South from the campground to Valley Center
SOUTHERN ROUTE.... Barton Flats (appx) to Valley Center, 110 miles, 5000' of ascension.
There's a reason I get up early to ride.... This one was def harder than the ride up.. Maybe it was that 10 day layoff.... I did not ride during the event, but got ideas from a car trip I took around Big Bear Lake... Planning to ride that route in 2020 when I return.
Alarm went off at 515
Headed out of camp at 0630.
Downhill (about 15miles of going 30+) was rough on my shoulders and neck, which made the rest of the ride not very comfortable. I managed :-) I'm not used to bombing down mountains. Looking for ideas on to better bomb down mountains... still hit nearly 40 in many portions of the descent (about 5000')
Short stop in a Yucaipa parking lot, just south of the main boulevard, mile 26. There's a Vons, but it's across the street. In hindsight, it probably would've been worth a short stop, because I was feeling the affects of the long bomb down the mountain.
Oak Glen turns into Oak Cyn south of the 10. It's a bit of a country road, heading towards Timoteo Cyn and Moonlight Rim (the west side of Lake Perris) was much more calming than going on the flat part of CA-79 (before the 1000' of climbing w/wider bike lanes right before you get to the serious climbing), I can see why the local groups choose that route.
Redlands rd (2 miles of 600'climbing) isn't bad till you pass CA-60. It gets better at its end near the entrance of Perris Lake. I took the road into the preserve. Hardly any cars.. Just how I like it. It's starting to get warm.... duh. Steep climb into Perris Lake preserve.
Signal did not trip off of Ramona Hwy when making a left onto Evans, which turned out to be a decent, smooth (watch the glass particles) road. That's Riverside county in a nutshell... no bike infrastructure to speak of. Nuevo and Menifee rds? Hmmm. both are narrow straightaways that didn't leave room for a bike to ride on. Most streets either west or east are packed dirt, so not many options. Will check if there are alternatives for the next time I do this trip. At least I could get off of Menifee rd near the end and go through a newer development near Domengoni Pkwy. (Heritage Lake, with a couple of parks where you could take a pee break (which I did for appx <10min) at mile 55.
Winchester was fun... not. Headwinds hit me right at the start. Gusts up to 20. I was cursing the wind at times. Made my first longer stop in Dutch Village (Benson rd) at mile 73. Too long. I had made a few short stops, but nothing where I sat and rested. A short jaunt brought me over to Jax cycles, without having to do any more traveling on Winchester (which is bad for bikes anyway at that point) [residential neighborhoods in Murrita Hot Springs] Ended up at the start of Margarita, which is one of the few good roads for bikes in Temecula. Continued through old downtown, before getting on Temecula hwy (I'd choose the whole of Margarita rd all the way to Jeridiah, making a right to the shopping center off of Temecula Hwy & Pechanga) . However, had to get another suntan lotion, because my other one dropped out, probably on the mountain.
it was getting pretty hot about that time... uh oh. filled up both water bottles, been drinking like a fish..... but still dehydrated.... :-(
Climbs up to Rainbow, a descent down Rice Cyn (horrible downhill, pothole infested, road) and a tough ascent up Couser Cyn (almost 4 miles worth in 90 degrees and where I tripped mile 100) I had to stop once for about 40 seconds near the top... (I don't like to do that) After the mile descent down Couser, more uphill greeted me, making a right on Lilac, which turned into W. LIlac, and into Valley Center, where I met up with some friends for a needed hot tub break. Overall, this ride was tougher than my ride up, probably because of the following:"
* later start, exposed me to the heat of the day, and in Menifee, Temecula,, it was 90+
* really thought I drank a lot of water... but the telling tale was ummmm you know where.. Amber color.....
* not taking a break earlier in the ride... my first "lunch stop" was at mile 73 at a Del Taco.. I could not find much food stops from Perris Lake, through Nuevo, or Menifee, the top of Winchester. I did want to stop earlier but carried on.
* back to back to back climbs in 90+ temps. I wasn't doing that well in Couser Cyn... that's a pretty hard climb when you've ridden 100 miles already.
I was going to complete the ride after 2 nights with my friends, but they both had things to do in SD, so I hitched a ride with one of them back home, then did a hillfest on the day I was going to ride back home in Tierrasanta.
Anyway, that's it in a nutshell. Hope it helps someone :-)