Well, I just had my first birthday in San Diego. It was a great day even though the weather didn’t treat us well.

I’ve never had a “Birthday Ride” before and there was definitely a lot of hype leading up to it. I was on email chains that had all kinds of interesting banter going on in an attempt to convince people to ride. It wasn’t me that was scaring away the troops (I hope) but mainly our route, from Rancho Santa Fe to the top of Palomar and back. It’s about a 95 mile round trip. The other issue is that there are a couple of really strong guys, and it is always painful to ride with one in particular (you know who you are :)). Anyway, those of us who wanted to more relaxed pace decided that we would leave a half hour earlier and leave from Del Mar. I chose to go with this group because I decided that on my birthday I really wanted to be social, and was not so interested in hurting all day. And trust me, it would have been all day…

So, as I woke at 5am on my birthday, I was wondering just how insane I must be. I love to sleep in and relax. Getting ready to ride before the sun comes up is not my idea of a sane way to start the day. None the less, I’m out the door and get a Sausage McMuffin with Egg on my way to the start point in Del Mar. I know, not super healthy, but it was my day and I’m was going to enjoy it!

It was definitely sprinkling in Del Mar. I got all bundled up and after everyone was loaded up on Vigil’s espresso we were off. Luckily, we had a follow car (thanks to Super Wife Becky) and had been able to put more clothing in the car.

We kept the pace really nice. We were able to talk and even laugh I had ribbons in my hair, and was feeling very birthday-ish. We crested the first climb, and the sprinkling was actually becoming rain. We hadn’t been caught by the fast group yet and we were shocked. I was wondering if they had taken a different route and somehow got ahead of us. We were on the second major climb of the ride and then the skies just let loose. I’m not kidding when I say I thought we might get hail or something. It was cold and miserable. By this point we were losing steam, and went down a long descent to Harrah’s casino. This was the rendezvous point for the follow car (Becky was the smart one who slept in). Since we beat the car, and we were freezing, Deb and I ran into the casino to get warm. What a bizarre scene we created! We were soaking wet and frozen, sitting on the big leather couches inside a casino in the middle of nowhere. The place was spotless, and we definitely looked strange, but it was like no one even noticed. Deb got the great idea to get a room to take showers and take a taxi home. I think that we would have done it except that when my soaking wet friend tried to get a room they informed us that there were no vacancies! I couldn’t believe that someplace like that in the middle of nowhere, could be completely booked!

So, we headed back out into the cold and by this time the car had arrived, so we got inside to warm up again. I had decided that I didn’t need to be this miserable on my b-day so I was going to drive home in the car and get in the hot tub. The two faster guys decided that they were going to venture on to the top of Palomar. They had somehow missed the rainstorm that we had gotten. Super Dave from my group decided he was going to ride home. I finally relented and decided to join him. It would still be a 70+ mile day, and it just meant not going up into the mountain and chancing more freezing weather.

After the birthday girl decided to go, all the troops rallied and we all decided to get it done. JJ and Bruno took the over achiever awards for doing the whole ride, but I was super proud of our group to get the ride done. Scott Kaplan really impressed me since this was his first big ride of the year.
We got back to Del Mar, had birthday cake and enjoyed the hot tub at Dave’s house. It turned out to be an amazing day, and I was happy that I got in a good ride, and an adventure with friends!