Hi Guys,

The Saturday planned group ride was a loop up the coast to Oceanside Harbor. We had a large group of riders meet at the 8 am start at the corner of Black Mountain and the 56 bike path. It was supposed to be a group ride but it quickly devolved into a ride with lots of surges, split riders and a hammerfest to Oceanside. I was a few minutes late trying to fix my rear tire, so I waited for the group on the Darkwood Trail bridge, just down the hill from the start. A large mass of riders came towards me. I did not do a headcount but captured the following riders at some point on the ride: Cresap, Sheehan, Larry, Hodges, Paul P, Bernie, Hermann and Jeremy, John M, Garet, Todd, Rick W, Guido, Steve K, Geoff, Ernst, Claus, Len (TE) and me–at least 19 riders.

The early split happened at the end of the bike path as we headed to the coast. We picked up Len at the corner of Del Mar Heights and PCH but lost more guys through Del Mar. The pace along PCH to Swami’s was fast and then Rick W, Guido and I hammered along Neptune but it seemed like most regrouped back onto PCH. A number of us had schedule conflicts so at La Costa Ave we turned back inland: Todd, Geoff, Steve K and myself. We hooked back up with Garet soon after.

The rest of the group, with some guys now clearly missing, continued north to Oceanside. I heard the pace and splits continued throughout the ride. A number of guys did the last of the BWR dirt training, while others just kept piling on century mileage. We did have one bad casualty from the extended ride. Sheehan was trying to head to Questhaven and more dirt/BWR training. He took the right hand turn from Rancho Sante Fe Road to San Elijo Road too hot, missed turning and hit the curb across the second lane. This stopped his bike real quick but his body kept flying over into the on-coming traffic side of San Elijo Road. He bounced well, rolled pretty well and then hit the front left side of a stationary car with a thud. This, unfortunately, produced some very negative repercussions to his rib cage. The good news is that he did not lacerate his liver, spleen or other vital internal organs. He did, however, break 6 ribs as determined by contrast media scans at the Emergency Room. Dave seems to be on the mend but he will miss the BWR ride on Sunday. Sheehan says he will be back for the Monster Climb trip. He, of course, went for a short ride yesterday to test his body; get some needed rest!

Our little group of 5 riders headed for RSF. We cruised up El Camino Del Norte and regrouped before heading into Stud Loop. We ditched down Zumaque and back up Artesian where we split again, with Todd and Garet heading north while Geoff and I cruised down Camino del Sur; Steve K stayed at the top of Artesian to make a phone call before pedaling back home. Our group rode between 45-50 miles but we all got home safely for our family and other commitments. Below is a link to the photo album.

https://plus.google.com/photos/117626389252909371681/albums/6139827838973931345

The BWR route has been posted. I have pasted it below. Looks like a great route–140+ miles and 10,000+ feet of climbing. Good luck to all those riding BWR on Sunday.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/671554178

The Alpine Challenge is Saturday morning. I will drive my van with a bike rack for 4 riders. We will meet at Casa Voris early on Spring Meadow. We can start the ride as early as 6 am but think a bit later time is more appropriate. I will have more details in a few days. If you are not doing BWR, come out for a great ride up Dehesa and maybe Laguna Mountain.

Rob