Coronado XPress

Judy, Keith, George, Jeff & of course me showed up at the sunny Oceanside Pier before 8:00 this Saturday. Got receipts as proof of start early. Too cold early just loafing around so we left promptly to keep warm. Slight headwind riding down the coast. Was to remain that way all day.. south wind from 8-11 mph. Stopped at Swami's well before 9:00 AM. This middle age gal was playing the guitar there again. Nice voice, but need new songs. Quite enjoyable in this holiday season.

Coronado Ferry Landing

Jim Wisener joined up there. I call him "Pirate Jim" due to his glasses. One lens is dark, the other is missing! He had eye surgery on the left eye, so it is perfect now. Not so for the right one. Cracked a snappy pace along the coast and up Torrey Pines. Regroup at the top at the Porta-Potty. Judy said she couldn't keep up the pace and would ride around a bit before heading back. She later went out on the O'side SLR Bike Path and returned into the rain. So she got wet too!

Nice and sunny around Mission Bay. Picked up a jumbo MTB rider in tights. He didn't want me to pass, so I tucked behind his big ass and drafted him down the coast for a few miles. He turned off at Washington St. The group was crankin' hard to make the 11 AM Ferry across. We got the SD Landing with 5 minutes to spare! HUH? The ticket place was moved. We found that further south by the Midway Museum. The Landing was also moved to accommodate the Hornblower Cruises all at one dock!

When we got on-board, Dave Horwitt was waiting for us. Nice pleasant surprise. Dave is a very strong cyclists on his heavy steel touring bike. Jeff & George brought their sack lunch, Keith & Pirate Jim relaxed and I took a few video shots on the move. At the Coronado Landing, Super Rando Tim Sullivan was waiting for us. He gave us the pit-stop tour and  guided us around the golf course and onto the Strand Bike Path. He pulled most of the way down into a headwind, before turning off and riding back home to Coronado again. I thought that was a nice gesture from Tim.

We stayed together around the Bay and up to the welcome JIB Control stop in National City. Good fun there. I suggested we take the back way around through the "neighborhood" instead of the construction zone on Harbor Dr. by NASSCO. Real busy at the downtown Convention Center... Auto Show! We went around on a few bike paths by the railroad tracks and then northward past Santa Fe Station. Raindrops as we approached Mission Bay. Raining heavier as we entered Santa Fe Ave toward Rose Canyon Bike Path. We stopped and put on some semi-rain gear. Rained heavier the more we cycled north. Went through the UCSD campus, which was empty during holiday break. Not bad riding along the rainy coast up to Encinitas, where Jim left us.

Randos ride through wet Del Mar

Just the four of us now as we plodded to O'side and the wet finish. Got a final group picture before going for "proof of finish receipts". Keith and I got ours at Circle K north of Town Hall. I was quite wet, but warm when I boarded the Sprinter Train for the ride back to San Marcos. HaHa. It moved 200 ft and then stopped! Brake failure. Waited a cold 20 minutes, until we finally started moving east again. I stripped off my jacket and dried it out on the baseboard heaters. Warm and toasty again , I cycled home from the San Marcos Station.

Wow, one long day. I hopped into the warm tub laced with Epson Salts and Lavender when I got home. All my clothes also went into the sink for a overnight soak. Felt great after that. Washed all the cycling clothes on Sunday as I put together the ride video.
Thanks to the riders who showed for this one. As I told George: "There is strength in numbers on a ride like this!" Not a bad ride to finish up the year.

YouTube Video: Coronado XPress 


-randorides

Thursday Coffee At Peet's Populaire

Bike Bridge over Lake Hodges

New Michigan Rando, George Freeman, indicated he would like to do a Permanent today, lieu of the normal Thursday OFR group ride. Just the ticket... we could start the Coffee At Peet's route and ride over and meet the group at Magee Park in Carlsbad at 8:30AM. Of course George never showed up at the right Circle K and I later met him at Magee park. We carried on from there.

