Had an interrupted night's sleep (<>) and woke up around 5:00 after getting back to sleep a little bit in the early morning. I got ready for the bike ride with Paula and Catalin, ate a bowl of oatmeal to fuel up, and packed more food for the ride than usual. I also put Gatorade mix in one of my water bottles. Was ready a little after 6:00, then Catalin sent a message saying they would be late, arriving around 6:25. I'd made them tea, so I had enough time to make myself some coffee as well for the ride down. We put my bike on the rack and headed down to the starting point for the Great Western Loop (GWL). We parked the car in the shopping center parking lot at the intersection of Jamacha Rd and Willow Glen Dr. It took a while for them to get ready to ride. I debated wearing my light jacket at the start of the ride, it was cool but not quite chilly. Eventually I decided against it, which made it rather brisk for the first three miles or so. We rode together briefly, then as we started seeing some modest ascents I pulled ahead. This became the standard operating mode for the ride. I would ride ahead to the next turn and stop to wait for them. We took Willow Glen Dr to Dehesa Rd, turning right there and riding by the Sycuan golf course. Kept going to the convenience store at the turn to stay on Dehesa Rd, and we stopped here for a break. I used the bathroom and bought a Clif bar to eat there. Not too long after this turn the more serious climbing started. Initially, I felt slow on what seemed to be fairly mild gradients, but I eventually got into more of a rhythm. It's about a 4.5-mile climb up Dehesa Rd to Japatul Rd. I got to the turn and waited for the others to show up, ate a banana while I waited. It took about 7-8 minutes for them to get there. Paula was last, and we didn't wait too long before we continued climbing a little more before enjoying a ~2-mile descent before the next climb started. It's about 4 miles, and it seemed to pass pretty quickly for me. I'd lost track of when the summit was coming up, so when I got to The Wall segment I just got out of the saddle and pushed through, pausing to take a picture of the little marker on the curb. The ride flattened out after that for a bit before another little climb up to the turn onto Lyons Valley Rd. I waited there for about 10-12 minutes for them to show up, finishing my Gatorade mix. Again Paula brought up the rear. I saw a fair number of riders on this route, many of them while I was waiting at this point. Made the turn, after a break, and enjoyed descending for a while, with some little climbs mixed in. There was a bigger climb to get up to Skyline Truck Trail, and I stopped there in the shade to wait for them to show up. Ate a gel (Birthday Cake flavor, yikes!) while I waited. There were some horses by the road, and one came over to check me out. Catalin kept going to the country store up ahead, then Paula and I rode together to this point, riding past a cow that was trotting beside the road. I was hoping for a quick break here, but they took longer than expected, getting me a little frustrated. Eventually we got going, slowed by Paula stopping to take a picture of her by a giant rooster, again leaving me a little bothered. This descent was challenging and fun, now that I know more of what to expect. Then we had a climb of over 2 miles, which was quite steep (I had to stop and change gears after my chain came on just as it got steep) at the beginning and, less so, at the end. This took us up to the left turn at a stop sign to stay on Lyons Valley Rd, with just a little more climbing until we got to the last summit of the ride. This next descent was also fun, with some pretty sharp hairpin turns to negotiate. Eventually we got to another stop sign, where Skyline Truck Trail connected into Lyons Valley Rd. More descending to Jamul Dr, which I overran before realizing my mistake and backtracking to get back on the route. More nice descending on this road until it flattened out a bit. I kept pushing the pace until we got to the right turn onto Steele Canyon Rd. Almost done now, we took this back to Willow Glen Dr and then turned left to head back to the shopping center. Felt pretty good on the ride, I was definitely slower than previous times but was happy to be able to take on 4-mile climbs without wearing out.
Avg speed = 14.8 mph. Total mileage = 42.1 mi
Avg power = 148 W. Weighted avg power = 171 W
Total elevation gain = 3770'
Avg heartrate = 132 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 120
Training Load = 198
Intensity = 78%
Glad to be done, we took our time (and a little more) to put our gear in the car and get out some snacks that Paula and Catalin had brought. We walked over to a shaded table to relax for a bit, but there was a large group of old guys smoking and talking right by us, so it wasn't that peaceful. The drive back home was uneventful, Catalin fell asleep on the drive. It was really nice of them to stop and pick me up to include me on this ride, and I'm glad we did it. Ate light when I got home, I wasn't too hungry after doing a decent job fueling during the ride. I was thirsty though. I watched a little TV, napped briefly during the episode and felt better for it. Worked on my cycling analysis program to clean up some display formatting errors, add display of average heartrate, and begin incorporating Fit file batch analysis processing. I talked to Mom, who was in good spirits, and to Ross, who really liked the lighter. Watched some TV after dinner, then read for a while. This turned out to be a very good day overall.
