Camels To Yaqui Pass

Garmin stats from today's ride

Every year, the Thursday OFR Gruppo does their PIE RIDE ( initially based on the Camels To Yaqui Pass Permanent Route). So it was natural to post up a week in advance for the rando version & send out a few info email to riders. Had a good response on this for the short time notice.

Rando Bill Stevenson was nice enough to invite me for the drive out to the Ramona start. I left home after 0500 and rode over to Escondido Transit Station. Met Bill at 0600 in the lot. Surprise...his buddy Mac Imacseng was with him! Bill had a top rack on his SUV, requiring a shortie step ladder to load up my Fuji. Looked secure to me. Off we went, with Mac in the jump seat, chatting away. Just back from PBP in August, he had lots of stories to tell. I added my two-cents worth every time we passed a dirt trail on the way up to Ramona.

Randos leaving Ramona

Parking near the 7-Eleven , Keith Olsen was there unloading his bike, as well as new guy Ken Hartman and John Fry (who drove out together). After taking a few snapshots and getting start receipts, we were off at 0700. Start temp was 53F, so arm warmers and one under-layer was good for the day. I also changed my seat bag to a slightly larger one to carry a sandwich and some go-powder!

Nice group riding up old Julian Hwy where the traffic was nil. New guy Ken was riding his Long Haul Trucker with a large HB bag. I'm sure later he would rethink his bike choice (leaving his much lighter Soulcraft at home). I did chat with him about this and he said it was a gear choice for all the climbing today. Once onto Hwy. 78 we did encounter a few more cars and trucks, mostly clumped together. Several horn honking incidents, which I assumed were the OFR riders on their way to Santa Ysabel. Rolled into Santa Ysabel at 0825.

OFR & Randos in Santa Ysabel

First up was refuel and bathroom break. Then time to chit-chat with the OFR riders there. They would be riding the same route over to S-22 (road to Ranchita & Borrego Springs). After waiting around for a bit, they said their ride leader Troy Buss was feeling ill and his back-up, Bruce Tipton was running late. I took a few snaps for the planned ride video, while we milled around. Several other group riders were there, including Randy, Jimbo, Wayne & John Bruce. I noticed Jim Wisener sneaking out onto Hwy. 79, so we soon followed with the randos and a few others. Bruce T. hadn't shown up yet.

Hwy. 79 has been resurfaced of late and it was smooth sailing to Mesa Grande Road. The group broke up a bit on the pleasant climb with time for some picture taking of lo-cloud covered Lake Henshaw on the way down to a regroup at the fav. Harley hangout: Hideout Saloon. 5 minutes later we were on our way down Hwy. 76.

Cloud covered Lake Henshaw

More calm Hwy. 79 riding with the addition of a tailwind. This road was near empty today, unlike the weekends where it's packed with motor homes and trucks heading for the desert below. The turn onto S-2 brought wider shoulders and no traffic today. Keith dropped his glasses so I waited around and we rode back to the group before the S-22 regroup. Mac pulled off to the other side of the road to re-engage his dropped chain (several more later). Mac was riding a new E-Bay Ibis CX carbon. Looks like it needs some new cables, chain and a tune up!  At the regroup, I got into some fire ants and was soon followed by John Fry doing the same. Those suckers BITE! Looking back, I noticed 3 more OFR riders coming to the curve, then stop. ( I later discovered that Hilda had a flat tire.)

Soon Keith, Mac, Bill, John, Ken and I were climbing to Ranchita. Once there. I wanted to check out another source of water, since the store had closed up due to landlord dispute. The Fire Station offered 24/7 water from the outside front spigot. Good for future reference. Meanwhile, Keith was push-riding on the soft-gravel Skyway Dr. to a house just behind. Seems it's a family friend named Ross Radford who also offered his water for randos! Keith spent some time there checking out the solar set up, aquaponics and dogs in the yard! We regrouped for the desert plunge.