Dee, Joe, and a few others were there at Magee. We rode out with crazy Doug, George, Mike Shaw and I. The other were waiting for Bert, who was truing his rear wheel. His Mavic blew a flat blade spoke! Picked up 4 more at Poinsetta Ln and rolled into Swami's at 9:10. Lots of riders there. Troy had finished up the picture frame presentation for the departed Joe Haring. Joe was the OFR group founder many years ago. Ben Hassell was going to take it over to Joe's wife later today. Must have been 20-25 riders there. Real nice.

Mike Shaw wanted to do the Rando route also, but at the turn to Peets, he turned around and headed back. Mike was recovering from the flu and didn't have it today. Good choice. George and I refueled at the Circle K, then went over to Peet's to say adios to the group.We had a nice pace over through Rancho Bernardo and over the Bike Bridge to Escondido. Something new for George. We hit Jesmond Dene and rolled into Bonsall AM/PM into a breeze. More headwinds on the SLR Bike Path into O'side.

I've been suggesting to George we do a Coronado experience before he returns home. Might be Saturday.

-randorides

Ursa Major Birthday Ride

Dan Phillips turns 50 ride!

Riding buddy Dan Phillips turned the big 5-0 yesterday. Guess that means his cycling days are over now? Met up in Escondido for the Ursa Major Permanent to celebrate his birthday. Kinda a shortie ride of 202km/128mi and less than a mile of climbing. Posted the ride on SDrando message board and also the NCCC board.

Nice email response and questions about this ride. Dan, Bill Stevenson and Phil Auchter rode in from Oceanside. Ed Shepherd rode in from Rancho Bernardo. I rode in from San Marcos with help from the Sprinter train. Also at the start were strong rider Dave Horwitt, randos Sandy Aniya & Robert Abraham, George Freeman from Michigan, new rando Keith ? and strong-girl Andi Ramer.

After a lot of story telling and braggos, we got our start receipts and off we went. Andi opted out due to the "cold" temps. Heck it was a little cool at 36 F, especially since we were hitting the big downhill of Del Dios straight away. We had a regroup at Rancho Santa Fe and after the turn onto Coast Hwy. northbound. Stopped over at Swami's for a delayering and were serenaded by Gloria. She played quite well.

Chit-chat at the Escondido start

Near Oceanside Pier, George's son and son-in-law joined up. Were supposed to pick up several more riders from the OFR Thursday Gruppo, but they were no-shows. Rode through the Camp at a moderate pace, and chatted on the way up to the #11 bathroom at San Onofre Campground. Met Dave Horwitt before that. He had a flat tire in Carlsbad and used the I-5 option.Trestles was a busy bike path. We met Ed at the turn onto El Camino in downtown San Clemente (He didn't stop at Swami's and rode I-5 north). George Jr. and Jeff left us at the coffee shop/Metro Station in north San Clemente. They both rode well today but still couldn't keep up with new grandpa George! New guy rando Keith was hangin' tough too.


San Juan Bike Trail took us over to San Juan Capistrano and Carl's Jr for a short break. I had a ice cream sandwich for a receipt and others a burger. Dan sat in a daze in the sun. Guess his age is catching up with him.
Back over the bike bridge and on to the San Juan Bike Trail in to a light headwind. Doheny State Beach is a calm place to ride through. We all took the back way through the San Clemente neighborhood. Dan had a flat on his new G'skin Hardshell! Glass. We regrouped at the Trestles bike path.

We all decided to go back on I-5. It would give the newbies a chance to experience it! We rode through the Rest Stop and made a 20 mph run back to Oceanside. Regrouped at the Harbor Dr. bathrooms and crossed over the bridge and onto the San Luis Rey Bike Path.Nice little tailwind there and we were rolling along at a comfortable 18 mph. Robert had a flat tire near the end. Dan went back to check and inform him we would regroup at Bonsall McDonalds.Dan cut off and headed back home. He got in his 125 today.

