07-31-2024 Ride

Got up in the morning to ride over to John's house for our first ride together after he had gotten back from his big trip. I followed the time trial route over to the intersection of Pomerado Rd and Poway Rd, and I was early, so I kept going up to Scripps-Poway Pkwy, turning right there and riding, slowly, up this little climb until I got to Village Ridge Rd, where I turned around and rode back down to Springbrook Dr and from there to John's house. Jayden was out in front on his scooter, but we didn't stick around too long. We headed back the way I had just come in, continuing on Scripps-Poway Pkwy down past the freeway to Mercy Rd, taking a left onto Black Mountain Rd. We rode up this slight hill until we got to Mira Mesa Blvd, where we turned right and rode to Camino Ruiz, following the old July 4 route for a time. A left onto Calle Cristobal, and we took it over to Camino Santa Fe, turning left there. This road has four little climbs built into it, not my favorite kind of riding. It took us over to Miramar Rd, where we turned left and took the normal way from there back to John's house. I stayed with him on the Pomerado Rd stretch until I had some separation as it started to incline more. Waited for him at the top by going around the little subdivision loop a couple of times, then we rode back to his place, where Vivian was waiting with smoothies. After this break, I headed home via the Pomerado Rd route, essentially retracing my route from earlier in the morning. It was starting to get a little warm by the end of the ride.

Avg speed = 15.5 mph. Total mileage = 44.2 mi

Avg power = 123 W. Weighted avg power = 149 W

Total elevation gain = 2620'

Avg heartrate = 113 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12029093681

I didn't have a lot of time after I got home (Ann had gone to the beach) before I started getting ready for my volunteer shift. Ate a little lunch, showered and shaved, and it was time to go. Nothing much happened during the shift, I got to deliver something to the ICU charge nurse and to escort a patient out to her car. I was pretty tired after the shift, so it was a quiet evening for me.

07-30-2024 Run/Swim/Ride/Hike

This turned out to be a busy exercise day. I started by going for a run in the morning. Was originally going to walk down the hill, then run by the park, but I started running down the hill and kept going. Ran the loop around the park twice, then ran back home. Each of the first 3 miles was faster than the previous one. Even the run back up Aguamiel Rd wasn't too bad.

Total distance = 3.14 mi

Avg pace = 8:57/mi

Elapsed time = 28:06

https://www.strava.com/activities/12018702210

I got back in time to have some breakfast before I rode over to the WWC for a swim with Avi. We warmed up with a 250, then did some stroke extension exercises. He introduced a new drill, the pyramid drill, which involves swimming a 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 200, 150, 100, and 50, all at pace and allowing recovery time to get to a 2:00/100 yd split. Swimming out to the 250 was challenging, and I really had to work on the second half of the pyramid to keep my pace good and to watch my stroke count. But it was an enjoyable drill. We did some swim buoy work as well, focusing on lengthening strokes and keeping them powerful all the way through the water. Finished with a 300 at more of a cool-down pace. It was a good workout, didn't wear me out but did challenge me. After I rode home, I started getting ready for a bike ride to put some miles in. I had put a new tube on my rear wheel earlier. Through the neighborhood, with the original idea to head south. I got to RB Rd and rode over to Dove Canyon Rd, taking it up and down over to Carmel Valley Rd. I was originally going to turn onto Black Mountain Rd, but I decided to keep going toward the coast. Down to Del Mar Heights Rd, which I took up and then down to Carmel Canyon Rd, more of a downhill to get to Carmel Country Rd, from there over to the 56 bike path. I took it down to El Camino Real, then headed south up to Carmel Mountain Rd, turning right there and then left onto Vista Sorrento Pkwy. This was a general downhill run until I got to Sorrento Valley Blvd, where I turned left and shortly after that stopped to eat a Clif bar. Then it was over to the climb, which has some 8+% gradients in it at the start before leveling off at the top. It was fun riding after the summit, since the road, while having some little ups and downs, was pretty fast with the offshore tailwind that I enjoyed. I rode over to Camino Ruiz, turning there to head back south and staying on it all the way to Miramar Rd. Left on this road, then it was the usual way back via the Pomerado Rd climb and then following this road all the way back to RB Rd. Home via the W Bernardo Dr route, taking it down to Aguamiel Rd for the last little climb. For a fair amount of the time while I was riding back, I also had the benefit of a tailwind, or at least the wind wasn't working against me. I spent a fair amount of this ride in Zone 3 on the flats and climbs, with some Zone 4 efforts on the longer climbs. My Fitbit conked out just before the end of the ride, and I noticed I had a slow leak in my front tire. It was pretty soft by the time I got home.

Avg speed = 16.3 mph. Total mileage = 40.5 mi

Avg power = 139 W. Weighted avg power = 165 W

Total elevation gain = 2260'

Avg heartrate = 128 bpm (Coospo), 124 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12021300370

After that busy morning, I took it fairly easy in the afternoon. Read a little, had a short nap, then I attempted to patch the two tubes that I had recently flatted. Later in the afternoon, I rode over to RB Community Park and met Emily for a hike. We talked mostly about her trip to Cabo San Lucas and my backpacking trip. After dinner, I watched the women's team gymnastics finals.

07-29-2024 Swim

I had slept for most of the night in the other bed, Ann was restless and she had put some strong-smelling cream on. Had a nice interlude after we woke up (<>), then I rode over to the WWC and swam 2000 yds following the normal protocol. At times, I felt fairly strong, although I was more tired at the end, and I didn't have consistently good control of my breathing while wearing the swim snorkel. I had borrowed Avi's spare pair of goggles, and they appeared to seal water from my eyes better. Finished in just over 38 minutes, which was close to my best time for this distance. Then I swam another 10 lengths with the pull buoy, focusing on lengthening my stroke and twisting my lower back to enable a longer forward reach. As soon as I got home, I went out into the back yard and chopped back two more of the bushes behind the fence (several more to go, after we get more space in the yard clippings bin). I then used the saw to cut out several little palm trees that were growing in the bed closest to the house. It was easier than I thought it would be. I also reinstalled the drip sprinkler that Ann had accidentally pulled out. Finally, I started tackling the large branches on the lavender bushes that Ann had trimmed around. There is still some more work to do there along with a lot of chopping to fit the trimmings into the yard bins, once we have some space. It was a quiet afternoon for me. I tried (unsuccessfully, it turns out) to repair the tube that flatted on Saturday's ride. I also spent a fair amount of time coding, cleaning up the code for identifying defined segments (mostly they will be from Strava) and also adding in code to read in a CSV file that will contain the segment data. It will be fairly laborious to define the Strava segments, since I haven't been able to locate the data themselves in a machine-readable format. Ann and I also watched the first episode of Baby Reindeer, which is indeed a dark comedy. In the evening, after dinner, I went for a 2-mile walk to get my steps in, then I watched the first half of Deadpool 2.

07-28-2024 Ride

Woke up early (<>), then got ready to put some extra miles in before meeting up with Jim and Dave for the time trial route. I rode through the neighborhood, using the Capilla Rd section, then took the longer route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, including taking Paseo de Linda over to Camino San Thomas, up to the top, then back down to Campania Ave to get over to Four Gee Rd, which I also took to the top before turning around and riding back to Camino del Sur. Back to RB Rd, then up and down to Matinal Rd, taking it to Cabela Dr, then Luz Pl to Duenda Rd. I took Corazon Pl to its end before turning around and riding to meet Jim at his house. Dave had a sore knee, so he didn't end up riding with us. From there, we rode the normal time trial route. Jim was faster than he had been in a while, and I didn't slow down for him too much. But my legs were definitely tired and sore from the previous day's riding and walking, so I wasn't fast at all. I did include a little backtracking on the route by Ted Williams Pkwy, in an unsuccessful attempt to add enough miles to get to 30 for the day. I again forgot to wear my HR band.

Avg speed = 15.1 mph. Total mileage = 28.9 mi

Avg power = 123 W. Weighted avg power = 151 W

Total elevation gain = 1800'

Avg heartrate = 111 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12003783621

Once we got back to Jim's house, he made us pumpkin banana smoothies, which were really delicious. I had missed my time window to go to church with Ann, so I took my time and had a restful bit watching some Olympics basketball and taking a short nap. After lunch, I fiddled with my front disc brake, trying the align the pads so they won't rub against the rotor (I was only partly successful, there is still just a little bit of rubbing). In the mid-afternoon, we drove over to Lake Poway, parked just off Espola Rd, and walked up to Lake Poway Park for a light picnic and concert by Britain's Finest, a Beatles tribute band. We had seen them last summer at the park, but this year they were noticeably better, and the crowd was more into it. So it was a good time. They played for almost an hour and a half, then we walked back to the car and drove home for a quiet evening.

