Rando Blast OFF: O'side to San Clemente On I-5

Rando Route #2084: Ursa Minor, done in reverse

Last week, Robert Leone posted up on the SDrando board about the Pendleton Bike Path being closed on Monday, July 10th. Mmmmm. Never been on I-5 north of Las Pulgas, so this was a lock for a rando route up north. Ursa Minor look good. Reverse to catch the lighter traffic going north from Las Pulgas. Perfect.

Checked the local temp at 0230 and it was 65.5F in San Marcos. Light cloud cover overnight kept the blistering day heat in. Super! I was off early for a 7-Eleven start receipt and no traffic. Wore a sleeveless underlayer, new rando jersey topped off with a lite Camelbak packed with some goodies.

Just after 0500 I was on I-5 rolling northward to light traffic (mostly big rigs). Lane was moderately clean with the exception of a few tire strands which I ran over! Upped my Cygolite to HIGH as it started to get light in the east. Nice traffic push to the NB Rest Stop. Did notice that it was packed with cars. So many, in fact, that they were parked on the north on-ramp, making a dicey curve northward. Didn't see that many people wandering about, so they must have been sleeping it off?

Decided to swing by the Las Pulgas parking lot and see if it was posted: "Closed To Cyclists". No signs there and the gate was open. Pondered riding thru, but just couldn't miss the chance for a I-5 run. Steep on-ramp, followed by a gentle grade as I rode northward near increasing traffic. The bike lane was spotless.. not even a tiny pebble or paper lying around. Much further than I had anticipated approaching the truck scales. OH, Oh. No problem, as there are signs directing bikse around the traffic and scale area. NICE! Leaving the scale area, I stopped and check over a frame pump lying roadside. Bummer. Took a car hit and was flattened out a bit. Left it there for the next cyclists and clicked in a higher gear. Slight downhill approaching Basilone Road. I was maxed out of gears anyway. Bit of a traffic snarl before the loop-e-doo to the Trestles Bike Path. A whole lot of surfers on bikes today.

Dude "Hey man, I want to catch a wave" CHP: "Strip Search"!

Rolling thru downtown San Clemente, I check my Garmin clock and noted 1 hr. 05 minutes had lapsed since I left Oceanside. That's quick for me, especially with several stops. No traffic riding as the sun was peeking thru by now along Dohney Beach. San Juan River Trail had a few joggers and lite bike traffic by now. Quick turn-around in San Juan Cap as I couldn't wait to check out the SB I-5 speed. Ice stop at Carl's Jr and I was off on cruise control!

CHP greeted me as I crawled onto I-5 SB. Hope he realized the Pendleton BP was closed today. Gave me a quick glance, noticed my dual rear lights, patriotic jersey and blinking headlight. OR maybe he had other important things on his mind?

Gentle uphill grade to the SB Truck Scales. Not busy here and I followed the nice quiet exit road thru the trees, near the tracks and into a round-about. Not about to return, I did a mini gravel run and entered I-5 SB again. I was soon flying along to the bonus exit at the Overlook. There you do a weird total 360 degree swing around before you're back on I-5 again. Several cars were parked enjoying the view OR was this the rumored active pick-up-spot for same sex lovers?

Total blast off down to Las Pulgas Exit. Stopped for a short water break at the SB Rest Stop. Back on I-5 again, I soon stopped and picked up a roll of blue painters tape. Pickings were slim today, unlike last weeks LG Cell Phone & several new bungee cords. Slight side wind and the trip into Oceanside was just at an hour. Harbor Dr. off-ramp still has the field of broken glass to avoid.

I wasn't feeling super along the coast but swung by and checked out Dan Phillips at his Bussey Auto shop. Refilled my bottle, said "hi" to busy Dan and worked my way down to Leucadia Donuts for a break under the outside umbrella shade. Hung around a bit, sucking on water laced with Hammer Fizz Tabs! Made Nytro for a water refill as they opened and chatted with Tim about today's ride up I-5. After a GU gel and water, I was off down the coast before turning inland and rising morning temps.

Del Dios was its usual Garmin 100F reading, but the slight headwind breeze made the final ride into San Marcos bearable. Chatted with 7-Eleven owner Najib Azzam in air-con comfort. Need to get him on some rides soon. Slogged home with a aching left foot. Two Advil and ice took care of that. That ankle always gave me trouble ever since it was shattered years ago. Go figure?

- randorides.

4th Of July Gravel Ride

Route is similar to 11-City Loop

I had the SCOTT MTB modified for mixed surface riding with the carbon fork and quicker tires. John was wanting to do a local ride on his Charge Cooker MTB. Standard tires wouldn't seat up tubeless, so he would have to order different tubeless ready tires for a later ride. I thought John had lots going on, so I re-scheduled the buddy-ride for another day. I'd make this a recon ride to check out some new dirt stuff.

