# Ride around the Bear <- does anyone have a route sheet ?



## Pierre (Jan 29, 2004)

does anyone have a route sheet for the century 'ride around the bear', that you could post here or email me ? Would be real nice. 

Thanks !


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## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

*I don't have a route sheet...*

But I can just recite the route here. I don't have distances, other than it's just about 33 miles from where you turn onto Highway 330 to Big Bear dam; and it's about 40 miles from Onyx Summit (the high point at about 8400') back to Redlands.

Start at Sylvan Park in Redlands, on University across from U of R.
North on University. Turn right at Lugonia.
Left on Garnet. Follow it around - it becomes Florida, then Greenspot, finally Fifth.
Right on Boulder.
Right on Highland.
Left at on-ramp to Highway 330. The climbing has begun!
At Big Bear dam, bear left onto highway 38, north side of Big Bear Lake.
Right on Green Way, at end of Big Bear Airport
Left on Big Bear Blvd (Highway 38)
Right turn to stay on Highway 38 when it turns south
Follow Highway 38 over Onyx Summit and down the other side.
In Mentone, Highway 38 becomes Lugonia.
Left on University.
Turn right into Sylvan Park. 
You're done.


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## stihl (Oct 27, 2005)

Do you guys know if this ride has a similar route compared to "Breathless Agony"?


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## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

*Covers some of the same ground*

I can't give you the precise route of BA, but in rough terms, here it is.

Start is at Sylvan Park in Redlands, same as the Bear. From there you head to Moreno Valley via San Timoteo Canyon and Redlands Blvd. There are lots of ways to get to San Timoteo Canyon from the start, and I'm not sure of the route they use.

From Redlands Blvd in MoVal you turn onto Gilman Springs Rd. Then turn onto Jackrabbit trail, and climb to SR60. You work your way along the side of SR60 to Beaumont Ave and turn left. Beaumont eventually turns into Oak Glen Rd. You ride up to the town of Oak Glen, then down the other side to Bryant St. in Yucaipa. (The climb to Oak Glen from Beaumont used to be the major climbing stage of the Redland pro race. Unfortunately, it's been deleted from this year's race.)

Right on Bryant, over to highway 38. Turn right onto 38 at the Mill Creek ranger station, and from there you climb to Onyx Summit, close to 6000' in 30 miles. You now turn around and ride back down to the start - exactly the same as the last 40 miles of the Bear. It's almost all downhill, except for a nasty little 1 mile climb just below Barton Flats and a few miles of rollers after that. Once you get to Angelus Oaks, it's downhill every inch of the way back to Redlands.

I've done every inch of the BA, but not all at once. It's always too early in the season for me to do that much climbing.


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## colnago_ed (Jan 14, 2006)

*Website for this ride please*

 can you post the website for this ride, thanks advance


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## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

*Ride around the Bear/ Breathless Agony*

http://www.ocw.org/bear/bearinfo.asp

http://www.cyclingpros.com/onyx.htm


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## hillbasher (Jan 28, 2006)

DMoore said:


> I can't give you the precise route of BA, but in rough terms, here it is.
> 
> Start is at Sylvan Park in Redlands, same as the Bear. From there you head to Moreno Valley via San Timoteo Canyon and Redlands Blvd. There are lots of ways to get to San Timoteo Canyon from the start, and I'm not sure of the route they use.
> 
> ...



I have the B. A. route sheet if interested. Email me at [email protected]


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## pavedroad (May 3, 2004)

How is the ride up to Big Bear? I've always wanted to try it, but the traffic scares the crap out of me.


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## mtnbikej (Jul 28, 2005)

pavedroad said:


> How is the ride up to Big Bear? I've always wanted to try it, but the traffic scares the crap out of me.



During the Ride Around the Bear, traffic is not too bad. There are so many riders out that the cars have to keep a constant watch out. Plus the CHP is usually on the patrol to make sure the motorist are behaving themselves.

Fun ride....did it last year for the first time. Will do again this year.

mtnbikej


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## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

*Riding to Big Bear*

I live in Redlands. 20 years ago, I'd ride up 330 to Running Springs once a week after work during the summer. Now the only day of the year I'll do that ride is during the Ride Around the Bear. Traffic is way too scary, and the road is too narrow. With 400+ other riders on the RAB, traffic gets accustomed to seeing riders. Any other time - no way.

If you want to ride to Big Bear, go up the backside (rte 38) from Yucaipa/Mentone. Much less traffic, much better road. It's just the Ride Around the Bear but in the opposite direction. Turn around at Onyx Summit, or just keep going all the way around and come down 330. Coming down you can pretty much keep up with traffic, so the total lack of shoulder isn't much problem.


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## stihl (Oct 27, 2005)

Is Ride Around the Bear the more popular organized ride than Breathless Agony? I am curious as I signed up for BA this year. Which one is better organized?


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## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

*RAB vs. BA*

Breathless Agony is not very well supported. It also covers a particularly lousy stretch of road - Gilman Springs Rd and Jackrabbit Trail. I decided many years ago to never ride that area again. Gilman Springs Rd is overrun with large trucks and huge potholes. Jackrabbit Trail is just that, a "paved" trail. It's not open to cars, mostly because they couldn't get through. Huge potholes (cave ins, actually) and if the weather is wet there are portages through the mud. Ick. At least, that's what it was like the last time I rode it some years ago.

