We pushed it a bit just before and on the Stud loop but then backed off and rode as a group. Eric got a flat at the turn to San Elijo – Matt and Rick stayed with Rick while the rest of us pushed on to Double Peak. (Eric manage to reglue his tubular and trace his way back, according to Strava). Jeff S. was pushing the pace uphill for a while and was the first to the top. Double Peak was completely surrounded by fog, from the top you could not even see the parking lot. On the way down we saw Rick and Matt, who stayed behind to do some Double Peak repeats. Ernst stayed behind to chat with them. Elfin Forest was not as enjoyable as usual, due to on-going road repair. We decided to be adventurous and turned right to Via Ambiente, a new road I found while riding in that are last week (Guido went home the Elfin Forest way). It features a brutal 2-mile climb at about 7% average with pitches of 15%, and amazing views. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to object, at least not to my face – I am sure there was some cursing in the back of the group. Once again Jeff was pushing the pace up to the top. The descent on the down side was fast – strava clocked me at 54 mph! Once we got to Del Dios we tried to explore another road, Bing Crosby Blvd that would have gotten us to Camino del Sur, but quickly gave up once we discovered a gate surrounded with a fence. Jeff S. turned back towards RSF as we continued on Del Dios to Lake Hodges. Instead of going on Pomerado from Lake Hodges we decided to turn right and go on Bernardo, new roads to me. We lost Klaus and then Steve as they were turning to go their own way home. Hodges, Voris and Geoff turned on Black Mountain as I continued straight on Carmel Valley. By the time I got home I got 90 miles with 7,000 ft of climbing – a great day in the saddle with some new roads. 

Here's the link to the photos with a few selected attached: