6-30-2012 Ride

Solo ride from home.  It was a little overcast at the start, nice temperature.  I headed up Azucar to Duenda, then over the normal way to Pomerado Rd.  I kept the pace modest, knowing I was in for a long, hilly ride.  Turned on Scripps Poway Pkwy and headed up.  After the first climb, I started riding into fog, and it was really heavy before I got onto the final climb.  Even though I wasn't pushing the pace, I was able to keep up a good cadence, and I climbed it in about 11 min.  It was clear and sunny at the top and for the rest of the ride.  Down the 67 toward Lakeside, and the air was fairly heavy at the bottom.  Over Vigilante Rd and Moreno Ave to Willow Rd, then over to Lake Jennings Rd via Ashwood.  I climbed okay up the little hill on this section, not great, and I downed an energy gel at the top.  I crossed under the freeway and headed up toward Alpine.  I had originally thought I would be turning around near Flinn Springs, but it was less than 30 mi to get to the stop sign, so that's where I rode.  On the way back, a mild breeze was facing me, so my pace wasn't fast.  My energy level was flagging on this portion, really all the way back to the base of the hill climbing up the 67.  I stopped before this climb and had a nice, long back stretch that really helped loosen me up.  Just before I stopped, I rode into some loose sand at the edge of the ride and almost tumbled.  There was a slight tailwind going up this climb, and I made short work of it, riding pretty well after getting my second wind.  I did most of the climb in the saddle, only standing up for a steeper section in the first portion of the climb and toward the end as my back started to bother me a bit.  Back down into Poway, where the wind was against me on Scripps-Poway Pkwy, and I started to slow down.  My pace was generally plodding on Pomerado Rd, not fast but not too slow either.  I turned on RB Rd and took it all the way to W Bernardo Dr, as I didn't relish too much more climbing.  Even still, I saw I was going to be short of 60 mi, so I rode all the way down to Aguamiel, then turned on Aguacate Way and rode it up to Alborada Rd.  Over to Smokesignal Dr, where I connected with Poblado Rd and then to Azucar Way.  I felt surprisingly good at the end, able to stand on my pedals for the little climbs with no discomfort at all.  Cardio is in good shape, and my legs are getting there as well.

Avg speed = 17.0 mph. Total mileage = 60.3 mi
Avg heartrate = 141 bpm
Total elevation gain = 3380'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/108357783

6-24-2012 Rides

Ride #1
Original time trial route from Dave's house.  He had texted me the previous evening to see if anybody was planning on riding on Sunday morning.  I was surprised to hear from him, so of course I said yes.  We rode the route together the whole way, taking a very easy pace, since Dave hadn't ridden his bike since the day of his bike accident with Jim on the 67 near Lakeside.  The weather was great, with some fog at the top by Poway High School.  We finished in 1:04:50, but it was one of the better rides I've been on lately, getting to ride with him again.  I hope he gets back into cycling at some level.


Total mileage = 23.1 mi
Avg heartrate = 125 bpm
Total elevation gain = 820'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/4958719

Ride #2
Ride with Andy Sweet after church and music practice.  It was full-on sun and breezy to boot.  I had hoped we could ride toward the coast, but he wanted to try some inland routes, so we headed to Juniper and over to Idaho Ave, taking it up and over to San Pasqual Valley Rd.  We headed out to the San Pasqual Valley, turning right on San Pasqual Rd and heading over to Old Milky Way to avoid some of the traffic.  We connected back to the 78 and took it out to Bandy Canyon Rd.  During this section, the wind was quartering at our backs, so we made really good time.  Once we started heading south and west, we were riding into the wind, and it was a real challenge.  I found myself really struggling to make headway all the way to the base of the climb out of the valley, where I slowed down anyway.  On the flats, Andy rides quite fast and was pushing me to keep up with him.  He's not quite as strong on the hills, but he's not far behind.  We headed back to I-15 on Highland Valley Rd, and I was relatively slow here, probably as a result of the wind and my tired legs from previous rides.  Turning back toward Escondido, we benefited from more of a tailwind as we headed across the freeway and back on BVP.  We followed the route I usually take to get to yoga.  On the first part of the gradual climb section, Andy was keeping a pace that was hard for me to keep up with.  But when it got a little steeper, he slowed down and I had no trouble maintaining the pace.  As we got nearer to Orange Glen High School, the wind shifted and started working against us.  I was slowing down anyway.  Our pace was decent, and I saved a little to sprint up the tiny hill by the hospital.  On the way home, I was riding into the wind for the most part, but it's a net downhill all the way across the freeway. Not a blistering pace this time while crossing, and I struggled up the little hill before the park.  It was a grind up to the house, but that's not really much of a challenge really, since it's short and not too steep.  Even drinking two bottles of lemonade, I was dehydrated at the end of this ride, since it had been awhile since I'd ridden in the middle of the day.

