Rainbow Prelude Permanent

The last 4 days of rainy weather plus a day after to let the winds settle down offered a chance for a local ride today. Started at the San Marcos Control and it didn't seem too cool despite the frost advisory last night. This was the same route that we rode on the Brevet on the 19th. Around 125 miles. I was really bundled up, as anything into the winds was real cool. Start temp was around 39F, with sun peaking over the eastern hills at 8:00 AM. I was riding the SOMA rando bike, without fenders and with 700 x 28mm Gatorskins.

I figured I would only stop for a max of 5 minutes per today. Since I was overdressed, I stopped while climbing Circle R to take off jacket, neck tube and gloves. I take Circle R now instead of the busy Old Castle Road. In fact, after a car brush a while back, haven't been up Old Castle climb in a while. Stopped again starting up Couser climb to loose gloves and woolie stocking cap. Some hunters shooting at the bottom near Hwy. 76. Must be duck season. Group of 20 bikers stopped near 76. Must be some gruppo getting ready for the climb ahead. Saw 1 racer with deep dish wheels coming down Rice Canyon. Temps were nice now as I labored up to the Rainbow Oaks Market. Got a banana there. Ms. model was behind the register.

Rice Canyon log home. Climbing is over now!

Leaving, saw a rider whiz by. Caught up to her and chatted a bit. She lives in Rainbow. Nice new Trek carbon in pink and purple. Perfect 3x whitened teeth and she wore full make-up like she was going out bar hopping. Quite sharp too, as she was returning from a 25 mile RT to Temecula. She turned off to a private drive south of Rainbow. Felt good riding up to Fallbrook and the nice downhills through Oak Park and Green Canyon to Bonsall. Went straight into the headwind on Hwy. 76 to College Ave, where I stopped at COX and paid the cable bill! Might as well multi-task. Hit the SLR bike path and into a stronger cool headwind. Seemed like riders were all riding eastward with a tailwind. Bummer, no drafting on this trip!

At Oceanside, stopped at the Transit Station and added 30 days to my Compass Card( used to ride busses, trains, Coaster, etc.) Never met any riders riding south on Coast Hwy. 101. They all were riding north. Nice headwind down the coast. Didn't feel that great pulling into the McDonalds near UTC. Refilled my bottles and got a one-buck ice cream cone. Figured I would ride and eat. Chatted with a older tall guy who like the wool SD rando jersey. Wool rocks for weather like this. Matching knee hi socks make a fashion statement! Luv it!

Up the rough Regents Road and down the freeway to Sorrento Valley. Not much going on from there to El Camino Real. No pick ups on the road today. Shucks, no Planet Bike Tail Lights either. Tailwind along San Dieguito Road, and even climbing up Del Dios. Legs were loaded up and felt like lead. Sunny, but not that warm. Riding through Harmony Grove in the shadows didn't warm me up much either. Rolled into San Marcos 7-Eleven well before 5:00. 20 cent Reece's cup and the ride was over. Headwinds took it out of me today. Maybe I didn't have much to start with? Hehe. Oh well, maybe tomorrow?

-randorides

OFR Rider Update-Alan Lubic

Alan is the senior member of the group that rides out of Magee Park every Thursday, OFR (Old Farts Ride-sometimes I incorporate a rando route in with theirs). He had a seizure around 2 months ago. Eric Rix set up a trainer for him at his house and he was dong well, ready to get back on the road again. Just yesterday, he had another seizure! Doctors don't know what caused any of this. So they put his on medication and back on the trainer, spinning 40 minutes a day.

I sent him this email just the other day.

Hi Alan,
Hope this email finds you, the only one in the archives for ya!

Last Thursday, it was a little cool, rainy and not that great when I rolled into Oceanside. The OFR Blog had a few riders saying they were riding, even if the weather wasn't that great.

I rode down to Magee Park, got there early and sat under the porch near the bench where we used to meet early for our Thursday rides. The roads were drying out and I figured you would be rolling in at 8:05 as usual. You always were there on time and we used to chat about different things of note.
I sat there and a lady drove up in here big car, got out and opened up the house(museum). We said a few words as I sat there on the wooden porch thinking about the times we would carry on a conversation on worldly matters. You were nice to chat with, not like the other riders who would always list there recent riding accomplishments, how great they were and other things of non-interest to me.
 
