Big day for riding. I slept okay, a little restless, and woke up early to start preparing. Ate cereal and a grapefruit for breakfast, then prepped the snacks and water for the sag stop. I also tried to swap out my rear brake disk pads but didn't have the block to force the pistons open far enough, so I ended up riding with the old pads (it worked out okay). Charged my Wahoo and batteries as well. Paula showed up about 6:40, we loaded the bikes and gear up, as well as the wheel that I had cleaned for her friend. Headed over to the starting point at 4S Ranch Community Park, where only Perse was there. But we were early, and folks started showing up. At the start of this first Bisikleta Century we had: Perse, Ray, Jed, Andy, Arnold, Fritz, Jed A, Nel, Paula, and Rob T (who had ridden from his house to meet us). Fritz's tube had popped on the drive over, so we were a little delayed getting started. But we were still rolling by 7:40. I was behind the others, had to restart my Wahoo. Caught up quickly as we headed over into RB via Bernardo Center Dr. Down by the park and across the pedestrian bridge. Weather at this point was really good for riding, but it was heating up. Up BVP to Citrus Ave. General strategy was to ride in front, wait at the turns for everyone to make it, then ride to catch back up to the front. It took a bigger effort to keep this going. Through that neighborhood in northeast Escondido to get back to BVP. We passed Jed St and I got the two Jeds to turn around and get a picture there. Up to Valley Pkwy and over to El Norte Pkwy. Not too long after we passed the turnoff to Dixon Lake Jed A. had a flat. It took longer than expected to fix it, which was frustrating for me. Romeo showed up, having ridden from Oceanside through Valley Center to meet us. And Gideon also showed up in his car to sag for us for a while. After we got rolling we took Jesmond Dene Rd to get to the Circle K, where Rob's wife My was waiting with their camper van. This was a long break, Gideon was there as well, and it turned into a social hour. Day was also warming up, so this next stretch into Vista was a little toasty. Rode over to Buena Creek Rd and took this route to Santa Fe Rd, then into Vista. Around this time Andy got a flat, and it again took too long to fix it. Several of us were out front, and Romeo and I ended up waiting for the rest of the riders to show up. Once they got there a group of riders - Romeo, James, and Arnold, I think - separated from us at a traffic light. I tried to push the pace, along with Jed A, to catch up. This was a generally downhill section, and we made good time. It cooled down somewhat as we got closer to the coast. Was a little more humid than normal, but the sun would occasionally go behind the clouds and give us additional relief. Down to Jed's house as the second sag stop, and again we spent too much time here. In particular, Ray waited until we were ready to leave before he noticed that his front tire was low on air, so he spent 10 minutes putting more sealant in it and pumping it back up. Once again, frustrating! As he was finally getting ready to go, I got impatient and rolled out with James and Paula. We quickly dropped Paula, then James and I rode together into Carlsbad, where I dropped him and rode solo for a while, into Leucadia. Eventually a group of the faster riders caught up with me, and we rode through Encinitas to Chesterfield Dr, where I waited for everybody else to catch up while Ray put more air in his tire. They continued on while I waited for Andy, the last one to show up. I was about ready to continue riding when he arrived, so a group of us, who had waited, rolled out and got over to Manchester Ave, taking it to RSF Rd and stopping for our third sag stop at Champagne Bakery. I got a coffee here, needing the caffeine (although I had earlier had a GU packet with caffeine in it). It was pretty warm by this time, and this next section of the ride was the hottest part. We rode up into RSF village, everybody was slowing down but not me as much as the others. I gapped them on the climb into the village and waited for them to show up, then we rode down and over to the Three Witches climb. I was behind everybody else at this point but had stronger legs, to I passed them on the climb up to CdS. Several others, Arnold, Jed, and Jed A, weren't too far back, and they made the right turn on CdS while I waited for the rest. When Andy and Fritz showed up, they were both really hurting, so they headed back to the starting point from there. After everybody made the turn we gathered up a little further up the road (in the shade), then continued to Carmel Valley Rd, where I got there first and waited to direct the others to make the turn. I thought I got everybody, but Ray had dropped back quite a bit, so he ended up turning left on CVR while the rest of us rode over to the 56 bike path. This stretch up the bike path was helped by a tailwind, it was pretty warm but not quite hot. I was out in front with the two Jeds and Arnold, and on the last little push up to CdS Jed A kicked it in gear, which caused me to go hard to stay on his wheel and eventually pass him. That was the last hurrah for Jed A, as he turned on CdS and started heading back home. We were certainly running late from my original estimate of how long it would take us, so it was understood that he needed to get back home. The rest of us continued up the bike path to Rancho Penasquitos Blvd, I waited at the turn here to make sure everybody got it. Onto Carmel Mountain Rd, taking that gradual climb to the top before dropping down. We were near Arnold's house, so he wasn't too far behind me at this point, and he and Jed rode to his place while I waited for the others to make the turn into his neighborhood. Abie was at their house with pulled pork sandwiches, and initially Arnold was going to call it a day (he had a birthday party to attend). But Abie convinced him to keep going and finish the century (what a wife!). It was still warm but starting to cool down by this point. Headed back to Carmel Mountain Rd and went east, but I missed the turn into a neighborhood that was west of I-15 and had to get the group to backtrack to Penasquitos Dr. I don't even remember mapping this section of the route, and we rode on streets that were unfamiliar, including an unpleasant little steep climb on Andorra Way. It was great to find that there was a fire access path from one neighborhood to another that got us over to CdN. Took it to Pomerado Rd and then followed the normal way home via Bernardo Center Dr for our fifth and last sag stop. James missed the turn onto Bernardo Center Dr and ended up having to retrace his route to get back on course, but he got to the house as well. Sun was warm but the temperature was cooling. We got to the house a little after 4:00, had some cookies and other snacks, refueled with water and took off again. Through the neighborhood up to RB Rd, the last tough stretch of the ride. Paula was the last to get up that climb, so she and I were alone at the back for the rest of the ride. We rode through the 4S Ranch neighborhood to Ralphs Ranch Rd and then took the usual route back to CdS. Right turn there, down to PdS and back up into the Del Sur neighborhood. On this gradual climb my quads started twitching, and I knew I was close to being done for the day. Over to Camino San Bernardo, then some neighborhood streets to get back to the starting point, where the others were gathered. Century completed!
Avg speed = 16.1 mph. Total mileage = 100.4 mi
Avg power = 136 W. Weighted avg power = 159 W
Total elevation gain = 5140'
Avg heartrate = 127 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 170
Training Load = 387
Intensity = 72%
We sat around and chatted for a while, Arnold took off to get to his next event, while the rest of us headed over to Ray and Anna's house for pizza and beer. Was a nice, relaxed time, I chatted some with Anna about our upcoming trip to Vietnam. Was glad when the party started to break up, as I was tired. Paula gave me a ride home, and I had a much-needed shower and read for a while before falling asleep. A very successful, long day overall!
