Year End With December BANG Finale

Another good year for rando rides in SoCal...2018.

A small glitch starting December, as RUSA wouldn't wouldn't accept any Permanent results (Dec.
1-7) until they had a new insurance company on board for Permanent Routes. My rides for this week were for non-rando credit, but OK-fun just the same. Seems the accident/death during an event in Texas started the lawsuit/waiver/liability issue of riding RUSA events.

With new RUSA Permanent insurance active on Dec. 8, it was looking to be a busy time for riding again to finish out the year. Ahhhh, I thought so... but you can't count on anything for sure and of course early this Saturday morning on the way to a Permanent start, I was taken out by a homeless/transient dude with a kick to my handlebar as I was riding in the bike lane!

Left Scapula Fractures

Not to go into detail (ongoing case on file with Sheriffs Dept.), but FIVE (5) is the non-magic number here. The number of fractures I sustained. Scapula & ribs. Short ambulance trip over to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, normal ER stuff, X-Rays, CAT-SCAN and lying around with a neck brace and a bunch of bandages.

Finally, enough tests done, I hobbled home. Nothing to do about the fractures but let them heal best they can. No need for a cast, slings or ACE wraps this time.

Legs were OK (few cuts, abrasions), so I managed to set up the stationary trainer in the garage. Step-stool and all in place, it was off to the races going nowhere. Crank-er up time. After a few days of this, it was back to easy road riding again... (Dr. said wait 11 weeks for riding again) Ya, OK..something like that.

Doesn't look like the year will end with what I had planned, but often times we must just "motor-on".

- randorides

Long Ride - OFR Ferry Meet-Up

OFR route from Orange back to Oceanside

OFR (Thursday Ride Group) was scheduled to Metro train up to Orange Station and ride back to O'side. They'll be leaving O'side on the 7:39 Metro and starting their ride from Orange at 8:44 over to the SART (Sana Ana River Trail) and down the coast. Sounds like a good chance for another infamous "kelly meet-up" ride. Perhaps I could plug-in the "Crusin' The OC route or the other route that goes thru Corona to SART?

Left dark-early and headed up to Temecula via old Hwy. 395. I was riding the Specialized Diverge gravel bike with the 650b wheelset/47mm tires. ( I was adding 1 oz of sealant to each 700mm tire on my other wheel-set.. the front went smooth, the rear never seated, so I pulled the tire, cleaned up and put in new Gorilla Tape/sealant - thus the change over to 650b wheel-set). Just over 40F and downhills felt more like 30F. Top was toastie with the wind/reflective vest over double layers. Bare legs were done froze. Never did the sun look so warm as it finally bridged the hills to the east and started to warm things up. I managed a donut stop around 0800 to take off the woolie cap and arm warmers.

OFR group photo near Laguna (arrow = me)

Hit SART outside of Corona and spent some time riding around the newish Anaheim Station. Some dude in the parking lot with a flat tire hit me up for some help. I offered my little Lenzyne pump, but I think he wanted some $$ instead.. Sorry dude, I'll pass the word along. That I did a bit later, when I met the local Transit Security big-guy. He said that guy is always there with his flat tire black van.. just forget him. OK, after wasting some time I did a little gravel work while cruising along SART waiting for the OFR gruppo to show up. Hope I didn't miss them. About 9:10 they came rolling by.

Balboa Ferry. Bike costs $1.25 for short ride.

Nice group including rando Jim Robinson. We had a chance to catch up on riding stuff, including what happened to John Fry? Reported after foot surgery, he is swimming and hopes to get back on the bike next year. LOL. Chatted with others as we made our way to Coast Hwy. Group of 16 riders made the back way along the coast, with several stop at bathrooms. Finally boarded the little Balboa Ferry for the 5 minute cruise to the "mainland". Cost is still $1.25 per bike. Eric Rix didn't take my offer up to pay for all. He was having issues with his new Pinerallo shifting.

Finally made it to Laguna, where their route went inland a bit. There a few stopped off at the local bike shop. Ten of us continued up and down the back street rollers on to Dana Point, where they were stopping for lunch at their normal Harbor restaurant. Not to be deterred, I said my "adios" and hit the road, hoping to finish up before dark. Several of them may have jumped the Metro at San Clemente back to O'side.

DUH: SUV rolls off Balboa Ferry!

I stopped at 7-Eleven for a refill and a $1 Ice Cream Sandwich (special) before riding thru San Clemente and on to San Onofre Campground. Slight headwind as I made good time and jumped the I-5 route southward. Nice and warm now as I appreciated the temp difference from earlier today. More light headwind on to San Marcos. Made it home around 3:00 PM. Another weird route and useful day on the road. In two weeks, OFR will do the annual "PIE Ride" around to Julian. Mmmm, looks like a good time for Rando's "Camels to Yaqui Pass"? OH YAH !

- randorides

Windy Champagne For Veterans Day

Champagne Double Route

Annual Vets Day ride was the newish Champagne Double. A short route from San Marcos, up the Hwy. 395 hill to Circle K in Fallbrook (actually Hwy. 395 @ Hwy. 76), over to Oceanside and back via Bike Path to Bonsall and up Champagne climb to San Marcos.

Had a small flag.. didn't like that fit, so I dug out some road trash flag I picked up years ago. The kind you clip on your side window. Cut off the "clip" and rolled out early on a windy Monday morning. That didn't last long as I soon returned home and cut off the more of the clip as it was rubbing the back of my thigh on the down-stroke.

Riding over to the start at Mulberry Drive 7-Eleven, more rubbing on the leg. After getting a receipt, I found a piece of concrete and "filed down" the sharp edge of the flag mast. Away I went into a 20mph headwind from the east. Not to be deterred, the winds eased as I rode northward on Old Hwy. 395. Up the Daylilly climb and down the empty road to the Circle K control. Outside bathrooms were a plugged up stinky mess.

Vet Day set-up on Diverge Gravel bike

Ahhhh, tailwind as I cruised westward on Hwy. 76. Not as much as I hoped for, but much better than a headwind. The flag was strapped securely to my seat bag and kept flapping up around itself. Give me something to do as I peddled along. Short stop at Bonsall Donut and McD's for ice. and I was off again to the Mance Buchanan Park near the Bike Path. Not much going on there. After some neck PT, it was cruise control and hi-speed riding to the coast.

