Stage 6-Amgen Tour of California

Andy Schleck with another Team Saxo Bank rider cresting Lakeview Point

May 21, 2010. It was a great day to be on a bike for Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California. The day started at 6:00 am meeting up with Rick and his son Richard, and friend Rich. We drove and parked at Lakeview Point (el. 7,112') on SR 18 at 7:15 am, set up "Windbreaker Base" and headed out for a ride along the "arctic circle" portion of SR 18, then along North Shore Dr., up SR 38 to Onyx Summit (el. 8,443'), then back down to Big Bear to check out the finish line set-up at Snow Summit ski area, then finishing up the ride back out to Lakeview Pt. to watch the race.

Lakeview Pt was the last big climb on a very tough day for the tour riders. This stage alone was 135 miles and 12,000' of climbing, billed as the Queen Stage for this year's tour. The riders were broken into several groups by this point in the day's ride. It was great to be a part of it. Ride On!

Cruisin the Conejo 2010

May 8 2010. A great day for cycling in the Conejo Valley west of Los Angeles. Beautiful roads through Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Santa Monica Mountains, Newbury Park, Camarillo, Moorpark and Simi Valley. Ride On!

A Great Day

View from Glendora Mountain Road overlooking the San Gabriel Valley

May 1, 2010. Clear blue skies, perfect temperatures and great roads made for a perfect day on Glendora Mountain Rd. and Glendora Ridge Rd. Like John F. Kennedy said: "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride". Ride On!

2010 Mulholland Challenge

Peter Strauss Ranch Checkpoint

Mulholland Hwy-Top of Rock Store Climb

April 10, 2010. Always eager for a journey to territory not yet explored by bike, Map Boy joined former co-workers for the 2010 edition of the Mulholland Challenge, Stage 1 of the "King of the Mountain" century series organized by Planet Ultra. The route is an adventure set in Southern California's Santa Monica Mountains, and is billed as a "ride up, over and along mountain peaks and ridges, and through a multitude of canyons and country sides. Basically, this event is for the rider who loves to climb and to see alot of diverse terrain in the process. Bring gears! Some of the roads have steep sustained climbs of 12-14% with pitches up to 18%".

The ride started in Agoura Hills with rolling roads to the coast on Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon to Pacific Coast Highway, then south on PCH toward Topanga. Then the "real" climbing began!! First, Topanga Canyon and Old Topanga Canyon Rd. From there, lots of up and down roads through the mountains on Mulholland Hwy. (including the well-known Rock Store climb), Little Sycamore and Cotharin Rd., before entering Ventura County and back down to the coast via a steep and rough technical descent on Deer Creek. After a flat cruise back south on PCH, a monster climb back up Decker Canyon and Lechusa greeted the riders at about mile 75. Climbing continued back to Mulholland on Encinal Canyon. Once back on Mulholland, we rode all the way back to Stunt Road. The serious pain was to begin here, at mile 91, up Stunt Road.

Four miles later at the top of Stunt, after a cold V8, the ride finished with a steep descent down Piuma Road, a short steep climb up Cold Canyon, then back to the finish in Agoura Hills. 116 miles with over 12,000 feet of climbing...definitely a big challenge!

Quote

The Windbreakers are always on the lookout for great quotes about bicycling. Ernest Hemingway was a great American writer and journalist, and winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. Here is one of our favorites from Hemingway, whose works are considered classics of American literature: "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of the country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle". Ride On!!

Glendora Mountain Road

After a week of rain, the Windbreakers were finally able to get out for a ride. A cold, crisp climb up Glendora Mountain Road, with snow-covered Mt. Baldy in the background. A fantastic ride...Ride On!

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2010. Windbreakers, family and friends trek to Pasadena, California to view the annual Tournament of Roses parade. Ride On!