Ride, starting from the Park n Ride at Ted Williams Pkwy, over to John's house. It was so cold at the start that my eyeballs hurt. I hadn't been riding for a couple of days, since I had some kind of muscle strain in my middle back. So I was trying to take it pretty easy on this ride. We headed up to the top of Pomerado Rd, and it was already warming up nicely. Down the hill, where I was pushing to keep up with John. He was riding fast, my windbreaker was slowing me down, and I wasn't feeling particularly strong. We headed over to Kearny Villa Rd, and again I was trailing John more than leading. Over to Balboa Ave, which we took all the way to the bottom of the gradual climb up to Mt Soledad on Soledad Mountain Rd. I stopped here to take my jacket and ear warmer off and put on my regular gloves. At the beginning, I just rode steady and tried to stay with John. I was feeling better and rode out in front. This route doesn't really have any tough parts, but it's long, about 3.5 mi from the base to the lookout point on the circle by the cross. I made it up fine, again keeping the pace slow to moderate. We headed back using Via Capri, and I was really laying on the brakes. I think I need new front brake pads. We took Hidden Valley Rd down to Torrey Pines Rd, another gradual uphill that went pretty well. Turned right on La Jolla Village Dr, which eventually turns into Miramar Rd. On the section up to Genesee, John was falling back, so I slowed down to ride more at his pace. He was riding faster once we crossed over I-5, and we traded leads all the way to Pomerado Rd. This section of road is really bumpy in the bike lane, and the sewer smell by every manhole cover is downright gross. John was pretty well wiped out by the time we started up Pomerado Rd, so I got ahead of him again, then slowed down to ride with him on the flat section. I pulled away as it started to climb again, and I felt pretty good all the way to the top, again not setting any speed records. We headed back to his house the normal route. I rode back, was pretty slow on the slight uphill past Poway Rd. I kept going a little beyond Ted Williams Pkwy, turning around at Shoal Creek Dr and heading back to where the car was parked. My quads were pretty well done for, starting to complain when I stood on the pedals, so it was a good time to stop. Recovery was fairly quick.
Avg speed = 16.0 mph. Total mileage = 46.0 mi
Avg heartrate = 153 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2220'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/61816206
