02-17-2026 Swim/Ride

Slept okay, although I did wake up in the night and read for a good while. When I got up, the scooter replacement battery had arrived, so I unpacked it and installed it with minimal difficulties, checked to make sure it worked, then put everything back together. I had to hustle a little bit to get ready for a swim at the WWC, it was clear on the way over but a little cooler than usual. There was a surprisingly large number of people waiting to get in when it opened, and several people were swimmers. But I got my preferred lane and started my swim. No real energy for a swim on this day, I couldn't consistently maintain 20 strokes/length. Tried to keep my posture flat, with only limited success. I think I need more speed drills, like pyramids or fast 100s and 50s. Swam the last 550 yds with swim fins. Here are the times for the 4 500s and the last 50: 9:29, 9:47, 9:48, 8:49, 0:51. Elapsed swimming time was 38:44.

Avg pace = 1:53/100 yds (Video, not including pause before last 550)

Total distance = 2050 yds

Elapsed moving time = 38:44 (Video)

Avg heartrate = 173 bpm (Zepp, nope)

Relative Effort = 133 (nope)

SWOLF = 37

Avg stroke rate = 21 bpm

Avg pull distance = 2.36 yds

https://www.strava.com/activities/17430407407

I had some cereal and a banana for breakfast when I got home, then drank some coffee as well. I worked on adding Refresh Token functionality to my Dropbox file access program so that I don't have to go in regularly and generate a new access token. With the help of Claude AI (I think it did a much better job than Gemini for providing code samples and detailed explanations, after a few iterations I was successful in getting the program to run, then adding in the ability to scan the upload folder for all FIT files and copy any new files over to the PC. It is pretty neat. Had leftover pizza for lunch. Some of the program development work happened in the afternoon, during which I also got a bike ride in. Was hoping to ride without getting rained on, but I did ride through some light rain, not really enough to get either me or the roads wet. Headed down by the park and over to Highland Valley Rd, turning there and initially planning on just riding the flats. But when I got to the bottom of the first climb I kept going, slowly, but up to the summit, continuing on to Bandy Canyon Rd, where I turned left and rode over to Sky High Rd, taking it up to its end and then turning around and retracing my route back to Pomerado Rd. The descent was particularly sketchy, wind was trying to blow me off balance, so I rode the brakes for most of it until near the bottom. Headed south on Pomerado Rd, intending to get a few more miles in before turning around. Once I got past RB Rd, I started feeling some raindrops hitting me, so it was getting time to cut it short. I rode up to the hospital through a couple of minor light rain, then I turned around there and started heading back. As soon as I did, I got more rain, and it was fairly constant but light all the way back to RB Rd. Not too bothersome, but it did impel me to ride a little faster and get home before the rain started up in earnest. Home the normal way from there via Bernardo Center Dr and Duenda Rd.

Avg speed = 14.5 mph. Total mileage = 19.7 mi

Avg power = 133 W. Weighted avg power = 164 W

Total elevation gain = 1450'

Avg heartrate = 115 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 22

Training Load = 78

Intensity = 75%

https://www.strava.com/activities/17432853857

Got home and had a shower, which felt good. Then I continued working on the FIT file program, starting the process of figuring out how to pull data (there's a lot more than what gets passed to Strava) out of this file. I guess I'll start small and add more data as time passes. I watched a little TV during the afternoon as well. Ann went to bell choir practice in the evening, I watched some TV and read. Finished Joh Scalzi's Zoe's Tale during the day and started Easy Money by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman. I may have read this book before, although I didn't log it at the time.

02-16-2026 Run

Slept fitfully, so did Ann. Too much coffee. I had some yogurt in the night, got up around 6:30 and got ready to meet Joe for breakfast at Pegah's Kitchen. Went out into the garage and found my scooter battery was dead because I didn't turn the lights off. Dammit! Ann was asleep, so I drove the car instead. Nice talk, mostly about Joe - retirement thoughts, Lindsay and family, the summer backpacking trip. I drove back and chilled for a while before going out for a run, hoping to get it in before the rain came. No such luck. It started as I was coming by the park on the way back, and it got pretty heavy. Got rather wet running back home without stopping. My pace on this run was intentionally slower, aiming for 8:30-9:00 miles. No pain in my right leg, although I could feel a little tightness there. Probably need to stretch before running.