Return trip wasn't so easy, as the wind had subsided somewhat, but still the eastbound bike lane was void of riders today... except me, of course. After a short re-ice in Bonsall, I was off to the headwinds along Camino del Rey. Same with the Champagne climb. Winds and all, I was soon back to the 7-Eleven finish with a final tailwind back home. Nice ride today, with minimal traffic and not a lot of riders out either. Go Figure.

Champagne Double Video

- randorides

Tubeless Tire Sealant Shoot-Out!

Which Sealant has to go?

Enough Already! Last month I posted a few comments on different tire sealants. Stans, Orange, Finish Line and Serfas. I tried them all and had reasonable success with them. The problem I encountered was adding sealant or refilling a tire again... 3 wheel-sets made it hard to keep track of which sealant was where. I ended up writing sealant name and amount on the tire. That worked good. Buying the different sealants didn't work out well at all. I finally decided to change all wheelsets to ORANGE ENDURANCE.

T-Rex Tape looked good, but pulled loose at the edges

I pulled all the tires and cleaned out all the old sealant. Quite a project. Some of the rim tape pulled loose with the tight sealing tires ... so that had to be replaced also. The slippery T-Rex tape pulled loose and didn't stick as well as the Gorilla Tape. I also tried some more expensive Stans Tape. It was thinner and stuck well, but I never could get it to lie flat in the rim grooves without some bubbles, no matter how much I worked it. Shaun from Temecula Bike said he has the same problem with Stans Tape. Out it came. Gorilla Tape it was.

MTB woes: Wood clamp needed to remove tire!

I also noted that sometimes the edge of the tape would pull loose with tight fitting tires. If I didn't check closely, then new sealant would leak under the edge and eventually into the wheel, with usage.



After carefully cleaning the wheels and a final alcohol wipe, I put in 1" Gorilla Tape. On one wheel-set, I didn't trim the edges of the tape at all, but l let it ride up on the sides a bit. Hopefully the tire will seal OK and I'll be able to pull the tire off later without the sticking tape coming loose. I added 5oz instead of the usual 4 oz.



- randorides

I'm Not Kidding Around!

Kids Bike: Strip them down and rebuild project

For quite a while, I've been rebuilding kids bikes and giving them away to hopeful youths.  I would pick up a discarded bike on the street, in the ditch or in a dumpster and wheel it home or one-hand it as I rode my bike.


Most of the bikes were rusted, trashed, hopeless pieces of crap. I guess that's why the kids or BMX'ers chucked them. Several were left beside condo/apartment dumpsters when families moved out and on to greater things in their lives.

Finished Up: Bearings are smooth rolling now.

I always hated to see these "disposable bikes" thrown away like the garbage. They once offered so much fun and hope for the kids that rode them. Maybe I felt good if I could fix them up for a new life again OR maybe I could scrap away the rusty scratches and I would feel like a kid again? Life's weird sometimes.


A few years back there was a church guy who would pick up the refirb bikes and ahaul them down to Mexico to a Mission. From there the Mission would give them to kids there. That dried up. Local rider Mike Tull (OFR rider) had some connection in Baja also and I thought perhaps he could find a outlet, but that never developed. So now local kids around San Marcos can get a fresh experience if desired.

Kids Bike: This one didn't make it

Most of the junk was Chinese welded heavy-slag quality with a Mongoose BMX or GT 20" thrown in for good measure. I'd take them all. Strip 'em down and help them to another ride. Usually the seats were ripped, pedals broken and of course the wheel and BB bearings were dry with pitted races.


Many had "safety brakes" and I'd have to take the rear axle apart , clean/grease and then figure out how to put everything back together again. Some had cheapo caliper brakes with rock-hard pads and frayed cables. Tires were usually worn & flat, with multiple puncture wounds to the tubes. Some tubes were patched with duct tape, which isn't easy to get off.

Nice Mongoose BMX bike

After a while, I made a list on the back of a cardboard box what would be needed to bring a bike back to life... tubes, new tires, pedals, seat, etc. I went scouring the internet for super deals... $50-80 per bike. Sorry, that didn't work.


Next up was 2 fer 1. Use 2 bikes to make one ride-able one! That works better. As my collection of used kiddie-parts grew, it was easier to meet the new goal of "no out of pocket expenses". Monster Tape for some seat tears, swapped tires so they matched well and patch, patch, patch those tubes. I also thought about painting them up with some exotic designs, but that soon gave way to a wipe down and a quick coat of Pledge instead.

These bikes are ready to go to a new home

One day, a couple down the street ask if they could "find a home" for their tired Nishiki MTB. The seat post was stuck. Sure, I'll check it out and find a home for it. Well, after many weeks of trying various ways to pull out fused seatpost: spray catalyst, slide hammer, pipe wrench, Coke a Cola and finally Caustic Soda, I bagged it... stripped it down and chucked the frame.

Sometimes neighbors would need help on real bikes

My neighbor Big John, brought over 3 BMX bikes, all Mongoose brand. They looked good from a distance, but needed the usual help including bearing grease, cables, full brake rebuild and other stuff. Around 8 hours per bike.


After enjoying the kids rebuild for many years, I figured it was about time to turn in a different
direction. Time to clean out the garage and move on to another hobby.

- randorides

"Oatmeal" In The Tubeless Tires!

A few week back, we stopped at The Bike Shop to see Joe(l)

A few weeks back, a few of us randos rode up to visit buddy, Joe Morgan at his shop in Temecula. It's not really "his" shop, but he was hired on to set-up the whole thing after The Bike Shop was liquidated and sold to the new owner Rick. He started with a few shelves, the shop tools and over a period of several months, built it up into a nice, neat, respectable shop in Temecula. I thought it would be a good idea to ride up and check it out via the official "Old Highway 395" rando route. Troy, John, Bill, Keith & myself showed up at 0700 and had a nice ride up and back that day.

I had ordered a few things from Joe then, so another trip was in order for pick-up. OFR didn't have much going for their weekly Thursday ride, I opted for a trip up to see Joe instead. I've been riding the nice Specialized Diverge Gravel bike of late and did so earlier this week. I ran over a utility blade and sliced the rear tire up bad, so I chucked the Schwalbe G-Ones and put on the set of slightly used Specialized Trigger Pros that came with the bike (got these back from John M., who maybe was going to try them out someday). The rear brake squealed real bad only when coasting and I tried everything to correct this (even with a few tips from Joe). So I put on my slick Stans Gravel wheelset with the WTB 650b's on for the ride north.

