Lazy Lizard Brevet

Lazy Lizard: Ocotillo to Ranchita

I hadn't said much to my riding buddy, John Mestemacher, since we talked about this ride last month. This is one of his favorites, but due to lack of bike time, he had been a little hesitant about riding a 200 route. He finally emailed me a few days before and we decided on a early depart time from San Marcos. John has a nice, older, little grey/grey Honda Element set up to lock down 2 bikes inside. Used it for years on a whole bunch of rando rides and it works really well. 2 bikes, space for gear and comfy!

0430 rolled around and John arrived for my pick-up right on time. On the 2 hour drive out, we had time to catch up on his job, riding and family stuff too. Didn't get the wrong turn this time and made it to Ocotillo at 0630. Plenty of time to take some pre-ride pictures for the Lazy Lizard Video I was hoping to do of the event. 

Randonneur group at Ocotillo start

After a little chat-chat and pre-ride instruction from the RBA, Dave Danovsky, we were off at 0700 sharp. 18-20 riders on all different rigs, but mostly carbon racer set-ups. I hung around doing GoPro of the last riders and was soon sucking wind to catch up. The racer grouppo was long gone done the straight road, thru the wind farm, as our group of 7 motored along. John had a new PowerTap wheel set and was playing around with the wattage thing. 

Group soon split up as we hit the first double digit climb. Toughest of the route. I did manage to max-out and get up and take pics of other riders climbing. Later, after Box Canyon climb, riders were all over the place. I rode with ex-RBA Mike Berry offering a chance to talk a bit. Soon six of us were at the Stagecoach Trails Store, loading up on water and other goodies. New rider Hanna, had a headache and went hunting for Excedrin. She was riding with Molly Cook today. 

Harley's and beer at RD's Log Cabin

Leaving Shelter Valley was a blast, with a slight tailwind and a mini downhill to Scissor Crossing. Met a team group pace-lining southward in fast mode. Managed a few shots at Scissor Crossing before the long haul up Road S-2 to Ranchita. Climb starts out very nice with a few low grade rollers and slowly increases pitch as you climb to Teofulio Summit. Not much of a summit really, but there is RD's Log Cabin at the pseudo-imaginary town of San Felipe nearby.  RV traffic was horrendous today... all the desert rats heading back to LA with their motor-homes and trailers behind.

Before the summit, met riders on the return leg of this round-trip route. Ben Hain, Dean Dobberteen and Liz Tenuto in the first group. Sergio Sandoval couldn't quit make the bridge to join up. Jerald Cook was in hot pursuit.. I managed to sneak across the road and take some action pics of them. Stopped by DJ's Log Cabin for a few snaps, then staged up near the Summit sign for some video clips. Keith Olsen stopped at the top and was having stomach troubles. After a brief chat, he continued on to Ranchita. I soon rolled down the hill a bit and saw David Nakai stopped in the shade.

Hanna & Sasquatch

Dave said he couldn't keep with the fast riders and didn't eat enough. Looked like a mild bonk to me. RBA David D. soon rolled up southbound and stopped to see if all was well. Off he went, closely followed by David Nicola[, Tim Sullivan and Andi Ramer. I was soon over to Montezuma Road/S-22 and the last few miles to Ranchita. Met Bill Stevenson, Sam Thomas, John Fry and James Robinson on the return trip. Took a few interesting pictures and then followed Keith O. in to the store.

Napa Tom at Ranchita

John, Mike Berry, Hanna, Molly Cook and Tom (guy from Napa, CA) were at the store lazing about. I grabbed a drink, took a few pictures of riders in front of the Sasquatch statue and was ready to go, when Mike noticed his tire was low. As the others rolled out, I waited for Mike to finish up the tube change. 

Real fast leaving Ranchita back to S-2... in fact you don't have to turn the cranks at all! After the short climb up to Teofulio Summit, I rode with Mike back to Scissor Crossing and on to the Stagecoach Trails Store. The ladies had just left, but John and Keith were stretched out there. Water refill, a few pictures and we were on the last leg back to Ocotillo. Weather was super all day. I was dressed perfectly with 2 light layers under by SDrando jersey.

