Solo ride over to John's house, following the normal route. Nothing special on the way over, steady pace but not spectacular. At his house, we met up with Dave, then headed back down to Poway Rd, taking it all the way up to the 67. I didn't have a lot of energy on this ride, including this climb. So it was slow and steady. We gathered back up together at the top and headed up to Mt Woodson, meeting up at the crest of the grade and then riding together down toward Ramona. We turned on Dye Rd and took the route over to San Vicente Rd. On the flats, John and I traded leads for awhile and got out ahead of Dave, so we waited for him at the light and then slowed down the pace while riding into downtown Ramona. On the 78, I put on some speed in the little climbing sections before the downhill to get some separation from the others, and I pedaled to keep the speed going on the initial parts of the downhill. Not much braking on the ride down, just the one sharper left turn near where it starts to get steep on the way up. I waited for the others at Bandy Canyon Rd, which we took over to Highland Valley Rd. That climb was a challenge, since it was getting pretty hot. I just took it easy. We rode together down to Pomerado Rd, with me and John trading leads. I kept my pace slowed on Pomerado Rd but still wasn't riding slow enough to stay with the others. We rode together after the crest by the hospital until we made the turn onto Poway Rd, after which I got out ahead a little bit. It was a slow and steady climb back to John's house, where May brought out some watermelon and orange slices. I headed back home by retracing my route over, and it was good to feel the wind helping me on the way up to the hospital. After that, the wind was somewhat in my face for most of the rest of the way. When I got home, the temperature was 95 deg, no wonder it seemed like a real workout on this day.
Avg speed = 16.7 mph. Total mileage = 64.4 mi
Avg heartrate = 134 bpm
Total elevation gain = 4170'
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/532704122
