This was a generally good day. I slept fitfully, the tent was pitched on a slight incline, and I kept feeling like I was rolling down toward where Joe was sleeping. Also, I couldn't get comfortable around my head, need a better pillow solution. I woke up early and was out of the tent around 4:30 for my morning constitutional. Then I went back and pulled out my sleeping quilt and pad to pack them up. By this time the others were waking up. I took the tent down and packed it up, with help from Joe. One of the tent stakes had been hammered into a tree root, and it was really difficult to get out. But we had success. Had coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, everybody was feeling good and sitting around while we ate. Fairly quick cleanup after breakfast, then I packed all of my stuff into my backpack and got ready for the hike out. We were rolling a little after 7:00, and nearly all of the climbing for the day was concentrated into the climb from Duck Lake up to Duck Pass. I had stopped to take pictures of the lake and start my watch to track the hike, so I was at the back. I walked for just a bit with Joe, then turned on the juice and passed him and Mike. Jason was pretty far ahead, so it was an effort to catch up to him before we got to the top of the climb. We then kept going to the pass, just a short distance from the trail intersection, where we waited for Joe and Mike to show up. Jason was able to read texts and found that his wife Jodie had suffered a fall after donating platelets. She got some staples to close a scalp wound, but it sounded like she was okay, lucky to have two of her kids nearby to help with the emergency response. After a long wait, I got worried about where Joe and Mike were, so I walked back to the train intersection and looked for them, saw no sign. After waiting a little bit, I walked back to Jason and told him I was going to walk down toward the lake and look for them. When I walked back to the intersection I saw Joe coming from the other trail. Turns out that they had turned left at the intersection instead of right, they ended up hiking about half a mile down this trail before realizing that it wasn't correct and turning around. I was surprised at the mistake, it just didn't make much sense to me. In any case, I was glad we were all back together and ready to hike down to our jump-off point. Since it was nearly all downhill, we made good time. Jason and I were out in front for the most part, with Mike a little further back and Joe further still. Saw a lot of hikers, both backpackers and day hikers, coming up the trail as we came down. We made surprisingly good time and were back to the car around 10:00, I think. The last mile was a little tough for me. I was ready for the hike to be done, and my shoulders were sore from the weight of the backpack, particularly as it bounced on my shoulders while I took big steps on the descent. In the parking lot we talked to a really old lady who was looking for a place to park so she could hike to the mine. She couldn't hear and she couldn't read maps, it was mildly hilarious that she was out for a hike (I think she ended up not hiking, saw her in her car leaving the parking lot later). It took us a while to empty trash from our packs and arrange stuff in the car as well as gather items for a shower. Eventually we were ready to go. Joe was driving, and I could tell he was tired and not thinking really clearly. With a little assistance we located a place where you could take a shower for $10 (Mary and Maria helped us at this trading post store). I bought showers for all of us, and it felt quite refreshing to get clean after five days of camping. We drove from there to Distance Brewing Co. in Mammoth, had a beer to celebrate the successful completion of our hiking and backpacking adventure, then we ate lunch there as well. I had just one beer and volunteered to take the first shift driving on the way back. After lunch we got in the car and were rolling around 1:00. I drove down to Lone Pine, was feeling pretty tired behind the wheel near the end, and Mike graciously offered to take the wheel (I think he noticed that I wasn't fully alert). Had a little nap in the back seat and felt so much better after that. Jason was also riding in back, and we talked about a number of topics, but most of the conversation on this part of the drive back was about music. Mike drove until we stopped in Chaffee for a bio break along with drinks and snacks, then I took over again. We were on Hwy 14, which took us through Lancaster and over to I-5 just north of the 210 split. Got on I-5 and made good time to within <10 miles of LAX, when we ran into evening rush hour and crawled the last 40 minutes or so to the airport. We dropped Jason off there, and I continued driving, talking with Joe and Mike again mostly about music. Not too much traffic to have to contend with by this point, thankfully. I wasn't paying much attention to the car until Mike reminded us that we were almost out of gas. Oops. I pulled into a service station and Mike paid for enough gas to get us back to Joe's house. Joe was okay to drive, so he took us the rest of the way there. We got to his house around 8:45, and Ann was just pulling into the parking lot, so that was good timing. I unloaded my gear, said goodbye to Mike, Joe, and Cathie, and we headed home while I told her the highlights of our trip. Got home, and I did minimal unpacking before getting ready for bed. I dozed for a bit before waking up hungry and getting something to eat, then I went back to bed. Ann was also restless (<!>), but we both eventually got to sleep.
