Ride over to Dave's house, having to push it because I lost track of time and forgot that we were going to start at 6:30. That was the fastest I rode over to his house in quite awhile. The day was overcast and cloudy, with unusually high humidity. We headed down Pomerado Rd and up Highland Valley Rd to Bandy Canyon Rd. I struggled on this section, probably because of a combination of the weather and my not having ridden many steep climbs recently. John and I stayed together after this, down into the San Pasqual Valley. Dave eventually caught up. I stretched it out after the turn, then slowed down for John to catch up. Dave was lagging during much of the ride; he had been out in the previous afternoon (also hot and humid) trimming trees, so he was not at peak form. We headed up the 78, and the others stayed with me until the climbing started in earnest. I felt like I had a good ride here, keeping my pace above 8 mph for the whole time and above 10 mph for much of it. I waited about 12 minutes at the light in Ramona before the others showed up, then we continued on the 67. We all rode together until the little slope before Highland Valley Rd. After the light, I waited for the others to pass, then we all rode together briefly before John and I got ahead. He stayed with me for awhile and dropped back, but he still had a good ride up to the crest by Mt Woodson. I was really sweating on this ride, much more so than I can recently remember. We headed over to Scripps-Poway Pkwy and down, working against the wind coming from the west. The sweat was dripping into my right eye on the downhill, so I kept my pace fairly slow. We headed down to Pomerado Rd and turned right. I kept a decent pace on this section, but I was definitely feeling the effects of the exertion and humidity. After finishing at Dave's and having a quick soda, I headed home the normal route, very slowly. After the ride, I was tired but not sore, and my legs felt okay throughout the day.
Avg speed = 17.2 mph. Total mileage = 48.3 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2400'
