Rainbow 1.24 Permanent +

Mist shrouded Couser Canyon climb today.

Working on a great local ride for RUSA. I think I will call it "San Marcos Century". Wow, that's original? Needed a few pictures to fill in a video to send in with the paperwork. (It's great to make up a route video before the route is approved, that way the "RUSA Perminista" can get a birds eye view of the route before approval. Haven't done it this way in the last 3 routes. In fact, haven't done those route video even after riding the route!) Why not do this ride and jog over and get a few extra pics? Same start and finish routes. Good idea. Right?

65F temp outside this AM. No need for any extra clothing on this ride. Left the house at 0430 and rode over to the start. Real nice to have a route that starts in the same town as you live! Riding the Fuji Stealth today with all the climbing. Mounted up a solo Planet Bike 2W headlight and the PB strong rear blinkie for the first few hours ot this route. Wore my worst set of bibs. These were caught in the washer agitator several years ago and the straps got chewed up. The pad is in good shape, but the spandex is showing through in several butt crack places. I make up for this by wearing a long jersey, large size. It covers the rear stuff real well. Brought along a packet of Chamois Creme. These bibs tuck up and rub in the left crotch area. I usually carry a packet of this creame anyway. Wearing the several year old version of the NCCC jersey. Mostly yellow and white with some shades of blue. Good choice for a warm day of climbing.

One of several neat signs from ride today!

Left the 7-Eleven at 0500 sharp. Headed NE under overcast skies and misty shrouded hills around. No traffic to speak of. Too dark for pictures to reveal much. No signs of the sun till after climbing up Circle R. Finally blew my lungs clear after that climb. I usually keep my front & rear lights on flash through here with the curves. Avocado pickers were out in force on both sides of the Couser Canyon Rd. climb. Avocados lying all along the roadside. More foggy mist at the top and down the other side to Hwy. 76. Just overcast on the climb up Rice Canyon to Rainbow. Nice ride through here and I stopped to take several unusual pictures for the video.

Took a few pics of Rainbow Oaks Market and used the bathroom next door. Rinsed out my rag and wiped my bike down a little. Fun part of the route next. Did some rolling video down Oak Park and Green Canyon Rd. Tried to catch a smooth section for that. Stopped at the Bonsall McDonalds for a Parfeit yogurt. Girl never gave me back my 11 cents in change. She didn't understand English so I let it go. As I was sitting there, Shawn from NCCC club came it. We chatted a bit. He was going over to the church and ride with the Pete Penseyres group today. They leave at 0900.I went over there and chatted a bit. Pete is a Hall Of Fame rider of RAAM and his brother Jim is quite a rider too. Rode with them down Old River Road. They soon turned off as continued on the route.

Pete Penseyres Group meets Wednesday at 9 in Bonsall

SLR was quiet today, with no one to hook up with into the headwind from the coast. Also no detour at Benet street either! Rolled down the coast and stopped at the Carlsbad 7-Eleven for a control check and Smores Ice Cream Sandwich. Rode over to the strand. Sat there and viewed the ocean and lots of joggers, cyclists and surfers. Low tide under clear skies now. Stretched out before riding southward with a slight tailwind. Kept passing this middle age lady cyclist. In retrospect, should have given her a rando card. Stopped at Swami's for a bathroom break. The bathroom there still hasn't been retrofitted with a roof yet. Outside porta-potty was lined up. Forget this as I cycled south to Cardiff Beach. Nice cycling along here with the views and tailwind. Bathroom at Cardiff was a mess! Took a few pics of this for the archives.

Did a zig-zag and took a few pics along Loma Santa Fe for controls. Soon I was back on route headed for UTC. Short stop there and the usual Sorrento Valley traffic/rail/turn mess. Felt OK riding the El Camino Real section and after San Dieguito Road, went up to Ranco Santa Fe town. Took a few "ride through" photos of the turns there before doing the Del Dios ride past the Lake Hodges Dam. Single MTB rider was on the trail there. Full suspension bike. I remember lots of good riding along there in the dirt.

Surfer's Delite: Shit covered toilet at Cardiff State Beach!