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
07/15/2026 Hike
This was a good hiking day. I had a very restless night's sleep, couldn't get my head comfortable. I need a better pillow solution for backpack camping. Woke up around 4:10 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I lay there until a little after 4:30. I think that was the first time I got up to pee. Had a pee and came back to the tent to collect my #2 gear. Went and did my business, then I came back and packed up my sleeping pad and quilt. I thought I was ahead of schedule, but the others were up and starting breakfast. By the time I had organized my gear (and backtracked to the site to retrieve my spade again), I had to rush drinking my coffee and eating two packets of oatmeal. Finished the oatmeal while I was packing up the tent, then I gathered the stuff going into the food and smellables bag. I'm not sure where the time went. Anyway, I got everything packed up, and Joe had to take a morning constitutional as well. Jason got tired of waiting (I don't blame him) and walked up to the water crossing ahead of us. Mike and I followed, and Joe wasn't too far behind. We got there, Mike walked over to where Jason had gotten across and retrieved one of Jason's shoes for me to wear. He brought it to the first water crossing, the one where I had contemplated rock-hopping. The wading/hopping approach, with poles, was much safer, and I got over to the other side without getting my clothes wet. Changed back into my boots and put my poles up, I was ready to go well before the others, particularly Mike, who was not feeling well (altitude sickness?) on this day. We finally got going from this spot around 7:30. Flat for a little bit, then we had to climb out of the basin. Jason and I were out front and quickly gapped the others. We motored up the climb out of the basin, talking this time (more Jason than me). Got to the ridge and kept going until we started descending toward Purple Lake. We kept the conversation going down to the lake and paused by the lake shore to wait for Mike and Joe. It took them 15-20 minutes to catch up, we ran into a very talkative old guy at this point who had lots of stories to tell about backpacking. I was afraid we would get trapped by this guy, but I was able to break contact and get us going again. Another climb, out of Purple Lake basin, and we continued on the ridge, not waiting for the others. We walked until the descent got steep and waited there for over 40 minutes Then they showed up, they had paused for a break earlier. At this point I thought we were very close to the break point, at the bottom of Duck Lake. Nope. We descended for a bit, then started the climb up to Duck Pass. I started at the back after we found a good photo spot for the four of us, and Jason got out ahead. This climb was a workout, and I was going full-speed. We got to the lake about 10-15 minutes before the others and took a long break here. Ate lunch (I could have eaten more but didn't want any of that powdered peanut butter), dried out clothes, filtered water, and generally relaxed before continuing on. Mike was slow to get going again, not feeling well on this day. I motored up the next part of the climb, going about as hard as I could, and got to the trail split about 15 minutes before the others. Waited for them to catch up, saw a number of hikers along with a group of distance runners, male and female, from South Medford hauling ass up the trail to the pass. We paused for a break here, then descended to the trail along the north end of Duck Lake. We were looking for the nearest suitable campsite and found one one a small trail up above the main trail. We found a spot that Joe and I thought could accommodate both tents, but it ended up fitting one. Jason and Mike did a recon to look for better spots nearby but came back empty, then they located a spot that was okay near the one we had found. Joe and I put up the tent, they put theirs up and ended up moving away from a spot that had evidence of active chipmunk holes. After we set the tents up, Joe walked down to the water and took a swim. I walked down with him, and he dived in. The water temperature as "bracing." I wanted to rinse the lower half of my body off, so I hurried up and got my suit as well. Changed down by the water, then I got in while Joe took videos. It was cold, not freezing but not warm enough to stay in long. I cleaned myself up a bit and then got out. Luckily, there was enough sun to warm me back up. Jason came down later and got into the water, with encouragement and prodding from us. He stayed in longer and had less sun when he got out. We walked back to the campsite, and I changed into clean underwear and a shirt that wasn't damp, then set out my clothes to dry in the sun. Went in the tent, got out my sleeping quilt, and caught up on blogging, along with having a short nap. Felt much better after this. It was windy and cool in the tent but warmer outside. Mike had a longer nap and woke up feeling better. However, Joe was dealing with some gastrointestinal issues and also feeling off. I went out and sat with them for a while, walked down to the shore and filled water bottles to filter. This activity ends up taking a lot more time than you would expect, since water is needed for drinking, cooking (lots of dehydrated meals), and cleaning up. The wind was brisk but not gusty in the late afternoon, and the clouds ended up clearing out for the first time in our trip. Jason set out sausages, cheese, and crackers for a happy hour with Trader Joe's bourbon that he had brought. I told them some funny stories about our Vietnam trip, they seemed to enjoy them. Mike started being like his normal self, but it wasn't until Joe got some food in him at dinner that he started feeling and acting more normally. The evening was absolutely gorgeous, with spectacular Alpen glow around sunset. I had been a little depressed when I thought I'd lost my Amazfit charging puck, but I found it in my electronics bag and was in a much better mood after that. This day had the best weather of the trip so far, no competition. We kept thinking that stormy weather was going to come in, and it never did. Delightful! It was a long and good day for me, glad to listen to music for a bit before turning in.
