2-25-2012 Ride

Ride with Dave, Jim, John, and David from John's house.  Without thinking too much about it, I had parked in Carmel Mountain Ranch and ridden over to John's house.  I hadn't ridden since Palm Springs, as Ann and I had gone up to Yosemite the previous weekend to go skiing.  That was a really great trip.  Also, I had donated blood the previous Wednesday, so it turned out that I didn't have much stamina.  To top it off, I couldn't get my front brake to stop rubbing, and the rear brake was rubbing a little as well.  We headed over to Scripps-Poway Pkwy, then up to the 67.  I led out on the early climbing sections, but the others were right behind.  On the main climb, David had a steadier pace that I couldn't keep up with, and John passed me a little over halfway up.  It was fairly foggy on this climb, but it cleared up near the top.  We gathered together at the intersection with the 67 and headed south.  All stayed together to the steeper part of the downhill section, where Dave, John, and Jim were able to coast faster, and David was lagging.  At the bottom of the hill, where it flattened out, Jim was close behind Dave, and Dave hit the brakes for some reason.  Jim ran into him, got dragged briefly, then went off his bike and bounced and skidded on his butt.  Dave dragged his bike for a little, then stopped.  Dave got a scrape on his left lower leg where Jim's front wheel had rubbed against him.  I was behind the action, and it was scary to see.  Jim was bumped and scraped up quite a bit, but thankfully he didn't hit his head.  We all waited at the bottom of the hill for Krista to show up and take Jim and Dave back home.  David, John, and I decided to cut the ride short, so we rode over to the base of the road up to the San Vicente Dam, then turned around and headed back to John's house.  I was able to keep up with David for about 3/4 of the first steep climbing section on the 67, then he rode out ahead and I couldn't maintain the pace.  We got to the top, and John wasn't too far behind.  On the way back on Scripps-Poway Pkwy, I was lagging John on the downhills.  Both of them got a fair way ahead of me on the last little climb after Pomerado Rd, as I just didn't have much push.  They slowed down after turning into the neighborhood, so I caught up with them.  The ride back to my car was slow on the flats and especially the climbs.  I was ready to be done at the end, even though it wasn't that much distance ridden.  Time to start looking in earnest for a new bike.

Avg speed = 14.7 mph. Total mileage = 34.3 mi
Total elevation gain = 2380'
www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/74161138/

