3-25-2012 Ride

Ride with Joe, starting from church and heading over Juniper to 2nd St, then up Grand Ave to BVP.  Joe hadn't been riding in awhile, so we kept the pace moderate throughout, and the route was pretty flat.  We headed out to Lake Wohlford Dr, then turned around and went back to El Norte Pkwy.  Down this road to Ash St, then up the little climb.  At a stop sign near the bottom of the downhill section, my brakes locked up and I nearly ran my bike into a curb.  That would not have been good.  Need to be much more aware of my speed and potential exit routes.  We rode over to Country Club Ln, then took this road into San Marcos, eventually getting back onto El Norte Pkwy to connect to Woodland Pkwy.  This is a nice flat ride over to Mission Rd, which we took back into Escondido.  The wind was kicking up by this time, so that made things a little interesting.  I led out, and Joe tucked in behind my draft.  For awhile, the wind was at our backs and that was nice.  We rode into it once we got onto Centre City Pkwy, but it wasn't for too long.  Back to the church via 2nd Ave and Broadway.

Avg speed = 15.5 mph. Total mileage = 18.0 mi
Avg heartrate = 137 bpm
Total elevation gain = 250'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/78148934/

3-24-2012 Ride

Solo ride from home.  It was cloudy at the start.  I headed through the neighborhood to RB Rd.  I'm really pleased with how easy it is to do short steep climbs on my new bike.  Headed over to San Dieguito Rd, and on the way I ran into some pretty heavy mist.  It wasn't raining during any of the ride, but there were times when the roads were wet (not streaming wet) and my glasses were regularly beaded with water.  Going down San Dieguito Rd, I saw and passed another rider, so I gave it a little extra effort to pull away from him.  That made this part of the ride a little more strenuous than I'd planned.  Over to El Camino Real and up the climb to Del Mar Heights.  I felt decent, not great, on this climb.  Down to the 56 bike trail, which I took all the way back to Ted Williams Pkwy.  There was a huge group of riders coming the other way in about 10 bunches.  On the gradual climbs, I dialed it back, not pushing the pace at all.  Up Ted Williams Pkwy to Pomerado Rd.  I had a good little riding section by the hospital.  Then down all the way to the freeway and back home the normal way.  I felt pretty good at the end of this ride, being able to stand on my pedals and climb the short grades by the park and on Aguamiel.  This was encouraging, considering that I hadn't ridden in about 2 weeks.  My hamstrings were a little sore from a kettlebell workout on the previous Wednesday, but they were generally fine after a short warm-up.

Avg. speed = 17.2 mph. Total mileage = 36.4 mi
Avg heartrate = 153 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1320'
 http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/77928774

3-13-2012 Ride

Ride from home to church for yoga, using the BVP route and Oak Hill to Ash, then to the church via Grand, Juniper, and Fourth. This was the first time riding this route on my new bike, and I was trying out my Time iClic pedals as well.  The wind was fairly brisk and generally a help on the route.  I hadn't originally intended to ride too fast, but I made good time, which was good, considering that I left home a little later than I wanted to.  This bike provides a really smooth ride, with good translation of energy into power.  It took me <35 min riding time to get to church.

Average speed =  18.6 mph. Total mileage = 10.6 mi.
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ca/san%20diego/964123799127555358

3-11-2012 Ride

Ride, starting from church, with Andy Sweet and David Thompson.  This was our inaugural church men bike ride.  We headed out Broadway to Jesmond Dene, keeping the pace moderate.  Up Jesmond Dene, David broke his front derailleur and got stuck in his big chainring on this little climb, which wore him out.  We tried to fix it, but a metal piece had sheared off, so we were out of luck.  He could switch chainrings manually, so he stayed in the little one until we got to the top of Jesmond Dene.  Andy had finished a triathlon the previous weekend, and he's got pretty good cycling legs.  He couldn't quite hang with me on the final sprint climb up to the top, but I was giving it pretty much everything I had.

