Road Cycling - Today's Recreational Ride.

I hope this new twist on an old thread about bike commuting is filling a void.
Even before riding for business, most of us ride for pleasure. So today's recreational ride.
The temperature was in the low 70's, skies blue with ocassional puffy white clouds..I winded my way up 800 plus feet to my favorite valley nestled to the south of Palomar Mountain.. The valley is about 10 miles by 6 miles in size between Bonsall and Pala, California. Climbing up West Lilac Road, the outline of the hill's crest can be seen with it being topped by California date palms, California Oaks, and Olive trees.. And the vistas in the distance showed the rolling crests of California's Coastal plain.As I ascended - the road is colored by bouginvilla and the blue blooming flower, I think is a Blue Bonnet.
When I got to the top, I paused at my favorite crest to become enthralled by the valley probably 800 plus feet below.. I was so taken by the silence, I almost wished I had a blanket to spent some time taking in the mostly silent day with the noise of hawks, ocassional cars, a couple cyclists- but moslty the wind..
Below, I could see the olive green color of avocodo trees and the lighter green color of citrus groves...Other bits of nature were the sagebrush, forested areas of oaks and palms and about a dozen houses some surrounded by Italian cypress.
Guess what got to me this time..Yesterday's rain..The smell was clean but with the ocassional whiff of orange blossom.And the greens were greener..So the gloom of yesterday has its paybacks.
After about 15 minutes of staring at my valley, I heard the whosh of the ocassional cyclist and decided to follow, since I had promised my wife a part of the afternoon...If only she could have expereinced my day..
So much for my cycling addiction..Maybe it is partially just the influence of Spring...But the ride was really rewarding.
So I speeded down the 2 mile hill, keeping the bees behind me as they are doing their business to the orange blossoms. Telling the one cyclist I passed on the way down..Great day for a ride.

Enjoyed hearing about Pala. My old stomping grounds. Did you pass by the Outdoor Education Camp "Denver C. Fox?" It was named for my dad.

Went out early this am at 6:40, did 15 miles following the creek. Wife called and was mad because I had not awakened her to ride with me, so returned home, had breakfast, and we went out again for ten miles, she on her mtn bike, me on my Lemond BA. Extremely windy, we went up the gulch and stopped at McD's for an ice cream on way home. She is much happier now and thoroughly enjoyed her 10 miles and I enjoyed my 25.

So, we went to the LBS and bought her a new Trek 7300 hybrid, which should be at least a bit faster than her mtn bike.

Anyone interested in a Cannondale R300, mint condition, 600 miles, great tires with liners, Sora? Fits my wife (5' 6"). She just never got comfortable on a road bike.

Anyone interested in a Cannondale R300, mint condition, 600 miles, great tires with liners, Sora? Fits my wife (5' 6"). She just never got comfortable on a road bike.


Wish you lived closer... My wife has a 'comfort' bike now... and I really want to get her something a little faster...

Dnvr..I am pleased to know about your dad's work and how his efforts are celebrated.The road I took is a couple miles south of CA 76 on the south side of a valley- you see from that highway. This road I mentnioned would take you to Valley Center should one continue heading east and not swinging back west towards the Lawrence Welk Complex.
I suspect your Dad's educational center is on CA 76 as you approach Lake Henneshaw? East of the Palomar Mountain Grade? No? I will look for it in the future...
One of our favorite rides is the road abutting Palomar Mountain and east to Lake Henneshaw, where the Cafe has great Cinnamon Apple Pancakes. Pretty good climb too...Without even going up all the way to Palomar Mountain...Probably the grade east of Pauma is 2000 ft of Climbing,as one heads to lake Henneshaw.
As I rambled on, todays ride really got to me.. Just felt great. The ride was 31 miles.

My dad died when he was 61, many years ago.

I have never visited the camp in his honor, although there are web pictures on the San Diego County web site. I was hoping it was not burned during the recent fires.

I used to work summers as a camp counselor on Palomar Mountain, and he was the principal of the outdoor education camp then located in Palomar Mtn State Park.

I always enjoyed Lake Henshaw area, Warner Hot Springs and the surrounding area. As a kid I was once stopped by Indians for trespassing (I didn't know I was trespassing) on the Los Coyotes Indian reservation near Warner's going north from Warners. Hot Springs Peak (6,533 ft) there is actually higher than Cuyamaca Peak (6,512), which is usually touted as the highest in San Diego County.

Did you know San Diego County has more Indian Reservations than any county in the United States?

Thanks for the kind note.

How is you wife's riding coming?

