We had another great team ride on Saturday out in the Cuyamaca Mountains.  Dave Voris planned and mapped out a great ride.  Most of us met at Spring Meadow early for the drive to Old Hwy 80.  The group started a bit after 8 am with ten Descenders:  Voris, Rick, Hodges, Oleg, Guido, Sheehan, Boyle, Bernie, Ernst and me.  Below is the ride profile Voris sent in preparation for the ride.  We head downhill at a spirited pace towards Boulevard and Campo until we hit La Posta Road.  We climbed back towards I-8 and over to the bottom of Kitchen Creek.  The group split up as we climbed Kitchen Creek but mostly regrouped at the top and then descended the Sunrise Highway back to the cars.   A number of guys had to cut the ride short at that point and head home.

After a short break, Rick, Voris, Bernie, Oleg, Mike and I headed down into Pine Valley and started the climb up Pine Creek.  The road was narrow and not as smooth as Kitchen Creek, it was also brutally steep in sections.  Oleg had to head home so he returned to his car.  Rick, Bernie and Voris were well ahead of Mike and I as we struggled up the steep pitches.  I saw them up above on one of the switchbacks and decided to call it a day.  Mike and I returned back to the cars having ridden 60 miles with about 5,700 feet of elevation.  We were spent.

While we waited for the last three riders to return down Sunrise Hwy, Mike had a Drew sighting as he screamed down Sunrise and took the turn to Pine Valley, obviously on his way to climb Pine Creek.  Voris, Bernie and Rick did the full ride of just over 70 miles.  We headed home, pleased with the ride, happy to spend the hours on a bike and looking forward to next week’s ride.  Ernst is hosting the new Elfin Forest route; more details soon.

Attached are a few photos.  I will put the rest on the Shutterfly shared album.  A few of the guys are at RAC this week, riding across California with their families.  Have fun boys.

See you Sat,

Rob