Avg pace = 8:54.mi

Total distance = 3.31 mi

Elapsed moving time = 29:31

Avg heartrate = 127 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 9

https://www.strava.com/activities/17419540327

Dropped the medical forms over to Rob and Isabelle's house after I got back and changed into dry clothes. Chatted a little with Isabelle about retirement and some travel stuff. I had leftover Thai food for lunch, then Ann went off to play Mah-Jongg Ata neighbor's house. In the afternoon I worked with Arnold on getting a t-shirt designed and made for the Bisikleta century. I also took the scooter battery out by removing the seat and the under-seat well. Tried to trickle-charge that battery back to life but had no luck. So I used Emily's Amazon Prime account to order another battery for overnight delivery. Watched some TV in the late afternoon. Throughout the day I was playing around with the idea of automatically downloading my Wahoo Elemnt data, as a .FIT file, to Dropbox so I could pull the files out and save them for analysis by my cycling program. This file format is richer in data than the GPX files I've been downloading from Strava. Made incremental success in setting up the files to be uploaded to Dropbox once created, then in the evening I was successful in using Gemini to create Python code that finds the file in Dropbox and sends it to a Windows folder. It's pretty awesome. Need to implement a refresh token routine so I don't have to update the access token every time I want to run the program, that's the next step. Ann and I watched some TV in the evening. 

02-15-2026 Ride

Slept a little fitfully, not sure why. I got up just after midnight, was pretty hungry, so I had some cereal. Got back to sleep after that and woke up around 6:15. Got ready for an easy-paced bike ride, but this time I replaced the cleat on my right shoe so it would clip in and stay clipped in. Through the neighborhood, staying on Matinal Cir until I turned right on Matinal Rd, then right again on W Bernardo Dr. Up past the HP site, legs were definitely informing me that they were sore from the previous day, so I took it slow. Over to Bernardo Center Dr, turning right and taking it to Carmel Valley Rd, down the hill and then back up to Black Mountain Rd. Then down to CdS, turning right there and riding over to Lasanja Dr, turning left there and riding through this neighborhood. To Camino de la Rosa, left there, then left again on Camino de la Luna. I rode to the bottom and then climbed back up to Camino de la Rosa, turning right and then left onto Via Fiesta. To Via Inez and then Via Azul to get back to CdS. I then rode to Paseo del Sur (PdS) and took it through the Del Sur neighborhood, with a right on Haaland Glen, another right on Paseo Montenero, and then a left on Kristen Glen to get back to PdS. I stayed on this road to Four Gee Rd, with a right onto Campania Ave. Left on Camino San Thomas and up to Paseo de Linda, turning right and heading down to Albert Ave. I turned left there, then right on Ralphs Ranch Rd to get back to Paseo de Linda, which I took to 4S Ranch Pkwy, turning right there. Up to RB Rd and over to Town Square Pkwy, heading into the parking lot and riding to Mostra Coffee to meet Rob Fogarty. We had a long chat about his upcoming brain surgery to alleviate symptoms of a hyperactive facial nerve condition he has been dealing with. Scary but apparently treatable. Also talked a fair amount about retirement planning, including drawing on Social Security. I had a large coffee, which I'm sure made me extra jittery for the rest of the day. Rode home from there the normal way via RB Rd and W Bernardo Dr. Of course, my legs felt much better after the coffee.

Avg speed = 14.8 mph. Total mileage = 19.9 mi

Avg power = 129 W. Weighted avg power = 159 W

Total elevation gain = 1500'

Avg heartrate = 112 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 18

Training Load = 73

Intensity = 72%

https://www.strava.com/activities/17409012823

When I got home, during the day I swapped out my Gatorskin tires for the Enve tires, at least until I swap them back before the century ride. Ann and I also went to lunch at Thai Thai in south Escondido, near Brotherton Rd. Food had the right level of spice but wasn't as flavorful as other Thai food restaurants we've eaten at. In the late afternoon I worked a little bit on the cycling analysis program to improve the format of the decade statistics that I figured out how to generate. Watched some TV, but it was otherwise a quiet rest of the day.