Gloria serenades Randos at Swami's

We all joined up in Bonsall McD and put a layer on. I got a yogurt and fruit for $1.08. Need that receipt. It's always cooler in Camino Del Rey Road river bottom. Rode together till the Champagne climb, where we rode our own pace up. Short regroup at the top, before we cooled off! Dave and Robert had the dyno lights on. Keith's battery pak light wouldn't work. I had my frogies and George kept in between. Group of five rode together to Escondido and over to the finish. Ed and Sandy were right behind us. Robert, George and I stopped at Wendy's. Dave and Keith at Albertson's.

No records were targeted this trip. It's usually more fun in a group. Lots better for pictures too! Seemed to be a lot of flat tires for some reason. Must be the recent rains. We stayed together most of the route and had a good time. George Jr. and Jeff were glad they could catch the Metro back to O'sde after hammering up to San Clemente. New Randos George from Michigan and Keith rode very well. I think Ol man Dan would be proud of us!

Ride Video with great blues music on YouTube

-randorides

Shortie Populaire after rain delay...

Lazy Lizard Brevet was last Saturday. Been raining off and on for several days and temps have dropped somewhat. Needed to get in a ride before the posted Ursa Major Permanent this Saturday. Temp was 29 degrees at 6:00 AM this morning, so that negated a early start and longer ride today. Guess I didn't want to put up with the super clothing layers and later take them all off. I opted for John M.'s Bike Path X Two route.

Due to delays, I didn't start till around 9:30. Warmed enough by then for just a wool underlayer and a SD Rando wool short sleeve jersey with knee warmers and long wool socks. Stopped by Bonsall Mickie D's for a cookie run and reload bottles. Slight tailwind on the SLR Bike Path to the coast. Stripped down at Magee Park in Carlsbad. Picked up a gruppo paceline riding south on Coast Hwy. 101. These 4 guys were crankin' on new tri-bikes till they hit the small roller in So. Carlsbad. I got 2 of em. They turned off at LaCosta Ave. Good thing for me. Then picked up a hot chick on TT bike into Encinitas.

Rolled through Del Mar and on to the 56 Bike Path over to my normal stopping place at Camino del Mar and ARCO-AM/PM there. The 89 cent drink machine was broken again, so I opted out of Sobe refuel. Sat and ate a banana and bar. Was a little sleepy, sort of HO-hum feeling. Continued on and stopped by the new bike shop off Centre City Blvd in Escondido to check out MTN bikes.. Not much there, only cruisers and BMX stuff. Still lookin' for that Rando trail MTB set up for dirt routes. Took the Rail Trail back to San Marcos. 6 hour ride at full BLAH mode. Felt sleepy-tired.

-Go Figure
randorides

Lazy Lizard Lodown Brevet

Lazy Lizard Lodown Route

This 207km Brevet started way out in the Anza Borrego Desert at Ocotillo. John Mestemacher was nice enough to pick me up in the rain at 5:00 AM. We were both back and forth on adding fenders and rain gear for this ride. I did some deep research on The Weather Channel and the best I could do was rain everywhere west of Ocotillo! No fenders for me. John put his on. We'll see what happens when we get there. Our Nytro friend Joe Morgan and buddy Daryl bailed as did super rider Andi Ramer.

The ride out was wet and rainy all the way till we dropped down to Ocotillo, where it was overcast, but breaking up. Arrived 10 minutes early for the 7:00 start. Enough time to set up and take a few pics. Greg Olmstead did the pre-ride instructions with a group of 9 riders. John & I were the first to leave at 7:05. Group of 4 caught us in the new wind-farm outside Ocotillo on Hwy. S-2. Not a nice sight, all those huge wind turbines. I thought it really ruined the landscape. That's progress? The construction crews had their own little trailer camp outside town. A least it must have boosted Ocotillo's economy a little for a short time. Lazy Lizard Saloon must have done good!