Avg speed = 17.2 mph. Total mileage = 33.4 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1060'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/106734229

6-23-2012 Ride

I thought, up until the morning of this ride, that it would be a solo one.  But Jim came through.  Because I was pretty sure he didn't want to ride 50 mi, I put in 16.6 mi beforehand, using the modified short loop from my house.  I had a sore groin from softball on Monday that I had aggravated at practice on Friday.  Combine that with sore quads and hamstrings from a Kettle Kore class on Thursday, and my legs were not in good shape.  Still, I managed an 18 mph average for the first part before meeting up with Jim at his house, working pretty hard to get there.  We headed through the neighborhood over to RB Rd, taking it to Dove Canyon Rd and getting over to Bernardo Center Dr/Carmel Valley Rd.  Other than the little climb up Matinal Rd, we rode together, as I matched my pace to his.  Same thing on the first part of the climb up Carmel Valley Rd, then I increased my pace a little on the latter part of the first section and the second section.  We rode down to Camino del Sur and over to San Dieguito Rd together and stayed together down into Fairbanks Ranch.  I had originally intended to cross over on Camino del Bosque, but I didn't know it doesn't connect with San Dieguito Rd (I do now), so we ended up going all the way to El Camino Real.  We rode over to Via de la Valle, then through lower Rancho Santa Fe.  It was a really nice ride here, with cool weather and nice scenery.  The climb back to Del Dios Hwy is not as long as I remembered, but I was still ready for a break at the top.  We connected back up, then headed back into Escondido.  I did okay, for the most part, on Del Dios Hwy, only losing steam as I approached the light at Via Rancho Pkwy.  The sun had come out, and it was pretty warm (not hot).  My cardio was just fine, but my legs wouldn't respond to the command to put out.  Our pace up Via Rancho Pkwy was slower, but I made a decent run across the I-15 bridge, given the condition of my legs.  After that, it was the normal slog back to Jim's house, with a very slow climb up Aguamiel to finish it off.  Jim made us these huge smoothies, and that helped me re-hydrate and cool down.  My legs didn't cramp up (surprise!), but they were definitely sore throughout the rest of the day.

Avg speed = 16.9 mph. Total mileage = 50.5 mi
Avg heartrate = 138 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2160'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/105954637

6-17-2012 Ride

Ride in the morning with Jim on the time trial route we have used from his house before.  I wasn't too interested in a fast pace, so we pretty much rode together on Pomerado Rd, with just a little separation on the longer uphill sections.  There was a little more separation on Ted Williams Pkwy, where I pushed my pace somewhat.  Then we basically rode together on Rancho Carmel Dr.  Then home by passing by work.  It's probably time for me to start tracking my riding time on this route if we can get into something of a rhythm riding it.

Avg speed = 16.2 mph. Total mileage = 16.9 mi
Avg heartrate = 129 bpm

Total elevation gain = 610'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/85755101

6-16-2012 Ride

Ride from home with John and Jim. Headed over toward Escondido, getting on BVP and taking it up to Citrus. Over on Citrus to El Norte Pkwy, which we took down to Broadway. Then Broadway to Jesmond Dene. John was riding pretty well, Jim hadn't been riding on the road in a couple of weeks, so he was slow. On the flat sections, we kept the pace moderate on his account. I rode pretty well up to the top here, where we regathered. Over to Deer Springs, then down Twin Oaks Valley Pkwy. About halfway down, a guy came riding by and got ahead of us, so near the end I picked up my pace to see if I could close the gap. It was a nice little challenge. We headed back via Barham Dr to Mission, taking it all the way to Centre City Pkwy. Jim was slowing down, so we dropped the pace. All the way to the freeway, and we were riding faster with the wind at our backs. I crossed the freeway bridge riding at about 32 mph, pretty much full out for me. We headed back the normal way and had smoothies after the ride.

Avg speed = !7.8 mph. Total mileage =34.7 mi
Avg heartrate = 135 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1000'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/12114652

6-12-2012 Ride

Tuesday morning ride.  It's been a challenging couple of weeks at work, so I got in an early morning ride.  I headed down by the park, then up Pomerado Rd all the way to the top.  I made good time to the bottom of the last climb, but I didn't ride as well to the top as I had hoped.  It was good, not great.  Down on Cypress Canyon Park Rd, then over Angelique to Scripps-Poway Pkwy. I headed over to Black Mountain Rd, then climbed up to the 56.  It's up and down from here to Carmel Valley Rd, and I was feeling decent, so I turned left and rode down Camino del Sur.  Back toward home, making a decent pace on the gradual climb back into 4S Ranch.  Stayed on RB Rd down W Bernardo Dr, then home the normal route from here.  This is a nice 30 mi route, with a couple of climbing sections to give me a workout.

