Angeles Crest Highway

[false_Aest]

Hey,
It's open.

I did Foothill --> Tujunga Cyn --> Mt. Gleason --> Big Tujunga -->Angeles Forest --> Angeles Crest --> Mt Wilson --> Angeles Crest --> Foothill on Saturday.

The pavement is effin awesome!!!

On the way back you have 18 miles of downhill on brand new tarmac. Well, new but not so new that it's still got that layer of un-compacted gross stuff on it. The turns are sweeping and are 5/10 in terms of technical requirement. This meant that I was rocking ~38mph on a set of 28H Kinlins and almost never touching the brakes. Deep section rims should give you a nice, fast 1/2 hour thrill w/out soiling your bibs.

If you do it as a loop it's ~51 miles. ~22 miles uphill. 5100' of climbing or so.

Don't spend too much time at the top -- biting flies are everywhere right now.

Oh yeah, the Observatory now has a "cafe" offering hotdog like wonders. I didn't check but I wouldn't be surprised if they offered astronaut icecream.

[Bud_E]

Finally! Thanks for the news. That's a beautiful ride imho. It's difficult to find water though - I always take the camelbak up there.

[dd74]

That's cool! I've never done Angeles Crest, but I want to. Is yours part of the route the Amgen Tour used last month?

[false_Aest]

No, I don't think its part of ATOC.

There is water by the way.

Unless you're ridiculously dehydrated at the start, 2 h20 bottles will get you to where Angeles Forest and Angeles Crest meet. There's a building there that has bathrooms and h20.

At Mt. Wilson there's a faucet at the bottom of the climb and the observatory at the top.

[dd74]

No, I don't think its part of ATOC.

There is water by the way.

Unless you're ridiculously dehydrated at the start, 2 h20 bottles will get you to where Angeles Forest and Angeles Crest meet. There's a building there that has bathrooms and h20.

At Mt. Wilson there's a faucet at the bottom of the climb and the observatory at the top.
When will you do it again? We should meet up after trading all these unsavory forum msgs. ;)

I think I briefly met you on a Serotta ride a couple years ago.

[jgspin]

Thanks for the write up; I'd like to try that one of these days. How does that ride compare to a ride from Pear Blossom Hwy 138 to Mt Emma -Fort Tejon-Big Pines Hwy-Angeles Crest Junction- then up Table Mt Rd? I rode that a couple of years ago and had a tough time; especially with the summer heat.

[SoCalSteve]

When will you do it again? We should meet up after trading all these unsavory forum msgs. ;)

I think I briefly met you on a Serotta ride a couple years ago.

You did.

[dd74]

You did.
So when's the next ride so we can meet again? How about up Angeles?

[aosty]

Angeles sounds like a great idea for an excuse to do another Serotta forum SoCal ride.... I've ridden many of the trails in the area but have only ridden ACH once and only in the downhill direction.

Maybe ride up to the observatory and back... followed by lunch and margaritas at La Cabanita after! :beer:


P.S. I think I met dd74, SoCalSteve, and false_Aest on a previous ride.

P.P.S. Sorry for the thread hijack!

[Bud_E]

No, I don't think its part of ATOC.

There is water by the way.

Unless you're ridiculously dehydrated at the start, 2 h20 bottles will get you to where Angeles Forest and Angeles Crest meet. There's a building there that has bathrooms and h20.

At Mt. Wilson there's a faucet at the bottom of the climb and the observatory at the top.

I hear you. But I'm neurotic/paranoid and I've been up there where the water at Red Box ( bottom of Wilson climb ) was shut off and everything at the top of Wilson was closed. And if you go further East to Upper Big Tujunga, etc., other than Newcomb's there's nothing for miles and it can get hot as hell in the summer.

[darkadious]

every time i've been up to the bottom of wilson the bathrooms have been open.

i hope to do the ride soon; just need to recover a bit and choose the right day when it's under 75.

[Don49]

If you like Angeles Crest, also consider riding Hwy 39 from Azusa to Dawson Saddle. Hwy 39 is closed to cars above Crystal Lake to Hwy 2, making the ride even more enjoyable. I clocked it at 50 miles and 6500' of climbing. Plenty of water enroute at campgrounds and waterfalls.

http://www.toughascent.com/blog/?p=152&cpage=1#comment-7954

[false_Aest]

wow,

Thanks for that link.

I'm doing it!!!

[Don49]

You're welcome.

I should have mentioned that this is best done as a weekend day ride. There is on going road work on the closed section, so it maybe closed to bikes during the week if there's a road crew there. I encountered a LE ranger on that closed section yesterday and he just smiled and waved.