Power food in Borrego Springs

 Several grade and speed warnings as we approached the "glass elevator" to Borrego Springs. It's 12 miles of pure downhill speed! The good thing today was the lack of wind. We were all speeding down as I was trying to hold John Fry's wheel and take pictures... interesting and not recommended! Bill, Mac, John & I made the customary stop at the overlook for a few pics. View past the Salton Sea almost to AZ land. Welcome relief from the instant temp change as we sat in the shade at the Borrego Springs station store. Mac wanted to go further and get some burritos down the street! Ice, water and bathrooms behind were the key for this stop. Long way to go with lots of climbing ahead.

Once again the lack of wind was a blessing as we traversed Borrego Springs and started the climb up Yaqui Pass. Nice gentle grade increase as I rode with Mac. Temps were in the lo-90's now, but felt cooler than that. Refreshing regroup at the top while posing around the sign for a photo-op. Bill & Mac took off on the twisty downhill to Tamerisk Campgroud in a clump of trees at the bottom. They were open and last chance for outside water. We kept rolling past, anxious for the climbing ahead!

Yaqui Pass regroup

All we got was some headwind at the Hwy. 78 turn. Mac, Bill & Keith were pace-lining ahead as I was hinting at the others for us to do the same. Not to happen, as John & Ken opted to ride side by side. Narrows was coming up and good thing the traffic was almost nil today or it would really get "iffy". Scissor Crossing brought relief from the wind and a passing of the Pacific Crest Trail. (Sorry, no bikes on that one... bummer!)

More side-wind pushed us into Stagecoach Trails Campground, where the guys were already "shoes off" mode and sucking liquid. Hey, they remodeled the inside of the store. Nicer now with a cola machine. In the front they had a special barrel of iced Vitamin Water for 99 cents! That's a deal even at Wallie-Mart prices. I grabbed 2 and iced up! 15 minutes later we were ready to head up the last climb of the day: Banner Grade into a slight headwind to start.

Halloween in Wynola

After Scissor Crossing it's almost all uphill to Julian. I informed the guys of our regroup at Cozens Station in Julian town. Ken and John were riding together and Keith soloed up. Mac dropped his greasy chain again as Bill went ahead to make a cell call home. I joined up with Mac for the climb. We kept seeing Bill far ahead in his whitish jersey. Hardly any traffic to contend with as we finally joined Bill near Wynola Road. Mac and I made a pit stop before hi-speeding the last few miles up to Julian. Bill was on his cell with the Ms.

Mac wanted a wager on when Keith and the others would roll into Julian. Then he offered a hot chocolate for the palette and ear plugs for the leaf blower guys noise and dust! Gee-wiz, what a dink. We finally shut the door to the station after moving our bikes. Time to put the arm warmers back on for the hi-speed run back to Ramona. Sun was getting lower behind the pine trees now. I added my paper vest under the RUSA jersey.

Back to Ramona at dusk

Temps were nice, but as we picked up speed on the downhill, I got a slight case of "shakes". Time to knee the top-tube  and start pedaling!  About a mile of that was enough and things calmed down again. Ken had the same thing behind, so we regrouped with John Fry for the ride down. Lite traffic and failing light were perfect for a speedy return via Old Julian Hwy. Used my little Dorcey spot headlamp and it was OK, but next time the Cygolite would be safer.  Took "D" Street into the back alley and that was it. Grabbed a receipt and took a few shots in the dim sunset. Keith offered his usual Chocolate Ensure for recovery, which I grabbed some 7-Eleven ice and sucked it down on the drive back. Thanx to Bill for the ride!

Interesting day on the road, with the OFR leaderless start, info stop in Ranchita, lite headwind thru the narrows and "shaky-bake" leaving Julian. Looks like all riders were dialed in learning today... Mac will get his IBIS CX tuned up, Ken knows what to bring next rando ride, Keith will get his glasses strapped on & I'll bring knee warmers!

Camels To Yaqui Pass Video

Clear skies
Hi: 93   Lo: 53 (Garmin)
Wind: W-7
124 miles



-randorides