TBThursday: A LUNA Chix ride full of lessons for newbie rider

TBThursday: Riding to Lyons Valley Trading Post from Donny's Cafe in Bonita with the San Diego LUNA Chix in 2012.

Heading east on Otay Lakes Rd at lower Otay Lake with the SD LUNA Chix in late spring 2012.

 I had only been cycling for 3 months then, and boy, did I have much to learn! It was the most challenging ride on the LUNA Chix's schedule that season (the LUNA Chix have since warped into the Wheel Women of San Diego, of course, though they still welcome non-competitive guys on their rides); a 50 or so miler with a lot of climbing. I made several mistakes that resulted in my only unfinished ride that isn't due to crashing.

#1. I washed the bike the night before and didn't put the rear wheel back on right... because I had never tried taking out the rear wheel and putting it back on myself before. 😶 It is rarely a good idea to try doing new things to the bike just before a tough ride!

#2. I only checked tire pressure before rolling off, but never gave the wheels the spin check (to make sure they are spinning true and not rubbing the brakes, because, you know, I was green and didn't know better.

#3. I didn't ask the more seasoned LUNA Chix ride leaders to check the bike for me before we started riding (since I had taken off the rear wheel and put it back on myself for the first time. It's always a good idea to have someone else check your work for you!).

So, of course, it all went quite wrong. I rode in to the ride's start at Donny's from North Park and the bike already felt quite heavy. It didn't improve after we had taken off up the warm up climbs of Otay Lakes Rd and the rolling hills east to Pio Pico rest stop either. I brushed it off as being a bit over-trained (I was riding a lot because I wanted to ride the Giro di San Diego ride from Solana Beach to the top of Palomar Mtn and back a couple of months from then)... and thought that the heaviness of the bike was a symptom of my having a 'bad legs day'... After all, I checked the tire pressure often, and they were definitely not going flat. 

#4. I sensed that something wasn't right, but didn't tell any more-experienced rider or ride leader about it.

By the time we turned uphill on the long climb of Honey Springs Rd I was dropping off the back end of the group and struggling mightily to keep moving. I occasionally smelled burnt rubber, but it was a hot day (it must have been close to 100F on that slope by then), so it didn't feel that out of place for me. I only made it half way up the climb and turned around to make sure that I could make it back to Donny's. The rest of the group went on and tagged the Trading Post, then caught and passed me on the rolling hills back into Eastlake. One of the ride leaders even gave me a push up a hump on Otay Lakes... It was pretty darn demoralizing to implode so spectacularly on a sub-50 miler less than two months before the slated 111 mile torture ride with 10000 ft of expected elevation gain.

I only found out the culprit when I stopped by at an old pal's place before rolling home and finally thought to give the wheels a spin before mounting the bike. The rear one couldn't even complete a single revolution. I had put it on a bit off and it was rubbing the rear brake so much that the normally shiny brake assembly was completely blackened by rubber debris. I was lucky that the rear tire didn't blow out when I bombed down Honey Springs Rd 18 miles earlier.

 

LUNA Chix Ellen, leading B group up Cabrillo Tidepools Hill a year later in 2013.

I had one thing going for me on that ride, though. I was riding with Team LUNA Chix San Diego and they took care of me. The ride's sweeper, Ellen, absolutely refused to leave me behind until I got to a safe place (my friend's pad). She practically saved my butts!

You live and learn, but some days are more full of lessons than others!

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!

Fun Time In Valley Center: Part 2: Bates Nut Farm, Lilac & back to Escondido

Part 1: (Paradise Mtn, Hellhole Canyon & Lake Wohlford Castle Lookout.

Team Fun was (as to be expected after a long-ish climb) scattered a bit with Heather K, Judy, Jill & Andy in the lead group, zooming through at great speed. A few seconds later came Julie, Ariel, Dee & John, then my steepie-climbing partner the Vzrd and Sian bringing in the rear. I snapped a few shots as they rolled by before scrambling back on the bike to play catch up.

Heather K, Judy, Andy & Jill on Lake Wohlford Rd.

The lead and the chasing group in the process of disappearing up N Lake Wohlford Rd.

Being a smorg, however, means that instead of immediately hitting N Lake Wohlford Rd in hot pursuit of my favorite cycling fun gals I made a pit stop at Smokey's Lake Wohlford Cafe even though it wasn't Friday and there was no all-you-can-eat catfish deal to be had... then (they have since expanded that to an everyday deal!). It was getting to be a warm day and they have fountain drinks sold by very fetchingly engaging staff. I just couldn't resist!

Smokey's Lake Wohlford Cafe.

Smokey's Halloween bar mate.

Smokey's cozy and well spooked out interior.

I shot off a little text to Judy (Team Fun's B group ride leader for the day) before hopping back on the Smorgmobile and zoomed after my cycling buddies. Traffic was really picking up now and I found myself doing a lot of control & release maneuver on the uncomfortably narrow and shady N Lake Wohlford Rd.

