San Diego Descenders Cycling Club

We had a large group ride yesterday through Elfin Forest.  The group had our new international teammate, Jonatan, who hails from Denmark.  He is fresh out of high school and helped put a hurtin’ on many of us with his strong ride yesterday.  Jonatan is staying at Hodges house while Mike does his European travel/work thing, including another year at the L’Etape.  The large group included Guido, Oleg, Geoff, Rick, Len, John, Eric, Mike F, Bernie, Ernst, Jonatan and Rob.  We kept a nice pace around Lake Hodges and opened it up as we sped through Elfin Forest.  Eric led a monster pull until we got to the climb heading to San Elijo.  Fortunately for me, Len and a few others, Rick helped pull us to the much needed break at the coffee shop.  We sped along back towards Rancho Sante Fe but the group split near Lago Lindo.  We sent Rick out to search for Eric and Jonatan while the rest of the guys took another break.  After regrouping, the guys headed back towards Santaluz where we split into different routes for home.  It was about 53 miles and 3,500 feet of vertical with some very fast paced pulls along the way.  Good preparation for our group ride tomorrow.  

There was some discussion about avoiding the crowds of the Scripps Old Pro ride.  Cresap is riding and so is Bernie.  After consulting with the route chairman, we have decided to do the Scripps ride after all.  We will avoid the crowds down Calle Cristobal and Sorrento Valley Road but catch back up with the leaders as we head north towards Del Dois Highway.  The plan is to meet at Voris’ house and ride over to the start.  Dave says he is leaving his house at 6:30 am.  I will drive over to Cresap’s house and ride towards the start.  We will leave about 6:45 am.  See you in the morning for a safe 50 mile ride.

Here are a few pictures from the group ride yesterday.

Ride on-
Rob
 

Summer is here and the riding is great.  You have seen lots of great photos and video from our Monster Climb trip.  Oleg is doing a superb job documenting the fun.  I have many photos from each of the five MC trips.  I will send out a “best of photos” in a message later today.  The trip was epic and topped our expectations.  Voris continues to map out great climbs and the trip was organized very well by Guido.  The first day climb up Mt Baldy and descent of Glendora Mountain Road added to the difficulty of the weekend and was a great start to the adventure.  How can we top it next year?

Last weekend was Father’s Day.  We had a small group ride to the coast along the 56 bike path and returned back through Rancho Sante Fe.  It was a good 50 mile loop and we enjoyed seeing the large number of other riders and runners out on the roads.  The group stopped at the Nick Venuto memorial as this was the first Descender ride that travelled past the site of the accident.  We look forward to joining others for the 9 July memorial ride/walk.  Early Sunday, we had a small ride up to Mussey Grade.  Guido, Voris and I celebrated Father’s Day with a nice 40 mile loop.  We saw John out riding with another group of riders as we returned down SPP towards home–he is always out riding!

I tried to organize a Summer Solstice MTB ride in PQ Canyon and return to my place for nachos, beers and a dip in the pool.  It fell apart but Cresap and I still had a grand time exploring the tunnels and PQ Canyon.  We met up with Scott Dinslage who showed us the jumps in McGonigle Canyon.  Jeff had a bit of a nasty, slow motion fall going up T5 when his front fork leveraged the weight of the bike on his right shin.  Only a flesh wound and we all rode safely home.  Jeff and I had nachos and I had beers to enjoy the longest day of the year.  I am open to a post Sat ride pizza, beer and pool event in the near future–summer is here!

This weekend is the Palomar Challenge.  We need to ride Palomar and be on the road to cheer on Rick, Drew and others racing to the top.  Voris is mapping out route ideas and plans.  It will have to be an early ride so we are near the top before the true climbers come our way.  More details soon.

Here are a few photos from the rides last weekend.  Cresap will send out the MTB photo soon.  Look forward to seeing many riders on Sat am.

