Physics

Saturday, February 28, 2009.

While some parts of the US are enjoying winter



Life on Glendora Mountain Road quickly warmed up to the high 80s low 90s.

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The warm weather brought out a different group of folks today. The encouragers were out with compliments of "looking strong", "nice job" or "good work". Welcomed praise from other cycling kinsmen.

I stopped at the first saddle, a wall at mile marker 9.49 made a comfortable resting place. A parade of twenty or more motorcycles and autos zipped by at speeds of 50 mph. The impatience was apparent as vehicles passed slightly slower roadsters at insane speeds. The sideline was a safe refuge from the mania.

John the mountain biker who coined the phrase "Road Tech Warriors" caught up with me and we chatted about careers, jury service and commuting. The surprise was the scene at the maintenance shed. John smartly kept on trucking.

Physics Lesson 101: When two objects try to occupy the same space at the same time molecules tend to collide. The auto was a BMW 325. picture removed 09/13/2010.

The motorcycle was a Triumph Daytona 675



close up:



Man down.



When the paramedics rolled the injured rider on his side to slide the basket under him he saw the carnage of his bike. He lamented the condition of his bike.

On the move



Ready for lift off.



With the excitement of the circus, I needed to move on and the rolling hills beyond the fork called my name. I made it to the Point of No Return (fork plus four). Glendora Ridge Road angles up the mountain on the right side of the photo. This is the bottom of "the wall" miles 5-8 on the way to Baldy Village.



The hawks were swirling overhead. I noticed that a butterfly flitted beside me shielded by my shape from direct wind. However the orange colored flutterer just had to show me up, passing me by in front of my nose!

Clouds, relatively calm road traffic, passed one more road accident with motorcycles. Three highway patrol cars were on scene.



It was an eventful day on the road. Life is good when everyone obeys centerline rules.

Sunday Ride

Wowsers. It has been three great days of bike and bicycling. This was the third day in a row of climbing. The legs were tired but the cooler temperature today kept traffic minimal. I dove tailed Maria and Augusto on the way up. Augusto joined the GMR train on the way up. He is preparing for the ALC ride May/June 2009.

Maria rode a Trek 5200 with OCLV carbon. Very impressive.



Augusto rode a Fuji.



The snow melt has filled the basin and only the tip of the island was showing.



Panorama. GMR is on the left and then loops on the right.

Tour of California to Pasadena

The day started with a quick ride up GMR. About a dozen riders congregated at the corner of Sierra Madre and GMR. The Merrill Lynch and Remax groups begun their training for the San Dimas Stage Race in March. The Glendora Police also had a section of the road closed for their own training. It was nice to have no motorcycles.

Met up with Jason of bicyclefriends.org at the Tour of California. We tentatively scheduled a ride to the maintenance shed in late March or April. I did support his company's cause of rescue animals.

The spouse'sCanon EOS 5D Mark II really did a nice job capturing the peloton at speeds of 40 mph.

The come back man, Floyd Landis in the red, black and white team jersey of Ouch



The break away or lead out group. George Hincapie was in the middle of the pack in the blue jersey (Breakaway from Cancer Most Courageous Jersey).



Team Astana leads the peloton. Lance Armstrong is in the yellow helmet and Levi Leipheimer is at the back of the Astana train.




More photos are found here.

Photos by Bill

Friday Afternoon Delight

Friday afternoon. Great day for a ride. Glorious to be able to just leave work behind and ride. It felt like a year since a rode last and it was only a week. Great SDSR time of 33:10.

Respect

Saturday February 14, 2009. It was a brisk morning. The sun warmed the air to ride to 45F at 9 am. The road was lightly traveled this morning.

First Saddle on the way up:



Click to get the full impact of the view from Newman's:



The a light dusting snow started around mile marker 7.0 and became chunks the size of a bicycle helmet up to the maintenance shed.



The motorcyclists were subdued in the use of speed as the wet snow melted on to the road. A wise thing to do in order to keep the bike upright. I noticed that I received respectful waves from the bikers.



Side shot of shed. Notice how the sun was hiding behind clouds. Temperature was 47F and felt colder.



Down to the fork. Greg said he walked his bike down this section of road. He got as far as fork plus five or "the bottom of the wall".



GMR at the top of Monroe Truck Trail:




I had on three layers going up and could have used two more layers going down. Balaclavas were popular attire today. I finally warmed up here about 54F.




SDSR time was 34:35.

More Thursday

Thursday (12-Feb-2009) was a warm glorious ride up and a bit colder coming down. I took alot of pictures on the way down so I have a few more images to share. Progress on the construction project to remove water from the road.



Upclose.

Thursday Ride

The afternoon sun was warm around 64F and the wind played games with the clouds making the day instantly bright and then shadowy dark.




The first hour on the road it was mine. Two cyclists had passed me by the ranger station. They were seen descending before the first saddle. I stopped and rubbed my toes as the new eSoles in my shoes made my arches happy and my toes crunched. Two cyclists were moving up the road, the one mentioned he switched riding partners and was on his second round. They meandered and I hung on for as long as possible.



