Chantry Flats Climb

by Errin on January 19th, 2010

When I was in high school I used to go to Chantry Flats to hike and backpack. My Pops and Aunt introduced me to this area and I enjoyed it for many years. Back then I would always imagine riding my bike up the narrow windy road pretending to be a climber in the Tour de France. I always thought that was crazy though, that I would never be able to do that. Well, I was wrong.

When I read that the group would be heading up to Chantry Flats as their destination I knew I had to try. We met up early in the morning at the base of Sierra Madre Blvd.

We rode straight up Sierra Madre Blvd to the little town of the same name. The town was featured in the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” From here it wasn’t too far to the base of the climb.

The climb started out pretty good, with everyone riding together. After a couple turns though everyone spread out riding at their own pace. The gearing of the Casseroll is different from the LHT and Fargo, and it would’ve been nice to have more options in the rear. Whatever the gearing though, it just came down to keeping my head down and pedalin’. Up and up and up. I hadn’t been on this road for years, so I didn’t remember how long it was. Gary told me the climb was 3.2 miles, but I screwed up and looked at my average speed instead of my odometer at the bottom. Whoops. So I had no idea how far I had left at any part of the climb. Didn’t matter, I knew I’d get to the top eventually. Which I did. And I made it up there fast, second in our group, which was huge for me, being my first time on this climb.

At the top!

We hung around for a couple minutes at the top, and then began the descent. What a fun descent! I think my motorcycle riding helped me to get around the corners pretty fast. Well, fast enough I guess. I didn’t want to push it. I pulled off towards the bottom to managed to get a shot of Ken and Gary descending.

And of course, the trusty Casseroll.

Here’s the stats!