Ride on-

Rob

The journey of the Mt Baldy ride was totally epic.  Voris did a fantastic job of organizing and orchestrating the event.  We met early at the middle school near Guido’s house and car pooled up towards San Dimas.  There were two cars in our caravan with Hodges chasing us up I-15 as he had to go back home to pick up his knee warmers.  We passed Bernie and his group who drove up from RB.  Guido took us on a short cut adventure across the 91 freeway and almost back to the 405 before we all made it to the meeting spot.  A dozen riders got ready to start the climbing.  Voris mapped out some early flat mileage that we extended due to missing the correct turns.  Bernie got a flat and Guido fixed a side wall issue so John motored out well ahead of us.  Most of the group made it together to Glendora Mountain Road.  Guido was telling me he did not feel great and his legs felt heavy so he fell back a bit.  I did my few acceleration pulls to take some early photos on the climb and then fell behind.   The group got mostly back together 10 miles later at the KOM intersection.  Bob, Guido and I wisely decided to only descend halfway down the 5 miles that the rest of the group went in the canyon before turning back around to regroup once again at the KOM spot.  At the bottom of our partial descent Guido got off his bike and spun his rear wheel to learn that when he fixed his tire sidewall he had his brakes severely rubbing his wheel–this is why he felt sluggish on the early climb!

The cops started to close the roads so we had to hustle to get to the top of Glendora so we could see the ToC race go by on their way down the Glendora ridge.  This 10 mile trek was mostly up hill for us and took plenty out of our legs.  We found a great viewing location overlooking the Mt Baldy road.  We put our bikes along one side of the road and had our picnic lunch in the sun while waiting for the race to come by us.  The lead breakaway group had nine riders followed about two minutes later by a large group of riders.  The pro race started climbing from the start in Claremont so there were riders spread out along the course by mile 12 when they rode by our viewing spot.   The scene was busy, crowded and full of excitement.  There were hundreds of bike and riders strewn along the road watching the racers fly by, faces in pain as they climbed to the top.  There were the usual interesting characters who proceeded to run alongside the racers, including the Oregon jersey guy from Mt Palomar, fun stuff to watch.

After the racers and support cars went by, we headed down to Baldy Village for water and prepared to ride the 4 miles to the top of Mt Baldy.  The group quickly scattered and the pace was slow as we climbed the steep grades towards the top.  It was much warmer than planned.  Each curve rose up and showed another climb ahead.  It took me the better part of an hour to get to the top.  We mostly all regrouped at the top, found Bill Wood and John, who were ahead of us to the top.  After some indecision on where to park ourselves by descending 1 km to a retail area set up on the side of the road, we climbed back again to the top to watch the race on the large jumbo tron television.  We had lots of time to relax in the sun and watch the riders race over the same Glendora Mountain roads we climbed early in the morning.  The chase group was caught and Team Radioshack pulled hard to support and protect the yellow jersey of Chris Horner.  At less than 3 km from the top, only Leipheimer and Horner were left as they rode away from the rest of the chasers.  Great finish.

We watched many of the other racers finish at the top before we decided to try to descend back down the mountain.  It was more hectic than Palomar since most of the road at the top was blocked for the last of the racers to finish the stage.  The crowds of riders, walkers and even some of the racers going back down Mt Baldy all hit the road.  Bernie has two flats near the top so we left him in the able care of Ernst while Guido, Oleg and I tried to catch the rest of the group who were well ahead of us by that time.  Oleg and I were able to descend most of Baldy with a few pro riders, motorcycles and support vehicles.  After the village we continued down the mountain and regrouped near the bottom.  We were flying, hitting almost 50 mph down Baldy on the open roads.  The group rode back to our cars, having ridden more than 60 miles and over 7,600 feet of elevation.  Awesome day to be a Descender.

Here are a few photos.  Voris is writing up a trip report.   I will put all the photos on the shutterfly shared album.

Ride on-

Rob

The verdict is in–today was an outstanding ride and route.  It was long and hard.  Byran limped home at 89.7 miles and 6,100 feet of climbing; he was too pooped to pootle the extra .3 to top the 90 mile mark!  Most all of us did 85 miles or so–we have to do it again.  I was without my Garmin so I do not have any data on the ride.  The lower weight carry did not improve my performance either; I was at the back sweeping most of the way and exhausted by the time I crested highway 67 on the return leg.  I hid behind Bob P down Poway Rd and then grabbed a free ride back to my house.

