Hi All,

 

Hot! Damn Hot!*  *quote taken from Good Morning Vietnam

It was a scorcher last Sat for our group ride.  Jeff S rode over from Del Mar to meet Guido and me on the bike path at Black Mountain Road.  We pedaled over to Spring Meadow to get Voris.  I swung by Hodges house.  He was getting in touch with his inner self by listening to Hall and Oates music and painting his small garage what had to be characterized as pastel blue.  Mike declined to ride as he is in his recovery phase.  He promised to be there for Tour of Poway next month.  We pedaled over to the start.

 

A large group gathered at Pomerado and RB.  We had more than a dozen riders, including Denise, Garet and a new rider, Steve.  The large group cruised over to HVR and climbed up to Bandy Canyon.  We flew down and rode over to the Ramona Grade.  We formed a large paceline, smoothly rotating along the ride.  This was Denise's first paceline; she is riding great.  It was already getting very warm.  I turned around at 78 and went back along Bandy to sweep up Sheehan while the rest of the group climbed to Ramona.  Sheehan and I held a comfortable but steady pace on the climb, the heat intensified.  We passed Eric and Bob P worked on Eric's rear tire.  The group gathered in Ramona at the corner gas station in what little shade could be found and refilled now empty water bottles.  Eric, Bob P, Sheehan, Garet and Steve decided to egress back towards Poway and cooler temperatures.  The rest of us rode toward Old Julian.

 

We still had 11 riders on the climb to Old Julian.  The heat rose as we climbed.  I was not worried about getting to the top but how was I going to get back home after getting there.  We rode to the end of Old Julian, now just over 40 mile for the ride at that point.  The descent down was fast with Rick holding back a bit to pull Denise along.  Thank goodness as I was holding onto her wheel getting the full benefit of Rick's pull.  We all rode back to the Chevon gas station for another round of water and shade.  Guido was feeling the effects of the ride and wanted to get going back down Dye Road at an easy pace.  I immediately volunteered to take the easy pace with Guido.  We headed out expecting the group to swallow us up soon.

 

Guido and I cruised along Dye and back around Mt Woodson on Hwy 67, no group yet.  We descended Poway Grade and were stopped at the Twin Peaks/Espola Light with Bob Raibert came up behind us.  We were hot, tired and running low on water.  Bob led us along Twin Peaks.  I pealed off at Rancho Arbolitos to get more water from my college buddy's house.  I left Bob and Guido to make their way back home the final few miles.  My return pace was super slow but I finally made it back to the bike path and home; hot and exhausted.  72 miles and 4,700 feet of climbing.  Great way to spend the morning!

 

Attached are a few photos.

 

Ride on-

 

Rob