I suspected that this was going to be a longer bike ride. Got up early and got started early, since we were meeting at 7:30 at the Peet's down by the intersection of Camino del Sur and the 56. I noticed that I had a dead shifter battery, the right shifter, just past Duenda Rd, so I stopped and replaced it with the spare in my seat bag. Then I rode through the neighborhood up to RB Rd, then took it to Dove Canyon Rd and over to Carmel Valley Rd. Up the two little climbs at a modest pace, then on a whim I turned left onto Black Mountain Rd and took it over to Twin Trails Dr, where I turned right and looped back to get to Carmel Mountain Rd, taking a left there. It got me to the 56 bike path, where I turned and headed down to Camino del Sur. Right turn there to get over to Peet's. On this ride, there were: Ray, Jed, Perse, Kamal, Steven (Kamal's friend), Francis, Martie (Francis' friend), Nel, Joey, Zac, Charlie, and James (he has lost over 50 lbs!). We headed back to the 56 bike path, with me and James out in front of the others. On the bike path down to Carmel Valley Rd, where the rest of the group finally caught up with us. We stayed on the path all the way to its new end on Sorrento Valley Rd, then took that over to Carmel Valley Rd. Up to PCH, where we turned left and rode down by the shore and then up Torrey Pines Rd. I was determined to put in a big effort and try to set a PR, so I kept my power around 300 W all the way to the top. Was out in front for most of the time, but at the end Zac caught up with me (he did have to work to catch up), and we got to the top right around the same time. I did set a PR (7:04, 296 W, 169 bpm), but it was an all-out effort for me, and Zac still had more to give. Everybody gathered at the top, then we headed back down and stayed on PCH through Del Mar. I led out on the little climb into Del Mar and got ahead of the others, then I waited for them to catch up. Around Via de la Valle, we took a break and Tony Nucup joined us. On PCH, we were riding fast but not quite as crazy fast as the previous week, which was a blessing. I was able to stay with the leaders pretty much and to get out in front at times, including putting some distance between me and them on the way into Encinitas. Then it was me, Jed, and Tony who got out in front, while the rest waited for everybody to catch up before continuing past La Costa Ave. The three of us rode out to Poinsettia Ln before turning around, then we saw the others going the other way and let them know to turn around too. Gathered at the usual 7-Eleven, and it was a slightly shorter break than usual, since the sun was just starting to peek out from behind the clouds (we had cloudy weather up until then). We made decent time on the return, I was again out among the leaders for most of the time. Perse dropped the hammer on the little stretch into Solana Beach, and I couldn't match his pace until he let up. Ahead of the others through Del Mar, then we gathered again at the turn back onto Carmel Valley Rd. It was pretty fast on the first stretch of the 56 bike path up to the cul de sac. When we got up to Carmel Valley Rd, we tried to set up a paceline, but it quickly fell apart. I didn't think we were going that fast, but folks were dropping off. So it was a smaller group that continued, including me, Francis, Jed, Tony, and Ray. We got to Camino del Sur and the ones remaining in the group gathered one last time. Nel had ridden to the meet-up spot, so he continued on, as did Tony (heading back to Mira Mesa). Martie had stayed behind at the 7-Eleven, he was going to ride a similar way back but do Torrey Pines again. At the beginning of the 56 bike path, Zac and Joey kept going to head back to west Mira Mesa. I went with them back to the parking lot, stayed for about 5 minutes, then I headed home. The sun was out and it was warm in direct sun but not so bad in the shade. Camino del Sur to Camino del Norte and then a left onto Camino San Bernardo to get over to RB Rd. Home the normal W Bernardo Dr way from there. I felt really strong at times on this ride, like my legs were in a good cycling rhythm.
Avg speed = 18.1 mph (from my analysis program). Total distance = 67.8 mi
Bisikleta route avg speed = 18.6 mph
Avg power = 158 W. Weighted avg power = 186 W
Total elevation gain = 3320'
Avg heartrate = 138 bpm (Coospo), 124 bpm (Fitbit)
I had a burger for lunch and a quiet afternoon. Put vinyl wrap on my crank arms to protect them from further wear, watched the highlights of the first stage of the TdF. In the evening, we went to Coyote Bar & Grill in Carlsbad for dinner and dancing. The dance band, New Joy, was pretty good and quite energetic, and we saw a number of characters, including the old guy with the cowboy boots from last time, a marriage proposal by a guy who met his future wife at the bar 3 years ago, a bunch of people in RFK Jr shirts, and lots of celebrating dancers. Ann drove home, which was nice, as I was pretty tired (and I had forgotten to bring my DL). <>!
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