I realized you weren't coming today, but I still imagined you were there, and I left at exactly 8:30, just like you did. I rode alone down the coast, thinking about our good time together... when you met Anita, you riding into the back of a parked car, your teaching exploits, new Focus bike for you, dirty chain on the Lemond bike, etc. It's real weird things we can remember if we really want to.
I expect to see you soon, sitting on the Magee Park bench, waiting for others to roll in for the Thursday ride.

Take care, get better soon and Zaharah and I are thinking of you often,

your riding buddy,
kellyjay

I don't know what the future holds for Alan, or even me, but it makes you stop and think how valuable each ride we do is!

-randorides

Cannondale 29'er Trail SL-4

Cannondale 29'er Trail SL-4 Basic stuff for Bikepacking?

Ordered one of these through Joe Morgan at Nytro Multisport today. Got a super dealer-deal on this one.
More or less a basic MTB 29'er with hydraulic brakes. Entry level stuff to see if it works for Bikepacking, Rando routes and basic trail riding.

Research and reviews on the 2013 model are scarce now, but indications are the frame is super and is the same one as on their lighter, higher end models. Components are basic lower end stuff. I guess the front shocks are marginal, at best... we'll see... don't know much about MTB's.

Should take a few weeks to get it in, then set it up for some Rando MTB Route recon!
Plan on developing a few MTB Rando Routes that kick some butt!

-randorides

San Luis Rey Revival Permanent

SLR Bike Path along river

Took the 6:44 Sprinter over to Oceanside for this 181km/112mi Permanent. Stopped by my favorite Circle K, just north of the City Hall on Coast Hwy. Usual 15 cent Reese's cup for start receipt. Keep it cheap. Start temp was 46F, much warmer than when I left the house in San Marcos earlier at 39F. No gloves needed as the SLR Bike Path showed a headwind. Great. It was going to be a long day for sure.


Took a long time getting over to Bonsall. Even stopped at a construction Port-A-Potty at Hwy. 76 and Vista Way. Camino del Rey wasn't too bad and I went up Circle R instead of Old Castle Road. Stopped half way up and stripped as a fire truck & ambulance came screaming by. Wandering around Lilac Road, the same truck came back heading west. Must have been a ambulance only call. Waste of money and manpower for the union fireman to go out on every call. Nice contract!

Finally got to Valley Center and my least favorite road. Rough and bumpy all the way to the Rincon downhill. Even that was nasty. Haven't been any resurfacing here in decades and the the only smooth section was just in front of the Harrah's Casino. BIG building addition going on there. We know where the money is. Stopped by the Stagestop Market for water. I ignored the "Out Of Service" sign. The toilet out back was plugged but the water was still working. Left there and starting grinding up Hwy. 76 into a headwind. On the first "S" curve was passed by 3 racers in a nice paceline. I was at a comfortable 8 mph. They must have been around 12 mph and heading for Palomar Mtn. I was already cooked when I got to the downhill toward Henshaw. Ahhhh, finally some easy riding.. NOT.

Headwind was up to maybe 12-15mph as I crawled downhill. Took me almost 4.7 hrs just to get to the Henshaw Restaurant/Store. Bunch of weekend Beemer riders pulled in, having just passed me. I chatted a bit and went to the store. Water and a ice cream bar for under $2. Sat down in the shade and listened to cow men discussing the local news. Hit the potty and had a real fire in the stream. Dehydrated for sure. Gulped down the rest of the cool bottled water and headed back..

Lake Henshaw- Low level duck pond in January

Ahhh. nice big tailwind! Guess I didn't suck after all, it was the headwind!? Climbed up 76 to So. Grade Rd. at 14mph. Feelin' good on the big downhill. Didn't see any cyclists. Went by Martha's Market and to Cole Grade Road. I see Nate Harrison Grade Road has a brand new street sign now. Nice! Now we know where to turn for the Nate's Way Permanent. Some trucks blocking Cole Grade, so I decided to go on Hwy. 76 instead. Haven't been that was in a long time. Be nice to see whats up on the road.

The Hwy. wasn't as bad as I remembered. Just one 8% climb with no shoulder. Nice downhill into Pala. Narrow bike lane over to Rice Canyon and then a few tight curves before it opens up well before going over I-15. Headwind was stronger, making riding in the drops mandatory. Traffic wasn't too bad rolling into Bonsall. Time for a yogurt stop at McD's. Took a shot of Cola, filled the bottles and rolled out. Followed Hwy. 76 till turning onto the SLR near Guajome Park. Nine miles of path to Oceanside as the headwind was diminishing with the cloud cover. Turned off and stopped by Bussey Automotive to see Dan Phillips. He rode the Rainbow 200 on Saturday while recovering from the flu. Tough dude. He finished up OK. He was feeling better.

