06-08-2026 Palomar South and East Grade Ride

This was a challenging ride day. I woke up a little after 4:00 and got up around 4:30. Got dressed for a ride, cleaned the dishes and started the dishwasher, then I gathered up my food and water bottles (one with Gatorade) and headed out. I drove to Harrah's Rincon and parked in the parking lot, got there a little before 5:40. It was cool but not cold, and there wasn't a marine layer I was going to have to ride through like last time. I was rolling a little after 5:45, heading up to the 76. My left glute muscle was tight and a little sore at the beginning of the ride, but it loosened up okay. I didn't push really hard on the climb up to South Grade Rd, but I was still averaging over 200 W. Will need to dial this effort back when I ride next week. I had arm warmers on, but once I got on South Grade Rd I pushed them down, as it was a pretty nice temperature to ride in by that time. Rode up to the top in about 1:38 (I stopped once on the climb to take a picture), have done it faster but was pleased with this time. I kept going over to East Grade Rd without stopping, climbed a little more, then started the descent. I stopped soon after to take another picture, then took the descent pretty fast but still about a minute slower than last time. I wasn't as cold this time, I had put my arm warmers back on. Down to the bottom and the intersection with Hwy 76, where I stopped for a short break, got out the package of sweet potatoes that Rob had given me, and stuffed some in my mouth before starting the ascent on East Grade Rd. Those things are dense, I think I worked on chewing and swallowing them for the first two miles up. Started pretty strong but slowed down a fair amount on this second climb. I was in first or second gear nearly all of the time except for the short sections where it flattened out or descended. The last couple of miles, from mile 8 to mile 10.5 or so, were a challenge. My legs were just tired, and I couldn't generate a lot of power to put into them. I was glad when I got to the short descent to Mother's Kitchen. Did the East Grade ascent in about 1:18, pretty slow. The general store was closed, but the owner (we have met him before) pointed out that the restroom was open (I used it) and would have opened the store if I needed something. Nice guy. I don't think any vehicles passed me, either way, on the way down South Grade Rd. I was pretty fast as the beginning but slowed down somewhat especially when I got back onto the 76.  Down the sweeping turns, where I tried to brake less and keep more speed. There was a road construction crew near the roundabout, and I had to stop and wait for several minutes before getting the all-clear to continue. There is a Strava segment for riding up from the taco shop to the top, then down the East Grade, and reversing back to the taco shop. I how have the fourth fastest time for my age group on this segment, and that includes several rest stops. Back to the car, was glad to have completed this ride without any significant issues or mishaps.

Avg speed = 12.4 mph. Total mileage = 49.6 mi

Avg power = 156 W. Weighted avg power = 180 W

Total elevation gain = 7240' (new PR, soon to be eclipsed)

Avg heartrate = 131 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 145

Training Load = 277

Intensity = 82%

https://www.strava.com/activities/18839174144

I stopped at the convenience store and got a Pepsi in a cup, then drove home from there. Legs felt tired throughout the day, but otherwise I recovered fairly quickly. Got home around 10:45 and had some time to relax in the late morning before heading over in early afternoon to meet Joe Swoboda at the Bear Roots Tavern. I had a root beer there, and we talked about general topics before focusing on plans for the upcoming backpacking trip, now scheduled for 7/12 - 7/16. There are still a couple of options for routes and regions to hike in, but it looks like the days should be fairly manageable regarding hiking distance. Headed home and had a quiet afternoon, including a short nap. I then worked on adding the functionality into my cycling analysis program to break down selected ride segments into decades for assessing power output and heartrate. The basic algorithm implementation went pretty quickly, but I fooled around with the formatting and display output for a while. Still a little more work needed, but the functionality is now there. Read for a bit in the evening before going to sleep.

06-07-2026 Run/Walk

Slept well, no nap on an otherwise busy day is a good recipe. Woke up a little before 6:00 and got ready for an easy-paced, slightly longer run. Down by the park and around three times before heading back. Only my last mile had a significant negative split. I stretched before the run, and the stretching is uncomfortable, at the least. It has been too long since I stretched regularly, and it shows. I walked the last bit up the hill after running a little more than four miles.

