EISPIRATEN

I don't think of myself as a "mountain biker", but I've been doing more of that recently. And this was a trip to be able to make that claim.

I started riding on Wed night in central LA. The MTB is clearly slower than a road bike, but it's really not that bad: I was averaging 17-18mph on the straights. Met up with Taco in Azusa, and rode together to Claremont and up Mt Baldy road. The sun came up somewhere between Mt Baldy village and Manker Flat. Eventually we arrived at the ski lifts, and got the obligatory photo



The ski lifts parking lot is the end of the pavement. The connector road between the parking lot and the road to the Notch is chunky and way too steep to ride. Once up on the road, it's plenty rideable, and we were up at the Notch in no time. We took one of the ski runs to the top of the lift on the West side. It was too steep, and we walked most of it. I think there's a rideable road option too somewhere. The Devil's Backbone area is really picturesque. I never come up here, and it was cool to see it again. A photo of the trail, NOT of the cool views to either side:



Most of this wasn't rideable, as expected. But it was also relatively short. Eventually you get to the traverse around Harwood, which is rideable and has views.



The final climb to the summit is also not rideable. As expected. Eventually we were done, and got the other obligatory photos





This was a Thursday morning. There were a few people here, but it wasn't mobbed at all. When we left, there were 3 others at the peak.

Now we had to think about the descent. I wanted to ride down to the village on the Bear Canyon trail. I haven't been there in maybe 10 years, but I thought it'd be doable. Taco has never taken that trail, and wanted to see Baldy from a different angle. So he decided to take that route too. This was a mistake. Being generous, I could ride maybe a quarter of this thing. MAYBE. Taco's bike was not suited to this at all, however, so he carried his bike down most of the 5500ft descent. It wasn't fun. Taco told us all about his descent from White Mountain, and he can chime in here about THIS descent. This trail is really steep, narrow, soft and has lots of tight corners. It's also very chunky, and the section between the main ridge and Bear Flat is brushy as well. The brush has a human-width slot cut through it, which is a bit smaller than would fit a bike comfortably. At Bear Flat the conditions improve, and an MTB can ride comfortably all the way down. The creek in Bear Flat is dry. And to be clear: if WALKING, this trail is in fine shape.

The cool narrow section at the head of Cattle Canyon:





This descent took way more time and effort than planned. So once at the bottom, we felt done, and spent a while eating food and chugging strawberry lemonade at the Baldy Lodge. I initially had grand plans to take GRR and descend down Lower Monroe, but once I found out that I could take Metrolink out of Claremont instead of riding to the Gold Line in Azusa, the choice was clear. I hit 37mph riding downhill! On my MTB.

And I'm told that I missed the mark: a REAL mountain biker would have driven to the ski lifts.

That's a lot of carrying over bad biking trail.
About 10 years ago I saw a half dozen guys riding on the backbone area as I was descending. Had to wait for all of them to clear the narrow trail.

JeffH wrote: ↑That's a lot of carrying over bad biking trail.
About 10 years ago I saw a half dozen guys riding on the backbone area as I was descending. Had to wait for all of them to clear the narrow trail.

You dont need to carry if you bring a dirt bike....excuse me e-bike.
Trendy at the beach too. Stupid me, walked all that way for nothing, must have been jealous. Too cool for the old school....disruptive baby is the way to go....keep at it until there is nothing left.

I've wanted to ride up Baldy for a while now. I thought I'd ride a MTB, but as I don't have one, I didn't bring one. I will next time. Gotta build or buy one first. Anyway, so to add to what Dima wrote, I went to work and got off at 2130, got dinner and waited to meet up with him. We set off for Baldy, covering ground pretty quickly. My knees were killing me going up Baldy Road. This happens to me when I do a big climb outta nowhere. I prefer to ease into them, a little downhill helps here and there so I can lean my heels down in my SPD pedals and stretch my hamstrings. We slowed down a bit and stopped every so often to stretch. We got water and stretched some more in the village, and I saw my buddy Patrick drive by. I shoulda left a blinky on the side of the road so he'd see me. We haven't hung out in ages after doing so many things together.

