Thursday 130 miles with 9,500 feet of climbing (9,000 in the first 50 miles) and Friday another 100 miles on the coast. On Thursday, I hitched a ride to Glendora with some friends. I climbed Glendora Mountain Road (GMR) descended and topped off my bottles at Camp Williams. I then cut across on East Fork and climbed from below 2,000 feet elevation to Dawson Saddle (7901 Elevation) on Hwy 39. My friends didn’t want to climb to Dawson Saddle so I “stranded” myself and I rode home from 84 miles away. I told my friends that they did not have to wait for me while I kept climbing and that they could go home.
A training note: This was a 400 mile week. One of the greatest challenges of riding that many miles is RECOVERY. Eating enough calories and protein to rebuild your muscles overnight is very important. Proper hydration during my ride on Thursday was very challenging because of the remote nature of the course (refer to this post on Dawson Saddle). I spent the rest of the day on Thursday re-hydrating so that I could be ready for Friday’s century. After Friday’s century I was still dehydrated because I only stopped once to fill my bottles and rode for six hours on four bottles.
Today- another 100 miles with sore legs.
and now for some fun…
Swiftwick Socks
From L to R: Heidi, George Vargas, Johnny, Geno and Chris
Camp Williams General Store- water spigot located at the base of tree to the right backside of Glendora Mountain Road or Little GMR as some call it.
Dawson Saddle- the summit of a 35 mile climb from Duarte
George “Red-Eyed Vireo” Vargas summits Dawson Saddle
George “Red-Eyed Vireo” Vargas view from Crystal Lake (5200 feet) looking up.
George's Epic Adventures 
Nice pics and nice back to back rides George. I think you would like my Jawbone creation I built. Jupiter green with white jaws and ear socks with Jade Green Vented lens.
It would be a good match with your green getup.
Krisztian,
Thank you for keeping up with my blog. I have a set of Jade vented as well. But since they’re not polarized and they aren’t as dark I don’t wear when I’m going long in clear blue sky conditions.
I haven’t made it out to the 395 climbs this year. I would hope to recon the Everest Challenge course at least one weekend.
Cheers,
george
Hey Vireo, epic ride! I’m thinking of taking GMR->East Fork->39 to crystal lake, but I’m concerned about water availability. Any tips?
Also, have you though about uploading your 2011 GMR and death valley garmin files to Strava?
One of these days I’ll have to stop by the shop to meet you in person. You got me hooked on adventure corps rides and I feel like I owe you a beer or something. 🙂