Southern California - Palomar Mountain Century

Looks like fun. I can't wait. :)

yah I'm looking foward to it, I'm gonna put in some hill repeats on Mt Murder tomorrow and see if I can push my gearing up that 10% grade.......

You guys are going to have so much fun out there! I'm jealous. Take lots of pics! :)

Hi Grumpy Pig,
I want to join you guys on the 24-th. 100+ miles with Palomar in the middle will be a bit too much for me though. I will start in Escondido, go up Lake Wohlford, then take Valley Center and continue with you to Palomar. Then I'll go back the same way (about 52 miles total). I looked at your route sheet - your rest stop at Valley Center is at mile 35. How long do you thing it will take you to get there? I want to calculate my starting time accordingly.
Hope I'll somehow recognize you guys. Are any of you going to wear a BF jersey? You can recognize me easily by the ultra-light helmet ;) .
How fast do you guys climb that hill? It takes me about 2 hours for the 12 miles from the T-junction of Valley Center and S76 to the top. If this is too slow for you, don't wait for me. I will probably ride with a friend of mine and I'll try to talk Rick from OCRR into it too.

Jimmy, I'll see what time we're at the VC stop on the 11th and let you know next week.

You can meet us even closer, at 395 and Old Castle. There is a Park n Ride up the hill from there on Deer Springs road, hit 395/Center City Road North to the bottom of the hill where the golf course is and Old Castle is right there. Just an Option.

In December I climbed that hill in about 1h45min from the taco shop. We stop at the fork to regroup then head out again. Then stop at the shop at the top.

You can meet us even closer, at 395 and Old Castle. There is a Park n Ride up the hill from there on Deer Springs road, hit 395/Center City Road North to the bottom of the hill where the golf course is and Old Castle is right there. Just an Option.

In December I climbed that hill in about 1h45min from the taco shop. We stop at the fork to regroup then head out again. Then stop at the shop at the top.

Thank you guys. Jsigone, thanks for the suggestion but I'm not familiar with the area so I think this time I'll go the way I know. 1:45 from the taco shop! That's black belt, man :beer:


Jimmy, I'll see what time we're at the VC stop on the 11th and let you know next week.
Thanks Frank. Hope that rain forecast for the 11-th won't materialise.

I'm praying for no rain but packing my rain jacket in the car before I forget.

Rain would be annoying, but I'll be game even if it's raining.

Current forecast for Sunday at Valley Center (bottom of Palomar climb):

High 63
Low 40
Showers
8 MPH SW wind

I can live with that.

hope there won't be rain on the DH, the brakes on my SS are not really mountain ready and the brakeset I have ordered won't be here til Monday!! Arg.......I had a hell of a time trying to come to a stop sigh coming down Mt Murder today, I didn't even stop, I made a right at the sign at about 15mph. Scary $hit

I might swap over those bling brakes for a day so I can do this ride w/o worring about them on the decents.

Yeah... braking power is a good thing on Palomar.

I'll have not been on the bike since last Sunday. :( Oh well... I don't usually ride much the week of a century anyway.

looks like 60% of rain everywhere on Sunday.........

looks like 60% of rain everywhere on Sunday.........I'll look at the forecast tomorrow morning and if it's over 50%, I'll do a poll on who wants to go. I don't mind riding through a few showers but I don't want to spend a full day being wet and miserable.

I think I'll head out now before the wind picks up. There has been a rash of brush fires in the San Luis Rey Riverbed and I want to make sure the bike trail is open. They had a bunch of police and fire trucks there yesterday.

are you sure you guys don't want to take camino del rey to 395 instead of backtracking to little gopher canyon? it's more direct with less climbing. and even if you are into the hills, it would still be more direct(and challenging) if you went up west lilac and over the bridge to lilac.

just a suggestion.

I don't know about any of the roads out there, but I'm all for "more direct" and "less climbing".

CANDY ASS!!!


/I'll be on the couch, if you need me.

CANDY ASS!!!


/I'll be on the couch, if you need me.
:roflmao: Someone needs to punish you. I say the guys come wrangle you and force you to do repeats on all of the hills this weekend! :p

are you sure you guys don't want to take camino del rey to 395 instead of backtracking to little gopher canyon? it's more direct with less climbing. and even if you are into the hills, it would still be more direct(and challenging) if you went up west lilac and over the bridge to lilac.

just a suggestion.
I thought that Camino del Rey was longer. We can go that way if everybody wants.

You should come with us. There aren't many BF rides that you can ride to.

I thought that Camino del Rey was longer. We can go that way if everybody wants.

You should come with us. There aren't many BF rides that you can ride to.

i'm actually contemplating tagging along as far as 395.

i'm actually contemplating tagging along as far as 395.
You should! It will be fun.

if one drop of water falls from the sky, i'm riding the couch.

have fun on sunday guys. see you on the 24th.

Forecast is improving. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

Forecast seems to be un-improving, unfortunately.

We're super iffy, and will decide for sure early tonight...

Looks like the showers are supposed to hit hardest early and tail off as the day goes on. Sounds good to me... that means minimal chance of heavy rain during our descent. An estimated quarter inch of rain isn't too horrendous. And the temperatures seem reasonable.

Forecast seems to be un-improving, unfortunately.
NWS says 70% now which is definately unimproving.


