Neighborhood Cyclery's Pain Is Temporary Tour: Palomar Mtn by South Grade Rd

A couple of months ago my buddy Hugo and me participated in the 2nd leg of Neighborhood Cyclery's Pain Is Temporary cycling tour; this was a series of SAG-supported rides that invites cyclists of all abilities to attempt one or more of Southern California's toughest cycling climbs. The 2nd leg of the series was San Diego County's only Hors Categorie climb, Palomar Mtn by Hwy 79 and South Grade Rd. There was quite a big turn out!

We started and finished at El Ray Mexican Restaurant on the north side of Hwy 79 just west of Cole Grade Rd. A few of my other San Diego cycling pals also showed up for the ride. Dean, Neighborhood Cyclery's proprietor, gave a good pre-ride safety briefing before snapping a group photo and sent us on our way. I was quite curious to see how this climb would feel, as I hadn't done it in almost a year (and the weather was forecast to be slightly on the warm side... so there'll likely be bugs!).

Hwy 79 east of Valley Center Rd had was re-surfaced not long ago, though, and we enjoyed the smooth tarmac as much as we could get... which wasn't much considering that the shoulder comes and goes and there isn't much room for bikes in between the rumble strip and the raised curb/brush/multiple fields of broken glass and other things.

This being on a Saturday, there were also quite a few motorcyclists enjoying the road.

Hugo, Teresita, and I made slow but steady progress up the long constant climb. Hugo had gained a lot of weight after 7 years in the wheelchair after falling off the 5th story of a building he was constructing, but had lost over 250 lbs of it since taking up cycling a few years ago. He was still carrying more on him than you'd expect of anyone attempting to pedal up Palomar Mtn the steep way, though.

Dean and his mom were manning the SAG wagons and it was always a treat to spot them as we would come around a blind curve (there are many blind curves on Hwy 79 and S6!).

I'm afraid Hugo popped his hip out of its socket as he got out of the saddle on the lower slope of Palomar South Grade Rd, which made pedaling on quite a pain in the behind for him (no pun intended). You've got to be a tough b*st%rd to keep turning the pedals around on the constant 6-9% grade road for 4 miles with a popped hip, though. I can't even imagine how he did it, but he made it to within a mile of the top before having to call it a day. Would have taken my helmet off for him, but I sort of needed it for a while longer yet.

Teresita and I caught up with a few other riders after we split from Hugo and even got to snap a good shot of Danielle, Dean's wife and co-owner of Neighborhood Cyclery, about 2 turns from the top.

A couple of my Wheel Women of San Diego cycling pals had stormed up the slope ahead of us, so by the time we topped out, they had already came back to Mother's Kitchen from Palomar Observatory. These gals are good!

The Palomar South Grade Rd downhill, of course, is always a treat on its own. I'm afraid there were too many cars on Hwy 79 than I would have liked, but that didn't stop Teresita and I from swinging off the road at Valley Center Rd to patronize a local farmers' fruit stand. The young farmer there sold us huge bags of strawberries, oranges and avocado. He even rigged up the mesh bags with piece of rope to turn them into temporary backpacks for us!

Better yet, everyone sat down for a hearty and very tasty fine Mexican meal at El Ray after the ride. It was a nice morning ride with good friends old and new, and we got to patronize local business in the process, too. A morning doesn't get more perfect than that to me!

Sunday Road Riders Report: Lake Murray Loop (15 Dec 2013)

Although it's often very pleasant to sleep in on Sundays, I have a standing ride date with a group of awesome friends out of Cal Coast Bicycles in University Heights at 8am that trumps even the temptation to stay under the warm cover on a cold morning! The group is called the Sunday Road Riders, and it is open to all riders fast and slow, new and old to road cycling.

Rolling east on Adams Ave in Kensington.

Anyhow, this morning we didn't have many riders and so went out in one intermediate pace group instead of the usual three. Hugo, our intermediate group ride leader had came up with a new route to Lake Murray and back, which we were all eager to check it out. The ride started, as always, at Cal Coast Bicycles on Adams Ave just east of 30th St, of course. We rolled east on Adams to Aldine and shot down to the valley on Fairmount Ave.

Stretched out a bit down perilous Fairmount Ave descent.

The Blue Boys Josh & Rick in Allied Gardens.

Terri, Hugo & Mark in Allied Gardens.

After regrouping at the bottom, the group hooked right on Twain Rd and made our way up the gentle climbs through the side streets of Allied Gardens on our way to Navajo Rd. Traffic was pretty mild and the clearing sky gave quite a nice view of Cowles, Pyle and Kwaay Paay mountains as we climbed up to Park Ridge Blvd.

Ed, Adriana & Josh.

Mark M, Terri & Alex on Park Ridge Blvd.

Lake Murray from its northern tip.

Turning south on Park Ridge Blvd and then another side street detour for a safer crossing of Murray Park Dr brought us to beautiful Lake Murray, where we split off to have a bit of fun on the paved multi-use trail.

Tim & Alex on Lake Murray trail.

Terri on Lake Murray trail.

Josh & Rick.

Most of the gang minus Mark & Stephen (AKA the fast guys).

Not keen on taking a group through the usually busy (with hikers and joggers) lake trail, Hugo opted for a road detour around the lake via the much less trafficky Murray Park Dr, Lakeshore Dr/Baltimore Dr and Lake Murray Blvd. We briefly lost Mark and Stephen, who had gone off to explore the south side of the lake and were out of holler range, but they caught back up as we turned onto Baltimore Dr and the group was nice and tight as we navigated the intersections to the bottom of the 70th St bump.

Terri & Hugo heading west on University Ave in Rolando.

We climbed back up to the mesa on 70th St and turned west on University Avenue (a much nicer cycling route through Rolando area than El Cajon Blvd is), enjoying some new stretches of buffered (and sometimes even green painted) bike lane until they all disappeared just east of Euclid Ave.

All together again in time for coffee at Twiggs!

I'm afraid the group scattered a bit heading back to University Heights, but as the streets were all in grid by then it was easy for everyone to fine their way to our usual finish line, Twiggs Bakery on Adams and Idaho. It was a nice 21 miler with lots of gentle rolling hills and a ton of view!