For a little comparison...

with yesterday's Highway 39 ride, I present you, today, with Glendora Mountain Road (GMR):

As with many good climbs, the bottom of GMR starts unassuming enough, within the city of Glendora. Many people will park here and ride up, but I, glutton for punishment, took the opportunity to get a longer ride in and rode over from home. Just in the distance is a fire station where the road make an upward turn. This is just a preview though and a relatively short rise, after which the road levels out again, passes by the turnoff into Big Dalton Canyon, enters the National Forest, makes a 90º turn at the small parking area for the Monroe Truck Trail (in my opinion the best mountain bike single track in the San Gabriel Mountain front range). But that is a story for another day.

From the lower Monroe TT, the GMR is a succession of upward sloping switchbacks, gentle curves and panoramic views. There is little wonder that on a typical day there will be any number of cyclists making the climb along this road. The first part of the route is the steepest, you gain the most elevation in the shortest distance. Look off across the canyon to your right and you can see the Monroe TT climbing the next ridge over. 

Eventually the GMR switches over to the north side of the ridge it has been climbing and you now are overlooking San Gabriel Canyon, and looking down on the two reservoirs I mentioned in yesterdays post about Highway 39. You get a very dramatic view of just how much climbing GMR makes in its first few miles as opposed to Highway 39 as it traverses the canyon far below.

I thought I got off to a nice (relatively) early start, but even so there were quite a few riders already headed down, either railing the turns or taking a more relaxed descent.

In due time I reached the upper end of the Monroe TT, my designated turn around point. From here you have an expansive view to the northeast to Mt. Baldy and can spot the GMR heading down toward East Fork. It is just past the point where I stopped that the Glendora Ridge Road branches off the GMR. This road heads on to Baldy Village and would have made a nice loop for me, and a much easier all downhill end of ride. But I stuck to the out and back plan.

The way back is when you get the best views down into San Gabriel Canyon so I stopped for a few photos. Different perspective that is for sure. Anyway I let the new bike run a bit back down the mountain, and best of all no front end wobble at all, woo hoo. Two good mountain days now in a row and the bike has worked out at least as well as I had hoped - climbs with ease, and descends with stability. I feel almost like the climber I was ten years ago. Distance from Claremont to upper Monroe Truck Trail and back 38.3 miles.