06-11-2026 Ride

Woke up before 5:00 and got up a little after 5:00. Had a bowl of cereal, got ready for a bike ride, and emptied the dishwasher. I left the house and started down the hill before realizing I didn't have water bottles. So I turned around, got the bottles, and headed out down the hill. I left around 5:40, down by the park and over Lake Hodges on the freeway, turning left on Via Rancho Pkwy. I rode to Felicita Rd and took it past Felicita Park and over to Gamble Ln. Thought about taking this up the hill, but I had enough time to take the longer route via Bernardo Ave, whose more gradual grade was a better fit for what I am training for. Up to 11th Ave and then down to Del Dios Rd, taking a left and then a right on Avenida del Diablo. Over to Citracado Pkwy, right turn, then a left on Harmony Grove Village Pkwy. I rode down to Harmony Grove Rd, turned left and took it to Harmony Grove Village Community Park. The gate was locked, and I thought Paula was driving to our meet-up spot, so I sent her a text to meet at the nearby park (4th of July Park) in the neighborhood. I rode up there and waited for a short while, then she called me and said she was by the park (it turns out she was at the original park, she'd ridden there). So I rode back down to the park and connected with her, heading west on Harmony Grove Rd. I dialed my pace back on this general descent, doing a lot of coasting until we turned onto Elfin Forest Rd, where I stayed slow and rode with her on the first climb. I got out ahead of her on the second climb, in part because she dropped her chain. We rode to Schoolhouse Way, a new road for me, and turned right, climbing past San Elijo Rd and turning right on Lighthouse Rd. We took a left on Misty Sea Way, then used an access path to get to Pearl Dr, which seems to be service road in this section. It got pretty steep, up to 15% at times, and we had to get past a gate by a cul-de-sac, continuing the climb for a little longer. I got to the top and rode back down a little bit to stop and take a video of Paula climbing up through the fog. Stayed on Pearl Dr until turning right on Ruby Ct, then left on Wild Canyon Dr to get to Tucana Dr. Right turn there, down to Vega Way, taking a left there and another left on Lyra Ln, which got us back to Tucana Dr, where we took a left and then a right, staying on Tucana Dr (kinda confusing street names here) to get over to Double Peak Dr. Instead of turning left and heading straight up, we turned right, rode down to San Elijo Rd and took the bike path on the west side of the road to get up to Ledge St. This climb was gradual, as it was just after we turned left here and rode through the pedestrian gate. Then it got steep and stayed that way for a while until it flattened out just before another gate across the road. Past this gate there was a little descent before we connected with Double Creek Dr just before the water tower. It's steep here, I measured 13-14%, but not too long at this gradient before decreasing to below 10%. To the sign, and I went to the end of the parking lot before turning around and meeting Paula just coming up. We stopped for a short break in the shade, I went to the bathroom, then we took some pics by the sign before riding down. The descent wasn't as bad as I remembered, but then again I rode the brakes more than usual on the steep parts. Back down to San Elijo Rd, turning left and climbing back to Ledge St before taking the descent down Twin Oaks Valley Rd. As I was riding down this at high speed, a lady in a Tesla started moving into the bike lane and scared the crap out of me. I had a moment where I thought I was going to lose control but kept it together. I caught up to her at a light and told her off, and she was apologetic (better). But that really got my adrenaline going! We finished riding down the hill and stopped for a coffee and hot chocolate at the Starbucks in the shopping center to the left. Nice conversation as usual. We continued the ride (it was starting to warm up), taking Discovery St to Barham Dr, then turning right on La Moree Rd. Took this gradual climb to the top and then the steeper descent back to Barham Dr. Right turn there, riding more slowly and taking it to Meyers Ave, turning right there and then right again on Corporate Dr. A left on Progress Pl got us to Country Club Dr, where we turned right. This road is in bad shape, so we suffered for a bit until turning right onto Mt Whitney Rd. If anything, this road is in even worse shape, and it started to tilt up a fair amount just after we got past a gate in the road. It dropped us into the top of Harmony Grove Village. We turned right on Long Trot Dr and then left on Wilgen Dr, enjoying an easy descent back to Harmony Grove Rd. We split there, Paula had to climb back to her house, so she had some hard work left. I retraced my route (after stopping at the park to go to the bathroom) back to Citracado Pkwy and stayed on it up to Scenic Trail Way, using that road to get to the top of Gamble Ln. Since they paved this road, the descent is really nice, but I still rode the brakes for most of it. Down to Bernardo Ave, turning right and then left on Hamilton Ln to get back to Felicita Rd. To Via Rancho Pkwy and the normal way home from there. Legs felt good at the end of the ride, even though it had some pretty steep sections to navigate.

