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