jim_nelson said:

Apparently Jules is onto something....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=762&v=C4ta52z-L0o

SHHH!

Don't tell anyone. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBtKjOf8FTk

This place is basically a MTN bikers dream come true: Thirsty Pagan Pizza with epic pizza and like a 1/2 dozen sours on tap that they grow (?!?) themselves in the basement - so they don't run out! Also - and I shit you not - apparently they sponsor American CX racers in Europe. Yeah. COGS has their monthly meetings there.

We've got guest rooms. Come visit. 2 hour drive from MSP or 30 minutes in a commuter plane.

I'll come in the summer. Just watching that broke my wrist.

jim_nelson said:

I'll come in the summer. Just watching that broke my wrist.

Do it! Gold plated cycling & sour beer tours for anyone who make the trip.

I don't know what voodoo dark/magic bargain you made to capture that Hawaii light but damn if isn't amazeballs.

Please post the report. A beast like that deserves it's own thread!

Anyone ever visited Mexico with a bike?  I know, it's a big country.  So I'll be more specific.  Looking at Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca.  I've been looking around online, can't find much info.  

There's a big national park, El Tepozteco just north and another big one Cumbres del Ajusco to the west.  

Hey guys. I wanted to shout out a reminder that you all have a Kissena outpost in Switzerland. I was in Geneva, but now live in Fribourg, where I'll remain for at least the next 4 years. If you're visiting Europe and want to do some fantastically beautiful and epic riding, come visit. The region is hilly with mountains not too far away (I'll discover those by bike once the snow melts and roads open). There are also a lot of nice little forests with trails for cross and mtb riding.

Having riden with Nathaniel near Geneva (including watching a stage of the Tour in the area a few years back, I can attest that not only is it fun to hang out with Nathaniel, but the riding is awesome.  

65+ degrees out today I rode in shorts and ran out of water by the end.

The other gravel riding dads were impressed that I took the road bike out over gravel,
ice, mud and potholes. My secret weapon? When they see Home Depot, I see a starting grid...

Jules said:

65+ degrees out today I rode in shorts and ran out of water by the end.

The other gravel riding dads were impressed that I took the road bike out over gravel,
ice, mud and potholes. My secret weapon? When they see Home Depot, I see a starting grid...

Subtle.  

I'm sure you were thinking:

"Brooklyn, motherfuckers, Brooklyn.
"If you can't race a full-on aero bike complete with deep dish at an 85 year-old airfield with 85 year-old roads, if you can't race on potholed park roads, if you can't duke it out with traffic on broken streets, you might as well hang it up.
"That's just how Kissena rolls."

^Amen
(and with some cigar chomping douchebag trying to kill you with his truck)

The gravel out here is only getting better. 7 am it was 31 degrees out; by the time we got home it was 60.

^ 

^pretty much!

4 cliff bars and two bottles was not enough!

I'm headed out to the Los Angeles area in July for my girlfriend's family reunion, so of course I'm bringing my bike. I'm already salivating over maps of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. I've biked along the beaches in LA before but never hit the hills. Let me know what y'all think of the four routes I've built from my research so far:

The famous Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts climb: https://www.strava.com/routes/12852493

A variation on a 2016 Tour of California stage: https://www.strava.com/routes/12852368

The Full Big Tujunga: https://www.strava.com/routes/12852423

"The Washing Machine," which I named for its ~11,000 feet of elevation, a.k.a "Baldy Both Ways" (Glendora Mtn Rd. and Mt. Baldy Rd.): https://www.strava.com/routes/12897479

I'm also looking for shorter rides to the west of Pasadena in the San Rafael Hills, Verdugo Mountains, Griffith Park. The good routes are less obvious on the map. 

If you have a favorite route or any tips and tricks for riding in the area, please share!

I'll have a car but I can't drive too far away from Pasadena just for a ride--as much as I'd like to give every day over to riding, I need to leave plenty of time for the many other things we're looking forward to while we're out there (a Dodgers game, a hike, going to the beach, hopefully a concert or a show, going out to eat, hanging out with her family, etc.)

If you scroll back in the Training Camp thread you'll see several years of great LA rides, and some video too.

Don't forget there is an insane Velodrome in LA with some good KCC mojo on it.

(that's Ross Knopov who designed KCC's sweet-ass kit)



 

Oh right, one of only two indoor velodromes in the whole United States! I just checked their website and they require you to complete a certification course before riding or show up for a sample session, which aren't on the calendar for the dates I'm there. But the Elite State Championships are, and that would be great fun to watch. 

Also @Jules thank you for drawing my attention to those LA rides in the Training Camp thread. BUT, awesome as they look (and I've seen some of that area firsthand when I toured down the Pacific Coast Highway), they are too far west from Pasadena for my upcoming trip. Just driving to the start/finish point y'all used in Santa Monica would take an hour each way. So if anybody has favorite rides around Pasadena or, let's say, a 30-minute driving radius thereof...lay 'em on me. 

If when you say west, you mean “not into the mountains” then, yes you can do some interesting loops. You probably don’t want to go towards downtown LA or Anaheim as it will likely not be cycling friendly. A few years back I joined a group ride that starts at Descanso Gardens near Montrose, heads through Pasadena and out towards Arcadia before heading back to Pasadena.  It stayed in the foothills of the mountains and was mostly residential without any long climbs. You can either find the group ride or find some Strava posts. 

Of you you are looking for a recovery ride you may want to ride around the rose bowl stadium in Pasadena. It’s not necessarily scenic, but it’s safe, flat and has lots of local cyclists doing loops. They can help you find other routes. 

I have in-laws who live in Glendale so I’ve explored the area a little and enjoy riding around Pasadena neighborhoods when not climbing Angeles Crest, Topanga Canyon or heading out towards the Santa Monica/Malibu hills.

