Solo ride over to Dave's house, where I met up with him and John for a ride up to Ramona. I wore my new cycling shoes with the right shoe size for the first time, and they were very nice. I can tell a difference in the stiffness of the soles and the snugness of the fit, both of which help in power transfer. It was foggy at the start, and the overcast lasted until we got onto the 78. We rode over to Felicita Rd and up to Juniper St, then taking Idaho Ave to the 78. I planned on keeping my effort level at a match with the others, not getting ahead, and it generally worked well. Dave was slow on the climb up to Ramona, so John and I got out ahead of him a couple of times, then waited for him to catch up. We headed together over to Highland Valley Rd via the 67, then rode back toward Rancho Bernardo. I would get out a little bit ahead on the climb, then slow down for John to catch up. On the last part of the downhill, they both got out ahead of me, as I was taking it easy on the turns and not getting into aero position. I caught up with them on the flats, and we basically rode together back to Pomerado Rd. We rode across the freeway, then I had some separation on the climb to get to Centre City Pkwy. We all gathered back up and finished at Dave's house with smoothies. I didn't stay long, heading out Brotherton Rd to Felicita Rd and up Gamble Ln to connect to Citracado Pkwy. This road is fairly steep, especially near the top. You have to get by a chain barricade in the road at the top. Over to Valley Pkwy and down to Del Dios Hwy, enjoying the coasting downhill into a steady onshore breeze. I rode at a decent, not scorching, pace to Via de la Valle, keeping things steady and grinding it out on the little climbs. Down to PCH, passing through traffic for the fair. I took PCH into and through Del Mar, then down to the coast and up the Torrey Pines climb. My pace here was okay, not great. I didn't have the will to keep it above 10 mph, but at least my cadence was steady and my legs felt strong. Then it was over to Genesee and up the little climb to get to UCSD, where I rode to a parking lot to meet up with Ann and Johnnie and Michael Landreth to go to the La Jolla Festival of the Arts at Warren Field. This festival was okay, some decent art but a little too much of it for my liking. The food and music were decent but not enough to warrant going back next year. My legs felt just fine at the end, no soreness. I didn't really stress them on this ride, just content to get the miles in.
Avg speed = 15.7 mph. Total mileage = 68.7 mi
Avg heartrate = 136 bpm
Total elevation gain = 4780'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/450567982
