Not. It was overcast and raining lightly as I reachd Basline Rd. So, Plan B: I grabbed an LA Times 'just in case' I wussy out and need some time to get motivated. Hit the village at 7 am and its wet and clammy. I have gouda and fresh bread and a paper. What followed was pretty simple...it's my birthday and damn if I'm hammering this ride without proper sustenance.
Collecting myself around 8:30 I decide it's time to get above the clouds and see whats going on up high. It's been a while since I've done the fire road to the Notch and this is early in the season but, from what I've seen and heard I guess correctly that they've scrapped the road and those p/u trucks have been going up/down and tamping things a bit. I like this climb because, well, it's all climb. You get a gain of 4600' in less than ten miles and with the extra gear it's an excellent training ride. Throw in the scree and gear bags to manage it's also pretty good for bike handling. Not quite the all-out combat of Barret/Stoddard or Mesa Peak/Malibu but it's close.
Get to 6700' and the blue skies break out and all's well. I can't hear the wind howling as I get under the lift and that's always good news. The plan is to scarf down the Boonville IPA and break out the stove for lunch at the Lift #4 patio next to shack there. Push on, the weather's holding.
About 7000' I look back and see Joshua on his Giant hammering up the hill. Good stuff. He's a local and good riding company. We continue on to the saddle and he's off to Thunder and I'm on to 8600'.
The service road from the saddle is pretty rutty right now. This becomes hike-a-bike for about half the final climb. If I weren't such a nervous nelly on scree (thoughts of leg breaking rolling around my head) I guess I could do this on a full-suspension rig with a light (carbon) frame. I've never cleaned the section and get busted at the same right hander everytime (picture to follow). Same righthander is a OPEN TRENCH right now - equal to the task of swallowing whole a small jeep. 'Nother time for that nonsense.
I top out and notice we're looking at a white out coming up and from the west. Damn if this party's gonna not happen, I throw a couple layers on (I'm doing the bikey spandex thing up to this point) scarf some Ale and all is well for the 62nd birthday party. Hikers wander by looking at the white-out and asking things like "Is this the lift down to the parking lot", "We're training for Whitney in two weeks - is this the Backbone Trail?", "Did you ride your bike up here?", "How do I get down to the Notch" (this fellow in tennies, no poles, and one layer of clothing. We find him an old ski pole in the trash next to the shack and I tell him to skip the fast descent down the ski run and be looking for the service road - he's tired and the temps are in the 30's now with a 35-40 wind). I have visions of finding him in a bloody heap at the base of the ski run with busted ankle - major bummer...now what? Whatever. Life on Baldy: Weekend edition Pt.2..
Taking the obligatory self-photo shots, I throw some lights on the bike, drop the seat and start bouncing my way down thru the considerable scree field that somehow is a service road (I can see recent 4WD tracks).
Pass Joshua on the way down, he's hammering both climbs today. Nice.
Roll thru San Antonio Falls and dodge an unusally large group of Russian tourists strolling 4 across down the Falls Road. My Uni-bell to no advantage I carefully avoid hitting anyone and head it back to the Village in a fairly fast, cold descent.
Life is Good.
Baldy peaking thru
Obligatory Falls Photo..resplendent in roadie gear - which I always find to work best on the swithcbacks with all those tight corners to negotiate.
Freaky cloud
If you can clean this switch you are a MAN. This is one hoary section right now. Deep, ugly and twisted. Great fun with a hardtail, a full load of gear and a hankering to taste some Ale.
The beating continues around the switch.
Arty shot and what a sweet view it is as the front rolls in/up.
Old Goat doing his birthday thing. The language in Boonville is 'Boont'. Anyone talk 'Boont' here? They make a tasty ale my friends.
Five minutes later...
It is kinda cool to be up here when it's getting spooky....especially when you're heading down on a bike.
