Solo ride from home up to Julian, during a Fellowship Camp weekend. When I left the house at 12:45, it was about 90 deg. I hadn't thought it would be that hot. Headed over the freeway and up BVP to the road by San Pasqual High School, taking it down into the valley. Got onto the 78 via Milky Way. As I was heading west, I had a tailwind. Made it up to Ramona okay, although I could feel the heat, and I might have overdone it a little. I chose not to stop at the corner AM/PM and refuel, which turned out to be a big mistake. Instead, I rode over to the Old Julian Highway and stopped for a bit to have a gel pack and some water. For whatever reason, this section of the ride was just awful. I had no drive in my legs, and my back was acting up. I gritted it out all the way to Santa Ysabel, going super slow up all of the climbs and not even being able to keep a decent pace on the flats. At that point, I stopped at a convenience store and got a large Gatorade, then sat out on the seats outside, refilling one of my water bottles and drinking the rest. I was thinking about stopping there, it had been that bad. Instead, I decided to try the first climb out of Santa Ysabel and see how it went. It was a little slow, but I was steady in my pace and not feeling so bad. Legs had recovered, I was probably quite a bit dehydrated, and my back felt okay. I made it up to Wynola, struggling a little on the last climb into that town, and recovered pretty well on the flats and downhill sections through and past town. Then it was another slog up into Julian. This second climb didn't seem as bad as I had remembered it, and it's only a mile after the turnoff to the scout camps into town. Not overly steep, but I was really glad to come around the last bend and see the stop sign up ahead. Ann had driven up, and she passed me when I still had about 3 miles to go. I'm glad she didn't stop because I probably would have put my bike in the car and called it a day. As it was, I finished reasonably well, legs holding out great, no cramping and just a little quivering in my calves. Finished in about 3:10, which was slower than the last time I'd ridden up there. Next time, I'll take more breaks and feel better in the middle section.
Avg speed = 12.7 mph. Total mileage = 40.0 mi
Avg heartrate = 1?? bpm
Total elevation gain = 4160'
