Some cooler weather greeted us this morning as we rolled out from the Irvine shop and onto Irvine Blvd for our weekly ritual. There was John, Wes, Frank L, Vicki C and a couple of other riders who opted for Seal Beach instead of the 10-hill breakfast.  Don B and I peeled off at Alton and rolled into Bake getting the legs awake with a sharp stick. We met up with Dan D crossing Bake on his way to Santiago Cyn so we attempted to convince him to join us. After Glenn Ranch and Saddleback Ranch he chose the path more travelled and hit the canyon for a dig up Silverado. Live Oak went well and we enjoyed a relatively car-free spin to the wall at Trabuco Creek then did that grind up to Plano Trabuco. Sun was out at this point with superb views of Santiago Peak. Holy Jim would have been excellent today - I digress. Empty bike path along O\'Neill and more mountain views crossing the Santa Margarita bridge before hitting Melinda. Repaving near the underpass (opposite side of the street) had a lot of kitty litter on the road but nothing deep. Legs were feeling the first three climbs as we turned onto Vista del Lago for the highest grade climb of the morning - 14.3% - then drilled it down to Marguerite, followed by a pit stop at the 76 station. Marguerite is getting repaved and the asphalt has been ground (grooves) down. Forget about riding a road bike on this road, mountain bike is ok, but even the sidewalk is trashed. Really dusty from traffic and debris everywhere. After a couple of false starts, we started La Paz and enjoyed a shaded ascent almost the entire time. Perfect temps and clear skies, with a smooth bike lane made this one of my favorites today. Always feels great to see that light at the top and swing right spinning the legs out before turning onto Oso Pkwy.  Pacific Park had relatively light traffic all the way to Aliso Creek and El Toro. The 73 underpass is always sketchy with cars changing lanes rapidly and hauling ass to Laguna. Beware of the bike lane sinkhole three-quarters of the way to the 133 - it will get your attention! Standard tailwind for the 133 stretch made quick work of those miles and we were onto Laguna Canyon pronto after catching the light. Great ride today Don, look forward to getting it done again soon. Hope to see some familiar faces on this one. Have a great weekend.

Average speed: 16.2mph

Max Speed: 53mph

Ascent: 3975\'

Ride Time: 3:08