New: Sam's Donut Loop Permanent

Sam's Donut Loop Route

Sam Thomas has moved up to Sun City now and is taking care of his mother. What a great way for a break than to do a donut run randonneur ride? This route was just approved one day ago, so with a little arm-twisting from Sam, I sent out a few emails about the ride today.


Several riders were riding 11-City Loop today (we had initially planned this ride also), so we met up at Ralph's near CSUSanMarcos Campus. Keith Olsen, Mike Shaw, Sam Thomas and myself rolled out of Ralph's and soon picked up the Donut Loop route at the Inland Rail Trail near Escondido. Soon we were winding our way to the El Ku Bike Path and on to Lake Hodges. Sam and Mike were railing about the Rainbow 200 Brevet... riding together OR not riding together.


Busy place today! Hundreds of joggers/hikers around the Mule Hill Trailhead. Looks like some event today. Long stop at the one porta-potty near the bridge. Finally we were off to some smooth riding southward on Pomarado Road. Racer dude on a Cannondale carbon cut in from a side road and was off to the races. Sam wouldn't commit to chase him down, so fixie Keith and I accepted the challenge. Sort of a mini fun time till the turn onto Ted Williams Pkwy. 

Future randonneur ride at Lake Hodges

We didn't stop at the listed Starbuck's Control, but instead cut south and stopped at the 7-Eleven. The other stripped off the last layers as Keith chomped down a stiff looking donut. Basic route stuff now as we entered the SR-56 Bike Path to the Pacific Ocean. Sam did the pulling here as it was one race after another. My free bananas at Camino del Sur ended up black and mushy. A big rider met us as Keith commented: "There goes all the bananas now"!


Lots of cyclists out on the coast today. Large groups including Swami's and SDBC. Slight headwind as we headed northward along the coast. Stopped at Swami's for a few monents as Sam chatted with some riders he knew. Next stop was the Leucadia Donut House. Yummmm.

Sam checks his camera settings

Siting around, Sam noticed the SDUnion newspaper headlines. Soon he was off into politics. Keith and I added a few tidbits and kept edging him on. Sam finally said he was mad about the election and the Rainbow ride. We all knew he was kidding, or was he? Rolling thru Oceanside the traffic was dense. Not good.


Lots of traffic on Hwy. 76 east, but the wide bike lane and rumble strips kept it at bay. The nice tailwind also helped as we were soon turning into Town Centre North. Close to Mike's house. Sam was on his cell phone, as Mike and Keith got water and receipts at Chevron. I managed to get some soda water in my bottle before I pushed the right water button. Long break before resuming the ride toward Vista.


N. Santa Fe Ave goes straight thru Vista and into San Marcos. It does have a few rollers mixed in. Sam was recanting his cycling route back and forth from Temecula to work in Oceanside every day. Some tough dude. (He didn't ride it every day) Slight regroup entering San Marcos as I pointed out the new Inland Rail Trail section CalTrans was working on. Maybe someday it will be finished and we can ride all the way to Oceanside?

Keith & Mike relax at Swami's Park

A few jogs and we soon passed over Hwy. 78 with little traffic. Grabbing a final receipt at Ralph's, we soon gathered back at the cars. With all the joggers, cycle groups, traffic and our multiple stops, it seems we were riding all day long. Looks like this route is best ridden during the weekdays.


Weather was super and I dressed perfect for it, with no layers to take off all day. Slight headwind up the coast, but real nice push back to the San Marcos finish.

- randorides

 

Mud In The Tank Tunnel?

No mud Pendleton Tank Tunnel today!

With my normal clamshell of Tylenol and Vit-B3, I headed out early today for some miles and a possible hook-up with the OFR leaving Magee Park in Carlsbad. COLD was the word. Temp was 31F as the knee warmers, long wool socks and triple layers only partially blocked the wind-chill factor. I timed it close, as I arrived at Magee before 0830 for a bathroom break and some time in the rising sun.


OFR group was sparse today. After days of rain, they didn't want to get their bikes dirty riding thru the tank tunnel on Camp Pendleton. Pete showed up, as well as Tom, old Dale, Dr. Dan Marks and a few others. Some would drive up to Las Pulgas gate and start there. Pete used to ride with Sam Thomas on the seasoned Wednesday ride out of Bonsall. Said he was hammered and didn't finish the ride yesterday. I updated him on Sam T.  moving up to Sun City.

"James" cycling "Ride For Hope" at I-5 Rest Area

I left the group and took I-5 northward in lieu of going thru the Camp today. Needed to check out the roadway for future rando rides. All clear... fast, dry and noisy. The "No Bike on freeway sign is still there by the on-ramp. Stopped by the Rest Area and met "James" riding for "Ride For Hope". Charity for African kids, AIDS, etc. Chatted with him a while before heading northward to Las Pulgas exit.


Paul Nevin was there, and soon the ladies arrived. Never did see the other OFR gruppo. I heard some turned around. Rode with them to bathroom #1 break. NO mud in the tank tunnel. Dee said she got a new Di2 equipped Obrea carbon bike because she can't use her left wrist much to shift now. Really likes the shifting and I would concur after testing the Cervelo  C-5 last summer.

Animal Kingdom film crew at Trestles Bike Path

Got stopped by Park Rangers entering Trestles path. Animal Kingdom was doing a movie shoot there. Chatted a bit with the staff before riding on. Ladies went to Carl's Jr. I continued on north thru San Clemente.


Later on, came up on a Surly LHTrucker rider. Blue bike with a few in-frame bags on it. Said he was training for a ride across Australia this Fall. Trans Austraila Cycle Stage Race. 3000 miles in 24 days.  We had a nice chat about his training and we parted as I turned off on the San Juan Bike Trail to San Juan Capistrano.

Surfer type panhandler at McDonalds drive thru. $78/hr!

Path was all clear, after years of section work. You can go straight onto the gravel or turn across the bridge to SJCap now. A tie-laden dude had a table set up near the channel. Doing a press release for San Juan Watershed Project. Putting rubber dams across the channel to retain some water. Didn't want to answer my questions, as him hi-end caterer arrived to unload the food for the politicians.


Took my turn-around break at McDonalds, where I watched a young panhandler take in $34 from patrons leaving the drive-thru. Yep, he counted each "donation" before stuffing back into his pocket. At that rate, he'll be good for $75/hr! Left and took the fast was back to the coast.

San Juan Watershed Project display table. No hand-out here!

Slight tailwind now as I rode southward. Came up on the James "Ride For Hope" guy again, as he had collected his buddy and another young fixie rider and were riding to Carlsbad for the night. Had a nice chat and thought about riding the I-5 with them. I said "adios" and paced ahead for the tailwind assisted blast down I-5 to Oceanside.


Nice riding south along the 101, with a short stop at Magee Park bathroom. Another stop in Encinitas for a refill before soon turning inland, up the hills and back to San Marcos.


Managed some good longer miles today and after a roll-out and Epsom Salt soak, felt relaxed and tired. Go figure.


Sam is hawking up doing some riding this weekend around here. We'll see about that.

- randorides