This was a good day on the bike. I had packed up most of the bike stuff in the car the previous evening, so I loaded the cooler in, along with my backpack, and got on the road around 6:45. Made it to Charlie's house about 7:20. It was cool but not cold, so I decided (correctly) to go just with short-finger gloves and no vest, jacket, or headband. On this ride, there were: Ray, Perse, Cam, Jed, Nel, Fritz, Charlie, Zac, Joey, Eric, and Gio. We headed down Puebla Dr to Avocado Blvd, turned left and rode downhill. That was chilly, and I was riding the brakes, trying to keep from shivering, and avoiding the grates in the bike lane. Down to Fury Ln, where we turned left and took it downhill (not as steep, it seemed, but still cold) until we turned into the back side of a shopping strip. We went through the parking lot and over to Willow Glen Dr to get to the start of the Great Western Loop. This was fairly flat, perhaps a slight upward gradient, but we got in a pace line and held it pretty well onto the turn on Dehesa Rd and then over to a gas station on the Sycuan reservation. We took a fairly short break there, then turned to stay on Dehesa Rd as it started to climb. This climb was about 3 miles up to the intersection with Japatul Rd. I kept a steady pace and left the others behind. Was a little surprised that nobody was keeping up with me. Zac was back riding with Joey. I got to the intersection and captured video of the riders coming up the last part of the climb. We stopped for another gathering break here, Zac adjusted his saddle height, and Eric tended to a scrape he got on his knee when his tire got caught in a rut and he went over. Nothing serious. We finished the rest of this climb, about 0.3 mi, on Japatul Rd, then we had a general downhill section of a little less than 2 miles before the Japatul climb began. This climb is a little less than 5 miles, although there are some small flat and downhill sections near the end. Again, I got up to the intersection with Lyons Valley Rd ahead of the others and shot video of them finishing the climb. The weather was nearly ideal for riding, not too hot, just chilly enough on the downhills to keep my sleeves rolled down. We turned onto Lyons Valley Rd and climbed a little bit more before reaching the top point in the ride and starting our descent. There is also a climb on this road, a little less than 2 miles long, just before the intersection with Skyline Truck Trail. I got to the top first and waited at the intersection to point the riders in the right direction. We stopped for a longer break at a little country store a couple of miles from the intersection, I had a pee and a rest before we continued on. Just past this stop was the corner that I had missed in our last GWL ride, so I was riding the brakes. My front brake was noisy and chattering when I applied it, so that caused me to be even more careful. This descent is steep in places and very winding, so I was definitely tuned in to avoid making any mistakes. After the steepest part of the descent, we had a climb of 2-3 miles with some slight downhill sections, and I got to the stop sign first, with Fritz not too far behind me. I took some more video, we gathered up and continued on. What followed was a 6 mile descent, steep in places, where I was watching my speed and riding the brakes to keep it steady. That descent included our time on Jamul Dr, where I missed the turn and had to switch back to catch up with the others (Ray waited for me). Jamul Dr teed into Steele Canyon Rd, where the grade flattened out as we rode back to Willow Glen Dr to complete the loop. Then it was a retrace of our outbound route, with a short stop at the shopping center to gather everybody together before the last two climbs. My legs were good at the end, no real problems there, although I was spinning at a higher cadence than normal. Fritz tried to stay with me on the Fury Ln climb but couldn't match my pace. I also had a good last climb up Avocado Blvd, stopping at the turn onto Puebla Dr to capture video of the riders finishing off their last climb.
Avg speed = 15.4 mph. Total mileage = 48.5 mi
Avg power = 160 W. Weighted avg power = 191 W
Total elevation gain = 4410'
Avg heartrate = 138 bpm (Coospo), 127 bpm (Fitbit)
After the ride, we had a nice BBQ at Charlie's house, where his friend Dan helped, and Ryan stopped by as well. The beer tasted particularly good, given the effort we had put into the ride. I talked to Eric a little bit about what retirement life is like, although he still has some time before he gets there. The rest of the day was pretty low-key.
A couple of follow-up comments about how I felt during the ride. First, and most importantly, no back or neck pain. And that's saying something, since there were a couple of long (>3 mile) climbs. I was in my two lowest gears for most of that time, and I did a decent job spinning without getting out of the saddle much. I was a little faster than the last time on the Dehesa and Japatul climbs, but Jed was definitely slower, so I didn't have the option of trying to chase him up those climbs. The weather also helped, as it was cooler this time than last. And I fueled up a little better, having a granola bar, Clif Bar, GU, and a banana over the course of the ride. Could have drunk more water during the ride, but I didn't sweat so much. It was gratifying on the last two climbs to be able to keep my power consistently above 230 W. And my front wheel brakes didn't rub at all, but they did squeal and shudder on the long downhills on Lyons Valley Rd.
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