Glendora Mountain Road
“Above the Clouds!”
There’s been some chatter online about roads closing in LA County just for pedestrians and bicycles. We had to check it out for ourselves so we made the trip out to Glendora Mountain Road. It’s just past the 210 freeway and took about 45 minutes to get to from Irvine, CA. We have it pretty easy here in SoCal where we can hit the beach and get up to the mountains within an hour or so.
“Say Cheese!”
Tristan snapping a shot of the boys
Once you get there you can pull into some parking spots along the road. A bit busy that morning but found a spot near a local Super Squad member. We chatted a bit before the rest of the crew showed up. Definitely cool to have that time to connect with new or familiar faces. The rest of the Pinoy Squad showed up and we were ready to take on the mountain. Yes, it was absolutely freezing and warm weather clothes were a must. All of us were pretty bundled up from head to toe; helmet, mask, long sleeve, jacket, gloves, socks, etc. Honestly, I’d rather have too much than not enough. You can always shed clothing.
To our surprise, they opened the road back up to vehicles. This wasn’t the case last week. The road is still heavily used by cyclists so people using the roads are well aware to look out for bikes. Pedal-assist on the RX was a dream going uphill if not mashing on the throttle. It has plenty of pep to take on this mountain road and its windy turns and curves. There are some areas where it flattens out or has a bit of an incline to get you back up to speed. I was riding in Mode 4 which is the unlimited mode on our bikes.
SUPER73-RX
Yep, it was a bit chilly out that morning
We stopped midway up to check on the status of everyone’s batteries and bikes. All systems go but we did have an Original 2018 join us that was losing battery life pretty quickly going uphill. The group decided to get some moody photos/videos and then make our way back down. That’s when we all picked up some speed easily over 30+ mph. It’s definitely helpful going through MSF training as you want to look through the turns and always keep scanning. Another good tip is to brake in a straight line and not on a turn. When you start applying the brake on a turn, your bike will tend to straighten up and you’ll oversteer. You don’t want to end up as a statistic overshooting a turn and running off the road.
Into the fog
Adventure around every corner
On a lighter note, it was a blast riding with the squad in a whole different environment. You can see the different skill levels first-hand and can tell who is more comfortable and able to do these rides. It’s about preparation and getting practice or seat time. Getting used to your bike and your own abilities.
Be safe and have fun!
photos: Tristan Ervin, Elijah Yoon
video: Tristan Ervin