08-31-2024 Ride

Woke up fairly early after a decent night's sleep, although I did get up in the night and eat a bowl of cereal to help fuel me up for the bike ride. I rode straight through the neighborhood and over to the 4S Target, where the other riders trickled in up to and past 7:30, it was kinda annoying. I was the ride leader, so that made it a little more frustrating. At this starting point, we had the following riders: Gideon, Andy, Rob, Al, Nel, Kamal, Jamil, Jed A., James, and Aaron. We headed over Paseo del Sur to Del Sur Ridge Rd, where we had to turn around and head back to see Al putting air into his rear tire. Luckily, it wasn't a flat. We continued on the route to Lone Quail Rd, turning right and taking it over to Dove Canyon Rd. Down the hill there to Carmel Valley Rd, turning right and taking the climb up to Black Mountain Rd. Aaron and I got pretty far out in front of the others (it was my second fastest Strava time on this climb), and he outpaced me near the top, where he just went into a higher gear and left me in the dust. I caught up with him at the turn onto Camino del Sur, told him to ride up to the riders who were waiting for us ahead. I saw on WhatsApp that Jed had had a flat, so the wait for everybody to get there was a long one. I sent them ahead, and Kamal stayed with me. Eventually, Gideon, Andy, Jed, and Al showed up, and we rode over to the 56 bike path, where we met Charlie, Zac, and Joey. Also, Dan Winkle was there. He had asked me about the ride the previous day but wasn't inclined to start that early, so he rode on roughly the same route and thought he might catch up with us. He ended up riding with us for a fair portion. Down the bike path toward the coast, and before we started riding I asked Gideon to stay with Al and Andy at the back, since they were riding really slowly. We all rode down to Sorrento Valley Rd and turned left, taking it over to Sorrento Valley Blvd, where those of us in front ended up waiting again, this time for Charlie to fix a flat, with help from others. Then we rode over to the bike path that parallels I-5, taking it up toward UCSD. I set a PR on this overall climb (6:42, 244 W, 147 bpm), probably because I didn't stop in the middle like I normally do. At the top of this climb is where Andy, Al, and Gideon turned back. The rest of us took Pepper Canyon Dr over to Gilman Dr and turned right there, riding through the campus and then down the gradual descent to meet up with the Rose Canyon bike path. We all made it through this section with no incidents, and took this bike path all the way to Pacific Beach Dr, where we turned toward the ocean and rode down to Mission Blvd. This took us into the heart of PB, and we stopped by where Charlie's son Ryan lives to say hi to him before turning around and stopping for a coffee at Trident Coffee. It was getting late when we started back up, and the sun was starting to peak out. Back the way we came, and I got out in front of everybody on the bike path (PR for the entire bike path segment, 13:20, 180 W, 1345 bpm), only to see another WhatsApp message about another flat, Charlie again. So I waited at the top of the Rose Canyon bike path for a good while, James went ahead and kept on riding. Once we were all back together (I thought), we continued on into the campus. I kept back with Charlie, who had not been riding in about a month and was slow. When we got to the top of the gradual climb, the others told me they were going to ride over to Torrey Pines Rd and take that downhill. I had neglected to include Jamil when I was counting riders, but he showed up then and all was good. So we rode through the campus to Torrey Pines Rd and took it all the way to Carmel Valley Rd. I was behind the others but pushed the pace a little bit and got out in front, with only Jamil ahead of me on the descent. He was moving fast, but I eventually caught up with him on the little climb to Carmel Valley Rd. Aaron was right behind me, and we waited for the others after the turn. Most of them kept on going, so it was a small group that brought up the rear, we saw Cam riding the other way with other riders. Back to the end of the 56 bike path, Zac and Joey kept going, while the others followed the outbound route on the 56 bike path. Some of the riders ended up cutting over to Carmel Valley Rd earlier, via Rancho Santa Fe Farms Rd, but I rode with Charlie on the original route, since he was parked by Peet's Coffee. He was slow on this stretch, so I tried not to get too far out in front. After he peeled off, I was solo for the rest of the ride back to the starting point. Was pretty tired by this time, so I kept a decent but not super fast pace back, again retracing the outbound route. Many of the riders were still around when I got back, I stopped for a little bit, but the day was heating up fast, so I got going soon. Home via RB Rd to W Bernardo Dr, and I was thankful for the tailwind that helped me along.

Avg speed = 16.0 mph. Total mileage = 63.3 mi

Avg power = 133 W. Weighted avg power = 163 W

Total elevation gain = 3280'

Avg heartrate = 121 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12292523753

The rest of the afternoon was quiet and restful, nothing much to add. Same for the evening. We talked a little bit about going out but ended up staying in.

08-30-2024 Swim

Went for another swim at the WWC, after a nice waking up (<>). I got there around 8:20, and the pool was not crowded, so I had my own lane. Talked to Cathy's husband Eric, who was a Navy pilot and longtime motorcycle rider. He's a nice fellow, is 81 and looks in pretty good shape for his age. I did the standard 2000 yd protocol, slower than I had hoped to be able to complete it. Finished in about 41:30, and felt it in my shoulders. That's probably the effect of using the swim pads, which I should include more if I want to build up the power of my stroke. When I got home, I changed out the battery on the MyQ sensor unit, which had been reading Low Battery. Even with the new battery, the same warning message showed up, so I'll monitor it for now. I also did some troubleshooting on the little Bluetooth transmitter/receiver unit that I got awhile ago but hadn't been able to get it working. It shows up in Bluetooth as ZF-360, and to use it to connect to an external speaker you have to set it in RX mode with the switch and plug the cable going to the speaker in the RX port. Also, it will hold a charge but has to be charged up before it will work. I got it to play from Spotify on my phone, so, success! Ann and I went to lunch at Lutchi and Mary, which was celebrating its anniversary (according to Perse). Food was decent, not exactly to my taste but a nice vibe exists in the restaurant. For a significant part of the afternoon, I worked on code to create the database of ride statistics from analysis of my downloaded GPX ride files. I made good progress, to the point that I tried to run it on the entire set of GPX files, which caused the PC to crash hard. During the troubleshooting, I found that I need to account for GPX files that don't have any power or cadence data as well as those files that don't have embedded heartrate data. I think that's all fixed now. In the evening, we drove over to Rob's place, dropped off an inner tube he wanted to borrow, then drove over to CMR to see Just Press Play, the band that was closing out the summer concert series there. They were pretty good musicians, but the lead singer had an annoying squeak in his voice, particularly when he tried to sing in an upper register. After a while, it was comical, as was the guy in front of Ann who, every time he got up, flashed his butt crack. While there, I saw that I still needed a lot of steps to reach 10k, so I went for a walk starting about 8:25. Took me 50 minutes to get to 10k steps, I was ready to be done for the day after that.

08-29-2024 Swim/Run/Ride

Woke up and got ready for a swim at the WWC with Avi. We were there when it opened, and it wasn't so crowded, so we each had a lane. We started off with a warmup 250, then we did a 500 at pace. I didn't kill myself on this section, but I swam strongly and finished in 9:10 (about a 1:50/100 yds pace). We swam another 500, then we did 4 100s, and I used the pull buoy to allow me to focus on lengthening my stroke. Try as I might, I just can't get my stroke count below 20 with any consistency. I need to increase the power of my strokes, and that might entail some weight training to build my upper body. We finished off with another 250, me at a cooldown pace. I had originally intended to do a run from there, but I decided to ride home and run down by the park. It was cloudy when I started, and the sun was coming out when I finished. I ran at a more moderate pace with the intention of putting in 5 miles, and it went just fine. Was able to run faster after the first mile, and I never felt really out of breath.