Never did rain on us at all. We did pass through areas on S-2 that were wet. Jacques and Donna Boutet from Alaska flew down for this event in "sunny California". It ended up being sunny, but only 59F for a high. Jacques was a good strong rider and rode with Gary most of the way. However, after chatting with Donna, I didn't feel she was prepared for this ride. She took off up the first 12% climb and cracked half way up. She did turn around near Scissor Crossing to get in her mileage. Rode off and on with Jacques, Gary, John and Jeff Cole.

I brought my Canon camera around my neck and was trying out a Wingman Sports camera on the Fuji carbon bike. Both seemed to work OK. Rendering a ride video was a little "iffy", due to the different .avi and .mov formats from the cameras. After some quality issues, I did get it all together in a 18 minute route video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbRNEIrhB8

John riding S-2 toward the rainbow

Our group of 6 rode off and on together most of the way up. John said he was "cooked" after the turn up San Felipe Road. We were going into a nice headwind all the way up. Plus his new "diet" of lo-carb... 50gm a day didn't help at all. I also mentioned to him I thought he didn't drink enough with only 1 bottle used to Ranchita. That's 64 miles. He felt a little better after the turn around at Ranchita. That first downhill to San Felipe Road was a little cool. Lots of easy downhill riding with just the 3 climbs on the way back. John had a wire flat just before the Sweeney Pass climb on the way back. Even an Aramid layer doesn't stop those little wire pieces.It was just dark when we got back. I was planning on getting back around 4:30, and brought just my "Froggie Lights". John had a helmet light, which was more than enough in the dusk light.

Not a bad ride, weather turned out to be quite nice. Did have some good conversations with Donna Boutet, Gary Kanaby and Jeff Cole. Donna was stating that with the few roads in Alaska to ride on, they have to compete with cars most of the time on local rides. Gary said he works for the company that furnishes those 300' blades for the wind turbine farms. Jeff wants to make up his own Permanent to ride north toward Frisco!

For a Finish receipt, I got a bottle of Bisquick Lo-cal milk drink at Texaco. $2.99!!! NOT. Got a Milky Way instead. Of course the register didn't work and a hand written receipt was in order. We stopped by Alpine on the way back. John refueled the Element and I got my usual after ride energy booster choc shake at Carl's Jr. The shake was thinner than water. Not good. Not mixed. John got solicited by a dude in a SUV from Temecula, who's 2 credit cards wouldn't work in the gas machines or inside either. He left his cash at home and wanted advance bucks now, which he would mail back when he got home. Ya, OK.

What a day... good ride, good friends, good time, bad shake.

-randorides

Ursa Major Permanent

Georges new Scott Carbon

Rode the Ursa Major today. Weather was a little nippy early for the ride-in, but later warmed to the mid-70s. Didn't start till 8:00 AM. New guy George from Michigan joined in. He said the 120 miler was the longest he's done since he was 13. George is riding much better on his new SCOTT carbon ride with Ksyrium Elite wheelset. No fitting problems and stiff joint free for him! His white bar tape will be black in a month.

 Stopped by Nytro for water. George bought his new Scott from Joe Morgan. Joe was trying to talk George into this Saturday's Rando ride in Ocotillo.
 Met Robert Leone around Escondido. I always called him "DeLeone". A little out of his area up in North County. Robert's big with the SD Bicycle Coalition, even though he still wears boots and rides a rusted bike. You can recognize him by his black matte BMX pot helmet.

-randorides

New SR-600 route in the works

Prelim map of new SR-600 SoCal route

With the recent announcement by RUSA of a new and exciting challenge at the 600km distance, I figured I better check it out. It's called a Super Randonnee 600K Permanent and is ACP-sanctioned(vs. RUSA Permanents) Not only a distance of 600km(619km max) but must include at least 32,800ft of climbing. Mmmm, around SoCal that shouldn't be a problem. Ya, right!

After working on this off and on for 2 months, I finally sent in a SR Route to Crista Boras (RUSA Permanents Co-ordinator) today. Real tough to make a viable route under those parameters around here! It ended up being 618km and around 33,200 ft of climbing. I'm sure there will be some fine tuning in the weeks ahead. I'll keep updating as required here.