07-27-2024 Ride

I had planned the route for the Bisikleta ride, so I rode over to the starting point early. Through the neighborhood, then it was a straight shot to the 4S Target to get there before others started arriving. They did, trickling in. I think we ended up leaving after 8:00. On this ride, there were: Jed, Arnold, Eric, Charlie, Fritz, Cam, Kamal (he joined us on the ride, as he was also running late), Justin Birch (Zac's friend), Joey, Robert (Fritz's friend), and Maya. So it ended up being a fairly large group. Rob also joined us at the starting point, but he took a different route, intending to meet up with us somewhere along the coast (that didn't happen). We headed back the way I had come, over to RB Rd and then down the hill to W Bernardo Dr. I was leading the way, occasionally dropping back to check on everybody before riding to get back to the front. Down to Lake Hodges, where we crossed the pedestrian bridge and then got onto Via Rancho Pkwy, turning left. We took the climb up past Felicita Rd, where Justin and Fritz jumped out ahead on the steep part. I kept up a strong steady pace and passed Fritz, then Justin, before the top of the climb. It ended up being a PR for me (3:40, 298 W, 157 bpm), and Justin wasn't too far back. On the generally downhill stretch after that, he caught up with me, and Arnold was also there. We waited for quite a while at the turn right onto Del Dios Hwy for Robert and Maya to show up, she was slow the whole day, had just started riding her new road bike after selling her E-bike. From there, we rode up to Citracado Pkwy, turning left and taking it to Harmony Grove Village Rd. They have finished the connection to Citracado Pkwy that leads up to the hospital, but the road isn't open yet. Over to Harmony Grove Rd, where it was a fast general descent, with Arnold, Kamal, and Justin getting out ahead. Again, I bided my time, didn't let them get too far in front, knowing that we had a climb coming up. Shortly after the turn onto Elfin Forest Rd, I caught them and started setting the pace up this climb. I knew it pretty well, so while the others went close to their limit on the first part of the climb, I held something back to keep a strong pace all the way to the top. In the last little climb, I felt another rider coming up on me, so I went full gas and got to the top in front, only to learn afterward that it wasn't one of us. Still, I set another PR on the Elfin Forest climb (9:49, 226 W, 156 bpm). I stopped at the light while the others came in, and we ended up having to wait quite a while for Maya and Fritz, who were bringing up the rear. She was slow, and they also stopped to help a female triathlete who had crashed and cut herself pretty badly. After we were all there, we rode over to the Chevron station in San Elijo Hills and took another break, this time with water and bathroom stops. From there, we rode down San Elijo Rd and turned left onto Rancho Santa Fe Rd, with its short little climb before the nice descent to La Costa Ave. A right there, then more downhills, with some little uphill stretches, to get to El Camino Real. We waited again for the others to catch up, then stayed on La Costa Ave all the way to PCH. Fritz had been riding with Maya at the back, so at the turn I told him to keep going. When Robert and Maya made the turn, I rode at the back along PCH heading south with them. Robert would ride out ahead of me and Maya, then pick a spot to wait for us to catch up. We kept this going all the way on PCH, so this was a casual-paced stretch for me. At the turn onto Via de la Valle, the others had just left, and Robert and Maya told us (me, Fritz, and Jed) to ride ahead, they were going to take their time riding back to the start. So the three of us pushed the pace pretty well up Via de la Valle, with me in the lead. I hit a pothole by a manhole cover just before the turn onto El Camino Real and got a rear-tire flat. Even though I told the others to keep riding, they both stopped, and Fritz was a good help as I changed it pretty quickly. Jed rode ahead to let the others know to keep riding. After I got the tube changed, Fritz and I motored over to San Dieguito Rd, where Jed was waiting for us after having sent the others ahead. The three of us held a pretty decent rotating pace line on the flats, so that part went quickly. We kept going up the Three Witches climb, and before too long it was just me and Fritz. I led the whole way, giving it a max effort, and it was pretty warm by that time, especially on the third part of the climb. Fritz held onto my wheel, but he told me afterward that it was hard for him as well. We passed Kamal around this time, I think he is still dealing with some brake rub that slows him down. After we got to the top and the turn onto Camino del Sur, we waited for Jed and Kamal to arrive, then we rode down and up to Paseo del Sur, turning right there and taking an alternate route back to the starting point. It was Fritz and I out front, by this time Jed was hanging back to stay with Kamal. Over to Templeton St, then into the 4S Target parking lot where most of the other riders still were there. I didn't hang around too long, as it was genuinely hot by this time. Home the now normal way from there, pretty slowly. This ride took a fair amount out of me, probably due to the big efforts in the beginning and end of the ride as well as the heat. A note about the latter. It was nice and cool at the start, got warm when the sun was out as we passed through Escondido, was beautifully cool in the shaded descent on Harmony Grove Rd, was hot again on the climb into San Elijo Hills, and was cooler as we got to the coast and rode along it. Then it was hot again for the inland route back to the starting point.

Avg speed = 16.4 mph. Total mileage = 54.6 mi

Avg power = 137 W. Weighted avg power = 171 W

Total elevation gain = 3020'

Avg heartrate = 125 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11996557818

After I got home, Ann and I mapped out the planned afternoon downtown, which included meeting up with Rob and Isabelle. We ended up leaving home around 1:20, Ann drove down to the Fenton Pkwy area and ended up parking on the street not too far from where I had parked the previous evening. She looked at the map and noticed that the walk to the Rio Vista trolley station was actually a little shorter, so we walked over there instead. The trolley was crowded, but we were lucky enough to get seats for the ride into town, which was longer than I had thought it would be. Some people, not a lot, in costume for Comic Con. We got off at the Convention Center stop and walked along the sidewalk in front of the Convention Center, enjoying the folks in costume, which constituted maybe 10-15% of the people. We ended up walking all the way south to the bridge over the trolley tracks, taking it to get over to the free fun zone that was set up near Petco Park. It didn't take long to walk through there, not that much to see or experience, and the lines were long for the activities. We then walked back north along the other side of the tracks and people-watched, before we decided to head over to the Gaslamp and find a place to have a drink. Stopped in Hasta Manana Cantina and were lucky enough to get two seats at the bar right away. But it took maybe 15 minutes before the bartender came over and took our drink orders. The beer came right away, but the margarita was delayed, so she comped us on that drink. After the drinks, we waited out in front of the bar for Rob and Isabelle, who had parked near the same stop and taken the trolley in. From there, Ann and I essentially retraced our route with them, walking by the Convention Center again and then over the bridge. After we had walked north, Isabelle wanted to get out of the sun and into a quieter area, so we walked away from the crowds and had drinks sitting outside of a bar at the Residence Inn. I got the chance to talk with Rob about his mother, which was meaningful. From there, we walked over to Fifth Ave and people-watched. This turned out to be the place for that, lots of folks in good humor and many in costume. It was an enjoyable stroll up and back, then we headed over to the trolley stop by the Convention Center. The trolley was quite crowded on the return, as expected, but it wasn't too bad (I stood the whole time, but Ann found a seat about halfway in). After walking back toward our cars from the Rio Vista station, we agreed to have dinner at Harney Sushi in Poway, which apparently has recently opened. So Ann and I walked back to our car and drove over there to meet them. I had the Poke bowl, and it was really delicious (I was still in calorie deficit from the ride), while the others had sushi. They were generally too spicy for Isabelle, who isn't into spicy food. But it was a nice end to a fun-filled day. Home from there, arriving by 9:30 and able to get a decent night's rest.

07-26-2024 Swim

Woke up and rode over to the WWC for a morning swim workout with Avi. After a 10 length warmup, we tried several different exercises, one of them being faster 100s where we shortened the recovery time by 5 seconds after each one. It was pretty exhausting at the end. Then I worked on lengthening my stroke by only using one arm at a time, am getting a little better at this exercise. I finished up with another 10 lengths and called it 1500 yds swum. When I got home, after eating I went out behind the fence and chopped back three of the plants there, which is always a little challenging. Some rest after that, until I went for a 50 minute walk around 11:15, when the temperature was in the mid-90s. It was somewhat draining. The early afternoon was quiet, then Ann and I drove down to the San Diego Mission, leaving home around 2:20. Our intention was to avoid traffic for the evening concert we were going to, and the first part was mostly successful. The walk through the Mission grounds was mildly interesting, the museum there was fairly modest, but it was an entertaining little excursion. After that, we drove to Kensington and had dinner, using my old Groupon, at Ponce's. The service there was pretty good, and the three Happy Hour veggie tacos I had were delicious. We then drove into Normal Heights, parked, and walked to the Triple Crown Pub, where we had drinks and played a couple of games of pool and shuffleboard. It was a little unusual for us, but we still had fun. We walked back to the car and then drove over by the Fenton Pkwy trolley stop. I dropped Ann off at the stop, then went on a frustrating search for a parking spot on the street. Eventually, after a fair amount of looking, I found one a little less than a mile from the stop. Time was ticking, so I ran most of the way from where I parked to the trolley stop. When I got there, the sign indicated it would be another half hour before the next train arrived, which was a little disappointing. But we ended up not having to wait that long, so we got to the SDSU station with time to spare to get to the Cal Coast CU Amphitheater and to our seats before the concert started. Celisse was the opening act, we had seen her open for Jason Mraz up in Irvine. Her music is not my cup of tea, so we probably could have missed it and not been too sad. The Lake Street Dive set was much better. They played most of the songs from their latest album as well as their notable songs from the last 10 years or so. Here's the setlist from the concert.

After the encore, it was a little slow getting out of the amphitheater, but surprisingly we didn't run into many crowds on the trolley, and one was rolling into the station just as we got there. So that worked out well. Drove home, got there before midnight.

07-25-2024 Run/Swim/Ride

Got up and went for my first run in a while, had taken a break from running to get ready for the backpacking trip. I intentionally kept an easy pace for a little over 2 miles. It felt a little strange at the start but by the end I was in more of a groove, albeit at a slow pace.