David Nakai looking for shade: "Cooked"

Down the road Mike had his second flat tire. John stayed with him as Keith and I continue on southward at a mild pace. I went on ahead and staged up at the top of Sweeny Pass. When the last three riders went thru, it was only a slight downhill dash to Ocotillo. Road was rough in spots, but we found good riding on the center-line. Reflective vests and lights on, we finally rolled into the finish at Chevron. 

Randos Keith, John & Mike at Alpine Carl's

RBA Dave and buddy Dave Nicolai were there waiting for the card signing. I wasn't riding the official Brevet, but instead opted for the same route as the " Lazy Lizard Lodown" Permanent. John and I usually stop is Alpine at Carl's Jr. for a shake on the way home. Today was no exception. Mike and Keith heard of our endeavor and joined up in Alpine too. Mike & John opted for fries with their shakes (must be the salt?) Keith and I just the shakes. After some small talk, we were off back to San Diego after another great ride.

Lazy Lizard Video



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New: Sam's Donut Loop Permanent

Sam's Donut Loop Route

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


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


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

Future randonneur ride at Lake Hodges

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


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

Sam checks his camera settings

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


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


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

Keith & Mike relax at Swami's Park

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


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

- randorides

 

Mud In The Tank Tunnel?

No mud Pendleton Tank Tunnel today!

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


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

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

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


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

Animal Kingdom film crew at Trestles Bike Path

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


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

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

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


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

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

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


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


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


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

- randorides

Rainbow Ramble 200 - Ride Down

Mike & Osvaldo help RBA Dave with tire

Didn't really want to spend the whole day Saturday on a road ride, but had another weird one: start a rando route early from north county and pick up the randos doing the scheduled 0700 start Rainbow Ramble 200 in Pacific Beach/Dog Beach. Had just the route in "Walkin' The Dog".

I was off at 0400 dark to 34F temps under clear cold skies. Long wool socks, knee warmers, arm warmers and my wind reflective home-madie vest should work fine. Also added a neck warmer that I could pull up over my mouth for the super cold valleys. Traffic was the expected nil this early. Double rear blinkies covered my backside as my cygolite worked up front. Felt good as long as I was moving along. Hangin' around was another matter.

Rando gruppo riding eastward on path

All the lights seemed green for me as I rolled along down Coast Hwy. 101. Only saw 1 rider headed northward the whole trip. After the warm climb up Torrey, the Garnett downhill was freezing. A few water puddles were still roadside as I sped onto the Rose Canyon Bike Path. Several mud crossings there, which totally clogged up my brakes against the carbon 60mm rims. No way around them. I sort of picked a little of the mud off, but it was the sticky reddish kind and made a worse mess.

As I crossed the SD River Bridge near Sea World, my watch read 0650. Should I turn on the Ocean Beach Bike Path or take the advertised route in reverse? A little adventure time as I hit Old Town and turned right onto Sports Arena Blvd. I couldn't remember exactly where today's Brevet route went, so after a few turns I ended up on the Bike Path! Duh. A few minutes more and I was pulling into the Bacon St. 7-Eleven. Fortunately, the gruppo hadn't left yet.

"Uncle Zeke" pushing in Poway

Keith Olsen was heading over to the local bathrooms, so I followed in hopes of cleaning off my brakes/wheels. No such luck as the bathroom was closed! After waiting around the group was finally ready to roll. Once on the OB Bike Path heading eastward, RBA Dave D. had a flat. The group waited around as Mike & Osvaldo offered flat tire help (standing around checking things out.

New guy, Roberto, had a carbon BMC racer... no bags, no storage and one bottle. Looks like he was ready for the long ride today. Sandy Aniya was atop his new TREK Domane, as was Mike Shaw. Nice. Lisa Nicholson rode her heavy duty rando bike with fenders and big tires as did Osvaldo. Keith was grinding hard on the fixie climbing up past USD. Hector joined the few riders up front. Looked like a race pak to me.

Lisa compliments Keith on fashion colors

We were soon off to the races, as I joined the 3 riders up front. Route cuts eastward on Miramar Road and then climbs northward on Pomerado Rd. thru Poway. We had several red-light regroups along the way and were treated to the ultimate cart-man at a light stop on Poway Road.  I called him Sandy's uncle Zeke!