Avg pace = 8:49/mi

Total distance = 5.16 mi

Elapsed moving time = 45:33

Avg heartrate = 148 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12274333081

The middle of the day was light duty. I did some stuff around the house. Loosened the screws on the right side of the handlebars on my Canyon to see if there was any way to quiet the rattling I hear from this side when I ride. I didn't see anything obvious, and I also checked the mechanism by pulling the brake hood back. Again, no evidence of anything rattling around, so I put it back together using the torque wrench and the Canyon-supplied Torx nut driver bits and my torque wrench. Later, Ann went to a UMW lunch, so I rode over to Cotijas and got a couple of burritos for lunch. I ate one and put the other in the fridge for later. Watched some TV as well. In the afternoon, I did some more planning for the code to create a cycling database for my Strava cycling activities. I began to build the framework for the program, should be able to finish the first version fairly quickly. Later in the afternoon, I rode over to HP to meet Blair for a ride. Rode through the neighborhood via the Capilla Rd route, then took Via del Campo over to W Bernardo Dr. I rode the long way around the campus and waited for him in the back parking lot. He's been deeply involved in the lab layout planning for the new site, and it's frustrating to work with Jenn K. But it seems like he has just handed off a significant task on the layout CAD to a contract employee, which I hope with get him out from under this burden. We rode down Bernardo Center Dr to Carmel Valley Rd and up the little climb toward Black Mountain Rd. This is a route he has put together for an HP ride in support of the Techman Tri in September. We kept going on Carmel Valley Rd, at pretty decent pace considering it was into the wind, until we got to the 56 bike path. We turned left there and had the benefit of a tailwind pushing us back. I was feeling good and fresh, as I had been riding at his pace up to this point. So I rode faster than usual on the first gradual uphill section, waiting for him at the Rancho Santa Fe Farms Rd cutoff. We kept riding, and before the second uphill section I saw Joey and Zac riding in the opposite direction. So, I turned around and rode at pretty close to my max output to catch up with them. I did, and we stopped briefly to chat at the same cutoff before I turned back around and rode, again at a fairly high pace (wind-aided), to where Blair was waiting at Camino del Sur. We took this road back, and I dialed my pace back to more closely match his. We stayed on this road as it turned into Camino del Norte, since this is the second part of the route that he has planned. Back to Bernardo Center Dr, then to the back parking lot. I rode home the normal way from there. Legs felt fine at the end, I had some twinges during the afternoon in my left quad, probably from the run, but they went away after the bike ride. My Fitbit ran out of battery fairly close to the end of the ride.

Avg speed = 15.5 mph. Total mileage = 28.3 mi

Avg power = 125 W. Weighted avg power = 157 W

Total elevation gain = 1690'

Avg heartrate = 114 bpm (Coospo), 125 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12277686530

It was a quiet evening. I was happy to relax but was pretty hungry, so I ate steadily during the evening. This led to some vivid dreams and frequently getting up during the early part of the night.

08-28-2024 Ride

Woke up early enough to get ready for a bike ride with John. Headed up Azucar Way to Duenda Rd, then turned left and took the standard way from there over to his place. I was at a slower pace on the way over, not wanting to overdo it after the previous day's longer ride. From his place, we rode up the normal way to the top of Pomerado Rd, then down toward Miramar Rd. Had to watch out for morning traffic, which backs up on this road and can be sketchy. Down to Kearny Villa Rd, taking it south and staying on Kearny Villa Rd by turning right. I was still taking it pretty easy, although on the flats we were making decent time. Down to Aero Dr, turning left there and riding over to Sandrock Rd and into Serra Mesa. We turned right onto Murray Ridge Rd and rode over to Mission Center Rd, where we turned right again. This road has a steep descent, and I was careful on the turn, braking to keep my speed under control. This took us down to Friars Rd, where we turned left and rode past the stadium, taking the access road past there to get to the Murphy Canyon Rd Bike Path. The trail is also sketchy and has some homeless encampments on it, so that wasn't very scenic. This took us to Murphy Canyon Rd, where we rode all the way back to Clairemont Mesa Blvd. This has a generally gradual climb that I am well suited for, and I made good time going up this section. I talked to another rider, who was riding into work, and we passed each other several times. We took Chesapeake Dr to get back to Kearny Villa Rd. The other rider ended up sitting on my wheel as I gave him a draft to follow on Kearny Villa Rd. He was appreciative. Then John and I retraced our route back to his house, I was slow on the Pomerado Rd section, John was slower, I think he was running out of gas. Back to his house, where John made smoothies and we chatted for a bit before I headed home, again slowly, pretty much retracing my route there. I had the benefit of a little tailwind, and it was welcome. Didn't have sore legs at the end, but they were definitely tired.

Avg speed = 16.0 mph. Total mileage = 51.7 mi

Avg power = 133 W. Weighted avg power = 153 W

Total elevation gain = 2600'

Avg heartrate = 116 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12266291554

I didn't have a whole lot of free time once I got home, had to get showered and and shaved and ready for my volunteer shift, as well as eating some lunch. The shift went by without anything significant going on, it was busy at times, including a busy stretch right near the end of the shift, as is commonly the case. It was a quiet evening, nice after a long day.

08-27-2024 Ride

Got up pretty early and got ready for a longer bike ride. I rode up Aguamiel Rd and then took Duenda Rd to W Bernardo Dr, riding up to RB Rd and heading west from there. Over to Camino del Sur, taking it to San Dieguito Rd and, around this time, letting Ann know by text that I wouldn't be needing the car. I rode down to El Apajo, turned right, and then took Via de Santa Fe to Calzada del Bosque. I was originally going to turn onto Via de la Valle but decided instead to add some climbing by staying on this road until I got to Linea del Cielo. Left turn here, using this road and Lomas Santa Fe to get down to PCH. I headed north, and just past the turn stopped to eat a banana. While on PCH, I generally maintained a steady 18-20 mph speed. All the way up to the turnoff to get to Palomar Airport Rd, and just before taking this turnoff I stopped to take a couple of pictures by the ocean. The ride up Palomar Airport Rd wasn't too bad, never steep but generally climbing, with an overall elevation gain of about 500' to get into San Marcos. Past the high school, I turned onto Discovery St and took it over to Craven Rd, where I turned right, even though I could have gone straight, since they have pushed the road to connect at Twin Oaks Valley Pkwy. I rode up the old route and then, at the light, turned left onto Twin Oaks Valley Pkwy and rode back to Barham Dr. A little more shallow climbing by CSUSM, and I stopped for a granola bar at the top of that little climb. Then it was over to Mission Ave, turning right and taking it into Escondido, where I turned right onto Centre City Pkwy. From there, it was the normal way back home, and I had a little bit of strength left at the end to make it up the last two little climbs without much difficulty. Legs felt fine at the end, and I was glad to get back before it got hot. Overall, the weather was fine on the ride, close to ideal for much of it. I put in a bigger effort than my usual rides during the week but didn't push super hard.

Avg speed = 17.5 mph. Total mileage = 47.8 mi

Avg power = 149 W. Weighted avg power = 174 W

Total elevation gain = 2290'

Avg heartrate = 125 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12256622967

Had a little break after I got home, early enough to spend some time around the house before heading over to HP to drop off some electronics for Blair to recycle, then to have lunch at Tandoori Express with Hongwei. She is busy, seems to be doing well for now, continues to be concerned about future projects and work on ink technology development. Her daughters are doing well, Audrey is a sophomore this year, just went back to Princeton, and Lilian is a junior. Both had internships this past summer. In the evening, Blair came over and returned the backpack that I used to haul over the old electronics for him to recycle. We had a beer and a long conversation about where he is in his career path and what the next steps might be.

08-26-2024 Swim

This was a generally quiet day. I headed over to the WWC for an early morning swim. Was a little miffed that, even though I got there early and was standing by a lane, this kinda weird guy walked into the pool and took my spot. I said something to him, but he got defensive and I let it go. Ended up sharing a lane at the end of the pool with Blaine, and it was fine. I wasn't so fast, finishing 2000 yds in about 40 minutes, and my stroke count was too high. Not so much done when I got home, just noodling around the house. I did end up talking to all three brothers in the same day. Mark called early to let me know that Jean Lancaster had died peacefully at home, then Ben called with a minor concern about the Pathfinder not being available for when I go to Houston. Later on, in the afternoon, Ross called just for a general chat, although he wanted to hear the Starlink story. He had a similar reaction when he saw the straight line of satellites in the sky early in the morning. He's also feeling the weight of what his future looks like, including getting out from under the burden of his mortgage and living out in the country, away from it all. While he and I were talking, I did a little bit of minor clean-up on my cycling analysis program, aiming to add some significant stats for each ride into a CSV database file that I can then analyze in more detail via Excel. I also figured out, finally, how to display the power curves using a logarithmic x axis. The translation to HTML format doesn't work perfectly, but the data are clearer using this scale. After dinner, I went for an hour long walk to get my steps in, then it was a quiet evening with a nice finish. <>!

