Crusin' The OC Group Ride

Garmin Stats from today's ride.

34 degrees when I left home today. YIKES! Highs were forecast for the low 60's with clear skies. Pondered the clothing set up. Decided on base SS T-shirt, wool long sleeve under the colorful wool SD Rando jersey. I'd add some wool arm warmers and the home-made reflective wind vest as required. I also threw on a set of knee warmers to cap off my long wool orange/black ski socks, a heavier woolie cap and long fingered gloves under my fingerless regulars.

Missed the Sprinter train to Oceanside, so had to blast-it to arrive in 45 minutes. As I was riding down Mission, I was thinking about the fastest way over. Decided on Palomar Airport Rd., as it would be warmer than the San Luis Rey Bike Path! Arrived at 6:46 to a group of cyclists waiting and chatting: Mike Shaw, Dave Horwitt, Keith Olsen, George Freeman (from Michigan visiting daughter), Dan Phillips, Bill Stevenson, Dave Davonski and Jeff (George's son-in-law). Hard to get riders attention to start with all the chatting going on, but we finally left at 0548 and rode north.

San Clemente Beach Trail

I had plotted out the full route into two files for downloading to bike computers OR checking out on the RIDEwithGPS web site. We rode along the I-5 instead of going through the base. (Not many cars were entering the base today) Jeff dropped off as he was doing a shortie today. Stopped at the Rest Area before riding up to Las Pulgas where we turned off and followed the Old Pacific Hwy. Bike Route up through the base and into the San Onofre Campground. We stopped a bathroom #1 for water and a whizz. Soon we were off and riding through San Clemente along Del Presidente. There we turned off and dropped down to enter San Clemente State Park. Our first taste of a little dirt riding among joggers along the Pacific Coast. Nice slow pace here, as many riders hadn't been this way before. Seemed to be lots of energy along here at 0900 in the morning. I enjoy riding along here as it denotes a true rando route instead of always blasting down a roadway watching the clock. We made an announced stop at the 7-Eleven just off the end of the Path. Time to load up. 20 miles to the next possible refuel stop.

Alsio Creek Trail entrance.

Several of us went next door to the bathroom and the word wasn't passed along. Dave Horwitt missed us and sped up the road, thinking we were gone. Bill saw him in the distance riding on the wrong side of the road. He was long gone. We finished up at the coffee shop and continued our quest northward on familiar roads through Doheny Park and along Harbor Drive. Tough climb up Cove Road and then we followed a few short bike paths before a 1/2 mile ride on Hwy. 1. I brought my first map up on my Garmin now. Time for Salt Creek Bike Path. Keith was the only one who loaded the route up on his computer. He later turned it off because he couldn't see it with his dark glasses! I had ridden this way earlier, but had to use my mapping on several occasions. Since this was a modified route, no one else had a back up file loaded!

Peters Cyn. Park dirt trail

This is a nice section with mostly bike paths winding around the area. After several stops on the Salt Creek Path for clothing refit, we jumped on a 1/2 mile roadie route down to Laguna Hills Park., rode by  Sulphur Springs Lake and ended up on Aliso Creek Trail. At the cute little Sheep Hills Park, we looped up and entered the bike lane along Moulton Pkwy. After a brief stop at JIB, we soon entered the San Diego Bike Trail westward. A little hard to follow here, as the Trail crosses the river channel several times.  Several special bike underpasses and road crossings made this real bike friendly. At Harvard Ave. we turned NW on the original Crusin The OC route and entered the Peters Bike Trail.

The group jumped over to the other side of the channel onto the Irvine Bike Path. Dave Davonski left us by Jamboree Ave to hook up with his girlfriend on a shopping spree. A few bike path turns and we entered Peters Canyon Regional Park. Here Bill led up the dirt trail with his Panaracers 32mm tires. Quite a few hikers through there today. A sidewalk path led the group up to our turnaround point at the Chevron. We saw Dave Horwitt was already there, waiting on us! Back together again!