Total distance = 2.27 mi

Avg pace = 9:29/mi

Moving time = 21:36

Avg heartrate = 130 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11977507122

Then I rode over to the WWC and had a 2000 yd swim following the normal protocol. My stroke is lengthening, still not where I want it to be, but that will take a fair amount of time to build up my arm muscles. Finished in under 40 minutes. I relaxed during the rest of the morning, then drove down to Normal Heights to have lunch with Jack McGarry at Dao Fu. Food was good, the right level of spicy. He just took a new job, based in DC, where he will work remotely and help run backend analytics for nonprofit agencies looking to improve their fundraising effectiveness. He's now married to a 3rd year resident, Byron, at UCSD, and he seems happy. He has ulcerative colitis, but with regular infusions it is under control. A quiet afternoon after I got home, where I played around a little bit with my ride tracking program to see about including key Strava segments in the route display and ride statistics. Early promise on a solution for the display, but still a lot of work to do there. Then, after an early dinner, I talked to Ross for a while, mostly about the backpacking trip. He's not optimistic about his long-term health, and from what he said he lives pretty close to paycheck-to-paycheck, which was depressing for me. I went out for a bike ride after the call, intending to make it mainly Zone 2. Headed down by the park and over to Highland Valley Rd, taking the flats over to the beginning of the first climb before turning around and riding back to Pomerado Rd. I took that road up and over to Ted Williams Pkwy, then turned right and rode over to Rancho Carmel Rd. By this time, it was starting to get dark as it neared sunset, so I rode up to Carmel Mountain Rd and turned right there, taking it to Paseo Lucido and over to Bernardo Heights Pkwy. A measured pace on the slight climb up to the top, then a fun descent to Bernardo Center Dr. Home from there via the normal Duenda Rd route. I forgot to wear my HR band, so all I have is the Fitbit average.

Avg speed = 15.4 mph. Total mileage = 21.1 mi

Avg power = 122 W. Weighted avg power = 146 W

Total elevation gain = 1160'

Avg heartrate = 117 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11982578820

It was a quiet evening. Ann and I watched a little TV together. <>

07-24-2024 Ride

Woke up pretty early and went into the garage to break the links on my rewaxed chain, exercise it a bit, then install it on my new bike. All went very smoothly, and the chain seemed to be holding more wax than the last time. Then I got ready for a ride and was on the move a little after 6:00. Headed through the neighborhood up to RB Rd, then took the short way through the 4S Ranch neighborhood to get to Camino del Sur. I intended for this to be a tempo ride, so I didn't let up very much on the flat and uphill sections. Down to San Dieguito Rd, turning there and taking it down to El Apajo, where I turned and rode over to Calzada del Bosque to get to Via de la Valle. I took this road all the way to the coast, then headed north. My intention was to ride about 52 miles, so I stayed on PCH all the way to Island Way, which is beyond Poinsettia Dr. The ride north was harder than I expected it to be, and it turns out I was probably riding into a little bit of a headwind. So, when I turned around, it was noticeably easier, and I made much better time on the return. I followed the same route until I got to the turn onto El Camino Real from Via de la Valle, where I took it over to San Dieguito Rd, across the flats, and up Three Witches. I was slow on this climb, had put in a pretty big effort to maintain a high speed along the coast and didn't have a whole lot left.  Then I took Paseo del Sur off of Camino del Sur and rode home via the RB Rd and W Bernardo Dr route. During the latter third of the ride it was warming up and was more humid than usual. I was sweating at the end and glad to have gotten such an early start.

Avg speed = 18.3 mph. Total mileage = 52.1 mi

Avg power = 166 W. Weighted avg power = 184 W

Total elevation gain = 1920'

Avg heartrate = 133 bpm (Coospo), 132 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11970322200

In the afternoon, I had my volunteer shift at the hospital. It was really busy in the ED at the beginning, and I was busy as well for the first hour. Then it slowed down a little bit, picking up again near the end, as it usually seems to do. I stopped at Sprouts on the way home and got some fruit to eat for a change. A quiet evening at home after that.

I finally finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. This book was disjointed and outdated, not sure why it is seen as a classic. The notion of an android bounty hunter is a good one, but it wasn't well executed here. I started Timothy Zahn's Cobra, which is about an enhanced human soldier who goes off to fight aliens on the outer planets of a future civilization of man. I have liked his books in the past, they had decent storylines.

07-23-2024 Swim

Woke up a little early (<>) and got ready to go for a swim. I had finally gotten my new Westwood Club card sticker, and Heidi had also relaminated it for me. Swam for a total of 2250 yds, the first 2000 with standard protocol and the last 250 using my pull buoy and focusing on taking longer strokes, with only moderate success. Finished faster than I have swum in a while, even though my goggles were giving me a lot of trouble that caused me to stop and adjust them several times. I finally tightened them up, and this seemed to help. After the swim, I checked my email to see if I had gotten any replies about the SeaWorld tickets, and I got an email address from Frank to send my request. That one worked! So Ann and I got ready and drove over to Palomar Hospital in Escondido, taking the Highland Valley Rd route because the traffic on I-15 was stopped and the ramp was closed. In hindsight, it would probably have been quicker to drive back to RB Rd, but we weren't in a huge hurry, and the drive didn't have any traffic. Got to the hospital and got the tickets fairly quickly and very easily, then we were on our way. We drove down to SeaWorld, it was slow going through the line to get into the parking lot and to a parking space. Then we walked a fair distance to the entrance, no issues with the tickets. During the day, we saw the shows for the orcas, dolphins, and sea lions. All were pretty good. We walked by and through a number of animal exhibits, including ones for sharks, turtles, and rays. At 1:00 the park provided lunch for the Palomar attendees, there were quite a few of us. Lunch was decent, pasta, bread, salad, and dessert. It was a nice added touch, since the food at the park was pretty expensive. We didn't ride on any rides. Left the park after seeing the parade, which was about as hokey as you can get. Not sure why they even did that, it wasn't so entertaining. We left the park a little before 5 and drove down to Sorrento Valley to have dinner at Mom's (finally, for Ann). Calzone was good, the house salad not so much. Then it was home, where in the evening I cleaned my chain with several rinses of boiling hot water and then rewaxed it, leaving it to cool overnight after sitting in the wax for 30 minutes.

07-22-2024 Swim/Ride

Got up early and went for an hourlong walk around the neighborhood, no backpack, so it was nice. Then I had a little breakfast before heading over to the WWC for a swim with Avi. We worked out pretty strenuously, including 5 100s and 10 50s, both of which were tough for me. He also shared some additional exercises intended to lengthen my stroke, which is still shorter than I would like and gets even shorter when I get tired. I estimate that we swam about 1500 yds. The rest of the day was fairly quiet. I cleaned and charged the pedals on my old bike, thought about going into the bearings on them but decided not to. Then I changed out the disc brake pads on my new bike. I cleaned around the pistons and used a Q-tip to lubricate the front brake pistons with brake fluid before using the block to push them all the way back in. I loosened the bolts and centered the brake pads as well. This seemed to do the trick, as the brake pads weren't rubbing against the rotor. A similar process was used on the rear brake, but I had already lubricated the pistons. It went more smoothly than I thought it would. I also ordered a new set of 700x25 Gatorskin tires for when the current tires wear out. I spent the rest of the middle afternoon working on my ride tracking code, and I figured out how to display the latitude and longitude of the points on my route if you hover over them. I also watched Deadpool again, it's amusing but a little too violent for my tastes. Later in the afternoon, before dinner, I went for a short ride, heading through the neighborhood to Poblado Rd, taking it over to Florindo Rd and then up to Matinal Rd to get to RB Rd. Then it was through the 4S Ranch neighborhood up to Ralphs Ranch Rd, where I turned and took the normal way from there over to Camino del Sur. Up and then down to Paseo del Sur, where I turned and started heading back. I took this all the way back to Camino del Sur, then I rode up to Camino San Bernardo to get over to RB Rd and took the old way back through the neighborhood to get home, as I was running a bit late. Tried to keep this a mostly Zone 2 ride, not pushing it so hard on the uphill sections as usual.

Avg speed = 15.7 mph. Total mileage = 13.2 mi

Avg power = 126 W. Weighted avg power = 154 W

Total elevation gain = 810'

Avg heartrate = 112 bpm (Coospo), 113 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11956290594

In the evening, we finished watching the English language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was decent, again violent, but the story was a compelling one with several sub-plots. Then I drove over to Rob's place to pick up my chain tools. Rob, Isabelle, and I chatted for a short while about Laura and Joe, just a little bit about them going to Ireland for Rob's mother's funeral.

07-21-2024 Ride

Got up and planned to ride my new bike after trying to fix the rear brake to keep it from sticking. Headed through the neighborhood to Matinal Rd, then over to W Bernardo Dr to get to RB Rd. I took it down to Bernardo Center Dr to get to Bernardo Heights Pkwy. I was pretty slow on the climb up by the old country club, legs feeling it from the previous day. I took the normal route to Rob's house and met him by his garage. From there, we took his normal route back to Bernardo Heights Pkwy and then to Pomerado Rd. Down to Highland Valley Rd, where we turned and rode on the flats and then up the first climb. Rob was slow but steady on the climb, still on the recovery path but getting better. We stopped for a short break at the gate by Mia Marie Winery, then turned around and retraced our route. Rob was pretty fast on the flats back to Pomerado Rd, but I think he burned a few of his matches on that stretch. On the gradual climb back to Bernardo Heights Pkwy, he was slower, and he didn't have much left when we turned on that road. I generally rode with him, there was one stretch where I pushed a little harder and got some separation. We chatted briefly when we got back to the meet-up point, then I headed back the same way we came, other than taking Bernardo Center Dr to Duenda Rd, then riding down W Bernardo Dr to Aguamiel Rd. Felt fine on the ride, just tired.

