Aztec Century Permanent

Garmin Stats from today's ride. Nothing too great, but fun!

34F when I left San Marcos today. Time for jacket and woolie cap, for sure. Arrived at the Benet St. Chevron well before 8:00 and Keith Olsen was pumping up tires near his car. After the small talk, we went for start receipts and stated how nice a start place this is with bathrooms, taco shop and lots of good stuff available to buy. We headed out for the SLR Bike Path in due time. DETOUR!

Corps of Engineers has been closing the Bike Path at Benet Street for some time now and today was no exception! Reverse course back to Hwy. 76 for the noisy ride to Oceanside along glass cluttered bike lanes! We cruised through town to minimal traffic along Hwy. 101 and stopped for some window shopping at Chuck's Pacific Cycles. Something to dream about? 8:20 found us at Magee Park in Carlsbad for a quick refresh and some water. Also a few OFR riders were lurking about, so we chatted a little and headed southward with them. Foggy along the coast in places and near Poinsettia Lane several other riders joined us as we cruised southward at 17mph.

Regroup at Swami's Park. Plenty of surfers out today, as the swells were supposed to be around 10' high. We rolled toward Torrey Pines and set a nice pace up the hill. Regroup at the top under heavy police presence. Farmers Insurance Golf Tourney for the next 4 days. First major of the year and the buses were lined up with guests. After clearing that area, we eased off the stress and cruised by UCSD and down Gillman Drive to Rose Canyon Bike Path.

Short cut along the sidewalk is the only section that is a little "iffy". Need to watch the traffic from the left coming down the looping off-ramp from Morena Blvd above. After a short climb, Keith and I were cruising down Morena, chatting about using mirrors. Keith says "It's a crutch". I say "It's a safety!". Not a lot of traffic all the way through Mission Valley this time of day. After the climb up to Monte Mesa, we took the alley to McDonalds and the half-way Control stop.

We were there a full 30 minutes, as Keith had a Choc. Shake and I a Parfait Yogurt. We discussed the upcoming Corona 300, along with using a mirror while doing rando routes. Not very busy there, as Keith said that school had just started for the Spring Semester. Soon we were off down the hill and back to Mission Valley. We looped through the Fashion Valley Mall, just for a change of scenery. Frairs Road was the usual headwind and the turn to Napa was uneventful.

Not a lot of traffic around UCSD this trip, and the golf tourney was still on as we passed at 1:30 PM. Last climb up to Del Mar and then a quick stop at Nytro for some chain lube. Not to be as Joe was sick and sitting in his car on the way home! Oh, well, we paced up the coast at 17-18mph, being passed by a racer or two. One dude in yellow did a nice job of stopping at a red light, then riding through! Guess he felt the rando pressure from behind! Soon we were all slowing down for a panicked small white down running along the bike lane and holding up traffic. Several attempts at catching him were to no avail! Finally he ran away off into a side street, safe from the traffic! Good. Smashed dogs aren't good for the ride karma!

The Oceanside detour found us stopping by to see rider Dan Phillips at his Bussey's Auto Shop. He was busy, but had time to say "hello" . We did the short cut, downhill and along Hwy. 76 to Benet Chevron for a under 8 hr finish. Not bad for a day that started out cold and warmed up to be real nice. So much for SoCal weather. Keith offered me a ride back to San Marcos, but I opted for the ride-out instead.

-randorides