2012 Tour de Palm Springs Century

Got up before 4:00 to get all my gear on and head over to Joe's house.  I'd packed most of the stuff in the car the previous evening.  I was a little nervous, because I had sniffles, sneezing, and a general feeling of punkiness the night before.  However, I felt pretty good when I woke up.  Got over there a little before 4:30 and loaded things up.  It took us about 1:45 to get to Palm Springs, staying on highways the whole way.  We got into town and stopped at the Visitor Center to go to the bathroom, but it was closed.  However, the wind was really blowing, an ominous sign.  Parked the car and got things together for the ride, then we headed over to the registration tables.  The weather was pretty mild, no strong blowing winds downtown, so we rode back to the car and I dropped off my jacket.  Started right at 7:00AM, and we headed generally north and west.  The wind was coming out of the west at around 35 mph once we got out of town, and it was so strong that we had to ride with bikes tilted to keep from being pushed over.  At one point, we rode through a sandstorm for about a minute, and the sand was blowing so hard it stung against my skin.  Everybody was riding slowly.  We turned west and rode right into the teeth of the wind for about 3.5 mi, and it was brutally slow.  I tried to find riders going at my pace, so I could draft shamelessly behind them.  We headed north then and had to face the stiff crosswinds again out to about mile 12.  It took me an hour to get here!  I waited for Joe, then we raced downhill for about 5 miles, going 35-40 mph without the sound of wind in our faces.  Stopped at the first SAG stop, rested up, and replenished food and drink.  On the next stage of the race, we had a couple of climbing sections that I don't remember from previous rides, so they were a little challenging.  Thankfully, there was another SAG stop afterwards that we paused at briefly, talking to a nice couple riding a tandem.  The following section was flat to downhill all the way out to mile 48 and the third SAG stop.  I did get a flat in my front tire, but fortune smiled on me when a guy in a car stopped just as I was pumping it up to lend me his floor pump.  Much easier!  We flew on this section, and Joe was really riding strong, staying with me the entire way.  We took a little longer break at SAG stop 3, drinking water and getting some easy-to-digest food.  I took a hammer gel packet with caffeine for the energy boost (it did affect my sleep that night).  We were at the general base of the downhill, with just a slight lowering over the next 10 miles, again having the advantage of the wind working in our favor, so that was a fast section.  A little after this point, we got off route on the way back to La Quinta.  Joe and I also hooked up with a couple of riders who were pushing the pace, and we stayed with them for 5-10 min, riding at a really fast pace (> 20 mph on the flats).  We reconnected with the correct route around mile 69, just in time to catch the fourth SAG stop at mile 73.  I was feeling pretty good, no real pain, just a little tired.  They had a really good band at this stop, and we talked with a bike mechanic from Mission Hills Bikes who had complimented Joe's vintage bike.  Joe's feet and quads were starting to bother him, so he sat down for awhile and massaged them.  We headed back through La Quinta, briefly heading east from Palm Desert until we began riding toward Rancho Mirage.  Here is where I separated from Joe, as I found a couple of groups of riders who I could hang with, so I stayed with them.  The last SAG stop at mile 90 was in Rancho Mirage at a Lowe's, so I waited for him there.  He was really starting to feel it in his legs and feet, so he sat again for a time before we headed to the finish.  I stayed with him the rest of the way, encouraging him to stay locked on to my back wheel.  I dialed my pace back a little but not a lot.  This section of the ride, although a net uphill and heading mainly east, was not as bad as I had feared.  We were generally keeping a pace around 17 mph. It was a big relief to enter the outskirts of Palm Springs and finish up with people cheering our accomplishment.  Finished with a riding time of 5:54, accounting for some walking time through the SAG stops.  I really felt good at the end.  I had tried to stretch out my quads and hamstrings at the last SAG stop but felt tightening, so I didn't push it.  Still, they gave me zero problems on the homestretch, maybe because I wasn't driving a hard pace.

Avg speed = 17.4 mph. Total mileage = 102.4 mi
Avg heartrate = 154 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2650'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/68794764

2-5-2012 Ride

Solo ride from church back home, taking a detour.  I was still worn out from the previous day's ride, so I wasn't able to push it on any of the climbing sections.  Headed over to 2nd St, then up to Grand Ave, taking it all the way to BVP.  It was a warm day, temperature in the mid-70s, and the wind was coming basically from the west.  Over BVP to the 78, and I felt decent going up the two small hills with the wind at my back.  Down the hill to the light, where I turned right and rode over to Old Milky Way to stay away from some of the traffic.  I kept the pace initally at 20 mph, then slowed down just before the road connected back into the 78.  Here, my pace was in the 18 mph range in general, although I felt I was working pretty hard.  Got onto Bandy Canyon Rd, and I kept up a decent pace until it started climbing.  I stopped for a short break at Santa Ysabel Rd, letting my heartrate drop and having some water.  The climb up to Highland Valley Rd was really slow.  I just didn't have any push in my legs.  Down Highland Valley Rd and onto the flats, where I was still pretty slow.  I think my brakes were rubbing again; at least, it felt like that right before Pomerado Rd.  I turned left and felt like I had some tailwind to move me up the road.  At the crests of little hills, the wind was more in my face.  Got to RB Rd okay, and headed toward home, with a slow stretch going up to and under the freeway.  The rest of the ride was uneventful, but my legs were feeling it throughout the rest of the day (Super Bowl Sunday), most likely from the major exertion on the previous day.  My heartrate was pretty low, probably because I didn't have the leg strength to really work my cardio.