Avg speed = 16.0 mph. Total mileage = 25.6 mi
Total elevation gain = 590'
www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/77782858/

3-10-2012 Ride

Ride, starting from David Settles' house in Scripps Ranch.  This was my first extended ride on my new bike, so I planned on taking it pretty easy.  We headed over to Pomerado Rd and up the gradual climb to the top.  He was feeling not fully up to par, so he lagged behind for most of the ride.  We headed down Pomerado Rd and rode up Scripps-Poway Pkwy.  The bike really felt good on the climbs, particularly when I got out of the saddle and stood on the pedals.  I felt pretty good at the top, even with not being in great shape.  We gathered together, then rode down the 67 grade.  Here's where the crazy stuff happened.  Sometime about a third of the way down the steep portion, my cell phone flew out of my jersey pocket.  I didn't realize it until later, when the small pump I had borrowed from John also flew out.  That one I got back, but I couldn't find my phone, even though I rode back up to look for it.  Bummer!  We rode down to the Lakeside Ave exit, then headed over Riverside Dr, connecting to El Nopal via Riverford Rd.  By this time, David was slowing down, so I backed off my pace as well.  Over Magnolia Ave to get to Mast Blvd.  On the little climbs on this road, I pushed the pace, and the bike really responded well.  We rode down to the 52 bike trail and went up the long, gradual climb.  Then we headed over to Clairemont Mesa Blvd via Santo Rd and took this little climb to Ruffin Rd.  From here, I slowed my pace down quite a bit to stay with David as we rode Kearny Villa Rd back to Pomerado Rd.  Back up to Scripps-Ranch Blvd, with a little climb up to Ironwood Rd, then we rode through the neighborhood back to David's house.  All in all, a good first ride on my new bike.  I'm liking it so far.

Avg speed = 16.0 mph. Total mileage = 37.6 mi
 Total elevation gain = 1980'
www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/77778552/

3-3-2012 Ride #2

I went to the house of a guy, Blake Eudy, 529 Tarento Dr, out by Cabrillo National Monument, to look at a bike he had for sale.  It is a Fuji Team RC with Reynolds carbon wheels.  I took it out for a test ride and rode out toward the monument.  The bike really handled well, some minor wear and tear, but it was in good shape all in all.  I bought it from him for $1750 after getting back to his house.  Whoohoo, a new (for me) bike!  It's really light, probably 15-16 lbs without any accessories hanging off it.

Total mileage = 5.5 mi
Total elevation gain = 140'
www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/74314420/

3-3-2012 Ride #1

Solo ride from home.  Nobody else was riding.  Jim and Dave were recuperating from their injuries on the previous weekend, and John and David were out as well.  I had had a colonoscopy the previous Thursday, but I was feeling pretty good.  I started out going through the neighborhood toward 4S Ranch, but I wasn't able to switch down to my lower set of gears.  I stopped on Matinal Rd just past Poblado to try and fix it, but the cable was stuck in the guide running under the bottom bracket.  So I rode home and got it unstuck.  I also saw some kind of funny thing going on with the frame down by the bottom bracket, don't know what it is.  I headed on a revised course, originally intending to do just a short ride.  Headed down by the park and up Pomerado Rd.  I was feeling okay by this time, so I just kept a moderate pace and rode up to Ted Williams Pkwy.  Turned here and made my way to the 56 bike trail, which I took down to Carmel Country Rd.  On the latter section of this part, I was keeping a pretty fast pace, as there were a couple of other riders going fairly fast and I kept with them.  I got onto Carmel Canyon Rd and started the little climb up to Del Mar Heights Rd.  Here, my right knee started bothering me, with kind of a lingering ache when I pushed on my downstroke.  I rested at the turn and had half of an energy bar.  I dialed back the pace a bit and concentrated on more output from my left leg (it caused some fairly significant soreness in my left quad for a couple of days) for the rest of the ride.  I headed back to Camino del Sur, turning left and taking this all the way back to RB Rd.  Although I was a little slower, my right knee held up okay.  Over RB Rd to W Bernardo Dr and back home the normal way.  I felt fine from the cardio standpoint at the end, but it was a pretty easy route overall.

Avg. speed = 16.7 mph. Total mileage = 35.0
Total elevation gain =1210'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/74166996/