Riding in the San Gabriels

The majority of my long rides I go "tempo" or "hard tempo", meaning I am not having difficulty breathing or talking. I may add in some "very har" efforts, but those are typically under 5 minutes, and quite frequently unrelated 2 minutes, followed by active recovery.  Each week, I do one or two intense, short rides, but rarely do I do long, intense rides. I have done two long, intense rides over the past 6 months. The longest was last Saturday's Solvang Autumn Double Century. I rode hard for the first 110 miles-- averaged over 20 mph, and felt great on the climbs. However, I got behind on my hydration and slowed down on the second climb up Drum Canyon. I didn't realize I hadn't drank enough, so when I started cramping, I took a salt tab and consumed some gatorade, but it wasn't enough, and I came close to cramping for the remainder of the ride, every time I tried to put in any sort of effort.

The forests are closed until at least September 17th. I will not attempt to ride the closed roads. Instead, I'm going to ride the Verdugos and Griffith Park this weekend. I predict they'll be inundated with cyclists, as would the Santa Monic Mountains, which is an open alternative to the San Gabriels.

 On Saturday, August 21, I rode my Ventura Double Century route. I woke up at 3:30 am and rolled at 4:37 am. I returned home at 6:00 pm, and had less than 45 minutes stopped time. I stopped twice to refill.  The weather was excellent. Air temps from 60 to 75, and some mist in Simi Valley and Santa Paula. It was cloudy all day until I descended Westlake-- I only saw the sun for the last 50 miles of the ride. I didn't eat much, but drank 4 bottles os Gatorade Endurance, Spiz and Tailwind. I also drank a gatorade at the first stop and a large coke at the second stop.  My legs felt great. I had no issues with cramping or bonking. I never felt dehydrated. I felt strong at the end. I added 10 miles in Ojai, climbing Hwy 33 (intentionally) and a couple miles thinking there was a 7-11 on Lindero Canyon (unintentionally), and I ended up with 216 miles and 11k elevation gain.

I am planning to ride a Double Century tomorrow from Pasadena to Ojai, returning up Encinal Canyon and Agoura Road. I typically ride easy the week before a Double Century. This allows me mentally and physically to feel sharp and able to complete a ride that's 12 hours in the saddle without feeling too fatigued.  The weather this week has been conducive to cycling, especially for August. Overcast mornings extending until 10:00 or 11:00 am, with temperatures under 80. Tomorrow is supposed to be even a little cooler. I will get up at 3:45 am and roll by 4:50 am. I plan to return home about 6:30 pm. I plan to ride tempo with some hard efforts, and reduce my stopped time to about one hour. I will run front and rear lights and bring gel and powder, and stop four or five times to refill.

After a rest day I like to "warm up" my legs by doing an easy local ride on the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Bike Paths. These are not exciting. There's no climbing. There's usually debris and homeless encampments. There are usually other cyclist out on these paths in the mornings. However, it's easy to control my output, there are no stoplights, they are spirited paths, so I don't have to worry about motor vehicle traffic.  They are mindless to the point that I kind of hate them. What's the point? I'm not hammering. I'm not chatting with anybody. I'm just "warming up the legs". In the end, they are safe and uneventful. 

In addition to riding in the mountains, I also like riding up my local steep climbs. A few I really enjoy are: St. Katherine Chevy Chase Hampstead Greenbriar Haven Wildwood Canyon Stough Canyon Alta Canada Hampstead Sugarloaf These are all steep short climbs that I combine into a 20 to 60 mile ride with lots of elevation gain. In general, I prefer loops to out and back routes, so I will branch up from my loop to climb, and end up with a ride elevation profile like this (total of 6,319 feet of elevation gain in 55 miles):  I rolled from home at 6:30 am this morning, and air temps were in around 61 degrees. This is a little warm for climbing weather, but compared to the weeks of 90 degree afternoons we've been having, it felt great to do some close steep climbs that mix it up a bit from the long steady climbs in the local mountains. Additional benefits of rolling early is that there's shade and little motor vehicle traffic on the roads I traveled. There were dog walkers and a few