Lake Wohlford Ride Report-28 October 2017
by Rob Verfurth
Riders: Rick W, Tony, Len, Bob P, Q, Bill B, Bill Wood and Rob
The riders from PQ planned to meet at the top of Black Mountain Road to ride over to the mall start. It turned out to be only me and Bob P. It was cool and sunny at my house when I pedaled off about 7 am. The fog hit as I rode to meet Bob P. I did not bring my arm warmers, a mistake on my part. It was a bit cold and the fog mist formed a nice wet sheen on my hirsute arms, looked neat but did not make me any warmer. I hid behind Proulx as much as possible as the fog finally cleared as we rode across the Lake Hodges pedestrian bridge. We rolled into the mall parking lot to only see Len (TE) waiting for us; thought it might be a better turn-out.
Even the Ranchos group looked slim–only 2 riders. Apparently the Ranchos were starting up by the Lawrence Welk resort, with a number of Descenders on hand for their ride. One guy called to find out and we got a visitor, Quentin, who was in town from Santa Maria, CA. Q, as he requested to be called, was a strong rider with a nice tricked out Trek Emonda. We invited him to tag along with us. Fortunately Rick W, Bill B and Tony all showed up just after 8 am, in time to roll out to Lake Wohlford.
The group stayed mostly together up Mary Lane and over to the construction areas near the start of the climb. I got away through some of the lights and decided to hammer up Wohlford until I got caught by others. I passed a few riders not in our group early in the climb and kept up a steady pace to the top; I think the rest of the guys were just taking it easy. Rick W arrived soon after and then I saw Q roll by. Rick said Q was on a tight time constraint and he had to keep riding. Q is welcome to join us on any other visit he makes to San Diego. We all regrouped at the bathroom and convinced Bob P to keep riding over to Woods Valley instead of heading back down Wohlford.
After leaving the lake, we came up on Bill Wood, back in town from Australia. Our group of 7 riders plowed along to Woods Valley and we did a short regroup before heading to Valley Center. Rick W went out fast and no one responded. We let Bob P pull the rest of us along for the first mile. Finally Bill B went to the front and I grabbed his wheel, before sticking my nose out into the wind. Bill and I separated a bit from the other guys. I tired quickly so Bill took back over lead pull duties. We all finally got back into our paceline near the golf course, with Rick W just a bit ahead; the gap closing fast. Bill B made a final push for the light. We all dug deep to close the Rick W gap, he actually just let off the gas.
At the Valley Center Road light, Bob P, Bill B and I turned left, while Rick W, Bill W, Tony & Len headed towards Couser Canyon. Those studs did Couser and Rice Canyon before looping back towards the start. We planned a shorter ride, spinning back down into Escondido and retracing our steps back by the mall. We rode back over the pedestrian bridge and headed along West Bernardo Drive. Todd Calloway had recently nabbed my KOM on a segment called Aguamiel to Alorada. It goes right by Bill’s house so he usually stops mid-segment. Bill hit the turn hard and sped off fast, Bob and I watched him hammer up the pot hole marked road and turn onto Alorada. Bill just missed Todd’s time by a few seconds but he took over my 2nd place position, good finish to the ride for Bill. He promised to get the KOM sometime soon.
Bob and I kept spinning along through the neighborhoods, back by 4S and around on Camino del Sur until we got to his north gate light for Santaluz. Bob turned towards home while I made by way back to the bike path and home-55 miles and 4K of climbing, and that was the short route of the day. Another fun Descenders ride, a few photos are in the link below.
San Diego Descenders Cycling Club 