The view from Newman's reminded me of why I enjoy the risk of the road. Motor traffic had picked up significantly after 2:00 pm. there were a half a dozen or more motorcycles in their racing leathers. The auto traffic also seemed particularly dare devil with their speed.



The beauty was tempered with thought of the collision the day before beween motorcycle and bike.



SDSR time was 33:30. Pretty good for the head winds in the third mile were strong.

Collision

Wednesday evening around 5 pm two objects tried to occupy the same space at the same time. A motorcycle careened around a particularly notorious bend near the first saddle and slid across the center line towards oncoming traffic. Amazingly the cyclist, Matt cartwheeled over the motorcycle landing on his back. No broken bones reported. Needless to say the bike is now up for sale.



The rider reports that it was a slow motion heart pounding moment. Now if the motorcyclists could just slow down a bit life would be longer for all of us.

Tuesday Morning

The Monday storm left its blanket on the San Gabriels. A rare treat for us in southern California.



This is the view from Santa Ana (behind the Orange Curtain) California. Approximately 38 miles away. Click on image for larger view.

Sunday Hike

The morning started with rain. The road would be wet and slick, I opted for hike. The weather was excellent. Cloudy but no droplets.



The rains brought out the lush green grasses.



Cody romped around the remnants of Camp Wolfie while his "personal trainer" chatted about APU, Modesto, California and bonding with Glendora.



It was a good morning hike.

Late Afternoon Ride

The weather held off while I got in a late afternoon ride, having missed a beautiful morning.



Clouds hugged the foothills like a grey blanket.



The panoramic view.



The view of Los Angeles high rises from mile marker 9.06. The clarity of the air was exceptional.




The rhythmic cadence of legs, heart and lungs cleared the mind from imposed constraints. The chilling air on the descent helped me focus on my inner core.

On the morning hike, I met Bill the Snake Man who had a recent photo of a 230 pound bear he met by the Big Dalton Dam.


SDSR time 35:15.

Rains have come

Over the past 24 hours as of 2009-02-06 14:00, Glendora has received 3.9 inches of rain. Road conditions will vary.

Road Maintenance

Between mile marker 9.06 and 8.69 the outside lane has sunk where water has pooled. The Public Works crew were putting in a structure for pipes to move the water off the road and away from cliff side.

John of the Public Works crew.


Crane work.






The pipes are the long silver cylinders in the back. John is in the foreground.


It's lunch time and the men were resting in the heat of a sterling day. Leaving the site available for curious photographers.




The sun brought out many to the mountain this morning. Motorcycles, cars, bicyclers. However there were long stretches of the road to myself. Therapy of the soul. A luxury to having a mid week ride. A great SDSR time of 33:00. Average speed 6.9 mph. Average watts 141.

It was a day for soul maintenance as well. Great weather. Great ride. Great timing. Great feelings.

Lots of mountain time

I had a rare mid-week ride on Wednesday. The weather was cooperative and traffic fairly minimal. The mountain shading the road with an afternoon pattern of sunlight.



It was a rare treat to be high above the freeways on a weekday.

Saturday's ride

The Riverside Bicycle Club started from Cucamonga and rode up GMR to the maintenance shed then down to East Fork. They demonstrated a diverse set of mountain skills as the individuals arrived many minutes apart at the maintenance shed.


From the left: Marty, Tim, Chris, Hugh, Robin, Michael and Edith.

Michael's daughter is taking a vampire literature course. I have also been versed in the vampire lore from my offspring. Vampires represent the European aristocracy feeding on the life's work and blood of the lower classes.



Robin expressed her difficulty of the ascent with a one word expletive!
Now tell us really how you feel.



Tim was the first of the RBC to arrive and is training for the King of the Mountain events.



Chris was happy for the beautiful weather.



Marty felt they could make Baldy Village and wanted to eat apple pie at the Lodge.



Edith is the president of RBC



Accomplishments are best shown with how high one has travelled. This is 3000 feet of climbing.



Update from Edith: "RBC had a great ride down to Azusa. It was really windy coming around the dam. Robin pooped out excactly 5 miles from Rancho Cucamonga. Edith and Robin stopped at a little Mexican place. They waiter felt sorry for Robin and gave her an orange he had sitting on the counter for himself -- wouldn't take any money for it! Eating it and about 15 minutes of rest got her back to road readiness. "

Greg (not affiliated with RBC) was hydrated by the grace of good friends.




Jason of Bicycle Friends would like to ride to Baldy with me. I highly recommend his group should start riding the mountain on Saturday mornings when the weather is nice. I know we will meet.

Saturday was very special for me as my SDSR time was a new record. SDSR time: 32:55. Average speed 6.9 mph. Average watts 139. I pushed hard.

Sunday I got in a rare recovery ride. The weather was nice and folks passed me by. Met Johnny on the motorcycle and Cathy at the first saddle on the way down. The weather may bode rain in the coming days so I got in as much road time as possible.

>>correctly identified Chris and Marty on 08/10/2009