RAB, on the other hand, is incredibly well organized and supported. I recall 6 rest stops along the route, with endless supplies of food, drink, etc at every stop. Rolling sag wagons, etc.

If you're a hard core climber, capable of doing a self-supported ride and are looking for a real challenge, BA will meet your needs. If you want something more civilized, with more people and a lot more support, go with RAB. BA is earlier in the year, and can get REALLY cold (at least by SoCal standards). RAB is a month later, which can make a real difference around here. It's not a bad workout, either. I've used it as a training ride for the Death Ride.

In terms of terrain, RAB is longer with more vertical, but the climbs are gentler. 

[edit: wrong. BA is longer with significantly more vertical. Definitely steeper than RAB. In my addled memory, I was confusing stats between BA and the Death Ride.] 

BA has a climb up the back side of Oak Glen which is noticeably steeper than anything you'll see on RAB. The Oak Glen climb was for several years the final climb of the "climbing" stage of the Redlands professional race. Horner and Travis Brown would fly up that hill. There were typically a dozen or so people who were still racing at that point -- everyone else was in survival mode. (Relatively speaking, of course. The slowest person out there would clean my clock!)

If you've never done either ride, I wouldn't start with BA. It's geared solely for hard core climbers. RAB is much more user friendly.


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## stihl (Oct 27, 2005)

Thanks for the great info DMoore! I'm riding BA with a friend who rode RAB last year. Why do you say that there are more riders at RAB? Both websites say that the rider limit is 400 (BA is full). 
Anyway, I think that this will be a great challenge for me. I have been riding around Mt. Wilson and Mt. Baldy/GMR for training so hopefully I'll be able to hang on and survive  
Thanks again!


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## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

*attendance*

"Limit" does not equal actual numbers of riders. I'm not aware that BA has ever been close to 400 riders. RAB, on the other hand, limits registered riders to 400. There are typically something like 50-100 unregistered riders who ride the route to take advantage of the relative safety in numbers. Between the local bike club in Redlands and the local race teams, I've been on RABs where I saw at least 50 people who I knew weren't registered.

I made some corrections to my previous post. BA is steeper AND longer than RAB. I'd muddled RAB and the Death Ride in my addled mind. In terms of distance and difficulty, I say RAB easiest - then BA - then Death Ride. And from all accounts, even the Death Ride pales in comparison to the Climb to Kaiser.

I always pay for a ride - an overdeveloped sense of obligation, I suppose. But there are always well over 400 riders riding around Big Bear that day, not all of them registered. BA is much smaller.

And I've done centuries with unlimited registration - that didn't have 100 riders, total. The late, lamented Mojave by Moonlight comes to mind. I loved that ride, but it died from lack of riders.


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## -CM- (Jan 6, 2006)

In their defense, the support on the Breathless Agony in the last couple/three years has increased dramatically, and is now one of the better supported rides around. I do a lot ot event rides, too, so I have a wide base of comparison. The first year I did it, I too declared that I would never do it again. Somehow I ended up doing it again, and now I don't ever want to miss it. It's a fantastic ride with great support. (I'm not associated with the ride in any way other than being a fan.)

As to the traffic going up 330 on RAB - yep, it's trerrible. I would never ride that road on any other day, but having 400 or so other riders out there makes it better. Every year I wonder what the heck I doing out there, but after the initial part of the climb, things get a lot better. And once you get up aound the Rim of the World, you know why you made the effort. Then there's the ride around the back side of the lake, and the climb to Onyx Summit, and the descent down 38...man, now I can't wait.


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## jeff262 (Dec 19, 2005)

*Gilman, Jackrabbit Conditions Update*



DMoore said:


> Breathless Agony is not very well supported. It also covers a particularly lousy stretch of road - Gilman Springs Rd and Jackrabbit Trail. I decided many years ago to never ride that area again. Gilman Springs Rd is overrun with large trucks and huge potholes. Jackrabbit Trail is just that, a "paved" trail. It's not open to cars, mostly because they couldn't get through. Huge potholes (cave ins, actually) and if the weather is wet there are portages through the mud. Ick. At least, that's what it was like the last time I rode it some years ago."
> 
> Thought I'd pitch in with a bit of an update on Gilman Springs. I am also preparing for BA and rode Gilman yesterday for the first time in about 5 years. I had given up on it and was kind of dreading that stretch. I was suprised at the conditions. FRESH PAVEMENT now exists with a bit of a wider shoulder. If you know the area I would easily say I felt much safer than on the stretch of San Tim before Redlands Blvd. My ride plan had been to go up to Lamb Canyon, but I couldn't resist the temptation to take Jackrabbit and went for it. It was better than I thought. Because most of the time it is a climb I found it not such a problem to work through the bad areas. At my climbing speed there were no big suprises with potholes. You are however very correct about the potential for mudholes. All was well until the right before it topped out. There was a large mudhole. Fortunately I had my cleat covers. I put them on and walked to the edge and all turned out okay. I continued on up Oak Glen, maybe a foot of snow on the ground, and then had my reward of the long descent back into Redlands for a day of about 50 miles and 5k feet.


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