Avg speed = 18.1 mph. Total mileage = 30.5 mi
Avg heartrate = 144 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1370'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/103345291

6-9-2012 Ride

Ride from home over to John's house, taking the normal route to Pomerado Rd, then up to Poway Rd.  I was riding a pretty fast pace on this section.  Over to Springhurst Rd, then up this little climb at a good clip, feeling good.  From his house, we headed up Angelique Rd to Cypress Canyon Park Rd to the top of Pomerado Rd. John hadn't been riding at all while he trained for a marathon he ran the previous weekend.  So his cardio was in good shape, but his riding muscles, particularly for climbing, were out of shape.  We headed down to Miramar Rd, taking it all the way to Genesee Dr.  On this flat-to-downhill section, John and I rode together, trading leads.  Once we got to the Genesee section, he was lagging on the uphill parts.  This is not my favorite road, since it has a lot of short up-and-down sections, very tiring for me.  We got up to Linda Vista Rd, then headed back.  By now, he was falling behind from lack of riding, so I slowed my pace down.  We rode together for most of the time, taking Aero Dr over to connect to Kearny Villa Rd and following this all the way back to Pomerado Rd.  I rode away just at the end, even at a moderate pace, as he started to run out of gas.  Again, we stayed together for about halfway up Pomerado Rd, then we reconnected at the top.  Back to his house the same way we came, then I headed toward home, following the same route back to RB Rd.  I was feeling it in my hamstrings mainly, not really sore, just tired and without a lot of drive.  Even still, I made decent time.  Followed RB Rd back to W Bernardo Dr, then home the normal way.  It had been awhile since I rode >50 mi, and my legs were tired for the rest of the day.  But they held up well for the ride.

Avg speed = 18.0 mph. Total mileage = 51.8 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1710'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/101021649/

6-3-2012 Ride

Ride from church with Dirk and Spencer.  We met at his office, then headed over to Broadway and out to Jesmond Dene Rd.  We kept the pace manageable on the flats, so that Spencer could ride at the same pace.  We got separated a little on the first climb, and I went all out on the last section, really laying it out.  From there, we headed  over to Twin Oaks Valley Pkwy and back into San Marcos, turning on Richmar and connecting up with Mission Rd using Marcos St.  Spencer was starting to lag behind by this time.  We rode down Mission Rd toward the high school and stopped for lunch at a pizza restaurant by Mulberry Dr.  After lunch, we headed west on Mission Rd to Woodward St, where we got on the Inland Rail Trail, taking it all the way back into Escondido.  It's a nice enough trail, but it's too slow for my liking.  Back in Escondido, we rode on it until just past Spruce St, then we crossed a bridge over the concrete waterway, heading back under I-15 and over to Auto Park Way.  This we took to Tanglewood Ln, just past the Lexus dealership, which takes you up to a cul-de-sac dead end.  However, you can walk your bike up a dirt path and get easily back on the road, which we did, connecting onto Bernardo Ave.  This road parallels the freeway for awhile, with another little section to pass a gate across it, then heads into a nice neighborhood generally around Felicita Park.  We stayed on it until turning right on Felicita Ln, then onto Via Loma Vista, which crosses Via Rancho Pkwy.  Here is where we split up, since that's the road that Dirk and Spencer live on.  I headed on home the normal way from here, not really pushing the pace.  Throughout the day, the wind was swirling, and it was at our backs only for the section when we were heading east on Mission Rd.  The weather was mild, high 70s, but I was sweating at the end, and it felt good to be done for a relatively short ride.

Avg speed = 15.0 mph. Total mileage = 27.8 mi
Avg heartrate = 130 bpm
Total elevation gain = 720'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/99262483/

6-2-2012 Ride

Solo ride from home in the morning, June gloom.  I headed out to Via Rancho Pkwy and up the little hill, making pretty good time on this climb.  Zoomed down by Lake Hodges, turning right on El Camino del Norte, which has a couple of mild climbing sections before it drops down toward Rancho Santa Fe Rd.  On Rancho Santa Fe Rd, there are several climbs as well, one of them a little bit of a challenge.  That one slowed me down a little, but I rode well in general.  I took a quick break just after getting onto this road and had a gel.  It seemed to help.  I climbed up San Elijo Rd really well, then headed back into Escondido via Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove Rd.  This is a gradual climb, and I was riding pretty strongly.  Once I got back into Escondido, I got onto Valley Pkwy by the Home Depot, and I headed up to Quince St.  I rode strongly here and all the way home.  Onto Centre City Pkwy via 13th St, then fast riding all the way home using the normal route.  I even hit 30 mph and maintained it briefly going across the bridge on I-15.  Fast up the hill near the park.  My quads complained a little bit on the last little climb up Aguamiel Rd, but I had good wind.  Riding the previous weekend in Wrightwood has helped my cardio.

Avg speed = 18.5 mph. Total mileage = 38.5 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1620'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/98670259/