Buddy John Mestemacher gave me some Finish Line Sealant

I love this set-up as John lent me some Finish-Line Sealant a few months back to seal them up with.When I pulled the wheelset down from the hooks, they were a little low on air, but a few pumps and I was heading northward. Leaving at my normal 0700 from the 7-Eleven in San Marcos, I arrived early and went over to the Stagecoach Park via the gravel equestrian paths to stretch out a bit and wait for the Shop to open at 1000. The paths were nice and comfy riding. Mmmmm? I decided to check the air pressure with my carry-along digital gauge. OHoh. 12 & 16 lbs? Over to the bike shop I go.

1005 AM and I was pumping up my tires to 45/40 lbs for the return trip back to San Marcos. Chatting with Joe a bit about the other wheelset rotor squealing under no load and picking up my goodies along with 2 bottles of Serfas Sealant, I was off before 1030, not knowing how much air I would be losing on the trip back. I arrived back in soft pressure condition, and immediately checked my pressure again. How low can you go? This called for a quick analysis.

4 oz of Finish Line Sealant turned to "oatmeal" in 2 months!

I put in the dipstick (the little stick gauge you get with Orange Sealant) and couldn't get a reading! Time to pull the tires off and see what's inside... OATMEAL! Yep, there is was lying in a chunk of gooey mass in the tire. So much for 4 oz of Finish Line Sealant not drying out. I couldn't say it actually "dried out", but it went somewhere? Enough of that Finish Line stuff, it's time for a redo.

I pulled the bead loose from one side of the 650b rims, and thoroughly wiped the oatmeal out. Might be enough for 1/2 bowl. Things looked good inside so I aired up and resealed the tires to the rims and then added 90ml of Serfas Sealant to each. Did the air up to 50psi and did the shake job. Let the rims lay horizontal and re-shook again. Job done.

Tried some 1" T-Rex Tape instead of Monster

Next morning, the front tire looked good, but the rear was flat! Time for some more work. Air-up and get out the soap-spray bottle. Leaking around the valve and some nipples. Well, I knew that meant the rim strip was leaking. Time for some  more work.

Poured out the Serfas Sealant, pulled the rear tire off the rim and did a clean job. Looked to me like when I pulled one side of the tire off earlier, the Monster tape cut-edge was caught and pulled back a bit. Not good. More work ahead.

Added 90 ml of Serfas Sealant per tire

Super clean job and I used T-REX super tape that was 1" wide this time. Took 2 tries to get it perfect and sealed tight. Plenty on the roll. No problem. Valve back in tight and after much effort, finally got the tire to seal up. T-REX Tape isn't a thick as Monster, but seemed to stick well. Added the re-used Sefas Sealant thru the valve hole and pumped up to 50psi, did the shake job and all was well again.

Time for a gravel ride to check things out.

-randorides

Jerrycan Bag Mods To Fit Diverge Gravel Bike

The mini Jerrycan bag, top tube mount.

You always need more storage for those long rides. No real usable space on the handlebar for a bag, especially if I mount the GoPro camera, Garmin computer and Cygolite there. The Diverge already has a nice Revelate "Gas Tank" bag. This works really well and holds stuff while not getting in the way of my legs.

I've been eyeing the other bag for the top-tube.. called the Jerrycan. It sits up against the seatpost. After an incident a few weeks back, where I should have lost my wallet & keys from my seat bag, the Jerrycan should work good for that. The price for this little bag was outrageous... from $42 to $56!

Not enough holding power on the Diverge top-tube.

Joe Morgan from The Bike Shop in Temecula to the rescue. Price was way down, so I ordered one from him. He also got one for his new gravel bike. Two days later,  I plugged in a rando ride up to Temecula to pick it up (among other things like tire sealant).

This well made little bag fits the top-tube/seat post real good. Revelate offers 2 models: one for 90 degree junction and the other for like 120 degree junction. I got the regular 90 degree one. I noted there is a additional loop to move the back (seat post) Velcro strap up higher on the bag for more secure fitment to the post. That was excellent.

Added a piece of glue-on Velcro and a few stitches

The bottom strap has a "gripper" back that sticks to the top tube. However the strap was way to long for my top tube. No problem there, as you usually trip the length to fit so it doesn't flap around and rub you leg. I also noticed that the Velcro only meshed for about 1" (only 1" of connection to hold the bag to the top-tube.) This wasn't adequate for me.

Solution: I'll add on a additional 1.5" of Velcro to the bag to lengthen the strap connection. I had
some commercial stick-on Velcro in my box I could use.  I prepped the side of the bag with alcohol and stuck on the trimmed down Velcro 1.5" piece. After 24 hrs dry time, the Velcro sticks well to the bag surface. Not good enough. I'll need some additional holding power with a few stitches. I've done this with several other bags and it's not that easy.

You can't just stick a heavy needle thru the stick-on Velcro. It drags the adhesive along with the needle and gums up the needle. I heated up the needle with a Christmas candle and made stitch holes first. Then came the heavy duty nylon thread to complete the task. Not easy, as there is little room inside the bag to work. After a few "pricks" the sewing was complete. After a final fitment, the extra long strap was trimmed to fit. Walla!

Now have a nice secure top tube strap and the bag can be moved to a bike with a larger top tube if needed.

- randorides

20th RUSA Anniversary Ride: Blow-Hole & Lost Vest

20 Anniversary Ride-Down Today

Randos USA has been around for 20 years or so now and local SDrandos are celebrating with a ride from Mission Bay to Dana Point and return. RBA Dave D. set up this ride with a picnic at the end. I don't do picnics, so how about a early ride down and ride north with the gruppo for a bit anyway?

Sounds good. Several randos showed some interest in this so I sent my normal detailed email around to a dozen or so riders. Needed a early start to meet up with the Anniversary Gruppo at 0700 near Sea World by the Bay.

Rolled out at 0330 on my Diverge gravel bike with 35mm tires. Soon picked up a start receipt at Mulberry 7-Eleven. Swung by the real start point at Albertson's. No Sam, Bruce P. or others. I boogied out before 0400. 70F, no traffic and dark. Cygolite 800 on regular beam was plenty bright as I cruised past Ralph's, then Lake San Marcos. Palomar Airport went quick and the 25mph downhill to LaCosta Ave. was smooth. I thought maybe John M. might be hanging around the corner turn to the coast, but no luck on that. He was moving back into his home nearby after a termite tenting mid-week. He said he might drive down to the Start. Vulcan Ave was barren of cars, except heavy parking along the road.

