Sunday, January 5, 2014

Mt. Palomar Ride





The proof. The top. We were there.
We finally got the chance to ride the epic Mt. Palomar climb this morning. If you click on some of the Strava segments in the area you'll see names like Taylor Phinney and Marco Pinotti. We were in fine company. I realized afterwards that I was slightly dillusional in thinking that I may be able to crack the top ten for the descent on the first try. It make take a couple more passes before I have the lines dialed.




Too legit.




The squad was working great together. Jason, Joe, GREG BILLINGTON (back on the squad where he belongs), Derek, and myself took turns crushing the pedals at the front, keeping our average speed in the "total beast" range. They'll sing songs of our greatness some day.

[speaking of songs, play the one at the bottom of the post if you want the full media experience.]



Taking pictures proved to be impossible most of the time while we were riding, as the wind was in the 30mph range, often coming from the side. One segment was reminiscent of windy days at Kona and I was dissapointed I couldn't snap a shot of Jason leaned at a seemingly impossible angle trying to stay upright and on the road.

Paulo followed us for a good portion of the ride and took some video of us doing our thing. He caught me in my element on one of the epic downhill segments. I like to use the whole lane. Mom, you should probably not watch this :)




The best shot I could get from the top while riding.

When we were flying back towards town with a strong tailwind, Joe Jason, and I had survived the strong pulls and hard wind and were riding towards our Mexican food fix in Ramona like it would be our last meal on this earth. We made Nuevo Grill regret their free chips and salsa policy.

I had the song below stuck in my head, and I must have been experiencing that fabled "third wind" because I couldn't stop smiling. Just me and my team mates getting better one day at a time.





I got 99 calls and...