-randorides

New SR Permanent in the works

Sent in the paperwork to Crista at RUSA for the special SR-600 route. 

Aztec Century

Aztec Century goes up to San Diego State

Aztec Century was on order for today. I started over at Chevron on Benet Street, O'side. Hit the bike path and met up with the OFR Thursday Gruppo at Magee Park. Kiwi Stewart, Dr. Bill, Michigan George and son-in-law Jeff were there. Left at 08:30 and rode south for 6 pick-ups at Poinsettia and then on to Swami's. Loafed around there for 30 minutes while they decided where they were going. Group was around 18 by now.

Gruppo rode up Torrey Pines and then split. Most going to Cabrillo Monument. Bill, George, and I rode over to San Diego State. Jeff rode to work around Sports Arena.

Not much traffic through Mission Valley and on up to Montezuma Hill. Quiet there for a school day. Weather cleared and was quite nice. We cranked it up some on the backside climb up to UCSD campus. George was gassed by then, but gave er' a great effort. Stopped by Nytro to see if George's replacement 11-28 cassette came in. Not yet.

Rode back to O'side with George and then alone on to the finish at Chevron. Not a bad day at all.

-kj

Busted In DeLuz Permanent-R

Busted In DeLuz Garmin Stats

A little foggy for the ride-in to LaCosta. Left the Circle K at 0700 and hit the coast easy like. Only picked up one racer going north and tagged along to Carlsbad. Met Michigan George at the O'side Pier at 0800. We rode the O'side Bike Path all the way to Hwy. 76 and jumped on for the quick ride to Bonsall. Since we were doing the "reverse" route, no real jumbo climbs on the way to Rainbow and Temecula.

Took a short break at Carl's Jr for Ice Cream Sandwich(cheapest thing they have for receipt) and headed the back way around up to Rancho California Rd. Did the DeLuz Road under perfect weather. George kept saying the weather was so great... He's here for a month from Michigan, that's why!

On the backside of Sleeping Indian climb, George ran out of gears on the shortie 15% climb. He kept saying he had a 11-28 cluster on the rear. That didn't look right, so we stopped at the SLR Bike Path and I check it out... SRAM 11-25! No wonder he was gassed! Back to Nytro for a real 11-28. Just under 100 miles. George said he never rode this long in decades. He's feeling good on his new Scott carbon.

I left George near his daughters home in O'side and picked up a racer guy on a Masi Carbon hammering south. He took off and was keeping ahead at 25mph. Young dude with cargo shorts. After he was cooked, I went around him before LaCosta Ave and told him how fast he was. He said "It was really fun"!

At LaCosta finish, I took off and went the back way via Rancho Santa Fe climbing back to San Marcos before dark. Ultegra 6701 chain is stretched out 1/8" already. Re-lube with Beoshield with quiet it down some. Prob. need to rebuild new 13-30 cassette too. Front chain ring doesn't look too great either$ Seems like stuff only lasts a few months anymore.

-go figure

North County Club Ride

North County Cycle Club meets every Saturday in San Marcos

I had invited Michigan George to ride with the North County Cycling Club on Saturday. I met George last week along the San Luis River Trail riding into O'side. He was out from Michigan to stay with family while his daughter gave birth. He may be here till mid-January, depending on what happens.

He actually showed up on his son-in-laws FELT. I figured I would introduce him around and ride a bit... nothing too long. Maybe 15-18 riders showed, due to 'iffy" weather earlier overnight. We grouped up with Bill Stevenson and Mike Shaw. Riding the longer route, we somehow got out in front and kept on hammering. George seemed to enjoy it and was riding well. Back home he rides during the week with a group for 30 miles so anything longer is a real treat for him.

A few mile after the Bonsall regroup, I cruised off and rode over to Performance Bike in Oceanside to check out deals before riding back home. Weather turned out to be just right.

-randorides