Took the back way to Circle K for final receipt and a Reese's Cup. Then raced over to the Sprinter Station to catch the 4:33 train back to San Marcos. Didn't matter, train was 10 minutes late and packed with bikes. Oh well stack em up! Got home before needing to use head or tail lights. I carried the smallist "Froggie" lights, just in case. I was beat after fighting the winds most of the day. Sure couldn't have followed those racers up toward Palomar.

-randorides

Rainbow 200 Brevet

First Brevet of the year brings many riders. 40 riders at the start, under clear cool skies as the sun was trying to come up from the east. John M. drove down, arriving at 6:40 for the 7:00 start time. We had time to chat and catch up on the latest life things on the way down. That's always nice since the last ride we did together was the Lazy Lizard Brevet in December.
Many regulars were there, along with a few new randdos, ready to give er a go! A little cool before the Doyle Park start, so I threw on a wind vest. Thought about the long fingered gloves, but gave it a pass. Temps were to be near 80F today. Rode around saying "hello" and picked up a card from RBA Dennis Stryker. Went over to the mens bathroom. It was plugged up to seat level, so I opted for the ladies side. Much nicer over there as things were in order.

Rainbow 200 Brevet Route

Was planning on riding with John M., Dan Phillips, Bill Stevenson, maybe Mike Shaw, etc. That never happened, as the big group starting splitting up after some missed the first few green lights. I sort of hung around, as I knew the break up would really happen after Del Dios and San Elijo climbing. George Vargas had to stage his entry at the El Camino Real turn, riding the wrong way till picking up the group. He had a riding "partner/girlfriend" Lori riding the route. George would turn off in Encinitas after leading her around the course. She rode very well. George didn't look well, rather thin and lanky.

I was stripping off my vest and arm warmers while climbing up Del Dios. We hit a warm pocket, as the temps took a 10 degree jump and the headwind was stronger. I tucked in behind some big racer guys and motored along. Harmony grove had a fast paceline, which I hung on to at 27 mph. A few riders missed the San Elijo Control and came back after a bit. George and Lori rode through. Left the Control early and picked up Mark Toliver on the climb up San Elijo. Later on Robert Abraham join us in San Marcos and we rode up to the Deer Spring Control together.

5 minutes I was 'otta there, as I yelled at Robert I was leaving. Red light had a group of 7 together riding down Champagne Blvd. The racers turned on Old Castle, Robert and I went up Circle R. I had a brush riding up Old Castle last week and didn't need it again. We met up with a NCCC older rider, Don McClain, so I gave him a Rando card and told him to check it out. We had a relaxing ride up Lilac Rd., Cooser Canyon and on to Rice Canyon. Rider from Phoenix passed starting Rice Canyon, and the newbie guy on a new Trek joined up before we rolled into Rainbow and Ed Shephard's Control.

After a nice water bottle refill and bathroom stop, Robert and I left quickly as the racers were coming in. Phoenix joined up for the ride over to Fallbrook, where he took off ahead. We went into a recovery ride mode, just relaxing and cutting back on the downhill speed along Oak Park and Green Canyon through Mission Road to Bonsall. We opted for the Hwy. 76 to Guajome Park, the onto the SLR Bike Path. Never saw any Randos anywhere as we pacelined at a steady 17mph into O'side. We saw Phoenix just ahead as we stopped off at Magee Park for a "blow".

Racers boys joined up there, after a 22mph paceline into a headwind on the SLR Bike Path! Wow, those guys are fast. 3 riders went ahead, as Gary K. and Jeff Cole joined Robert and I along the coast. We did a slo roll for regroup at the top of Torrey Pines, as Gary and Jeff didn't know the way through UCSD. Bad route through there, easy to make the wrong turn. We rolled in together just after 3:00 PM.

