The rider’s ride

Trek Émonda SLR8, £5,800, trekbikes.com

The road unravels itself to our left like a dropped ribbon. It’s what a road cycling Scalextric track would look like

above. I make note of these for when we will return down this road on the descent later on.

The relentlessness of the climb starts to make itself felt in my legs. It’s an ascent on a par with some of the big cols in Europe when it comes to making a mess of a rider. What’s more, it’s getting cold.

Rounding a tight left-hand hairpin, my physical hardships are momentarily forgotten as the road unravels itself to our left like a dropped ribbon on the mountain’s edge. It’s what a road cycling Scalextric track would look like. Arcs of tarmac coil into the distance amid the browns and greens of the Californian wilderness. It’s a beautiful moment – no sound, no traffic, just us. And a few handfuls of bullet casings.

We stop to admire the view and Alex unclips into the scattering of spent rounds. It serves as a timely reminder of where we are. Perhaps life in the city is frustrating enough The SLR8 sits in the middle of Trek’s superlight Émonda range, and was built for days like these. My model had a measured weight of just 6.25kg (without pedals) and featured Trek’s ‘H2’ endurance geometry, with a slightly taller head tube than the more aggressive ‘H1’ version. This meant that a long day in the San Gabriel Mountains was dispatched in as much comfort as possible, while the Émonda frame was still stiff enough to ensure precise handling on the fast descents. A Dura-ace 50/34 compact chainset with 11-28 cassette meant I could cope with any gradient (albeit slowly at times). Although Trek’s top-of-the-range Émonda SLR10 will set you back £11,000, I couldn’t imagine needing anything more than the SLR8 for even the longest ascents.