Avg speed = 16.4 mph. Total mileage = 24.6 mi
Avg heartrate = 144 bpm
Total elevation gain = 780'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/67880422/

2-4-2012 Ride

Big ride to get ready for the Tour de Palm Springs.  Started from home with Dave, Jim, and Joe.  We headed up Azucar Way to Duenda Rd, taking it over to W Bernardo Rd.  Over to RB Rd, heading to Camino del Sur.  On the early climbs in this ride, Joe was slow, but over time he warmed up and handled the climbs really well.  Jim rode strong throughout most of the ride, only slowing down toward the end of the first part.  We headed over to San Dieguito Rd.  I took my jacket and long gloves off, as it was warming up, but it was a whole lot cooler on this descent into Fairbanks Ranch.  We turned on El Apajo and rode over to Camino del Bosque, which is a nice flat rode over to Via de la Valle.  At this point in the ride, everybody was pretty much riding together, breaking up only when we encountered little climbs.  We got over to the coast road and took it into Del Mar, again with a little separation on the small climbs here.  Through Del Mar and over to Carmel Valley Rd, where we had to take a small detour through the Torrey Pines State Beach parking lot, as they were working on the bridge again.  Up Torrey Pines, I sat on Dave's wheel and let him do the work on the first half of the ride, where he powered up the hill.  I passed him when he ran out of gas, and we gathered up again at the top.  From here on, Joe was in good form, hanging with the others for nearly all of the climbs and leading out on the flats.  Headed back via Genesee Rd to Eastgate Mall Rd, then over to Miramar Rd.  I was flagging a little here and couldn't keep up with Joe at one point when he took off.  We rode for a short while with a group that was training for the Solvang Century.  I got caught with part of this group while Jim and Dave rode out ahead on the climb up Pomerado Rd, and Joe and I had to work steadily to catch back up with them.  I passed them and led at the top of the hill but not by much.  Down Pomerado Rd for a needed rest, then I had an energy bar to get some rejuvenation.  Rode back up with the other three, and we basically stayed together until the turn onto RB Rd to Duenda Rd.  On the little climbs, there was some separation, and the three of us in the lead hit the light at full speed.  I stopped at Jim's house, where we left Jim and Dave.  Back to my house, where Joe topped off his water bottles and I dropped off my warm weather gear.  The second part of this ride was ridden at a distinctly lower speed.  We headed over the freeway to Escondido and up BVP to Sunset Dr.  This little climb here was slow going, as were the rest of the climbing sections of this ride.  We made it over to Centre City Pkwy, where it seemed that we hit most of the lights.  Joe and I were riding at basically the same pace. I was slow on the climb up to Deer Springs Pkwy, just a little ahead of Joe, who was still riding strong.  We rode down and over to Twin Oaks Valley Pkwy, and we traded leads on this flat, slightly downhill section of the ride, averaging over 20 mph.  I felt pretty good at this time.  We connected onto Mission Rd via Richmar Rd, and here is where we started riding more or less into the wind.  Things slowed down quite a bit at this point.  Joe was beginning to feel sore in the seat, so we took a brief rest just after Woodland Pkwy.  There was a little climb here, and Joe was slow to pick the pace back up.  We gathered back up and rode together to Centre City Pkwy, at a slower pace.  Through Escondido, we did hit basically every light, but it was a relief, as I was getting tired.  Joe's right foot started to get sore from the exertion, but we only had 3 miles or so to the finish.  The wind helped us on the downhilll and flat section after Felicita Rd and over the freeway.  I had been feeling some mild twinges in my thighs that were of minor concern.  But I had enough gas to power up the hill before the park, and I felt pretty good, albeit slower, on the final climb up to the house.  All in all, a decent ride.  It would be great to have another week to get ready for the century, but if I take it at a modest pace I should be fine.

Avg speed = 16.1 mph. Total mileage = 76.6 mi
Avg heartrate = 152 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2600'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/67558568

2-1-2012 Ride

Ride at lunch, taking the loop with the extension out to Poway Rd.  I was feeling good, and it seemed like the wind was at my back for most of the ride.  Rode strong up to Poway Rd and pretty well on the way back to Twin Peaks Rd, with some let-up near the turn.  I was slower than I wanted going up Camino del Norte, slightly better on the second little climb.  Slowed down somewhat on the rest of the ride, but still finished with a pretty good average speed.

Avg speed = 18.0 mph. Total mileage = 16.4 mi
Avg heartrate = 156 bpm
Total elevation gain = 620'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/38068332