Instead of the usual turn on Citracado Pkwy., I opted for a straight ride to the Wendy's new route control at Home Depot Center on Valley Pkwy. Seemed hot there. Didn't have any "outside the counter" cola or ice machines either. Sat outside eating my Frosty. Added a gel pak to make a ice cream sunday! Did the triple Harmony Grove turns and soon I was into a headwind through the fire area in the canyon. Plodded up to San Elijo for the Chevron Control stop. Drinks were really expensive there. Ended up with a 99cent Gatorade from the machine. I snuck in a Cherry Cola sip and filled the bottles with ice.

New route goes reverse and up the San Elijo climb to San Marcos. Bottome starts out a 9% and slowly tapers off to 6% at the top near the fire station. 50-mph downhill on the other side past the CSUSM Campus. Barham Dr. was quiet this time of day. Soon rolled into the 7-Eleven Finish in San Marcos.

Good day on the road. Ended up with 222 pictures and 38 video clips for the new route. Need to put together some time to complete the project. Legs felt sore at times, needed a lot of on-bike stretching, but good on the last 3 mile climb up San Elijo Rd.

Misty overcast early, clear later
Hi: 91  Lo: 65 (In-shade Garmin temps)
125 miles

-randorides

Coffee At Peet's Populaire

After some WD-40 Dry Lube. Nytro was sold out today!

Tour de France 2nd day! Shortie ride to the bike shop and maybe I can catch a little of Stage 2 on NBC this
afternoon? Switched the HB bag over to the SOMA for todays ride. Planned to arrive in Encinitas well after 10:00 for the bike shop replenish of supplies. After a little of this and that, returned home to get my mini backpack and finally arrived at the 7-Eleven START at 7:20. Already warm at 65F with the humidity over 50% this morning. Wore the classic purple-blue and gold NCCC jersey. One of the older and best designs! Large size, so it hung down a lot. Couldn't put bananas in the pockets on this trip! Larger seat bag held the bananas OK.

Heavier bike felt like it this morning! I stretched out some before leaving, but not enough! "Cycling in mud" climbing up Nutmeg and Centre City Pkwy. No traffic to speak of. Picked up the pace some on Camino del Rey. Nice riding through there. Met several cyclists, one looked like Len Nathe! Stopped at the usual McDonalds to refill the solo bottle with ice and get a Reece piece receipt of .40 cents!

Lezyne XL Superdrive Light ,Good package price

No tailwind westward on Hwy. 76 today. Started to pick up the pace a little (of course on the downhills!). As I turned into the Bike Path entrance at No. Santa Fe St. there was a blue jersey rider doing a U-turn back onto the bike path ahead of me. Probably doing a out and back from Oceanside today. I figured I might catch him later. Soon he latched onto a lime-green helmeted rider ahead and they dueled it out past College and westward on the SLR. I figured I would catch up to them if I kept after it. 18mph wouldn't do it. 19 mph I was starting to close the 100 meter gap a little. Blue jersey rider finally passed the other guy. Limey boy kept working hard to remain close. As they were racing it out, I was still hanging back sucking wind. At 20mph the gap remained the same! I was finally closing @ 21mph! Whew. I caught the lime-green helmeted rider after Douglas Street. He was riding a nice new TREK carbon bike. Said he was working hard trying to catch the other rider! Rode up from Del Mar this morning on a round-trip ride. I suggested I pull him up to the other rider. He complied and I took off. I caught the other rider, but TREK couldn't maintain the pace. Blue jersey was a 25 year old on a older Lemond Titanium bike. Younger guy said he was "racing" the other guy. We chatted a bit @ 22mph, before I went back to the TREK rider. We rode together back to Oceanside. Gave him a rando card as he turned off at Surfrider. I continued on to Carlsbad, where I stopped at 7- Eleven for a receipt. Great workout so far at speed!

Took my Smores and sat along the Carlsbad Strand. Busy today just after the 4th. Lots of cyclists and skin around here. After 10 minutes headed south on 101. Soon these 2 racer girls passed me. I latched on and the race was on. Slight tail wind as one jersey-less stud joined in. Tall and thin, I wished I looked like him! One heavy guy on a new bike tried to keep pace. He had all kinds of electronics on board, surprised he didn't have a TV too! The girls couldn't climb well and Leucadia traffic split us up. I stopped at Nytro for some info and goodies.

Cygolite 800. Good specs with extra battery.