Avg pace = 9:03/mi

Total distance = 4.11 mi

Elapsed moving time = 37:13

Avg heartrate = 118 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 8

https://www.strava.com/activities/18824475534

Got home and cooled down a bit before having some breakfast, shaving, showering, and getting ready for church. Ann was playing bells, and we had tickets from Aysha to go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for lunch and walking around. Church service was okay, still not my preferred way of spending Sunday mornings anymore. I talked to a couple of people briefly in the patio, including Joe Swoboda and John Borman. After Ann put the bells up we drove over to the Safari Park, parked, and walked in with no problems. We went initially to the new elephant enclosure, which is quite spacious and nice. Watched the elephants, including a new male who was recently introduced into the enclosure. Then we walked over to where the lunch presented by Charles Schwab was being served. I thought it might be really busy, but we got there early enough to avoid any crowds, get something to drink, and grab our food from the buffet line. Talked to a couple of people who sat at our table and said hi to Aysha (Ann chatted with her for a longer time). Then we walked to see the gorillas, then down to the Africa Tram, saw it was a 70-minute wait, and decided not to stand in line. We walked around the Africa Loop, mildly interesting, but it was getting hot. We both agreed it was time to leave, so we walked back to the car. On the drive home I forgot I'd parked my scooter at the church until Ann reminded me, so I had to backtrack a little bit to get over there and retrieve it. Got home, was quite tired, but I was able to limit my nap to a short time. The rest of the afternoon was quiet. I talked to Mom in the late afternoon, she was weak but perked up during the call. Still getting over the effects of last week's adverse reaction to the antibiotics. After dinner I talked to Ross for quite a while. Most of the conversation was good, but he was in a mood, and it got tense for a time when we talked about his relationship with Ben. We got through it with no harsh words spoken. Ann and I watched TV after that, and that was the evening.

Non-fiction books to read:

    Checkmate by Ben Mezrich

    Regime Change by Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan

    The Yahoo Boys by Carlos Barragan

    Catch the Devil by Pamela Colloff

    Sisters of the Midnight Sun by Rebecca Wright Stevens

    

06-06-2026 Ride

Woke up earlier than planned, so I took my time getting ready for the Bisikleta ride. I had some cereal for breakfast and unloaded the dishwasher, also put the few dirty dishes in. Got my food and water gathered up and headed out around 6:50. Didn't put a lot of power into the ride over there, which took me through the neighborhood and then the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, including rides up to the top of Camino San Thomas and Four Gee Rd. Andy (new Toyota Four Runner) and Perse were already there, and James and Paula showed up soon after. Rob, Fritz, and Jed A. were there at the start as well. We headed down CdS, and along the way we found Kamal, who must have started before us. Over to Torrey Meadows Dr, where we turned right and took it over the 56 before connecting to Torrey Santa Fe Rd, taking a left there and riding back to CdS. We used that road to get to the 56 bike path, heading west for a while until turning off to get to Rancho Santa Fe Farms Rd, where we turned right and took it into a fancy part of Fairbanks Ranch. I had forgotten that there is a short, sharp climb on this road right after the first descent. Perse and Fritz attacked on this climb, and I didn't have a suitable response right away. I eventually caught Perse but couldn't do the same with Fritz before we turned left onto Rancho Diegueno Rd. There is a little rise at the turn, but it is followed by a great, winding descent that you can take without braking if you are a little brave. This took us down to San Dieguito Rd, where we turned left and rode in a ragged pace line for a while. This might have been Paula's first time in a pace line, certainly the first time with Bisikleta. We rode over to ECR, turning right and taking it to VdlV, where we turned left and headed toward the coast. For a change I had us turn right onto Cedros Ave and take it through Solana Beach until we used Lomas Santa Fe to get to PCH. Once we got onto this road Fritz and Rob were pushing the pace pretty hard. I stayed with them, but it was an effort. We rode through Cardiff and turned right on Chesterfield Dr, then right again on San Elijo Ave. James and I were out front on this stretch. The road connects into Manchester Ave, which we followed through the turn (me and Fritz in the lead, with Jed coming up) and over to RSF Rd. We stopped at the corner and had our break at Champagne Bakery (I bought coffee for Andy and Perse). From there we continued on RSF Rd to La Bajada, where we climbed toward RSF village. Onto Los Morros, where we started a descent. I was in the lead and turned onto San Elijo Ave, others followed, but Kamal missed the turn. He needed to get back home sooner than we did, so we ended up letting him know to continue on this shorter route back. The rest of us rode up to Via de Fortuna, turned left, and took this gradual climb all the way to El Camino del Norte. Rob had gotten out ahead of the rest of us, so Fritz and I tracked him down and passed him. I was hanging with Fritz, but it was an effort. Got to the turn and headed right, taking this road down to Paseo Delicias, where we turned right (sun was starting to come out around this time) and headed back to VdlV. A left turn there, and I waited for everybody to make the turn. Andy had dropped his chain, so I was pretty far back by this time. We rode down to Via de Santa Fe and then took it and El Apajo back to San Dieguito Rd. I had already started passing folks before the Three Witches climb, and I had a tailwind to help me along on this climb. Caught James pretty quickly, then Rob around the second part of the climb, and I saw Fritz in the distance. I closed the gap but couldn't catch him before we got back to CdS. He and I waited after the turn for the others to show up, Andy was last, along with Jed serving as the sweeper. We all rode back from here to Paseo del Sur and used it to get back to the Target parking lot. Fritz was in the lead here, along with me, and Jed was hanging with us as well. We all pushed a pretty brisk pace all the way back to the starting point, and it was an effort for me. I stayed around and waited for everybody to make it back before I headed home the new normal way. Again, I had the benefit of a tailwind coming from the southwest to help me along, otherwise I would have taken the shorter route. Felt good on this ride, legs were still fairly fresh at the end, even though I pushed harder throughout the ride than I've done in a while.