We headed out with the first morning light illuminating the mountains as we passed Icehouse Canyon. Spotted a mattress dumped off the side of a turnout on one of those hairpins. Them's steep! Fun to descend, though I could use stronger brakes (fight me, I'll upgrade). Left a note on Patrick's car at Wanker Flats and continued riding up to the ski lift lot, which is the only part of the road I haven't ridden.

We took the little dirt connector road from the lot to SA Falls Rd, which was rocky and steep. Now I know I can't ride up that, at least not on this bike. The road to the notch is nice and smooth, and we made it up there in no time. Took a break and ate breakfast at the notch, the restaurant being closed, and watched people hike and ride up. We then turned up the backbone, pushing most of the way. I hadn't been up this route in a real long time, and was excited to do it again but on a bike. Now I feel a mountain bike would be a fitting way to enjoy this route, as I certainly wouldn't want to bring one on the Ski Hut route. I jokingly say I'll descend the Bowl on a bike someday, but I don't have the unbreakable skeleton to do that. Well, maybe I could. There is a possible line on climber's right...

Anywho, it was slow, hard work pushing up the backbone onto Harwood, but I was happy. I enjoyed it. Much easier with Dima than if I was alone. Once we got on the easy terrain on Harwood we both rode a little bit, but for me it was still mostly pushing, which I expected. The last push to the summit was similar to White Mountain, but with less rideable terrain and more oxygen. It was tough, but good. Got to the summit amongst some people praising us for our hard work. I plopped down and chilled out, feeling a bit drained. It would take me a day or so to get a lung full of air again after this, for whatever reason.

I texted and called Patrick and it turns out he and Carole missed us and they were already down, so we headed to Bear Flat trail, which I had never done. I was a little excited to see this route, not knowing how much I'd absolutely fucking hate it. The top part was beautiful, with awesome views to the south and west. It gets real loose and steep after a while, and I had to take a break or two to retain some sanity. I'd explain more, but honestly it just got worse and worse and I hated it all the way down. I don't think I ever care to come back on a MTB for this route like I thought I would. I kept slipping and sliding, pushing and carrying my bike down this goddamn trail, losing my mind. The narrow brush sections were really special and I just wanted to be anywhere at all but there. Dima was able to ride a lot of this, and I couldn't believe it as I watched him fly down it. I often had to walk behind my bike and guide it by holding my saddle from behind.

EVENTUALLY we got down to the pavement, and my brakes were fried from holding them the whole goddamn way down. I super carefully rode what is a super dope section of road back to the lodge, where we went inside to get some burgers. My brain barely worked and I was very very tired and also pretty mad at existence. Man, the pink lemonades hit the fucking SPOT. Holy shit. I needed that. I drank a few of those and we both had delicious burgers. We filled up our bottles at the front after relaxing on the patio, and Dima went down to the train station while I cleaned my drivetrain, aired up my tires, and adjusted my brakes. I flew down doing 40 something and rode home. I had been up for 30 some hours, first time in a while that happened. I was fried and done. My legs still fucking hurt from going down Bear Flat. Good lord. I'm glad it's over but in typical ape style I don't remember how much that sucked.

Arright thanks guys don't do that ok?

Some pics. If y'all got that Instagram, holla at me.

Munching on the narrows could be interesting. How much walking of the bike did you have to do?

nevermind, i see you answered it as most of it. I saw three guys headed down a couple of years ago, right after the narrows the bike was riding them

I once hiked down the Baldy Village trail with a biker who came up via the Backbone and we kept up a similar pace on the way down. I saw him fall off his bike three times but he got back up again each time with a smile. He finally passed me at the flats where he could ride properly.

That all sounds right. After thinking about this for a few more days, I think the biggest issue was Taco's underbiking. I could ride enough of this thing to not get too angry at it, and it felt attainable with enough skill, so working on it was fun almost. But it's unforgiving to a lesser bike, so all Taco felt was frustration.

Yeah it sucked ass. If I had a mountain bike, it woulda been alright I think.

Congrats on a big accomplishment, even if not so fun. Hoisting a bike on a summit beats a hiking pole every day!

Taco wrote: ↑Yeah it sucked ass. If I had a mountain bike, it woulda been alright I think.

Or an E-bike. ???
I've been testing a few models lately. They kick ass!