Crusin' The OC with OFR

Garmin Stats from today's Permanent with OFR meet-up

FOG...itis!! That's what I call it when I rolled out this morning at 0500. Socked in changed my ride-in plans. Time for a ride on the Sprinter Train to Oceanside. Knee warmers, arm warmers and I wore my reflective vest over a stretched out large NCCC jersey. Train time allowed me to stretch out and do some warm-up exercises! Chatted with the security guard/ticket checker who was doing a 4-10hr day shift this week. Arrived before 0600, hit the bathroom and cycled over to the Circle K on Sportfisher to get a 15 cent receipt. Clocked in at 0603 and rode into the fog northward. Bright rear blinkie and John's gift $12 Dorcy helmet light.

Massive car line-up into Camp Pendleton early, so I opted for the fast I-5 route in the fog. Bike lane was super clean so I made good time. Near the Santa Margarita River, fog got very heavy. No problem seeing the roadway, as there were plenty of car lights to lead the way. Averaged around 20mph the whole section with the car "draft" doing all the work. Quiet ride through the campground where I met several commuter riders southbound. Made the normal BR#1 stop to refill bottle and take a whizz. A few bundled up surfers were cycling with surfboards near Trestles. Turned onto El Presidente to scoot some traffic. Lite traffic through downtown San Clemente. Made the final stop at Dohney State Beach. They were cleaning the bathroom, so I rode ahead and stopped at the next one around the curve. Topped off the water bottle, sucked a GU and ate a banana. Rode over to the OFR meeting place along the harbor. At 0800 I was riding around before spotting OFR Paul. Soon Kiwi Stuart rode up. I left them at 0815 with instructions on meeting me at Niguel Road and Coast Hwy. 1 later. (They were taking an easier route in lieu of the rando route.) Riding along Harbor Dr. also chatted with Troy and Dr. Dan, relaying to them the same meet-up message.

Fog riding early today and more came in late afternoon.

Dropped a chain on the ramp-up to Cove Road. As I was fumbling along, a MTB rider went by, spinning in his super low gearing. Out of the saddle, I soon caught up to him on the steep 19% grade. I continued on the rando route, passing along above the new home construction on the bike path near the beach. Couldn't see much due to dense fog. Soon made the turn at the Sea Terrace Park to pick up the rando route. Needed to do a quick recon on the new add-on section which goes under Hwy. 1, down hear the ocean and then loops back under Hwy. 1 again before picking up Salt Creek Bike Path. Did that and then rode back up hill to Sea Terrace Park. Waited about 10 minutes while taking off my warmers and woolie cap. Still foggy, but will be heating up quickly with the climbing ahead. Soon Troy showed up with his group of 8 OFR riders. Nice turn out for their drive up start in Dana Point.

Off we were on the modified Crusin The OC Rando route. I led out the first section and handed it over to Troy, who had the route loaded on his Garmin 810. I faded toward the back. Soon riders were turning all over the place and we had to stop as I went back to locate Bruce. To alleviate further stops, I decided to lead out at a more normal pace. ( Didn't really want to!) Soon we were back to the stay-close group again, without problems.  A short downhill on Niguel Pkwy and were were soon back in bike path mode, passing Sulphur Springs Reservoir in the light fog. Couldn't see the water. Aliso Creek Bike Path-South was next. Sun was out now and made riding easier. A 4 mile section on Moulton Pkwy brought us to JIB for a quick water refill . Last one till the turn-around in Orange.

OFR Gruppo on Aliso Creek Trail S in the sun

I ended up with Paul out front. He never stops talking. After a few more turns, we were finally on the San Diego Bike Path heading westward. There are several neat tunnels and crossing on this section. The group turned northward back on roads again at Harvard Ave. Did the zip-e-doo shortcut and onto the Peters Cyn. Bike Trail for several miles. Made the U-turn and looped over to the Irvine Bike Path, which took us in a round about way to Jamboree Ave. The old rando route goes on dirt here and through the Peters Canyon Regional Park. Our route today follows Jamboree up to the Chevron at Chapman Ave. Ahhh.. time for a break.

Tom Bandy's life long friend was there to eat lunch with him. Big wait at the bathroom, so we used the ladies unit. Most riders opted for a Subway sandwich. I was looking for something cheap for a receipt as I brought along my own eats. Around 30 minutes later we were on our way "down" Santiago Canyon Road. This is a local training route for TT riders and today was no exception. Sun was warming up things as the group split up. There are several climbs along this road but nothing over 6% grade. I dropped back to ride with Tom and Dan. Showed them the rail where Sam Thomas sat to call in his SAG team years ago. After the nice multi-mile downhill, we all had a regroup at Cooks Corner. Just ahead was some real nice riding on the Aliso Creek Bike Path-N.

Despite being forewarned,  several riders took off ahead down El Toro Road. The rest of us followed route and turned off on the Bike Path. Many miles of downhill now. Best to keep the group close together through here. Soon the others would join up on the path. Winding around past parks, golf courses and baseball fields we finally hit stride and dipped into the river channel. The route terminates along Paseo de Valencia near Laguna Hill High School. Next up was a few miles of road riding before a short section on the Forbes Bike Path. This led us under the Mission Viejo Metro Station and on to Camino Capistrano heading toward San Juan Capistrano town.

Waiting on the OSO Trail to San Juan Capistrano

By the turn to the Old Mission, the group stopped and I explained there was a dirt path through there down to  SJC. Bruce and I rolled ahead and the other decided to turn through the Mission! We chased them down and did a regroup. All agreed, some reluctantly, that they wanted some dirt path action. OK.. don't complain later. MTB guy Stuart and I led out. WOW! They had graded the old path and it was like a road now. No ruts, bumps or mud like last month. This was too easy. We soon made our way along the dirt trail to SJC. Interesting. A short jog on Del Obispo and we were on the new section of the San Juan Bike Path to the ocean. They had been working on that for a year now and it was really nice and smooth with a 3' block wall along the channel. Stiff headwind and fog arrived as Bruce and I led out to the coast. I parted company with the group at the trail-head and made my push southward in the cool lite fog.

I was feeling a little cool and off-kilter as I rode the bikeway toward San Clemente. Time for a 7-Eleven stop. I reloaded my bottles, ate the last sandwich, banana and crackers. Only 3:00 PM and the temps were dropping with the fog and breeze moving in. Put on my warm stuff and had a strong climb up through San Clemente town. ( That climb always perks me up!) Trestles Path had no cyclists or surfers this time. Solo ride down past San Onofre where I made my last stop at BR#1. Feeling good again, I paced it up to 17mph through the campground and down to Las Pulgas. I opted for the Pendleton route now. Heavy traffic was exiting the base as I entered. No traffic along Las Pulgas or Stuart Mesa Road. Construction had resurfaced the trenches in the road, but leaving the bike lane as before. Traffic picked up as I approached the Main Gate. With helmet light flashing I was soon back at the Oceanside Circle K for the final receipt. Fog had moved in for real now and it was getting darker. Washed up at the Station bathroom and waited around for the Sprinter to return back to San Marcos. Plenty of bike spots on the train this trip. 14-hour total today. 12 on the bike. Long day filled with abundant stopping.

OFR route video

Fog till 0930, clear later
Hi: 83     Lo: 48
Wind: NW-10
128 miles

-randorides