Avg speed = 16.7 mph (16.9 mph). Total mileage = 50.7 mi

Bisikleta route avg speed = 17.5 mph

Avg power = 143 W. Weighted avg power = 176 W

Total elevation gain = 2890' (2930')

Avg heartrate = 124 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 85 (98)

Training Load = 232

Intensity = 80%

https://www.strava.com/activities/18814190563

Got home, had some lunch, then Ann and I drove around 1:20 over to Old Poway Park for a San Diego Folk Heritage Society concert by the Gazebo. We saw two acts: The Winter Sisters (a trio of female singer/songwriters - Cathryn Beeks, Bonnie Nichols, and Sande Lollis) and Fast Heart Mart (Martin Stamper, a banjo player). The latter act was better, but neither one was good enough that I would go back to see them. Drove home after the concert and had a quiet rest of the afternoon and evening. Ann and I watched some TV after dinner.

06-05-2026 Run/Swim

Slept pretty well, woke up before 5:00 (<!>). I got up a little after 6:00 and got ready for a run with Heather. Stretched more than usual, will see if it helps. We ran down to the park and then twice around the lower-level figure eight circuit I had mapped out before running back and making the turn onto Aguamiel Rd before we stopped, having gotten to 5k. Was a relaxed pace for me, but we got a little faster after the first mile.

Avg pace = 10:03/mi

Total distance = 3.22 mi

Elapsed moving time = 32:21

Avg heartrate = 112 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 6

https://www.strava.com/activities/18797253732

Got back, had some toast for breakfast and chatted a little bit with Heather, Kathy, and Ann before getting ready for a swim with Avi at the WWC, meeting around 9:00. We got there just in time, had two lanes next to each other before the other lanes filled up. We did a warmup 200, then four 250s at tempo. Here are the times for the 200 and four 250s: 3:45, 4:18. 4:29, 4:24, 4:26. I was really flailing on the last 250, not much energy left, poor style, and lots of strokes. Avi really pushed in the last 250, got close to 4:00 I'm guessing. Then I got out to let Blaine have the lane while Avi swam a cooldown 50. I forgot to set up my camera, so I used the Zepp data downloaded to Strava (pretty decent now that it excludes pauses) to make the split calculations.

Avg pace = 1:47/100 yds (Video, not counting pauses)

Total distance = 1200 yds

Elapsed moving time = 21:22 (Video)

Avg heartrate = 119 bpm (seems low)

Relative Effort = 10 (also low)

SWOLF = 35

Avg stroke rate = 22 bpm (more strokes to try and keep a high pace)

Avg pull distance = 2.44 yds

https://www.strava.com/activities/18799199013

Had some cereal when I got home, then relaxed for a while. Talked to Ben about Mom and her adverse reaction to a prescription for antibiotics. She was vomiting and having diarrhea. He had calmed down a bit, was a decent conversation, not too dramatic. In the afternoon I went out in the back yard and cut back the sumac and pepper tree shoots, including behind the fence. Never my favorite task, although the sumac bushes that I cut back to stumps aren't throwing any or many shoots off. A bigger problem are the pepper tree roots, which are all over and around the fence. In the late afternoon I rode my scooter to Esco, parked, and met the others to walk through the first Friday of Cruisin' Grand this year. Kathy and Heather love old cars, it was mildly interesting. We walked around for about an hour, then split as they headed for dinner with Kay and I rode home, stopping to pick up a burrito on the way. Watched some TV and read in the evening.