Warmer riding down Santiago Cyn. Road

Dave was in a rant and rave mood. We wanted food! He settled down after flailing about for a few minutes. George, Dan and Bill hit the Subway for a big boy. Keith and I opted for some Vitamin Water with our sandwiches. Faster portion of the route ahead. Sun was out and temps around 60 degrees now. Keith and I added small auxiliary bottles of beverage to our load as we headed out for some roller work on Santiago Cyn. Road. The word was out that we would regroup at Cook's Corner (Harley Hangout ahead). We ended up with Dave, George and Keith ahead and Dan, Bill, Mike and I pulling up the rear. Finally, a regroup at the corner. Next up was Aliso Creek Trail. ( Not the same section we were on earlier)

We coerced Dan & Dave into leading out. Just follow the trail as it loops around, under and through the Aliso Creek Channel! Crossing 2 trail bridges, we were soon through Lake Forest Park and waiting for a crossing light near Laguna Hills High School. We left the Trail here and got in some road riding along Paseo de Valencia to Cabot Rd. Two miles ahead we turned left and entered the short Cabot-Forbes Bike Path, which led straight to the Mission Viejo Train Station. A short hike-a-bike took us under the station and onto Camino Capistrano. Ahhh, easy riding straight down to San Juan Capistrano now.

SB on Aliso Creek Trail starts here.

Wrong! Time for some dirt work as we entered the Capistrano Church grounds. Shhhh, speaking of quiet, this was it. We turned through the soccer fields and entered the Oso Rancho-Capistrano Trail. This was really beat up with the recent rains and horse traffic, much tougher riding than it usually is. Met two equestrian groups along this stretch of trail. I've learned there is only one way to let horses pass and that is STOP and be quiet. The riders thanked us for the courtesy on their well trained mounts. Another 3 miles and we were sitting at Carl's Jr in San Juan Capistrano on a mini-break stop. Bottle refill time and chomped my last tuna/cheese sandwich.

The pace picked up now as we entered the San Juan River Trail from the south. They are still working trail-side near the bridge, and the standard route is fenced off. Nice 19 mph paceline to the coast and back onto Park Lantern. The fast boys pulled us back through Doheny Park and into San Clemente. Following the route against several jeers, we turned back on the Beach Trail. Late afternoon, still found plenty of joggers along the trail. Relaxing pace on the climb out of the park. Sun was dropping as we stopped for the last time at San Onofre Park #1 again. Time to put on the warm clothes and get the lights ready. Dan didn't bring any lights, so he was in a hurry to get back back down to Las Pulgas Road.

Bumpy Oso-Capistrano Trail

Dan, Mike, Bill, George and Keith took the I-5 route to Oceanside. I opted for the Camp Pendleton. Never been through there after sunset and wanted to see the base policy for real. Dave followed me to the gate. Marine security said that "all you needed is front & rear lights, reflective gear and follow the protocol" and we're good to go! OK by us. We slo-paced it through the camp. Dave was a little anxious about his car in Oceanside not having any electrical power when he left it before the start this morning. Some road construction along Stuart Mesa Road, so we rode out in the lane. Not much traffic till we got over to the main gate. Saw the other riders at Circle K when we arrived before 6:00 PM.

Said our good-byes at the finish and got ready to leave. Mike, Dan & Bill were riding home. Keith went over to Dave's car in case he needed a ride back home. George had a flat front tire as he was leaving Circle K. Surly got it on the trek along I-5? George couldn't figure out how to get his CO2 inflator to work correctly. I got out my trusty mufti-purpose pump/CO2 unit and made quick work of it. We rode a bit through Oceanside, where I soon turned off and boarded the Sprinter Train back to San Marcos. George rode down Coast Hwy. and back "home" (Staying at Jeff's place.) Keith later said he did drive by Circle K to check on us.

Got in the full planned route today. Lots of stops. Only 9 hours of riding and the rest stopping. Not much race-pace till the end. Very good turn-out for a short notice and a longer ride. Two no-shows from Orange County. Guess they just wanted the .gpx route track for further use. Looks like this would work with a Metro up to a San Clemente start and then add in the long path/dirt trail section I left out this trip due to time constraints. Interesting indeed.

Clear skies all day
Hi: 64   Lo: 34
143 miles

-randorides