Day 5, Hemet to Fallbrook

54 miles today along the road to Fallbrook. Passed trough avocado and citrus orchards. Light rain noon on.

(posted via cell phone)

UPDATE:

As we ate breakfast this morning the rumor passed through the group that there was a 30% chance of rain today. Having been in San Diego in June when they had a "rainy day" I wasn't too concerned. What they call rain in SoCal passes for heavy fog in the Pacific Northwest. I packed my goretex jacket and pants in my pack and wore wool socks but didn't go all out and carry long fingered gloves, helmet cover, and booties.

Given that I didn't have tire issues now in a couple of days I became brave and decided to ride an alternate route today. I had eyed the Sage alternate for the last several weeks. It was two miles shorter but had 1000 ft more climbing than the official route. It appeared on the map to be more rural in nature and likely to give some nice views.

I started off with a large group of riders who had decided on the same option. It was a good group of strong riders. As we made our way out of town, our group had been separated by a traffic light so we had a good chance to visit as we waited to regroup. Before long we started climbing. We all climbed at our own pace then regrouped at a turn. It was all about hanging together as a group today, at least until lunch.

We stopped as a group at California Bagel Bakery for lunch. Knowing my system's aversion to "real food" when riding I stuck with the powerbar and Ensure Plus that I had packed. We sat around for about an hour before getting back on the bikes.

After the climbing of the morning we were enjoying some generally descending runs. As the day progressed our group fragmented as fast sustained pedaling descents coupled with some scattered climbing weeded us out a bit. Before long it started raining ever so slightly. After a bit of this drip drip stuff I stopped to put on my rain gear.

It rained lightly on and off the rest of the afternoon. Probably not more than 0.01" all day, but surprising none the less. What the rain did mostly was take away the good photo ops. The views into canyons were obscured by fog and low clouds. The fabled De Luz canyon was still very pretty. The low traffic route wiggled it's way back and forth through trees and rock outcroppings.

Before long I reached Fallbrook. I had a bit of trouble finding the overnight facility again. My GPS said I had arrived, but arrived where was big question mark for me! As I was sitting at the edge of an intersection getting my paper cue sheet out to see if it had better information I noticed a familiar rider up the hill to my left about 2 blocks away. I pedaled up the hills and sure enough there was the Penske truck along with the rest of the entourage. I parked my bike under the truck to keep it out of the rain. (after checking to be sure the truck was NOT going to move before morning!)

I went into the building and visited with many of my new found biking buddies. As the afternoon progressed others pedaled in, and wet clothes began hanging from just about every place that you could hang them from! Seems that Oregonians are a bit better prepared for rain than San Diegans! I didn't have my shoe covers along so my wool socks were wet, but feet were warm.

After a filling meal the organizers had a "reverse hot seat" planned. Instead of getting up and telling everyone a bit about ourselves as we had done the first night, we stood before our compadres and answered questions or tolerated "roasting" comments. After our "trial" we got to pick a t-shirt out of the supply of donated shirts. I picked a Rock and Roll Marathon Road Crew shirt. I had some experience with the R&R Marathon so thought it was a good find.

Tomorrow is our last day. :-(




+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles Today
.................54...............0.................54
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....860.....+.........0........=.......860
April total.....790.....+.........0........=.......790
May total.......901.....+.........0........=.......901
June total......543.....+.........0........=.......543
July total.....1322.....+.........0........=......1322
August total...1603.....+.........0........=......1603
Sept total.....1403.....+.........0........=......1403
October.........503.....+.........0........=.......503
November........664.....+.........0........=.......664
December........884.....+.........0........=.......884
Year to date..10,660.....+........30.......=.....10,690 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++