San Diego Descenders Cycling Club

We had another great team ride on Saturday out in the Cuyamaca Mountains.  Dave Voris planned and mapped out a great ride.  Most of us met at Spring Meadow early for the drive to Old Hwy 80.  The group started a bit after 8 am with ten Descenders:  Voris, Rick, Hodges, Oleg, Guido, Sheehan, Boyle, Bernie, Ernst and me.  Below is the ride profile Voris sent in preparation for the ride.  We head downhill at a spirited pace towards Boulevard and Campo until we hit La Posta Road.  We climbed back towards I-8 and over to the bottom of Kitchen Creek.  The group split up as we climbed Kitchen Creek but mostly regrouped at the top and then descended the Sunrise Highway back to the cars.   A number of guys had to cut the ride short at that point and head home.

After a short break, Rick, Voris, Bernie, Oleg, Mike and I headed down into Pine Valley and started the climb up Pine Creek.  The road was narrow and not as smooth as Kitchen Creek, it was also brutally steep in sections.  Oleg had to head home so he returned to his car.  Rick, Bernie and Voris were well ahead of Mike and I as we struggled up the steep pitches.  I saw them up above on one of the switchbacks and decided to call it a day.  Mike and I returned back to the cars having ridden 60 miles with about 5,700 feet of elevation.  We were spent.

While we waited for the last three riders to return down Sunrise Hwy, Mike had a Drew sighting as he screamed down Sunrise and took the turn to Pine Valley, obviously on his way to climb Pine Creek.  Voris, Bernie and Rick did the full ride of just over 70 miles.  We headed home, pleased with the ride, happy to spend the hours on a bike and looking forward to next week’s ride.  Ernst is hosting the new Elfin Forest route; more details soon.

Attached are a few photos.  I will put the rest on the Shutterfly shared album.  A few of the guys are at RAC this week, riding across California with their families.  Have fun boys.

See you Sat,

Rob  

Sounds like you guys had a great time.  Glad to have Alec as a Descender!

The ride to Oceanside was excellent.  We had a large group meet at the 56 bike path corner and head to the coast.  About half the riders were training for the RAC event that starts next week.  A small but hardy contingent went up PCH towards Oceanside:  Guido, Bob, Geoff, Sheehan and me.  Guido and Geoff did most of the point work as we rode quickly  to the harbor.  Sheehan found time to chat with the CA state road racing champ, a strong female rider we met near Oceanside.  We rode even faster back to Via De Valle and up to Santaluz.  Maybe the break at the bike shop in Carlsbad Village helped us rest a bit.  Sheehan had to get a tire replaced and Guido negotiated a new set of wheels; a productive stop.  The total ride to me was 65 miles, more for some others.  The weather was good and the sun came out plenty; great day to be on a bike.

See you next weekend for a new route off our Elfin Forest Loop.

Ride on-

We had a good ride today up the Ramona Grade.  A large group of ten riders met up at Pomerado and RB Roads and headed up HVR, down Bandy and up the Ramona Grade.  Bob R invited a new friend, Enrique, to join us for the ride.  He road strong as the main pack headed towards Old Julian Road.  A smaller group, me, Bryan, Bob P and Geoff, headed back from Ramona via Dye Road and down HVR, then over through 4S Ranch.  I rode to Torrey Pines HS to see Dyess run in her track meet.  62 good miles and bonus daddy points to boot.  Attached are a few photos.

See you all next week; I am leaving tomorrow for work in Austin and Phoenix.

Ride on-

Rob 

We had another good turnout on Saturday for the ride.  The group expanded and contracted as guys joined or fell out.  We had about a dozen riders for most of the ride.  The route was up SPP to Mussey, then back up, along Dye to Pamo and then back up and reverse to head home.  I had to bail before the decent on Pamo and rode down 78 to Bandy and HVR to Pomerado.

This week the web site says meet at the corner of Pomerado and RB Roads at 8 am.  The route was going to be Elfin Forest but has changed to the Ramona Grade and Old Julian since Ernst will be travelling.  He will host the Elfin ride in the coming weeks.  The web site will be updated today or tomorrow for the next month of rides.  The weather Sat is iffy but the rains are expected to hold off until later in the day.

Attached are a few photos from the ride last Sat.  I will load all of them onto the Shutterfly album soon.

I will be at Blk Mtn and the 56 bike path about 7:15 am Sat to roll towards Spring Meadow.

See you Sat-

Rob

SUNDAY RIDE:  Voris could not make it today so he wants to do an easy ride tomorrow.  Cresap and Broder–you guys up for an easy pootle?  The group will meet at the corner of Garden Road and Poway Road at 9 am.  I may have to drive there due to family commitments.  See you in the am.  Here are a few photos from today’s ride.

