Hi All,

I missed the big Saturday ride of Mussey & Pamo but did manage to join in for the Sunday recovery ride and our Skive ride this week. Below are brief summary ride reports for both rides.

Recovery Ride–Sunday, 7 December–Coastal Explore

We all met on the bike path at the corner of Black Mountain. Riders included Mike H, Bryan J, Peter, Steve, Eric G and Rob. Hodges graciously volunteered to host and lead the ride. We rolled down the bike path toward PCH. After a little side route we crossed under I-5 but turned north on Portofino Drive instead of continuing to PCH. This was the start of our Del Mar and Solana Beach explore. Mike took us along nice neighborhood side roads like Mango Drive and Crest Way to get lots of great views. We eventually made our way north past the race track and into more neighborhoods, climbing up Nardo Ave toward Solana Beach. We did a few dead-end loops of gratuitous climbing that added to the fun.

There was talk of going to get coffee at Java Depot or Zumbar but we never made it there. We rode north along PCH to the Kooky Surfer intersection where Bryan had to return back towards home. Mike kept us going north past Swami’s and back to La Costa Ave. We headed inland but took a right turn onto Piraeus Street, which headed back south on the east side of I-5. We climbed up Sky Loft Road into more neighborhoods, eventually making our way towards Leucadia.

There was now talk of getting coffee in RSF so we headed inland to Olivenhain and up Camino Del Norte to Lago Lido. Eric G decided to head towards Del Dios and loop back to Poway when we regrouped at Lago Lindo. We were down to four riders. As we rolled toward the center of RSF, we all decided to skip coffee and ride up Three Witches and back to the bike path. I got home with a fun 50 mile recovery ride loop and lots of new roads.

Skive Ride–Tuesday, 9 December–Mary Lane, Summit, Bandy, HVR, Maderas Water Tower and Stagecoach Road

The Skive Ride this week was only Sheehan and me. All the other riders were contributing to the growth of our GDP. I drove to Dave’s house and we rode to the start–the bottom of HVR. Since it was only the two of us, it was easy to decide a route. Sheehan proposed a route that would get us back towards his new favorite climb–the Maderas Water Tower in The Heritage.

We rode towards the Lake Hodges pedestrian bridge before getting a flat–found a very small sliver of steel in the tire. We managed to blow up one spare tube before fixing Dave’s rear tire. We were now out of spare tubes and CO2 canisters and the ride just started. It was a beauty am so we rode off towards Mary Lane. We climbed toward Summit and descended down to the road that parallels 78 by the Wild Animal Park. We took turns at the front, keeping a good pace for a hooky ride.

We turned onto Bandy Canyon, climbed to HVR and descended down toward the Mule Hill Trail. Sheehan took us left, instead of right toward Mule Hill. This trail cuts through a nursery and up a steep road to the back entrance of The Heritage. The climb up to the water tower is fairly short, but steep and painful. We rested at the top for a few minutes before heading to the road I wanted to explore.

The way to leave The Heritage has us head towards Espola. We turned early and climbed up Stagecoach Road that end at a gate. We easily went around the gate to climb a great road that heads all the way up to the Eagle Crest neighborhood off of HVR. It is about a 2 mile climb and then the road becomes a dirt segment to get to another gate. I climbed up towards the gate but did not actually make it back onto pavement. At the top where we hit dirt, Dave stayed while I did the final exploration. Dave and I could tell where we were in relation to the climb up Camino Del Aquilo so our plan to go all the way to HVR soon. We had enough climbing for the ride. The descent is wicked fast and there are no cars–great fun.

We finally exited back out onto Espola and looped around to his house, only 30 miles but more than 3,000 feet of climbing. Good ratio and a fun skive ride. I have attached some photos from both rides.

See you out on the roads again soon-
Rob