Sandia Creek Century Permanent Training Ride

Garmin Stats from the training ride today.

Nice little group showed up at the San Marcos Albertson's start this morning. With only a few days notice, it's good to see the turn-out. An unusual later start time of 0800 for this ride. Plenty of time for the ride-ins to arrive and we would have enough time to finish up before dark.

Mike Shaw rode in from Oceanside via Champagne Blvd climb. HP hard core guy who is ramping up for his retirement later this year. Dan Phillips rode in from Oceanside, but not before stopping off with his buddy Bill Stevenson for a load up at Denny's first. Bill would miss our ride, but was riding with another group today. Dan took the route in through Vista. Ben came in with his buddy Jeff from Carlsbad. Keith & Dave both drove in as they live far south. I made the ride in from my house just a few miles away! Arm warmers, paper vest and woolie cap. They were all to come off at La Costa.

Most of the riders were amped up after the Rainbow 200 last week. Lots of chit-chat as we worked our way towards the first Control at La Costa. Picked up a small group of riders in like-jerseys on the Rancho Santa Fe climb. Some high speed work on La Costa Ave before stopping off at our favorite Circle K. 39 cents for a control receipt, fill the bottles with ice and 12 minutes later we were on our way to the coast.

Do-Dah looking at water on San Luis Rey Bike Path.

Ben and Jeff picked up the pace a bit on the way to Oceanside. These riders aren't used to riding at 17 mph. Soon, Steve Schechter came up from behind to join the group. He had his yellow jacket on and had to be melting under that heat blanket! I mentioned our next real stop would be at Bonsall for water refill. Group broke apart on the San Luis Rey River Trail. Ben & Jeff led out. A few riders joined up. I stayed back with Mike Shaw. Then slowed to pick up a hard body rider with a poka-dot jersey. She had a route slip on her handlebars so we started chatting. Looking a little confused I checked out her route-slip and could see why. "Turn left at the end of the SLR and ride to Starbucks" Sorry, not to happen. She was with a group doing a pre-ride of the lower portion of the El Camino Double route. I eventually took her over to the Starbucks at College & Vandergrift Blvd. Her group was waiting there. I exited, doing the solo thing to Bonsall. I figured I did my first rando good deed for today.

Dave D. and Mike Shaw went straight past Bonsall for no-water break. The rest of us stopped. Somewhere on the SLR we had lost Steve Schechter. Never saw him after that. Troy Buss joined us for real there. He rode the route in from Poinsettia Lane along the coast and SLR. There were also a few NCCC riders hanging around from their club ride today. We loaded up our bottles and were soon on our way chasing Dave and Mike.

Tree lined Live Oak Park Road near Fallbrook

Group rode together until the Green Cyn. Road turn, there Ben & Jeff slowly paced away off the front. Hope to see them later at the Temecula Control. Troy, Keith, Dan & I rode a nice leisurely pace up Live Oak Park. Dan got a rear flat, so we did the normal rando thing: I stayed back and Troy & Keith would meet up with us later at the Temecula Control . Dan exhibited his tire changing skills to little avail. His cartridge inflator blew out it's O-rings. I got my pump-/CO2 unit out and we got the job done in due time. After forever, we were off to some massive side-winds going up Old Hwy. 395 toward Rainbow. Dust-devils and side tracking, we finally made it up to Rainbow Canyon, where the wind died down. I showed Dan the back way around to the 7-Eleven on Bedford Ct. missing all the nasty traffic on Hwy. 79. Keith and Troy were already there. Said they saw Ben & Jeff earlier, as well as Mike pulling out. Ahhhh. Time for a refill.

Ate some carry-along almond butter on ww crackers. Topped if off with a Pro-Max bar. Filled my bottles with water/ice and hung around for 15 minutes. Troy snatched a big sandwich, leaving the crust untouched. Dan opted for some chips while Keith was stretching out on the sidewalk chatting with some well-weathered chick. About 15 minutes and we were waiting for what the winds had in store for us on the Rancho California climb. Keith left ahead to get a run on the climbing ahead.

No wind climbing Rancho California Road today!

The back way around through the "neighborhood" sure beats the Front Street traffic. We all grouped up again as we started the climb up RC Road. NO wind! How nice was that? Troy and I paced off the front and regrouped at the Avenida Del Oro turn towards Sandia Creek. Dan started to cramp up on the climb. Keith took off on the downhill like he looking for food. Straight up Avenida Del Oro. He missed the turn onto Sandia Creek! We were all yelling at him to no avail. I started to chase him down up the climb, yelling as I went. He finally got out of his "zone" and turned around. Next up was a lot of downhills mixed in with a few rollers. Dave Danovsky joined up along here. We were still looking for Mike Shaw ahead. We knew Ben and Jeff were long gone. Great riding through here with no traffic! Started the last steep 17% climb with Dave taking the lead. Saw Mike Shaw ahead, doing a hike-a-bike near the top. We had a short regroup waiting for the others to finish the steep climb. Dan was having more hamstring problems, so I recommended "Chinese Medicine" relief. Mike took off ahead.

Dan Phillips led out at a breakneck speed down along the Santa Margarita River with the "Chinese Medicine" in full effect. Some more great riding through here with tree lined roads. Dave led out on the nasty 8% climb up to Fallbrook via DeLuz Road while Dan was having hammy crampitis. Mike was sighed ahead. We were finally all back together again in Fallbrook getting ready for a few miles of easy riding downhill to Bonsall. Heller's Bend is a nice relief from the traffic on Mission Road nearby. Pulled into Mickie D's in Bonsall. Keith followed-in a short time later. We were in ice cream sundae mode!

SORRY! No ice cream. Machine broke...again. I opted for the Parfait Yogurt instead. Unfortunately, there was only about 2 spoonfuls in the cup. Gave Dan some vitamin B-6 for his tight hamstring. He was also trying to fix his O-rings in his CO2 inflator. Dave gave him his to use till he got home later. That's what randonneuring is all about! Keith dumped his jersey contents out on the table and was massaging his legs. 15 minutes later we were heading out for the last headwind and climbing of the day. Troy took the SLR back to the coast and home.

Start and Finish at San Marcos Albertson's

Nice pace-line along Camino Del Rey into a slight headwind. Group separated as as we turned onto Old Hwy. 395. Dave, Dan and I were riding together as we passed Lawrence Welk Resort. I mentioned to Dave that the NCCC riders have a time-trial up the Champagne climb. Starting at Champagne Village Drive to the stoplight at the top. 12 minutes is a nice rando time. My best time was 9:52 on the Madison SS. Dave took off like was looking for gold! Hamstring Dan and I rode up at a conservative rando pace-10mph. Regroup at the top,as Dave was excited with his under 11 minute time. Good climb by him. When Keith arrived, we were all heading to the finish together.

Group kept together to the end. I slightly missed the Woodland Pkwy turn and we had to use the light button. Downhill specialist Keith amped it up to 22mph back to Albertson's. After the Control receipt, we chatted a bit in the parking lot about upcoming rides. Still plenty of light left at 4 PM as Mike was riding back to Oceanside via Champagne for some real miles today. I rode with Dan a few miles on his route back to Oceanside, before turning off for home.

Thanks to the riders who joined up today: Dave Danovsky, Kelly Deboer, Ben Hian, Keith Olsen, Mike Shaw, Troy Buss, Dan Phillips, Steve Schechter and Jeff (Bens buddy)

Regular Sandia Creek Century Video

Clear skies
Hi: 93     Lo: 59 (Garmin)
Wind: NE to 25 mph
98 miles

-randorides