San Marcos Century (How to overload a HB Bag!)

Fire burn area along Old Hwy. 395 is ripe for mudslides

Rainbow 1.24 Permanent. Yep, that's the route today. Was planning to get up early and hit the roads. Woke at 0230, felt tired and decided to continue my siesta! Did awake for real at 0400 and prepped up. Felt a little "blah" as things didn't fall into place easily. By the time I rode the Fuji over to the start it's 0520. Not enough time to properly digest my agave/banana-laced oatmeal and green tea.

Warm out as I plodded northward with only a single headlamp to light the way. Headlamps are nice as they allow you to "flash" the red-light sensors to change before you get there. Staying darker now in the mornings, as daylight hours are shrinking. Not a good sign for those long routes. Riding northward on Hwy. 395 and watching the lines of traffic over on I-5, makes you wonder where everyone is going. Thought I would change up the route some and after Circle R, kept going on Lilac Road over to Hwy. 395. Stopped at the Shaun Harrison Memorial at the intersection and plunged down from Day Lilly Hill. Rode the 76 over to Rice Canyon amid light eastbound traffic. Did the normal paced climb up to Rainbow via Rice Canyon. Hit the bathrooms and then ate some stuff before riding southward. Instead of the usual Live Oak Park/Green Canyon, I decided to change it up and turned south on Old Historic 395 and climbed up Day Lilly Hill. Still a lot of burn-out from recent wildfires along the road, with branches and dirt in the bike lane. A big rain would make this a real mess along the climb. I turned right on Lilac down to Bonsall. Haven't been this way in a while. Met one girl rider really struggling up the climb. Stopped at Bonsall McDonalds. Ice cream machine was broken again, so I opted for a Parfait instead. Laced it with Carmel GU and listened to several loud mouthed businessmen in white shirts and ties.

Fuji with full load on handlebar bag made for tipsy riding!

Soon I was off westbound into a slight headwind. Did the normal SLR thing today. Did stop along the Bike Trail to help a girl trying to adjust her MTB seat. The seatpost bolt was all rusted tight and after a bit I did manage to get it adjusted. Told her she should lube up the bolt/nut to free it up. I also managed to whack my forearm on her seat and got a big bruise there. I got some ice from my bottle and tried to mitigate the swelling as I was riding. Stopped at the Circle K for 33-cent receipt. Another stop at the Carlsbad 7-Eleven for a IC Sandwich. Went over to the strand and stretched out while looking at a lifeguard swim out and warn some paddle board swimmers.

On the ride south, some blue jersey guy on a newish Felt Tri bike went by. I didn't think much of it, till I passed him on every little climb along the way. At least I made him work hard as I pulled off and stopped at Nytro in Encinitas to check out stuff there. Joe M. and I chatted about this stuff I saw on the SDrando blog called "Infinite". They had some there.. 3 different types: Race, Regular and Endurance. Endurance had some protein. Retail for this was $34 for 3 lb canister. Too much for me, even at a discount. Joe said they were trying to get some smaller packets in next week. I picked up 2lbs of Carbo-Pro and a few other things. Joe also threw in a few "promotional items" for me to try. Also indicated my Cygolite 800 search was a real bummer. Seems they weren't friendly at setting up a new dealership. Still need a stronger bar light without using the dyno-hub setup.

Goodies in the bag.

I packed up my stuff in a white Nytro bag and ended up putting it on top of my bar bag. Didn't bring my blue porta-pack this trip. Thought later I should have asked Joe if they had those throwaway paks I had seen before. I figured the whole bag weighed around 7 lbs. After a few miles south, I saw that that didn't work very well with balance. Stopped in Solana Beach and sat down on on a roadside bench. Ate a sandwich and re-arranged the bag. Needed an alternative, quick. Walla! How about I cut the route and do the San Marcos Century instead? Same stops so far! That seemed the best alternative and I started up Lomas Santa Fe. No control out of the saddle, but sitting down was manageable.

Worked my way up to Rancho Santa Fe and then the slog up Del Dios Hwy. past the dam. Weather seemed to be about 5 degrees cooler than yesterday. Made a ice stop at Wendy's and slogged on down Harmony Grove Road toward San Elijo. Wasn't feeling it now. Maybe 50%. Didn't feel tired, just "off". With the extra unbalanced weight on the handlebars, riding always seemed a little tipsy. Finished up in San Marcos around 1400 hrs. Got a Reese's Piece for receipt and rode home. Not one of my super days on the bike, but good enough to finish up OK.

Clear skies all day
Hi: 86    Lo: 67
103 miles

-randorides