July 4th & 5th Nytro had a big BMC demo day. All these super carbon racers were still stacked downstairs. Also on Saturday the 5th, it was WD-40 demo day too! Seems they sold out the store and warehouse of the nice WD-40 Dry Lube! Just what I was after today. Joe gave me a handful of the small samples to get me through the week. I do carry 2 of these ampules along on each ride, just in case. I also picked up a bag of Carbo-Pro, Shot Bloks, a few Carmel-Salt gels and some Fizz Tabs. I needed some info on a HB battery light... hi-lumen, removable battery, rechargeable with extra battery. Lenzyne and Cygolite were the ones of choice. Best bang for the buck! Now to compare the lumens vs run time, etc. I'll check them out this week. Hope to get a deal on one of those. Lenzyne make only quality stuff.. a bit overpriced. The Cygolite 800 packs a lot of lumens for the money. Need something for the shorter night rides where the dyno hub isn't needed. Also for dirt riding at night.  Put the goodies in my string-backpack and off I went.

I hung around a while before taking off for a stop in Solana Beach 7-Eleven. I see they offer the Vitamin Water in cans now. Nice, but too expensive vs the bottle. Picked up a bunch of wanna-be racers heading to Del Mar. Nice fast pace till we hit the climb. I proceeded ahead through the busy Del Mar and turned off at Carmel Valley Rd. SR-56 Bike path was busy over to Camino del Sur. No stop at Circle K as usual. Rode north to Escondido feeling much better than when I started this late morning. Took the usual route through Escondido and hooked up with the Inland Rail Trail at the Transit Center. No Gamble Lane for me today. It's a nice option for this route! After a short stop for a .20 cent Reese Piece at the San Marcos 7-Eleven, rode home to watch stage 2 of the Tour.

Finally a good workout today after a sluggish start. Nice hi-speed (for me) riding on the SOMA along the SLR and down the coast! Stage 2 of the tour was interesting too as the pros climbed a near 33% grade toward the end! Italian Nibali took it at the end, as the other were looking around and not chasing him. Go figure.

Clear skies
Hi:  88F     Lo: 64
82 miles

-randorides

Ursa Minor Permanent

Planet Bike rear blinkie

Day before July 4th! This should be a great beach day! Was planning to hook up with the OFR Ride Gruppo out of Magee Park at 0830. They were riding north. Just right. I designed this route just for that a few years back. Start temp of 61F in San Marcos. Arm warmers only today! Clipped on the rear Planet Bike Blinkie. Rolled out before 0600. Had to get a few things in San Marcos before the ride, then meet up with Zaharah. Busy morning before I even started.

Rode the same bike set-up as the Tuesday ride, with the exception of re-lubed the chain after cleaning the bike. Seemed to be a lot of cars along Coast Hwy. 101 today. Made the meet-up with OFR just before the 0830 leave time. Not many riders there today. Some new lady Lisa on a older blue Cannondale with a HB bag. Bruce, Tom, Al, Dr. Dan and old guys Alan L and Dale P. Took Pacific St. to Harbor Dr. then through the main Pendleton Gate. I noticed a newer sign that said "Las Pulgas Gate closed to outbound traffic from 0600-0800 daily! Probably open both sides up to incoming base personal those hours.

San Onofre Campground on July 4th! Busy place.

Had a nice pace at the start. Soon Bruce and Al took off up ahead. Tom and I chased them down. Tom couldn't hold the 21 mph pace and dropped back. Regrouped anyway at the Las Pulgas fence. Rolled through the San Onofre Campground and stopped at #11 for refuel There was some bar soap and Old Castle liquid soap at the rear sinks! Nice stuff! I scrubbed up my hands good. Hands get filthy easily while cycling with fingerless gloves. Campground wasn't that full yet for the 4th. A few fully loaded motor homes had already set up shop. Surf School had several campsites with and array of big tents. I cruzed over and checked them out... table tennis set up, triple bar-b-que grills and plenty of picnic tables for group meals. No one around the area today. Must be out surfing?  Racer dude on a green C'dale started to pull the gruppo along. I dropped back with Lisa. Big mess turning onto the Trestles Bike Path. Several guys should have got hit by cars when turning! Came up on a guy on a new rando set up Denali bike. Whole thing looked 3 days old. New green and black kit. Chatted with the rider. Said he was doing a long ride but was studying about randonneuring. I mentioned the PCH group up here in OC. Said he wasn't ready to hold up a group yet! Huh? He crept up to San Clemente on that heavy set-up~!

