Descenders,
we had 18 riders out for our classic Pamo and Mussey Ride.
Larry and I rode from the coast, and as we approached Poway all of a sudden we were surrounded by thick fog. We met with another 6 or so riders (Voris, Hodges, Paul P., Bob Proulx, Geoff and Guido) at Springmeadow, and we pedaled off to 7-11. The fog was quickly burning off. At 7-11 we had a bunch of riders waiting – Eric (Lisa rode off as we pulled up to give herself headstart), Rick W., Bernie, Yi-Shiou, Claus, as well as Cresap. Eric brought along a friend, Chris, who was super-strong on the flats AND climbs. Also, Matt Davis caught up with us on Mussey.
Rick got a flat at the top of SPP, Voris and I stopped to help change the flat, and then gave chase. We caught Mike pacing Lisa up at the final climb and we all regroupped as we got to Mussey. The pace down Mussey grade didn’t seem to be very high but apparently we were going at record pace (31+ mph) – Voris scored a KOM on the Mussey segment, with most of us just a second or two back.
As we had a snack at the bottom and started climbing back, Larry and I had to give a chase as we were chatting and missed the split. The front group was hammering, and we were sitting about 30 seconds back. We picked up Paul who also missed the “train” and soon we had Matt Davis join us too, as he was turning around after spotting the front group. After some heroic pulls, we got most of the group as it was falling apart on the climb. Eric broke away but dropped his pump and had to circle back. That left Chris and Rick at the front. We caught Bernie and Voris near the top, Voris and I charged to chase down the duo ahead, we caught them just before 67.
A lot of us placed in top 10 in various uphill Mussey segments as well (Voris, Larry, Bernie and I – Chris and Rick are not on strava).

That climb burned a few matches. It was getting hot. Proulx, Cresap and Yi-Shiou turned back, the rest of us continued on Dye Rd. I think Eric took the Dye Sprint. Most of us did not contest it.

We stopped at Ramona’s Chevron to get water and ice and headed off to Pamo. This was first time on Pamo for Paul and Chris, hope they enjoyed it. We turned around at the end of the road without waiting and headed back up. Larry and I wanted to give it a hard effort, despite the heat and a bit of a head/crosswind. Larry’s previous best time was 10:00 set 3 weeks ago, and my best time was 11:00. We wanted to get under 10:00. All of the other guys already started climbing. Eric paced us through flat section, then Larry hit the gas, perhaps a bit too aggressive, 410 Watts when we aimed for 330-350. The heat was getting to us. I held it strong for 7-8 minutes but faded a bit in the end. My time was 9:14 with Larry not far behind, also under 10 minutes – we both made it top 10 list. I think Chris and Eric were the next up. We went back to Chevron (again), the girls there missed us in one hour we were gone, then pacelined along Dye Rd. The group split up at 67, some riders going back through HVR, others through 67. Voris had an unfortunate flat next to light on 67 and Dye, but nobody noticed he was gone until it was too late.
We had a group of Guido, Rick, Larry, Bernie and I – Rick and Guido went down Poway while Larry, Bernie and I descended SPP. We talked Bernie into heading up Pomerado with us, at easy conversational pace. Larry and I had another hour or so of riding to the coast, where the temperatures were much cooler and pleasant. 94 or so miles for Larry and me, another great day to ride in Ramona area.

Photos: http://goo.gl/Jp7qWs

You should have come!
Oleg.