Ursa Major Birthday Ride

Dan Phillips turns 50 ride!

Riding buddy Dan Phillips turned the big 5-0 yesterday. Guess that means his cycling days are over now? Met up in Escondido for the Ursa Major Permanent to celebrate his birthday. Kinda a shortie ride of 202km/128mi and less than a mile of climbing. Posted the ride on SDrando message board and also the NCCC board.

Nice email response and questions about this ride. Dan, Bill Stevenson and Phil Auchter rode in from Oceanside. Ed Shepherd rode in from Rancho Bernardo. I rode in from San Marcos with help from the Sprinter train. Also at the start were strong rider Dave Horwitt, randos Sandy Aniya & Robert Abraham, George Freeman from Michigan, new rando Keith ? and strong-girl Andi Ramer.

After a lot of story telling and braggos, we got our start receipts and off we went. Andi opted out due to the "cold" temps. Heck it was a little cool at 36 F, especially since we were hitting the big downhill of Del Dios straight away. We had a regroup at Rancho Santa Fe and after the turn onto Coast Hwy. northbound. Stopped over at Swami's for a delayering and were serenaded by Gloria. She played quite well.

Chit-chat at the Escondido start

Near Oceanside Pier, George's son and son-in-law joined up. Were supposed to pick up several more riders from the OFR Thursday Gruppo, but they were no-shows. Rode through the Camp at a moderate pace, and chatted on the way up to the #11 bathroom at San Onofre Campground. Met Dave Horwitt before that. He had a flat tire in Carlsbad and used the I-5 option.Trestles was a busy bike path. We met Ed at the turn onto El Camino in downtown San Clemente (He didn't stop at Swami's and rode I-5 north). George Jr. and Jeff left us at the coffee shop/Metro Station in north San Clemente. They both rode well today but still couldn't keep up with new grandpa George! New guy rando Keith was hangin' tough too.


San Juan Bike Trail took us over to San Juan Capistrano and Carl's Jr for a short break. I had a ice cream sandwich for a receipt and others a burger. Dan sat in a daze in the sun. Guess his age is catching up with him.
Back over the bike bridge and on to the San Juan Bike Trail in to a light headwind. Doheny State Beach is a calm place to ride through. We all took the back way through the San Clemente neighborhood. Dan had a flat on his new G'skin Hardshell! Glass. We regrouped at the Trestles bike path.

We all decided to go back on I-5. It would give the newbies a chance to experience it! We rode through the Rest Stop and made a 20 mph run back to Oceanside. Regrouped at the Harbor Dr. bathrooms and crossed over the bridge and onto the San Luis Rey Bike Path.Nice little tailwind there and we were rolling along at a comfortable 18 mph. Robert had a flat tire near the end. Dan went back to check and inform him we would regroup at Bonsall McDonalds.Dan cut off and headed back home. He got in his 125 today.

Gloria serenades Randos at Swami's

We all joined up in Bonsall McD and put a layer on. I got a yogurt and fruit for $1.08. Need that receipt. It's always cooler in Camino Del Rey Road river bottom. Rode together till the Champagne climb, where we rode our own pace up. Short regroup at the top, before we cooled off! Dave and Robert had the dyno lights on. Keith's battery pak light wouldn't work. I had my frogies and George kept in between. Group of five rode together to Escondido and over to the finish. Ed and Sandy were right behind us. Robert, George and I stopped at Wendy's. Dave and Keith at Albertson's.

No records were targeted this trip. It's usually more fun in a group. Lots better for pictures too! Seemed to be a lot of flat tires for some reason. Must be the recent rains. We stayed together most of the route and had a good time. George Jr. and Jeff were glad they could catch the Metro back to O'sde after hammering up to San Clemente. New Randos George from Michigan and Keith rode very well. I think Ol man Dan would be proud of us!

Ride Video with great blues music on YouTube

-randorides