I had a grand idea of riding from my house in Pomona to the Mt. Baldy Lodge at 8,600 feet. Everyone seems to end their ride at the ski lifts. I wanted to "one up" everyone and ride to the Lodge.
To attempt this feat one must either ride a mountain or cyclocross bike. About 1/4 of a mile before the ski lifts is Falls Rd. Falls road is the only access to the lodge and after about 3/4 of a mile Falls Road turns into a fire road.
My plan was to get out by 6:00 am but I decided to do some work before I left the house. By 9 am, my work was done and I was geared up and on my bike.
I decided to ride my Kona CX bike. I figured this would be the best bike for paved/dirt road riding.
The ride up Mt. Baldy was hard and by the time I entered the village, I was BONKED! I rested, and re-filled my water bottles at the post office before heading up the switchbacks to Falls Road.
The switchbacks were lonely and brutal. Its hard to believe just last week the mountain was teeming with people for ToC Stage 7. Faded Messages in Chalk be-speckled the road.
By the time I reached Falls Road, I was cramping and down to half a bottle of water. I decided to rest for 5 - 10 minutes then walk/road up Falls Road to the waterfall. At the waterfall, paved road becomes dirt. I road up about 25 feet before I could go no further. My legs were done and the dirt road was just loose enough to break my pace. Defeated, I turned around and headed home. Total trip, about 35 miles round trip.
