Only John and I rode this ride, as Dave and Jim were staying home with kids while their wives were at a church retreat. I had been training pretty consistently for this ride, so I felt good about my fitness. We started a half hour early, going off with the century riders because of a hot weather forecast. I rode briskly at the beginning, keeping a steady pace up the Poway grade. Very few people passed me, maybe one guy. I waited at the top for John, then we took off again toward Ramona. I had another decent climb up to the high point by Mt. Woodson and rode down into Ramona, catching on with a couple of other fast riders to help pace me and trading leads. I waited for John by Dye Rd, and we rode together for awhile, but he wasn't keeping pace, so I rode with others through the back streets of Ramona, I think following the same route as last year. We got back together at the first sag stop but didn't stop there. Continued over to Haverford Rd, then over to the 78. Going downhill, we had the wind at our backs, and I was riding the brakes and feeling nervous on the turns. John got out ahead a fair distance at the start, but I caught up with him near the bottom, and we rode with another group at a nice, fast pace all the way through the San Pasqual Valley, which was really nice. I didn't feel great on the climb out of the valley, but I did okay. John and I hooked up again, and we rode generally together to BVP and all the way past the mall, trading leads. I separated a little bit from him on the freeway, and I pushed it a little bit on the hill before the sag stop at the park. We stopped there for about 10 min, getting some food and fluids. We stayed together on the gradual climb up to RB Rd and for a time after the turn. But I kept a faster pace up the little climb and waited for him at the top. We rode together briefly onto Camino San Bernardo until it started climbing again. So I waited for him at the turn onto Dove Canyon Rd, and we rode together until the early parts of the climb on Carmel Valley Rd. I was feeling kinda worn out here, but John must have been feeling worse. I waited for him at the top, and we rode together down and onto Camino del Sur and on this road for a time. There were very few riders on the route at this point, so not much help from riding in groups. I started to feel better and had a pretty good ride up the little climb heading toward 4S Ranch, maintaining a steady pace that some other riders who I'd joined up with couldn't keep up with. When John and I connected again, he was really starting to slow down. We caught up with each other at the stoplight by Dove Canyon Rd, then I rode ahead to get through most of the next series of little uphill sections on Camino del Norte, riding them pretty well. I waited just after the turn onto Pomerado Rd, and John and I rode together here onto Metate Ln and for some of this ride. I rode out a little bit at the last little uphill part, and he caught up at a stoplight on Community Rd. I was close to an 18 mph average speed and had some energy left, so I put on a strong pace after crossing Poway Rd and tried to keep it up all the way to the finish, basically succeeding but not able to ride at the fastest pace possible. I finished in about 3:22:30 and felt the best at the end of this ride that I've felt in quite awhile, no cramps or muscle tightness even though it was unseasonably hot during the latter half of the ride. This was a much better ride for me than last year, so I hope I learned my lesson about putting in the necessary miles before a big ride.
Avg speed = 18.1 mph. Total mileage = 61.1 mi
Avg heartrate = 151 bpm
Total elevation gain = 3010'