02-14-2026 Ride

Woke up in the night and finished my book, then got a little more sleep before it was time to get up. Ate some cereal, cleaned up the kitchen of a few dishes, then I got ready for a bigger-than-usual Bisikleta ride. I ended up having to swap out my power meter battery, so thatade me a little late to leave home. Through the neighborhood and then the old short route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood. Perse and Andy were already there, I wasn't sure how many would show up. Eventually, we had 11 riders: Perse, Andy, Jed, Jed A., Charlie, Nel, Arnold, Fritz, James, and Paula. Fritz arrived just as we were taking off, so I sent the others on and rode back to ride with Fritz and Jed A. We rode on CdS to RB Rd, I was pushing the pace to catch up to the others. Was cool but not cold by this time. We caught them at W Bernardo Dr, then 8 led the group over to Pomerado Rd, turning left there. Paula was hanging in there pretty well in the early part of the ride. I should mention that I had noticed I had a broken right cleat before I even got started but didn't have time to swap it out. So my right shoe would periodically pop off of the pedal, often when I was trying to put in a bigger effort. Was just luck that I didn't bang my shin on the crank and hurt myself. We rode down to the lake and crossed it (all except James) using the pedestrian bridge. Then we rode over to BVP and kept heading north. I had hung back and then missed a couple of lights, so Jed A. and I had to hustle to connect back with the group. We caught the tail end, and the others were waiting just before the left turn onto Citrus Ave. I got out ahead again and led the group on this stretch back over to BVP. Right turn there, over to Valley Pkwy, where we headed up to Valley Center. I was at the back as we started this climb. Made my way past the group, Arnold and Fritz were talking in the lead. I passed them and kept spinning, initially in third gear but dropping to a combination of first and second throughout the rest of the climb. Got to the top, just a little off my PR and 11th fastest form my age group. I think I could push a little harder to get into the top 10. Waited for the others to show, Jed was there along with Arnold. Paula was middle of the pack. After everyone was there we continued down and over to Lilac Rd, turning left there. Several riders stripped off their cool-weather gear here, and we had to wait for James to replace his HR monitor battery. I ate a little something here. We continued on, and shortly after this Romeo showed up. He had ridden up W Lilac Rd to meet us. He was hammering the pace, especially on the descents, and I struggled to keep up with him, usually catching him on the climbs. We turned on W Lilac Rd, really nice road to ride on but has its share of ups and downs. Romeo and I were out front. There was another rider who was going fast, especially on the descents, and I was putting in a big effort to catch up to him. Eventually we got to the arch bridge over I-15, where I waited for the others to show up. Took some video there, then we enjoyed (most of us) the nice downhill into Bonsall. Romeo was out front, and Arnold and I were chasing him. Near the bottom, here came James on the attack. Got to the stop sign at Camino del Rey, waited for the others to show up, then we turned right and took it over to Old River Rd. Followed this south through a neighborhood and eventually crossed the 76 getting on S13. There was a steady climb here, and I started at the back. Had to work hard to pass everybody, Jed and Arnold last. After it flattened out, Arnold passed me and gapped me, couldn't close the distance. We rode down to Bobier Dr and stopped at a Chevron station for the mid-ride break. I ate a banana while waiting here. Thankfully it wasn't too long, although I was watching the time and starting to calculate how fast I'd need to ride to get home by 1:00. After the break we headed west on Bobier Dr and headed generally down to Melrose Dr. On the S13 Romeo had started to cramp up, so he was planning on turning right on Melrose Dr and heading back home, but his legs felt better after the break, so he stayed with us at the left turn. I was a little worried about the amount of climbing on this road, but it turned out to be generally downhill until we passed under the 78, then there were a couple of small climbs until we got to Sycamore Ave. I gapped the others here, even though I didn't feel like I was riding fast. Left on Sycamore Ave, which we used to get to Santa Fe Ave. I've been on Sycamore Ave before, but I don't think I've ridden in this direction. It has some rollers but is a nice stretch of road, taking us back to the other side of the 78. We gathered back up after the right turn, and that was the last I saw of the big group. James had gotten out in front, so I pushed to catch up to him and then pass him. Jed A., Jed, and Arnold were generally riding with me, although I was leading nearly all the time. We rode over to Mission Rd and turned on it to head back into Escondido. This stretch had a favorable tailwind helping us along, and I was glad for that, my high effort level was starting to catch up to me. I still led, and the others were content to follow, as we passed through San Marcos and eventually turned right on Quince St. I needed to keep pushing after the turn, so James and I left the others behind and rode back toward our house. To 13th Ave and over to Centre City Pkwy, then the usual way home, across the freeway, from there. James was still feeling good, so I did all I could to stay on his wheel, mostly with success. When we crossed the freeway, there were two broken down cars in the emergency lane, and it was definitely sketchy going into the freeway car lane to get by them. Don't want to have to do that again. The last two climbs were painful, my legs were basically done, and James gapped me as we rode past the park. The route had us going by our house, so he rode with me to the house and then continued on. I was definitely glad to be done with this ride, it was a bigger effort than expected. More training needed before I will feel comfortable sustaining this effort level for 100 miles.

