Oceanside & Sleeping Indian Ride Report-20 May 2017

by Rob Verfurth

Riders: Hodges, Guido, Tony, Andrew, Rick W, Andrey, Marisa, Larry, Bernie and Rob

As I made my way up the bike path to meet the group, I had my first John M sighting of the day; he was heading westbound on the path. As we passed, he said he was getting a head start; at least a 10 minute head start based on when we usually roll. The group met at the corner and headed for the coast. The pace was under control until we hit PCH, then the accelerations began. The group was split at various times but mostly regrouped at the lights. Guido was saving his knee and turned at La Costa. Andrew looked strong during some of the accelerations but he was building up his base mileage gradually; he turned at La Costa too.

Andrey pushed to catch the wheel on a number of occasions of the fast flying lead group; many were spit out the back and fell a bit behind as we made our way towards Carlsbad. Rick W, Larry and Bernie pushed hard after the light by the water treatment plant; I managed to hide in the back. They pulled me into the crowded roads of downtown Carlsbad; lots of cars and walkers. The four of us made a light before the Army-Navy School and cruised into Oceanside. Rick pulled away at the beach and I was left to get him. He pulled me past the pier before I lost his wheel. I managed to get back to him near the bike path as there was a beach soccer tournament so car traffic was heavy; it was just the two of us on our way to the harbor finish. Rick led out, we dodged a few cars. One almost turned to street park right into Rick. I made my move to the left and went around the car while Rick had to stop. I pushed hard on the last two turns, I was going to make it to the turnaround first! I quickly tired and then felt a presence from behind, Rick must be catching me….that was when Larry blew my me. He had to close a huge gap to catch us, impressive. I slowed so much that Rick W finally did pass me just before the end of the harbor road.

We all regrouped at the bathroom to decide who was riding back down the coast and who was heading inland. Hodges had to go get his packet for BWR, he convinced Andrey and Marisa to join him. Rick and Larry headed back down the coast while Tony, Bernie and I headed for Sleeping Indian. Bernie pulled us on the San Luis Rey Trail and River Road to start the climb. As we started up Sleeping Indian, I had my second John M sighting. He was coming down, waved, blew by us and kept going. Bernie climbed strong while Tony and I swept. It was quite a bit warmer inland and we stopped for water after the Morro Hill descent. We cruised along Little Gopher Canyon to make our way up Twin Oaks Valley; that was a tough biting riser. We regrouped multiple times with Bernie patiently waiting for us. He pulled us south toward Cal State San Marcos and along Barnum Road to Escondido.

Tony split for home while Bernie and I headed down Centre city Parkway to the mall, then over the Lake Hodges freeway bridge. Bernie headed to Pomerado while I pootled along Bernardo Center and then behind Black Mountain to home. I finally got there with 86 miles of riding and about 3,700 feet of climbing; pales in comparison to the 100 mile ride Bernie completed or the 130+ mile rides the BWR guys did the next day–way to go Hodges and Claus. I know Quoc did part of the ride while Ernest did the Wafer ride; all great efforts.

The link below is to photos of the ride.

https://goo.gl/photos/csG6P3f9upshphtq8