Hi All,

We had about 17 guys riding the mountains north of Glendora for the 10th annual ToC event, including Bill Wood and three of his Aussie buddies, Frankie Rivas joined us as well as a super strong new rider, Nathan Simpson. Jeff Southerton was also out early and met up with some of us on the mountain.

The weather was a bit iffy but we hoped it would clear up as the ride progressed–it did not. We rode up Glendora Mountain Road and then up Glendora Ridge Road to Baldy Village. Our new plan was to ride straight to the top and then descend back to the village. It was cold and fog rolled over the mountain ridges as we climbed. After the village, it got colder with more fog and then snow on the sides of the hill as we hit the final 3 miles of switchbacks to the top. At the top I put on more clothes before descending back to the village. I had already seen Jeff S, Larry, Nathan, Bob P, Guido and Oleg heading down as I was riding to the top. It was super foggy on the descent and very cold.

The gang regrouped at the corner of Mt Baldy Road and GRR to decide where we should ride next. Oleg seemed to be missing so we all waited for him and tried to guess where he would have gone since he was a bit under the weather. It was still cold and standing around made it even colder. We finally abandoned plans to ride back via GRR and down toward the reservoirs or GMR, everyone just wanted to head down to warmer weather. The descent down Mt Baldy Road was a bit tough due to lots of traffic and the cold temperatures. It finally warmed as we hit Upland, regrouped and rode along the bike path.

The ride back to the start was uneventful. We covered just about 50 miles and almost 7,000 feet of climbing. Oleg was up on GRR with Jeff S, Matt Baab and others so he watched the racers climb back up and then descended down to the start. Hope to go back again soon with the sun shining. Another great Descenders adventure. Here are a few photos.

https://plus.google.com/photos/117626389252909371681/albums/6149848526075475121

Rob