08-25-2024 Ride

I woke up early enough to get some miles in before meeting up with John for the regular time trial loop. For the initial ride, I went through the neighborhood, using the Capilla Rd route, up to RB Rd, then I rode the extended route through 4S Ranch, including going up to the top of both Camino San Thomas and Four Gee Rd. I turned left when I got back to Camino del Sur, taking it to Camino San Bernardo to get back to RB Rd. Then I turned on Matinal Rd and rode down to Poblado Rd, where I turned left and took this alternative way back to Azucar Way. John wasn't there yet when I got back home, so I did a little loop around Creciente Way and Aguacate Way to Aguamiel Rd. It wasn't too much longer after I got back that he showed up, and then we rode the time trial loop. I dialed my pace back and rode with him for most of it, other than the sections on Rancho Carmel Dr and the little climb up Camino del Norte.

Avg speed = 15.2 mph. Total mileage = 30.1 mi

Avg power = 138 W. Weighted avg power = 168 W

Total elevation gain = 2040'

Avg heartrate = 110 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12239964613

I had some more to eat when I got home, watched a little TV, and did the dishes. Then, in late morning and early afternoon, I got caught up on my blog. We had the McCaslin Family Book Club discussion of Amor Towles' The Lincoln Highway in the early afternoon. As long as you weren't looking for something that was believable, it was a good read. The characters were pretty well developed, in some cases a little too black-and-white for my taste. Later in the afternoon, the Guys came over for an early dinner, then we drove downtown to see Pink Martini at the Rady Shell. Kay and Ann together are a little annoying, Kay can talk for hours, and she can be repetitive. Since we had seen them on Wednesday, some of the same topics got rehashed. I was looking forward to the concert, but it was disappointing to me. It seemed very similar to the last time we had seen them at the Rady Shell, in August 2022. They had the same lineup, including guest vocalists Jimmie Herrod and Edna Vazquez. Hunter Nowak also made an appearance, and many of the songs (granted, they are staples for the band) were the same. Ann and Kay loved the concert, me and Earl not so much. I think I'm done with seeing them again. The drive home went smoothly, no traffic getting out of the parking lot.

08-24-2024 Ride

This was a generally slow Bisikleta ride, both for me and for most of the rest of the group. It was also a large group, the biggest we have had in quite some time. Ray had brought donuts and coffee to the start, and I think that brought out a bunch of folks. I rode through the neighborhood and just happened to meet Gideon as he was turning onto Matinal Rd, so we rode from there straight over to the 4S Target. On this ride at the start, there were: Ray, Arnold, Gideon, Rob, Andy, Perse, Kamal, Jamil, Nel, Fritz, Edson, Mark (big guy, we had ridden together a couple of times in the past), Jed A., James, Justin, and Aaron. Later in the ride, we met Rush (Pomerado Rd) and Gio (by Costco) on the road. We headed up Paseo del Sur to Del Sur Ridge Rd, using it to get over to Lone Quail Rd. We then rode over to Dove Canyon Rd and turned right, heading downhill and turning left to ride up that little climb on Bernardo Center Dr. I was riding near the back with Andy, and early in this ride he was struggling a fair amount. He had ridden with Edson and Jhonar the previous day and was feeling the effects of that exertion. We rode up to Camino del Norte and turned right there, using it to get over to Pomerado Rd. Around here is when Gio joined us. We turned left onto Pomerado Rd and rode up by the hospital and then down to RB Rd. This is roughly where Rush joined us. We stopped at the Shell station on the corner, where Jamil took some medication to offset the gluten reaction he had from eating a donut earlier. He caught it in time and didn't have too strong a reaction. I stayed near the back on the gradual climb up Espola Rd, riding around where Andy was. But there were other riders (Arnold and Ray) who were hanging near the back as well. We rode by the high school and then down the hill to Twin Peaks Rd, where we turned right and took it to Community Rd. I waited at the first corner to make sure everybody made it, then rode near the back to Community Rd. We took the first part of the climb up this road, then a small group - Andy, Mark, Rush, and Edson - turned back on Stowe Rd while the rest of us kept going up to Scripps-Poway Pkwy. The rest of the riders were ahead of us, so it was me, Ray, Jed, and Arnold pushing pretty hard to catch up. We rode up to Stowe Rd, turning right and taking it over to Kirkham Dr, where we turned right again. A number of the riders - Aaron, Kamal, Nel, Fritz, and Jed - kept going on Scripps-Poway Pkwy and rode up the Purple Monster climb before turning around. We rode back to Scripps-Poway Pkwy on Kirkham Dr, then took the descent down to Pomerado Rd, where the others were waiting for us at the gas station on the corner. But Arnold blasted through the intersection, followed by Jed and Ray, and I had to pedal hard to catch up to them to tell them to turn around. We crossed the median and then rode back. The break at the gas station was particularly long, since we had to wait for the riders who had kept going on Scripps-Poway Pkwy. They finally got back, I had waited at the corner to signal them to turn. A shorter break for them to catch their breath, then we took Scripps-Poway Pkwy down to the freeway. On the little climb, Aaron and I gapped the others. I didn't have to work too hard to stay up with him, but he wasn't going all out. We took the bike path heading south, while Justin started heading back home the other way at this point. The bike path dropped into Erma Rd, which we used to get up to Scripps Ranch Blvd. There is a little climb to get up to the intersection, and I went pretty much full gas and was able to take Aaron to his limit, if only briefly. We waited at the turn for everybody to catch up, had a very short break, then continued on this road past the high school, turning left to stay on Scripps Ranch Blvd and using it to get to Pomerado Rd, where we turned right. Aaron and I were out in the front on this stretch. Sometime around here, Gio turned off and headed home. We rode up to the freeway, then waited for the others to catch up so we could cross traffic in a group. Some riders got ahead, so I rushed to make sure they made the right turn onto Kearny Villa Rd. We then got onto Black Mountain Rd and took it through east Mira Mesa and down the hill, then climbed back up to Park Village Rd. Aaron and I went pretty hard up the climb to the light, and I set a PR for this first half of the climb. Jed A. turned off around Capricorn Way, since he lives in Mira Mesa. A small group of us waited on Park Village Rd, while the others were down the hill helping Ray fix a flat on his tubeless tire. They eventually got it plugged, but it took a couple of tries and the fix was sketchy, so they decided to ride directly back to the starting point. We followed them and caught up with them on Black Mountain Rd. I set another PR on the second half of the Black Mountain Rd climb, again getting pushed by Aaron's pace. After crossing the 56, Aaron and I got out front again, and I suggested to him that we climb up Stargaze Ave, so he and I made the turn, along with Nel, who decided to go with us. It was steep, but I felt pretty good going up there. We turned left onto Laurentian Dr and rode to its end, turning left onto Mediatrice Ln and taking it down to Corte Lampara, turning right and left onto Maler Rd. This brought us back to Black Mountain Rd, where we turned to get to Carmel Valley Rd. We were at the back of the group by this time, so we finished the climb and then descended to Winecreek Dr, where Perse and Ray were waiting for us to let us know we were stopping for pizza at Kamal's house. Ray thought he knew where Kamal lived, so we headed up the hill. After climbing for a while, Ray decided he didn't know Kamal's street after all, so he called Kamal to get directions. Aaron and I were close to the summit, so we kept riding up to the top before turning around and riding back down to the turn onto Kamal's street, Verdot Ct. A number of us hung out here while Perse called Andy and had him drive over to meet us there with the pizza he had ordered from Marco's. Aaron and Rob left early, as they had prior engagements. It took a while for the pizza that Kamal ordered to be delivered. Kamal has a really beautiful house with a nice entertainment area in the small back yard. His two little kids were playing in the pool. After the pizza, James and I took off, heading back down to Carmel Valley Rd, then riding over to Dove Creek Rd. James turned off at Camino San Bernardo, while I kept going to RB Rd, then heading home via W Bernardo Dr. This wasn't an extremely strenuous ride for me, there were just a couple of times when I rode hard, more in the middle third. It was a decent route, we might be able to use something like it again in the future. It did cap a week when I put in more climbing than I have done in a while.

