Tuesday Ride Report - Highland Valley Loop

Our starters today were Mary Ann, Matt, Maurice, and me. We went out under a bit of the June gloom, but had advance warning from Maurice that the sun was already shining in Ramona. Maury was certainly prepared for that with a new piece of sun-protection gear, a nose shade, attached to his sunglasses. I gotta say that the color choice was very good as it matched his helmet and bike. I'm thinking maybe they aren't for me, but then again, I bet they improve his aero profile. And these days I regularly wear white arm covers that Maurice first introduced me to on another VVV ride.
 
Mary Ann seemed to have been daunted by the awesome quality of the ridership today and after our blistering early pace decided to take a kinder, gentler route home. Hopefully, you were able to add enough mileage to make it worthwhile Mary Ann! Little did you know that five minutes later we stopped for breakfast in Poway and took four hours to finish the rest of the loop.
 
Not.
 
We actually pushed on fairly quickly and eventually found Rick waiting for us at Iron Mountain. Wow, it has been awhile since you made it to a ride, Rick ...that must be a good economic indicator. From Iron Mountain, it was up and down Mount Woodson and Maurice gave us a lesson in how to navigate the Hwy 67 descent to Highland Valley.
 
This ride is all about Highland Valley Road, and as usual, it did not disappoint. We had a fast paceline going through the grasslands and hit the hills hard. The twisty descents almost went by too fast, but I think we managed to extract a bit of exhilaration from them.  Our ride time was just 2hrs and 30mins today and I have the sore legs to prove it.
  
No coffee stop this week, Highland Valley Road needs a doughnut shop I guess, but next week's ride will make up for it...
 
Little Italy
Date: Tuesday June 21, 2011
Time: 8:00am
We visit Trattoria Fantastica and speak Giro.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/192224
 
And don't forget the Thursday time trial, where you can set your own land speed record: http://www.vvvelo.com/bcitt.html
 
Cheers,
Steve