Ride from home over to John's house. It was dark enough at the start that I used my bike lights. My heartrate monitor froze up at the start and didn't work throughout the ride. Headed over the normal way toward Dave's house, then up Pomerado Rd and normal way to John's. At Rios Rd, I saw Dave in his car, so I pushed the pace more than usual, thinking that they wanted to leave before 7:00. I made decent time up the last hill to John's place, keeping it over 10 mph the whole way. John, Dave, and I then headed from his house over to Scripps-Poway Pkwy, then down to Black Mountain Rd. Throughout this ride, we were all basically together, including several stretches of pace riding that were nice. The only places where I got out in front were the uphill sections, and John and Dave got ahead in the longer downhills, where I can't keep pace. We headed down to Kearny Villa Rd and took it all the way to Aero Dr, taking a left there and getting over to Sand Rock Rd. We took this to Murphy Canyon Rd, then right on Mission Center Rd, which has a short, steep downhill section into Mission Valley. I hit 48 mph here, and it was a little scary. Took a left onto Friars Rd and went over to Qualcomm Stadium, looping around it and getting onto the bike trail at the northeast corner. This trail eventually connects to Murphy Canyon Rd, and it is a gentle uphill climb out of Mission Valley, the easiest exit as far as I know. We took this route to Clairemont Mesa Blvd, then a short jog to Ruffin Rd. We gathered together here and rode generally as a group all the way back to Pomerado Rd. I didn't try to push my personal pace, knowing that I still had a ways to go to get home. I rode a little bit with the others going up Pomerado, but got out in front and rode with another guy who was setting a fast pace. I kept with him until it started to climb near the top, where I couldn't match his pace. We headed back to John's house the normal way, including a fast spring right at the end when John stepped on the gas. I headed back home the way I had come, again trading pace with another rider around Pomerado Hospital all the way to RB Rd. Without these riders, I don't think I would have pushed the pace as much as I did. I went home on RB Rd to W Bernardo Dr, then took it down to Aquamiel Rd. The last little climb let me know it was time to stop riding, and I was pretty tired the rest of the day.
Avg speed = 17.8 mph. Total mileage = 55.2 mi
Total elevation gain = 1850'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/139461937