Avg speed = 15.0 mph. Total mileage = 46.8 mi

Avg power = 136 W. Weighted avg power = 172 W

Total elevation gain = 3540'

Avg heartrate = 121 bpm

https://www.strava.com/activities/12233094239

While I was a Kamal's, I got a call from Avi letting me know that there was a planned birthday party for Francois Pirayesh, who is quite ill and not expected to live much longer. So, when I got home I showered up and then drove with Ann down to Del Mar, where the HP media folks were gathered in Sea Grove Park. Ann dropped me off, and I found the gathering pretty quickly. It was tough talking to Francois, as he didn't make much sense, and it wasn't clear if he recognized me. While there, I talked mostly to Julio Alonso, Bor-Jiunn, and Yubai, but I saw Avi, Doug Knight, Silke, and Mariora Gomperts (from a long time ago). It was a nice little celebration for him, and he seemed to appreciate the significance of the gathering. After the party started to break up, I walked north to the beach area, where I met Ann. We then walked up to En Fuego and had a drink before walking back to the car and driving up the coast along PCH. It was a slower drive than I thought it would be, but we had time. We got up to Carlsbad and parked by the train station, then walked over to another Mexican food restaurant for dinner. Food was decent. After dinner, we walked back to the car and drove to Pilgrim UCC, where we attended a Folk Society concert featuring Whole Hog, a four-piece bluegrass band that was really good. Then Ann drove us home, as I was pretty wiped out by the long day.

08-23-2024 Ride

This was designed to be an easy-paced ride, mission accomplished. It was also intended to test out the shifting and breaking capability of my old bike after having recabled it and tuned the shifting. Other than a couple of min or tweaks to the braking tension during the ride, it worked just about perfectly. I headed through the neighborhood, taking the Capilla Rd route, then to RB Rd, staying on it until Lone Quali Rd, where I kept going straight until reaching 4S Ranch Pkwy, where I turned right and rode down to Camino San Bernardo. A left there and over to Dove Canyon Rd, taking it to Carmel Valley Rd, where I rode up the two little climbs at moderate pace and then down the hill to turn right onto Camino del Sur. They are preparing this section of the road for repaving, and it was not the greatest surface to ride on. Made it fine, though, and I stayed on Camino del Sur until it turned into Camino del Norte, following it all the way to Bernardo Center Dr, where I turned left and rode home following the normal route from HP.

Avg speed = 15.2 mph. Total mileage = 19.5 mi

Avg power = 119 W. Weighted avg power = 154 W

Total elevation = 1540'

Avg heartrate = 109 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12222608704

The rest of the day was quiet. In the afternoon, I added the ability to show my Zone breakdown based on heart rate, not including any time that my power generation was zero. So, it's like a weight-averaged distribution. I also went for a nearly hour-long walk after dinner, it was a cool and beautiful evening. <>

08-22-2024 Ride

Got up early for an early-morning bike ride, extended time trial loop where I pushed my pace more than usual but didn't go all-out. It was just starting to lighten up when I began, but the sky stayed overcast the entire time, and the weather was nice and cool. I did a little loop in the neighborhood at the end to get my total mileage to 20. Surprising to me, my Fitbit died while I was riding. I guess the Tuesday ride drained the battery more than I thought.

Avg speed = 17.3 mph. Total mileage = 20.1 mi

Avg power = 149 W. Weighted avg power = 175 W

Total elevation gain = 1070'

Avg heartrate = 119 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12213891846

When I got home, I spent some time cleaning the house, including wet sweeping the floors in the kitchen and den. I drove to Stater Bros and Sprouts to get items for the Bisikleta Board gathering. After I got home, I tried (ultimately unsuccessfully) to make some peach frozen yogurt. Even after more than 30 minutes of mixing in the Kitchen ice cream freezer, it never solidified, so I collected it and put it in containers in the freezer. In the afternoon, I had a fairly quiet time, chopping vegetables and making onion dip. I also spent some time coding, adding in the ability to chart my heartrate over the course of a ride. Ann and I had dinner, then a little after 6:30 folks started showing up. Of course, they brought food with them, and Gideon brought another bottle of wine. All the Board members were able to come (Jed later than the others) except for Rob, who was having dinner with Mary Pikl. It was a fun discussion, and we were able to cover the topics on the agenda pretty well.

08-21-2024 Swim

Had a nice wake-up (<>) and then got ready for a quick swim at the WWC. Swam for 1000 yds, shared a lane with the old guy in the ball cap who is a morning regular there. Finished in a little over 20 minutes, then rode home to be around for when the guy from Home Depot came to measure the garage side door. While I was in the garage, I worked on the screen for the window in our bedroom. Took out the recently installed mesh and worked to make the screen dimensions closer to what they were before it got bent out of shape. Then I installed a new screen mesh, went a little quicker but the cutting was slower. It's a better fit now, will leave it as it is. I had a little down time before I needed to get ready for my volunteer shift. Ann came back from the podiatrist with the bad news that she has arthritis in her feet, and it's likely not going to get better. Her mom also had pretty severe arthritis, so this is depressing. The volunteer shift at the hospital was quite busy. I helped Linda move a patient at end-of-life up to a hospital room, and that was also sobering. She had a DNR in place and was suffering a heart attack. She definitely reminded me of my mother and the inevitable time that will come when Mom is at the same life stage. I also helped Lindsey with a patient who had had an apparent stroke and was on a ventilator. This was sobering too. After the shift I rode home and had a little time before we drove over to meet Kay and Earl by Cocina del Charro. Kay drove us over to an Italian food restaurant in Vista, food was pretty good. When she was backing the car up in the parking lot after dinner, she ran her rear bumper into a wall and caused some damage to the car, but they both took it pretty well. We drove over to Moonlight Amphitheater to see Beautiful, the musical about Carole King's early life. It was a pretty good story, highly dramatized. She and Gerry Goffin sure wrote a lot of big hits. They were close friends with another songwriting duo, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and that pair had a number of big hits as well. Performances were pretty good, the actress who played Carole King was a little too theatrical in her singing for me, and the scenes with actors playing musicians on stage were personally hilarious.