Had a chit chat with other riders at the finish as Osvaldo's wife was checking us in. I waited around for John and his group to come in and we laughed a bit, told big riding tales and hit the street. Not a bad day, the weather was nice and I felt OK.

next trip....randorides

SR-600 Update

Badge attached to all SR-600 bikes

Approval process for the SoCAL Peninsular Range SR-600 is moving along. I made several changes as discussed with RUSA Permanent Director Crista Boras. No route changes, but one thing was new to me and that was the use of "Photo Controls" instead of the "Info Controls". ACP was quite diligent in their use. I changed all "Info Controls" over to "Controls" with the detail of taking a pic of your bike at a local landmark.

In addition to the photo requirement, another interesting thing is the use of a badge on each bike doing the route. This is to be included in each photo used for Control purposes. Interesting.

Crista has cleared the route and has ACP help on this. It's now over to local RBA, Dennis Stryker for review. Shouldn't be a problem there. This would be a good one for a fall Brevet! Good luck.

Next up will be some MTB dirt Permanents. Just need a big tire bike first.

-randorides

2 Bike Paths + Rainbow Climbing Route

SR-56 Bike Path

Time for a little climbing before the Saturday Brevet. Started the Bike Path X Two Populaire just before 9:00 AM. It had warmed up enough not to freeze on the downhills. No riders out today as I rode Old 395 and Camino del Rey past Bonsall. SLR had a few riders and no headwind to the coast... in fact, maybe a slight tailwind.

Stripped down at Magee Park while waiting for a few racers to draft off down the coast. Never happened, so I cruised down with a nice tailwind. Stopped by Nytro to invite Joe Morgan to the Brevet on Saturday. He probably won't go. Spending too much time in home gym lifting weights! Also got latest $$ on the Cannondale MTB he was researching for me. Looks real good and may be a first step in getting into Rando Bike-packing routes. We'll see. Don't have many dollars for another scheme that may not develop into routes.

Found SuperFlash in Carmel Valley

Stopped at AM/PM at El Camino Real and Carmel Valley Rd. for receipt. Busy place. Hard to get out of. I would join the Rainbow 200 route here as it went up El Camino Real. Started the climb. First bumpy stoplight found a new Planet Bike rear Blinkie. They cost around $25 retail! Still had the original batteries in it. Followed the Rainbow route up and around San Dieguito Rd. with a tailwind. Nice riding up Del Dios where I met a super heavy rider on a Giant with carbon hub Ksyrium wheelset and Garmin 800 bike computer. He is down here from Toronto for a week. Nice guy. Unfortunately he turned right at Via Rancho Pkwy. I wished him good luck on that road. I don't ride that anymore with limited bike lanes.

Nice ride into a real strong headwind along Harmony Grove Road. They have removed the chicken farm and are building homes there now with heavy construction in the area. Climbing up San Elijo, turned around and picked up a quarter in the road. What the heck! Big downhill on Twin Oaks, but only got to 33 mph due to big headwind. Got 3 cc cookies for a buck at 7-Eleven for receipt. Cheapest thing there.

Twin Oaks Valley Road climb

-randorides

Bike-Packing Frameset Research

Salsa Fargo Frameset - $725 retail

 Another option for Trail Bike Packing is just getting a frameset. Of late, the real popular set up for Stagecoach 400 type routes is the Salsa Fargo with drop bars and lots of braze-ons for extras. I think the disk brakes are the way to go. Frameset is overpriced due to the recent popularity. I guess Rando route over trails would be about 75% dirt and 25% hard surface road travel. These type of frames are also used now in real long routes like the Tour Divide! Maybe you don't need a suspension fork on the front with real big 2.5' tires up there?

Another option is the Surly Ogre. Pacific Cycles is the local big dealer for Surly. Chuck doesn't give many deals on frames there. He knows what he is doing and has lots of ideas. Nytro is a dealer for Surly also. They don't stock any. Did get a discounted price for the medium frameset from Joe. Still a little higher than I expected. I don't like the canti posts. I still have a nice perfect Surly Cross Check front fork that will take bigger tires, but no disk brake tabs, only canti's.

Surly Ogre Frameset- $525 retail

Keeping my options open for a cheap entry. You can almost buy a complete MTB bike with disks for the same as these framesets. These are just as heavy after a build up. It all comes down to the wheels. Big cost and big upgrade to tubeless.

-randorides

Round Trip to San Diego State

Better known as the Aztec Century-164km/102mi. Shorty between rain yesterday and dropping temps.

