‘09 Palomar Challenge
Last Saturday I rode the Palomar Challenge for the second time. My goal was to beat last years time of 1:02:37. I was able to gain six minutes on my ‘08 time and recording a 55:12 (5th) in the timed portion of the ride. I’m happy with the time, but realize I have more work to do if I want to get under 50 minutes. The winner Rick Bienias, who rides with the SD Descenders bike club, recorded a blazing fast 48:26. Hats off to you, man!
Rick was a real nice guy and it was enjoyable to ride with him and others to the Observatory where we we found dry roads and the sun. Notice Gregg Mathy on the fixed gear in the picture below. He beat me. Pretty impressive to do Palomar on a fixie. I don’t think he sat down once. The pictures below are very deceiving and don’t show how this ride really looked and felt. It was fairly cold, foggy with limited visibility all the way up and down. 
After the timed portion we continued on to the Observatory and found the Sun
Proof I made it to the top
1st place Rick and me at the Observatory
Cervelo SLC-SL before the climb.