Rob

P.S. Sheehan is proudly wearing his Descenders jersey for his 135 km race in Japan right now (Sunday).

Here’s the picasa album for today’s ride:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oleg.shpyrko/20110305#
Oleg 

We are going to meet at the corner of 56 bike path and Blk Mtn at 8 am and head towards the coast.  We will meet Oleg at PCH about 8:45 am.  The plan is to go up Torrey Pines and down to La Jolla Shores.  We will then climb back towards UCSD on Calle Del Oro and skip Mt Soledad/Fiesta Island.  We will return down Torrey Pines Road and go north on PCH to Lomas Sante Fe and then return towards RFS back towards the start.  It will still be 50+ miles but we will not have to replace our chains and thighs post Soledad.

The ride on Sunday as noted by Dave Voris and Ernst was cold and beautiful.  It felt like a Colorado day of riding without the extra mile of altitude.  We rode up HVR and captured some of the beautiful snow views.  Attached are a few photos.

I will be temporary ride guide for a bit so if you have rides you want to do, please send me an e-mail and the route.  I will post a number of rides through Mike Farkas on the web site soon.  The weather should be good for a ride out towards Pine Valley or Kitchen Creek soon as well.  

See you all tomorrow am.

Rob 

The Mount Soledad Challenge was a fun event.  Oleg can plan our rides any day, especially if we are rested.  He beat us all up by the time we got back home.  I had only 60 miles, 3,500 feet of climbing and very tired legs.  I will up load the photos from today and a number of other rides into the Shutterfly shared site soon.

Rob 

Thanks for another great ride with the Descenders.  The ride started a bit cool as Guido, Bob P and I headed over to Spring Meadow Lane to meet up with the guys.  The larger group pedaled to the start of the ride at Garden Road.  We had a dozen Descenders ready to tackle Mussey Grade and Pamo Road.  The pace up Scripps Poway Parkway was quick, even Dave Voris noted that we were moving faster than usual.  After regrouping at the top on Highway 67, we sped along and around Mount Woodson.  Fortunately for me Dave Ernst stayed back a bit and pulled me back to the group as we got to Mussey Grade.  The descent down Mussey was merciless and I was again blown off the back.  At the bottom we met Ken, a work friend of Bob R, who rode over to Pamo with us.  Pamo was very green from all the rains.  John and I headed up early so we could climb more slowly.  I got to take a couple of photos of the valley and watch a raptor circle overhead as I watched the guys climb Pamo.  We stopped at the gas station for water and reversed our route back along Dye Rd and around Mt Woodson.  Most of us descended Poway Grade.  I sat in the back going 46 mph and watched 5 of the guys scream down towards Espola.  We split again and headed back towards the west.  Guido and I went along Ted Williams and got home with about 70 miles of riding and 4,700 feet of climbing.

The Sunday ride is posted for 8 am at the corner of RB and Pomerado.  I am going to run at Torrey Pines in the am but might get a short ride in before the Super Bowl.  If someone wants to ride about noon-let me know.

Ride on-

Rob

http://www.flickr.com/photos/olegshpyrko/tags/descenders020511/

See you on the road,

Rob 

Today the ride was hosted by Mike Hodges.  Only Len (the elder) and I showed up for the ride.  It was much warmer and just as sunny with the winds blowing hard from the east.  We went to the coast and up Torrey Pines toward UCSD campus.  The cruise to La Jolla Shores was beautiful with some awesome waves breaking.  Mike led us back up a steep road that looped back toward Torrey Pines.  We cut through the UCSD Medical Center campus back to Genessee, down to Sorrento Valley and across towards the bike path for our return.  The winds blew hard from the Santa Ana’s–we had Mike on point for the bike path ride.  It was less than 40 miles in the saddle and a very moderate pace.  Here is one picture from today.

Good weekend of riding.    

Rob

What a great way to start the New Year–a weekend full of riding!  Today topped off some good training for the Shadowtour TTT.  We had a large group of old members and new faces; even Dave Boyle graced us with his presence.  He did not miss a beat on the ride.  We rode hard up SPP to Hwy 67 and around Mt Woodson.  The pace line down Mussey Grade was very fast with all 14 guys staying close together.  The huge boulder that fell into the road near the bottom was quite a sight.  We headed along Dye Road and then descended into a very green valley at Pamo Road.  The pace out was quick, just like the Mussey climb.  We reversed course back down Dye Rd and then hit HVR hard as we lost a few riders who fell back.  At the bottom of HVR, I headed toward 4S while the group went south on Pomerado.  I met up with Bob P again on the back of Back Mountain as we both struggled to get home.  His ride was about 80 miles and mine 76 miles of great training.

I uploaded photos from the last 3 rides into Shutterfly.  Here are a couple from today.

Ride on-

Rob