Trestles nude surfers were moved south to Camp Pendleton!

Gruppo regroup after the bike path. I kept going, as I knew they were discussing where to stop for lunch in San Clemente. I was going to San Juan Cap. for a control stop. Took the back neighborhood route. Thought I was lost by not concentrating on the "Bike Path" signs! Not today and soon I was on the bikeway to Dohney State Beach. Some dude was trying to drop me with a 22 mph lead-out. Not today. He finally let me go on by. The State Beach was already packed with campers. Quite a mess through there. Made my way over to Carl's Jr. for the traditional choc shake. Ate my carry along tuna/cheese sandwich. Shake was too sweet for me. Finished it off anyway and headed back. I might just bump into the gruppo on the way back?

Rode with some guy on a older bike carrying a wheel and 2 Conti tires. Seems he was trying to get his Bianchi back on the road. Lives in San Clemente near Carl's Jr. somewhere. Then came across 2 riding surfers. One had a board on a side bike mount. "Not a bad set up" I told him as we rode along. His brother had his board in a bag slung over his shoulder! Not good as he was weaving all over the place. Chatted a bit then I took off. Long way to go yet.

Dohney State Beach was packed even before the 4th of July!

Rode through the SO Campground SB at a steady 18mph. Had a slight tailwind through here. No stop this trip. I wonder if the gruppo is ahead somewhere? Went through Las Pulgas Gate and the guard said a group of riders passed through 10 minutes ago. I cranked it up a notch. Finally caught them on a climb down the road. Did a sneak up and hooked on. After several miles, they realized I was there. We did a loop around and exited through the Del Mar Gate. No traffic there, but several easy to miss turns.

Gruppo stopped at the coffee shop by Magee Park as I kept riding southward. Thought I would check out Nytro for supplies and save a trip later in the week. No Joe today, so I rode to Solana Beach and did a "route reverse" from there. No cyclists around this time of day, esp on Del Dios climb past the Lake Hodges Dam. Rolled back into San Marcos feeling good for a change. Right A. tendon was a little "ache", but that was it. Good hard riding today. Maybe I was up to 65% now?

Partly cloudy to clear
Hi: 88     Lo: 62
129 miles

-randorides
...

Bike Path X Two Populaire

2008-2010 NCCC Club Jersey

No time to squeeze in the regular longish Permanent today, so I'll leave real early and get back quick on this one! Felt a little sluggish on the ride over. Arm warmers and a sleeveless underlayer. Wore the NCCC yellow and white club jersey. Some day I'll pay the yearly club fees!

Started the ride at 4:08 from the San Marcos 7-Eleven as usual. Surprised it was so foggy. Equipped with one Planet Bike rear blinkie, plenty good enough. Planet Bike 2W headlight. Not that great in the fog. Got to a limited visibility start on Centre City Pkwy. You know, finger wipe the glasses, everything is damp type fog. The minute I cleared Deer Springs Road... bingo, clear! Go figure! Nice and warm too. Start temp was 61 and now it was 66F rolling along Camino Del Rey in the dark. No traffic and I was starting to feel it. I was riding the carbon stealth Fuji and was in the twenties along here. Stopped at the AM/PM for a ice reload and receipt.

Been stopping by this 7-Eleven in Carlsbad lately.

Picked up the pace on Hwy. 76 over to the bike path. Locked in a solid 20 along the SLR. Must have been a tailwind or something. Rode through Oceanside and finally stopped at the 7-Eleven in Carlsbad. Got 2 bananas for $1 there. No bikers out along the coast at 0600. No one to hook up with either. Finally found some racers guys to pull me along to Del Mar, where I cut off and hit the SR-56 Bike Path. Felt good there and rolled into the Camino Del Sur Circle K for a blow. Got some ice and added some freebee Powerade to one bottle. Blue stuff. Sat outside for 10 minutes, looking at all the cars go by.

