Descenders, 

First (quick) announcement – since the rain prevented us from doing Alpine ride this past Saturday, we have re-scheduled it for this coming Sunday (in *addition* to planned Saturday Oceanside Ride). The ride is now posted on the descenders.org website.

Main announcement:

On Saturday, May 19th we plan to continue the Descenders tradition of watching the Queen mountain stage of the Tour of California. (This will be 4th year in a row for me, and it's always a lot of fun!). 

This year's stage 7 is very similar to last year's route, culminating in mountain-top finish at Mt. Baldy:

Dave Ernst and I planned a ride mapped out here:

Also, please Read The (F) Brochure, attached as PDF.

We will plan to leave Saturday in the morning (meet at 7:00AM, on the road by 7:30AM), and start riding at 9:30AM. The proposed route is very similar to our last year's route, planned masterfully by David Voris, and it's impossible to get lost. At the top of the GMR climb (GMR and GRR intersection – the only intersection, really) we will have an optional out-and-back add-on, 4.5 miles descent down into Cattle Canyon (to East Fork road) and then back up to the top again. Just like last year. We will then proceed towards Mt. Baldy village where we will have lunch and watch the race go by, around 1PM. We will then climb to the top of Mt. Baldy (not everyone has to go all the way to the top), watch the finish and ride back to the cars. On the way back we will descend into Cattle Canyon and ride on East Fork and around San Gabriel Reservoir – this return part is new to us.

Actionable Item:

If you plan to participate in the May 19th ride please RSVP back to me, as soon as possible, indicating Yes/No/Maybe. Also indicate if you are willing to drive, and the capacity of your car (how many bikes & riders). Drivers will be reimbursed directly by the passengers at the going IRS rate of 55 cents a mile, which for 4-passenger car and 240 mile round trip works out to $33 per passenger (thanks to Guido for doing the math for me!).

You should come,

Oleg.