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
07/14/2026 Hike
Got up between 6:00 and 6:30, I rolled up my sleeping quilt and put it in the waterproof stuff bag to ensure it stayed dry even in the tent. We had a very leisurely opening of the day, I had a couple of cups of coffee, a mint chocolate protein bar, and a bowl of Kodiak oatmeal with some Gorp thrown in. The coffee jazzed me up again, weather was cloudy with periodic sunshine. I spent some more time filtering water, had my morning constitutional by a tree, and later on went down by the lakeside and washed my hair and upper body. I also rinsed out the shirt from the previous day. Back to the campsite, where in the late morning we decided to take a day hike over to the overlook by Tully Hole. Packed up lunch stuff and walked about a mile south on the trail until we found a decent (not great) spot. The sun was out and had been out for a while by this time, so we enjoyed the weather while it lasted. Talked to several people on the trail heading both ways, most had interesting stories. We walked back toward the campsite and continued on to the water crossing, where I mapped out my crossing strategy for the following day. Back to the campsite from there, and we had some time with sun before the clouds rolled in. We all took turns filtering water until it started to rain. Jason was thinking about going in the water, but the threatening clouds put a stop to that idea. Once it started to rain, the skies really opened up. One squall came through, and dropped hail on us. After a lull, where we were able to sit out and chat, we got really dumped on for about an hour, including a second wave of hail. All four of us hunkered down under a set of trees that kept us dry for about 10 minutes before the rain broke through our cover. It was miserable. I was chilled and a little damp in my socks, hands, and around my neck. When this cell let up I got in the tent, changed into a long sleeve shirt with a t-shirt over it, and put on dirty dry socks. That helped me warm up, and I was somewhat comfortable for a while, the sun even came out and warmed the inside of the tent up before going behind the clouds. Wrapped my feet in a shirt that was mostly dry, and that also helped. This next storm cell brought really heavy rain and loud thunder, although I didn't see lightning flashes. The temperature dropped as well, and it was hard to stay warm enough. Had my gloves on and my feet in a dry bag didn't want to break out my sleeping quilt. The storm lasted over an hour before starting to taper off. Joe and I debated whether to cook by the tent. I had walked quickly out when the rain was less and brought back his bear canister. But when we shouted to Mike and Jason they were already out and planning to use the kitchen area to make dinner.. We joined them and it was a great call. The weather held all the way through dinner and into the evening past sunset. The sun even came out for a bit. I had curry rice, was a good mix with perhaps too much sauce (but maybe not, it was good to sip). I passed out the last set of liquor bottles and used my vodka to add into chamomile tea. I think it burned off the alcohol and didn't add much flavor. Better to chug it and chase it with the tea. After dinner we filtered the water for breakfast and enjoyed the remains of the day in a somewhat dry state (my feet were a little wet from being in damp boots without socks). Got some decent pics around sunset, was in the tent and settled down by about 8:30. The beginning and end of this day were so much better than the stormy middle. When I was in the tent and struggling to get warm I kept asking myself why I was doing this. But I was reminded about the beauty of nature at the end of the day. Overall, it got a plus.