Step trail to Lake Wohlford Lookout.

The merry gang at Bates Nut Farm.

Turning left(west) onto Woods Valley Rd on a weekday or almost any other time of year would normally be quite a relief in traffic compared to staying on N Lake Wohlford Rd into what's locally known as the Gamblers' Loop (casino-rich narrow highways servicing Valley View, Harrah's, Pauma, Pala and Pechanga casinos). But this was the weekend before Halloween and Bates' Nut Farm was THE pumpkin patch to go on this side of Escondido and soon there wasn't a stretch of empty pavement to be found. Team Fun's fun gals were patient, though, and waited for me at the extremely busy Bates' and we had quite a merry reunion, so to speak.

After a bit of looking around and chatting up unsuspecting firemen who were out fundraising for charities we took off again, west with traffic to Valley Center Rd, which was quite less busy north of Woods Valley turn off. Yours truly hung in the back under the pretense of picking up the 'sweeper' job while in fact I was starting to feel the effect of a morning spent cycling (mostly)up and down hills and was doing my best to draft while I could (since my ride wouldn't end at Welk Resort like the group's would).

We turned west on beautifully repaved (with still not much shoulder to ride on) Lilac Rd and suffered our way up the steeper pitch on Old Castle Rd (not quite my preferred cycling road due to traffic, but you can't have everything your own way!) before enjoying the fast and curvy downhill run to Champagne Blvd (Old 395). I had hoped to sneak in a mid-downhill stop for a new good pic of the Woreland Castle in the Pamoosa Valley on the south side of the road, but Sian and I were being passed by a couple of trucks just then and it just wasn't safe to do a pull-out maneuver.

Heading west on Lilac Rd in Valley Center.

Looking back east on Old Castle Rd just before the crest.

We re-grouped at the Champagne Blvd intersection and had uneventful last couple of miles back to Welk Resort where I had multiple offers of a car ride back to Escondido Transit Center (because I have awesome friends!). Being a lot of a mule that I am, though, I turned them down and went circling about Welk Resort's little shopping center looking for a way of getting into the Pizza Hut there (they were repaving the sidewalk and had that place surrounded by ropes! A few other people were also walking around trying to find their way in to the restaurant from the shops next door. Hungry folks can be really persistent, I tell you!).

Fortified with pizza and iced soda in my insulated water bottles I headed back south on Champagne Blvd which turns into Centre City Pkwy upon entering Escondido. It's marked as a bike route, I think due to the presence of a wide bike lane, but I really wouldn't recommend riding on this thing for longer than a block since it keeps getting interrupted by uncontrolled merging lanes! After braving a few of those I gave up and scooted one block east to continue south on the quite safer-to-cycle Escondido Blvd instead.

Rolling back to Welk Resort north of Escondido.

Heading south on Champagne Blvd to Escondido didn't earn me any level-ground riding!

Cycling-unfriendly high speed Centre City Pkwy... and its many uncontrolled on/off ramps.

If only I'm a more dedicated randonneur I would have cycled all the way home, but hot weather made me lazy and so I hopped on bus 235 instead. It was another good day on the bike, especially since I got to spend part of it with such fun friends!

Guest post: Wheel Women San Diego (formerly LUNA Chix San Diego Cycle) inaugural ride 2014

Hello riders,

We are excited to announce that the San Diego LUNA Chix Cycling Team is now the WHEEL WOMEN OF SAN DIEGO. Our cycling season will start next weekend. We will continue to focus on the beginner women riders, but are also offering longer rides for the intermediate participants. As always, our beginner rides are "no drop,” which means that even the slowest rider does not get left behind. However, we require any rider to have previously ridden at least one 15-mile ride. Team members will lead and sweep the intermediate rides as well, but these are NOT “no drop” rides. We will still be fundraising for the Breast Cancer Fund throughout the season.

Cabrillo Tidepool climb

Here are our offerings for April:

April 13   Inaugural Ride from Moment Cycle/Liberty Station  8:00am. Enjoy the beautiful San Diego Bay on this mostly flat 20-mile, no drop ride out to Shelter Island and Cabrillo Monument. This ride includes some gentle rollers, a climb up to Catalina, and optional hill repeats from the tide pools. **Be sure to bring your "National Parks" card if you have one.

April 19   Ride in the Ranch 8:00am. Ride with us through beautiful Rancho Santa Fe. Two distances will be offered: a 20-mile no drop ride and a 35-mile ride.
 
April 26   Alpine Challenge Ride start times depend on the distance. Distances are 25, 50, 62, or 100 miles.  You can register at www.alpinechallenge.com

May 10   North County Ride from Del Mar Pearl Izumi: 8:00am.

May 25   Chula Vista Road Ride from REI: 8:00am.

Hope to see you next weekend.

WHEEL WOMEN OF SAN DIEGO

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Creating a Cycling Community for Women in San Diego

 

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