Avg speed = 14.8 mph. Total mileage = 24.9 mi

Avg power = 131 W. Weighted avg power = 160 W

Total elevation gain = 1920'

Avg heartrate = 113 bpm

https://www.strava.com/activities/11945414219

It was a quiet late morning, I had a nap, then watched some of the summary from the last stage of the TdF. We talked to Laura in the afternoon, she sounded happy and has been really busy with travel, including a recent trip to Telluride for a conference where Joe was also there. <>

07-20-2024 Ride

Got up, legs were a little sore from the week's hiking, so I decided to take it generally easy on the ride. I took my old bike since my new one had a rear brake issue with the pads rubbing against the rotor. I rode through the neighborhood to RB Rd, then took the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood before heading over to the 4S Target to meet the others. A small group on this day, with these riders at the start: Jed, Kamal, Nel, Charlie, Eric, and Aaron. Because of the expected heat on this day, we decided to change the route to stay more on the coast, and I let Zac know, since he was supposed to meet us on the way. We headed down Camino del Sur to the 56 bike path and took it down to El Camino Real and beyond, to Sorrento Valley Rd, where the trail ends and we met Zac and Joey. I also saw Dan Winkle here, and we stopped and talked for a while before I continued on. Aaron left us at this point, intending to ride up Torrey Pines while we headed south down to the bike path that parallels I-5. We joined it around Sorrento Valley Blvd and took it up to Gilman Dr, turning there and riding through UCSD campus and down the hill to get to the Rose Canyon Bike Path. This is a nice one for the most part until it narrows, turning into the Rose Creek Bikeway, where it gets a little dicey whenever there are bikes coming the other way. We followed it down until it crossed over Rose Inlet in Mission Bay. This took us to Olney St, which we used to get to Balboa Ave, turning right and heading over to Soledad Mountain Rd. I tried to hang onto Zac's wheel on this climb and was successful for about 3/4 of the way before I couldn't keep up. Rode to the top of the climb and the turn onto La Jolla Scenic Dr. I waited for all the others and took pictures of them as they rode by. Kamal was dealing with a very squeaky front brake that slowed him down a lot, but he didn't want any help trying to fix it during the ride. We rode up to the top of Mt Soledad (it was still quite foggy at the top, not as much as we saw on the way up at times) and had a break there before heading back the way we came, this time staying on La Jolla Scenic Dr until turning right onto Nautilus St. This time, the downhill was fast and fun, and we took this road all the way down to the coast. Zac led us through the La Jolla neighborhood streets until we got to Prospect St, where we rode through the village, crowded with people and cars, then up to Torrey Pines Rd. Up to this point, the sun stayed behind the clouds. We rode Torrey Pines Rd down to La Jolla Shores Dr, where we stopped at a gas station for another break. Continuing on La Jolla Shores Dr until, at Zac's suggestion, we turned on Calle del Oro and took this climb up to Torrey Pines Rd. It has a short, steep section, then it levels out and isn't too bad. On the climb, Zac and I talked to another rider, Paul, who was riding a vintage bike with down-tube shifters and was camping with his family up in Encinitas. Stayed on Torrey Pines Rd heading south and down the hill past the park (where Charlie stopped to get more water), then up to the turn onto Carmel Valley Rd. We waited for everybody to get there, then retraced our route back to the starting point. We had a decent, relatively slow pace line on the 56 bike path between Carmel Valley Rd and Camino del Sur. Kamal had dropped back by this time, his bike was really making noise and holding him back. Once we got to Camino del Sur, Zac and Joey headed south back home, while the rest of the riders retraced the way we came. I waited for Kamal, who ended up stopping and figuring out why his brake was binding, then fixing it. So he and I rode back to the starting point together. I rode home from there, it had started getting hot while I was waiting for Kamal, so I took it pretty easy, following Camino del Sur to RB Rd and then down to W Bernardo Dr. I was close to 70 miles and 4000' of climbing, so I stayed on W Bernardo Dr to the park before turning around and riding home from there. Legs held up well, and I felt some benefit from having been at elevation for the last 4 days, not sure if it was real or not.

Avg speed = 15.6 mph. Total mileage = 70.1 mi

Avg power = 121 W. Weighted avg power = 153 W

Total elevation gain = 4040'

Avg heartrate = 124 bpm (Coospo), 118 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11938388424

I got home fairly late, had a little something to eat, then rested a bit before driving back down to REI to return the sleeping bag I rented for the backpacking trip. While down there, I stopped at NAPA auto parts and got some more motor oil as well as DOT 5.1 brake fluid for when I will bleed the hydraulic brakes on my bike and replace the fluid. After getting home, I rested some more, then had a nap before dinner. I talked with Rob Fogarty as well about how he was doing, then shared some pointers about how to clean and wax a new bike chain. Shared some of the details of the trip with Ann over dinner, and we talked at some length about the curious relationship between Joe and Cathie, as well as their unusual personalities. Then I went into the garage, took out the brake pads on the rear brake of my new bike, and used a Q-tip to wipe brake fluid around the edges of the piston, in an attempt to keep it from binding and allow it to retract when appropriate. It seemed to work after I put everything back together, Fingers crossed.

07-19-2024 Hike

Up a little before 5:00, no rain during the night. Joe was up shortly after, and we broke our camp. I cleaned off with wipes, then I packed up the stuff going into my bag and oversaw breakfast prep. We finished packing up and were moving by 7:15. We stopped about a half mile in and filled up on filtered water for the hike down. Nothing super memorable about the return hike, Jason and we talked for most of it, we have a fair amount in common. We ended up taking the lower trail that led us into the campground, where we stopped at the general store and Jason bought an expensive shower. Mike and I walked back to the car and chatted about his high school time as an athlete and his stepkids from the first marriage. The two of us changed up at the parking lot, then drove back to the general store where the others were waiting. Joe changed and we packed the stuff into the truck, then drove to a nice picnic area and drank 2 pints each, which loosened us up quite a bit. This was a fun conversation, everybody was happy to have completed the hikes successfully. It was fun and interesting to see Joe in a more casual, guy mode. He can be loose, especially after a little alcohol. We were all pretty buzzed after the beers at the end of the hike. We then drove down into Lone Pine and had pizza at the Pizza Factory, tasty. On to Indian Wells, where stopped again at Indian Wells Brewery before it closed. On the drive down there, Jason played a bunch of one-hit wonder songs and we tried to guess who had performed them. After the brewery stop, where Jason and Mike played cornhole while we had beers, I drove Mike's truck, since he had had several beers in quick succession. The two of them in the back were pretty loose and sang along to the songs on the playlists on their phones. We stopped for a biobreak and gas in Adelanto at the same gas station we had stopped at on the way up, then I drove us home. A little bit of traffic on the section of the 60 that is shared by the I-215, and we had a couple of slowdowns on I-15, but it wasn't too bad. We got back to Joe's house around 8:40, where Ann and Cathie were waiting for us (it turns out that Cathie tested positive for COVID on Saturday morning). I was pretty tired, so I moved my stuff from Mike's truck into our car, then Ann drove us home. I unpacked my overnight back when we got there, had a shower, then read for a short while before falling asleep. Ann kept reading. Later on, I woke up, and we had some amazing sex (<>!) before I fell asleep again.