Monday, July 13, 2026
07/13/2026 Hike
This was a very long day. I slept in bits and pieces through the night, wasn't great but was adequate. Was comfortable enough, but after all it's still camping on a thin air mattress. The temperature wasn't a problem, which was good (I didn't pack for cold weather). I was awoken around 4:30, Joe and Jason were up, and Mike was getting up. Packed up my sleeping pad and quilt, then I went back up the hill and took a shit in a hole I dug, worked out okay although I forgot my spade and was fortunate enough to remember I'd forgotten it. I went back in the dawning light and was able to find it. Then I went down to have breakfast (coffee, oatmeal with some Gorp, maybe a date) with the others, was a little behind their schedule. Cleaned up my dishes and went back to the campsite. I took the tent down and rolled it up, with help from Joe. Then I laid everything out and started packing it into my backpack. I was ready to go before the others, Jason and Mike hadn't gotten much if any sleep, and I learned later that Mike was congested and feeling run-down. We were moving a little after 6:20, and the early start turned out to be a good thing on a very long day. It was kinda flat, walking through woods for a while before we started climbing out of this watershed and over Duck Pass. At one point, at a little flowing waterfall by a creek that probably exited from Skelton Lake and emptied into Arrowhead Lake, we stopped to filter water. I was feeling pretty good at the start, used my poles for a bit but found I didn't really need them. We stopped pretty frequently. Joe and Mike were slower. Several times I would get ahead and then wait for the others. I think we did a decent job with the breaks, none were too long. I would have taken fewer, but I probably would have regretted that decision. It took us over three hours to get to Duck Pass, including a number of rest stops. On the way up we saw a couple with four dogs, one of them, Bear, a dachshund who was a barker. They got to the top of the pass, then passed us going down while we were on a break there. Saw a scout troop (I think) there as well. During the day we talked to a surprising number of people who were doing seriously long hikes, which I guess should not be too surprising on the JMT and PCT. After the pass we had a long general and gradual descent toward Duck Lake, which is quite large. We didn't get down to its shore until we reached the southern end. Jason and I were out front for nearly all of this segment. There was a good spot to collect and filter water, so we took an extended break here and did that. The trail ascended a little bit before dropping pretty steeply down to a point where the Duck Pass trail intersected with the combined PCT/JMT. That descent was hard on the others, particularly Mike and Jason, with his surgically repaired hips. But Jason recovered pretty quickly. For a while the trail was relatively flat as we hiked along the mountainside. We met Ranger Kyle there, who looked at our pass and told us some interesting stuff: good campsites and beautiful views at Virginia Lake, not many bears above 8000'. I think it was around here that we stopped on the trail for lunch. I had reconstituted peanut butter (messy and not worth the weight savings) on a tortilla and on a cracker. Had some nuts as well. I had trailed the others for a while here, and it was on this segment, naturally when I was behind the others, that one of my water shoes fell out on the trail. After we continued there was a tester ascent of about 200' before descending to Purple Lake. The last serious climb of the day occurred after we passed by Purple Lake, our original destination for the day. We took a brief break here, and I ate a granola bar. Then we passed by the lake and started an 800' climb to a ridge. I started at the back but passed the others and was working pretty hard, intent on getting this last chore done as soon as possible. Jason slotted in behind me, and for most of the climb he was right there. I gapped him near the end but not by much. When I got to where the ridge flattened out I stopped and waited for him. I was planning on waiting there for the others as well, but he was worried about the possible lack of good campsites at Lake Virginia, so we kept on. There was a little more climbing, quite gradual, before we dropped down to the lake. We met a guy who had started from Kennedy Meadows and was intent on hiking to Canada on the PCT. He told us a different story about the