Solo ride through the neighborhood to the 4S Ranch starting point. I forgot that Robert might be riding and didn't text him, and Gideon slept late. At the start, it was a big group. Here is who I remember being there: Ray, Perse, Robert, Darnell, Oggi, Mer, Zac, Audrey, Arnold, Charlie, Eric, Kamal, Mohammed, Jamil, Kamal's brother Joseph (Yusuf), and Jed. Gideon joined us later in the ride for a bit. Out Camino del Sur to San Dieguito Rd. On the way out, Charlie's chain fell off, so I stopped to help him with it. That put us at the back of the pack, and we met up with Zac who also waited. Fairly fast pace to catch up with the others, which we did, then Zac really pushed it down Three Witches, at one point fishtailing to avoid a crash. I tried to keep up with the others as well. Down into the flats, where we had a long wait as everybody regrouped, some missed the turn onto San Dieguito Rd, and Jamil had a mechanical with his new bike. Finally, we got going in a pace line over to El Camino Real. Near the end, several riders jumped out ahead, then Zac pushed the power button and took off from them. I held onto his wheel and eventually passed him, then we rode to the turn together. Over to Via de la Valle, then up and over to the coast highway. Another short stop there, then it was hammer time on the coast. Yet another stop for a bathroom break coming into Encinitas, this ride had lots of stops! When we were riding, we had to be over 20 mph average on the ride up to the Starbucks in Carlsbad, where at times different people attacked and others followed. I did okay, responding to all of the attacks and keeping among the leaders for the most part. A long stop at the turnaround point, then we retraced our route back to the starting point. The large group was splintering, as Joseph was struggling to keep up, so Kamal and Jamil were hanging with him. I was able to match the sprints and pace of everybody on the way back, except Zac, who in Solana Beach got out in front and I couldn't catch him. Another long wait for people to catch up at the turn onto Via de la Valle, and I was near the end of the riders when we started back. Caught them on the way, then at a light, and chased Ray down, who was pushing his pace. He and I rode together briefly, then he accelerated on El Camino Real and I couldn't keep up. A very ragged pace line heading back to Three Witches, and yet another stop at the gas station before the climb. On the climb, I was up with Audrey and Jed, and my chain came off when I dropped to my lower chainring. So I was near the back again when I started climbing in earnest. My legs held out this time, was able to keep it above 10 mph on the three climbing segments, catching other riders on the way and then getting to the front with the help of the light at the turn onto Camino del Sur. On the last segment, Mer, Jed, and Ray were out front, I tried to keep up with them but no use. Kept a pretty good pace to finish up, legs were doing fine, but they were all in better form than me at the end. Home riding with Robert until the turn into the neighborhood, where I kept going down the hill and over to W Bernardo Dr. I noodled around in the neighborhood a little in order to get my total distance above a metric century, felt good at the end, just really tired.
Avg speed = 18.3 mph. Total mileage = 62.3 mi
Avg heartrate = 129 bpm
Total elevation gain = 2440'