Stopped by the construction site near Swami's to use the Porta-Potty. Rather dark inside! Blazed off down Coast Hwy. 101 looking for Mac in Solana Beach. Not to be. I refilled my bottle at the corner fountain, looking around for his headlight. Nope. Off I cranked southward up to Del Mar, still not meeting any riders on either side of the roadway.

Finally did meet several riders creeping down Torrey Pines. One gal was riding the brakes hard, as her 3 headlamps looked like airplane landing lights! I held at a 9mph cruiser pace up the hill and made good time thru the UCSD Campus. No problem with the construction zone along Rose Canyon either. It was slightly after 0600 so I pulled into Mission Bay Dr. McDonald's for ice and water. Mission Bay traffic merge was no problem this early, so had ample time to cruise the Ocean Beach Bike Path to 7-Eleven. Grabbed a receipt off the floor, re-iced and headed over to the Start past Sea World Dr.

Abundance of these 20-year jerseys

Put my vest in my back seat bag, watered down and hung around as riders were milling around a car in the boat ramp parking lot. Chatted with Mike Shaw and Keith Olsen (who was wearing a RUSA vest)! Finally, Dave D. took a few pics and around 16 riders were off at 0703. I figured this would be like other rides (like last weeks N-S Brevet), where several groups would develop: racers, pacers, wanna-bees and cruisers. Bingo! I had planned to spend some time with each group. Worked out well.

By the time the gruppo turned on Santa Fe St. toward the Rose Canyon Bike Path, race on! Patrick S., Robert Abraham, Shai S. and surprisingly big James Allen. James said he might hang with the racers if he could handle the few climbs OK. Nice pace as we climbed up Gilman toward UCSD @18mph. I was feelin' good after the 47 mile ride-down work out. I stopped off for the next group just before the Torrey Pines downhill.

Around 8 riders in this group, including Wei Sun, Tim S., Kline couple, Mike S., Kerin H. & a few others. Nice pace @17mph, as I had a chance chat a bit with each. Some racer guy blasted past by the State Beach flatland. Wei Sun took off after with me in close pursuit on the Del Mar climb. When I went by, I told the disheartened racer: "It's OK, he's a RAAM rider!" Smooth ride thru Solana Beach & Encinitas. At Poinsettia Lane, I waived "adios" and pulled over for the next group.

I was munching a fig bar from my seat bag when 2 randos passed. I quickly caught them and one was Dr. Oliver from Yuma, AZ. We had a nice chance to chat about gravel riding, since he has a Specialized Cross Bike. Time flies when you ride with company and such was the case. I pulled over at Canon Park. Looked back and didn't see the next rando group anywhere, so I hit the bathroom there. Then I noticed by back bag was 1/2 open!!! OH SHIT!

I was a little pissed, to say the least. Lost my kelly-sewed running night vest (had to bring it up to RUSA specs for night riding)! Mmmm.. Dumb Shit! Reverse course in search. LOL on that. Rode part way on the wrong side. Met Keith & Mel around Palomar Airport Rd. Rode back to Poinsettia Lane and retraced my route northward. No vest. With all the riders today, someone got a nice custom night vest. I was off to the races to catch Keith & Mel. Max effort now. Enough of this cruiser-stuff.

Almost used my Dyno-Plug today

I was on fire thru the Carlsbad round-about. Must be a sprinkler by the lagoon, my leg is getting a nice cool mist! NOT! That's Orange Sealant from my front tire. Must have run over something big and sharp!  Every rev of the tire brought another eruption of orange mist. Round and round. Another mile and I pulled over, putting the spraying side down. Nice puddle on the tarmac now.

Time for the John M. Plug Kit. (John M. gave me this neat tool). Can't find the hole cue due to a coating of orange sealant on the tread. Oh, well. Time to pump up to 30psi and roll to San Marcos. Nice and comfy ride. Located the hole, all plugged nicely by Sealant now. No need for the Dyno-Plug now.

Stopped off at Biggs Harley Davidson in San Marcos!

Time enough to stop by Biggs Harley Davidson and see Zaharah. She has a booth there today for the big Harley ride. Sunny skies and warm temps now. Live music and free burgers! After a quick stop-by and a look-see at the Harley's, I was off with a orange juice toward home. No burgers yet.

Only 1130 AM and 91 miles. ( Walkin' The Dog, #2557) Good enough for today! Nice workout too.

- randorides

Half-Hook Up Night Ride

Well, once again the SDrando Organization lives up to it's recent image.

Short Recap:

The Mexican-6 contingent arrives in full kit in 2 new 20" wheel pickups.  One woman with huge thighs ready for the scheduled ACP University Loop 202Km Rando Route.

No organizer Hector, Dave or anyone else showed up.

M-6 doesn't know what to do about waivers, route or other matters.

By chance, Sam Thomas & I are riding a similar route with same start point.

We finally get the group organized by handing out a few kellyjay cards & lame advice.

Roll out at 7:08PM.

I'm slightly disappointed as I rode the Diverge Gravel Bike and was planning on catching some gravel on the shortcut route up thru Old Twin Oaks Canyon toward Bonsall. Sam was on his Fuji racing bike with dd wheelset and trying out his new camera (Yes, another one!). M-6 had a few hi-end carbon bikes with dd wheels also. M-6 gal rode older bike with squeaky BB/crank.

Sam & I lead out till Deer Springs where we hand over the lead to others...for the enhanced camaraderie thing! Sam hands over the lead to M-6 gruppo.

Pace picks up with a well oiled pace-line machine. M-6 is laying it DOWN!

M-6 takes a few night pics at Bonsall. They want to do Strava proof of passage. We suggest receipts OR photos at controls.

It's off to the races on the Oceanside path @ 22mph. M-6 gruppo-lead makes a partial wrong turn down to homeless encampment! M-6 has no reflective gear at all. Headlights and rear lights are good.

Group looses sight of me & don't follow me to the arranged bathrooms break@ Transit Ctr.

I meet Sam at Magee Park later.