For those that could not ride, Voris mapped out a new Descenders route through Lakeside and Alpine with a loop on El Monte to El Capitan Reservoir.  We did our usual start at Garden and Poway, then climbed SPP.  Cresap was out early and out ahead of us on SPP.  We caught Jeff and the group rode together at a very appreciated and relaxed pace to the top.  The descent down 67 was a screamer; loads of fun.  We headed southeast towards Lakeside and behind El Cap high school, continuing south and eventually going under I-8 to Old Highway 80.  We rode past the start of the Alpine Challenge this year and had another wicked descent down Harbison Canyon.  The Dehesa climb was difficult as always and the group spread out.  We regrouped and returned the same route back towards Lakeside, turning on El Monte towards the reservoir.  This was a fun road that led well into the park area by the reservoir.  After a few group photos and more stories/personal information provided by Mike Hodges to keep the levity up, we returned toward highway 67 again.  The climb back to SPP was brutal (see above comments).

It was definitely not a taper ride for the ToC next week but it was a great new Descenders route.

Here are a few photos from today.

See many of you Sat early for the drive up to Claremont for our ride up Mt Baldy.

Ride on-

Rob
  

Great ride today.  We had a dozen Descenders meet at the North County Mall  for the ride.  We were careful not to mix in with the Ranchos ride that rolled out just ahead of us.  The large group included:  Guido, Voris, Rick, Oleg, Hodges, Geoff, Bob P, Sheehan, Len (the elder), John, Ernst and me.  Voris mapped out a great ride plan that included the Lake Wohlford climb, over towards Valley Center and up Lilac to the bridge overpass of I-15.  We descended down Lilac to Camino Del Ray before heading back to Old 395 and up Champagne Road to Jesmond Dene.  We looped back via Citrus to the cars.  My Garmin showed 57 miles and 3,800+ feet of climbing at a fairly brisk 18 mph pace.

It was a cool and sunny day.  Sheehan was sportin’ the new Descenders Triathlon look, as you can see in the photos below.  Voris started us out with some early climbing, going up Summit Road for some gratuitous elevation gain.  The ride over to the Wohlford climb was pedestrian compared to what lied ahead.   We had a number of flats today but two were from operator errors–I did not put my new tire on properly and Guido basically blew-up his tube after flatting on the Wohlford climb.  Voris and Bob P both hit rocks going up the Lake Wohlford climb.  We got to be pretty quick tube changers.

There were some wickedly fast paced sections of the ride today.  The group screamed along Woods Valley Road on the way towards Valley Center.  There was also some fast sections along the Lilac climb and then  the descent after crossing the bridge.  We regrouped enough to allow us to stay together.  I used my normal “strategy” and stayed at or near the back of the group for most of the ride.  It is a beautiful sight to see the large group of Descender riders snake around the tight curves of Lilac Road.

We took a short water break once getting back to Old 395 before climbing Champagne.  The group separated a bit but we all made it safely back to the mall.  A very enjoyable ride.  My offer for the pool and beers was a bit difficult for most as it is Mother’s Day weekend.  Len and John did come over and we soaked in the spa, drank a few cold ones and had some pasta; great post-ride replenishment.  I will plan a pool party with more advance notice sometime soon so we all can have some fun off the bike.

I could ask to see if anyone wants to ride tomorrow, but I won’t.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of yours.

Ride on-

Rob

A small group of exploring Descenders set out to conquer the newly discovered route that Jeff Cresap recommended.  Sheehan, Ernst, Guido and I met at 9 am and pedaled over to HVR.  We climbed to just past Bandy to find Camino del Aguila.  I headed up first to capture some photos of the guys climbing.  The road went up, down, over some speed bumps, by a pond and then shot up toward the top in a series of steep switchbacks.  We enjoyed the view and continued on looking for an exit strategy, climbing farther and up one significant but short pitch to the very top and end of the road.  There was 50 yards of a dirt road and then we were onto Eagles Crest Road.  There was some debate on which road would get us where but we made it back to HVR, just below the very top.  After a quick walk around a gate, we climbed to the top and then made a u-turn for the fast descent back down HVR.  A quick route down and back to Sheehan’s house–24 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing.  The loop from Camino del Aguila back around was only 6.5 miles.  It is a great alternative to a regular HVR climb in the near future.  Thanks to Cresap for finding another gem of a route.

