DeLuz Loop Ride Report-27 May 2017
by Rob Verfurth
Riders: Marisa & Andrey, Rick & Denise, Jason, John M, Hodges, Tony, Bill Wood and Rob
I drove over to Spring Meadow to pick up Mike Hodges before heading north on I-15. We spotted a Descenders kit near the driving range by Jesmond Dene Road on our way to Gopher Canyon; it was Bill Wood. He had landed from Australia the day before and was riding to meet us. All the riders met at the small parking area off the freeway; Bill soon rolled up to join us. We had one new guest riding with us, Jason. He is cut from a similar cloth as Garet, Jim W, Todd, Oleg and Andrew–our 40ish year-old strong rider contingent with a young family. Jason is a local boy, a graduate of RB high school and also lives in RB. He is a strong rider and will soon join the club, coming to as many rides as his family responsibilities allow. Some of you other young bucks need to come out and push the pace with him. He was out front or near the front all day.
We rode north and started the Circle R climb. This DeLuz route is another of the brainchild’s created by Tony. He, Guido and I first scouted out this loop last fall, we have ridden it once on a group ride and most recently on a Skive Ride. It was still new terrain to some of the riders on Saturday. We regrouped at the turn to West Lilac and spun along, past the Daisy Deli and started up Couser Canyon. Denise, who has been riding very well, led us up the climb. We sped down the fun descent and regrouped at highway 76. After a quick turn we hit Rice Canyon. Hodges had pootled up Couser so he could now pace me and Jason up Rice. We kept up a brisk pace and regrouped just past the top. Quickly behind us were Rick and Denise, the rest soon followed.
Lots of new roads ahead for some. We rode north and dropped into Temecula where we got our first water stop at the gas station. Tony led us on some side roads to get to the west side of I-15 via the Santiago Road bridge. This is where Bill Wood turned off as he was heading to meet his wife for brunch, nice call. The rest of us rode to Rancho California Road. Denise pulled me and the group for the first mile. I went finally around and climbed, with Jason just behind me, up the final switchbacks and over across the top. We descended down to DeLuz Road to regroup. The next 10+miles were the quiet roads of DeLuz, through the vineyard areas and orchards. Lots of descending and a few biting ascents. The roads were covered with wide oaks, sometimes creating a nice tunnel of road, some beautiful scenery. The views were spectacular and everyone raved about the cool route. After a sharp descent we did the final 1.5 mile climb up into Bonsall. Hodges went to the liquor store and bought a huge 2-liter bottle of coke, we all shared it and regrouped before heading down Mission Road.
Tony led us onto Olive Hill Road, which looped around and then descended down toward highway 76, more fun roads to ride. We needed another water break at the gas station on the corner. The group split from here, with Tony, Hodges, Jason and Rob heading to the West Lilac Road climb and the rest of the group going straight to Camino Del Rey and back to the start. We climbed up to the bridge and sped along back to retracing our ride down Circle R. Tony and Hodges split, staying on Lilac towards Valley Center while Jason and I rode back to the cars. The early group was gone, they had ridden about 65 miles. We got in 70 miles and 6,400 feet of climbing. Tony got home with about 85 miles and Hodges pulled a Century, nice riding boys. Below is a link to some photos from the ride.
San Diego Descenders Cycling Club 