MTB'ers on Lusardi Loop Trail

Nice riding up Camino Del Sur today. No bike going my way, but did see 2 MTB'er on the Lusardi Loop trail! Wish I was there instead. Looked like they were having
fun. More traffic in Rancho Bernardo. Took the back way through and up to the bridge over Lake Hodges. For some fun, took Citracado under I-15, where it becomes Gamble Lane. Did that loop on Saturday. Felt much better today. Grade is around 17% for Citracado and maybe 16% for Gamble Lane. Took the Inland Rail Trail back to San Marcos and finished up at the 7-Eleven. Got 2 more bananas and headed for home. Restocking the fruit bin!

Started off sluggish and rode high tempo the rest of the day. Should have busted 5 hours. We'll get er next time!

Foggy near start, clear later on
Hi:  86  Lo: 61
81 miles

-randorides

Lake Henshaw Century Populaire

Lake Henshaw Century Populaire Garmin Stats

Off we go! A few minutes after 0600, Mac Imacseng, Sandy Aniya, Keith Olsen and I were on Mission Road eastward for this new populaire (rando term for a route under 200km/124 miles). Bill Stevenson was taking the Sprinter train over and would arrive around 0620. We scheduled to meet up en route at Harrah's 7-Eleven later on. Weather was the usual low overcast as Sandy picked up the pace through Escondido town. Car traffic was no problem this early on a Saturday. Today I was taking pics for a route video. Like to do that either before submitting a route to RUSA for approval, OR on the inaugural riding of the route. Picked up a pair of designer glasses on the climb up Valley Center Road. Mac and I rode up together, as did Sandy and Keith. Low clouds in the surrounding hills made for some cool riding and good photos through here. Turned on Woods Valley Road in lieu of the more traditional rando routes through here. Big downhill BLAST on Rincon Grade. This road is still real rough and bumpy as an infrequent car passed us going down. Also a TT rider rolled past us in some big gears (probably 56x11!). Smoothed out at the bottom in time for the Control stop at Harrah's 7-Eleven.

Refill at Harrah's 7-Eleven Control

I hadn't been here before, but Sandy said it is a great place for a stop. Bathrooms and water are the key. Most got a few bananas (2x$1) for the trip ahead. Bill rolled in to join the fun. Said he figured he could make up time on the climbs. He did! We were there 15-20 minutes chatting and noting how this would be a good overnight rando stop too!. Seems Keith and Mac are going up to NoCal for a Santa Cruz Surf City 600K in September. A lot less severe climbing than the local 600K here in May. Both wanted to complete their RUSA SR Series for 2014.

Left on the real bumpy bike lane climbing up past Stage Stop Market. For years, this was the usual refuel stop for riders around here. Weird service, old stuff and no bananas! They did have a outside bathroom, but it was opened by the Taco Shop next door. Mac, Bill and I rode up Hwy. 76 to So. Grade together. Bill and Jimbo Wisener are going up to Taos next week to prep up for a long ride, so we chatted about that. Mac was explaining all the different routes he has ridden up there. I just listened. We stopped for a regroup at So. Grade Road.

Mac hits on cycle-chic at So. Grade Road regroup

Some cycle chic was unloading her newer bike and spraying on sunscreen. Mac was hitting on her as Sandy rolled in for a shade stop. No Keith? We waited around a while chatting with the gal. Still no Keith. We decided to go back down and see what happened. He finally showed up. Said he had a goat-head flat just after starting the climb from Stage Stop Market. I was sucking Macs Colnago wheel as he cranked it up to 19 mph for the run in to the Lake Henshaw Store. Keith was a bit behind us. We were there for a while before Sandy and Bill rolled in. Sandy had a goat-head flat along the way. That was a quick tube change!. Sat around in the shade, as 3 racer boys rolled in. Keith said they had come up Mesa Grande Road via Black Canyon Road. That's a washboard dirt road. Bet they were beat up good on those racing bikes. Keith was looking for water, without buying any.

We're soon off to climb the steepish Mesa Grande Rd. I rode up partway with Bill and Mac. Pulled off to take some pics of the overview of Lake Henshaw. Managed a few shots of Keith and Sandy grinding up. Sandy had the zig-zag thing going across the road. After a regroup at the top we were soon riding through shade covered roads winding along the mesa. A short stop at the INFO Control mailboxes for a picture. Group rode together to the fast downhill to Hwy. 79. God some action shots following Mac down. Mac was impressed with the road and hadn't ridden the mesa before. Welcome stop at Don's Market in Santa Ysabel.

