Chasing Coyotes on Ham-Hock Trail

Ham Hock Trail Garmin Stats

I posted up earlier in the week on the SDRando and OFR(Thursday Gruppo) message boards part 2 of the
"No Stone Left Unturned Rando Series". Several responses... Dan Phillips was riding the Sunset Beach 200 with buddy Bill, Dan Fitzgerald said it was a sufferfest and a his friend ask him to ride MTB up in Aliso Woods instead. Everyone else had big rides upcoming or dirt was too challenging for them! This rando route was a little more demanding and dirt+ than the "Rock & Road Trail" a few weeks back.

Came in from San Marcos with arm warmers and newspaper vest on. Once again the forecast was in error with a local low of 57F due. Not close. Garmin read 49F with no wind chill included! Mule Hill start sits next to Lake Hodges and it got much cooler than that in the valley. Racer-guy Devin was unloading his white Soulcraft hardtail, Troy had his newer Trek full suspension shined up and Keith's Spearfish had a small handlebar bag flopping off the front. A nice surprise was the addition of John Mestemacher! He was still waiting on his new steel Charge "Cooker" to arrive, but opted for his nice rando ready Rivendale with 32mm mounted. He had his traction work cut out for him today! I was riding the C'dale Trail SL with worn knobbies. Today I was trying out 35psi.

Sunrise on Mule Hill Trail

The group rolled out onto Mule Hill Trail at 7:00 sharp and straight away noticed cold hands. Devin and John were wearing single shirts and looked blueish! Troy said his Garmin temp was down to 34F. I checked mine and it was 35.4F. Holy sucks, no wonder we were froze! Not to worry. We hit the sun on the 19% climb out of the nursery and warmed up quick! Slight ditch detour on the Old Coach Trail and soon we were in full downhill mode to the bridge out. We had the ravine portage buddy system working with Devin doing most of the bike-packing. No poison oak reported. Nice leaf covered trail under tree canopy as we hit our first major short uphill climb.Devin and Troy made it up as the rest of us had different excuses: "I almost touched Troys wheel and had to back off" worked for me. John had narrow tires and Keith had a sore back from lifting bricks! Excuse-O-Rama was already in full effect!

Some nice riding ahead as we hit the trails and crossed several roads along the east side of Poway. The alley trails were good too, as friendly people were out walking their dogs early along here. Troy noted that Poway trail maintenance was great here, as they just dumped crushed rock, leveled it out and it was good-to-go! I offered up to Devin a "under 50" route option to rattlesnake trail, but he didn't bite on that one. Oh well, I'll try again later. A short run along Espola Rd, the extended bolt guardrail and soft sand downhill on the way to Garden Road Park. Great place to water down and bathrooms are clean. Keith led us down the road to the 7-Eleven control stop at mile 14. We traded stories on how great we were riding as Devin noted how well John was doing on his rando bike tires. I mentioned several route changes ahead, including the Poway Creek Bike Path add on.

A good time to snack on the 2 miles of Poway Road. We turned onto the bike path at the Community Rd.

Top of Poway Trail

Fire Station. We looped around and entered the Poway Trail amidst more of Troy's crushed rock dumps on the first uphill. After a road crossing it was time for "Five-Dollar Hill". I pointed it out and the story goes you're supposed to get five-bucks it you can climb it! We saw a few coyotes walking across the trail ahead. Devin said he needed the money and off he went chasing coyotes! We were pushing bikes and cheering him on!
A good effort put him part way up before he bailed.
Coyotes 1, Devin 0.
I think we'll call it "Coyote Climb" now. Devin said if he had his Nano Rapors tires he would have made it! Next time? John and Troy both concurred that their Garmins read 32%. Enough said.

Rocky trail along the ridge before a nice downhill, under a road and more fast riding on a well maintained  trail parallel to Poway Road. A well worn trail around the pump-house onto Cara Way. Unmarked Trans County Trail dips under I-15 to a great single track ride to the trailhead board. We opted for the north route, crossing the creek and away from horse traffic. We rolled into the Canyonside Park and watered up, hit the bathrooms and were back as a group again. Devin noticed a slo-leaker on the front, so opted to fix it now. John and I stayed with him giving advice and how-tos as Keith and Troy opted to ride ahead and check the sights on the north trail through the canyon.

