Reverse Elfin Forest
9 March 2013
by Rob Verfurth

The group ride on Saturday was looking iffy at best. The heavy rains from the previous two days were not yet done. There were some late passing showers and the roads were wet. I almost thought about calling a two hour delay to the start of the ride but was worried many would not get the word. It was cool and wet as I rolled to the start, somewhat surprised to see 7 other guys ready to ride. Standing in the rain were Len (TE), John, Steve K (I’d rather be skiing), Tony O (from Chicago), Jeff Langley (our new PQ based rider), Zach and his buddy home from college break, Daniel. No one wanted to lead out so I took point riding down the bike path. This was a good move by me with the rains and water on the roads. I got some clean air and avoided all the rooster tails flying off the bikes. I still was wet and the feet were soaked before we met up with Sheehan on Camino Del Sur. He looked too clean to have ridden over; Laurie dropped him off to join the ride. We also met up with Bob P near Santaluz. Bob was planning only to take a bit of rust off his legs as he had flown back from Europe late Friday evening and had the San Diego Half Marathon on Sunday. He rode with us to Lago Lindo before reversing course.

We decided to skip the climbs in Santaluz due to the rains and slick roads, descended cautiously down San Dieguito Road and also skipped Stud Loop, heading over on El Camino Del Norte toward Olivenhain. The group rode together to the climb up towards San Elijo Hills, split and then regrouped heading into town. The climb up to Double Peak split us apart again. Sheehan and I rode together to the top taking an easy pace and talking about how fortunate were are to be able to ride with the Descenders and enjoy a great life in San Diego. The rains had stopped and the sun tried to break through as we go to the parking lot of Double Peak.

The group descended back into the town center before heading to Elfin Forest. John M. Steve K, Tony and Rob got through a light that caught the rest of the group. John pushing the pace and then were were off ahead for the rest for the ride through Elfin Forest and Harmony Grove. Steve and Tony pushed the pace. Len and young Daniel, a very strong rider, caught up with us at the end of Harmony Grove. Everyone decided to slow and wait to regroup. Unfortunately, I was on a time schedule that required me to ride on alone. I had to get to Rancho Bernardo HS in time for the track meet events of my daughters. I cruised around Lake Hodges, down Pomerado and turned off toward the high school, making it with time to spare.

After watching the girls run and seeing Neil Rintoul, who was at the meet to see his son run, I rode home. The mileage was 54 with just over 4,000 feet of climbing. Fun group ride. Attached are a couple of photos. I will upload the rest to Shutterfly. If you are not on the shutterfly album, let me know and I can add you as a Descender member.