Ready to roll from Don's Market Control in Santa Ysabel

In my books, the #1 rando stop in the area. Out of free water in the cooler today. We sat around for 25 minutes in the shade. Quite a bit warmer here. Probably in the high 80'sF. Mac, Bill, Keith and Sandy each had a big sandwich. I hit the Vitamin Water and ate my tuna/cheese carry along. Picked up a banana. Ice up the bottles. Took a few pics and chatted. Mac was trying his cellphone. His blueberry and coffee pre-ride feast didn't last long this morning! He said he loaded up on antioxidants early!

Once you clear the first hill traffic on Hwy. 78, the 30 minute ride down to Ramona goes real quick. Sandy specializes in downhill routes, so he took off, followed by "cross the yellow lines" Bill. Keith is usually reluctant on downhills and Mac and I rode together. We took "D" Street for a back way to the 7-Eleven Control stop. Keith got a huge 32oz Coke, Bill a Payday, me a dark choc Milky Way as Mac scarfed down a tall can of Coconut Water! Sandy carried 3-24oz bottles today on his new TREK. 10 minute stop. Bill took us the back way over to the Albertson's red light, where it was much safer to enter Hwy. 67 westward.

Mesa Grande INFO Control at the mailboxes

The ride out of Ramona is usually real "dicey" at best. With the traffic and swerving to miss the recessed storm drain grates, we were happy for the headwinds on Highland Valley Road. Mac pulled us along past the buffalo pens before more roller climbing ahead. Mac hadn't been this way before. Bill and I knew each downhill turn and bump, so we cranked it up. Had a regroup after Bandy Canyon Road. Road down the curves section amidst yelling and kicking from the local moto butthole. Tried to kick me and run us off the road. Rolling regroup along the river bottom. Soon we were crossing the pedestrian bridge onto the bike path for our last Control stop of the day at the Via Rancho Chevron. I iced up my bottles here. Hung around for 10 minutes.

OH NO! Last 16% climb of the day on Gamble Lane

Took the Bike Path over to El Ku Ave., climbing up alongside Centre City Pkwy. The route deviates from the norm, as we now turn on Citracado westward for a few nasty steep climbs. The first one is a surprising short 17%. Followed by a nice downhill, under I-15. The road soon changes to Gamble Lane and the final climb starts as a straight up 16% grinder. Regroup at the top, under a vehicle stopping chain and quickly we were downhill on Citracado Pkwy. to more familiar neighborhoods again. A double Harmony Grove turn, jog through the business park, Barham Dr. and the final headwind on Mission Road to the finish in San Marcos. Keith and Mac rode back to Albertson's lot to Keith's car. Bill was taking the Sprinter train back to Oceanside. Sandy drove in and I rode home.

Interesting day and route. Garmin Stats and RidewithGPS both indicated a true 6785 ft. of climbing on this one. Seemed to be more than that. Nice cool morning ride in the 60's leading to hotter temps in Ramona near 88F. Not that windy riding in a group. Seems we all had a good workout and a fun time today! Nice route for a 0500 start in the summer.

Video of this ride can be seen at: http://youtu.be/DGJnEC2f38k

Low clouds early, clear at Harrah's
Hi: 88   Lo: 61
97 miles

-randorides

Rainbow 1.24 Permanent

Rainbow 1.24 map

This route is designed for a pre-dawn start. Based on the popular Rainbow 200 Brevet & Rainbow Prelude Permanent routes, this one starts up in North County close to home. Riding the stealth Fuji today with all the climbing. Switched over the HB bar. Same little seat bag with the tube repair goodies in there. Standard carry along food and 3 "clamshells" with the normal rando emergency components inside. Taking pics for possible video this trip, so added the trusty Canon A1100 and several extra sets of AA batteries. Camera was hanging around my neck for quick pics... however not too good for out of the saddle work, as its swinging around can have painful results.