Here are a few photos.  I will post more from the weekend in Shutterfly this week.

Next weekend we are starting from the North County mall parking lot and climbing the newly reopened Lake Wohlford road.

Ride on-

Rob 

Oleg hit the high notes–it was a great ride.  The start area was not as good as prior years, but we made the most of it.  Jim Knight put a small wrench in our plans and rode off with us a few minutes after 7 am instead of his 7:30 start with Drew and Rick.  We pushed hard from the start and stayed with Jim through the descent to Dehesa Road.  This caused John to fall off the back and he rode the race solo–he deserves the tough man award for the day; long time to be out there trying to catch folks.  

The rest of the group started the climb and I quickly fell off.  Cresap joined me while Oleg, Voris, Guido and Geoff rode away from us.  I rode plenty on the wheel of Cresap–this really helped me.  Rick and Drew blew by me at about 22 miles as they sped to catch the leaders.  At the second stop I spotted Geoff getting water so we rode together towards the I-8 overpass.  Geoff also let me hang onto his wheel.  We saw Denise riding strong right when we got to the highway.  Cresap was at the stop right before the descent to Pine Valley so now we had 3 guys heading there together.  Right at the bottom of the hill we saw all the leaders coming back from the loop; all except Jim Knight who was now well up the hill on the return leg.

After cruising through Pine Valley, I took the point and rode hard to catch a few guys on the Descando loop.  I did not notice that Geoff and Cresap went straight by the turn and continued on towards the highway.  My efforts paid off as I was able to ride the wheel of some fast guys and descend quickly back down Dehesa.  I saw Mike Hodges coming back up and he pulled a u-turn to join me.  I was quite startled to learn that Geoff and Jeff were in front of me by quite a distance.  Hodges did many monster pulls as a small group of four of us rode for miles back towards Alpine.  We finally were able to close the gap and catch the two wayward Descenders.  All four of us finished about the same time; and for the record, well behind Guido.

Here are a few photos.  If you haven’t had enough a_ _ woopin’ yet today, join Sheehan and me tomorrow at 9 am–Pomerado and RB roads.  We are going to explore some new roads up HVR.

Ride on-

Rob

From Oleg:
Perfect day today – not too hot, not too cold, reasonable winds, great turn-out by Descenders: Rick (and Denise), Voris, Guido, Geoff, Rob, Hodges and Jeff Cresap, John and I. Plus Drew and Jim Knight. Hope I am not forgetting anyone. Shorter route, 62 mile this year, but very hard nonetheless. It is hard to figure out the placing due to rolling start instituted this year, but Rick was the winner (along with Drew), followed by Jim Knight, and Alex and Deya on a tandem, then Voris and I, then Guido, and then (with perhaps a few riders who snuck in between) the group of Geoff, Rob, Jeff and Hodges.
I was testing a new GoPro camera, courtesy of Gary, friend of the club, and shot 2 hours of video footage, hopefully to be processed into a much shorter highlight video that we can put on our website.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oleg.shpyrko/20110430AlpineChallenge
Oleg.

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 07:56, David Voris <DVoris@cyntellect.com> wrote:
All,

Here is the latest on the Alpine Challenge this Saturday:

1.        Some local clubs have organized themselves so there will be two primary group starts:

a.       An elite group will start at 7:30am, which will include Drew, Jim Knight, our Rick B., and some others in that caliber

b.      Another group will start at 7:00am (we will call them the “breakaway group”)

2.       We have scrapped the extended mile route

Many of the Descenders are leaning towards starting at 7:00am (including Rob, Oleg, me and some others Rob spoke to) .  It will be cooler then, and probably a more civilized pace. 

The 7:00am group will meet at Spring Meadow at 5:45am.

If you are still prefer the 7:30 start, please reply direct to me and I will see if we can arrange a car pool for a later group as well.

If you are in the 7:00 Break Away group, please let me know if you can drive, and how many.

http://www.alpinechallenge.com/ 

Best,

Dave Voris

Happy Easter!  I am still recovering from the awesome ride of yesterday.  I got home with 80 miles, 5,600 feet of climbing and right at 5 hours of riding; worth the pain.  The ride group was large with more than a dozen hard charging Descenders riding most of the ride.  We lost a few (Bob P and Jeff C) and picked up a few (Jeff C and Matt) along the way.  We even had Dave Boyle make a strong showing with only 45 minutes warning that he had an open window to ride.