On the north trail, Devin was having a little fun on a curve-bank jump, caught some air and crashed at the feet of a man, wife and dog walking the trail.
"Are you OK?"
He popped up and brushed off :  "Oh, ya... coyotes just kicked my ass and so did that jump!"
Coyotes 2, Devin 0
We crossed at Wagon Wheel Crossing and continued to Adobe Ruins without incident. Keith and Troy were waiting. Along Sorrento Valley Blvd. Troy said John had a flat tire behind us. I slowed, jumped the curb, slid and scrapped my knee on the sidewalk.
Coyotes 2, Kelly 0
A super fast tube fix for John and we're together again on Sorrento Valley Rd. and toward the SR-56 Bike

Nudie Pool near Santa Fe Trail

Path. We opted for a different control stop other that the AM/PM at El Camino Real. It was cross traffic and off track. Circle K at our turn on Camino Del Sur was better. So much for the no-race pace rando ride. As soon as we hit the bike path, John opened it up with his narrow tires!. We were smokin' roadies and Devin took the lead, John next as I was trying to recruit this white jersey roadie who liked MTB'ing better. He said it relaxed him more, but his friends were into Randonneuring. I guess so as we left him behind and we raced into the Circle K at mile 41. We collapsed on the north side shade. Finally Troy and Keith found us and we all had a nice break. That nice smell wasn't Keith's socks, but Troys Banana Boat Sunscreen. The good stuff was ahead!

A short road ride to Byrn Glen, through the gate and onto the Stagecoach 400 route trail. Good single trak up to the new bridge construction on Camino Del Sur, where a detour has us crossing the roadway and back onto the trail on the other side. Nice riding to the trail "Y", where I offered up a under-50 trail option. No takers so we climbed up to the Lusardi Creek Loop Trail Board and waited for Keith. He turned the wrong way, so Devin rounded him up. Big sonic downhill on the outside Loop Trail. We regrouped under the bridge and followed the nice Lusardi Loop Trail over to the Coast To Crest sign, around the power towers and a last downhill to the water crossing. The last road section was the slog up Artesian Way. Next up was the 34 switchbacks, this time downhill. I really suck at those turns, but I think I figured it out now. A rear wheel lock-slide seemed to work really good. Devin said it wasn't good trail protocol to tear it up like that. I apologized and went to the back of the line.

A short stop at "Skinny Dip Pool" and some quiet riding on Santa Fe Trail. Nice downhill to the steel bridge

John, Kelly & Devin regroup on Lusardi Loop Trail

as the temps were rising. A cool breeze along nearby Del Dios Highway helped quell the aerobic activity caused by near empty water bottles. Scenic riding near Lake Hodges Dam, past the park-n-ride car and finally the single trak around the lake. John missed a climb gear on the access road trail and went down easy, sunglasses and all.
Coyote 2, John 0
Back onto the big wide Hodges Trail, loop under I-15 as Keith was thinking of nothing but Vitamin Water and led out with a quick pace to the finish at Mule Hill. We were all dry and bottles were flowing through the Chevron check out. Dusty, dirty and smelling ripe, those coyotes don't have anything on us!

Another great training ride. We all had a good time, trail lessons learned. and are geared up for the next trail. Perhaps "Santa Ysabel Truck Trail" in the near future?

_randorides

Ham-Hock Trail Permanent

Rode Ham-Hock revised route today.

Garmin Stats from the Ham-Hock Trail ride.

Just made the time cut for randos.
Helped a lady on the SR-56 Bike Path with a jammed chain.
2 detours and 1 portage.

kellyjay

Coronado Express Permanent

Ferry at Coronado landing

Nice gruppo for the Express ride yesterday.

I ran into Dan, Bill and Keith at the little coffee shop on Cleveland St., just before the start. We were talkin' 29'er stuff and Bill's recent return from 3 weeks of real riding in the Alps! We got our receipts early for the 07:00 start.

Route owner John pulled in just as we were riding around the fenced off Pacific St. near the O'side pier! Good show! Lots of chit chat on the way down the coast. Bill said the Brevet he rode in Swiss-land had only 2100 riders starting! Huh! Sounds like they know how to do a brevet right over there!

Missed Troy at the Poinsettia Lane junction, so we rode on to Swami's where we stopped and Phil joined in.. all rested up. Bill and Dan set the tempo up Torrey Pines, after the round-about detour for bridge construction. Keith and Sam both had a nice climb and we all arrive at the top in good order. Some friend of Bill's was supposed to meet up at Garnett Street turn, but Bill got a cell-phone message saying his fridge broke and he couldn't make it. Dan said: " You have 2 choices for a broken fridge; 1. Do the ride and go home and replace the fridge. 2. Miss the ride, stay home and replace the fridge! Good advice.

We checked out the side trails riding down Rose Canyon. Next trip out from Boston, Sam says he'll have a trail bike and "get some of that". Ya right? Keith can hardly wait to fire off his Salsa Spearfish and put the hurt on Sam's legs then! John is still thinking about it. Dan has been looking at MTB options. Phil is looking at bigger tires for his LHTrucker! Bill doesn't want to get his socks dirty. Troy has his new TREK MTB.