Avg speed = 13.2 mph. Total mileage = 39.2 mi

Avg power = 123 W. Weighted avg power = 160 W

Total elevation gain = 3580'

Avg heartrate = 114 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 54

Training Load = 183

Intensity = 73%

https://www.strava.com/activities/18880595956

Got home and had an early, fairly light lunch. In the afternoon I started working on code to implement calculation of the Training Load metric from Strava into my cycling analysis program. First step was to gather the power zone data and bin it into the appropriate categories. It took a while, but I finally got it to display the same numbers as Strava shows. Next step is to create a dataset with Strava Training Load numbers and those power zone values to see if there is a linear set of equations that calculate TL. This work took me much of the afternoon and some of the early evening. I also watched a little TV.

06-10-2026 Ride

Slept pretty well, no nap the previous day. I got up around 5:30 and got ready for a shorter bike ride at an easy pace. Headed out a little after 6:00, didn't get far before I realized I had forgotten to put my derailleur batteries in. So I had to climb back home, get the batteries, and start all over. Down the hill and by the park, over to Pomerado Rd, where I started up, again not pushing the pace. It was good temperature for riding, I was in short sleeves. I ended up riding to the top of Pomerado Rd, again taking it easy, in first gear for the most part, on the last climb. Then I took Cypress Canyon Park Dr to Angelique St and rode back down to Scripps-Poway Pkwy. Continued down the hill on Springbrook Dr to Sabre Springs Pkwy and turned left there. I stayed on it until turning onto Evening Creek Dr and taking that little spur until it reconnected to Sabre Springs Pkwy. From there I followed the time trial route all the way back home. Slow and steady the whole way.

Avg speed = 14.6 mph. Total mileage = 24.5 mi

Avg power = 121 W. Weighted avg power = 150 W

Total elevation gain = 1720'

Avg heartrate = 107 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 20

Training Load = 85

Intensity = 68%

https://www.strava.com/activities/18865775765

Got home and ate a light breakfast, did the dishes, and relaxed around the house until I needed to start getting ready for my volunteer shift at the hospital. Showered and shaved, then headed over early so I could stop at Walmart and pick up some motor oil for my scooter. That went okay, but of course they didn't have the brand I wanted on the shelves, even though it was supposed to be there. I got some that should work and headed to the hospital. Ate my lunch there and went to the ED. Shift was pretty normal, I had periods where I was pretty busy and others where I just waited around. There was a guy in Room 7 who didn't want to be there, so security officers were there to make sure he didn't leave. It was uncomfortable for the latter part of the shift. Got busy near the end of the shift, as usual, but I was able to leave on time. Rode home and had a quiet evening. I talked to Ben before dinner, he had a CAT scan with contrast in the morning and will know about the results next week.

06-09-2026 Swim

Slept pretty well, although I did wake up hungry early and eat some cereal and a banana. I got back to sleep and woke up after 6:00 (<!>). Continued working on my cycling analysis program to format the segment data page a little more cleanly, including use of a monospaced font to get better alignment for the numbers. Then I got ready for a swim at the WWC, arriving around 9:00. Summer season is kicking in, so there were a lot more kids. I was able to get a lane in the pool, lane 5. Swam 1500 yds, the last 500 with swim fins. I paused my watch after the first 1000 and forgot to restart it, so it and Strava only recorded the first 1000. Here are the splits for the three 500s: 9:33, 9:31, 8:47. During this workout I focused on keeping my strokes long, and I practiced breathing every three strokes while keeping long strokes. Maybe it helped a little bit, but it still feels unnatural.

Avg pace = 1:51/100 yds (Video, not counting pauses)

Total distance = 1500 yds

Elapsed moving time = 27:51 (Video)

Avg heartrate = 143 bpm (just for the first 1000, perhaps)

Relative Effort = 19 (for the first 1000, perhaps)

SWOLF = 37 (for the first 1000)

Avg stroke rate = 20 bpm (for the first 1000)

Avg pull distance = 2.47 yds (for the first 1000)

https://www.strava.com/activities/18853222389

Ann cut my hair later in the morning, and we went to Pizza Nova in San Marcos for lunch. It was okay, pricey and too salty with the Kalamata olives. Stopped at Walmart on the way home and got a couple of things for the trip, along with discovering that some items are cheaper to have delivered from the store than they are to buy in store. Weird. The rest of the afternoon and evening were quiet. I read, did some cleanup of my cycling analysis program code for displaying segment stats, and watched some TV.

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