upcoming water crossing that gave me some hope I could do it without getting wet. We dropped down into the meadows by the lake and got across to the water crossing. No way were either of us going to get through it without getting wet. I took my boots, socks, and pant legs off while Jason crossed over. Then he threw one of his shoes back to me so I use it, along with my poles, to navigate the shallower areas by rocks and get across without getting my pants wet. A note about the weather up to this point. We had cloudy weather up to the pass and down to Duck Lake. I think it was around our lunch break that it started raining. We had seen it ahead of us, so it wasn't a surprise. It was heavy enough that I put on my pack cover, as did the others. We got through it and didn't have much more precipitation until we got to Lake Virginia. Then it started to sprinkle, sometimes heavily. So I was damp by the time I made the first water crossing. There was a second one that I did in the water shoes, could have probably done it without getting my boots wet by rock-hopping. Jason followed me after putting his socks and boots on, then we continued on for just a bit before going off the trail and doing a recon for campsites. We found a suitable location, staked our claims, then hiked back to the water crossing, where Mike and Joe had showed up. Apparently, Joe was ecstatic about the prospect of crossing water and getting wet, go figure. They came across and we started the process of setting up camp. Joe didn't like my initial campsite selection, so we moved into a small grove of trees and set up the tent (this spot ended up being a pretty good one, better than my original choice). Mike and Jason set their tent up and then discovered standing water nearby, so they also move from the original spot. Their tent base got wet in the process, but it wasn't a disaster. When I set up the poles in my tent I put the bases in the wrong loops, which ended up causing a major issue. I chalk this mistake up to my mind being more tired than I thought, so I was not on guard for avoiding stupid stuff. I was damp around my neck (jacket had a seam separation here) and in my boots, so I needed to keep moving to avoid getting chilled. I did a lot of water filtering, then we started making dinner. It was raining by this time, and even though our kitchen area was sheltered it was really hard to start the burners. Lighters weren't working, neither were regular matches. Joe had some flare matches, about half of them worked, so crisis avoided. I had the mac and veggies recipe, Mac was just slightly crunchy after 15 minutes of steeping. The dried mushrooms were tasty, could have used more of them as well as other dried vegetables. But it was incredibly hot! It took me about 30 minutes to eat, had to pause every now and then to let the heat subside. Somewhere around here I had changed my wet shirt for a long sleeve shirt with another shirt over it, along with my rain jacket. That helped with the chill, as did eating the very spicy meal. While this was going on, I started to help Jason string up the bear line until Joe called me over to a tent crisis. When I had fixed the pole bases earlier I didn't put the top of the pole back in the grommet, so it ended up poking a hole in the tent fly. Damnit! Joe and I fixed it temporarily with some tape he had brought, but the permanent fix will require more work. I was really angry with myself for this screw-up, but that's life. It reminded me upon reflection that when I am physically tired I am mentally tired as well. Jason and Mike finished up the bear line, and I was ready to call it a night. Got into the tent, stripped off my boots and socks, inflated my sleeping pad, and unrolled my sleeping quilt. I drew the string at the bottom of the quilt to close it off, then climbed in with no socks on. I caught up on my blogging for the previous two days, didn't get all the way through the second day before I was ready to stop. Around this time Joe came in and settled in, then I slept for about an hour until waking up again when it started to rain. I lay there for a bit, then got up to make sure my pack was covered well. Rain was steady for a while but never really heavy, and eventually it subsided. I got back to sleep until after 2:00, when I woke up again and decided to go pee. The sky was clear, I could see some stars but was unsuccessful in taking a picture of the nighttime sky. Back to the tent and eventually back to sleep, waking up and getting up around 6:00.
