Climb Every Mountain

After riding 100 miles the week before, conventional wisdom says to take it easy the week after. That was not the case here. Instead, we opted to do one of the toughest climbs in Los Angeles: the dreaded Latigo Canyon Road.

There were very few training rides scheduled this particular weekend. On Sunday, the city was hosting the family-friendly CicLAvia where 7.5 miles of streets were closed off to cars. Many bikers took to the street. It sounded like a fun event, but we wanted to do a longer ride and chose to do the only training ride scheduled on Saturday. It was with Team Cynergy, a training ride group we hadn’t ridden with before, so that was an added perk.

We met up at Cynergy Cycles in Santa Monica and rode up Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to Cross Creek Road in Malibu. We followed pretty much the same route as other PCH rides we’ve done with Shifting Gears. After a short break, where I ate an absolutely delicious mini-chocolate muffin from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, we continued west on PCH for another four miles and finally began our climb at the base of Latigo Canyon.

This route is not for beginners. It is a steady, strenuous 10-mile climb from PCH to the top of Latigo Canyon. In other words, it’s literally a pain in the ass. It is not a forgiving route. There are few flat areas to take breaks and catch your breath. Veteran riders say that this is by far a harder climb than anything we’ll encounter during AIDS/LifeCycle in June, which will most certainly have plenty of climb along the way. Basically, Latigo Canyon is good training. So if we can do this, we can face any climb on AIDS/LifeCycle.

It took us two hours to complete the 10-mile climb. The only saving grace was that it ended up being a beautiful day for riding. It was not too cold and not too hot. Any hotter and it would have been an unbearable, sweaty 10-mile climb. Additionally, it was a nice, clear day with breath-taking views of the Malibu bay and the mountain side where it was actually green, as opposed to the usual, ugly dried-out desert-brown typically seen all over Los Angeles. The sky was so clear that we were able to look out and actually see the ocean. Climbing aside, I’m glad we didn’t miss out on this ride and the views.

The reward for any climb is usually the descent. On this occasion, going downhill was no reward. We came down Kanan Dume Road, which is parallel to Latigo Canyon, and faced unusually strong and cold head wind for the whole 5.5 miles down. The wind was so strong that, at certain points, it rocked my bike. When you’re flying downhill at 30-35 miles per hour, being blown by the wind is actually very dangerous. Thankfully, we made it safely back down to PCH and rode back to Cross Creek Road for a short break.

By then, we had ridden about 41 miles and I was having pain at the base of my neck and to the left of my right shoulder blade. We had another 15 miles or so to Santa Monica and I was dreading it as much as the climb up Latigo Canyon. Despite the neck/shoulder pain, the final leg back went as smoothly as possible. We rode at a pretty fast pace and got back at around 2:45 pm, altogether 55.12 miles.

We visited my favorite bike store, I.Martin, on the way home to talk with Jaime, I.Martin’s awesome store manager. He’s going to take a look at my riding position again to see if I need any further adjustments. I also told him we need to take a look at the saddle again. Sorry to be blunt, but my ass has not been happy on these last few rides. Ouch and Oucher!