Dnvr..She almost went out with me today..If she had,I would have chosen a less hilly ride..She missed a couple days of school, due to a cold; so today was not a good day for a ride for her...
She says next time...She wants to increase her stamina for Maachu Pichu in July..about 14,000 ft... Some hiking up there..Hope I can hook her on cycling as her means of getting into shape.. But today, We learn that Maachu Pichu has had a landslide...The road is out..Should be normal by July? Reason we choose their winter..It is dryer...She says the road still out July..The trip is off... Maachu Pichu is the main reason for this trip.
I certainly will be looking for your dad's educational center..
I do not sense that it is atop Palmoar Mtn.?
Dnrv...Most of the burn area was south of Ca 76, sort of south of Lake Henneshaw going in the direction Julian..
Julian was saved by determined efforts of firefighters, by just less than one mile.It came really close.
So if your Dad's educational center is north of CA 76-it was spared.
And Dnvr...The reason we have so many casinos in this area...North San Diego County....So much acerage is Native American Reservation.

The camp are on Pala, Palomar Mountain and Cuyamaca.

The new camp:

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/outdoored/tours/fox/index.html

For maps see:

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/outdoored/weekend.html

Dnvr..I will look for this facility when we ride out to Lake Henneshaw..Usually ride out there in early Spring,before Inalnd heat hits. So will do so soon..Suspect I know where the Fox center is...Near an Native American elementary school couple miles west of East Grade going up to Palmomar..Know where the Palomar Mtn. facility is...Beautiful surroundings near the pond?
Your Dad help create this facility...? Great work...Fine facility for kids in the summer break.

hey DnvrFox. If Im thinking about the camp your talking about my mom, aun't and uncles went there for sixth grade camp! They went to a camp near Cuyamaca. I didn't know it was Denver C. Fox camp, everybody just calls it Fox Camp.

hey DnvrFox. If Im thinking about the camp your talking about my mom, aun't and uncles went there for sixth grade camp! They went to a camp near Cuyamaca. I didn't know it was Denver C. Fox camp, everybody just calls it Fox Camp.

There are 3 now, evidently.

1. Cuyamaca (I lived there as a kid for 7 years)

2. Palomar

3. Fox Camp near Pala/Pauma Valley.

Dnvr..I will look for this facility when we ride out to Lake Henneshaw..Usually ride out there in early Spring,before Inalnd heat hits. So will do so soon..Suspect I know where the Fox center is...Near an Native American elementary school couple miles west of East Grade going up to Palmomar..Know where the Palomar Mtn. facility is...Beautiful surroundings near the pond?
Your Dad help create this facility...? Great work...Fine facility for kids in the summer break.

As with Cuyamaca, the Palomar camp used to be a Civiliam Conservation Corp (CCC) Camp during the depression in the 30's.

ANyone have an exact fix on the location of the Fox Camp near Pauma..I suspect I have cycled by.

I will be in San Diego near the end of July, and may take a drive up there.

Wife and I will be bringing bicycles and staying in Carlsbad.

Dnvr. If you have the time, glad to have you ride with our group..July..Most often the inland areas are pretty warm by then.

Dnvr. If you have the time, glad to have you ride with our group..July..Most often the inland areas are pretty warm by then.

Thanks so much.

Generally, with the wife riding with me, we do the coast route - Del Mar, Torrey Pines, Mission Bay, etc. Not sure yet which bike I will bring - most likely mtn bike or my recreational road bike (Winsdor Leeds). Definitely not the Lemond. Wife will likely bring her new hybrid (Wow -I didn't realize how much higher that bike is, not sure I can easily get it inside rear of van without taking front wheel off)!

We ride at places along the way - last year did "Colorado City" in Colorado, Painted Desert, Green River Utah, Pine Valley, etc. Just short fun rides.

So, it will most likely not work out to ride with you. Last year we had dinner with John E from this forum in Carlsbad - great to meet him!

Today was half recreational and half business...Had to work an extra half day for training purposes.So got home at noon and time to get in a somewhat shorter ride than I would.
Had to go to LBS in Escondido 21 miles away to pick up my new sunglasses. Sunny felt so good going up the big Escondido hill. Averaged 14 mph and two big climbs.
Picked up my glasses..Really like them..Rydon's...Liked the color of the sky better with them on..Blue lenses makes sky really blue.
On recreational rides often stop at a park on south end of town..Has sounds of babbling brook and ate my power bar. The brook here in dry California is really sewage effluent- giving it a Mountain stream sound..
What made my day..After days' end..Ate out at local cafe with my wife..Think I was flattered? Been years...Two cafe regular servers commented on my legs on way out..I was wearing shorts..
My wife commented he is a biker.. Think I like such comments?Think my wife did not like it..Hope encourages her to ride.If only rest of me was of similiar make up..We eat out too much and too many omelets with cheese.
I was climbing steps when waitress' commented on 'wish my husband had sexy legs."

