Palomar Mountain Sampler

Palomar Mtn. Sampler route today

Good weather in SoCAL all week and with a rainstorm predicted for Friday, it's off to Palomar Mtn. today. OFR was carpooling out to Henshaw and Troy planned to meet us at So. Grade Road at 10:00. Our rando route would start in San Marcos and hit a few climbs on the way to Palomar Mtn. Palomar Mtn. Sampler, RUSA Route #2380 it was called. A measly 125 miles with only 10,695 feet of climbing. Not bad for a mid December day training ride.

 Albany Sam Thomas was in, as were randos Bill Stevenson, his buddy Mac Imacseng and Keith Olsen (soon to be flying out to Virgina on Saturday). Weather was near 50 as we grouped up for the start at the San Marcos 7-Eleven. Off at 0700 without Sam. Randos always leave on schedule, as the clock is ticking. Surprised Mike Shaw or John Fry didn't make the ride. Maybe we'll see them later?

Mac, Keith & Bill...Woods Vly. Rd

 I felt 60% and thought my brakes were dragging as we sped thru Escondido with only light traffic. Mac had his new Ibis CX e-Bay bike an soon was off the front as we climbed up Valley Center Road @ 7% grade. I was taking photos and catching a few videos on the GoPro handlebar mount. Regroup as we made the turn onto Woods Valley Road. Shady rollers here and soon we were holding up truck traffic. Should have pulled off into a driveway and let them pass. ((I mentioned later to Mac). Past the few remaining stinky chicken farms and the neat looking Middle School.

 Easy motion as we encountered the crappy Rincon Grade downhill. Roads are junk all the way to Harrah's Casino. Pulled in the back way to the great 7-Eleven there a little early at 8:35 AM. Saw someone unloading his bike. I thought it was John Fry, but later learned it was Jim Wisener. Guess he didn't see us as he was quickly off toward So. Grade Road. We refilled our bottles,and grabbed a snack. Ten minutes and we too were off on the bumpy bike lane.

Regroup with OFR at So. Grade Rd.

 Under crank pressure, Mac's new Ibis wouldn't go into a lower gear and he soon stopped on the climb to shift. Not to worry, he's a climber. The turn onto Hwy. 76 brought us 6-8% grades and smoother riding. Bill & I were off front chatting, with Mac and Keith behind. We all had a nice casual pace and 50 minutes later we met the OFR gruppo at the So. Grade Turn.

 WOW! Sam Thomas & John Fry were there too. Troy had another 9 OFR riders. I managed some pics, hit the fence and took off my long-sleeve under-layer. I suggested to Sam to take off his warm jacket, but of course he had a disclaimer ready.

 We were soon off under warming, sunny skies and temps near 65F. A few nice photo-ops on the way up. I soon dropped back with Sam, who by now was cooking under the warm jacket.
"I don't have a place to put it"
"You can put it in the ambulance when they pick you up!"

Full regroup at Mother's Kitchen

We soon pulled off and Sam wrapped his jacket around the handlebars. Keith caught up and said: Don't wait for me. Later I found out it was his first trip up the hill! Bill was waiting for us up the road and we rode to Mother's Kitchen together. Whole group of OFR riders was there, lingering around.

 I hit the Post Office for a receipt and then the neato bathroom for water. I suggested to the randos that we by-pass the traditional Lake Henshaw stop. OK. Where's Keith? After a few photos, most OFR were off for a climb to the Observatory, while Sam, John Fry & Jimbo would be going down East Grade with us. Keith finally arrived and I showed him where to fill his bottles. I mentioned to the group we should stop at the Firefighter Memorial for good riding luck.

Sam, Bill, Mac & Keith on Mesa Grande

Some stopped, some blasted by. Took several nice photos of Keith, Jim & Bill Stevenson there. Hi-speed run down the 12 miles to Henshaw. Managed to get some action video on the way down. Several road sections were real bumpy and you had to change your line often. Over the last few years, they did some patching on the big holes! At the Hwy. 76 turn, Jim said "adios" and was off to So. Grade and back down to Harrah's. Good climbing day for him. Sam stopped at his car parked at the Lake Henshaw Store and dumped his jacket. Now it was Mesa Grande climb!

Riders with Mavic Support on Mesa

Six of us on the move again. Various paces up the steepish climb. Once on top the riding is quite pleasant... shaded curves, no traffic and a bit of speed. We were surprised to meet several groups of riders today. Later on, their Mavic yellow SAG car appeared with more riders! Don't know which training group that was, but they were FAST! Mac & John turned around at Black Cyn. Road and headed back to Henshaw, not wanting to do any more climbing. Good job guys. ( Later John Fry emailed and said he did go up East Grade before returning to his car parked at Henshaw!)

Bill & Mac's balanced diet @ Santa Ysabel

 Fast curvy downhill took us to Hwy. 79. Mac picked up the pace for 2 miles toward Santa Ysabel, dropping riders like sea urchins. We rolled into Don's Market and Mac was cooked! Two Twinkies and some trail mix for him. I grabbed a water refill, added powder and iced it up. Desert was a IC Sandwich & banana for me. Bill hit the big sandwich. Keith was hamming it up with a old guy from Indiana. 20 minutes and we're on the road again. Bill stopped down the road and adjusted his seat bag glove holder. I climbed ahead to set up a video shot.

Slight headwind, but we still made super 30ish time blasting down Old Julian Hwy. into Ramona. More traffic as we didn't stop as usual. High clouds now made it seem cooler. With the light headwind, it was! Good time rotating leads thru the rollers. Short regroup as we put on a layer plus some arm warmers for the Highland Valley downhill ahead. Bill pulled along the valley and then it was a short hop on the pedestrian bridge over Lake Hodges.

Keith & Mac pass "Honey-Jerky"

 We decided to make our last stop at the Circle K on Bernardo Ctr. Dr. instead of at Stumps Market in Rancho Santa Fe town ( Figured the evening traffic would be heavier there). Mac took some time looking for his Go-Power Coconut Water drink.. no have, so he got a V-8 instead! Temp was a nice 59F now, but we still put on our warmer clothing for any downhills ahead. Not quite time to light up yet, but close. I had my Cygolite mounted on the side of my drop bars and the left shifter would just touch it. After a bit of experimenting it worked OK.

Nice quick, group riding on Camino del Sur offered me a chance to do a low-light GoPro run. Later video review showed it worked OK (see video). I was admiring the Christmas decorations along the road. Traffic was backed up on the turn up to Rancho Santa Fe. Route takes S-9 (LaGranada) toward Encinitas. Familiar with this route, I was up front trying to clear the lotion-sweat from my eyes on the climbs.

Bill, Mac & Keith at RB stop

 Made our way to So. Rancho Santa Fe road past John M's house and the climbing seemed easier at night. Maybe it's just the false illusion of speed? Missing his Coconut Water, Mac was toast now. Route takes an unusual path thru the CSUSM campus. Good lights and coeds were hustling around. Keith made his final break-away attempt on Mission Road, but Mac pulled his resources and brought him back at the finish!

 Checking our final time, it was a long day... but didn't feel like it to me. Weather was very nice and in retrospect, maybe a 0600 start would have been in order? We had the last 2 hours in fading light/darkness.

Video route hi-lites.

Clear to light clouds
Hi: 73     Lo: 46
Wind: WSW 7mph
125 miles

-randorides