Gideon's 2023 Ride For A Cause. I headed over early to the starting point to help out with set-up, going through the neighborhood and down Dove Canyon Rd to Dove Creek Rd. We set up the pop-ups and got chairs arranged, along with bringing over the coolers. Lots of riders on this day, so I probably don't have an accurate count of Bisikleta riders. But they included (the ones wearing Bisikleta jerseys and affiliates): Gideon, Ray, Arnold, Perse, Andy (turned back early), Rob, Jed, Kamal, Jamil (got lost along the way), Fritz, Eric, Levi, Ron, Tony, Romeo, Nel, Irwin, Cam, Gio, Charlie, Jhonar, and possibly others. Also, there were a bunch of riders from Adobo Velo as well as NDR (No Dropped Riders) from LA and 619 (Romeo also rides with them, I understand). Jerry from LA, who I rode with on the Palm Springs Century was there, as was J.D. from last year's ride. It took a while for everybody to show up ready to ride, and there were a lot of pictures as we got ready. Then we started up 4S Ranch Pkwy to Lone Quail Rd, with me in the lead and others nearby. My role, as I understood it, was to be out among the leaders and to help set the pace to be moderate but not extreme. Over Lone Quail Rd to Dove Canyon Rd, where we headed downhill to Carmel Valley Rd for the first significant climb of the day. It went okay, although I heard that somebody had a flat at the turn onto Carmel Valley Rd, so we were already starting to split up. Over to Black Mountain Rd, staying straight and on down to Camino del Sur, where we turned left and rode over to the 56 bike path. We headed west and I set the pace for the group of riders with me, a number of who passed me just as we got to Carmel Valley Rd intersection. Then we rode to the cul-de-sac in the neighborhood and regrouped there for everybody to catch up. Continued on to El Camino Real, setting the pace as we turned right and rode up into Del Mar Heights and then down into the flats. Right on San Dieguito Rd, where those of us in the lead group formed a (fast!) pace line and motored over to the gas station before the next turn. There we met Dan Winkle, who was out for a morning ride and saw us. He rode with us up to and around Stud Loop before heading back. We had an extended break at the gas station, and it was a chore to get everybody moving again, so I led out and then Aaron waited behind to encourage them to get going. He then rode hard to get back near the leaders, he was a beast on this day. Left on El Apajo and then to Via de Santa Fe to get to Via de la Valle. We rode up to Stud Loop, Romeo passed me and I couldn't match his pace. As we turned there, we stopped for a short break and then continued on with the lead group. A pretty fast pace on this section, not scorching but requiring a significant effort. Cam was riding hard to stay in the front to be able to man his turn at the end of Stud Loop. Romeo caught up with me in the lead, along with another rider I don't remember. As we made the turn there, the weather, which had featured some minor periods of very light sprinkles, got worse. Up El Montevideo, it started to rain, and it made riding more difficult and the roads slick. We rode up to Via de Fortuna and turned left there, a fairly small group including me and Aaron, as well as other riders Dan and Tim, who I met on this day. It was crappy weather at this point, and I dropped my chain from the front chainring. Was able to get it back on by shifting up and down a couple of times, but it was making an odd sound that stuck around for the next 10-15 minutes and then magically disappeared. Our group missed the turn onto El Mirlo, where somebody pulled out from that street right in front of us, not cool in wet weather. We got down to past San Elijo Rd before realizing we had missed our turn, so Aaron started heading back up to the turn and I continued on with the small group to try and get us back on terms. Right on San Elijo Rd and then left on La Granada. If I had taken a left there, it would have shortened the ride for us. I picked the wrong direction and we ended up riding down to where El Mirlo came to a stop, i.e. our originally planned route. There were riders there, and we turned around and joined them, heading back up the hill we had just come down (sketchy in these weather conditions) and eventually coming to Paseo Delicias and downtown Rancho Santa Fe. It was steadily drizzling now. We rode over to the little greenspace park near the downtown and had our next extended break, waiting for everybody to catch back up before continuing on. On the way out from there on Linea del Cielo, I again led out, along with Rob, who had the next turn to man. Other riders were with us but not too many near the front. We rode up to Calzada del Bosque, turning left there and taking this fairly steep downhill. It was me and J.D. only at this point, and I was extra careful going down, given the wet conditions and the poor road quality. He and I rode together. Back to El Apajo, where around the turn onto San Dieguito Rd Aaron caught up with us and motored to the top to be there to direct the riders. J.D. also got out ahead of me and I couldn't match his pace. I did okay, not great, on the 3 Witches climb, legs were still feeling in decent shape. No stopping at the turn onto Camino del Sur, and I pushed pretty hard the rest of the way in, all the way to 4S Ranch Pkwy, which was my turn to direct traffic. Nobody caught me from behind, although Jerry turned out to be not too far back, which I discovered when I got off the bike and started directing people to turn. I was there for 15 minutes, maybe a little more, before I saw Perse, Rob and Gio indicating that the back of the pack had arrived. Then it was down 4S Ranch Pkwy to the finish point. Ann got there not too long afterward, and we loaded my bike into the back and parked by the school before walking over to where the food (supplied by Lutchi and Mary) and drinks were. All in all, it was a good day, no major mishaps, just a couple of flats along the way. We were fortunate, given the poor conditions during the latter part of the ride.
Avg speed = 16.7 mph. Total mileage = 46.8 mi
Avg power = 151 W. Weighted avg power = 179 W
Total elevation gain = 3110'
Avg heartrate = 130 bpm
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.