So some friends and I attempted (key word here) the ride that @jimmythefly wrote for me for the Holiday Ride Exchange (route below):
I roped a couple of crazy friends into attempting with me, and there were a couple of spots that were unknown, but we decided that most of it “should be rideable.” Boy were we wrong. Started from my house and rode ~13 miles to the start of the route. Rode about 100 feet onto the route before we were hiking (first foggy pictures). Hiked for about an hour, then were able to ride for a long while. By the time we hit the bottom of the first huge climb into the Angeles, it was already 12:30. The trail pretty immediately kicked up into a 1500ft climb over 2 miles of rutted hiking trail. Even with my fancy new subcompact was plainly unrideable. By the time we hit the top and changed our first flat of the day, it was ~2:30, with another 6000ft to climb and at least 50 miles. I was the only one with lights and there was definitely no food stops the rest of the route until we were done with the climbing. I knew the fire road we were on was rideable and fun, but also knew that even if we bailed to pavement at the top, we’d be descending a pretty busy Angeles Crest Highway in the dark (or, Jess and Colton would be in the dark, I’d be fine). So we decided to turn back and rip some singletrack and fire roads lower down, then head home. Jess and Colton got another 4 flats between the two of them on our way back into town and home.
All in all, a super fun day. With some modifications to the route (namely, circumventing the known hike-a-bike), This would still be very climby without being impossible. Seeing the looks on the faces of hikers coming down the trail we were pushing up was pretty priceless/