PIE Ride (Camels To Yaqui Pass Permanent)

PIE Route plus Camels To Yaqui Pass Route

John M. drove us out to Ramona to start the Camels To Yaqui Pass Permanent. We'd meet up with the OFR Thursday riders at Santa Ysabel and ride with them part way before branching off and going down to the Borrego Springs. Rare chance to ride with John on a weekday!

Damp, foggy and cool in Ramona when we left around 6:30 AM. Fog was off and on heavy as we wound our way up Old Julian Hwy. By the time we reached Hwy. 78, it had cleared and the sun warmed us up a bit. Temps near 50 as we rolled into Santa Ysabel at 8:10 and mingled with the North County riders who were getting ready for the ride. Good time to hit the head and take a few pre-PIE ride snapshots. A few riders arrived late, so we waited around before rolling out well after the announced 8:30 AM start time. 19 riders made up a nice group.

John preps up at cool, damp Ramona start

Great photo ops riding up the Mesa Grande climb under bright blue skies. Coolish downhill to Lake Henshaw and a regroup at the bottom near Hwy. 76 and the biker bar. I took some nice pace-line photos and video rolling down to the Hwy. 79 turn. That section to the Hwy. S-2 turn is real tight with traffic as there is very little bike lane outside the "fog line". Had a nice regroup after the turn and chatted with several drivers who were pulling trailers to the desert. Bill Stevenson, John Mestemacher and I turned left to Ranchita at the junction. The PIE group went straight up to Teofulio Summit and a long 10 mile downhill to Scissor Crossing before the climb up Banner Grade. They regrouped at the Banner Store before riding up to Julian and the nice downhill back to Santa Ysabel. Judy Richwine had a flat on that section and no one noticed. She later got help from some Harley riders and got on her way. They ended up with a nice 55 mile loop with nice weather.

The rando trio rode up to Ranchita and then down the FAST Montezuma Grade. Today there was no wind, which made the descent half-way safe. We had a nice break at the station store before the long trekkie climb up Yaqui Pass. Of course we had some cross wind near the top. Stopped at Tamarisk Campground. It is now open. We chatted with the rangers there and got the latest update. Never liked riding the next section of Hwy. 78 to Scissor Crossing. It gets real tight in the "narrows" with no bike lane. This is direction you want to avoid on Sundays when the "desert rats" are going home.

Frenchie and John chat at Campground

We also stopped at Banner Grade at the store. I got some water around the left side at a hidden fountain. Never did find the "perfect" gearing for that climb. Lots of tourists having pie in Julian as we rolled through on our way to Santa Ysabel. Bill left us here and loaded his bike up. John and I finished the Camels To Yaqui Pass Permanent and arrived back into Ramona before November darkness set in.

This is a ride the OFR Thursday Group does every year around November.
They start at 8:30 AM, every Thursday at Magee Park in Carlsbad, CA 

Good time and nice weather too!

Here is an interesting video of this route on YouTube

-randorides