12-04-2023 Ride

Went for a swim at the WWC in the morning when it opened.  This time, I swam 3000 yds, using the normal protocol for the first 2000 yds and then 10 lengths each under the four conditions.  Felt okay at the end, but I was glad to be done.  Finished in 1:06.  Then it was a quiet day around the house, where I finished reading The Passenger, by Cormac McCarthy.  This was an odd book, quite disjointed as it followed Robert Western and his sister in two interwoven stories.  Western is a salvage diver, and he dives on an underwater plane in the beginning and finds out later that there was a missing passenger.  People are interested in his activities here, and eventually he is pressured to leave the country to escape from them.  He is also deeply saddened by his sister's death.  She was schizophrenic, and the portions of the novel where she is the main character are quite weird, involving a cast of characters that she hallucinated.  No real closure in this book, we don't find the identity of the missing passenger.  There is some good writing describing the interactions between Western and his friends, who are all somewhat bent.

I went for a bike ride around 2:30.  Down by the park and over I-15, taking BVP to Sunset Dr, then up to Juniper St.  Took it to Felicita Ave, turning left there and following it under the freeway, until I turned right onto Gamble Ln.  Then I rode up to Bernardo Ave and turned right there.  A short little climb, then I had to get around a barrier in the road to stay on it, with a gradual climb for a little more than a half mile.  I got a low-battery indicator, so at the top of the hill I swapped out my rear derailleur battery for the one in my saddle bag.  Kept going, now on 11th Ave, turning left onto Del Dios Rd and then right onto Avenida del Diablo.  I rode over to Citracado Pkwy and then got onto Harmony Grove Village Pkwy to make my way to Country Club Dr.  This is a nice, lightly traveled road in decent condition (for now), with some gradual climbing until it tees into Auto Pkwy, where I turned left and stayed on Nordahl Rd.  Rode up and over the first little hill, then I turned right onto Rock Springs Rd to get over to Seven Oakes Rd, using it to ride to El Norte Pkwy, where I turned right and headed over to Centre City Pkwy.  Then it was back the usual way, over the freeway.  I was a little surprised not to have to deal with a headwind on the way back, since it seemed like I had a tailwind on the way out.  When I got to W Bernardo Dr, I was a little light on miles, so I continued up to Duenda Rd and then turned right onto Corazon Pl, riding it to its end before turning around and taking Pajaro Wy to Aguamiel Rd and home.  I didn't really push myself on this ride, legs felt very much under control, benefiting from the off-day on Sunday.

Avg speed = 15.8 mph. Total mileage = 25.2 mi

Avg power = 139 W. Weighted avg power = 168 W

Total elevation gain = 1440'

Avg heartrate = 123 bpm

https://www.strava.com/activities/10329588080

https://www.fitbit.com/activities/exercise/60218887346

In the evening, Ann and I mapped out our airline for the Europe trip in the spring.