Penasquitos Cyn: A few bikes & lots of hikers

I had plotted out a "gravel" route that would mimic the 11-City Loop Permanent. Well, sort of anyway. With limited trails around here and rando route rules, it's a real tough job to create a ride-able route within the rando time frame. Buggered out early and picked up a few gravel trails on the way to Encinitas and cool temps. Nailed the trail off Garden View Road.. goes over to Quail Gardens. That one will work.

Gobs of cyclists cycling along the coast today. Made a donut stop celebration as I sat in the shade along Coast Hwy. and watched the riders pass. Made good time on the roads and mixed it up with the roadies. Schwalbe G-ONE tires rolled fast, even at 2.80" width!

Temps reached Garmin hi of 103F

Penasquitos Canyon started out quiet, then became packed with hikers as I neared the Ranch House/Black Mtn. Road. Nice chat with the Ranger there. Bike Path to a fav. stop at Del Sur Circle K. Quiet there too.

Added a few new trails along San Dieguito Road. Felt great as the temps rose and so did the climbing around Del Dios Hwy. and a few back roads before joining the Escondido Creek Trail. Old guy was at the guard shack. I should have asked him for water as I was running out and had solid climbing ahead up toward Ridgeline Trailhead.

Shade break after dirt climbing

Empty... trailhead and Lakeview trail. Temps were around 100F for the last few hours of dusty climbing, but I was feeling good with some salty Shot Bloks. Nice ride down to San Marcos where a large 4th Of July picnic was displayed at Discovery Lake Park.

Picked up some ice-cream bars for the wife and made it home, dirty, dry and feeling quite good!

Full Route Video




- randorides

Night Ride: Bike Path X Two

Night route with start in LaCosta

When the weather heats up, a night ride always sounds like a great idea. John M. and I had been talking about it for several weeks and a last minute decision by John made it a GO for Saturday night... Just before the 4th of July on Tuesday.

Five PM is a good start time. Others have suggested times like 9:00 or even 7:00 PM. Too late, especially for a shorter ride of 6-7 hours.With an earlier start time, at least your body would have some semblance of a normal sleep schedule. I managed to send out a few emails to rando buddies, not expecting anyone else to show up. 4th of July weekend and randos were on the move early. Lisa had a Permanent for Saturday morning also.

Did think for a minute about using the recently modified MTB for the ride, but wisefully decided not to. Instead tried out the Camelbak for storage in lieu of the handlebar bag. Rolled out of San Marcos just after 4:00 PM and cycled down to the alternate start point of LaCosta (close to John's house). Arrived a few minute before 5:00 and John was waiting. I iced up the bottle and we were off a few minutes early.

Dave Horwitt had email earlier in the day and said he might hook up along Coast Hwy. 101 somewhere. We were on the lookout for him as we peddled southward with a short stop at Swami's Park. A few cyclists were on still on the roads as the sun didn't set till nearly 8:00 PM. Stopped at the hidden bathroom behind Performance Bike in Sorrento Valley for a water refill. Nice quiet place.

On the SR-56 Bike Path, John got a cell call from Dave. He was waiting for us at the Carmel Valley AM/PM on El Camino Real. Ooops, we rode by that one a few minutes ago! We did the slo- pedal till Dave joined up on the Bike Path. He had been hammering hard and was glistening sweat. Time to catch up on the chit-chat as we pulled into Del Sur Circle K for water.

Easy riding now as we by-passed Poway Road traffic and jumped onto Ted William Pkwy to Pomerado Road instead. Slight tailwind blew us up to Lake Hodges in record time. A short stop at Mule Hill Chevron for water and reflective gear. Sun was down and almost time for lights. Made our way thru Old Escondido Town, where Dave said he had never ridden. Same with Jesmond Dene climb. John set a nice pace on the way up.

Dave's dyno light was pointing skyward illuminating lo-flying owls. He made adjustments and my sight returned to normal. John was feeling it with his new tubeless Panaracer tires and pulled @20mph to Bonsall. Couldn't park bikes by McDonalds as just so happens AM/PM clones were power-washing the sidewalk! Go figure. I opted for a $2 shake and Mickie D rookie made me a sundae instead. Talked him into giving it to Dave for free (Dave's birthday on Monday, July 3rd)! Sat around eating ice cream as John filled his bottles.

Cygolite 720 did OK. Still need the battery pass-thru

Cygolite 720 did just fine on "medium" setting as we sped our way on Hwy. 76 westward to the SLR Bike Path. John did a steady pull @ 18mph to the Oceanside Pier. Signs of night  life as we rode thru Carlsbad with lite traffic. I was at 90 miles and decided to forgo the redundant ride to LaCosta and parted ways at Palomar Airport Road for the ride back to San Marcos. John & Dave continued on 101 till John turned off for home  at LaCosta Ave. Dave carried on the tradition and humped it home toward University City.

Arrived home after midnight. By the time I ate, cleaned-up and hyped-down it was 0200. Short nap and I was up ready for a early recovery ride. That felt good, but later in the day I was a zombie. Monday was crap too. For me, the fact is a night ride totally screws up a days normal routine. Not only that day, but for several days after. Perhaps a series of night rides and the body would adjust?

- randorides