Ride over to Dave's house for a 7:30 start. It seemed colder than the start on the previous day, even though the temperature at my house was a little higher. Throughout this ride, the sun never really came out, and it stayed cool the whole time. We started on the same route as John and I had taken on the rainy Wednesday ride. I was keeping my pace low for much of this ride, knowing that I still have two more days, ideally, of riding before New Year's Day. We got on the 56 bike trail and headed all the way down to Carmel Country Rd, riding a little bit of a tailwind and seeing a lot more cyclists than I did on the previous Wednesday. We took Carmel Canyon Rd over to Del Mar Heights Rd, then rode against a headwind pretty much up to Camino del Sur. At times, it was pretty brisk, but it thankfully moderated as we got closer to 4S Ranch and RB. I pushed my pace a little bit on this section, then dialed it back after and rode with Dave after Camino del Sur, only outpacing him on the little uphill sections. We stayed on Carmel Valley Rd to Dove Canyon Rd, then took it over to Camino del Norte. We added a little to the ride by heading west here to RB Rd, then taking this at modest pace to Via del Campo, crossing over to the smoother downhill on W Bernardo Dr. Then back to Dave's house, where I picked up a couple of pairs of shorts he bought for me at the December Canari warehouse sale. Then back home via W Bernardo Dr, driving pretty hard on this section and feeling fairly strong. This was the first ride where I felt good throughout, good cardio and no real exertion. My max heartrate was in the low 160's.
Avg speed = 17 mph. Total mileage = 34.8 mi
Avg heartrate = 133 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1380'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/162068104