We catch the M-6 race group after Swami's, southbound. They were quite surprised, as were we!

I mentioned "we stopped for lunch" a while back.

Race up to Del Mar leaves Sam out of light-sight.

I wait for Sam at Carmel Valley turn to Poway.

I mention to M-6 about the "gravel sidewalk" and one lane traffic on Moreno Blvd en-route.

I say "adios" to the M-6 Gruppo as they continue on the University Loop route

Sam rejoins and we "cruise" into the Circle K on Camino del Sur. We chat about Troy's Diverge wheel replacement and the cost$.

Down the hatch with a jumbo Coke & Frito's for Sam. I do a normal stay-awake reload with GU gel & caffeine enhanced Fizz to bottle. Way past my normal bedtime.

We pace nicely, buddy up on the climbs and think we're going fast in the no-traffic darkness thru Rancho Bernardo.

Hodges Ped-Bridge is open. Yaaaaah!

We by-pass the Inland Rail Trail from Escondido due to large #'s of carts/junk. Take Mission instead. Smooth sailing on bad road. Turn off on Barham and blister to the Ralphs Store/Finish.

83.25 miles.

Chat with Sam a bit and he rolls out northward to Sun City.

Says he will nap a bit when he gets home, then wake up his mom... eat, prep and go back to sleep.

I stop by Twin Oaks 7-Eleven for finish receipt, grab a IC Sandwich.

Buddy clerk says "You're a little early today"

I answer with: "Just finishing up"!

I roll home and sneak into the house. I've got the wide-awakes and Ms Zaharah is sleeping nicely! Take Hammer Recovery drink with Ensure chaser and Ibo Gel capsule for the ongoing compression disk fractures pain. Shower, send email on NO-SHOW to Hector & RBA Dave D. and hit the sack before 0300. Wake up at 0630 feeling good.

- Busy Bar traffic/noise at usual places. Oceanside Pier was loaded with walkers/tourists?

- Party Bar in finish area by Ralph's Center was crankin' and hot-chick action.

Sounds like another rando night ride.

Our daytime route video.

- randorides

Gravel Route with Brevet Start

650b Diverge: WTB tires didn't like loose gravel downhills

Hi,

Another classic gravel ride... A few of us needed a little rando gravel action, so we thought it would be nice to offer some unison and start with the Sunday Brevet group in San Marcos.

Start with roadies: Only 4 riders showed up for the Populaire today. David Nakai looked like he just woke up from hibernation. RBA Dave had new Fuji racer. Keith had Sam-like matching jersey/socks, shoes/bike color, bag/helmet ! Nice! Mike Shaw back to more riding again.Great! I think Mac wanted to do the Populaire, but decided to ride the gravel route since he had his Ibis cross bike today. We all started at 0700 and the gravel group rode only a few blocks en-route before turning off for some gravel work.

Gravel

Mini recap of the days events:

- Troy started at the wrong place, we realized something was up and hooked up with him in a bit. Sam jumped on his cell and left a message.

- Slip slide downhill trail above San Marcos had been graded! Good thing. My 650b WTB Byway tires don't like downhill braking on loose gravel. Specialized Diverge 650b Conversion Video

- Sam was traction-less on the first Gardinia Trail loose gravel uphill!

- Troy took off and beat everyone to Swami's.. Why? Urgent bathroom break!

- Massive dogs on the Del Mar trail

- Troy did lead out on Coast to Crest Trail.. wrong turn again. Wahoo error? Caught up later and walked up a short short-cut dirt climb due to large rock!

- Saw Dr. Dan Marks as we were climbing El Camino Real. I think Sam must have went over to visit, because we didn't see him in a long time.

- So. Penesquitos Trail was light family day today. John took off like he was after a coffee!

- Race up Black Mtn. road climb. Mac was full-out here. I pulled a sneaky Kelly-cut on him! Sorry Mac, wait for you at the top!

- Sam & Paul missed the SR-56 Bike Path turn to Circle K. Sam said he couldn't find the .tcx file to download. Troy cell-located them and suggested to keep riding on the route.

- We found them chatting with some hot-chiks on MTB's. Of course, I handed out a handy RANDO CARD.

- Sam disappeared again. Said he went back to check out the hard-bodies!! Really?

- All climbing now. John was off to the races... Mac went by yelling: "come on, boys!!!

- Lago Linda side dirt trail.We followed John M. Sam had disappeared for good by now. Maybe a shortcut back?

- Massive 20%+ v. rough concrete climb up to Escondido Trail. Mac was off to the races, followed by Troy, me and John. Mac was hi on gearing and started a "mailman" This ended badly for him with a bad-form side mount, 2-roll & 1/2 twist later he took out Troys front wheel and rotor with some sign of skin!

- Blood-drop later, Kelly tools and John re-align quickie with Troys direction, we were off up the Escondido Creek Trail. For some reason, I had Mac's blood on my fingers and glove!

- Met Rando Jim Robinson, waiting up the Trail. He rode back with us.

- Mac's legs were mush after the minute blood loss and gazing around for 20 minutes.

- All climbing as we grouped up for the final push. Troys wheel kept true enough.

- Troy, me & Jim all pushed the light button at the top of Twin Oaks... Weeeeeee downhill

- All back nice and safe before 1:30 PM. No Sam yet! We chatted around about Mac paying for Troy's total wheel rebuild! Happy Birthday Mac (July)

- Waited till almost 2:00 PM. No Sam yet. 

- Later found out Sam made it in before 2:30. Seems Paul had a cable break before leaving Sam to finish off the route.

- randorides

Dark-Early Ride Down -Walkin' The Dog

Dog Beach: First leash-free dog beach in the US!

Seems the SD Randonneurs were having a Ocean Beach Mini-Brevet today starting at 0600. Sounds like time for a unusual ride down opportunity. Sent out a few last minute emails to local randos and planned a 0230 start from San Marcos. Populaire "Walkin' The Dog" would work OK.

I rolled out with light blazing at 800 lumen at 0215, forgot something and returned home again. Bill Stevenson was waiting as I arrived at the Twin Oaks 7-Eleven at 2:40! No arm warmers for me, but Bill was talking about going home and getting his jacket! Not to be as we were a bit late on starting. No traffic on San Marcos Blvd and the turn to So Rancho Santa Fe brought more of the same. Different story as we plunged down by Melrose Dr. John Fry couldn't join us here due to foot pain. Heavy fog as we climbed up to LaCosta Ave. and I luckily found John M. house thru a maze of fogged out turns.

