I started at 9am. I wanted to start earlier as planned days in advance, but when I woke up around 7 as the sun was begining to come up, the skies in Temecula (where I was staying 20+ miles to the NW) were dark and the wind was intense. Rain had also been forecast for around noon that day, so I was having a tough time deciding to abort or not. I ultimately decided to drive down to the start site (Taco shop on 76 near the turn-off for Harrah's) and see first hand what it was gonna be like. That first pic is what I saw when I got there. I decided to ride as far as I could, and turn around if it began to rain.

At the top (second pic), my body was steaming from the sweat and cold temps. Some hot spiced tea and a piece of pumpkin pie was my reward. I was well layered for the cold ride down. I love riding up Palomar.

The year before at the exact same time there was a layer of clouds for the first 2000 feet, so I basically went up in a fog bank. Then when I cleared the clouds around 4K, the view of clear blue skies above a sea of puffy white clouds was spectacular.

I wrote a report and posted pictures here.