Ursa Minor Permanent In Lieu Of SC-200 Brevet

Ursa Minor Route to Dana Tutors & Spunky's Deli

Surprisingly, John Mestemacher was doing the route with me today. Thought we would leave earlier and see or hook up with the randos doing the San Clemente 200 Brevet today. They would be leaving Sea World and following the coast highway up to Dana Point and return.

I was to meet up with John en-route at Rancho Santa Fe. He could ride from his house in Carlsbad, go the back way and not have to ride over to San Marcos for the start and then back home after the ride too! Good idea and it worked well. I started at the 7-Eleven in San Marcos per route and was overdressed, for sure. It wasn't long and I stopped to zip up my zest for the downhill by Lake Hodges. The zip-pull fell off! I tried to put it back on, but that didn't work. I just neatly folded it up and put it on the front of my handlbar bag! Hopefully, I could fix it at home lateron. Shucks, they should make those illuminite vests to last longer than 7 years! Thanks Performance Bikes!

John was waiting at Rancho Santa Fe town at 6:00 for me. He was blazed out in his reflective stuff and had a new usb handlebar light, which he quickly demo'd for me. Looks good for shorter rando night sections. Only way to rechage is via USB port. Should work OK for a 400K too. I was using a single Blaze 2W headlight and my helmet mounted 135 lumen spotlight. By the time we got to Solana Beach, the sun was just starting to come up in the east. Nice and quiet along the coast, with a few riders starting to appear riding southward.

Tutor & Spunky's Deli Brevet Control

We stopped at Magee Park in Carlsbad for a bathroom break and to take off some clothes. Felt much better with only the wool rando jersey and a long sleeve underlayer. We opted for the Harbor Drive route past the Oceanside Pier and the I-5 route northward. No wind to speak of through the San Onofre Campground and we took a stop at Bathroom #1. A few more cyclists now as the overcast skies were breaking up a bit. We took the Brevet route through San Clemente and along the ocean up to the turn around point at Tutor & Spunky's Deli. Got a overpriced drink there and ate the carry along tuna sandwich. Waited around for 20 minutes and headed out. I noticed a park on the left and did a U-Turn. Great little overlook of the Dana Point Harbor and ocean view from this little park at the end of Blue Lantern. Have to ride there again!

Return trip met the first group of Brevet riders in San Clemente town downhill and another group with Jimbo Wiesner at a stoplight. Did manage to see Keith Olsen pulling a group northbound near Trestles Bike Path. Rode with a group from Anaheim who were going to San Diego Amtrak Station. John cranked 'er up for the wind aided pull through the Campground. Saw Greg Olmstead riding solo. Stopped at the fence opening and chatted with a confused looking rando Bill Schffler. Said his Garmin wasn't working. Several randos behind him, including William Volk and his boxed out recumbant.

Ride hi-lite: Sampson's Gazebo Overlook on Blue Lantern

Took a fast I-5 southbound as John set the pace. I paced us up the last little hill and into Oceanside Harbor rest stop. Next up was the wind aided San Luis Rey Bike Path. We rode that at around 18mph all the way to our final stop at the Bonsall McDonalds. John had a vanilla shake and I opted for the one-dollar yogurt with frozen fruit. Bathroom were plugged up so we would wait for a later bush along Camino Del Rey. Still a nice tailwind along that road to Old Hwy. 395. John was dreading the Champagne climb, but it wasn't bad as I paced us up at a slow pace. My legs weren't feeling that great either, as 3-200's in 4 days was a lot on a bike that wasn't set up correctly yet. I only adjusted my seat 1X during today's ride. We fought the headwind to the finish at 7-Eleven. Sitting there in the sun, John noticed his seat was low. Yep! It was slowly dropping down and was now down 1/4 inch from his perfect mark. OUCH! I picked up a pak of CC Cookies for the wife and we departed at San Marcos Blvd., as John headed back to Carlsbad and me homeward.

Interesting ride with great tailwinds. My legs were a little tired near the end and I guess I didn't overdress, as it was much cooler inland than expected with the overcast skies returning. In fact, we mentioned several times it looked like rain! Wouldn't that be nice? Supposed to rain mid-week.

-randorides