We're super iffy, and will decide for sure early tonight...
I personally would not drive 40-50 miles to a ride with a 70% chance of showers. Always a pleasure to ride with you two but I'm not sure how pleasurable this ride will be if it's raining, or worse, if there's a 20 mph wind on our return.

I think my plan is to show up at 7 and, if there's anyone there, make a group decision. If not, go back to bed.

Hmm... forecast indeed is getting worse. Perhaps we should spare you some effort and just let you sleep in?

Yeah, we may try to squeeze a ride in here. I'd much rather get caught in the rain within 15 miles of our house, on familiar roads.

If you don't see us at 7am, don't wait.

Damn rain!

I'd much rather get caught in the rain within 15 miles of our house, on familiar roads.
I hear you... I'm starting to think about doing loops of no more than 20 miles in order to have a relatively quick "out" if the weather deteriorates a lot tomorrow.

Grumpy Pig, I'll help improve the chances of you not having to get out of bed early by dropping out of this ride due to weather.

I sent out cancellation PMs to all the riders. If I missed anyone, sorry.

Looks like 40% chance of rain on the first half of the day......after about noon should be dry if any of you want to a 50 miler or so around the coast? I'll prolly still wake up early and see how the weather is in the morning. I'll keep having high hopes though this ride has been canceled. I may just start from my house and go up Lake Wolford and see from there.

So is it still on for the 24th then?

I hope so...

Still on for the 24th!! Unless it rains.

hoping that day remains dry

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to back out of my own ride. I hurt my back at the gym yesterday. I'll get a doctor's opinion tomorrow but the last two times this has happened, I was off the bike for 4-6 weeks.

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to back out of my own ride. I hurt my back at the gym yesterday. I'll get a doctor's opinion tomorrow but the last two times this has happened, I was off the bike for 4-6 weeks.

That sucks. Deadlifts?

That sucks, Frank. Heal up fast!

That sucks. Deadlifts?
No, I've never hurt myself doing deadlifts because I'm very careful with form and warming up. I was going to do some dumbell curls. I picked up the bar and felt a left to right tingling in my lower back. It didn't hurt too bad but I quit immediately and came home. This morning it was inflamed and I'm listing to the left. I'm pretty depressed. These rides were planned as my KOM training rides.

Sorry to hear that Frank. I know these injuries take many weeks to heal.

I injured my rotator cuff a couple of weeks ago trying to lift one of my bikes overhead to hang in the garage. I'm still not able to lift my left arm over my shoulder level without a great deal of pain. These things take weeks to heal as well. The only time it bothers me while riding is when doing climbs out of the saddle.

Been there, done that. Take it easy and keep (gently) moving about. Us geezers be fragile. :D :D

sorry to hear you got hurt, hope its not as bad as the last time you did that. Heal up and I'll see you on the bikes soon!!!

BUMP!!!

Anyone still up for this ride???????????????????????????????????????????????????

Hey Frank, sorry to hear this. Hope you get better soon. I'm still thinking on doing this ride but with less than 30% chance. The "snow showers" on Friday have been downgraded to "showers" but it will be still way too cold on Saturday. Anyway, don't wait for me. If I do it I'll stick to my original plan - start around 9:00 in Escondido and hopefully be at the top around noon.


These rides were planned as my KOM training rides.
Now I've got a question for the organizers of the KOM and "The Bear" and "Solvang" and few other popular rides. Why are these rides organized in spring when the weather is unpredictable and generally lousy? Don't these guys know that most of us earn our daily bread not by riding bikes but working other jobs and we cannot train properly in winter? Rides like "The Bear" or KOM could have been the highlight of the season for many of us if they were held in September or October. Now, in order to be properly prepared, we must freeze our azzes riding up these mountains in January and February. And don't tell me it is hot in September. At 5,000 feet the temperature seldom exceeds 80F even in the middle of summer. Anyway, my *****ing for the day.

Now I've got a question for the organizers of the KOM and "The Bear" and "Solvang" and few other popular rides. Why are these rides organized in spring when the weather is unpredictable and generally lousy? Don't these guys know that most of us earn our daily bread not by riding bikes but working other jobs and we cannot train properly in winter? Rides like "The Bear" or KOM could have been the highlight of the season for many of us if they were held in September or October. Now, in order to be properly prepared, we must freeze our azzes riding up these mountains in January and February. And don't tell me it is hot in September. At 5,000 feet the temperature seldom exceeds 80F even in the middle of summer. Anyway, my *****ing for the day.

I was thinking the same thing... I plan my year to peak in September, (Thats when I ride in Europe) and it's frustrating trying to get in shape 4-5 months early. My plan is not to set any land speed records for KOM but to just finish them. I saving my energy for the Stelvio Pass (http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Passo-dello-Stelvio&qryMountainID=39). I'm also hoping there's no snow on it! :eek:

I'm on the fence for the 24th. I'm not in the best climbing shape but I can grind up anything! :) I'll probably won't go all the way to the observatory.

edit: Who am I kidding... If there is time I'll go to the top! :)

But you guys may be way too strong for me... What kind of pace are you planning? I figure it would take me 4 hours to get to the top of South Grade.. (mile 50).

EDIT: Not sure if this ride is still on... I don't think I'll be doing it since it is unclear if anyone else is riding.