Started later than I anticipated. Left the 7-Eleven start in San Marcos slightly after 0500. It's always nice riding with no cars around, as was the case northward past Welk Resort. I was dragging my "arse" through this whole area. Climbing at 8 mph isn't my idea of a good start. Steady climbing up Circle R, Lilac and Couser Canyon. CC is a little steep, but well worth the sonic downhill that follows. Rice Canyon climb is always a moment for me, but this trip I stopped and took some pictures along this section. Maybe "horses" and "flowers" were the theme for this ride? I usually target the Rainbow Oaks Store opening at 7 AM. Got there well after opening time. Bought a pak of Belvita healthy breakfast cookies for $1.39. Packed my vest, arm warmers and woolie cap neatly on the front of my HB bag, and away I went eating a banana.

Sparkle wheeled Fuji at the Rainbow 1.24 Start

Massive traffic on Mission Road out of Fallbrook this time of day. Everyone is driving over to I-15. I waited for a while to safely turn onto Live Oak Park Road. Nice downhill riding through here, except if you have a big truck trying to pass on the curves! That sharp turn up Reche Road hits you with an instant 9% grade. Green Canyon Road worked out perfect for some downhill video shots winding through the tree lined road. I stopped at Bonsall Micki-D's for a Yogurt to eat with my banana. After a long stop to refill the bottles, I was off with a tailwind on Hwy. 76, bound for the Pacific Coast.

On the San Luis Rey Bike Path, I re-took some pics of the burned-out house and adjacent river bottom damage from the recent fire there. No riders to cycle with along the 8 miles to Oceanside this trip. New path-side skateboard park was packed with the local schools out for the summer. Stopped by Chuck's Pacific Coast Cycles leaving Oceanside and did my usual "window shopping". They had a few Salsa Fargos sitting around outside too. Demand has kept the price up for these versatile wide tire bikes. Stopped at 7-Eleven in Carlsbad for a Reese Piece receipt.

UTC McDonalds Control: Worker scrubbing parking lot!

Hard body joggers were the theme along the coast southward today. Mixed in were the usual racers on their hi dollar tri-bikes all new-looking. Feeling a little better now with the slight tailwind. No stop at Nytro this trip. Joe M. is back east this week at a bike conference. A full week of demos, testing new stuff and armful's of free goodies for the cycling enthusiasts! How nice it that? Took some time documenting the route through UCSD. Quite easy to follow except the near-last turn on Voight Dr., where there is no street sign! Newbie rider to this area will surly get turned around? Took the cue-sheet back way into McDonalds for the Control break. Some worker was outside scrubbing the parking lot with a bucket of water and a brush! Anything to keep them busy? Poor diet at the Controls today. Cheapest thing they had was a ice-cream cone for $1! Loaded my bottles, sat outside and took some pics.

Fairbanks Ranch Country Club: "Victory's Gate"

Took the I-5 shoulder route to Sorrento Valley per the route directions. Thought about stopping at Cycle Quest and checking out bikes. They have a good inventory of big tire and touring stuff there. Keith like the owner operator Eric. Easy riding up El Camino Real and through Fairbanks Ranch area. Stopped to take some pics of the country club entrance and the bronze statue of Victory's Gate. Apajo and Via De Santa Fe are all new surfaces now and a real pleasure to ride on. Noticed a road sign that said: "No trucks over pick-up size. Ordance # 121.34". Just then a big Hertz rental truck rolled by! It was warming up under clear skies as I climbed up Del Dios by Lake Hodges. Lake is way down with the recent lack of rains. Looks green and algae like. Did take a off-route ride up Citracado Pkwy. to check out the Gamble Street vehicle gate. This street is part of the new "Lake Henshaw Century". No gate now, just a chain across the dusty road.

Riding through Harmony Grove fire burn area.

Sign for "Hale Street' turn is now in clear view. For many years it was covered by trees and bushes. Route turns 3X on Harmony Grove to continue. Definitely you need to be alert to street signs if you haven't ridden through here before. Harmony Grove is a mess down in the valley. Construction on a near-by bridge and the new housing in place of the chicken ranch. Took some pics and video of the recent burn area through there too. Stopped at the newish Chevron in Elfin Forest. Control stop for a few pics. Went westward per the route and cut over on Melrose Dr. No shortcut here for sure. Still some climbing left up Rancho Santa Fe Road to San Marcos. Traffic was very light around the major intersection with San Marcos Blvd. Traffic was also light on Las Posas under Hwy. 78. Later in the day riders would be buried through here. Great tailwind as usual back to the San Marcos Finish on Mission Road.

