9-25-2011 Ride

Solo ride from church after music practice.  The day was sunny but cool.  Headed out Grand Ave to BVP, then over to Valley Center Rd, turning onto Lake Wohlford Rd.  This is a pretty challenging 2-mile climb, particularly the first mile of it.  The upside of the ride was that, once this climb was done, the next 24 miles were generally downhill, with just some slight climbs, nothing too major.  Headed back over to Valley Center Rd, then took it to Lilac Rd.  I'm still not feeling great in general while riding, although there were some decent sections during this part of the ride.  Headed over to W Lilac Rd, rode over the bridge, and continued on toward Bonsall.  Back toward Old Hwy 395 using Camino Del Rey.  On this section, I really felt like I was struggling, and it turns out that I was moderately climbing from here pretty much all the way to the intersection at Deer Springs Rd.  The climb past Lawrence Welk started out okay, but I slowed down quite a bit, as the sun was at its most intense during this part of the ride.  Headed back into Escondido via Jesmond Dene Rd to Broadway.  This was a nice, moderately fast section of the ride.  I rode up Washington Ave to Ash St to give me a couple of additional miles, then came into church via the normal route using Grand Ave.  I felt decent at the end of the ride, without any cramping at all and my leg muscles feeling pretty good.

Avg speed = 16.5 mph. Total mileage = 49.7 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2200'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52028802/

9-22-2011 Ride

Solo ride during lunch. doing the figure eight route out Carmel Valley Rd all the way to the 56, then taking the bike trail back to Camino del Sur and back to RB Rd.  I made pretty good time overall, but I was slow on the uphills.  Had a fairly good section on the bike trail, but nothing great other than that.  It was real a cardio workout for me, with a high average heartrate for the ride.

Average speed = 18.2 mph. Total mileage = 21.5 mi
Average heartrate = 156 bp
Total elevation gain = 900'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1340796

9-20-2011 Ride

Ride from home to yoga, using the normal route.  I hadn't ridden since I passed a kidney stone, and I had bruised my tailbone at the softball game on Monday.  Luckily, the breeze was working to my advantage, and it was a nice evening for a ride.  I didn't ride hard, but the time off from riding showed in my endurance on the little climbs, which wasn't there at all.

Average speed = 17.5 mph. Total mileage = 10.6 mi
Average heartrate = 146 bpm
Total elevation gain = 440'
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/san-diego/964123799127555358

9-11-2011 Ride

Solo ride from home to church for Youth Group.  I wanted to have a few more miles, so I took BVP all the way to Valley Pkwy, then took this road all the way down to Broadway.  It's much flatter.  On the way back, I retraced my normal route.  My legs were tired from the previous day's ride, so I didn't set any records.

Avg speed = 18.5 mph. Total mileage = 22.6 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 570'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/50177814/

9-10-2011 Ride

Solo ride from home, leaving as soon as there was enough light to ride.  Headed through the neighborhood to RB Rd, and over to Dove Canyon Rd, which I used to connect to Carmel Valley Rd.  The climbs on this road were slower, so I knew I was in for a day where I wasn't all that strong.  Took this road to the 56 bike trail and down to El Camino Real, then over to the coast.  Up Torrey Pines, where I started okay but ran out of gas about halfway up and had to slow the pace down.  Stayed on Torrey Pines all the way into La Jolla, then took a wrong turn on Girard and went down to Prospect Ave.  Back to Pearl via Draper, then over to La Jolla Blvd.  Before the climb on Nautilus, I stopped and took a quick break with an energy gel.  There are a couple of pretty steep sections on Nautilus, toward the beginning and at the end.  Went around the Mt Soledad monument, then headed down Via Capri and Hidden Valley Rd to Torrey Pines Rd, which has a long, gradual climb up to La Jolla Village Dr.  This turns into Miramar/Pomerado, so I stayed on this road for quite a ways, again with no real zip in my legs.  It was slow at the top climbing section.  Took Pomerado down to Stowe, where they diverted traffic up to Community Rd because of the Poway Parade.  I wasn't thrilled with this unexpected climb, but I made it up okay.  Over to Twin Peaks Rd.  At this point, I was starting to feel tired.  Not too sore in my legs, just feeling worn out.  Got back onto Pomerado and took it all the way down to the freeway, following the normal route home.  I powered up the little climb by the park but was gassed at the top.  Still had enough to power up Aguamiel Rd, but I was sure glad to finish.

