Mile High Road via Avenida Miravilla

one many oak canopies near the start Mile High Road

Well, not quite a mile, the turn-a-round point is at about 4200'.  This has become the perfect 2 hour 25 mile bike ride.

beautiful pyracantha near the top

It takes me about 90 minutes to climb 2000' to the halfway point, with 1000' of climbing in the last 3 miles to the top. The 30+ minute ride home is almost entirely downhill with nice vistas most of the way down.

climbing with a view of the San Gorgonio Pass in the background

  This single lane road dead ends at a private ranch meaning there is little or no car traffic.  It is a very quiet lane with only sounds being the wind and the quail in the grass calling on each other.

Land Of False Summits

I have been residing in the San Gorgonio Pass area for about a month now.  Living at one of the low points of the pass means that every destination is a slow uphill grind with a rather fast descent back home.  This is something that I am not accustomed to having coming from a very flat Long Beach.   On most of the rides here the ascents gain 2K' in less than 10 miles....  This is very different for me and I rather like the challenge.

On many of the longer  grades, "false summits" are common.  I realize once you have followed the same route more than a couple of times you are aware of them, but the first time through on a 7 mile ascent can be a little humbling.

Upon leaving the more settled areas the scenery is mostly bucolic and at the higher elevations the views are very expansive.  Passing through orchards and ranches and the occasional rail crossing make for some interesting rides.

Heron's Happy 20K Miles

Running as good if not better than it did when I first put it together about eight years ago.  All of the bearings are as smooth as they were when they were new, the frame has minimal "beausage" and the wheels are tight and true.

Component Add/Change Rundown:

Nitto Pearl, Technomic Deluxe, Dirt Drop and finally Tallux stem.
Sugino replaced with Herse cranks
rear eyelet cracked Mavic A719 rim replaced with another A719
Paul Cross levers added summer of 2012
Berthoud 45's replaced with 50's
Brooks Champion B17, Sella Anatomica, back to same Brooks Champion
5 chains, 5 pairs of tires (panaracer to schwalbe, back to panaracer)