We had 14 riders yesterday on our coastal ride, 16 if you count Rick and Denise on Elliptigo.Larry and I were scheduled to meet ay 7AM, somewhere, but we didn’t end up meeting until 7:40 or so, after riding around in circles. I will spare you ALL details, it’s a long story, but it involves many embarrassing mistakes on my part – starting with wrong email regarding intended rendezvous, a broken spoke just a few blocks after leaving my house, rushing to my garage to find another wheel, grabbing the first set of tubes and tires I could get my hands on (which proved disastrous later as I picked the tire that needed to be trashed years ago), calls, texts and more miscommunications with Larry – at some point Larry was at my house while I was basically outside of his house and we were calling each other to figure out where the other one is!

We had better chance of meeting if we just rode around UTC/Clairemont area randomly, instead of trying to coordinate it. We finally rode together to the 56 bike, meeting the group of then about 11, and also picking up Len on the coast.

The pace was surprisingly civil – Rick W. split the group a bit hammering downhill from Solana along Cardiff and I got on his wheel, that was fun. We had a few new riders (Scott and Todd and maybe a few more I am forgetting?). I had a slow leaking flat in Encinitas and changed the tube.
In Carlsbad we tried a new way to bypass some of the coastal traffic, courtesy of John M.

When we got to Oceanside Rick W. was pulling at the front and split off the group again, I found myself chasing and was able to rejoin a small group of 3 just before the "sprint" – Rick pulled for at least 5 min all-out, Sheehan attacked with a mean sprint just before the turn, Todd who had no trouble staying with the group of 4 had no idea what we are doing, I tried to chase Sheehan, and eventually got on his wheel but only because he was slowed down by an SUV that pulled right in front of him.
We stopped in Oceanside for coffee which was longer and more relaxing than we planned – but we decided it’s a "Holiday" Ride.We also ran into Denise and Rick and a large group of Elliptigo riders.
I had to fix another slow leak, flat #2. I decided to ride with Len who had a pump and keep re-pumping the tire.
We had a few animated sprints along the coast, notably involving never-tiring Sheehan, Larry and Ernst. On LaCosta Len and I continued along the coast, while everyone else turned left towards RSF. I got home and my tire was completely flat, again, but I made it – with some help from Len. This is my final descenders ride in 2014, see you in 2015!
Photos: http://goo.gl/gaCcfr
You should have come! (and I probably should have stayed home)