Sandcastle Bruce missed the hook-up

Now the three of us needed a short cut to the coast. Bill had his usual ideas so we followed him. After a big climb, we were on Vulcan Ave to no traffic. No fog along the coast as we approached Solana Beach. Saw a light approaching... it was Mac Imacseng to join up. Bruce Phillips was supposed to show up also, but misread the email and was in chase mode on his Salsa Cutthroat~!

Mac was in race mode as we pulled ahead for a short break at the top of Torrey Pines. Easy riding thru UCSD and down the Rose Canyon Bike Path for our small group of four. We were ahead of schedule and arrived at Dog Beach 7-Eleven with 20 minutes extra. Time for some chit-chat and bottle refill. Guy at 7-Eleven was nice enough to let us use his bathroom, only after I mentioned "Dr. Bill...". Soon a few other rando arrived for the 0600 Brevet start.

Old Mel Cutler and Keith showed.. I call Keith "Stormy" after well, you know! Robert Abraham from Escondido and "Neon Dion" was there too. Neon had some recent heart problems and would ride only 10 miles today, which was excellent. Some short, older guy form New Zealand via Irvine shwoed. John M. and I sat on the sidewalk as RBA Dave gave a few instructions. Maybe 5 or 6 riders for the 200 K Brevet. One guy from Yuma, Oliver, was a doctor. Soon the 4 of us and the few 200K riders were off on the bike path eastwards, full chat in order.

Not a difficult route as the group rode past Miramar Base and cut over on Pomerado toward Poway. Mac and I were far off the front on the climb and waited up at Scripps Poway Road. Soon the full group was there as we made our way over the pedestrian bridge over Lake Hodges and to the control at the Mule Hill Chevron. Ice refill and more chit-chat here. Our group of four broke off and headed westward as the others proceded northward thru Escondido to Rainbow.

We hit the Escondido Channel bike path as Mac soon cut off for Del Dios Highway and home in Solana Beach. John cut off at Harmony Grove for the ride thru San Elijo as Bill and I went to the finish in San Marcos. Nice little ride and we got home early!

- randorides

Diverge Gravel Bike: Tires & 27.5 Wheels?

Stock 700 x 38 Trigger Pro are a good gravel tire & roll well

Rando rides continue this month at the normal 3x per week. I've been replacing 1x per week with one of the local gravel routes. The Specialized Diverge Expert Gravel bike came with Specialized Trigger Pro 38mm tires. These roll very well on the pavement and work good on the gravel also. The extra width proved itself time after time on the soft stuff (Cauhilla Mtn. Recon, 9-City Gravel, Mixed Emotions, etc.).

My 2018 plan was to have a "road" wheelset with 700 x 35mm tires and a "gravel" set with 27.5" wheels and 47-50mm tires. New full set of rotors and a SRAM XD cassette to make swapping easy. I got things moving by ordering a set of 35mm Schwalbe G-ONE tires via eBay. Joe Morgan from The Bike Shop ordered in my matching SRAM rotors, SRAM 10-42 cassette and a set of WTB 47mm tires. Things were moving along under budget.

2018 Mavic CrossMax Pro: Dream wheelset but $$$$

In keeping with my overall theme this year: "one bike to do it all", I had researched the heck out of
27.5" wheels for the Diverge. This would enable fitting much wider tires on for those often "knarly" mtb/gravel routes of late. My ultimate answer was the Mavic CrossMax Pro, latest 2018 edition. Joe Morgan worked on this via his dealer connections and found: very limited production, none in the CA chain of distributors and only a slight discount (not deep discount I needed). These were out. Others that popped out were the FSA wheelsets, Stan's No Tubes and a few others. Looking to keep the wheel switching as smooth as possible, I spec'd in center-lock rotors, 100mm front thru axle, SRAM XD driver and 142mm rear thru axle. ( Same as came on the Diverge). Tough order.

Bad eBAY buy from Oregon Bicycle Works

After several months of probing, eBay had Oregon Bicycling Works. Specs looked great, ratings good, so I ordered a set that met all my parameters. Custom build would take 3 weeks and delivered to my door for $484. Not so. After various emails via eBay and broken delivery dates, I finally turned to eBay to resolve the dilemma thru customer service. Bingo! Money returned and I left a true-v. poor rating on eBay. After all was finished up, Oregon Bicycling Works sent me a email offering me $100 off the "already built" wheelset thru PayPal. I replied: "Yes, send me the wheelset and I'll pay after I receive them"! Can't figure out why they didn't take me up on the offer! (I think they were a Chinese front company under diecastmodels).

Schwalbe 35mm tires were delivered... but I never got them. Tracking showed that USPS delivered them. No signature or delivery photo on that. Either USPS slipped up (likely) or someone ripped them off (unlikely-because I was right there that day). Oh, well. Time for eBay to step in again. Had to file a police incident report and finally got my money refunded. Thanks to eBay again.

Joe Morgan @ The Bike Shop-Temecula, CA

So got another set of Schwalbe G-ONE 700 x 35mm from Joe @ The Bike Shop, saved a few bucks. Installed them on the Diverge using my last Stan's Sealant for the tubeless fix. Went right on with by homemade booster tank. After several hundred miles, seem to roll about the same as the wider Trigger Pros (38mm). Also offer a little "gravel recon" when necessary. Usually run 45/55psi for road riding. Nice and comfy.

Have all the goodies for my 27.5 wheelset, except the wheels! Finally opted to build my own and ordered all the spec'd parts from Joe @ The Bike Shop:
27.5" Wheel Build:

Front:
-    28 H Stans No tubes Crest MK3 Disc Brake 27.5" Black Rim 650B
-    Bitex BX 106 Front Red Centerlock Disc Hub, 100 x 12mm
-    SAPIM CX Ray J bend Black Bladed 14x21x14 ?
-    Two Cross Lacing
-    SAPIM Polyax 14mm 14 Gauge Black Brass Nipple
-    Weight 642 gm

Rear:
-    28 H Stans No tubes Crest MK3 Disc Brake 27.5" Black Rim 650B
-    Bitex BX 106 Rear  Red Centerlock Disc Hub, 12 x 142, SRAM XD
-    SAPIM CX Ray J bend Black Bladed 14x21x14 ?
-    Two Cross Lacing
-    SAPIM Polyax 14mm 14 Gauge Black Brass Nipple
-    Weight 744 gm

-    Lockrings




More next month
-randorides

SIDI Lug Replacement

New SIDI Dominator shoes

6 year later... same shoes

Many years ago, I happened on a pair of SDID Dominator MTB shoes at Performance Bike Shop in Oceanside. These were good shoes and I beat them up for years. The uppers didn't wear out, only the sole lugs.