I dropped back later and chatted with Keith, who was commenting what happened to the camaraderie of long distance riding? Recent rando rides have been a "race-type" atmosphere I concurred. Big regroup at Chevron just after crossing Lake Hodges. Great photo op there and I got a few. The next climb up Sunset really broke up the group. By north Broadway, they were scattered along.

New rando Roberto on carbon BMC

After a farewell to Keith and Sandy, I turned westward on Country Club Dr. My riding day was soon over. Not quite 90 miles and it wasn't 1100 yet! After a check-in at the San Marcos 7-Eleven, I was finally on my way home. As Keith reminded me earlier, I would be washed up, filled up and watching the SDSU Bowel game and he would still be riding toward Rainbow!
Go figure,


- randorides

Prepping The Scott Scale Plus, Rando Style

Tubeless tire kit

1/4 lb of reflectors come off!

Time to start "prepping" the Scott for trail rando fun. First off was to convert the Maxxis tires to tubeless. Loose some weight, lower air pressure, more comfy riding over the rough stuff and enhanced flat protection, esp. from those pesky thorns around here.

8oz Schwalbe tube

First off, I made the garage warm by turning on a floor heater. Warmth is important to "working" the tires and installing the sealant in them. The tires were warm up and I put the little sealant bottles next to the heater.

Alcohol wipe-down first!

Real tubeless type tires are tough to get off the traditional way, you know.. loosen them up,
tire irons, etc.  Just think inwards and it's a breeze. I soon pulled the Schwalbe tubes (lightweight ones @ 8oz/227gms) and wiped down the inside of the tire with a alcohol induced rag. One side of the tire was still sealed to the rim.

Next up was putting in the Stans tubeless stems. Tight, tight, tight is the secret here. The Syncros X-35 / 27.5" rims had tubeless ready tape in them, so the stems slipped right in for a good seal.

Stan's tubeless stem in place

Add 4oz Stans Sealant per tire.

With the tire back on, I aired them up to 40 lbs with a floor pump. No problem with this set-up, they "popped" right into place. Next up was pulling the core using a 4.5mm mini-wrench. Then with valve stem down, I added 2 bottles (4 oz) of Stans Sealant (shake well first). Valve core installed, I rotated the stem to 90 degrees and aired up to 40psi again.

Time to slosh the sealant around inside the tires. Holding the tire horzonital, I sloshed the sealant around, flipped the tire and did the same again. Then laid them on a bucket and periodically repeated the process while working on the next tire.

Tire sitting horizontal to let Stan's coat inner surface

Later on, I reinstalled the wheels and added a bottle cage. Lots of wasted space below the cage. No second cage on the seat tube... hardly any room there for one as I thought of adding one there with Riv-Nuts. Have to do something for more water storage... never did like anything on my back. Under the downtube? Front forks? HB bag? RR seat baggie (tough with a dropper). I'll figure it out

Also removed the "required" bike reflectors. They weighed 4 oz.! Left the plastic saucer on the rear wheel to protect the spokes in the future.

By removing the tubes, changing over to tubeless and removing the reflectors the Scott lost 1 lb!
Now weighs 25.26 lbs.

SCOTT Scale 710+ Walkaround Video


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Pick-Up SCOTT Scale 710+

Nytro Joe making a few 'adjustments to the SCOTT Scale 710+

Been 6 months since I said "adios" to the C'dale Beast 3+ mtb as I shipped it off to Arizona land. During that time, it's been looking, researching and dealing for a replacement Rando mtb. OH, almost forgot the "van ran over my head" crash in September, which took me out for a while too. I settled in on a SCOTT Scale 710, Plus size 27.5" tires again. Slightly lacking on the bottle cage space, but overall a step-up from my last ride.

Walking, train and bus found me down to Encinitas and the Nytro store. After some chit-chat and a transfer of measurements, I was off for a quick spin on some local surfer paths. Long time since I've been on a mtb and I felt like it. Dropper post and 11-speed were something new to me as was the 3-mode fork remote. I played around for 30 minutes, loaded up my backpak and headed back to San Marcos. Didn't get too far before I was hearing a slight "rubbing sound!