Avg speed = 16.2 mph. Total mileage = 57.4 mi
Avg heartrate = 150 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2670'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/49868408/

9-5-2011 Ride

Tour de Labor 2011, riding with John, who drove over to my house.  Rather than drive somewhere and start the ride, we decided to ride up to Ramona for our challenge.  The weather was overcast and humid, with lots of clouds.  Headed over to Escondido, then up the 78.  I could feel the effects of the previous two days' rides, so I didn't have much push throughout the ride.  We had a tiny amount of isolated rain drops by Bandy Canyon.  Took the normal loop around Ramona, riding at a fairly brisk pace on this section.  Turned south onto the 67, then rode up to Archie Moore Rd.  I started slow on this part but had a decent finish.  At the turn, John had to stop to fix a slow leak on his rear tire.  This road has just a little gradual uphill, then a pretty steady downhill of almost a mile before it connects into Highland Valley Rd.  We climbed up to the top and had a fairly fast downhill ride; on the little flat and uphill sections, I had no drive in my legs.  I wasn't very fast on the flats by the lake, so I concentrated on grinding it out.  We turned left onto Pomerado Rd and rode up past RB Rd, turning at Higa Pl and riding through the neighborhood back to Bernardo Center Dr.  Then we turned onto RB Rd and rode up to Matinal Rd.  The last part of this little climb was tough for me, I had to grind it out.  Back home the normal route.  I felt fine in my legs at the end of the ride, they were just tired.  My cardio was in good shape on this ride.

Avg speed = 16.6 mph. Total mileage = 47.1 mi
Avg heartrate = 143 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2150'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/49316984/

9-4-2011 Ride

Time trial loop, riding from home.  I rode up to Jim's house, and he was riding over as well, so we rode together.  We met up with John at Dave's house (no Dave, still on the mend for his knee injury), and I proposed that we keep a pace to finish in around an hour.  I started off a little fast but slowed down and rode with the others, trading leads with John.  I stayed in 10th gear or higher the entire ride, including a slower power push up the little climb to Poway Rd.  It was a real workout for my gluteal muscles.  I did the same thing on Sabre Springs Pkwy and up Ted Williams Pkwy.  On the Pomerado Rd section, we all stayed pretty much together, riding steady but not pushing the pace too much.  Finished in 59:20.

Total mileage = 23.1 mi
Avg heartrate = 136 bpm
Total elevation gain = 820'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/4958719

9-3-2011 Ride

Ride with Jim, riding up to his house to meet him, then heading over to W Bernardo Dr and up the hill to Bernardo Center Dr.  We took this road out to Black Mountain Rd.  I wasn't pushing the pace on this ride, knowing that I had two more days of riding this weekend.  Took Black Mountain over to the 56 bike trail, which we rode together all the way down to El Camino Real.  Jim is a good guy to ride with, very conversational and having interesting things to say and talk about.  Up El Camino Real, then down and over to San Dieguito Rd  We kept the pace pretty easy on the flats, and I picked it up on the 3 Witches climb.  I saw a couple of riders ahead of me, so I rode to catch up with them.  I did near the base of the last climb, but I couldn't shake them.  I worked really hard on this little stretch, and it felt pretty good.  Back home the usual route, taking RB Rd all the way downhill.  I stopped at Jim's place for a great smoothie.

Avg speed = 16.7 mph. Total mileage = 33.1 mi
Avg. heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1390'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/49041604/