Sierra Madre Epic

A few years ago I did a loop that included the long climb up then closed Sierra Madre Rd. It had recently burned over and they had closed the area to protect it. It was an eerie ride. Not much had grown back at that point so there was a surface of the moon quality to the landscape. I had never been on the roads before so there was that nervousness about what lies ahead. I was doing it solo which added to the tension. That day turned out to be very hard, and running out of water and fuel 15 miles from the end wasn't much fun either. But I have thought about that road since then and returning to ride it which I did with my buddy Karl yesterday. We got a reasonably early start at about 10:30. The day was cool - mid 40s with some high clouds. This ride is an epic extended dirt climb. The road is now open and we saw perhaps 6-10 vehicles in the 4.5 hours we were out there. It opens the climbing account with an hour and a half of steady to steep climbing ending at a saddle where there's a radio antenna. I managed to gap Karl a bit in this section - not intentionally, just riding my own pace. The views from this part are great. It then continues climbing but not as steadily for another hour and a half till you hit the highest part of the ridge at 5,500 ft. There were many sections with snow and mud on them. These proved a challenge going up from an effort and balance point of view and going down from a staying upright point of view. Just before the very highest point of the ridge after we'd been climbing for close to three hours, I called it quits. I couldn't face another muddy snow covered slog to the next dry section. We turned around and an hour and a half of slipping sliding and bone jarring riding later we were back to the car - shot and satisfied.