Palomar Mtn. Sampler Permanent... Wind & Heat O-Rama

Route map for the Palomar Mtn. Sampler today.

New approved Randonneur route just waiting for a ride. #2380 with the basic 202km long and around 10,600' of climbing (for sure)! Had to give 'er a go. I sort of had this planned out. Leave real early and miss the heat of the main climb. OK? Rode out of the house after 0400 and started the route at 0430. Riding the Fuji Stealth today. Packed my small seat bag with the full multi-tool, tire levers, 2 tubes, 2 tires, patch kit, 2 amps of chain oil and pushed in 2-CO2 cartridges somehow! In the HB bag I had the handy small tire pump that takes cartridges AND my usual foodstuffs. 2 Camelbak bottles this trip. One with 4 scoops of Carbo-Pro and the other with Electrolyte Mix. I wanted to use my HR Strap, but for some reason after a long time off and now it doesn't connect to the Garmin. Put in a new battery and tried the listed tricks. "Not Connected" I'll figure it out someday.

Black Tarantula in the bike lane today!

Using only the headlamp and bright rear blinkie for the first 1 1/2 hour of early darkness. Clear skies mean a early full sunrise! Good thing there was no traffic over to Escondido this early. My 3 AAA cells were weak, to say it nicely. My rechargeables don't seem to work in there either, as the terminal points don't contact well for some reason. Come on sunrise! Made it down the Rincon Grade OK with no traffic. Getting a little light now as I finally turned and started the climb up Hwy. 76 after getting beat up by the Harrah's bike lane. Took it nice and easy up this trip without stopping. Only saw one roadside tube and that had a broken stem. About 43 minutes later I was on to So. Grade Climb.

That section hasn't agreed with me in a few years now. Maybe it's the motos buzzing by or the shape I'm in? Only met 5 cars today! Saw a jumbo black Tarantula by a stick in the bike lane. Didn't know they made black ones in the 3.5" size! Nice and quiet as I was in the shadows the whole way but the last mile! Nice. Nothing open yet on top, not even the bathroom! Trip to Mother's Kitchen was 1hr 05m. I quickly boogied over to East Grade. Stopped at the Pacheco Firefighter Memorial on the way down. They also had a recent fire, as one section had a fence put up alongside the road. First couple of miles are quite smooth, but later on it's the same-O-thing... rough road with dips and cracks. At speeds of 30mph +, I was all over the place looking for a smoother line. Road crew was working further down nearer the dam. Pulled into the Lake Henshaw Store looking for re-hydration time!

I always stop at Gregory Pacheco Firefighter Memorial on East Grade

Old big-guy at the store said they had 1/2" of rain here on Sunday. Warner Springs had 3"and Aguanga had a big 5", which closed Hwy. 79 for a while. Got a can of cola for a whopping $1.25 now. 10 minutes and I was gone. Paced up Mesa Grande (polite way of saying I was slo) and finally noticed the temps were picking up. When I turned onto Hwy. 79, ran into the usual headwind. Got 2 bananas at Don's Market and refilled my bottles with water and ice. Added a tab of Gu Electrolyte. Finished off one half-sandwich while sitting in the shade. When I left the temps were in the 90's into a headwind.

Nice riding along Hwy. 78 and Old Julian Hwy. Pulled into Ramona 7-Eleven and got a Smores IC Sandwich. Sat outside and stretched my legs. Busy place. Went back inside and added a free-bee Mtn. Dew punch to one bottle and ice water to the other. Washed up at the sink. Ten minutes later, headed out to mild traffic and headwinds. Garmin temps in the mid-90's now. Crews working on the recessed storm drain grates in the bike lane on Hwy. 67. Finally?

Stopped on Highland Valley Road, added some chamois creme to my package and hit the drops. Temps in the high 90's with increasing headwind. Slogged through the rollers and had a car free downhill to the valley. Met a group of 12 riders out on a noon-time ride? Small chain-ring now as I passed over I-15 up to an extra stop at the Circle K on Bernardo Ctr. Drive. Got a bottle of Vitamin Water Citrus and sat outside and ate my crackers. Lots hotter here, but the high overcast was soon approaching. Filled my bottles with ice for the last time and hit the road. I was really sucking the liquid now.

New mall on Rancho Santa Fe Rd. More traffic for cyclists!

They resurfaced Rancho Bernardo Road, so the climb up was systematic. Average slower pace on Camino del Sur and San Dieguito Road. The climb up to Rancho Santa Fe was less than inspiring this trip. Did a ride through of Stump's Market Control. Welcome downhill along the golf course on La Granada. Plugged in the small chain-ring for all the stop and go while climbing up Rancho Santa Fe Road. Finally the last few climbs up to San Marcos as I was sucking on the last of my spiked ice water from the bottles. Pulled into the finish 7-Eleven for a Reece's mini-cup for 20 cents. Borrowed 6 cents from the penny stash on the counter! Filled one bottle with ice water and headed for home.

Leaving early made the climb up Palomar cooler and full of shade. Great idea for this time of year. Temps picked up real fast after that and the headwind from Santa Ysabel gave a false sense of coolness while sucking liquids from your body at a increased pace. Finally, the coastal overcast and muggy temps seemed to mitigate this... till you stopped somewhere and your arms were glistening wet! My overall time was OK and the legs felt good. Overall I felt a little sluggish the whole ride, probably from the lack of quality sleep and proper recovery time from the Saturday ride. As you get older, you need more and better recovery time between rides for sure. Go figure!

Clear skies
Hi: 100   Lo: 64 (Garmin)
126 miles

-randorides