Total distance = 7.1 mi

https://www.strava.com/activities/11930156313

07-18-2024 Hike

I woke up to pee around 1:30 and the sky was clear, but it wasn't a very starry night. Then I was awoken by a light pattering of rain drops around 400. It didn't last long though. There was another light drizzle a little bit later, then the drops got bigger. At that point, I got dressed and went out to retrieve the hanging food bag before it got too wet. Dawn was coming, so I put it in my pack and lay in the tent listening to music until about 5:50. I got up then and sat outside, no rain. Not too much longer before Jason came down and Joe got up. Jason fired up the stove while I went around the corner and wiped myself down with a cleaning wipe. Then I changed for the day. Felt pretty good after that. I ate Gorp oatmeal for breakfast and drank 2 cups of coffee, then walked down to the lake to wash dishes. Dropped them off and then had a satisfying shit at a panoramic spot overlooking the lake. We got a little rain shower, brief, while we were packing up for the day hike, leaving tents up and some stuff at the campsite. Then we started hiking back up the switchbacks from the previous afternoon hike, continuing on to Fourth Lake, pretty marshy on the shore and loaded with mosquitoes. We didn't stay long before heading over to Fifth Lake, which was more scenic and less buggy. From there we started hiking up toward the next set of lakes, which included an extended stay at Summit Lake where Joe went in the water and said the temperature was much nicer than the previous day. We gathered up our stuff and continued on to Sixth Lake. The trails here were not as well marked. We followed a trail that ended up taking us to an overlook for a lake, but we weren't sure which one it was. Turns out it was definitely Sixth Lake, and in the distance we could see Seventh Lake (it was too far to hike over to, and there wasn't a defined trail to take us there in any case). We debated taking a steep descent presumably down to the lake's edge but decided to hike back and look for the trail we thought would lead us to Seventh Lake (there wasn't one, we had found the trail that got us as close to Seventh Lake as we could get). We hiked back to a meadow by a stream crossing and decided to stop here for lunch and an extended break. The weather continued to hold for us, and after the break we retraced our path back toward, and past, the turnoff for Summit Lake. We walked down from there and came to a fork in the trail, right after a little stream crossing. Jason thought we should take the path leading uphill, and we all generally agreed, although Mike wasn't so sure. In any case, we took that trail up to a little ridge, where we lost the trail. Jason and I were in the lead, and we bushwacked down the other side to what looked like a trail near a lake (we weren't sure which one it was). But we couldn't figure out where this trail led, it seemed to dead-end at a campsite somebody had set up. Feeling a little lost, I got out my phone and looked at the route we had mapped in Strava, trying to make sense of where we were and what we needed to do. Eventually, I figured out we were by Fifth Lake and we had made a wrong turn that necessitated us retracing our route back up and over the ridge we had just crossed. So that's what we did. Once we got back on the trail, we went back to the fork and took the other route, which was the one we had come in and should have taken in the first place. Mike had been right. The trail took us by Fourth Lake, on the south side, and we continued on to a trail that would lead us to Black Lake. Jason and I were out in front and chatting about our respective lives while Mike was a little behind and Joe was further back. Once we got to Black Lake, which was also quite scenic, the trail started descending and included a really beautiful vista of First Lake and Second Lake, where you could see the water flowing from one to the other. We got back to the trail where we had hiked in on Tuesday, and we followed it back to our campsite. Joe was running on fumes by the time we got back, but it turned out to be a very good hiking day. Dinner was curry rice for me, well cooked but needed some salt and pepper to bring the flavor out more. Joe was particularly tired, so we cleaned things up and secured the campsite, then went to sleep while Mike and Jason talked a little more before doing the same.

Total distance = 9.3 mi

Total elevation = 2000'

https://www.strava.com/activities/11930155178

07-17-2024 Hike

Woke up, took a shit in the woods, it wasn't too bad. Then I listened to some music before Joe got up, and I started to break my camp. It pays to be organized in laying out all the stuff to be packed up. I had coffee, oatmeal, cheese, and Gorp for breakfast, it was filling. We finished breaking camp and repacking the food and other stuff into our backpacks. Surprising to me, we were on the trail around 7:30. We headed on the Upper Trail along Big Pine Creek. Similar to the previous day, the three of us were out front and Joe trailed. We would stop to let him catch up every 10 minutes or so. Past some really beautiful falls. The trail had some occasional steep sections, including switchbacks. Thankfully, the trail went through shaded areas often enough to keep the sun from being oppressive. We got up to First Lake around 11:00 and had lunch along the shore, with an extended break. This had been our planned first waypoint, and we decided to make the second waypoint near the switchbacks on the trail by Third Lake, where some campers had suggested we look for a campsite overlooking the lake. On this leg, Mike had slowed down, and Jason and I were still walking at close to our original pace. We found the campsite and stopped here for another extended break, to allow for some recovery, especially for Joe, who was pretty wiped out. After we set up camp and Joe had a breather, we walked over to a spot nearby that was by the lake shore. Joe jumped right in and went under and he shouted about the cold. So I walked in and dove into the water. He was right, it was the coldest water I've been in since the bottom of Lake Mead. I got back to the shore, then we talked Jason into going in. He needed some coercion. Later on I went back in and swam over to a sunny rock. That water was truly cold, the sun went behind some clouds and it got chilly. I waited until the sun came back out, then dove to get back to the launch point. After I got out, it took quite a while to warm back up. Meanwhile Mike was busy filtering water and filling bottles. Later on, we headed back to our campsite, chilled for a bit, then Joe and I went for a quick hike up the switchbacks near our campsite and back before dinner. The burritos I made for dinner were better than the pasta, the seasoned TVP worked well. After dinner, we chatted up at the rock promontory by Mike's and Jason's tent. Then after sunset it started to get cool and then the mosquitoes were intense, so I retired to the tent and rested a while before going to sleep.

07-16-2024 Hike

Got up early and did a final gathering and packing of stuff for the trip. I remembered some last minute items but ended up forgetting to bring glasses and an extra light (can use bike light or light on solar power bank). Ann drove me over to Joe's house, where we packed stuff into his car and divvied up food for carrying. Mike and Jason arrived, and we then decided to try and pack everything into Mike's truck. It worked. We took his bike rack off too. We're on the road around 815, which wasn't too bad. The drive up was fun, easygoing conversation and banter. We stopped in Indian Wells, near Pearsonville, for a beer at Indian Wells Brewery, which had a vast selection of their own brews and flavored sodas, including some really offbeat ones. The others has tasters and I had a pint. I little further up the road we stopped for gas and ate at a Subway. It was edible but not good, left a strange aftertaste in my mouth. Then we drove a little further up and turned off toward Kennedy Meadows, which was about 45 minutes off the 395. Got up there and decided to stop at the general store, where a local resident told us about the significant fire activity in the area and the closure of the area where we planned to hike. Pretty disappointing, but we regrouped and decided to head further north, to stop at the Lone Pine Visitor's Center to try and get new hiking permits. It took us about an hour and a half to get there from Kennedy Meadows, and the ranger, Fernando, set us up with permits to hike around the Big Pine Creek and Lakes area, another 50 minutes or so north. So we drove up to the trailhead, had a little trouble finding where to park, then it was the arduous (for me) process of the others changing into their hiking clothes and packing their backpacks. Because of concerns about space in the bear canisters, I ditched some food, and I also left my fleece and gloves behind in a bear locker. I think we were hiking up the trail by about 6:30. Mike, Jason, and I hiked at about the same pace, and Joe was significantly slower, so we periodically stopped and waited for him. We had hiked a little over a mile when we came to an overlook for a nice campsite, with picnic tables, by the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. That's where we decided to camp, and it was a great choice. Joe's tent went up quickly, as did my setting up my sleeping pad and bag. I had the pasta and TVP for dinner, it was a little crunchy but edible, and I was hungry. Oh, and I drank a beer on the hike from the truck. The others took their beers and drank them at the campsite. We took a little night hike up to a junction of trails not too far further, then I was ready to sleep. Before that, we packed up most of the food into bear canisters, realized we didn't have enough space, and Jason hung the rest of our food and odorables on a makeshift bear line. Sleep was pretty decent, no issues with being cold in the night.

07-15-2024 Entry

<> This was an intentionally light exercise day. I spent most of it getting my stuff organized and packed up for the trip. Went to REI to pick up my sleeping bag rental. That place is not great. No email confirmation of the rental, service in the store is hit-and-miss, and you often have to wait. I spent about 20 minutes in the main store and ended up just getting some electrolyte tablets because they didn't have replacement cartridges for Joe's water filter. After that, I went to a dollar store and got a bunch of bargain items I needed, all for about $7. Then it was home to pack most of the items into my backpack. After dinner, Ann and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, I wore my pack with a closer approximation of weight distribution. Still need to add more weight, mostly from water, but it felt better and more comfortable. Hiked for about 1.5 miles.

07-14-2024 Ride

This was a good day with a start filled with frustrations. I had set my alarm for 5:15 but slept right through it and woke up a little after 5:50. So I was in a rush, and I generally don't do well when that's the case. Got dressed and got my gear ready, but I had to go out to the car too many times to get stuff that I needed but had forgotten. I tried to push the rear disc brake pistons on my bike back so the pads wouldn't rub against the rotor, it worked for a short while and was probably good enough for most of this ride. I had the devil of a time getting the rear wheel back on, turns out one of the caps for the through axle wasn't pushed all the way in. So that was frustrating because I saw time ticking away and was worried I wouldn't have enough of it to get to Mt Baldy Village. Didn't eat anything before heading out. Up I St to Bonita Ave, turning right there and taking it over to Mountain Ave (the one in Claremont). I took this road up to the Thompson Creek Trail, where I turned and rode it (winding with lots of walkers, not a good choice) up to Mills Ave. From there, it was a short jog to get onto Mt Baldy Rd. The gradient started out fairly shallow, around 3% average, then it kicked up to 5-7 % before getting into double digits around the reservoir below the dam. It got a little shallower on the stretch up to the turnoff to head back down to Upland, then right past this turnoff it got steep again before returning to the 5-8% range. Another flattish section before I entered the tunnels, where it got steep and stayed that way for about a mile and a half. That was brutal, the hardest stretch of road I've ridden since I went up Double Peak. What kept me going was looking at the elevation profile on my Wahoo and seeing that the gradient got more shallow before the village. Even still, it seemed neverending to get to the point where the gradient dropped. From that point, it was manageable, but my legs were really toasted. I rode, in low gear into the village and stopped to take a picture by the post office before turning around and heading back down. The ride down was initially sketchy because the roads were so steep and the road quality not ideal. I rode my brakes all the way down to the tunnels, and after that the descent was not as steep and much more fun. All the way back to Mills Ave, which I stayed and continued coasting downhill to Base Line Rd. I turned left onto Indian Hill Blvd and rode down to our old neighborhood, stopping to take a picture of our old house on Wellesley Dr before continuing over to Foothill Blvd to get to Mountain Ave. It was at this point that I realized I didn't know Ed and Susan's address, I just knew it was off Bonita Ave. So I headed back that way, making one false turn when I thought I saw our car, then eventually following the Wahoo map back to its starting point, no problem. I was pretty slow on this stretch, legs were tired and my rear wheel disc brake was binding against the rotor. But I made it back in a little over 2 hours, which was much, much faster than I thought I would be.

