Finds from the Grind - Dam to Tower

My first Dam ride of the year on 1/20/2018.

Finds from the Grind - Marking Elevation

I paid attention to my elevation on my last big ride to Mount Wilson of the year on 10/14/2017.

Finds from the Grind - Seeing Stars on the Way to Red Box

Here's some time lapse video of the Starlight Crest climb as I made my way up and down the way to Red Box on 8/26/2017.

Finds from the Grind - First Climb of the Year to Mount Wilson

Here are some scenes from my climb to Mount Wilson on July 1st, my first time this year. I was amazed at how crowded the top of the mountain was, but then a few of the other cyclists up there figured it had to be a glut of hikers enjoying the 4th of July weekend. Sounded about right to me. I had to stand in line for about 20 minutes just to get my usual recovery drink of a can of Coke.

Finds from the Grind - Running Water

Here's a few scenes from my ride along the rivers on June 24th.

Finds from the Grind - Rainy River Trails

Light rain followed my ride on my loop around the San Gabriel River and Rio Hondo Trails on May 6th. I thought the rain was done for the year, but not really, I guess. If you notice in the video, I don't have any of my rain gear on that I used to wear almost every day during the first two months of this year. It never really rained hard, but it did rain enough, off and on, to make some of the road slippery in parts. But most of the time, it was just a nice way to cool off during the ride.

Finds from the Grind - River Trails and Hills

Scenes from around the Arroyo Seco and Los Angeles River from my bike on April 15th.

Finds from the Grind - That Dam Ride Again

Scenes from my ride to the Santa Fe Dam on April 8th. The week before, I did this dam loop clockwise, so of course the next week I did it counter-clockwise. It had just stopped raining, which worried me on the packed dirt track, but there were no problems there.

Fun things I noticed on the course - the local gas station is down to one working public landline; I wave to everyone, even dudes just sitting on the curb; that ramp up the dam is still no fun; teaching kids to ride a bike is a good idea, but maybe teaching them on a bike trail is a not so good one; the Bradbury city hall is on a hill, so deliveries there can be problematic.

Finds from the Grind - April Fool's Ride

Some scenes from my ride around the Santa Fe Dam on April 1st. I like to include shots of other bikes because, honestly, I like looking at bikes as they roll around. As an aside, that means you'll usually see them in my videos as I'm passing them, because I'm one of those riders who is "faster than most, slower than some." Around my neck of the woods, "slower than some" means we all ride about the same pace within a percentage of each other. This statistical quirk also means that it might take dozens of miles along the same stretch of road before I get caught or I catch someone riding at a similar pace. That's why it's so rare to see anyone pass me in my videos. Not because I'm so fast, but because the "some" who could catch me would take so long to do so. I had one video where it took me 15 minutes to catch a guy who only had a 15 second gap when I turned onto the same stretch of road.

Besides all the passing of the cyclists going slower than me, I included my biggest pet peeve on the bike: sensor controlled traffic lights. I didn't want to push the pedestrian button at the cross walk because it's too quick at that particular intersection. Push the button, WALK! I've got to turn the bike, remount, and awkwardly start off again. Bike friendly cities actually aren't if all they crow about are pieces of slippery paint on the side of the road that pisses off drivers and serious cyclists alike.

I also had some, ah, creative traffic negotiation around some train tracks. I really do mean it when I say I play in traffic on Saturday mornings.

Finds from the Grind - The Saint Katherine Descent

This is the short but steep descent from Sacred Heart Academy down to Figueroa and Chevy Chase. This course is also one of my favorite descents because of all the deep bends and the hairpin curve at the bottom. It's so satisfying to get the speed and the lean just right so it doesn't feel like you had to slam the brakes to make it around that steep drop-off. This climb is not one of my favorites because of how steep it is at the bottom. My legs get fried at the beginning and they never have time to rest and recover until the plateau at the top.

Finds From the Grind - Some Climbing and Playing in Traffic

Feeling flat, slow and out of shape during high cadence workout. I wasn't the only one... #findsfromthegrind pic.twitter.com/3xkEAaQJQX

— Joe Morris (@joeschmo1of3) January 29, 2017

Climbing with cadence is the plan for the next three weeks. Just as there's always someone faster than you, there's also someone slower than you.

Finds from the Grind - Sunny Lap and a Half

My last sunny ride of 2016 was a few laps around the Rose Bowl on December 14th. Usually, my off-season consists of doing nothing on the bike for 2 months, but I decided to change things up last year. After taking a month off for travel and just not even thinking about the bike, I made the next 6 weeks what I call "maintenance mode." That consisted of three days a week of hour long sessions, instead of my usual 6 days a week. At only 49 miles a week, it was also only 40% of the mileage. In addition, it was all low cadence, low heartrate. Basically strength training on a bike. But sometimes I had a little speedy bit of fun with some of the regulars around the Rose Bowl loop.