SIDI didn't offer their replacement policy anymore, so over the years, I hacked together different ways to add lugs to the soles. (Story Here).

New SIDI Dragon Carbon Megas

3-years later: Easy sole/lug replacement

Fast forward to several years ago, when I rounded up a deal on some new SIDI Dragon Carbon Mega shoes. These had the replaceable lugs on the soles. Super deal included a set of lugs/bolt kit. Now 3 years later, it was time to replace the right side lugs. These were ground down, with my right foot being the "foot on the ground". Left side looked quite good and clipped in and out well.

While replacing the lugs, I learned again just how well these shoes are made:
- Heel lugs have two bolts from the outside and one screw from the INSIDE. After loosing the bolts, the old worn lugs don't just fall off. They have little "ears" that clip into the sole itself. Ditto with the side lugs.
- The super worn front lug plate was as simple 3-bolts and you're off ! The front bolt seemed to be stripped out some, so I used red-Loctite when reinstalling a new bolt that come with the kit?

My next project is to use a SIDI kit to upgrade my old SIDI Dominator shoes! Wouldn't that be great?

- randorides

Airport In The Sky

Full route from San Marcos to Catalina Island

About time for a real "official" video of the Randonneur Route #3497, Airport In The Sky. Been out to Catalina multiple times of late, once solo, one time with several randos riding in from San Marcos and another with rando buddy John M., when we rode in from San Marcos. Also followed up with several videos, including "Rando Rides Catalina Island" and "Dana Point XP-Catalina" These videos had parts of the Airport route, one included the gravel Divide Road section and not the Airport Road from the top to the airport itself. About time I fixed that, still attempting to have an informational video for each of my listed randonneuring routes.

Early April and it started out with low overcast following the on/off again rain of the last few days. Almost like the "June Gloom" as they call the early AM fog from the coast. I had changed the route from the usual San Marcos starting places and the Dana Point XP start point on San Marcos Blvd. This time it was the 7-Eleven on N. Twin Oaks Valley Road, across from the Post Office. Water inside and bathrooms across the street at a park. In addition, this 7-Eleven was "owned" by our local ride buddy Najib Assam. He's got a new rando jersey, but hasn't signed up yet!

Route goes north on Twin Oaks Valley Road. If you leave before 0700, traffic is sparse. After that time, most heavy commuter traffic is southbound. Instead of going onto Deer Springs Road, Twin Oaks turns left and winds and climbs thru a valley. Filled with horse ranches and nurseries, the only bugger is a active quarry at the far north end. This brings occasional truck traffic.

Stop-sign artwork is where you can get it!

Gentle climbing brings a real fast downhill onto a private road. Sometimes the gate is closed, but offers a step-over on the left side. One short 14% climb to the top and a rocket downhill to Gopher Canyon Road. This is usually a moderate traffic road with mostly OK bike lanes. Can't wait for the right turn to Little Gopher Cyn. Road. Much different as it winds past more country homes, each with several horses. Consider this a very lite traffic area. The turn onto Old River Road had no traffic. With the Elementary School, and busy intersections, Camino del Rey was another matter. Time for a short McDonald's break.

Fill the bottles, grab a cookie and off I flew down Hwy. 76. Usually a big tailwind push toward Oceanside early. Several bikers on the San Luis Rey Bike Trail to Oceanside. Even a few skateboarders at the trail-side Park. No one friendly to ride with, so I managed to pass a few riders.

Still low overcast as Harbor Drive approached the Marine Base Gate. Cars/trucks were lined up 20 deep, so time for the alternate route we usually take on I-5. Yes it's legal to Las Pulgas Road. Fast it was... with the tailwind and traffic push, 25-mph was the cruise speed! A quick required exit thru the Rest Area with re-entry back onto I-5 again.

No riders lurking around the Las Pulgas parking lot, so off northward on the old Hwy. 101, into the Campground and a brief stop at Bathroom #1. This is usually always open, even when they shut down overnight camping. Clouds were still low as a few surfers were walking to Trestles Beach today.

Catalina Express spec sheet. Departs from Dana Point, CA

Sam Clemente town was the usual quiet in the early morning and the downhill was fast and little traffic. Of late, I've been catching the new bikeway at Avenida Estacion. Even if you wait for the red light a bit, it's still safer and faster than trying to cross further up the road. Protected Bikeway launches you to Dohney State Beach. One nice bathroom there with water! Following the route on with the turn onto Golden Lantern, you then ride thru the parking lot and straight into the Ferry Landing. If you've purchased tickets online, you'll just need to pick them up at the window. Coupons are easily available for up to 20% off the round-trip ferry price.

Ferry loads early and leaves on time. There are 3 or 4 different ferry schedules, depending on the time of year. Today it left the dock at 09:45 sharp to overcast skies. A low speed idle out of the harbor, allows the captain to brief passengers on safety procedures. Once clear of the jetty, 4600 horsepower cranks the speed up to 30-knots, leaving Dana Point far behind in the overcast.

Bikes are kept in the fantail. Suggest bringing a bungee cord to strap the bike in. Mild vibration sets in as the passage was calm. Ferry looked to be almost filled up. Capacity of 150 passengers. One brief dolphin display and a few fishing boats today. Catalina was looming far ahead, in which looked to be clearing skies. Sunshine!

Permit needed to ride inland to the Airport

A brief stop at the dockside bathrooms, water refill at the fountain and I was off to the hills. The route time constraints allow no leeway for "hanging around". I already had my permit from previous trips, so it was up, up and away. Avalon has the main waterfront street closed to cyclists, so a jog around a few blocks before the real climbing begins.

The first few hills are in the mid-double digit region and then slowly slackens off. The steepest part is up to the Zip-Line turn. After passing around the "permit only" gate. The road gets a little bumpy and the grade eases off to the 8-9% range. A few twists and turns, several overlooks and bumpy climbing at the top is reached. There is a nice overlook on the right and our other route (Divide Road-gravel) is on the left.