I know JP, Bruce and others have done a bit of riding in the area and may have more advice. 

Max,
     My brother lives in Mt. Washington, so I've been riding Pasadena and the area for some time.

     The ride Patrick is referring to is the Montrose ride.  It's huge.  Like 200 rider kind of huge.  It's fun.  After rollout, you'll be doing 30+mph on the flats, then the ride splits up around San Dimas I think and the longer one rides the foothills back to Pasadena.
https://socalcycling.com/montrose-ride-pasadena-ca/

So Cal has a decent list of rides--https://socalcycling.com/training-rides/

     There's a night ride or few around the Rose Bowl.  Another classic. https://www.facebook.com/RoseBowlRide

     Getting lost or "lost" on Mt. Griffith is fun.  Several quiet roads to climb.

     Riding the Arroyo Seco bike path and the LA River Bike path are easy day experiences.

     I'd also suggest riding up to the summit of Mt. Wilson.  A bit boring as an out and back on the Angeles Crest highway, but if you start by riding west to do Big Tujunga first, it's a really long ride.  In both cases, the descent is well worth it.  

My big Tujunga loop: https://www.strava.com/activities/457723588
Mt. Wilson: https://www.strava.com/activities/101901357

I've wanted to explore the Mount Lowe Motorway, which is largely gravel (try to locate Chaney Trail and Loma Alta roads in Altadena and then follow Chaney trail), but, I haven't had time.  Here's a Strava segment of the climb of it https://www.strava.com/segments/10366640

Could be a cool loop.  

Bruce van-Schalkwyk said:

I've got some nice cue sheets for the Santa Monica climbs, but nothing for Pasadena, I'm afraid.  

I did ship my bike a week before I went out and confirmed it got there safely.  Great not having to drag it through the airport with me, especially considering my flight was canceled and I flew out from another airport.

Sounds like a nice trip.  Going to do some house hunting while you're out there?

Never really been to L.A. before, so it's a bit too soon to say if I like it enough to ever want to move there. Plus I just started graduate school here that lasts at least two years! 

Thanks for the tips, @mugwump. One of my first ideas was to climb Mt. Wilson as an out-and-back, and I may still do so--but you've confirmed my suspicion that it might be a bit boring. Combined with the Big Tujunga is a big ride, indeed. One of my Big T loops takes in Upper Big Tujunga Road as well. Have you ridden that? 

And what's the deal with "motorways" in LA? These actually seem to be...trails? And maybe pretty gnarly on a carbon road bike with 26mm tires, according to some photos on Google Maps and Strava. So of course I'm desperately curious. How did they come to be? I poked around a bit for what I'm sure is a fascinating bit of local history, but haven't turned up much yet. My guess is that they were designed and built in the early 20th-century for those newfangled motorized pleasure carriages, and still maintained today as fire roads.

MaxThorn said:

Thanks for the tips, @mugwump. One of my first ideas was to climb Mt. Wilson as an out-and-back, and I may still do so--but you've confirmed my suspicion that it might be a bit boring. Combined with the Big Tujunga is a big ride, indeed. One of my Big T loops takes in Upper Big Tujunga Road as well. Have you ridden that? 

And what's the deal with "motorways" in LA? These actually seem to be...trails? And maybe pretty gnarly on a carbon road bike with 26mm tires, according to some photos on Google Maps and Strava. So of course I'm desperately curious. How did they come to be? I poked around a bit for what I'm sure is a fascinating bit of local history, but haven't turned up much yet. My guess is that they were designed and built in the early 20th-century for those newfangled motorized pleasure carriages, and still maintained today as fire roads.

Never done done upper Big Tujunga road.  Was always a bit short on time.  

I think you're correct about those motorways in the foothills.  They don't seem to go anywhere.  I did take the Mt. Lowe Motorway one ride, thinking it would take me a more interesting way up to Mt. Wilson.  I got lost en route to the start and I did several miles up only to realize I was running out of time.  

Anyone have any experience riding in Provence region, France. My wife's booked us tickets in June and picked the region, now we just need to pick a town or two to stay in, something low-key, ideally mountain towns or beach towns.

Ex Kissena Kayt Mathers family has a place just north of the Loire. PM me if you want to connect.

@Brian Miele I spent a semester abroad in the south of France. I wasn’t riding at the time so I don’t have route recommendations, but with the exception of the more congested areas you should find cycling friendly areas. While not strictly in Provence, you can experience the great climbs (e.g. Croix de Fer, Madeline, Galibier) if you stay in St Jean de Maurienne outside Grenoble. On the other hand if you are looking for beautiful towns and small cities in Provence then I would recommend Aix en Provence, Fourcalquier, Roussillon, Arles, and surrounding area. The claim is that Aix en Provence has the most beautiful Main Street in all of France. I was there for a semester and i find it hard to disagree. Email me if you want more suggestions. 

As some of you know, spent some of last week riding in Tuscany.

Overexcited to ride the same roads than Strada Biancha, on day 1 I let ridewithgps create a route with a ton of gravel. Oh boy, these were full on 4 wheel drive, tractor, technical dirt 18% descents. Learned my lesson: Stick to Strada Statale, Strada Regionale, and Strada Provinciale. You want mostly asphalt.

As suggested by Mark, rented the bike case from redbeard, also put 28s. Got lucky with American Airlines and the bike flew free both ways (!!!). Able to do 5 rides, truly some of the most gorgs roads and views I will ever ride.

I could write a much longer report, but frankly this is all you need to know:

These roads are made of dreams.

Well that's it. Summer 2019 plans have been decided. Thanks a lot Eloy!

@eloy

I can't unsee Tuscany now.