Left home before 6:30 Am to ride over to the Sprinter Train station. Temp was 31F and it was real cold riding any downhill. Had several layers on with IP wind jacket covering. Neck tube with woolie cap did the trick up top. Fingerless over glove liners didn't do the warmth on the fingers! Frekin' cold when I left the Couch station and cycled up Canon St and on to the Chevron Station start on Benet Street in O'side.

Shaded SLR Bike Path was well below freezing for the short ride into O'side. Sun was up along the coast southward, but didn't warm up very much. No cyclists either way on Coast Hwy. Warmed up climbing Torrey Pines, but the reward was a full jacket downhill on Garnett and Rose Canyon Bike Path. Took the safety loop a doop route from Santa Fe up to Morena Ave. Then it's mostly downhill to Friar's Road. Pick up a group of 4 riders there and followed them through Fashion Valley Mall and Camino de la Rina streets till they broke off to go to Kissington, where ever that is. Lady said she organizes the Christmas Ride, which is a 6 day ride around the county with nice sleep overs.

San Diego State mascot

SDSU McDonalds was near empty. Good thing as I dumped my Parfait Yogurt on the floor. Got a free replacement as I helped clean up the mess! Short break there. Then off through the construction area and into a headwind all the way as I retraced the route around Friars Rd., Morena, Santa Fe Ave. past MTN Bike W'house and on up to UCSD. Hooked up with some racer there and hung on over Torrey Pines. Was going to see what he had on the Del Mar climb, ;but he turned off at the Torrey Pines State Beach. Good thing for me!

Headwind all the way up the coast to Encinitas, where I stopped by Nytro and chatted with Joe about a bikepacking bike for Rando routes again. He was checking on several framesets. Also invited him to the Rainbow 200 next week. Seemed I was there 35 minutes before heading out the door and into a very cool headwind up the coast. Saw very few riders. Swung around the back way to check out rider Dan Phillips at his Bussey's Automotive shop. Looks like they closed early! Bummer. Dan had been sick with the flu stuff going around. Rode over and hopped the Sprinter Train for San Marcos.

Darn cool for a sunny day. Supposed to be colder this next week. Garmin temps were 35 Lo & 54F Hi.

-randorides 


.

Busted In DeLuz Populaire

DeLuz Road

Rando Route #452 is a local route of 157km/98mi which adds in a little climbing through DeLuz valley. This route also works good in reverse, or better yet, after the plunge down from Fallbrook, take a right and climb up the solid 17% Sandia Creek Road section! A real butt buster there.

Not this trip. I started out at the LaCosta Circle K around 8:30. Enough of this early 6 or 7AM starting in the 30 degree range. It was around 45F when I left. Rode over to the coast instead of up El Camino Real. Traffic would be too much up around the Hwy. 78 crossing for safety. Rode with a few racers up to O'side, where I hit the bathrooms and then upgraded my Compass Card for another 30 days at the Transit Station. Took my jacket, knee warmers, arm warmers, etc off and packed it neatly in from of my handlebar bag. Over on the SLR Bike Path into a headwind! Go Figure. Jumped off at College and headed to Old River Road. Not much traffic there since they opened up all lanes on the new Hwy. 76 to Bonsall. Felt like the legs were of lead.

Ultegra 6701 10 speed chain

Hit the 34T chainring and 24cog up Sleeping Indian. Also tried out the 27-30cog and the short DA derailleur. After adding a new Shimano 6701 Ultegra chain, was having a little problem with exact shifting. Yes, that's a 10 sp chain. I have 9 speed shifting. Done that for years. Also, dropped the KMC Missinglink last trip and messed up my rear wheel spokes/alignment. Perfect now grinding up those hills. Stopped at usual JIB in Fallbrook and then down into DeLuz. took the regular way on DeLuz Road. Construction part way through. Bush cutting, big time. Counted the 3-14%+ grades climbing out of the valley. Big rush down into Temecula. Took the "shortcut" around the side streets and over to Control at Carl's Jr. Got the cheapest thing they had: Ice cream sandwich with 2 CC cookies instead of the Oreo cookies. Not that great. Filled the bottles. Forget my extra Carbo-Pro. DUH.

