Wiley's Birthday Ride 2000

Wiley's Birthday Ride
(Riverside-Onyx Summit-Big Bear City-Onyx Summit-Riverside)

Paul, Wiley, Ray

Wiley himself

Hammerin’ Jim Harlo, also known as Wiley Coyote, celebrated his 50^th birthday grinding out a tough 60 miles straight uphill from Riverside to Onyx Summit on his single-speed bike, on Saturday, July 1^st. Then he pedaled his Schwinn Coaster down to Angelus Oaks, for a total of 80 miles and about 10,000 feet of climbing.

My roadie buddy, Paul Blacharski, doesn’t have a single speed, so we decided to hook up with Harlo at Canyon Crest on Saturday morning and take the Harlo route up to Onyx, go over to Big Bear City and back to Riverside on fast titanium road bikes (for about 140 miles, 12,000 feet of climbing).

As planned, we met Wiley Coyote at 5:30 AM with cool weather. As planned, we rode with Harlo at a leisurely pace through Redlands to Greenspot where we got our first snacks. Then we went up the 38 to the Ranger Station and got water. Paul and I picked up the pace after that and left Jim cruising along contentedly listening to his Jimmy Hendrix tape. Shortly after 9:00 AM, I arrived at the Angelus Oaks restaurant, where wife, Pam and Paul’s wife, Mary Lou, were waiting with their road bikes to ride up to Onyx Summit. By the time my French toast arrived, Paul and Jim arrived too. Since Jim had the heavy single speed bike and the women aren’t hammerheads, we told them to head up the 38 first and we’d follow in 5-10 minutes. Once we took off, Paul dropped back with some heart-rate problems. I pushed hard to catch up with Harlo and the women, but they were going strong. I first caught the women around Barton Flats. But Hammerin’ Harlo was way out there, nowhere in sight. I finally reeled him in right after South Fork, headed up the climb to Onyx Summit. He was doing a steady and impressive 8 mph on a single speed! I cruised along with him for a couple of miles, asking him for more stories about his 1987 and 1988 wins at the Ironhorse in Durango. Then Wiley Coyote plugged in his Hendrix and I pushed my Eddy Merckx up to Onyx Summit, down to Big Bear City (where I had a V-8 and Milky Way at the Country Store), and back up to Onyx Summit.

About an hour later, approaching Angelus Oaks, I caught up with Mary Lou, who confirmed that everyone had made it to Onyx Summit, including the 50-year old former national champion on his single- speed. Then I found Wiley himself peddling steadily into Angelus Oaks. When we pulled into the village, my wife, Pam, was already there.

We celebrated the legend’s spectacular birthday feat with a meal at the restaurant in Angelus Oaks. He had a veggie burger. Then Wiley, Pam and Mary Lou packed their bikes onto a bright yellow XTERRA and headed for Riverside.

Paul and I sailed into Mentone, then cruised into Riverside. Our training ride, including two leisurely meals, was a twelve-hour day. Another long training ride. But what I’ll remember from July 1, 2000 is the incredible image of a 50-year-old legend hammerin’ up to Onyx Summit with the same pack on his back, in company with another legend, Jimmy Hendrix. This was the day two legends came together for a good cause: getting from Riverside to Onyx Summit on a Schwinn single-speed bicycle.