Avg speed = 13.7 mph. Total mileage = 28.4 mi

Avg power = 156 W. Weighted avg power = 181 W

Total elevation gain = 3230'

Avg heartrate = 130 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11890048948

Turns out that was a good thing, since I got a late start and didn't understand when the church service was actually supposed to start. Even still, I was back in time for a quick breakfast and a shower before we had to leave. At church, we got a chance to see Kimball and Pam Coburn, which was excellent. Saw Sharon Lawson as well, she's married now and has three boys. John Mohl stopped in church to say a quick hello (Jenna was in town, so he didn't stay after church). After church, we had lunch at Walter's (Ann loves this place), and again the conversation with Ed and Susan was free-flowing and lots of fun. Drove back to their house and packed up, then hit the road to drive home. In the evening, Ann helped me put my dinner pouches for the backpacking trip together, and I did some more organization of stuff to be packed up tomorrow.

I read a short novel, more of a novella, by Marion Zimmer Bradley called The Colors of Space. It was cheesy, about a kid who travels onan alien spaceship and ends up helping humans get along better with them while at the same time acquiring their faster-than-light travel technology. Then I started Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. It's about a bounty hunter cop who is tasked with tracking down and retiring androids on a post-nuclear war apocalyptic Earth.

07-13-2024 Ride

This was a good, non-standard ride. I got up really early with the plan to ride north on a route that ran parallel to I-15, then meet Ann on the way. Down by the park and across the lake via the pedestrian bridge, then behind the mall and through Kit Carson Park to get eventually to Escondido Blvd and then to Centre City Pkwy. I was feeling good and strong on the early sections of this ride, setting a PR for the stretch from Mission Ave to the turn for Hidden Meadows. The downhill section after that, all the way out to Camino del Rey, was fun and a welcome break from the little climbing. Then, the more serious climbing started, riding up to the level of the arch bridge over I-15 before another fun descent. I set a PR (11:06, 236 W, 146 bpm) on the climb over the freeway, even though I wasn't pushing it too hard, to save energy for later. Past the turnoff to the arch bridge was new territory for me on Strava. I stopped for a short break and ate a banana, then enjoyed about 2 miles of flat roads before the next climbing section. The Old 395 was on the west side of I-15 out to about mile 27.5, and there was 2 solid miles of climbing at 3-5% grade before crossing over the freeway to climb generally for another 2 miles. This was a big workout, probably the biggest one of the ride. Then the road dropped down a little bit to Rainbow, followed by another climb of around 3 miles, with some flatter sections mixed in, before the winding descent via Old 395 into southern Temecula. After the descent, I turned left onto Pechanga Pkwy and then left again onto Temecula Pkwy, which took me under the freeway to Old Town Front St. I texted Ann when I got to Old Town Temecula and tried to send her a picture, but it didn't get saved. The road turned into Jefferson Ave, which I followed all the way into downtown Murrieta, where I turned left onto Kalmia St and then right onto Washington Ave, which subsequently turned into Palomar St. I didn't realize it while I was riding, but there was a gradual gradient, probably averaging around 0.3-0.5%, all the way from Temecula to Lake Elsinore. It wasn't consistent, and there were some stretches that were flatter or even slightly downhill. I rode through the western part of Wildomar, nothing to see there, and turned onto Mission Trail to head into south Lake Elsinore. Road turned into Lakeshore Dr after crossing Diamond Dr, and then onto Main St. I had gotten a text from Ann saying she was leaving the house and wanted to meet me at 10:00, which was earlier than I had planned (she thought we were meeting the Humes at 11:00 instead of 11:30). So I rode up to I-15, called her to tell her where to meet me, then stopped the ride and rode back to 7-Eleven for a cold drink while I waited for her. This was a more challenging ride than I thought, and it was only after downloading the ride upon finishing it that I saw why I wasn't able to average 18-20 mph on the sections past Temecula that I thought were flat. The sun was just starting to get intense when I finished, so I believe I called it right when I stopped there. And my rear brake had started acting up again, which also slowed me down somewhat.

Avg speed = 15.7 mph. Total mileage = 55.2 mi

Avg power = 155 W. Weighted avg power = 175 W

Total elevation gain = 2820'

Avg heartrate = 127 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11889992557

She picked me up from the 7-Eleven parking lot, then we drove up to Upland to meet Ed and Susan at the Butter Cafe. We stopped at a Von's (it was a circuitous route to get there) to get some beer for Ed and flowers for Susan. As usual, talking with them quickly felt natural. We heard more about Janet than about Eddie. Janet and Andy just bought a place (a 3rd floor in an old row house) in Washington, DC, and they appear to be doing well. Ed was full of stories about what he's been doing, and we talked a lot about CUMC and their plans to build a low-income housing unit on the south side of the property near Foothill Blvd. It's fraught. After brunch, Ann and I drove Ed over to the Maloof House in Upland to take a tour. Ed is a docent there, and he was entertaining, informative, and engaging in the tour, which took almost 2 hours. Then we drove back to their place in LaVerne, where Ed briefly showed me his workshop, which is pretty cool although not so good for airflow. In the evening, a bunch of Boosters came over to their house for dinner and conversation, and we had the chance to catch up with Ken and Donna, Bev Morse, Alex and Martha, Dave and Melania, Jenny Teresi and Wilma Ogle, and Curtis and Pearl. Again, the conversation was familiar without too many strained silences. All in all, a nice evening and a good ending to a very busy and rewarding day.

07-12-2024 Hike/Swim

Got up early and headed over to the gravel parking lot by the park. From there, I hiked a little more than 3 miles out along the north side of Lake Hodges, with a weighted backpack. This trail is generally flat, so all I got was the distance. Around 2/3 of the way through, my shoulders started hurting, but it got better and not worse after a while. Total hiking time of about 2 hours. When I got home, after eating something, I started getting the laundry room prepped for painting the trim. Masked off the areas, then got into it. It all ended up taking about 2 hours, looked decent after I was done. In the afternoon, I hung the door back on its hinges, arranged my first aid bag for the backpacking trip, and worked (successfully) to push the pistons back on both front and rear brakes on my bike. That seemed to do the trick for resetting the braking tension. Ann went to see a nurse practitioner about pain she is experiencing on the upper sides of her feet when she walks for a longer time. The NP thought it sounded like soft tissue damage and suggested she go to a podiatrist for a more detailed diagnosis and treatment plan. Late in the afternoon, Avi came over, then we drove down to the beach by La Jolla Shores to meet up with the San Diego Tri Club for their summer weekly ocean swim. Avi's friend Birgit and her son Nico came out at well. I didn't know what to expect, and we arrived late, which put me in some stress to get everything ready and the rest of my gear packed into my backpack. The swim through the waves out beyond the breakpoint was challenging, I took in some salt water and struggled to find a rhythm. Once we got out to the starting point buoy, Liz (one of the Tri Club mentors) gave us directions on how to swim to a buoy about 500 yds away. This swim was easier because of fewer waves and chop, and we stopped periodically to make sure we were staying on course and catch our breaths. It took me some time to get used to the swim stroke pattern that worked for me, but I got better as time passed. I was wearing an old tri wetsuit that Avi lent me, and so water temperature was not an issue at all. I had rubbed petroleum jelly around my neck where the suit came in contact, so no chafing there. On the return trip from the outbound buoy, I felt a little more comfortable, still slower than Avi but generally able to keep him in view for staying on course. On the swim back to the shore, I was better at keeping our landmark centered and was also aided by the tide pushing us all in. Overall, it was an exhilarating time, no real fatigue during the swim but definitely a different swimming experience than being in the pool. I ended up swimming about 1500 yds or so (a rough estimate), probably in about 35 minutes swimming time, not counting the breaks. After the swim, we washed the salt off, changed, then walked back to the car for the drive home. He is a really good guy to exercise with, very watchful and helpful without being overbearing.