Super stock SCOTT on the way home.

Pulled over and flipped the bike. Removed the front wheel. Scott's 110mm front axle removes much more methodical than the Beast 3's quick release did. The front 180mm rotor and calipers were an upgrade too. No rubbing there, so it's time to tackle the rear wheel.

Solid arm on the rear 112mm axle. Just unscrew it. No lock-down or QR there. I noticed removing the axle that the arm brushed the seat tube (which was protected by a heavy plastic "wrap"). Not good. May take some grinding for more clearance. A big plus for tire removal is the "lock button" on the SRAM GX-1rr derailleur. Move the derailleur forward, push the lock and all chain tension is removed for real clean, easy rear wheel removal. The C'dale Beast had the Shimano tension derailleur which just released some tension on the chain and you had to monkey around to get the cassette on the chain and the wheel in.

Cable ferrule jammed in behind the chain guide.

All clear at the rear so I trained my attention to the front SRAM GX-1 30T chain ring. The Scale 710 came with a neato  chain guide, so your chain never comes off the front. Upon further inspection, there was a cable end ferrule jammed in behind the guide, forcing it to rub the chain a bit. AHHHHH!. I removed the ferrule and tightened the guide down with a 4mm hex tool. BINGO all well now. I don't know how that ever got into there, but Joe will soon get the message. Not to be deterred, I was soon off down the road back home.





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Commute To SDSU-R: Early Ride Down...Freeze Zone

Early AM Route down to Mission Valley Brevet start

Yes, another "Odd-Ball" ride in the books. Commute To SDSU-R. A early ride down to hook up with the Newport 300 riders leaving Mission Valley-San Diego.

Keith, Sam, me & John M. rolled  out of San Marcos at 0200. Andi was missing, as her calf was hurting. (Keith said he'll use that excuse next time!).  Official temp was 41 degrees (F). Sam was trying to talk thru his full face burglar mask. Nice. Keith forgot something to cover his ears. Brrrrrr!

I was layered up with long sleeve shirt, rando jersey and wind reflective vest outer. Arm warmers with my knee warmers over long wool skateboard socks. Glove liners under my knitted finger-less gloves. Had woolie skullcap under helmet. Combo worked well.

Garmin temp was down to 31F in the low spots. Nil traffic and nice quiet riding.

Arrived a little early at Mission Valley 7-Eleven Control at 0440. Clerk there was grumpy after he saw Sam lingering outside in his ski mask!

Rode over to the Newport 300 Start at 0515 and chatted around. They had 8 starters and not-tasty donuts. Left on time(0530) and rode/chatted with Kevin Haywood from Valley Ctr. ( who drove down last night and spent the night at the hotel!)
Tim Sullivan, Kerin H., Osvaldo C., Wei Sun, Lisa N. soon blasted by. They dropped Lisa on the climb to UCSD. Chatted with new guy Jonathon Burchmore from Ramona. He was froze with no leg coverings, no long gloves, etc. Rose Canyon was a freeze zone. We soon really welcomed the late arriving sun heat.

Couldn't locate any open bathrooms around Torrey Pines State Beach, so rode over to Solana Donuts for a break. 

Mac

0445   7-Eleven: John, Keith & Sam at Mission Valley Control

met us there and looked cold already. 0715 and the sun was up warming us up quickly. Lingered around while Keith barricaded himself in the bathroom.

Soon left to warmer temps as John led us by Quail Gardens before turning for home at El Camino Real. Mac had turned off for the coast already. Sam, Keith & I stopped to strip off some layers before climbing back to San Marcos.

Rode up on a "racer" guy on a newer Cannondale, recently down from Oregon. He stayed with his mother up there before returning back to San Diego. Been out of work forever, he said.

Nice cruise ride back to the Albertson's finish, where Sam laid on some heavy election talk. His favorite candidate didn't do so well. Sorry. Keith handed out hi-octane goodies as we chatted around and finally left. Keith home to take care of his new dog, Sam to Fallbrook to continue moving and me...well, just basking in the warmth on the ride home.

Might do something like this ride again for the Dec. 3 Brevet in San Diego.

Who knows?

- randorides