COME CLIMB WITH US!!
MEET: 8:05 am
PRE-RIDE INFO: 8:15 am
ROLL: 8:30 am sharp
LOCATION: Frances Ryan Community Park - 390 Hidden Trails Rd. Escondido, CA 92027. 33.163132, -117.041166
LONG ROUTE:
69.32 miles with 7,730 ft of climbing. Add 10 miles if you ride to the Observatory OAB: https://www.strava.com/routes/26636493
The Frances Ryan Community Park in Escondido will be on the left-hand side of Hidden Trails Rd. Park near the bathrooms at the end of the park. We make a right onto E. Valley Pkwy, a right onto Lake Wohlford Rd. and begin a warm-up climb of about 2 miles to Wohlford Lake.
There we have some easy rollers for about 5 miles before making a right on Valley Center Rd and descending to Pala Rd. At mile 13.75 there is a traffic circle with a Hispanic market on the north side. We'll stop there to go to the bathroom and top off our water bottles.
Now the real climb begins up Pala Rd! At about mile 18.75 you will see a fork in the road where you have to turn left onto South Grade (WATCH FOR CARS when making the left turn!). The climb from the bottom of South Grade Rd to the Palomar General Store is about 7 miles. You must make a left turn to the General Store, where we'll regroup, eat, drink, etc. Faster climbers can continue up Canfield Rd. for 5 miles to the Palomar Observatory which is 10 miles OAB to the Palomar General Store.
For those doing the Long Route, we will descend down East Grade Rd. which is a nicely paved road with big sweeping turns. You’ll see Lake Henshaw on the left of the road before we turn right onto Hwy 76 (Mile 37). We will re-group at this point so we can ride west as a group. The highway doesn’t have much of a shoulder, so a group will be safer and more visible to traffic. Hwy 76 is slightly downhill most of the way, and once we get back to the fork (where we went up South Grade) it’s a fast descent down Pala Rd back to the Hispanic market (now on your right) at the traffic circle. We will have one last rest stop at this market (mile 51.5), then continue west on Pala Rd. At Cole Grade Rd we make a left for one last 2-mile climb. We will re-group at the top of the Cole Grade climb and ride the last few miles back as a group. Turning right onto Valley Center Road will take us mostly downhill with a few small bumps back to Hidden Trails Rd and Frances Ryan Community Park.
TWO SHORTER ROUTE OPTIONS:
1. Instead of descending East Grade Rd. and going back on Hwy 76 (Cuts out 14 miles)…You will descend the South Grade Rd that you came up on, so this is an OAB route. You still follow the same route as above via Cole Grade. This shortened route is 55.09 miles and Strava says 7,024 ft of climbing, and you still have the option of doing the extra 10 miles OAB to the Observatory: https://www.strava.com/routes/6620980, or,
2. Park at Harrah's Rincon Resort and Casino on Valley Center Drive (or thereabouts), and either get a head start on the group, or wait for them to pass by and join them (at about 9:15/9:30). This should shorten the long route by about 13 miles each way, for a total of 26 miles shorter.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING EXTRA HYDRATION and NUTRITION, run a TAILLIGHT, BRING EXTRA TUBES, LEVERS, CO2, and MAKE SURE YOU DOWNLOAD THE ROUTE TO YOUR GPS DEVICE, OR PRINT OUT THE TURN-BY-TURN!
Riding with a friend is always smart on a ride like this where the larger group will get separated as we climb. Lastly, make sure one or two others on the ride have your cell number!
HAVE FUN!
You don't have to be a member of R5 to ride with us, however, we do ask that you sign our Ride Waiver: https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/cmgvrr7z2iervtxxanpz9s/web/