So if it's your party....where do we ride???????? :BLAA:
I'm not saying it's my party

, it just kinda feels like it could be. Um, is now the best time to tell you that my friends in college used to call me "The Instigator?"
But hey, I'm happy to throw out a few thoughts to get things started:
I haven't been to Idyllwild, but not sure how to make a loop of it. I agree that Mt. Palomar on a Saturday would probably be annoying. But it could also be kinda fun if we got souvenir photos by the pro-photographers that hang out there!
Have you guys ridden Highland Valley Rd. north from Ramona? It would lead to Del Dios Hwy if we wanted to go west (but not good if SD Fair is happening), or east past Lake Wolford and toward Mt. Palomar. I haven't been on HVR on my bike, but I remember it was twisty with nice views and little traffic. If we went east instead of Del Dios, we could ride through Valley Center, do Palomar and the East Grade Road, or just bypass it and head down the 76.
My friend Barbara is the food/catering manager at the Santa Ysabel Casino - they have a nice patio or indoor dining with a view north to Lake Henshaw - might be nice for lunch. Or, if we just want a pit stop we could do the Mesa Grande loop which is one of my favorites. There is that great biker bar at the north end (if you like dive bars, and I think some of this crew might?).
All this would lead us to the Santa Ysabel crossroad and there are lots of options from there. Julian to Sunrise Hwy, or through Cuyamaca and roads south. Orrrrr, we could start in the south and do some of this in reverse?

I haven't ridden a lot of these roads, but they looked kinda interesting. Perhaps you can scout this weekend if you guys haven't chosen a route yet.
Anyway, that's as far as my thoughts have gone so far...
