Hi everyone! 

A few weeks ago, some members mentioned they were interested in riding in some new areas. Well, have we got a ride for you!

Join Team Gravity on Sunday, June 24, as we cycle from Encinitas to the Rancho Guajome Adobe (dating back to the 1850s) and the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista (less than half a mile apart).  These two vestiges of San Diego’s history would be well worth a visit anytime, but in a fortuitous convergence of schedules, next weekend the rancho is hosting Threads Thru Time, a home arts and quilt show, and the Gas and Steam Engine Museum is hosting its biannual harvest fair. Both will feature tours, exhibits, demonstrations, crafts, vendors, etc. We were told we could leave our bikes at the rancho (locked in a special enclosure) and take a hay wagon over to the museum, if we like.

There is a nominal admission charge for each event (the rancho’s is a fundraiser to help underwrite continued restoration of the site—the museum’s may be as well), and we’re working on a combined $10 ticket for both (status update as it becomes available). Food will be available at both sites for an additional charge. (We're told the rancho’s menu will include sandwiches, salads, pasta, etc., catered by a local restaurant, and the museum’s will run toward hot dogs, hamburgers and Polish sausage.) For more information, see http://historyandculture.com/guajome/ and http://www.agsem.com/ . (In case the combination ticket falls through, a $1 discount, good for four people, is available for the harvest fair if you print out the appropriate page on the museum’s site: http://www.agsem.com/2007coupon06.html .) 

The ride is about 41 miles and will include about 2500 feet of climbing and some screaming downhills. (I.e., I was screaming at Tony to slow down on a couple of them.) The terrain will range from some familiar coastal roads to some major thoroughfares (most of which have shoulders and/or bike lanes) to quiet side streets. We'll send out a route slip a little later in the week. 

The ride starts at the Oakcrest Park Community and Senior Center in Encinitas and will depart at 9 a.m. (Exit I-5 at Encinitas Blvd. and head east. A little over a mile, turn right onto Balour--it's at a light--and then left into the parking lot. ) 

We’ll probably hit the rancho, our first stop, around 11. You can certainly do this ride if you’re interested only in cycling and getting home, but you’ll be missing out on a really special experience. (We toured the rancho yesterday--see attached photo), and one woman on the tour said she’d lived in San Diego all her life and had no idea the adobe was there until a couple of weeks ago.)