Solo ride over to Dave's house, following the normal route over the freeway. The weather was a little overcast, which helped to keep the temperature higher than it had been on recent rides. At his house, I met up with him and John, and we headed over to Felicita Rd, then up to Juniper St. We headed over to Idaho Ave, which has a really short, steep section to climb. We took this road over to BVP, then out to Valley Pkwy. Other than the Idaho climb, we pretty much stayed together on this part of the ride. On the climb up to Lake Wohlford, there was some separation. I felt pretty good on this climb, although I didn't really push the pace. That first mile is a kicker. We continued on around the lake to Woods Valley Rd for a rapid descent to Valley Center Rd. A short climb, then the long steady downhill back into Escondido. I didn't ride in a crouch, so the others got pretty far ahead of me, which was okay by me. I caught up with them before the turn onto El Norte Pkwy. Here we rode together for a time, but when I pushed the pace Dave would drop off the back, so I kept it dialed down. Over to Nordahl Rd, connecting to Auto Park Way and then to Valley Pkwy. Here I was riding steady but not all out. It's a gradual climb to Citracado Pkwy, where we turned left and climbed the final little bit to the connector road onto Gamble Ln. This road has a gate across it, so we had to portage our bikes over it. After the gate, it's a short, steep downhill back into Dave's neighborhood. Left on Felicita Rd and right on Brotherton Rd, then back to his place. I rode home the normal way, again feeling pretty strong, no muscle soreness at all and just a little bit of tiredness I could feel when I stretched it out. My cardio is in really great shape, going to try and do enough aerobic exercises to keep it at this high level.
Avg speed = 16.7 mph. Total mileage = 41.6 mi
Avg heartrate = 132 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1740'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/341318289