Years that folks passed:

Tommy and Millie - 1990

Doug - 2005

Dad - 2012

06-04-2026 Run/Walk

Woke up during the night and tried to read, but I soon fell back asleep. I woke up for good around 5:00, read for a while, then got up and got ready for a run. Left the house a little after 6:00 and headed down to the park, but I changed my path in the park in an attempt to find a flatter route to run with Heather on Friday. I was successful, but this route is more winding and likely slower. I basically ran this little double loop twice before heading back home and getting to the target 5k distance before climbing back to the house. I did stretch before the run, again it seemed to help loosen up tightness in my legs.

Avg pace = 9:04/mi

Total distance = 3.13 mi

Elapsed moving time = 28:27

Avg heartrate = 115 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 5

https://www.strava.com/activities/18783844986

Got home and had some cereal and a banana for breakfast, then I made some coffee. I talked to Kathy and Heather when they came down, and Ann eventually came down as well. I went upstairs and updated my 2026 events log as well as exploring details of the planned ride up Haleakala that's coming up. Looks like I will take a similar route from Paia up to the top and back, which will add another 10 miles or so, thankfully flat, to the start of the ride from Kihei. That should still work out okay, but it is definitely going to be a challenge. The four of us left the house around 8:15 and drove down to the San Diego Zoo, arriving there right after it opened. As soon as we got in we walked over to the panda exhibit, which opened at 9:30. It was moderately interesting, we haven't seen these animals in many years. After this we walked through other parts of the zoo. The polar bear exhibit was a letdown, they weren't out in the enclosure. Other areas were okay, I was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt, and I could have used a hoodie. We ended up walking around four miles before we got back to the car. Stopped in Mira Mesa and had Chinese food at a restaurant near where Emily works. It was disappointing for me, higher prices than the food quality indicated. I was pretty tired by this point, so I had a nap after we got back home, felt much better after that. Also read in the afternoon. Worked on my cycling analysis code as well, cleaned the code up a bit and improved the display of the elevation profile so that it now shows the smoothed data. The evening was quiet. I watched a little TV and read, then went to sleep.

06/03/2026 Ride

World Bicycle Day. I woke up around 5:00, had gone to sleep early the previous night. Got ready for a ride over to John's house, where I left a little early and took an easier pace on the way. Standard route there, fairly slow and steady up that last little climb. He and Jayden were out, and Vivian came out just before we left. We headed back down the hill to Sabre Springs Pkwy, taking it over to the bike path that leads down to I-15. Then we rode up to Scripps-Poway Pkwy and went down the hill on Mercy Rd to Black Mountain Rd. Climbed from there up to the 56, John was particularly slow on this climb (he'd been doing yard work the previous days), and this was true throughout the ride. We rode to Carmel Mountain Rd and took a left there, enjoying a slight downhill over to CdS, where we turned left. We rode down to Park Village Rd, turned left there, and then headed back to Black Mountain Rd to complete a little loop. Right turn on Black Mountain Rd, taking it into Mira Mesa and up to Miramar Rd. A left turn there got us onto Pomerado Rd, and from there we took the usual way back to John's house. He was quite slow on this stretch, especially the last little climb, so I did some little loops through the neighborhood at the top of the climb while I waited for him. One minor modification to the way back, we turned on Candy Rose Way, which is more of a straight descent that I thought would be better for him. I stayed for smoothies and conversation with him and Vivian after that part of the ride. They showed me the landscaping work they are doing in their back yard., and we talked a little bit about their upcoming trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs. Then I rode home, more slowly than usual, taking the usual way via Bernardo Center Dr.

Avg speed = 14.1 mph (14.3 mph). Total mileage = 40.6 mph

Avg power = 113 W. Weighted avg power = 137 W

Total elevation gain = 2600' (2660')

Avg heartrate = 106 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 31 (31)

Training Load = 128

Intensity = 62%

https://www.strava.com/activities/18772994755

Ann and the others were gone when I got home, I had a little time to relax before shaving, showering, and getting ready for my volunteer shift at the hospital. Ate lunch there, as usual. A new med tech, Matthew, came in at 3:00. Other than that, there were the usual nurses and techs. Got busy at the end, so I left a little bit late and got back home around 5:00. Emily and Caleb came over for dinner with us, Kathy, and Heather, and it was a nice dinner and conversation outside, although it got a little chilly. The conversation moved inside, and I listened for a while until they started talking about reality TV shows, at which point I went into the kitchen, finished cleaning, and then went upstairs.

