Got geared up and rode over to Gideon's house, following the usual route, to meet him and then ride via straight shot to the 4S Target. There was a heavy marine layer, and the roads were wet, but it wasn't raining. Some riders needed convincing to ride, but we eventually all went. On this day, there were: Perse, Ray, Jed, Eric, Charlie, Nel, Fritz, Kamal, Cam, and Gideon. Ray proposed a more steady pace for this ride to try and keep more riders together, so I tried to follow this guideline and not push the pace so much. On Camino del Sur, less than a mile after we all started, the road was dry, and it generally stayed that way for most of the ride, with occasional wet patches. Over to San Dieguito Rd, turning right and heading down to El Apajo, where we turned right, gathered back up, and rode over to Via de Santa Fe and up to Via de la Valle. We took a measured pace up this little climb, with me, Jed, and Cam in the lead, Eric not too far behind. Then it was a steady pace on Del Dios, including a pace on the climbing section where a number of riders were able to stick together. To the top, with a bio break there before continuing on. Gideon turned off at Via Rancho Pkwy, but we kept going up to Citracado Pkwy, where we turned left and headed over to Harmony Grove Rd. I was in the lead here and tried to set a steady pace for all of us. Eventually, Jed sped by and was really pushing, so I jumped on his wheel and kept up with him. Some others followed. We rode downhill, fast, to the turn onto Elfin Forest Rd, where the climbing started. Again, I got out in front and tried to set an aggressive but not killing pace. A group of us stayed together, and at the top of this climb we saw Romeo coming the other way to meet us. He turned around and promptly pushed really hard on our pace. I kept up with him, but this broke up the group and spread us out on the road. I stayed with Romeo all the way into San Elijo Hills. We gathered back up, then rode down San Elijo Rd to Rancho Santa Fe Rd. There's a little climb after turning onto this road, then it's a nice downhill. Again, Romeo went full gas on the descent, and I stayed with him, along with a group of other riders. We got down to the turn to stay on Rancho Santa Fe Rd and turned left, riding up and over to El Camino del Norte. Turned left here and took this gradual climb as a group, pacing ourselves in the front and staying together. Up to Lago Linda, turning right there and using it to get over to El Montevideo. Then it was back to Paseo Delicias and down to Via de la Valle. Romeo split off here while the rest of us turned left and rode it down to Calzada del Bosque, turning left there to get back to El Apajo. We retraced our route back to the start from there. Short break before turning onto San Dieguito Rd, then again I tried to set the pace for the climb back to Camino del Sur. We split the group until it was just me, Jed, Fritz, Eric, and Cam, and I broke away from several others near the top who went into sprint mode. We stayed together on the stretch back to Target, but eventually Cam fell back, while the other four of us pretty much stayed together. I hung around until the other riders made it back, then I rode home at a slower pace, feeling the effects of the effort to stay near the lead on this ride.
Avg speed = 16.7 mph. Total mileage = 52.7 mi
Bisikleta section avg speed = 17.2 mph
Avg power = 158 W. Weighted avg power = 187 W
Total elevation gain = 3550'
Avg heartrate = 131 bpm
In the evening, Caleb and Emily came over for dinner to celebrate her birthday and their engagement. I grilled the chicken and vegetables, they turned out okay. The yellow cake with butter cream frosting was delicious, although the frosting was a little runny and stuck to the aluminum foil. Both of them were happy, and they are still trying to figure out the logistics and timing of the wedding.
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