Cote de Tolosa recon

Yesterday, Karl and I rode the route that Blake proposed for Cote de Tolosa 4 coming up at the end of May. We both were wishing for end of May fitness by the time we rolled in just before sunset. The day started a little bit late due to two of the guys starting with us having less than impeccable ride manners. One of them showed up with two flat tires and no pedals on his bike! We should have taken it as an omen. Even with the late start it was chilly, and everybody was happy to get on the first climb at about 8 miles in. The dirt Old Stagecoach Rd. had everybody well warmed by the top. We cruised though Santa Margarita and south down Pozo where I got a rear flat. It was a little micro staple of some sort. Not even a Kevlar belt would have prevented that. Karl and I turned into the Rinconada trailhead and took a break for lunch. Almost immediately after starting the single track climbing the valve stem on Karl's rear tubular pulled out. After replacing that tire we got going again. Lot of steep twisty single track - hike a bike in part we got to the meadow and began the dirt road climbing to the High Mountain Lookout. Not a moment too soon as my back was starting to seize up. The descent was sketchy and at one point I can so close to losing my front wheel it wasn't funny. Closest I've come to a high speed crash in a while. At the gate where High MT. Lookout and High Mountain intersect it was a long wait for Karl. One of his spokes pulled out of the rim and he was forced to ride the 25 mile home with a wobbly and rubbing rear - no fun. The last hour or so of pavement back to the winery against a moderate headwind were a bit of a suffer fest. This is a much harder ride than the first three with about 45 minutes to an hour of extra saddle time. Mentally it's harder as well having to battle head wind home after torturing yourself on the dirt.