Fraizer Park, CA

It was a normal day like any other in February. The air was crisp, with a warm breeze. Today's journey had me feeling adventurous. As I did not want to stick to the monotony of the Santa Clarita bike paths. Don't get me wrong, 40 miles of paved paths are great..... If you have a beach cruiser and are retired.

So I loaded Sadie up on my Ford (Sadie is my 2013 Giant TCR Advanced) and we headed North. Not knowing what to expect, I hit the I-5 freeway and started rocking out to some KROQ alternative music.
I found myself in a small town called "Lake of the Woods", that is dauntingly recognizable to that of any horror movie. As I laced up my Giro's and waited for my Garmin to lock in on it's GPS, I looked around at the small run down town, with very little activity and started to pedal West. I was fighting one of that nastiest headwinds known to man as I gradually started to climb. It was one of those rides that since I didn't know where I was going, and the wind was so brutal, I almost called it quits. Then I saw what seemed to be deserted mountain road climb, sheltered with the help of lush green Christmas trees, which gave me the strength to pedal on. The climbing grade bounced around quite a bit, and the 9% grades seemed to feel pretty flat. I was hooked.

I was cycling through Fraizer Park, just North of Los Angeles into Mount Pinos, and it was absolutely breathtaking. It was a fairly mild day, with remnants of the winters snow. I was surprised that there was still this much snow just an hour North of LAX. Being from Canada, it was welcoming reminder of the Motherland. The climb was a beautiful reminder that California isn't always the Hustle and Bustle we've come to expect. During the descent, I had even topped out at my max speed.
The ride was great. It was only 22.5 miles, but I climbed over 2,700 feet. That's not bad when you consider half the ride is back down.