DeLuz Ride Report-2 June 2018

by Rob Verfurth

Riders: Bill, Peg, Hodges, Tony, Sheehan, Paul, Rob, Diane & Bob (friend of Tony)

The Descenders ride group met at Gopher Canyon on Saturday. Mike Hodges and I came decked out in our new Eliel kits. We had met with Jordan Baab the day before to go over the Eliel options for a potential new Descenders kit. Lots of work still to go, but we both liked the Eliel products we saw and so we even bought a kit of the same style that will be used for our team kits–Laguna Seca bib shorts and the Rincon jersey. Hodges squeezed into his large jersey and complained a bit about tightness. He might want to consider a larger size or push back from the table earlier. I think I looked resplendent in my XL bibs and jersey, you be the judge. We showed off the new kits to the Descenders on the ride. More info soon.

We climbed up Circle R and made our way over to Couser Canyon and then Rice Canyon. Bob turned off way back on West Lilac while Diane rode back along Old 395 after climbing Rice, while the rest of the group rode to Temecula. We stopped for a water break about mile 25, then headed for the Rancho California climb. Everyone regrouped at the start of DeLuz Road, then Bill and Paul did some nice long pulls in the tree covered roads. I tried to pull away from Tony & Peg to no avail as we all sped along before stopping at the DeLuz school house for another water break. Sheehan needed a quick nap on the picnic table, he pushed himself pretty hard all day. Between mile 40 and 50, the climbs back up to Fallbrook took lots out of our legs. It was a beautiful day, even with a bit of a headwind. The pace was club ride level all day, lots of good conversation and fun. At Mission Road, we headed down to Olive Hill Road. Hodges and I were on point and we spotted Simon Planken riding north on Olive Hill. We were not in team kits, so Simon did not know it was the Descenders group until well after we passed each other. Simon saw the team kits on the other riders, but we were long gone. Sorry to have missed riding with Simon. Bill then took point and pulled the group down to the last water stop near highway 76. Paul snacked on a cheeseburger and others followed.

Sheehan was cooked so he went straight on Camino Del Rey while the six remaining riders rode up West Lilac Road. Bill led us out with Hodges holding his wheel. I tried to stay up with them; Hodges purposefully accelerated when I faltered. He hid on Bill’s wheel and they spun off into the distance. I was able to keep them in sight and started to close the gap when Hodges fell away from Bill. The stop sign was up ahead and I pushed hard to catch Hodges but he rolled to the line just ahead of me. I was now very tired and pulled over along the bridge with Bill to wait for the others. Paul came up soon and he had to descend down Old 395 to get back home, great day out riding with Paul; he is very strong.

Peg and Tony swept up our now smaller group of riders. Bill again held point while Hodges and I followed. Tony left his legs at the last water stop so he and Peg were losing time to us, thanks to the efforts of Bill. We all regrouped before the turn back onto Circle R and the last descent back towards the start. We had covered 70 miles and 6,400 feet of climbing, super fun ride. The link below goes to the photos from the ride. The other attached photo was taken by Tony.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mWLCHdrKXEHpfHbU2