07-11-2024 Swim/Ride

Got up early (<>) and headed over to the WWC for a swim, this time solo. It was far less crowded than the previous time, I had my own lane and everything. I used the normal protocol and I think I had a very fast first 500 yds before slowing down some and probably losing track of the number of pool lengths I had swum. I made my best guess to get out to 2050 yds (an extra lap thrown in there somewhere), then I swam another 250 yds with my swim snorkel and the new push buoy I had gotten. It's a big help in allowing me to focus on keeping my strokes extended, but even still I am shortening my strokes as I get more tired. Lots of work still to do there. Once I got home, I pulled out the sawhorses and set them up to paint the downstairs bathroom door. It went a lot more quickly than I thought, I was able to find a short paint roller with a deep fluff that did a good job getting into the nooks and crannies of the patterns on the door. Because it went so smoothly, I pulled the door by the den off and painted one side of it as well. Had some lunch, then afterward I turned the two doors over and painted the other sides. I had leaned the second door against the push broom in the garage, and that turned out to be a mistake for the second coat, since the paint on the first side came off. Still, the painting went pretty quickly, as did the cleanup. Ann and I went in the afternoon to 7-Eleven for 7-11 day and a free Slurpee. Later in the afternoon, I got ready for a bike ride with Blair. Headed through the neighborhood to RB Rd, then over to Via del Campo to the front parking lot by B65. The wind seemed to be quite breezy and coming from the southwest. We decided to ride into Escondido. On the way down W Bernardo Dr, past RB Rd, I hit something in the bike lane and got a front tire flat. We fixed it and I decided to ride back home to pump the front tire up properly. Around this time, I noticed that my rear disk brake was rubbing against the rotor, and that was bothersome. Home the normal way, pumped the front tire up, then rode back to W Bernardo Dr to get over to the pedestrian bridge, which we took over Lake Hodges. Then we stayed on BVP up to Sunset Dr and took it up to Juniper St, where we turned right and took it all the way to Washington Ave. A little trouble getting across this road to head over to Centre City Pkwy, where we turned and started heading back. Since it was 7-11, we stopped again at a 7-Eleven on 9th Ave and had Slurpees, the first one for Blair in over 20 years. It hit the spot, since it was a hot day (hotter in Escondido) and cooling down while we took our break. We rode back to Citracado Pkwy and used it to get to Escondido Blvd and the route down to the path through Kit Carson Park. We took the longer path and eventually got onto Beethoven Dr to take it to BVP and then back to the road to the path to the pedestrian bridge. Because my disc brake was grabbing even more, especially when I got out of the saddle, I took it really slowly on each of the climbing sections from the lake all the way back to HP. We rode by Bldg 8, and Blair showed me the space where the new HP Tech Center is likely going to be located. My brake was really rubbing by this time, but it wasn't too bad on the way home, which was mostly downhill. Home the normal way from there.

Avg speed = 13.2 mph. Total mileage = 26.1 mi

Avg power = 101 W. Weighted avg power = 133 W

Total elevation gain = 1430'

Avg heartrate = 107 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11866938257

It was a quiet evening after that.

07-10-2024 Ride

Planned on a longer, harder ride in the morning, and it was definitely a challenge. I rode down by the park and, as I started to cross over the freeway, noticed that I hadn't started up my tracking apps. Bummer! So I started them and headed over to Highland Valley Rd, taking it up to the top of the first climb and turning around at the entrance to Mia Marie Winery. It was overcast and, at some elevations, foggy, but it wasn't consistent. I did put in a pretty big effort on the climb and ended up with a PR (5:46, 289 W, 155 bpm). That effort took a fair amount out of me, and the rest of the ride was more of a struggle as a result. I turned around and rode back to Pomerado Rd, turning left and taking an easier pace than usual. The weather was cooperating, no sun out, and I made it to the base of the climb up to the top. I downshifted here and took it more slowly, then turned left onto Stonebridge Pkwy, taking this road, slowly, all the way to the top. On the steeper sections, I really felt out of shape, was a little taken down by it. I stopped at the top and had a banana and a granola bar, then rode back to Pomerado Rd. Did a little better on the smaller climbs back, setting a PR on the rollers section before the turn. I kept going up to the top of Pomerado Rd, then rode it down and across the freeway, turning right onto Kearny Villa Rd. Was happy for the downhills, and they allowed me to recover a little bit. Kept on riding downhill, for the most part, on Black Mountain Rd until I got to the climb back up to the 56. I downshifted again and got into a slow rhythm to climb up this stretch, was glad to get to the top. Then I stayed on Black Mountain Rd and kept generally climbing, with some descent sections for recovery, until I got to the top of the climb on Carmel Valley Rd. The downhill afterward was welcome, then I had to slowly ride up the last significant climb on Dove Canyon Rd, another chore. Turned on Camino del Norte and followed the now normal way home from there. This was a ride that challenged me more than I thought it would. I need to mix more climbing into my rides, haven't been getting enough of that recently, and it showed.

Avg speed = 15.7 mph. Total mileage = 42.2 mi (actually 43.8 mi)

Avg power = 146 W. Weighted avg power = 180 W

Total elevation gain = 3350'

Avg heartrate = 124 bpm (Coospo), 129 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11855282466

I took it easy after I got home, had some breakfast and laid around until it was time to get ready for my volunteer shift at the hospital.

07-09-2024 Ride/Swim

Got up early for a ride but didn't get started as early as I had originally planned. Still, it was cool and overcast when I began around 7:00. Headed through the neighborhood, then through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, the short route, over to Four Gee Rd, taking it up to the top and then turning around and riding back. Right on Camino del Sur taking it down to the 56 bike path, then using that path to get to El Camino Real. On this ride, I was taking it pretty easy for the most part, including up the gradual climb on El Camino Real into Del Mar Heights. Back down and over to San Dieguito Rd, where I put a little more effort into it on the flats. When I got to the Three Witches climb, I went all out at the beginning and was really fast up the first hill. But I couldn't sustain that pace and dropped off on the second and third hills, finishing 12 seconds slower than my PR, which was disappointing. Will need to plan my approach better next time I try to lower my PR. Back home through the Del Sur neighborhood, then up Camino del Norte to Camino San Bernardo and over to RB Rd. Home via the W Bernardo Dr route. After the all-out effort on Three Witches, my legs were feeling tired, so I didn't have much to give for the rest of the ride.

Avg speed = 16.6 mph. Total mileage = 35.2 mi

Avg power = 140 W. Weighted avg power = 180 W

Total elevation gain = 2000'

Avg heartrate = 117 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11847154929

By the way, my Fitbit data are no longer available on the website, only on my phone, and the app on the phone is not working. Frustrating!

I went over to the WWC after I got back home and had a 2000 yd swim following the standard protocol, not so fast but not terrible. It's really difficult to maintain a low stroke count, as I get tired I shorten my stroke, even if I am intentional about keeping it lengthened. Lots of practice needed here. In the early afternoon, Ann and I drove over to Palomar Hospital in Escondido to visit the gift shop and redeem some of the vouchers I've received for volunteering. We saw Michael Landreth in one of the courtesy carts, and we talked to him for a bit. There is a nice selection of earrings in the gift shop but not much of interest to me. I bought a collapsible camping mug that might come in handy, didn't see a whole lot more that I might buy. The later afternoon was quiet, although the SDG&E workers were digging in the front yard to make a riser for the new gas meter location. They did a good job putting the pavers back in after digging, but I'm not sure the plant that they dug up is going to survive.

07-08-2024 Hike/Swim

Got up early and went for a longer hike, about an hour and 10 minutes, through the neighborhood. Then I got ready to go for a swim at the WWC, meeting Avi, who was a little bit late. They still haven't gotten our check for the annual dues. He wasn't up for a more structured workout, so we swam several 500s and then a couple of 100s at higher speed (I wasn't so fast). After he left for a dental appointment, I finished off my workout to get to 2000 yds, then I headed home. In the late morning and early afternoon, I painted the trim around the doors in the front entryway to match the baseboards better. This is a project that was on my list when I retired, so I thought I would get it started. Still a fair amount to do here, but it was a start. When I removed the masking tape from the bathroom, I peeled a little bit of paint off, and an adventure began. I easily found the paint can for that bathroom, but I had the devil of a time getting the lid off, ruining the can in the effort. So I rode over to The Home Depot in CMR to get an empty paint can, but they didn't stock them anymore. Similarly for the Sherwin Williams store nearby. I made the decision to ride over to The Home Depot in east Escondido, where the website said they had these items in stock. It was a longish ride, and the stretch on BVP where they are working on the road was really sketchy. I made it, got the paint can and some more masking tape, then headed home. Transferred the paint into the new can, and I got a new sticker for the can as well. This paint is now entered in The Home Depot paint database under my cell phone number, FWIW. I used the paint to touch the walls up in the bathroom, and then I removed the rest of the masking tape from around the front doors, with no further paint peeling. Quiet evening, watched a little TV with Ann on Hulu.

07-07-2024 Ride

Woke up quite early, couldn't get back to sleep. So I got ready for the bike ride in a leisurely way. But I didn't correctly calculate the time needed to get to Dave's house and when to leave to allow for a buffer. I headed across the freeway and up Via Rancho Pkwy, pushing the pace a little bit but not overly much. It was only after I got to the top and started heading down that I realized I might be late. So, I rode harder after that, up to Del Dios Hwy, turning right and taking it to Citracado Pkwy and then to his place on Casero Pl. Jim was already there getting ready, and Dave was walking out from the back yard. I had forgotten a water bottle, but he lent me one for the ride. We headed back to Valley Pkwy, turned right, and took it down to Centre City Pkwy to join the old Escondido time trial route. He and Jim were riding pretty well on the flats, Jim slower and working hard to stay up. I got out ahead a little bit and slowed down to match their pace. Up past Country Club Ln to the top of the little climb there, where we waited for Jim. He told us to keep going on the time trial route and he would cut it a little short and meet us on the way back, so that's what we did. I matched my pace to Dave's, getting out in front and slowing down to give him the chance to catch up. So, it was a slower ride than normal for me. We made good time on the way back to Valley Pkwy, which was mostly downhill or flat. Even the little climb back to his house wasn't bad. I only stayed for a couple of minutes before heading home the way I came. Nothing special to report on this ride, although Strava said that I had a PR for the Via Rancho climb (3:51, 271 W, 143 bpm). It didn't feel like I was pushing hard on that climb, could certainly have gone faster.