Sunday, July 12, 2026
07-12-2026 Hike
This day was the start of our backpacking adventure. I woke up before 4:30 and finished putting my stuff into the different bags that got loaded into the hiking backpack, my travel backpack, and the car. Ann got up and drove me to Joe's house, where he was already out with the food items on a table. I unloaded my stuff out of the car, kissed Ann goodbye, and started deciding which food items from Joe to bring with me. Jason and Mike showed up pretty soon after. We had hoped to be moving by 6:30, but it was around 6:50 when we got rolling. The first part of the drive went quickly, Joe drove the whole way up. We got caught up on what everybody had been doing. Stopped for a bio break in Adelanto, and I got an XL fountain drink. Stopped again at a place on the 395 where we had stopped before (had a Subway and a Chester's), then continued on to Lone Pine, where we stopped to get sandwiches for lunch at Schat's Bakery. Joe also got some Paracord at an outfitter's store that was open on a Sunday. The bakery was hopping, so we ended up buying pre-made sandwiches. They were okay. The bread was delicious, but my egg salad didn't have a lot of flavor. We drove through Bishop and turned off to go to Mammoth, where I filled up Joe's tank. Then it was a fairly short drive to Coldwater Campground, which is quite large, might be a place to consider staying sometime. We drove to the end of the campground, where there was a parking lot for overnight hikers. We unloaded our packs and finalized what we were going to take. I made the mistake of bringing just one pair of long pants and a pair of shorts, should have brought my two pairs of convertible pants. Other than that, I brought everything that was on my list. We started hiking around 2:45, and my map estimated we would hike about two miles or so. But it was calculated from the entrance to the campground, so the distance was shorter. It was uphill, I think we gained about 800' in a mile or so. We got to the turnoff for Arrowhead Lake after a little over a mile, then we walked along the western shore of the lake to find a suitable campsite. Found one, then Joe found a better one across a small creek crossing and a little further from the marshy area of the lake. The mosquitoes and flies were intense, so Joe and I started exploring higher ground for suitable sites. We found a couple, he is pretty good at scouting sites. Weather was nice, cloudy but clear. The mosquitoes weren't as bad here, but they were still super annoying. Got the tent set up quickly, and not too long after we started dinner. I had a prepared Indian curry dish that I'd bought, and I served it over Minute rice. It was tasty, but the pouch was kinda heavy. I brought out the little bottles of Fireball whiskey, Joe and I split one mixed in Chai tea, which was good but probably cooked off some of the alcohol. Good dinnertime conversation, light-hearted and friendly. After dinner, around dusk, we scrambled down the rock slide to a place where we could get water to filter. This was our first time using the filters, and they had to be back;flushed a number of times to get the filtered water flowing. The mosquitoes down by the water were voracious, and this was overall pretty unpleasant but necessary. It was full-on dark by the time we were done, my headlamp was just adequate to show me the way back to the tent. I got ready for sleep, inflating the mattress and laying out my sleeping quilt (really nice for this kind of camping). Was in bed by 9:15 or so, got to sleep okay for the situation.
Saturday, July 11, 2026
07/11/2026 Ride
Woke up and got up before 5:30, made some oatmeal and reviewed how to pitch my backpacking tent. Then I got ready for the Bisikleta ride, which was going to be shorter than usual. So I left early and got some extra miles in before reaching Target. I rode down to W Bernardo Dr and then started up. Got to the light at RB Rd and realized I hadn't started my Wahoo yet, so I missed out on capturing about 1.5 miles of riding. I climbed up past the site and turned right on Via del Campo to get back over to RB Rd. Left turn there and a right on Alva Rd, taking the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, including riding up to the top of Ralphs Ranch Rd, Camino San Thomas, and Four Gee Rd. I had time, so I rode on PdS through the Del Sur neighborhood, heading down toward CdS. On the way down, I saw a rider coming the other way, she looked familiar, so I turned around and caught up with Paula, who was riding up from the coast to meet us at the start. Crazy coincidence. She had sent me a WhatsApp message saying what she was doing, but I didn't read it. We rode back up PdS to Kristen Glen, turning right there and taking it all the way to its end before turning around and climbing back to PdS. We kept going straight, turning right on Concord Ridge Ter, left on Bedford Hill, and left on Via Montenero, taking it to the end before turning and using a short gravel path to get to Casey Glen. Back toward the 4S Target to meet up with the others, Andy was already there. The others started showing up, including Gideon, whom Perse picked up to make sure he rode with us (☺). At the start of this ride, we had the following riders: Gideon, Perse, Arnold, Fritz, Andy, Paula, Charlie, Cam, and Ray. The general tone of the ride was casual, not too much pushing the pace. We rode down to San Dieguito Rd, turned right there and took it down the hill, staying on it and forming up a decent pace line on the flats over to ECR. We took that to VdlV, turned