08-20-2024 Ride/Hike

Woke up a little after 5:00, after having awoken after midnight and not being able to get back to sleep. I watched a little TV and ate some cereal and a banana. That seemed to help. After I woke up, I finished the Vaclav Smil book Numbers Don't Lie. It was a faster read than my attempts at his previous books, retracing a number of the themes I have read him describe. Then I got ready for a planned long bike ride, which I had mapped for distance the previous evening. This was the first ride after I had rewaxed my chain, and I didn't have any problems with the chain slipping off of the front derailleur or missing a gear change in the back. It worked really well. I took out the trash cans, then was on my way. Down by the park and over to Highland Valley Rd for the climb up to Ramona. It was tough as usual, but by getting started early I didn't have to suffer in the heat during this climb. Weather was a little chilly on the flats, but I appreciated the cooler temperatures as soon as I started to climb. I didn't set a PR on the entire stretch, from Pomerado Rd to the 67, but I was only 8 seconds slower than my PR, so I'm happy with that. I did set a PR on the overall climbing section (31:29, 222 W, 141 bpm). Once I got to the 67, I continued straight on Dye Rd and took it, via Ramona St and Warnock Dr, on a flat section over to San Vicente Rd. I hadn't turned south on this road in a long time (2013). It had a nice little downhill section before I turned right onto Wildcat Canyon Rd. Just beyond the turn, I stopped for a short break and ate a banana. The day was warming up but not super hot yet, and I had the benefit of some shaded stretches in the road. Then it was a 1.5 mile climb averaging about 6%, and there wasn't much of a shoulder for the early parts of the climb. Thankfully, the cars behaved and didn't give me much trouble, although overall this portion of the road is not really meant for cyclists. A narrow shoulder and lots of car traffic whizzing by made for a dicey section of the ride. Shortly after the climb, there was a gradual descent pretty much all the way into Barona, where I stopped briefly for a photo before continuing. Past the casino there is a short climb and a flattish stretch before another little bump comes. Then it was the descent, with lots of 8% gradient and, surprisingly, decent roads where I could use the whole lane. This was in contrast to the road quality on the stretch leading to the casino from the other direction; it was poor, lots of bumps and cracks to watch out for. I would not want to take that descent back toward Ramona. But I was able to cruise down toward Lakeside, not using brakes for long stretches and enjoying the high speeds. It got a little tricky down near the bottom, so I braked a lot more there and made it down safely. Right turn onto Willow Rd for a short stretch (I remember it as being longer), then another right onto Moreno Ave, where road quality was again an issue that I had to pay close attention to. I headed over Vigilante Rd to the 67, and the road quality was terrible, just too many heavy semi trucks using this road. I suffered through it and stopped after turning onto the 67 for another break and a granola bar. The climb here wasn't as steep as I remembered, but it was definitely long enough to be painful. I did the climb in a little under 23 minutes, will have to look back and see if I have any previous climbing data to compare it to. I was getting worn out near the end, which isn't as steep. But I made it up to Scripps-Poway Pkwy and enjoyed the descent here as much as I have in a long time, not too much braking and the bike handled pretty well. My back was a little stiff from the climbing, so it was more difficult to stay in the saddle and push hard on the pedals during the little climbing sections. Got to Community Rd, then turned right and took it all the way over to Twin Peaks Rd. Another fun descent after that turn. After turning right on Twin Peaks Rd, I rode up to Espola Rd and turned left. Took this moderate climb more slowly, although faster than when I rode it last week. On the descent after I passed the high school, I noticed that I was feeling hungry, so I burned through my calorie intake and reserves in the main portion of the ride. Didn't have much left, so I ate a couple of dates.  Rode down to Pomerado Rd, turning right there and taking it all the way down past the freeway. Up W Bernardo Dr, which was a slow slog, to RB Rd, where I turned right and rode up this last notable little climb to get over to Alva Rd, my originally intended turnaround point. I looped around there and rode back on RB Rd to Matinal Rd, where I turned and rode home through the neighborhood. Legs held out fine on this ride. My hands were tingly at times, need to figure out different positions on the handlebars to move them around more. And my lower back was achy at times during the ride, although it was fine once I got home and off the bike. All in all, a successful metric century with some climbing challenge thrown in.

Avg speed = 15.7 mph. Total mileage = 63.0 mi

Avg power = 144 W. Weighted avg power = 179 W

Total elevation gain = 4580'

Avg heartrate = 124 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12197711730

When I got home, it felt really good to just sit down and drink something cold. I ate some food as well, and my body told me it was in calorie deficit. It didn't take too long for me to feel moderately recovered, and I had a quiet afternoon.

08-19-2024 Run/Swim

Went for a run after getting up and getting ready. It was intended to be at moderate pace (check out heartrate below) but for a slightly longer distance. I ran down to the park and did the 1-mile loop around the park three times. Pace was pretty consistent, and my legs and cardio held up fine.

Avg pace = 9:06/mi

Total distance = 4.18 mi

Elapsed moving time = 38:04

Avg heartrate = 118 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12187211429

I had a little break after I got back, had a quick breakfast and then got ready to head over to the WWC for a swim with Avi. We warmed up with several laps, then we did a 500 yd segment, followed by the pyramid exercise, with each step in the pyramid aimed at a 2:00/100 yd pace. I finished up with enough laps to get me to 2000 yds and called it a 2:00/100 yd overall average pace. Felt like my swimming fitness suffered a little from not having swum much the previous week, but I will work on getting it back. After I got home, I went out and checked the sprinklers to see whether there were any malfunctions or leaks. Found several problems over in the area where they had dug out the plant to install the new gas line. The problems were annoying but not hugely difficult to fix. In the backyard, I found a couple of drip sprinklers and lines than needed mending, along with a spray head that needed to be replaced. The adjustable drip sprinkler that I had earlier replaced was also not working, but that took some time to repair. I needed to go to Home Depot for more drip sprinklers, screen material to repair the screen in our bedroom, and metric hex bits. Ann went along, and we also got some soaker hose for the raised vegetable bed. No luck finding the bits. We also stopped at Sprouts and Staples, the latter for Ann to drop off an Amazon return. Had some lunch after we got back, then I worked on the screen in the early afternoon. I damaged one of the sides trying to remove it from the window frame, so although the spline removal and screen replacement went okay (harder than I remembered it from the past), the screen dimensions were messed up. It fit in the slots but left a gap where I hadn't pushed out the damaged side enough. So, I'm going to have to take it out and try again. The rest of the afternoon was quiet, as was the evening. I started watching the original movie Watchmen. It has an interesting design to the movie, is pretty violent.

08-18-2024 Ride

Had a good night's sleep, some vivid dreams about old work issues. Woke up, had some breakfast. <> Then I got ready for a bike ride, wasn't sure where I was going or for how many miles, other than starting by heading north. Down by the park and over the freeway to BVP, taking it up to Sunset Dr at tempo pace. Turned left there and rode fairly hard up to Juniper St, where I turned right and stayed on this road until I got to 2nd Ave. I turned here and took it up to Grand Ave, then followed this road back to BVP, near my old apartment. Then I took BVP to Valley Pkwy, turning right and intending to go to El Norte Pkwy. But I decided on the spur of the moment to ride up Lake Wohlford Rd, so I kept going until turning onto this road. The initial part of the climb was tough, as usual, some 7-8% grades and really bad road condition in the first mile, then it seemed to level out somewhat before kicking up again near the top. Set a PR on this climb (12:59, 252 W, 156 bpm), and I could have pushed it a little more if I tried. Then I kept going into, and through, the little village by the lake until I got to the mile 3 marker, where I stopped for a short break and some food before turning around and heading back down. The first part of the descent was nice, but the road condition gradually got worse until the last mile, when I was riding the brakes the whole way and trying to avoid the worst potholes and cracks. Made it down, but I don't think I'll be doing that descent anytime again soon. Back Valley Pkwy to El Norte Pkwy, where I turned and rode down to get to Centre City Pkwy. Was riding into some headwind, so it wasn't as fast as it has been in the past. I turned south and then rode home the normal way, through Escondido and over the I-15 bridge. Still had enough to push the pace on the last two little climbs, preserving my average speed at 17 mph. This felt like more of a tempo ride for me (even though from the Strava HR analysis I spent 56% of my time in Zone 2), and I still felt fresh at the end.

Avg speed = 17.0 mph. Total mileage = 30.0 mi

Avg power = 153 W. Weighted avg power = 184 W

Total elevation gain = 1680'

Avg heartrate = 124 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12181578865

Ann was gone when I got back, so I had some more to eat and watched some cycling highlights on YouTube before heading into the garage for bike maintenance. I started by aligning the front and rear derailleurs on my old bike, after having swapped out the cables and housing the previous day. That went more smoothly than I thought it might. I then adjusted the brakes and tightened them up before cutting all of the cable ends to length. Finally, I used the old handlebar tape and rewrapped the handlebars, so it all looks nice and seems to be performing well. Will take it out for a spin on one of my rides this week. I then started some maintenance work on my new bike. Took off the rear wheel and the chain, then I cleaned the chain in 4 rinses of hot water, followed by wiping down with a cloth and spraying IPA on it, with a final wipedown. I turned on the slow cooker to heat up the chain wax. After it heated up, I put the chain in and let it soak for about 30 minutes, then took it out. After letting it cool and exercising the links, I successfully reinstalled it on the bike and tried it out on the stand. Looks okay for now, will try it out on my next ride. It was a quiet evening.

I finished Ernest Cline's Armada. It was pretty unbelievable but the story moved right along. After I finished it, I started Vaclav Smil's Numbers Don't Lie. It's a series of little stories about different aspects of the global economy and the world situation - People, Countries, Machines & Designs, Fuels & Electricity, Transport, Food, and Environment. So far, the essays are interesting, making a connection between some numerical measure and its meaning in the global sense.

