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UCSD conquer Mt. Laguna

 

Route: Laguna Mountain Loop
Distance 49.6 miles
Location: East County
Difficulty (1-10): 7 - Intermediate to Advanced
Terrain: Long hard climb followed by long descent.
Climbing Elevation: 5,385 ft
Up to the Mt. Laguna Summit, a 2500' climb over 10 miles. From the summit onward thru Lake Cuyamaca it is a long descent back down to the starting point.
The group: Chris Burnham, Darlene Hunt, Tim Machado, Andrew Radin, Blair Ryan, Adam Strobl, Tammy Wildgoose.  

Last weekend, a group took advantage of the summer weekend and did a long ride out at Mt. Laguna. Everyone mentally prepared for it to be very warm, but was pleasantly surprised that once riding it was a very comfortable temperature. Chris and Adam played a little game of catch up after realizing no one had locked one of the cars and Chris headed back to lock it. Adam turned around to wait for Chris so they could climb the hill together. Although she was trying to hold them off as long as possible, they quickly caught Blair struggling up the hill. Up ahead was the group of Andrew, Darlene, Tammy and Tim. Chris and Adam had a little fun on the way up the climb throwing some attacks at each other, giving them respect for Alberto Contador’s VO2 capabilities of the past few weeks. Adam rode really well and that bodes well for his upcoming Ironman.
At the top of the climb everyone stopped at the general store and bought some popsicles and water and re-filled empty bottles adding Accelerade or other stuff to them. Unfortunately, there was a sign saying that it was not lawful to throw snowballs at vehicles or occupants without facing a fine of 6 months imprisonment.

 


The next 10 miles were rolling and everyone hit some high speeds winding through the desert. There were motorcyclists out enjoying the quick turns and they sped past, their knees almost touching the ground as they leaned into the turns. (A little too fast and close for the comfort of the cyclists.) The girls took turns pulling and kept up a really fast pace through that section. When they came to the next intersection where the guys were waiting, the motorcyclists were regrouping there as well. They said, “Man you girls were flying.”  Blair responded, “So were you...”


When filling up water bottles again at a fire station they were warned that the road ahead was ‘deadly,’ and to be careful if it was their first time down it. They found the advice valuable after Andrew took a little Tour de France style off-roading adventure around one of the tight turns. Further ahead Chris flatted, but after a tire change the group was off again.
When the cars came into view it looked like there was going to be a sprint finish, but the used tube in Chris’ back pocket fell out and reeked havoc. Chris had to stop when it wrapped around his cassette.  However, Tim was determined to finish that anaerobic burst and won the sprint up the hill.


The group finished the day off with a late Hawaiian BBQ lunch back in La Jolla…yum.

Last Updated on Thursday, 05 March 2009 14:28