Avg speed = 16.6 mph. Total mileage = 72.8 mi

Avg power = 148 W. Weighted avg power = 172 W

Total elevation gain = 4250'

Avg heartrate = 132 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 164

Training Load = 308

Intensity = 78

https://www.strava.com/activities/17398983795

I got home in plenty of time to actually have something to eat, shave, and shower before we drove over to the California Center for the Arts in Escondido for an Eastern Swing dance class. Crazy coincidence, Amy and Ed van Liew were at the class as well. We chatted with them a little before class started. The teacher, Mercedes Moore, was very engaging, and her teaching style helped me a lot, although I was definitely a slow starter. Felt a little more comfortable at the end of the class. It was a little awkward switching partners, but we had to do it, since there were more followers than leaders. I kept pretty busy, and the females were mostly forgiving. The class was energizing, we'll see about going to future classes as well. Drove home after that, and the rest of the day was pretty quiet. Heart-shaped pancakes for dinner, thankfully easy to clean. I made some modifications to my ride analysis program to allow me to view the average power levels for every 10 miles. More work to be done there to report them in some kind of format. That was the day.

02-13-2026 Swim/Walk

Slept decently, was a long exercise day (<>). Got ready for a swim at the WWC.  It was busier than normal, maybe because it's a Friday. But I got my own preferred lane. Swam 1050 yds, the last 50 because I lost track of the lap count. Here are the splits for the two 500s and the last 50: 9:21, 9:35, 0:56. I took a short break and then swam a backstroke 100, which was interesting. Was difficult to orient myself in the pool, I think lane markers may help me there, especially if I can track when I'm getting close to the wall. This 100 was done in 3:13. Interestingly, my watch detected that I was swimming the backstroke. For the freestyle portion, here are the stats:

Avg pace = 1:54/100 yds (Video, not including short pause)

Total distance = 1050 yds

Elapsed moving time = 19:52 (Video)

Avg heartrate = 142 bpm (Zepp, maybe)

Relative Effort = 19 (maybe)

SWOLF = 38

Avg stroke rate = 22 bpm

Avg pull distance = 2.25 yds

https://www.strava.com/activities/17386112253

Here are the backstroke data:

Avg pace = 3:13/100 yds (Video)

Total distance = 100 yds

Elapsed moving time = 3:13 (Video)

Avg heartrate = 131 bpm (Zepp)

Relative Effort = 1

SWOLF = 65

Avg stroke rate = 20 bpm

Avg pull distance = 1.44 yds

https://www.strava.com/activities/17386112325

Got home, made some coffee, and had cereal and yogurt for breakfast. I'd eaten a cookie and a banana before the swim. Then I did the dishes and headed out into the front yard to work on weeding the gravel path. Finished this part of the work, next is to apply weed-killer to the ground before putting the gravel back down. Watched some TV during the day, had a nap (was pretty tired), then I went to Von's and got some supplies to make the ingredients for bean and rice burritos. Came home and cooked the items up, then put some in the refrigerator and some in the freezer. Read a fair amount in the afternoon as well. Evening was quiet, watched some TV with Ann.

02-12-2026 Swim/Ride

Ann's alarm woke me up. She had to get up early to go downtown to the courthouse for jury duty. I stayed in bed and read for a while, then got up to get ready for a swim at the WWC. It was foggy and cooler than expected on the ride over. There was just one more swimmer in the pool. I tried to be consistent for the first 1500 yds, focusing on keeping my posture up and not dragging my legs so much. As a result that third 500 was faster than it has been in the past. I used the swim pads on the fourth 500, they weren't so helpful, but maybe they're good for strengthening my arms. Here are the splits for the four 500s: 9:29, 9:30, 9:32, 9:19. Elapsed swimming time was 37:50.