Regular nifty climb under 73 degree weather climbing up Rainbow Canyon. A few fast downhills on Old 395, Oak Canyon and Green Canyon roads back into Bonsall. Jumped on to the new Hwy. 76 into a headwind. Off near GoHomme Park onto the SLR Bike Path. Banged into a nice headwind to the coast and jumped into some Tri racers down the coast to the LaCosta Ave. turn. Back to the Circle K in over 7 hrs. I spaced my mini-froggie lights, so had to hit it hard on the ride back to San Marcos before it got dark. Made it home on Palomar Airport Road in good order and didn't need any lights anyway! WHEW, close!

Very nice weather day under clear skies.
Rain predicted in the next few days.

-randorides

Saturday Populaire between showers

Looks like a Coffee At Peet's day. Not interested in the NCCC route today. Need to do a 131km shortie and goodie to fill the in-between rainy days. Get back home and watch some NFL football for a change.

Left the 7-Eleven in San Marcos just after 8 AM. All bundled up with jacket and neck tube. Didn't go up Deer Springs for safety sake, but instead went over to Country Club Dr., Nutmeg and onto Centre City northward. Part way up cut off on Ivy Glen over to Jesmond Dene for some climbing. Big cool downhill on Champagne Blvd and onto the shady Camino del Rey. A few PAC vest riders were picking up trash while waiting for riders to come by. Guess they had a $$ training session today. Stopped by Bonsall McD's for receipt and dropped some clothes before the quick ride on Hwy. 76 to the San Luis Rey Bike Path.

The Missing Link was really missing!

O'sdie was quiet, so I jumped on a few fast wheels down the coast to Swami's. Quick refresh and into more racers to Del Mar, where the detour was in effect. Carmel Valley Rd was busy with bikers, so I hugged some Stagecoach jersey rider all along the SR-76 Bike Path to the Circle K control near Peet's Coffee House at Camino Del Mar. More headwinds toward Rancho Bernardo. Crossed the Lake Hodges Bike Bridge and past the Mule Hill Bike Path. Took Beethoven up to the short bike path to El Ko Ave, then the chain hit the pavement.

Dropped my chain on a short 9% downshift grade.  What? No chainsuck here! The KMC Missinglink came off and wound my new Shimano 6701 chain around the cassette. They were out of SRAM Quicklink at Nytro, so Joe gave me a KMC instead. Bummer. It was bent. I flipped the bike over and checked my tool kit. Ahhhhh! I had a extra SRAM Q'link. I put that on, checked it out and away I went. When I put the KMC one on yesterday, I went on really easy.. Too easy, I guess! Too wide for the 10 sp chain. Lesson learned! Lost some time, but who's counting? Rolled back to the 7-Eleven for a 25 cent receipt and headed home. I'll clean the chain, re-tru the wheel and check the shifting tomorrow.

Cool start and it warmed up later on.
-randorides

Sunset Beach Safari

Lookin' good at Sunset Beach

Slight 227km jaunt up the coast between rain days and high wind warnings.

Left LaCosta around 7:30. Cooler mornings the last few days and there is high wind warnings in the inland areas for today. "Storm" moved through yesterday, ie: rain and some light winds. Rode up El Camino Real and waived at Judy Richwine at a stoplight. She'll be riding from Magee Park today. Met the gruppo at Magee Park before the normal departure time of 8:30. Waited around and left closer to 8:45. Rode with the gruppo through the camp, with a hi-speed paceline up to the Las Posas gate. Regroup in the parking lot. I waited just a bit before pressing on to the #11 bathroom at San Onofre State Park. Waited a bit, then took off northward feelin' good. Didn't see the OFR group again today.

Stripped down for the ride along the coast. Warming up and very lite winds going northward. A few cyclists here and there, but no hi-speed pacelines today. Met a pudgy 60-year old full suspension MTB rider at the JIB in Sunset Beach. He wanted to know all about the ride and stuff. He rides 20 mi per week up to the San Gabriel Bike Path. After asking for tips, I suggested he loose 30 pounds and cut out the beer! He carries his little dog in his backback! Go figure.

Not a lot of cyclists southbound on 101 this Thursday. Normal tight traffic around Laguna Main Beach Park, after that was regular riding into lite headwind into San Clemente. Stopped by Carl's Jr. near Trestles for refuel. Tooks I-5 through Rest Area and into O'side Harbor Drive. Picked up several afternoon racers going down the coast to LaCosta Ave., where I said "thanks" and turned left. Circle K's register was jacked up and time was off by 1 hr. Getting dark early and I only had my Frogie lights on. Had to boogie back to San Marcos in quick order!

-randorides