To Climb Mount Wilson

A bucket list for Los Angeles area bicyclists is as varied as the riders who might compile such a list. You might find rides like Glendora Mountain & Glendora Ridge Roads, the Pacific Coast Highway, Mulholland Highway, giving any number of training rides (such as the Rose Bowl) a try, Mt Baldy Road to Baldy Village, or to the ski lifts, and climbing to Mount Wilson. Each of those are kind of like a rite of passage. These days, most riders climb to Mount Wilson via Angeles Crest Highway - relatively few attempt the climb via the old Mount Wilson Toll Road. Back in the early 1900s, however, the toll road was the only option available. Attempts were so infrequent that when a bicyclist made the decision to undertake the endeavor, it was headline news.

In January 1913, two local riders - Joseph A. Caminati and Thurlow McCoye, both members of the Overland Wheelmen, and well-known competitors among the racing cognoscenti in the city (McCoye was Southern California champion). The two, who trained by riding the steep streets in the city, began their trip on the 25th of the month in very balmy conditions. As noted in the Los Angeles Evening Express, their bikes were "geared down low" to assist them with the nine-percent average gradient. Looking beyond the climb, which the two expected to "prove hard," Caminati and McCoye also foresaw a "severe test of their coaster brakes, as they intended to coast down the mountain."

Unfortunately whatever description of their journey Caminati and McCoye could have provided is, instead, an empty page; the only follow-up story is a simple statement that the two heroes made the summit, while several others failed. Well, anyway, we can still ride the old toll road and live the experience ourselves.