Avg pace = 1:54/100 yds (Video, not including pauses)

Total distance = 2000 yds

Elapsed moving time = 37:50 (Video)

Avg heartrate = 146 bpm (Zepp with Polar (?), maybe)

Relative Effort = 48 (maybe)

SWOLF =37

Avg stroke rate = 21 bpm

Avg pull distance = 2.40 yds

https://www.strava.com/activities/17379757697

Got home and changed to ride over to HP and meet with Brooke, John, and Gary. It's depressing to hear what's going on, although I learned that Qin Zhao got a position up in Corvallis, and Emilio got a new role as well, also up there. Lots of mess with the new site in Bldg 8. I rode home after that and ate some lunch, watched a little Winter Olympics. Then, after having some food, I got ready for a longer bike ride, training for the upcoming century. It was cool on this day, so I wore a long-sleeve jersey and was glad I did, at times in the ride. Through the neighborhood and then through the 4S Ranch neighborhood to the left turn onto Hunters Ridge Pl, using it to get to Hunters Ridge Rd and then to Ralphs Ranch Rd back to Albert Ave, old route from there to CdS. I headed toward the coast, not feeling very strong at this point in the ride, so I wasn't pushing particularly hard as I rode over to Carmel Valley Rd and turned right there to get over to the 56 bike path. Down to the end and then I used Carmel Valley Rd to ride to the lower parking lot for Torrey Pines SB, to use the bathroom. Then I continued from there up Carmel Valley Rd to PCH, turning left and riding up the outside route of the climb, at a "stately" pace. I needed more miles, so I continued past the top to the turn to stay on Torrey Pines Rd, riding past campus until I got to Theatre District Dr, where I made a U-turn and started heading back the way I came. Thought briefly about heading down Genesee Rd but opted to reverse my route as originally planned. The breeze was noticeable, coming on the coast from the northwest, so the descent was sketchy, and it was harder to climb back up to Carmel Valley Rd. Once I started heading east, the wind was favorable and helped me along. I still wasn't feeling strong but ended up having a pretty consistent ride back from the coast. I stayed on the 56 bike path to CdS, was easier than usual due to the tailwind. Then I took CdS back into Del Sur and from there followed the new normal route home, stopping at the 7-Eleven on the corner of RB Rd and W Bernardo Dr to have a short break and a free Slurpee. Tasted pretty good after the workout, then home.

Avg speed = 16.2 mph. Total mileage = 50.1 mph

Avg power = 143 W. Weighted avg power = 171 W

Total elevation gain = 2890'

Avg heartrate = 125 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 82

Training Load = 201

Intensity = 79%

https://www.strava.com/activities/17378990144

This was more of an effort than expected, was glad to be done. I took a shower, had a very short nap, then called Ross around 5:00. Mom was resting, so I just talked to him. Watched a little Winter Olympics and made pumpkin rocks after dinner, some more TV as well. Was a relaxing evening.

02-11-2026 Virtual Ride

Woke up to get ready for a bike ride with John from his house. Weather was clear but looked sketchy. Around 6:30 he texted me that it looked ready to rain at his place, so he wasn't going to ride. About 10 minutes later, it started to rain at our house, so, good call. I decided to ride on the trainer instead, so I got all the gear together and rode the Area 52 course in the California set of routes. Rode for an hour at a mix of endurance (Z2) and tempo (Z3) pace, keeping a more consistent power output than on a typical outdoor ride. This course is relatively flat, which helped with power output consistency. I couldn't get my power pedals to connect to the app, although I think I've been successful in doing this previous times (maybe not, since the pedals are ANT+). When I started, MyWhoosh wasn't recording my heartrate, so after about four miles I paused the ride and added the heartrate sensor in. So, my average heartrate below is just for the time it was tracking.

Avg speed = 18.9 mph. Total mileage = 18.9 mi

Avg power = 165 W. Weighted avg power = 168 W

Total elevation gain = 540'

Avg heartrate = 125 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 9 (Low, due to inaccuracy in heartrate monitoring during the ride)

Training Load = 58

Intensity = 76%

https://www.strava.com/activities/17363929093

After the ride I had more time in the morning than usual before my volunteer shift. Didn't do much with it. The ride over to the hospital was wet. I should have worn my rain jacket, so my shirt got a little damp. Had lunch and then started the shift, which was pretty slow at the beginning. The Winter Olympics were on the TV for the first part of the shift, ice dancing. Nothing unusual happened, it did get busy near the end, so I left just a little bit late. Headed home in clear weather, then after dinner Ann and I drove to Del Mar to see The Wailin' Jennys (Ruth Moody, Nikki Mehta, and Heather Masse) at The Sound in the Fairgrounds. They were decent, great harmonies and some really good songs, but their repertoire was a little uneven. I might see them again if they came to the area. Decent show, although it had an intermission, I guess to sell stuff. The drive home was uneventful.