left, and rode down to the coast. After the start, I spent a lot of my time at or near the back, making sure everybody was hanging together. Once we got to the coast we headed north. Paula split off from us around Lomas Santa Fe to wait for the Swami's group coming from the south. We continued up the coast through Cardiff and stopped for a break at Swami's Beach. Original intent was to turn around here, but Ray convinced us to ride into Encinitas and get donuts and coffee at Broad Street Donuts. Gideon had a slow leak, so I used my pump to put air in it before we rode up there. Was a nice break at the donut shop, they have good donuts (albeit expensive) and coffee. As we were getting ready to leave Gideon saw that he needed to put more air in his tire. It turned into a lengthy ordeal, since there was some kind of issue with the tube valve, then Fritz found that the latex sealant wasn't sealing the hole, which was evident. So Fritz plugged the hole, then we pumped it back up and were ready to roll. Charlie was impatient with all this stuff going on, and I could sympathize with him. We headed back south on PCH, originally intending to ride through Del Mar to the 56 bike path. But Gideon wanted to shorten the ride and go up Three Witches, so that's what we did. Andy was starting to slow down, so I hung back with him and rode to VdlV, where the others were waiting. Charlie had decided to follow the original route, while the rest of us retraced our route back to the Target from there. Tried a pace line on the way back, and it was working okay until a couple of riders dropped off the back. I waited for them at the base of the Three Witches climb, then Andy and I rode up this segment very slowly. He was feeling the effects of having pushed himself on the pace line sections. We got up to the top, and the others were waiting on CdS. We rode generally together for a while until it started climbing again, at which point the others rode ahead while Andy, Arnold, and I rode at the back. Arnold was on his gravel bike, as was Andy, so they were both working much harder than the rest of us. We got back to the start just fine, not super fast but okay. Gideon invited us to his place for a late breakfast, so I rode over there the old normal way. Most of the riders joined the little party, and it was enjoyable. I rode home through the neighborhood after that, feeling fine at 50 miles without pushing myself really at all throughout the ride.
Avg speed = 15.5 mph. Total mileage = 49.0 mi
Avg power = 114 W. Weighted avg power = 145 W
Total elevation gain = 2070'
Avg heartrate = 115 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 52
Training Load = 156
Intensity = 66%
Got home, had a little to eat (I had also eaten a little bit at Gideon's place), and watched the highlights of this day's TdF stage. Was glad to have completed a ride without getting a flat. Then I packed most of my stuff into my backpack, all except the food, which will go in tomorrow morning before we leave. Had to swap out jackets in my clothes pack to accommodate the forecast for rain on Monday. I think I have everything thing loaded up that was on my list. In the evening after dinner, I installed the new engine cover and hood liner that finally arrived. Was a little difficult getting the fasteners out of the hood, but the rest was fairly straightforward. Watched some TV with Ann after that and turned in early.
Friday, July 10, 2026
07-10-2026 Hike/Swim
Slept a little fitfully, maybe because I had a nap the previous afternoon. I got up in the night and read for a while before finally getting back to sleep. I woke up and got up around 5:30, getting ready for a hike through the neighborhood with my backpack loaded with weight. Walked a little less than an hour and got back before 7:00, where I had a little time to do some prep work for the backpacking trip before getting ready for a swim at the WWC with Avi. It was busy at the opening again, but we were able to get lanes 3 and 4. I was feeling sluggish on this day, in lane 4, not sure what all of the reasons were. But my stroke length was definitely lower. We swam a warmup 250, then on Avi's suggestion we swam the pyramid drill, which was definitely a workout for me. He was very nice, slowing his pace down to match my own, even though I know he could have swum much faster. After this drill I cooled down with another 250, this time with the pull buoy, focusing with some success on lengthening my stroke and reducing my stroke count. Here are the times for the different intervals:
Warm-up 250
4:42
Pyramid Drill
50 0:47
100 1:45
150 2:40
200 3:37
250 4:40
200 3:41
150 2:43
100 1:43
50 0:46
Cool-down 250 (with pull buoy)
4:46
Avg pace = 1:49/100 yds (Video, not counting pauses)
Total distance = 1750 yds
Elapsed moving time = 31:50 (Video)
Avg heartrate = 138 bpm (Zepp, possible)
Relative Effort = 45 (possible)
SWOLF = 39
Avg stroke rate = 22 bpm
Avg pull distance = 2.29 yds
So, not great. Lots of work needed here after I get back from my backpacking trip. I got caught up on blogging after I got home and had some breakfast and coffee. I ordered more inner tubes from Amazon, watched a World Cup match in the afternoon, read, and had a nap. Also organized my food for the camping trip and loaded most of it into a transport bag. In the evening I rode over to Jalapeno's and had a burrito for dinner while Ann was out with Caleb, Emily, and Jen for their Mother's Day musical. Watched some more TV after I got home, read more, and went to sleep.
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