Interesting day and a tough little 200km route with a real 8200' of climbing. Felt slow at the start and got better as I warmed up to the day.

Overcast early, clear skies later
Hi: 86   Lo: 62
124 miles

-randorides

Coffee At Peet's Populaire

Madison SS set up for SR Series long rides

Madison time! Great foggy morning for an early ride. I happen to check the website and turns out the NCCC
grouppo was riding a similar route as the Coffee today! So I just hung around and figured I would meet up somewhere along Borden Road after 8:00 AM. One thing led to another... went down to the garage at 6 to prep the single speed bike. Transferred the HB bag from the SOMA, aired up the G'kins 28mm, wiped and lubed the chain. All set now. By the time I left home and got over to the 7-Eleven start it was 8:20, well after NCCC riders left Old California Restaurant Row.

Just happened to catch the tail end of the group at Borden. The race was on to catch the main body. Latched on to them at Country Club Drive in Escondido. Not many riding this route today. Only about 10. Chatted with Tony Long of Wild Animal Park fame. He was recovering from a broken clavicle a few month back. Club crash... touched someone' wheel and bang! Rando Robert Abraham leads this group now. Chatted with him on some new rando route to the desert and up Mt. Laguna. All North County starts. Left the group at Camino Del Rey. They were going up Day Lilly Hill to Hwy. 76 for a turn around at the store there.

Another NCCC rider was stopped under the I-5 overpass. I chatted with him and discovered the NCCC "long riders" were coming this way too. Only about 7 of them. Sandy Aniya was riding with them on his new TREK Domane! I cruised over to Bonsall Control amongst a group of hammerheads! I was spinning real good by then. Got a treat there for receipt, hit the head and refilled my one bottle. I left alone, as the other riders were all standing around talking about how fast they were.

Nice ride along Hwy. 76 eastward. Hit the bike path for a slight headwind to the coast. Rode with a Cervelo Tri bike guy named "Mitch". Seems he knows Dan Phillips from Bussey's Auto. We talked about Dan. All kinds of usual weekend riders by the Pier. Rolled past my fav. stop at Magee Park. Met a nice looking lady on a road bike. Ask her about her rusted chain! She says she always forgets to lube it. Can't save it now. Time for a new chain. Opted for 7-Eleven stop in Carlsbad. Ice cream Smores Sandwich. Something new and ate it while rolling southward along the coast. Hooked up with a guy on a older Focus. Says he ordered it from Germany before they had dealers here. Likes it a lot. Also likes to run red lights. We soon parted company when he turned off at LaCosta Ave. Rolled into Nytro for a water refill.

Saturday goodies at Nytro Multisport

A few riders were outside chatting. Hi-end guys riding the latest and greatest carbon. I like going in there, since I
am so out of place. Especially today on the blue Schwinn. Filled by bottle and headed down the coast with some racers. Stopped by REV Bike in Solana Beach to check out Keith's Fargo. Seems rando Tim Knowles bought the only one. Medium size too. Miki talks a lot and said they get one in every few weeks. Nice? Diana W. and Larry were there from NCCC group. Diana was looking at Colnago's, women size. High pressure sales dude was they could order one with Di2 electronic shifting for around $6600. What a deal? No Salsa Fargos. They did have 2 Vaya's there. Interesting bike... looks like it might take a 1.75" tire too. Disc brakes. After a lot of bull crap, rode out for a receipt control.

Mucho riders along the SR-56 Bike Path today. Good sign as everyone is out in the sun away from the maddening crowds of the Del Mar Fair! Single speed hurts you on those climbs if you're not used to it. Passed over burned out rando dirt routes along Camino Del Sur on the way to Rancho Bernardo. Soon crossed the pedestrian bridge over Lake Hodges and thinking I should be riding a dirt bike instead. Edged through Escondido, along the Inland Rail Trail into stronger headwinds to the San Marcos finish.

Felt good today on the SS. Nothing hurt too bad for a change. Felt the SS strain on the legs. Good feeling!

Foggy start to clear skies
Hi: 85   Lo: 56

-randorides