06/02/2026 Ride

Had set my alarm to go off at 4:45, and it woke me up. I dressed for the ride in the dark, went down and loaded up some food and water bottles (Gatorade in one), then drove down to CVR by Torrey Pines SB and parked on the street. Unloaded my bike and kitted up for the ride, then I rode up to PCH and turned left to ride down to the coast and to the base of Torrey Pines Rd. First climb was fine, I rode at moderate pace but tried to keep it smooth and consistent, knowing that there were a lot more to follow. First loop up and then back down took me about 13 minutes, from there it was a series of repeats. I stopped at the top after five climbs and ate a banana, then continued on for another five loops until stopping again and eating a granola bar. By this point I had half convinced myself to ride a total of 16 loops, depending on how I felt as I got closer to the target. I was able to ride up in third gear for the first 13 loops or so, and for the last three I switched down to second gear in the middle of the climb, where it was a little steeper. For the last climb I was in first gear for that same stretch. Legs held out, my back was a little stiff, but the descents helped me stretch a little bit. Had some issue in the latter part of the ride with numb hands, particularly my left hand, but it wasn't too much of a bother. When I got to the top on the last one, I saw that I needed a little more elevation gain to get to 7000'. So I rode down the hill and climbed into Del Mar, getting to the stoplight at Del Mar Heights Rd before taking a U-turn and riding back down to where I'd parked the car. Here are the times, power, and heartrate values for the 16 climbs, from the Strava segment results:

1. 8:59     224 W     142 W
2. 9:05     225 W     144 bpm
3. 9:06     229 W     147 bpm
4. 9:18     223 W     145 bpm
5. 9:35     212 W     141 bpm
6. 9:42     209 W     137 bpm (note how my average heartrate dropped as my times got longer and my average power decreased as well)
7. 9:23     215 W     140 bpm (after warming up, I was able to generate a little more power at the same average heartrate)
8. 9:24     213 W     138 bpm
9. 8:56     225 W     141 bpm (this is probably where a guy passed me at the bottom, and I caught up with him, then he passed me, so I put in a bigger effort and dropped him, this was my highest ratio of power to heartrate)
10. 9:32     205 W     138 bpm
11. 9:12     215 W     143 bpm
12. 9:39     205 W     141 bpm
13. 9:57     200 W     140 bpm (in my last four or so climbs I noticed that my power-to-heartrate efficiency started to drop off)
14. 10:14   193 W     139 bpm
15. 9:52     198 W     139 bpm
16. 9:46     198 W     142 bpm (nice that my last climb wasn't my slowest)

From my analysis, I was more efficient at the start as I was warming up and at my freshest (first two climbs), then I dropped into a steady state for the next two climbs, followed by a higher-efficiency period where my power:heartrate ratio was measurably lower for about six climbs. Then I dropped back to steady-state efficiency for the next five climbs, while my last climb showed another measurable drop-off in this ratio as I started to tire more. By the way, my crank and bottom bracket functioned just fine, it seemed like there was less creaking noise coming from the bottom bracket, so perhaps the lubrication had some beneficial effect.

Avg speed = 14.4 mph (14.4 mph). Total mileage = 55.3 mph

Avg power = 152 W. Weighted avg power = 194 W

Total elevation gain = 7040' (!) (7070')

Avg heartrate = 128 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 145 (143)

Training Load = 306

Intensity = 88%

https://www.strava.com/activities/18759335261

Drove home after loading up my gear and got there a little after 10:00. Haleakala is definitely going to be a challenge for me. I had the house to myself for a bit until the others returned from a walk down to the park and back. We ended up going to lunch at a new place in RB, Bushfire Kitchen. It was okay, prices were high (of course) for what they served, food was decent but not great. Stopped at Von's after lunch and then headed home. The rest of the afternoon was quiet. I had a little nap and watched some TV, nothing useful done. Evening was also quiet, read a fair amount. I started re-reading The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner after finishing The Making of the Atomic Bomb.