This big boy blocked my entrance to the Overlook

Up and down riding over mixed surface to Middle Road. It's the half-way point to the Airport. Sections of smoother gravel past the buffalo park, as the road winds around, up and down toward the Airport. Some great views on both sides along the road. Slight climb up to the Airport.

Very nice tiled island map outside the mini-store and restaurant. Overpriced everything for a finish receipt as proof of passage. Relax. No reason to hurry back, since the return ferry is at 5:40 PM. Always time to return via the gravel Divide Road or just linger around Avalon Harbor. Of note is the return trip is really bumpy and at the Zip-Line you turn left on a one-way down to Avalon with great views (different route from the way up).

Airport In The Sky: DC Bar & Grill

Several options for the return trip and still get in some more Randonneur riding.
- Hang around the Airport and start a full return "Airport In The Sky" (need good timing here)
- After the return Ferry arrives in Dana Point, grab a start receipt and do a reverse of "Dana Point XP #3392, ending in San Marcos.
- Several other options also available

Airport In The Sky Video

- randorides

9-City Gravel Recon

New Rando Route called: "9-City Gravel"

Been working on this new "gravel" rando route for some time and never really got all the footage and images together for a route video. With a few days break in the rain showers over the last few weeks, today was it.

This rando route was designed to start in North County at Ralph's in San Marcos. After further mods and reviews, I changed the start location over to Albertsons store on Woodland Pkwy to meet RUSA distance specs. Not as good of start location with the extra road traffic to get to the first gravel section.

Left after 0900 and rode over to the Mulberry 7-Eleven. Chatted with pseudo-randonneur owner Najib. Talked about his sore back and lack of cycling. Finally made my way over to the Albertsons start before 10:00.

Rolled the video and still pics as I made my way to Lakeview Park (Discovery Lake) for the first gravel section. Managed to pick up some bushes as I picked a new line down to the first gravel path. OK, take#2 on that video entry. Went back and re-rode with cameras rolling again. Perhaps this was a omen for the day?

Guard Shack INFO Control. Trail starts just behind shack.

Around mile 11, decided to swing by my buddy John Mestemacher's house and see what was up. Persuaded him to ride along today, taking a break from his "work from home effort". Chatted wit his wife Gabbie while John was getting ready. He'd ride his Charge "Cooker" steel MTB today. Matching my Scott Scale 710 hard-tail.

Route videos are much better when you can capture riders ahead following the route. Such was the case as we made our way over to Swami's on the coast. Low clouds meant lo-quality images today. Didn't spend much time at the Coast To Crest Trail Mc'Donald's for sure as the sun was out full force now. Los Penasquitos Canyon South Trail was muddy in places, but we managed to use the single-trak trails around these spots. Met only a hand-full of hikers today and no bikers!

ECTConservancy Jeff Swenerton & Rando John on Trail

Short break on the route at Circle K, where John grabbed a drink and I a IC Sandwich. More trails followed, including some single trak, which was is near dry condition. Took a few snaps and chatted with the Security Guards at the "Guard Shack" INFO Control around mile 55. Just after entering Escondido Creek Trail, met ECTConservancy volunteer Jeff Swenerton. He chatted with us on the Conservancy purpose and handed us some information.

Slow slog up Questhaven and said our goodbyes at the top of Twin Oaks, as John was heading home from there. After the 35mph plunge down Twin Oaks Valley Road and a peaceful ride thru CSUSM Campus, I was finished for the day. Now for long hours putting together a informational route video.

- randorides

9-City Gravel Video

Temecula Stampede Gravel Training

Temecula Stampede Route Map

I've spent some time in the last few rides up in the Temecula area, doing route recon for this ride. One time on the SCOTT+ modified MTB and the last time on my aging Fuji road bike. This route was based on the recent SPNDX Stampede route, with added gravel miles from local rides and a few mile I threw in there to bring it up to Rando specs. These recon rides also offered me some time to chat with Joe Morgan, x-Nytro manager, who was now bringing back to life a Temecula bike shop as manager and founder of new ideas.

Wolf Creek Park: Jim, John, Sam & Troy on cool, blistery day

I was slightly familiar with the route, but not the cool starting temps. John M. picked me up in San
Marcos around 0700 for the drive up to Wolf Creek Park. Nice little park we use on several rando routes up this way. The Phillips brothers couldn't make it this trip. Both were preparing their sand rigs for next week out in the dunes. Sun City Sam brought his new updated NORCO gravel bike. Troy Buss displayed his new Specialized Diverge Force 1 gravel bike he just got several days ago. Jim Robinson was bundled up for the cool start as was I, with 3 layers up top, but opted for no leg warmers today. Woolie cap should be warm enough for the next several hours till temps warm up.

We were off after 0800, as Troy was scurrying around getting his new bike ready. Good thing for Redhawk Pkwy. climbing to warm us up. Verde Trail and Anza gravel offered our first dirt, as I baited the others into some soft sand walking after floating over on my 3" tires. Several climbs and more gravel brought us to the official 2017 winery start of Stampede route.

Real nasty climb up Los Altos Road

Gravel riding on quick Buck Road, where we stopped to chat with a hunter in orange vest. Seems French Valley Preserve has small-game hunting now. Long road ride up to Washington Park, where at mile 20, it was our only refuel stop today. Another mile or two and we turned to Rawson Road, the real hi-lite of today's ride. This wanders thru French Valley, over to Crown Valley and then up knarly Black Mtn. Road before we on solid De Portoloa Road.

A whole lot of gravel climbing followed as the route took us thru Oak Hills to the route hi-point. Nice place to take pics and Troy captured some good pano shots here. As we wandered NE'ward, more climbing and a chance for several hike-a-bikes on rutted roads. After a jaunt thru "dog-town", we finally got some easy downhill roadie action on Benton Rd., before another turn up the soft De Portola and down into wine country. Sam was remembering his jogging days as we finished up along  dirty Temecula Creek Bike Path.

Nice view shot by Troy: John, Sam & Kelly

Cool, blistery weather all day today made for an interesting clothing day too! John & I stopped off at Carl's Jr. for fries and shakes to top off the day. Back home well before early darkness crept in. Tough day on the bike today, well worth it!


Temecula Stampede Video


- randorides