What made my day..After days' end..Ate out at local cafe with my wife..Think I was flattered? Been years...Two cafe regular servers commented on my legs on way out..I was wearing shorts..
My wife commented he is a biker.. Think I like such comments?Think my wife did not like it..Hope encourages her to ride.If only rest of me was of similiar make up..We eat out too much and too many omelets with cheese.
I was climbing steps when waitress' commented on 'wish my husband had sexy legs."

Neat. Always nice to have your body recognized and complimented.

Any comments like that would make me, at 64, feel really GREAT!

I do enjoy comments such as "Wow!" and "No way" when I mention something like "I did 70 miles on my bike this weekend."

Hope your wife gets more into bicycling.

Does not have to be my "Today Recreational Ride," but I think one of the most frequented threads is 'Today's Commute.'
My idea is to have our riders comment on how todays fun ride went, similiar to our commute..Someone has a better than average fun ride, we all like reading about it.
Yesterday's ride was significant, because of the waitress' looking at my legs- I guess...
Dnvr...Your cycling sounds like it has done wonders for you...Not there yet, but I am nearing it - age I mean of course...Lucky you...Get to ride when you want..
Nice to find a post retirement job incorporating cycling.

Lucky you...Get to ride when you want..
Nice to find a post retirement job incorporating cycling.

Nope, I work about 50 hours per week full time teaching 6th grade math (not what one might call "low stress"), but I do get summers off except for courses. I will be taking a science course at the Colorado School of Mines this summer.

Not retired yet. Probably never.

If I could ride "whenever I wanted" I would be at about 5,000 miles for the year! :D

Incidentally, there is an identical thread in the recreational cycling forum - but hardly anyone one reads it.

Don't see why we think our daily notes from commutes are worth recording, but not fun rides.. I appreciate fun rides more than commuting. Certainly, a greater likelyhood of reporting something fun.

Looks like all the camps made it through the fire OK. From North County Times:

Three close calls for camps

The three camps run by the San Diego County Office of Education were more fortunate than the Heise campground. They made it through the perilous wildfires, despite moments when it seemed all three could have become ashes.

Camp Cuyamaca is intact, but the grounds surrounding the buildings are blackened. The state parks headquarters nearby burned. The camp's buildings sit on four acres, but the camp has access to the nearby state parks that surround them.

"The firefighters made an amazing stand at the facility," said George Stratman, director of outdoor education.

One side of the dining hall, close to the kitchen, was singed and suffered cosmetic damage.

The kitchen is still operating. While no children are at the camps last week, the site was being powered by generator so workers could cooks for firefighters and state personnel handling post-fire issues.

Students were scheduled to be at the camp the week of Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. They were rescheduled to later times in the year.

For now at Camp Cuyamaca, "There's nothing for the kids to see," Stratman said. "It needs to green up a little more and begin recovering before we bring students up there."

Until January, students who were scheduled to attend the camp will instead use facilities the county education office leased this month at Palomar Christian Conference Center, he said.

Lessons in recovery to come

The schedule at 19-acre Camp Denver C. Fox, at the base of Palomar Mountain on Highway 76, is still on track, although the campground had a narrow escape from the fires, Stratman said.

On Oct. 29, a Wednesday, firefighters told a camp employee that they would probably not be able to save the camp, Stratman said.

He recalled watching TV news coverage at the time, and seeing firefighters interviewed at the camp on a break from protecting it.

That Thursday, however, the winds died down and the fire changed direction ---- roughly a mile away from Denver C. Fox.

The Paradise fire never reached Palomar Outdoor School near Palomar Mountain State Park, Stratman said. The four-acre camp facilities are maintained by the county education office but used by San Diego Unified School District for its sixth-graders.

Certainly, the fire's impact won't be far from the minds of Stratman's camp staffers ---- nor the students ---- for a long time.

"We will be learning about fire ecology for a number of years to come as the park starts to regenerate and recover from this blaze," Stratman said.

DNVR...We missed this story..We subscribe to the L.A. Times.