The gruppo ran into a much welcomed trail cleaners along the Rose Creek Bike Path. Guess they are cleaning up after the "bush dwellers" who frequent there. City had said they are cleaning up that blighted Bike Path. Guess Mayor Bobby didn't cut that from the budget before he made a deal to leave!

We all cranked it up a bit through Old Town and down to the reconstructed Broadway Pier area. The ticket shack was moved further south in front of the Midway now. We made it with one minute to spare. I had initially thought about taking the 5th street ferry across instead. No need now. Another day.

Bathroom break for us as Phil cleared out the stalls for the tourists! A double flush will do it every time!

Nice sunny ride around the Coronado Bay to the Bayshore Bikeway. Some traffic along there and a tri-racer boy was itchin' to pass us. He waited till we exited onto the frontage road and he let rip. Dan & I sucked his wheel. By the look of his calves, he didn't have much left after the Anita St. turn. He actually thanked us as we backed off for re-group! Good stuff.

John lit the fire on Cleveland Street, as Sam kept smelling the burgers ahead. John and I hit the AM/PM while Keith and gruppo loaded up at JIB. Sam chomped the greasy stuff while dumping his large drink on the floor to keep the JOB worker busy. Nice union guy. John & I lay in the sun, warming our tired old bones, reflecting on the Lazy Lizard Brevet next month. Nice route if you all can make it. Maybe Troy can make that one too?

 We took the alt. route through the Barrio. Resurfaced roads made it a smooth ride into the headwind. Lite traffic downtown as Bill showed us what he learned on the Euro trip about running red lights! Dan learned quick and they blasted through several as we soon lost sight of them. Re-group to Old Town as Sam was telling a story of how yesterday (Friday) he missed the Coaster from downtown, so he walked up to Old Town to catch the next Coaster northward! HUH? Added to that, he walked from the LA central train station to the airport. HUH? Good thing it wasn't night time!

Sam was fading fast after yesterday's events. We didn't want to follow Phil through a red light after the Rose Creek Bike Path, so Keith, Sam and I slugged up Rose Canyon. Sam said he wanted to ride his own pace... (translation: I is done, I'm cooked, call the wagon, where's my wife?) I would have none of that and we worked together up to UCSD. I mentioned to Keith to "carry on". I got Sam squared away on NCTD 101 in due order and headed northward. Keith and John were waiting for me at the top of Torrey Pines. Dan was checking out the big fish in the Lagoon near the detour. Phil and Bill went on ahead. Bill had to check bar-end caps at the cycle shop.

Phil pulled off at Swami's, where he started from. Bill joined up at Leucadia Blvd. by the duck pond. Quick pace up to the LaCosta turn, where John was heading east toward home. He rode in earlier, so got the full 100 +miler in already. Always good to see John on a ride, even with skinny tires!

It was lights out up the coast from there. Dan said he was going to do the last little climb up to Palomar Airport Rd. at 25mph. It happened! I tried to pass Dan on the left near the top. He swerved left to block. Bill was out of the saddle to pass on the right. Dan jogged to the right. Keith was checking some chicks back down the road. We regrouped in due order.

Sams favorite Boston food!

Due to the hi-speed and excess road friction, Bill's front G'skin blew and Dan stayed with him for support and apology's. Keith and I continued on to O'side. Dan and Bill cut off at Cassidy St. for home. The bands were crankin' at the Pier and a whole lotta people on the roads. We rode to Circle K for final receipts and called it a good day.

The weather forecast was wrong for the right reason! Nice weather for a ferry trip and better company. Seems like we all had a good time and finished up the ride too!

Sam says he'll get in better shape this Boston winter between pizza and Cocoa Puffs. Next Spring we will see a new climber Sam! (Mmmmm... that's what he said last year.)

Thanks to all the riders for this memorable ride.

see you next trip,
kellyjay

Coffee At Peets Permanent

Steel Charge "Cooker"' at Perf. Bike. Trail bike revival?

Sam's summer training rides continue with this quick entry route for leg mileage.
Met up with Sam Thomas at the San Marcos 7-Eleven under slightly foggy skies.
Left a bit late and rode through lite fog conditions with front and rear "froggies" blinking. We were riding the reverse course so around Lake Hodges there was a bit more fog.

Nasty road construction on Camino Del Sur, limited to one share lane with big trucks and cars. Stopped at the AM/PM for a refresh and the fog lifted into cloudy skies. 56 Bike Path was uneventful, even the short dirt run up to El Camino Real. Stopped by Nytro when we saw Joe's car there. Sam was the life of the party as he is still looking to order some big $$ wheels. Why I don't know, he has them stacked up now.

Rode north with Sam pulling. I paced the College Blvd. climb over to Performance Bike. I dropped off my broken spring Crank Bros. pedals with Scottie and Sam looked at MTB/Trail Bikes. Maybe next trip out he'll get a Trail bike for some rando riding with us.  I checked out this new steel bigger tire bike called the Charge "Cooker". Reviews say it's heavy, but ride nice on the trails.

