the Velo Course: The Big T Loop

 My first foray into Big Tujunga Canyon probably came as early as 1991, possibly 1990, but since I didn't keep a ride log back then the first evidence I have of traversing the canyon's twisting road dates to 1992. That "first time" was a bit of a fluke as Big T was not an intended part of the day's route. Meeting the group at Sport Chalet on Sunday morning, 15 November 1992 we headed up Angeles Crest Highway (the Crest) under a comfortable pace. Soon enough, though, Greg took over at the front driving the pace higher until I, suffering a third consecutive week of dismal climbing, found myself adrift and alone between the leaders and the chasers. At Clear Creek we turned onto Angeles Forest Highway and rapidly cruised along to the junction with Big Tujunga Canyon Road. At that point most of the group continued up to Mill Creek Summit, before heading down to Acton and a big loop back home. Willie, Mason and myself, recognizing that we were not up to that task took the short and fast way back - down Big T.

My next ride in Big T came early the following year, 31 January, when LA Sheriff Cycling did a  club ride up the Crest from Pasadena, and then back down Big T. It was on this ride that Fred Pierce busted his chain near the dam and we had to tag-team push him on the uphills back to Foothill in Sunland.

April 4, 1994 was the first time I rode the classic Big T Loop - the version that climbs, rather than descends through the canyon. I did this ride on a Monday which also means I did it solo. The outstanding impression, as recorded in the log, from that day's ride was being pounded by the wind. Hmm, my most recent experience with riding up there also involves some brutal wind; when they blow, those Santa Ana's can get funneled through those mountain canyons with some fearsome speed.

On New Years Day 1995 I, along with Dave Ward, Mitch Boggs, and Monty (I don't think Monte, but I can't be sure) joined some seventy-something other riders on the annual ride up Big T, Angeles Forest, Angeles Crest and on to summit at Mt Wilson. I suffered a horrible day of climbing and packed it in half way between Clear Creek and Red Box. At the end of the month that year, 29 January, I, Mitch, Dave, Tom, Ed, "Pepe", Darren, Ernie and "someone else" split off from the Sunday La Tuna ride for a steady, easy ride up Big Tujunga and down the Crest. Low down in Big T the group was "treated to a free concert" when Darren and Ed broke out in song - Hotel California. For that I noted it was a good thing they had an alternate hobby to fall back on. A week later, 5 February, "we" did the same route again, this time with additional members of Team Xtreme. Though they were "cajoled" into suffering the extra miles and climbing, I noted they would be "all the better for it."

After flipping through the pages of multiple journals I didn't happen to come across the "dog incident," so maybe that was during one of those earlier non-journal years. Anyway Big T pretty much fell away from my radar after moving from Burbank and into Pasadena, replaced by rides like Big Santa Anita Canyon to Chantry Flats, the long run to the beach and, of course, Highway 39.

Over the passing years, the Big T Loop has held an almost mythic image in my head, amongst the repertoire of rides I keep locked in there. Perhaps that is where I should leave it. You see, that was then, and this is now. You know how you watch a movie, hear a song, or eat a meal as a kid, and you think "wow, this is good; can anything be better?" Decades pass and out of the blue you hear that song or watch that movie, and you say to yourself, "wow, that's crap." Some things just don't stand the test of time. Big T is not quite like that, the scenery is spectacular, always has been, always will be. The road winds around canyons and ridges, with new views opening up with each passing minute. But man,- I honestly don't believe the surface has had any repaving activity since that other-than-Eagle-like rendition of Hotel California in 1996. The thing is a mess. And shoulders? I am not sure there are any wider that six or nine inches, and often the white line is painted right at the edge of pavement. Big Tujunga Canyon Road is a true mountain road and comes with all the baggage that accompanies that designation. There is no question that my comfort zone was different all those years ago than it is now. Because of that I'm not so sure I would ride it anymore. Unless it were closed to motor vehicles. While driving to my destination up canyon this past weekend, I did spot a few riders, and by that I mean three at the most. Too bad. I will continue to hold fond memories of the rides I took there, but don't think I will be making any new ride memories in Big T.

I use Griffith Park as the start point for this edition of the Velo course; it was / is the actual start point for a number of group rides, and was close enough (I lived just outside the park) to call it the start. Alexa, show me the way: Head along Zoo Drive in a westerly direction and make a right on Victory, exiting the park. Many of the group rides that start at the park would continue on along Victory for a considerable distance, but these days that way is just a horrible mess of traffic, and anyway my preferred way diverged almost immediately by turning right at Sonora. Take that street a short way up and make your next turn, a left on Glenoaks. You'll roll along Glenoaks for a goodly number of miles before reaching Sun Valley and a right turn onto Sunland Blvd. Sunland will wind around a bit, rising and falling before crossing beneath the 210 freeway and transitioning into Foothill Boulevard. Next, make a left on Mt. Gleason and head toward your destination - Big T - you'll go up and over a little rise that sits in the way just before reaching Big Tujunga Canyon Road and turning right. From this point you just keep going up; the grade may vary, but generally speaking it keeps to the positive side of zero. You'll make most of the climb before reaching the architectural Big Tujunga Bridge, and then the dam and reservoir. There are multiple trailheads along this opening section of the road, and people tend to get to them early to start their hike, before the day's heat presses down. Twist and turn with the road until you reach the junction with the Angeles Forest Highway and make the nearly 180º turn to the right. Immediately you will notice a marked improvement in the roadway surface. Though shorter (at least on this loop) Angeles Forest is just as scenic as Big T. Keep going on to Clear Creek and the Junction with Angeles Crest Highway and make a right. Traffic will pick up noticeably once you turn onto the Crest, but it is all downhill from here back to the city. Once down in the city of La Canada-Flintridge, at Foothill Boulevard, there are at least a couple options to finish the loop (and admittedly others as well). The group rides tended to cross Foothill, and wind around to the Rose Bowl via Chevy Chase, Highland and Linda Vista, before turning onto Colorado, Glendale and Los Feliz to get back to Griffith Park. It is a fine route. The other, shorter, way I sometimes took goes right on Foothill, left on Verdugo, down through the gap between the Verdugo Hills and the San Rafael Hills, right on Mountain followed by a quick left on Ethel. Ethel turns into Glenoaks, which you can take all the way back to Sonora and home / Griffith Park.

52.7 miles, 4060 feet of elevation gain

Happy trails, or roads, as the case may be.