Finds from the Grind - Mount Wilson

The climb to Mount Wilson Skyline Park from Red Box on August 20th. I finally got around to editing the video of this ride. You can see my pictures I posted that afternoon. Overall, a 19 mile climb with grades between 5 and 6 percent. Not very steep, but just very long.

I had not been up here in over 25 years and a lot of work has been on the hiking trails at the still new Skyline Park. Terrible cell phone reception, but at least they have free wifi at the Cosmic Café.

Finds from the Grind - Red Box Descent to Clear Creek

The 4 mile descent to Clear Creek from Red Box on Angeles Crest Hwy. This is the companion video to the climbing half on August 6th. As you can see when I pull out from the parking lot, there is indeed a red box. Also, the "descent" is more like 5 miles to Clear Creek, but the last mile is a 3% grade climb.

I have always cramped my groin muscles in both legs after a long descent like this, and I've found the only way to stop my legs from seizing up is to just pedal faster with a shorter stroke so those big muscles groups don't get a chance to contract all the way. This is sacrificing heart rate and rhythm to avoid pain. Actually, that's basically all endurance sports anyway, just pain management over the course of many hours.

Finds from the Grind - Climb to Red Box

This is time lapse video of my climb to Red Box from Clear Creek on Angeles Crest Hwy on August 6th. It was my first time going all the way up there and it's about a 44 mile round trip for me. It's only (only!) a 4 mile climb from Clear Creek, but that's already after a 10 mile climb from La Canada.

If you stick with the video all the way to the end, you'll hear me try to pronounce Haramokngna. I did go inside and ask how you say it and I wasn't too far off. Just no long vowels.

The Red Box Picnic Area (and yes there is a red box somewhere around there) is also the base of the climb to Mount Wilson using Mt. Wilson Red Box Road. Two weeks later, I went up there for the first time too.

Finds from the Grind - Smoky Day

I went up to Clear Creek on Angeles Crest Hwy during a brushfire. Air quality was fine, but I still came back smelling smoky. You might think I was crazy to do so, but hear me out. First, the brushfire was far away, but the smoke from it was everywhere. The winds had dusted Pasadena with a fine layer of ash from it too. Second, I planned on the smoke keeping my ride up a mountain nice and cool. The Sun wasn't going to burn off this kind of fog or marine layer. I was only worried about the air quality and it turned out fine. It didn't even feel like a smoggy day in my lungs.

Still, it was a pretty lonely day since most cyclists are pretty sane and wouldn't climb into the mountains when they thought the temperature was going to be so high and with smoky conditions too.

Finds from the Grind - The Things I Go Through

These are just some of the things I have to go through to get a nice bike ride in Southern California.

Finds from the Grind - Gravel Shortcut

A brief gravel detour is a nice shortcut past the Santa Fe Dam to continue onto the San Gabriel River Trail. After the old dirt trail had been paved with asphalt, I wanted to see if there was a way to bypass going all the way to Encanto Park and around the Santa Fe Dam to get to the San Gabriel River Trail south of Arrow Hwy. And there was! If you don't mind a dirt and gravel parking lot. I was really wishing for some 25mm tires instead of the 23's I got on my road bike.

At the end of the video, you can see how I made my way down to the airstrip for the Santa Fe Dam RC Modelers. I'd seen this runway every time I went down the 605 and I finally saw it up close. I even saw a little plane land while I was there.

Finds from the Grind - Angeles Crest Hwy Descent From Above Clear Creek

This descent of Angeles Crest Hwy starts about two miles up from Clear Creek. This is the companion post to the climb of this road. The number of turnouts made this descent very relaxing with all the traffic coming from behind. It was easy to dip onto the lip of one to make space for faster vehicles to pass me. California just repaved most of the road last year too, so it feels great. It still didn't let me go that fast. The speed limit on most of the sections is either 40 or 45 mph. According to my stats, I was only able to get up to 37 mph. My ego held firm, though. No cyclists passed me this time.

Finds from the Grind - Angeles Crest Hwy Climb to Clear Creek

Here's my climb up Angeles Crest Hwy to the visitor center at Clear Creek. The last time I tried climbing up Angeles Crest, it was during a heat wave and I decided to pull the plug on the ride when it got to over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 9 AM. This day was much more temperate.

I have to say I'm always impressed with how neat the turnouts look on this road compared to the other climbing roads I frequent. There's probably more traffic to justify the maintenance, but it does have some consequences. The major difference in litter between a road like GMR and Angeles Crest is just how many used condoms you find all over the place. I usually pack my used up rubber products with me, but those things are punctured inner tubes, not some other kind of inflatable.