# Exhilarating Descents in SoCal...



## ElDuderino (Feb 21, 2004)

Allright,

Been out of state for a while, just got back last week. Anyhow, mabye I can't find them, but so far, huge G-Force-inducing descents have been hard to come by. Also, by "G-force inducing" i mean lateral force (leaning a bike into a tight off camber turn, for example)...not necessarily high speed. The combination of the two would be ideal...pulling G's on a bicycle at speed is too addicting... Post your favorite SoCal descent. Mine? Well, you gotta ride quite a bit to get there, but coming down from the top of Wilson to Red Box is pretty killer...decent length, plenty of turns, not too many cars, and a smooth road surface...


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## jm3 (Mar 22, 2003)

*Mt. Baldy from the ski lifts - nm*




ElDuderino said:


> Allright,
> 
> Been out of state for a while, just got back last week. Anyhow, mabye I can't find them, but so far, huge G-Force-inducing descents have been hard to come by. Also, by "G-force inducing" i mean lateral force (leaning a bike into a tight off camber turn, for example)...not necessarily high speed. The combination of the two would be ideal...pulling G's on a bicycle at speed is too addicting... Post your favorite SoCal descent. Mine? Well, you gotta ride quite a bit to get there, but coming down from the top of Wilson to Red Box is pretty killer...decent length, plenty of turns, not too many cars, and a smooth road surface...


That'll heat up your brakes real quick.


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## Bixe (Jan 28, 2004)

*GMR-GRR*: Any road that has as many roadside shrines as these should be considered. One of my favorite rides: Glendora Mountain Road from Glendora over the top and down into San Gabriel East Fork, back up to the Glendora Ridge Road, up to Baldy Village and come back down GRR to the GMR and back down into Glendora. Extra KOM points for getting up to the Lifts from the Village. 

Besides the shrines, Caltrans paints the pavement with 'Non Rec' where a car has gone over and they don't bother to pull it out from the bottom of the canyon. On nearly every ride, there are fresh sets of skid marks and hillside scars where the kids have bounced their cars around.

This Saturday AM (12/18), the Search 'n Rescue folks along with a lot of Glendora FD hardware were up on the GMR in several places along the switchbacks above Glendora looking for somebody that had gone over.

There's usually very little traffic, but on weekends get an early start to beat most of it. On weekdays, I've done the ride and seen but a couple of Forest Service vehicles and that's it.


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## mickey-mac (Sep 2, 2000)

Decker Canyon from Mulholland down to Portrero is a lot of fun. Latigo to PCH isn't the craziest descent in the world, but trying to catch the breathtaking views of the Pacific while negotiating almost constant curves can make for an interesting time.


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## gambo2166 (Oct 20, 2004)

I say painted cave/old San Marcos in Santa Barbara.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Old Topanga Road, headed toward the ocean. Not very long or steep, but nicely cambered turns, and always lush, beautiful and cool. Not especially trafficked, either.


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## Chip & Seal (Sep 9, 2004)

Don't forget about the San Bernardino Mountains. From Big Bear Lake, you have a choice of 3 ways down. Hwy 18 to 330 drops you into San Bernardino, city of. Not scary steep but quite entertaining.

Hwy 18 the other way takes you to Lucerne Valley. Many steep sections approaching 17%, horribly paved roads, switchbacks so sharp that when I take the corners in my truck, the steering is at full lock. Sissies need not apply  

Or, the best of the bunch. Hwy 38 to Mentone. Ride east out of Big Bear and take the Hwy 38 exit. After a modest 1500 ft climb to Onyx Peak (8443ft), it's almost all downhill to Mentone. There is one section of rollers and one section of additional climbing. Well paved roads and moderate traffic, depending on what time of day you ride.

BTW, bring your cold weather gear


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## fivekbob (Aug 22, 2004)

*Palos Verdes*

Hi, I don't have any experience riding the inland and coastal mountain descents, but there are a few good ones in the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Top of Crest to Palos Verdes Dr. East (short steep)
Palos Verdes Dr. Ea. at Crest south to Palos Verdes Dr. So...(great switchbacks)
Top of Hawthorne Blvd south to P.V. Dr. South
Silver Spur from Hawthorne Blvd. north to Palos Verdes Dr. North (had it up to 38 on my slow hybrid)
Later 5KBob, Run and Ride Hard


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

*Palomar Mtn.*

There's a reason that place is packed with sportbike (motorcycles) on the weekends. Closest thing to some of the Alpine descents I've done in France.


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## The Walrus (Apr 2, 2000)

*If you're gonna be in the San Gabriels...*

...how could you overlook Angeles Crest Highway going back down to La Canada from Angeles Forest Highway? That must be a good 12-15 miles, all downhill, much of it steep. At least if you're brakes heat up too much, there's the truck escape down at the bottom...


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