts.

Ski lifts?

Ironman Wisconsin, my next big race, has a reputation for being hilly. But rather than training on rolling hills out here, we’ve been doing climbs. Big climbs. Climbs which I’m not used to doing. This weekend we did a 75-mile ride which started out with 35 miles of climbing.

Los Angeles is bordered by the San Gabriel mountains, and that’s where we went. There are long, winding, mountain roads that take you up out of the smog and into some beautiful areas. The air is clean and you can smell the pine trees and the views are magnificent. But all of this comes at a price; it’s all uphill. Over 6,000 feet of elevation gain with very few places where it flattens out at all, let alone turn downhill. It got to the point where the 1%-2% grade sections of climbing felt like they were downhill, simply because they were easier than the 6%-7% parts.

It was a little surreal once we started getting close to the top. That’s when we rode past the Mt. Waterman ski resort. The lifts weren’t running of course, but we did see large patches of honest-to-goodness snow on the ground. That’s how high up we were. Going for a bike ride in Los Angeles, at the end of May, and seeing snow? That’s just wrong.

We stopped at Newcomb’s Ranch for lunch, which is a very popular motorcycle hangout. Our flashy yellow spandex uniforms didn’t quite fit in with all of the leather chaps, but it’s a very accepting crowd. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan my nutrition very well and was dehydrated and salt-depleted. I got a MAJOR cramp in my leg, the worst I have ever felt in my life. The best way to describe it is that it felt like someone injected a baseball into my inner thigh. Killer plain for about a minute two until I was finally able to straighten out my leg.

You would think that 35 miles of climbing up would mean you’d get a great 35 miles of coasting back down the mountain, and it’s kind of true. But by this time, my back and arms and butt were so sore that I couldn’t truly appreciate the ride down. When I stopped pedaling, I could feel my legs start to tighten up so I tried to keep them moving as much as possible. It also didn’t help having motorcycles and trucks whizzing by us along the steep, narrow, winding road.

I probably was a little undertrained for the amount of climbing we did, but any ride that does not kill you makes you stronger. I definitely feel stronger now.

Here’s the route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/duarte/956124387390645004