Ride from home, and it was wet on the roads when I left. It had been raining in the evening, but I was hoping that the rain was done and we'd just have overcast skies. I headed over to the church using the normal yoga route, keeping the pace down because of the planned riding distance for the day. The rain stayed away for this portion, but the roads got me pretty wet. Met up with Joe, and we headed over to Centre City Pkwy via 5th Ave. Down to 9th Ave, then over to Auto Pkwy. That little hill before the car dealerships was fun as always. Stayed on 9th Ave, then turned left on Del Dios Hwy and headed over to Valley Pkwy via Avenida del Diablo. The weather was cooperating to this point, with little spits but no rain. Down to Del Dios Hwy, taking this all the way into Rancho Santa Fe. Joe was riding well, basically keeping up with me as I lowered my normal pace a little. Through RSF and on Linea del Cielo, lots of little ups and downs. Turns into Lomas Santa Fe Dr, and we took this down to the Coast Hwy. We were starting to get little bits of drizzle, and it kept up like this throughout most of the rest of the ride, just raining enough to keep the roads wet, slick, and dirty. On the coast, we headed north, and we made pretty good time, keeping a generally steady pace on this mainly flat section. Through Encinitas and Leucadia, turning right on La Costa Ave and heading inland to El Camino Real. Here, we turned right and headed back over to Olivenhain Rd, where we did a little gentle climbing, followed by some flats, then another fairly long gradual climb up Rancho Santa Fe Rd to San Elijo Hills. The San Elijo Rd section is really not that bad and can be taken pretty fast if you are in shape. I was saving my energy for the rest of the ride and kept it pretty modest. This was perhaps the wettest portion of the ride for us, as we actually got a brief bout of rain. We headed back toward Escondido using Elfin Forest Rd and Harmony Grove Rd. Again, this section of road can really be attacked, as there isn't really any climbing of note, just gradual uphills that are fairly short. When we got back into Escondido, it was clear that it had been raining, and the roads were really wet. We headed back over to Valley Pkwy by the Home Depot, then took this road to 2nd Ave and back to the church via Broadway. I felt good at this point, but not so good that I wanted to take any routes home other than the most direct one. So I headed over Kalmia St to 5th Ave, then back over to Centre City Pkwy, going back from there the normal route. The wind was more in my face, and I was slow going over the bridge by the lake. I stood on the pedals on the little climb by the park and felt fine, strong legs. Same thing for the last little climb, which I powered up slowly. Not a lot of reserves of energy, but my body held out just fine. It helped that I didn't really push the pace throughout the ride. I will need to do the same thing on the Palm Springs Century.
Avg speed = 16.3 mph. Total mileage = 60.5 mi
Avg heartrate = 14? bpm
Total elevation gain = 2000'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/64684492/