08-17-2024 Ride

After I woke up, I got ready for my bike ride, where I intended to take it easy. Through the neighborhood, then the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, including the little ride up to the top of Four Gee Rd. It was a fairly small group on this ride, which was called a Bisikleta 4th anniversary ride, On this day, the riders were: Kamal, Jamil, Arnold, Perse, Joey, Rob, and Ray. Everybody on this ride, for the most part, took it easy, no sustained attacks that I saw. Rob was recovering from a procedure to remove a varicose vein in his leg, so he was a little slower than usual. I rode near the back for much of the ride, particularly the latter part, serving as the sweeper. Down Camino del Sur to San Dieguito Rd, taking to El Apajo and then over to Via de la Valle. Up this little climb, on a newly paved road that is much better, to Paseo Delicias, where we turned right and rode up to Montevideo. A left turn there, then a right onto Lago Linda to get over to El Camino del Norte, where we turned left. I kept my pace modest on this stretch and really enjoyed the sweeping gradual downhill section. When we got to Rancho Santa Fe Rd, we turned right and took it to Olivenhain Rd. We stayed on this through El Camino Real, taking the climb up to Quail Gardens Dr, where we turned right, regrouped, then rode another nice, curving descent to Saxony Rd. A right turn and another descent took us to La Costa Ave. Arnold stopped to take a picture with a large painted horse, so he and I got behind the others. We rode on La Costa Ave down to PCH, turned right and took it to Avenida Encinas before turning around and riding back to where the others were gathered at Cancun. I bought some Starburst and went to the bathroom during the break, then we kept heading south along PCH, through Del Mar and making a last-minute decision not to ride up Torrey Pines. Instead, we turned on Carmel Valley Rd and took it to Sorrento Valley Rd to get to the 56 bike path. On this section, I stayed at the back, where Jamil and Joey were a little behind the others. We rode on the path back to Carmel Valley Rd and turned left there. Rob's chain got stuck in his chainrings, so a small group of us stayed with him as he fixed it, then we caught up with the others not too long after. Rob was starting to slow down, so I kept at the back and made sure that the riders were supported. We rode back to Camino del Sur and turned left there. Right after the turn, Arnold stopped to tighten the bolts for his head unit bracket, and I stayed with him. Then we pushed a pretty hard pace to try and catch up with the others. We got to Jamil, then Rob and Joey were also with us. I stayed at the back, and we all finished the ride successfully. I stayed for a short while as the others sat in the shade and chatted, then I rode home the normal way via Camino San Bernardo and W Bernardo Dr. Kept it slow and easy for this section as well, and finished feeling good.

Avg speed = 15.9 mph. Total mileage = 57.5 mi

Avg power = 122 W. Weighted avg power = 148 W

Total elevation gain = 3010'

Avg heartrate = 115 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12173407750

I was tired enough that I had a short nap while watching highlights from the Women's Tour de France. Then I made some pasta salad for our dinner picnic at Santee Lakes, where we watched a free concert by Summer Breeze SD. Several of the musicians were decent, but the vocalists were below average, and some, on some songs, were downright bad. But it was entertaining, and the venue, a deck overlooking one of the Santee Lakes, was nice, with a nice breeze coming off the lake. So, it was a pleasant enough evening.

08-16-2024 Entry

Got up and went for an extended walk, as I wasn't sure how active I would be the rest of the day. Down by the park and three loops around, to get to a little over 4 miles. When I got home, I went out into the garage and started working on changing out the cables and housing on my old bike. Started with the right side, and it went pretty smoothly. I soon realized that I was going to need an effective way of cutting the housing without crushing the ends, so I reached out to Blair to seek his advice. The cable and housing set that I bought on Amazon looks like it's going to work just fine, but I need to borrow the tools from Blair before I can continue. I watched several stages of the Women's Tour de France, it's mildly interesting and more generally competitive among a larger group of riders, at least so far. I got the tools from Blair, who had brought them in to work, then I spent the early part of the afternoon cutting cables and housing to fit on the bike. I stripped off the handlebar tape and removed the shifters (there is a 5 mm hex nut on the outer side of the shifter that needs to be loosened). The brake and shifter cables are fairly easily accessible once the brake hoods are pulled back or removed. In this case, I removed them, as I had purchased a replacement set (they are a matched set, mirror images of each other). Everything worked fairly smoothly, and I got all of the housing pieces cut as well as the cables inserted and fed into the brakes and derailleurs. Next step will be to tighten everything up and adjust cable tension. Later in the afternoon, Ann drove me over to the Sharp Rees-Stealy Clinic in Scripps Ranch for my colonoscopy procedure. I didn't have to wait too long before going back and starting the procedure prep. Everything went smoothly, I was mildly conscious during the latter part of the procedure but didn't feel any discomfort. The doctor found one small polyp and removed it, will test it and let me know in a couple of weeks what they find. I was hungry when we got home, and I ate a fairly large dinner and then snacked throughout the evening. No ill effects from the procedure.

08-15-2024 Ride

Woke up, had a little yogurt before starting my fast in preparation for the colonoscopy tomorrow afternoon. Then I got ready for a bike ride, where my intent was to focus on Zone 1 and 2 and keep it at an easy pace. I rode my old Fuji, to test out the shifting. It worked just about perfectly, no skips and just a little rubbing on the front derailleur in my lowest gear. It shifts quickly as well. I rode through the neighborhood to Poblado Rd, taking it over to W Bernardo Dr, right turn to RB Rd. I rode up by Dave's old house and then followed, for a time, a reverse of our old time trial route. Up Pomerado Rd to Ted Williams Pkwy, turning right and heading to Sabre Springs Pkwy, turning left and riding over to Poway Rd. Another left turn, taking it up to Midland Rd, where I turned left again. Didn't feel like climbing up to Espola Rd, so I cut out this corner by riding over to Twin Peaks Rd and taking it up to Espola Rd instead. Followed the route in reverse back home, including Bernardo Center Dr to Duenda Rd. It was nice to take such an easy pace on a cool morning, I was done before the sun got hot.

Avg speed = 14.7 mph. Total mileage = 23.1 mi

Avg power = 107 W. Weighted avg power = 128 W

Total elevation gain = 1140

Avg heartrate = 99 bpm (Coospo), 131 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12154714473

Once I got home, I mixed up the solution I'll need to start drinking this evening, and I also drank the magnesium citrate solution they recommended to get the process started. Then I went out in the front yard and cut back the two bushes by the garage, creating clearance for the house painters. I also trimmed the four bushes along the fence, accidentally cutting the extension cord in the process, which necessitated taking a pause and repairing the cord. Fix went fine. When I finished up, I did some calculations to see how long it had been before the first and second waxing of the chain on my new bike. It was about 650 miles, so my chain is due for another rewaxing, maybe tomorrow. In the late afternoon, I rode my scooter over to Karl Strauss and met Blair and James. I had a soda while they had beer and appetizers. I got more insight about James' upcoming decision to move to Boise. My thinking is that he will sign the papers indicating he plans to move there, then hope for some change that gives him the opportunity to stay in San Diego and work for HP.  We'll see soon. After I got home, I started the colon cleansing prep. It wasn't awful, I think it helped that I had taken the laxative earlier in the morning, which cleared me out somewhat. I slept okay, waking several times to go to the bathroom. Wasn't super hungry but sensitive to food smells.

08-14-2024 Ride

Woke up early (<>), then got ready for my bike ride with John. I headed over to his house following the traditional route via Aguamiel Rd and Duenda Rd (added in a little loop near his house, since I got there just a bit early). Didn't push the pace too hard but didn't let up either. All three of them were outside when I got there, but we didn't stay long before we took off. Headed up to Scripps-Poway Pkwy and then turned right to go further uphill before descending to the freeway. We took the bike path running north along the freeway over to Poway Rd, then Sabre Springs Pkwy to the 56 bike path. Took this all the way down to Carmel Valley Rd. I had a gel while we were waiting for the light at Black Mountain Rd. We turned on Carmel Valley Rd and took it back to Bernardo Center Dr. As we were climbing up to Black Mountain Rd, the sun finally came out, but it wasn't too hot. We rode to Camino del Norte and turned right there, taking it up to Pomerado Rd. My original route had us continuing on to Community Rd, but I accidentally turned right on Pomerado Rd and we kept going that way. To Poway Rd, turning right and riding down to Springbrook Dr, taking this climb for a change back toward his house. We turned on Springhurst Dr at the top and then rode back to his place the normal way from there. Jayden and Vivian were waiting with smoothies at the end, and they were, as usual, delicious. Jayden was wanting to look for and catch bugs. I didn't stay too long after I finished my smoothie, it was getting warm. Headed back the way I came, including turning on Bernardo Center Dr. Felt pretty good for having ridden 46 miles, the last of it with the day warming up.

