Back at NAHBS, my lady friend Cari bought an Elephant NFE for her around town and touring bike. While we’ve done plenty of local, in the neighborhood rides and even a few fireroad jaunts while camping, we’d never done an official ride – to a destination anyway. For a few reasons, the most pressing issue being her general fear of descending down rocky, rutted and steep fire roads. Which, as you’ve seen in the Reportage here on the site, is pretty much all we have in Los Angeles.
Yesterday brought about my 35th birthday and she decided that she’d give it a go as a present. Being able to go on rides with a partner is important to me, as you’d imagine and she knew that going into the ride. To make it a bit easier on her, I spared her the 20 mile ride from my house to the base of the fire road at Clear Creek.
Even so, cutting out 40 miles on a 50 mile day, we still left the literal tip of the iceberg.
Josephine Fire Road begins at 3,650′ and ends at Josephine Peak around 5,558′. All in roughly 4.5 miles. The road is steep in the beginning before leveling out at the switchbacks. Once you reach the saddle, it’s an easy 1.5 mile climb to the top where views of the neighboring peaks and even Downtown Los Angeles await. Cari threw a jacket in her basket, laced up her Vans and hiked up her denim shorts before taking a breath and began climbing.
At the top, we ate snacks, talked about the climb, what she liked and what she didn’t and I gave pointers about how to descend back to the pickup truck. The sun was fading and the sky was ablaze. I knew the temperature would be dropping and offered up some extra gear I packed to keep her hands and arms warm.
The nice thing about going slow downhill is you get to enjoy the vistas along the trail. It gave me time to shoot photos and she didn’t feel rushed. We took it easy and that’s the key to new experiences with your partner on a bike. Don’t push them, but in the same sense, don’t coddle them. Let everything happen at a natural pace.
We made it to the truck and back to the city from almost 6,000′ to sea level in 30 minutes. Just in time to change clothes and have a cocktail with dinner. There aren’t many places you can do that in the States!