Took a round about way back to San Marcos, since the detour on the San Luis Rey Bike Path still holds during the weekdays. Short on mileage for this route. Oh well, Sam got in some mileage.

Posted up the upcoming Saturday ride to Coronado on the OFR and SDrando message boards. Maybe 4 will show up.

-randorides

Ursa Minor Permanent

Garmin Stats from the Ursa Minor ride.

Nice ride yesterday for the inaugural riding of the Ursa Minor Permanent. We finally finished around 4:30.

The route was 209km - 130 mi.
First part of the ride was a little wettish and foggy. No donuts were bought at the new Solana Donut Control.

Phil missed the start due to a fuzzy head from a night of partying. He was cooked when he finally caught us on Del Dios highway. Good job Phil just staying upright. We waited for him an San Onofre Campground #11, but he cut back sooner and returned through the base.

Troy missed us at Poinsettia Lane by 2 minutes. He waited for 1+ hours and then headed north through the camp. He send Sam a message, but Sam never answered which direction we were headed. We met Troy gulping an big burger at the top of Trestles Bike Path. My thought of returning through the base was out-voted by a majority and we fled down the I-5 amid lines of traffic. Troy returned homeward from Harbor Dr. regroup.

Dan was lookin' good after his 6" burger lunch with choc. shake at San Juan Cap. and cut off at the end of the SLR Bike Path. We tried to convince Sam to join him on his ride back home, but Sam would have no part of it. He had to finish a rando route one of these days!

Keith O. was riding good (till Champagne Blvd climb) He had other things on his mind but kept after it anyway. After a forever climb up to Deer Springs Road, Sam had a blow-out near Nutmeg turn on his freebee Atom rear tire. Of course he didn't have a boot and wasted his lone Co2 cartridge. Keith helped with the new pump and extra cartridge. We finally wandered into the 7-Eleven later on.

For randos Keith and Sam, your results submitted to RUSA are attached and the SDRando website results page has been updated.

Sam had the best time by 1 minute, which proves the mantra: "You are faster if you dress like a pro!"

If Keith and Sam had opted for the Kitchen Creek Brevet instead, they right now would be turning off Old Hwy. 80 onto Kitchen Creek climb!

Don Parsons emailed me he did ride the Kitchen Creek Brevet and cut short after 75 miles. He's off for a week of wine country rest with family now. Good to see he is out riding again. Where is Jaime now?

take care and see ya soon,
kellyjay

Coffee At Peet's Permanent

Sam is back for a few weeks

Started in San Marcos at 6:00 and met up with the OFR gruppo #1 at Magee Park. Phil, Alan, Sam, big Daryl
and Doug were there. Picked up Eric on the way to Swami's Park. 7 others there to join in the ride. I rode a bit more, the looped back to Nytro to see Joe and pick up a few normal goodies. No Lenzyne MTB pump, no MTB Eco grips GP-3's, the SOMA frame is over to Joe's buddy Jeff place and getting straightened out. The Surly frame is done.

Finished up the route and met Alan and Phil riding northward on Coast Hwy.
I was tired all day. Go figure.
Need to get back on the Trail bike for some recon work soon.

Ursa Minor 130mi on Saturday with Sam and Keith Olsen. A few other suggested interest.

-randorides

Aztec Century Permanent

Garmin Stats from the Aztec Century ride on Saturday

Met up with Boston Sam Thomas and Keith Olsen at the Chevron Station start. Sam rode in from Daryl's
place off College Ave and Keith drove up from Point Loma area. Left at 6:30 and hit the SLRey Bike Path toward Oceanside.

A few cyclists riding along the coast southbound. Stopped at Swami's before climbing up Torrey Pines. Kept a slo pace up the climb and rolled on down to Mission Bay and McDonalds for a water refuel. Off and around to Morena Blvd. and through Mission Valley up to SDSU campus. Sam dropped off on that climb. Refuel with yogurt at McDonalds. The boys had some potato patty stuff and a cola.

Rode back at a moderate pace. Keith dropped back on the UCSD climb. Rode northward on the coast. Stopped at Nytro. Joe wasn't there, so we refilled bottles. I picked up a bunch of racers and flied to Carlsbad. Sam was cooked by then and had to stop at O'side for a coke caffeine kick. Rolled into finish at about 8 hours 12 minutes. I rode up and over to the Couch Train station headed back to San Marcos.

-randorides

Aztec Century

Rode solo. No OFR riders at Magee Park meet up. Plus 3 at Poinsettia Lane. 8 more at Swami's regroup. Rode up Torrey and cut off to SDSU. HOT>

Bike Path X Two

Solo ride early start on Sunday. Good workout.