Avg speed = 15.7 mph. Total mileage = 30.9 mi

Avg power = 132 W. Weighted avg power = 167 W

Total elevation gain = 1750'

Avg heartrate = 109 bpm (Coospo), 120 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11831063620

https://www.fitbit.com/activities/exercise/64552819737

I watched the end of the day's TdF stage, which featured a number of gravel sections, when I got home. Read a little bit, then went in the garage and started arranging my backpacking gear. Later, in the early afternoon, I reserved a sleeping bag from REI for the trip.  I also figured out how to access my TSA Pre-Check number:

In the late afternoon, we drove over to Old Poway Park, set up our chairs by the gazebo, and had a quick drink at The Hop Stop before listening to a concert by Gregory Page. He was generally good, very good at times and a little weird at others, but it was a fine afternoon. We had a picnic as well. Quiet evening after that. Ann is back healthy enough that she is sleeping in our bed again. <>

07-06-2024 Ride

Woke up and got ready for the ride. I was early rising, so I had plenty of time to get ready. Rode through the neighborhood and then the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood to the 4S Target. The other riders trickled in, and there were some who weren't highly motivated to get going, so we were delayed. Jojo, Perse's cousin, was there along with three buddies, and one of them, Samuel, had forgotten to bring a helmet. On this ride at the start, there were: Arnold, Gideon, Fritz, Kamal, Charlie, James, Jojo, and his friends Mack, Ken, and Samuel (who is a Catholic priest). We eventually decided to ride over to Gideon's house and pick up a helmet, then modify the originally planned route to shorten its distance. We rode the straight way back to Gideon's place, picked up the helmet (Arnold also put more air in his front tire), and started from there. Up to RB Rd, then over to Camino del Sur. On the initial part of this ride, it was just me and Kamal way out in front, with the others trailing behind. It stayed that way on Camino del Sur, although by the turn onto San Dieguito Rd Fritz had started to catch up with us. Down the hill, gathering at the turn onto El Apajo, then we rode over to Via de Santa Fe, turning left onto Calzada del Bosque. Until then, we were following the original route, but to shorten it I recommended that we ride up the hill to Linea del Cielo instead of turning into Rancho Santa Fe. At the top of the hill, there was a general consensus to shorten the ride by taking Linea del Cielo to Lomas Santa Fe and then to the coast. I led for most of this stretch, Kamal was close as well. When we got down to PCH, we stopped for a short break and decided to ride up to Swami's Beach and turn around there. The pace on PCH was not super fast. I was leading for most of it, with the exception of a sprint by Kamal on the flats that I didn't try to chase down until the road started to incline. It's about 3 miles from that intersection to Swami's, and we all stopped there (I thought) for water and a restroom break. Romeo and Ed joined us there as we were getting ready to head south. They had been trying to meet up with us, but because of our late schedule and changed route it didn't happen. They headed north while we started back. Our route was the usual one to Via de la Valle and up Three Witches. Along PCH I noticed that James wasn't with us. At a stop, I texted him to let him know where we were, turns out he rode up to Oceanside for extra miles. On the return, I was leading or in the lead group the whole time until we got to San Dieguito Rd, where I organized a pace line that actually held together pretty well on the flats (Ken dropped off, and maybe Gideon, but the others hung on). One last stop at the gas station before Three Witches, thankfully it wasn't a really long one, as the temperature was rising. On the climb, I settled into a steady pace and led the others up the hill. I was out in front, then Jojo decided to close the gap and Arnold followed him. So it was the three of us at the top, with Fritz not so far behind. One last wait after the turn for everybody to make it there, then we all rode back to the starting point. I got out in front again and just put it into a steady pace until I got to Artesian Rd, where it flattened out and I began to put some more juice into it. Finished out in front, but Fritz wasn't too far back, and he had been trying hard to close the gap. So, I gave him a target to push for. I waited for everybody to get back, then Gideon and I took it slow back to his house, where he gave me back the SRAM battery that he had borrowed during the ride. I rode home from his place via the W Bernardo Dr route. This was a moderate intensity ride for me, but I was still tired at the end, no muscle soreness. I found out at the end that somehow my Fitbit had stopped tracking the ride about 15 miles in, so those data aren't included.

Avg speed = 17.1 mph (from my analysis program). Total distance = 46.7 mi

Bisikleta route avg speed = 17.8 mph

Avg power = 146 W. Weighted avg power = 180 W

Total elevation gain = 2430'

Avg heartrate = 129 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11824230480

Afternoon was a quiet one, I did some reading, had a short nap, ate some of the homemade vanilla ice cream that Ann had made in the morning. Then I tackled trying to track down the reason for the warnings I regularly see when running my Python GPX analysis program. I figured out how to clean up the code to get rid of the two warnings that I'd been ignoring. The numbers weren't affected, but the code is much cleaner now.

07-05-2024 Hike

Woke up early, got ready for a longer hike with my weighted backpack. I hiked directly over to the trailhead to Lake Hodges off of Duenda Rd and took it. Headed to the trail that leads along the south side of Lake Hodges. This trail is pretty overgrown, and as I walked it in the early morning, I walked through a number of spider webs, which isn't a pleasant experience. It has some little ups and downs but nothing steep that lasts for very long. This was an out-and-back hike, and I turned around at about 2.5 miles, got my poles out, and used them for the return part on the dirt sections. Shoulders felt better, I can detect that they are carrying weight but it seems manageable. Total mileage of 5 miles in a little over 90 minutes. When I got home, I had some breakfast and watched a little TV, cleaned the kitchen, then went out into the front yard and hacked back the ficus plant growing by our front porch. Read a little later in the morning, then I patched a couple of inner tubes and replaced the battery in my Quarq power meter. Afternoon was quiet. I worked on the Python routine to do batch processing of my ride's GPX files to generate power curve numbers, was ultimately successful but the batch processing seemed to run into some kind of glitch after about 250 files. I didn't work too hard to figure out what was the problem, just left it as is. Then I ran a separate batch program that consolidates all of the existing power curve data files into a single CSV database file. It all worked, and I was able to look at the database in Excel.

A couple of days ago, I finished The Lincoln Highway, and I read a couple of short stories, including one based in The Expanse series, taking place on Laconia shortly after it has been settled. On this day, I started a book by Bill Browder called Red Notice, which is part memoir and part expose about the Russian government's attempts to silence critics of its finance systems and oligarchy

07-04-2024 Ride

Woke up early and got ready to drive down to Shelter Island to meet Charlie for a Fourth of July ride. It was overcast on the way down, and it took just a little longer than I thought it would. There were a bunch of people already camped out on the island for the evening's fireworks over the bay. We met down at the southwest end of the island, and that's where we started from. Headed on Shelter Island Dr to Scott St, turning left, then right onto Canon St, which has a fairly gentle rise until it gets to Catalina Blvd. This climb took us toward Fort Rosecrans, where the road flattened out and took us to the entrance to Cabrillo National Monument. We had a brief stop there, then we rode back down the way we came, to Canon St, where we turned, then took a right onto Talbot St, which has a very steep downhill that took us to Rosecrans St, taking a left there and then a right back onto Canon St to get to Scott St, where we turned left and headed over to Harbor Dr. We stayed on this road for a while, until we got onto the sidewalk/bike path, running parallel to it, around Harbor Island Dr. This is the Bayshore Bikeway, and we were on it for a bit until we got back onto the Harbor Dr bike lane and followed it all the way through town, by the convention center, through Barrio Logan, past the naval base. Eventually, around Civic Center Dr, we got back onto the Bayshore Bikeway, taking it down to Pepper Park (but not stopping there), taking the bike bridge over the Sweetwater River. Around this point, Charlie took over and showed me the new bike path that wound around the massic new Chula Vista Convention Center and Hotel that is being built, through Chula Vista Bayside Park and the Marina View Park, then back onto the Bikeway section that I had ridden before. We took a little detour off the Bikeway but got back on it just before it started heading generally west around the bottom of the bay. Back on a familiar bike path that eventually took us to the stretch running parallel to Silver Strand Blvd. We had the benefit of a slight tailwind on this section, and we generally averaged over 20 mph, slowing occasionally for other pedestrians and cyclists, for about 7 miles until it got more crowded closer to Coronado. We followed the Bikeway, making sure to take the turn onto the path that took us under the Coronado Bridge and dropped us into the park on the north side of the bridge. Slowed way down here because of pedestrians, and we rode over to the ferry. One of the ferry employees said that this is the busiest day of the year for the ferry, and I believed it, since we had to wait about 20 minutes for the ferry to show up. We got on the one that dropped us at the Embarcadero, which ended up being a good choice, since it allowed us to avoid the mess around the Convention Center and Seaport Village. We essentially retraced our route back to the starting point, although we had to cross under the bridge just past Spanish Landing to get over the bridge on the westbound side. Lots of car traffic on Shelter Island, including a guy who almost turned into me as I passed him on the left when he tried to make an unscheduled left turn. I felt strong at the end, having ridden a lot of flat miles in the last couple of weeks. This was a nice little ride, not exactly my preference but a fun one to do with Charlie. I forgot to turn off my ride on my Fitbit, so it logged some car miles as well.

Avg speed = 17.2 mph. Total mileage = 44.1 mi

Avg power = 146 W. Weighted avg power = 165 W

Total elevation gain = 760'

Avg heartrate = 124 bpm (Coospo), 122 (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11810334838

https://www.fitbit.com/activities/exercise/64510659649

On the way home, I stopped at Krispy Kreme for my free Independence Day donut. The car in front of me took a long time at the drive-through, not sure what it was all about, but I'm sure it was an interesting story. Then it was home, a light lunch, and a nap in the afternoon, as I was more tired than I thought I would be.