Today, I did not join my Tuesday group, because they were determined to climb Palomar Mtn. in 95 degree heat. no thanks..
Heard at end of day, one of our group started to cramp.
So my Tuesday ride was like a big triangle.A 61 mile loop.The first third an inland ride to stop by bike shop to pick up a phone order that come in.
As I ascended the hill to Escondido it was in the lo 90's.But my hill has not quite Palomar at 95 degrees. Since I did not have enough time, I took the transit bus to the coast at Solana Bch..This route parallels a river valley. And often cyclists frequent this, since it has nice hills and overlooks a lake(really a reservoir.) Probably because of the heat, I did not see one cyclist.
So the third loop back, what a relief..The coastal route.About 37 miles to home..So this unusual heat. But the coast, it was now on shore winds and in the high 70's. What a relief..Felt great..The ocean smelled lots better than I did. In Solana Bch.picked up a gift for Mothers day...Kept oggling the ocean. High surf about 150 ft. out..Like 5 ft. swells near shore. Lots of cyclists stopped at the several parks to load up water and watch surfers. No swimmers water still too cold.
As I got to north end of triangle before the inland turn home, the on shore winds so strong, probably in 60's with fog.
As turned inland- east- the winds switched from on shore to off shore and the heat was now probably mid-80 at about 8 miles inland and sweating was again in order.
Could see the cyclist tan lines taking over from this summer like day.... As got near Fallbrook, about 20 miles inland it was close to 90 and that Ultra in the Fridge was fair game.
So in 61 miles travel time, I witnessed Califronia's fight between on shore and off shore winds, making one ride feel like August and November. But inland the sun was glorious and with a couple Ultras in hand, took it over to the neighbors and used the pool to relax from the days ride.

So in 61 miles travel time, I witnessed Califronia's fight between on shore and off shore winds, making one ride feel like August and November. But inland the sun was glorious and with a couple Ultras in hand, took it over to the neighbors and used the pool to relax from the days ride.

Yes, I am quite familiar with that battle - a multitude of micro climates. Something they don't mention much in the tourist brochures.

Today in Denver it will be 80 degrees and very windy. Tomorrow - SNOW!

Will try to get a ride in this pm, despite the wind.

Glad you opted out of Palomar.

Need to call one of our groups' riders. Got back from a movie, message on our answering maching...Paul had cramps going up Palomar...Probably 95 degrees...Paul is a good rider...71...had considered crossing the USA with a group of others...Which are in route right now...
House problems, he didn't....I am sure he took at least two bottles of water...95 degrees...3,500 ft. climb in that heat, Not enough? To cool down starting today.

Today..Well, with Mothers day approaching, I used my bike time to ride with my group to find new restaurants along the beach. Rode with them and we ate overlooking the cool Pacific. Had not had enough..Another shopping adventure for my Mom and wife this coming Mothers Day. Solana Beach..
So I got in 54 miles by finishing the ride with a bus ride home.
Got some French perfume for the two women in my life.
The beach portion was great. But the Pacific looked pretty calm for the strong headwinds I faced heading north towards home.
With 54 miles, I had enough..The beach was like 80 degrees, and knowing inland was probably pushing 90, I took the bus home. When I got off the bus, inland was hot, but the headwinds almost were half what they were on the beach.
Also stopped at a sports store and yaked with some fellow Klein fans for way too long. Got my Princton Tech. Aurora light that a fellow Bike Forum member suggested for night riding.
At 90 degrees, I just might have to use it- unless I high tail over to the coast every time it gets hot.
Sun was very bright..With a strong coating of 30 sun block on, the tan lines on my face and arms are beginning to look like summer and I have regained my idenity.

Today my riding buddy was late so we drove to our group rides starting spot..Everyone had left.
The down side..We were to go up the coast...Camp Pendleton(Marine base) is between Oceanside and points north..Because we then with no one who had military ID to get us on the base, we had to ride the Freeway in an attempt to meet up with our group.
The winds were strong but for a change the debris on the freeways' shoulder was reasonable. Talk about drafting, when the big double wide trucks flew by,you could almost see the increase of speed on our speedometers... Cross winds weren't so bad we felt we were going to be blown off the freeway. But riding the freeway was not as awful as I last remember, except for the noise.
But coming back the headwinds were terrible...The drafting of the trucks had no effect upon our speed.
Since I had not had enough with this 45 mile ride up the freeway( when normally it would have been 70-80 mile range), when I got home & had a recovery drink and banana , I was off for another 20 mile ride to the third nearest Post Office.
This is how one can get their mileage up to make the logs look better. But, went on a back road through the hills west of town..Did not miss the trucks.