We started up SPP after the group came together.  Bernie joined us on his beautiful new Cervelo.  Geoff charged up SPP ahead of everyone, he kept on point many times through the ride showing us he was ready for Alpine.  As we neared the top, we had another Cresap sighting as he was descending on the other side of the road.  Bob P had to return home so he headed back down.  Cresap pulled a u-turn and joined the peloton.  We rode quickly to Mussey and flew down to the great views overlooking San Vicente Reservoir.  Mahogany Ranch Road was included in the ascent of Mussey.  This was my first opportunity to climb this scenic road that heads east into the hills, a nice climb into the backcountry.

After Mussey we headed to Dye Road, through downtown Ramona and onto Pamo Road.  Cresap left us to head down Bandy Canyon as he had family duties to complete.  Rick got a flat at the top so we did a quick tire change.  The valley is bright green still from all the rains.  We picked up Matt near the top of Pamo; good to have a fresh rider to help push the pace.  The legs were starting to feel all the climbing as we regrouped at the top and then went to the gas station for some needed water.  John, Len and I went out early while the rest of the guys refueled.  John stayed on point as the breezes blew seemingly from every direction as we made the turns along Dye Road and back down 67.  We met up with a Ranchos kit rider who was finishing up his solo 90 mile ride.  Len and the faster Ranchos rider went ahead while John and I pootled back to the Poway Grade.  The rest of the guys closed the gap on us and everyone split to head home from the top of the Poway Grade with some descending there and others returning to SPP.

Geoff and I trailed everyone as we turned tired legs for home.  We saw Rick heading back up 67, probably to catch Denise or get in more hill training.  We saw Voris and Oleg well ahead but could not close the gap.  Geoff and I rode back to Black Mountain via Mercy Road and struggled up one more hill.  It was a great ride.

Cresap has identified many great roads we have incorporated into our rides.  I found a few more roads off HVR to explore.  I also notice that while no one wants to ride Wildcat Canyon with me due to the Barona Casino, there are some interesting roads starting from the intersection of Dye and San Vicente heading east I will also try to explore soon.  They head towards the top portion of Wildcat Canyon, missing the dangerous curve south of the casino.  Some even connect back up towards the top of Old Julian Road.  We will have some new riding routes in the near future.  After Alpine, we will do a Lake Wohlford ride and do a Double Peak repeat to prepare us for the ToC ride.

Here are a few photos from yesterday’s ride.  I have put plenty of ride photos on the Shutterfly shared album.  Ride details for AQC will come soon.

Ride on-

Rob

The weather the last few days is in stark contrast to the nice warm day we had last Sat riding up Old Julian Road.  We have another east county ride planning for this Sat too, our last team ride before the Alpine Challenge.  We can discuss the logistics of the AC or AQC on our ride this weekend.  The route is posted on the web site as well.  I might be able to convince the guys to ride up the Mahogany Ranch road to really give the legs a test on our way back up Mussey.  Hope to see a good group out this weekend.

The Old Julian ride was challenging, especially with the climb up Highland Valley Road to get to Ramona.  We started with a large group meeting at Spring Meadow and then we picked up Len (the elder) and John as we pedaled over to Pomerado and RB Roads for the start.  The HVR climb took a bit of the spring out of the legs as the group split apart but regrouped at the top.  We caught sight of Jeff Cresap before getting to Ramona.  Jeff was out doing his rehab training.  He joined us most of the way up Old Julian before turning back for home.  Rick had to bail early but the rest of the guys climbed Old Julian.  I kept Ernst in my visual but could not close the gap; we were the last two to the top.  The descent was fast as usual and we were all out of water so we headed towards the fire station in Ramona.  I wish I had my camera out to capture all the water bottles trying to get filled from the water of the station hose–a needed respite from the hot ride.  We returned along Dye and then most of the guys went back down HVR.  Ernst, Bryan and I pootled south along 67 to Poway Road and home.  We are all exhausted.  I finished with 71 miles and 4,800 feet of climbing; great day.

See you Sat-

Rob