Avg speed = 15.9 mph. Total mileage = 46.4 mi

Avg power = 129 W. Weighted avg power = 154 W

Total elevation gain = 2810'

Avg heartrate = 113 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12147380669

I didn't have a lot of time after I got home before I needed to get ready for my volunteer shift at the hospital. The shift itself went smoothly, Lisa was the charge nurse, I'm not sure if I have worked with her before. Mario is one of the med techs, I've worked with him but we don't talk all that much. Got home and had my last solid food before two days of fasting in preparation for my colonoscopy.

08-13-2024 Ride

Woke up early and got ready for an early bike ride before it got too hot. I headed up Aguamiel Rd and over Duenda Rd to W Bernardo Dr, taking it to RB Rd and then up the hill. I headed through the 4S neighborhood the long way, including the climb up to the water tower and back down. I also rode to the top of Four Gee Rd, taking the turn really slowly. Then it was back down to Paseo del Sur, taking this road to ride through another neighborhood. Finally to Camino del Sur, where I headed down to San Dieguito Rd and turned there. Rode down the hill and turned onto El Apajo. All through this ride, I was taking my time, not pushing the pace too hard. Over to Calzada del Bosque, which I used to get to Via de la Valle, turning left. I rode to El Camino Real, turning left again and then back to San Dieguito Rd. After this turn, I took a short break, had a granola bar before continuing. The route back from here was the usual one, taking it slowly up Three Witches and then back home via Camino San Bernardo and W Bernardo Dr. Felt fine at the end.

Avg speed = 16.0 mph. Total mileage = 31.4 mi

Avg power = 130 W. Weighted avg power = 164 W

Total elevation gain = 1830'

Avg heartrate = 112 bpm (Coospo), 131 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12137439061

Once I was home, I got ready to go to the WWC, and that's when I realized that my scooter key wasn't on the dresser. Fearing the worst, I went down to the garage and found I had left it on, draining the battery. I tried to revive it with the trickle charger, but it was fully dead. So I looked online and found a battery at O-Reilly Auto Parts that appeared to be a match. I took the seat and the seat well off the scooter to get access to the battery, then I removed it. It's not too big a deal to perform this task. Later in the morning, Ann and I ran some errands, and I stopped at the store to pick up the battery. When I got home, I took it out of its package and saw that I needed to empty the acid electrolyte solution into the battery cell compartments, so I did that (it was a little tricky), then let the battery sit to equilibrate. Meanwhile, the guy (David) from Lowe's showed up to measure the side garage door and give me a quote to replace it with a metal door. I also put oil in the car, filling it back up to its max level. It appears to be burning oil more in the hot summer months. After he left, I put the battery in the scooter and tested it to make sure it worked. Success! I also used the new portable air compressor that arrived to put air in the scooter tires. The new unit works much faster than the old one. Then I put everything back together on the scooter and successfully tested it again. Had a small lunch, then I started working on loading music onto the microSD card I had ordered and received. While the files were transferring, I went into the garage and did some adjustments to the rear derailleur on my old bike, in an attempt to get it to run smoothly in my lowest gear. Seemed successful on the bike stand, I'll take it on the road soon to try it out. Talked to Ross later in the afternoon and aligned on the plans to clean the garage, it was a good conversation.

08-12-2024 Simulated Sprint Triathlon

I had started thinking about this activity on the previous day, including mapping out the general distances and routes for riding and running. I woke up early enough to get my gear ready and stage my running stuff in the garage, where I would pick it up after the ride. Then I rode my bike over to the WWC early enough to lock it up in the bike racks and be ready for the gates to open. I was glad, and a little surprised, that the number of people swimming when it opened wasn't so many that we had to share lanes. Timed my swim of 34 lengths, 850 yds, using the clock by the pool, and I finished in right around 15:30, which was pretty fast for me. My stroke kept shortening, and I had to be conscious about lengthening it on a regular basis.

Then I changed in the locker room into my bib and jersey. The jersey fit was tough because I was still wet and it wouldn't pull down on my back. Finally got it pulled on and then walked over to where my bike was, where I put on my shoes, helmet, and gloves before heading back home the normal way to drop off my backpack. I continued down the hill on Aguamiel Rd to W Bernardo Dr, then rode over to Pomerado Rd and took it all the way up to Twin Peaks. I turned around there and rode back to RB Rd, then home the normal way via W Bernardo Dr. I let up a little bit near the end of the ride to have some energy to get my run started off well. 

Avg speed = 19.4 mph. Total mileage = 13.4 mi

Avg power = 187 W. Weighted avg power = 202 W

Total elevation gain = 690'

Avg heartrate = 147 bpm (!, Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12128845327

The transition time here wasn't too bad, less than 2 minutes, and I was running, although I had to turn around and drop my helmet and bike pump off by the garage. Back down the hill and over to the park, where I ran two loops around its perimeter before running back home. It probably helped me that I got to start on a downhill run, since I usually am a slow starter. I occasionally had to pull up my HR band because it kept slipping down. I was a little slower on the third mile, starting to feel the effects of the exertion as well as the heat of the sun. It was a slog on the last uphill section back to the stop sign, where I ended my run. I was drenched in sweat but didn't feel like the transitions from swimming to riding and from riding to running were as taxing as the last time I did this, right around a year ago.

Avg pace = 7:41/mi

Total distance = 3.27 mi

Elapsed moving time = 25:07

Avg heartrate = 154 bpm (Coospo), 153 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12129079138

Some comparison stats between last year's simulated Sprint Tri and this time:

    Swim - 1:49/100 yds vs. 2:00/100 yds last time, a time difference of 1:30

    First transition time - about 10 minutes vs. ~12 minutes last time, a time difference of 2:00

    Riding time - 41:30 this time vs. 44:14, a time difference of 2:44

    Second transition time - about 2 minutes vs. 4 minutes last time, a time difference of 2:00

    Running time (5k, 3.1 mi) - 23:49 vs. 28:31 last time, a time difference of 4:42

So, overall, I was faster during the activities by a total of 8:56, and overall faster, including transitions but not the stopping times during the rides, by about 13 minutes. The time deltas increased with each successive activity, suggesting my overall endurance has improved significantly, which makes sense, given the focus I've put on exercise in the last year.

The rest of the day was a generally quiet one. I finished the program for calculating daily steps from the Fitbit data, then I checked it for the transition days between time zones as well as looking to see when I had missed my 10k step target. Turns out that it's been over a year since I didn't get 10k steps in, and it was on a travel day to Israel when there weren't enough available hours to make it happen. So, that dataset is up to date through the end of July. Later on, I rode over to the pharmacy and picked up the medication for my colonoscopy prep on Friday. Not going to be a fun couple of days later this week.

08-11-2024 Ride

A somewhat bittersweet ride, the last one with Dave Helfrick for the foreseeable future, as he is moving back to PA on Wednesday. All four of us - me, Dave, Jim and John - came out for the ride from Jim's house, and we followed the time trial route. I rode a little faster than I normally have been doing on these rides, and John also put in a bigger effort than usual. After the ride, we stopped at Jim's house and had smoothies.

Avg speed = 16.5 mph. Total mileage = 17.6 mi

Avg power = 144 W. Weighted avg power = 169 W

Total elevation gain = 990'

Avg heartrate = 116 bpm (Coospo), 

https://www.strava.com/activities/12121224382

I took it easy when I got home, while Ann went to church. Throughout the morning and afternoon, I worked on the coding and dataset collection that would allow me to process my downloaded Fitbit steps data for creation of a dataset of total steps/day going back to early 2019. It took me a while to figure out how to define my input set of dates and times as UTC, but I got it done. Then I was able to create a separate list of converted dates and times, which has been cleverly adjusted to account for the time zone I was in on a specific date. I retrieved that information by creating a separate date file with locations based on the data captured in Google Maps Timeline. This is a really handy feature, but it does raise some privacy issues. Later in the afternoon, I grilled the vegetables and meat for the dinner with Emily and Caleb to celebrate his birthday. It was a nice evening, but I was pretty tired and the conversation went on a little long for my taste.

