Great group ride in the north county yesterday.  A dozen riders met at the mall and sped off towards Lake Wohlford.  We started with a bit of gratuitous climbing up Mary Lane before the tight turns of Summit Drive.  Guido took a corner too hot and almost got too “up close and personal” with a car coming towards us.  We all made it to Citrus and over to Bear Valley.  The group split before the climb up to Lake Wohlford as the main pack hit the light.  This left about 6 of us on point at the turn.  Voris and Dan had to make a bathroom stop so Hodges, Guido, Geoff and I took off up the hill.  Hodges was on point and I fell farther back on the ascent with Guido leading out Geoff.  About a mile up the climb a new rider, Neal, blew my me like I was standing still.  Rick and Bob R came by a bit later and others followed as I neared the top.  We regrouped by the lake and took off again in a fast paceline over towards Woods Valley where the real speed work began.  The pace was super fast as we all surged towards Valley Center.  It was quite a sight to watch from the back of the pack with the 12 man group flying along the curvy road.  There were a few sprinkles and some wind gusts but the pace never faltered.  The riding continued up Lilac at a similar pace with occasional surges from the front.  The group stopped after we crossed the bridge at old 395 before our descent down West Lilac.  The group then kept up a brisk pace along Camino Del Rey with the stop at the RV park.  I had suffered all morning and knew I needed a head start up past the Welk resort so I skipped the stop.  The lead quickly dissipated as I saw Len coming up behind me.  We both stopped at the light before the turn off at Jesmond Dene.  Our break lasted less than a minute as the fast group closed on us before our GU could be eaten.  The boys kept up the pace back down through the Escondido streets, reversing our route down Citrus.  We finished with a brisk closing run to the mall.  A fast, fun 57 miles.

Rick stretched for a minute and then decided to go ride Rice Canyon.  He finished with a new record and KOM ranking on Strava.  Nice work Rick.

Attached are a few photos from the ride.  I would have taken more but the pace was too hard for me.

Bob P and I are planning a ride this afternoon.  Sheehan wanted to ride today as well.  Do we have others that want to ride?  We will meet at the corner of Pomerado and RB Roads at 2:30 pm.  Hopefully this start location will entice a few of our Poway riders to join us–Boyle and Broder?  See you this afternoon for an easy ride.

Ride on-

Rob