Also started a new book, Ernest Cline's Armada, which is about a teenage gamer who gets involved with repelling an alien invasion. Seems pretty simple in its setup so far, taking a while to get to the action parts.

08-10-2024 Ride

Woke up (<>) and got ready for the Bisikleta bike ride, heading through the neighborhood and the 4S Ranch neighborhood (taking the long way) to get to the 4S Target. It was a small group on this day: Ray, Arnold, Perse, Eric, Kamal, and Francis. We got a late start, waited for Kamal to show up. We rode the standard route down to the coast, and I kept my pace fairly modest throughout, no going into the red zone on this day. James was supposed to join us, but we didn't see him in Fairbanks Ranch, so we kept going toward the coast. A decent pace line on the flats on San Dieguito Rd. At the turn onto El Camino Real, James had responded that he was waiting for us back in the route, so I told him we would meet him at the coast. We got to the turn onto PCH from Via de la Valle and waited about 10 minutes, but he hadn't shown up, so the others rode ahead while I stayed back to wait for him. It was another 10 minutes or so before he showed up, then he and I rode up to the 7-Eleven near La Costa Ave, where the others were just pulling in from having gone further north up the coast. We skipped that part of the ride, had our break, then retraced the route back to the starting point. We were able to stick together better on the return route. I did a fair amount of leading, as did Arnold. After the turn back onto Via de la Valle, several riders kept riding while some of us waited for James to catch up, so I didn't see Kamal for the rest of the ride. Ray and I put in a good pace on the stretch back to San Dieguito Rd, then we had a smaller pace line that held together pretty well to the gas station before the Three Witches climb. It was a short break there, then we finished the ride off. Arnold and I rode up the climb together, with him sitting on my wheel and me setting a steady pace, not scorching. We also stayed together pretty well on Camino del Sur, again neither of us was riding hard, and it was getting hot. I didn't stay too long at the end, as the heat was noticeable. On my return home, I rode back through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, taking the general shorter route but with a couple of turns thrown in there. I was trying to add mileage to get up to 50 for the day. Back to RB Rd, then home via W Bernardo Dr, taking it down to Aguamiel Rd and climbing back toward home, which got me to 50 miles. Legs felt fine, but I was tired after the ride. Stayed for the most part in Zones 2 and 3, with some exceptions at the harder parts of the climbs we had.

Avg speed = 17.6 mph. Total mileage = 50.1 mi

Bisikleta route avg speed = 18.8 mph

Avg power = 135 W. Weighted avg power = 157 W

Total elevation gain = 1900'

Avg heartrate = 122 bpm (Coospo), 114 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12113603262

It was a quiet early part of the afternoon. I ate some lunch and had a short nap, did some reading, blogging, and coding data collection for adjusting my step count data for the time zone differences from UTC. Then Ann and I drove down to Addis Ethiopian Restaurant on El Cajon Blvd for dinner. Food was pretty good but not spicy, decor was plan. We then drove over to the Magnolia Center in El Cajon for the Postmodern Jukebox concert at the Magnolia Center. Got there a little after 6:30, because we thought the concert started at 7:00 (not logical thinking). But that was just when the doors opened, so we ended up having to wait for quite a while. That put me in a sour mood, then we were standing by people who were smoking, and another group barged in on our personal space, and I had to get away. Standing away helped me calm down. We went in and sat down a little after 7:30, and it turns out we were sitting right behind Rima Ghoreishi, what a coincidence! The concert was pretty good, the singers were just fantastic and the staging was good. Just not exactly my general style of show, a little too theatrical and too many times being asked whether I was having a good time. The emcee and main male singer was Rogelio Douglas Jr, while the female singers were Effie Passero, Tawanda, and Tatum Langley. The featured tap dancer was Enrique Rosario. As far as I captured, here is the setlist from the show, all of them covers.

Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
Tap Dancing to the Harry Potter movie theme
Burn - Ellie Goulding
Band Intro to the tune of Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione
Die for You - The Weeknd
Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!) - Blu Cantrell
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Love Story - Taylor Swift

Tap Dancing to a Song Medley
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Say You'll Be There - Spice Girls
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
Basket Case - Green Day
Lovesong - The Cure

Encore
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Creep - Radiohead

08-09-2024 Entry

First time in a while without a significant exercise workout. Got up and had a leisurely transition to the day. Before it got too hot, I went out in the backyard and climbed the fence to cut back the pepper tree branches that had sprouted from its root system. That tree and its roots are a blight and would be quite difficult to eradicate without expense and removing a section of the fence to dig out the main stump. But I got it done and all the branches put in the bins, along with the palm leaves and sumac branches from last week's pruning. Then I had an easy late morning and early afternoon. Ann and I went for ice cream at Cold Stone in Poway, there was an annoying lady in the shop who was being rude to her companion as well as the servers. Not nice. After the ice cream, we went shopping at Aldi before heading home. After an early dinner, we went to CMR for a concert in front of the book store. It was Republic of Music, a hits cover band that was decent enough, not very tight in its sound but certainly energetic. Near the end of the concert we saw Ray, Anna, and their daughter walking back from getting ice cream. When I got home, I still needed a few steps, so I went out for an evening walk of a little over a mile.

08-08-2024 Swim/Run/Ride

Woke up, had an early breakfast, and got ready to go for a swim and a run afterwards at the WWC. Rode over there and got my swim in, 2000 yds following normal protocol in a little under 39 minutes. I was hoping to be faster, but it was not the case. I do feel that I can maintain a longer swim stroke, but I'm not sure it's helping my pace yet. After the swim, I changed and went for a run, following the 5k route I have used before from the WWC. Felt much better in the run and had a good elapsed time.

Avg pace = 7:26/mi

Total distance = 3.16 mi

Elapsed moving time = 23:30

Avg heartrate = 152 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12096131205

After I got back, I had a little downtime until getting showered and dressed to go down to Santee and be there for John's and Vivian's marriage ceremony. Dave was there (he got there late), as were Gary and Sue and Brooke and Stephen. The waiting in the assessor's office was a little weird, but the outdoor ceremony was nice and short (and shaded!). They looked very happy together, and Vivian is apparently going to take John's name. Afterward, we drove back to RB and joined them and other friends of Vivian's at Stir Fresh. Ann and I got the chance to catch up with Sue and Gary, Sue does most of the talking. They both recovered fine from COVID, no significant symptoms, although Sue had to postpone her trip to Hawaii with Kody because of it. They later went to Oahu and had a good time. John stopped by the table later and chatted with us for a bit. Then we drove home and had a quiet afternoon. I got ready later for a bike ride with Blair. Headed through the neighborhood on Matinal Circle all the way around, then on Matinal Rd for the short bit to get to W Bernardo Dr. Standard way to the back parking lot from there, where I arrived early and had a little break before Blair came out. We rode over Bernardo Center Dr to Camino del Norte, then took it and Camino del Sur to the 56 bike path, heading west from there and riding up to Rancho Santa Fe Farms Rd. Used it to get over to Carmel Valley Rd, then we took this route all the way back to Bernardo Center Dr. I rode at Blair's pace most of the time that we weren't climbing, and during my climbs I dialed back my effort. It was a nice ride, pretty chill. After we got back, we had a short chat about the scratches on the back of Blair's truck, then I rode home the normal way.

Avg speed = 15.1 mph. Total mileage = 23.1 mi

Avg power = 121 W. Weighted avg power = 149 W

Total elevation gain = 1570'

Avg heartrate = 112 bpm (Coospo), 108 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12099575544

It was a quiet evening.

In the morning, I had finished Mike Chen's A Quantum Love Story. It's about a guy who works as a technician at a particle accelerator in the future, getting trapped in a time loop. He brings in a woman to the time loop, and she ends up being the main character, as well as the one who eventually travels back in time to correct the explosion that caused the formation of the time loop in the first place. It was a decent read.

08-07-2024 Ride

Up a little early (<>!), then I got ready for my bike ride. Again, I didn't know what route to choose until I got going. I rode down Aguamiel Rd, then up W Bernardo Dr to RB Rd, turning left there and taking it to Pomerado Rd. Around this time, I decided to ride up Scripps-Poway Pkwy, so I stayed on Pomerado Rd until turning left onto Stowe Dr and making that climb. It's longer and more gradual, actually a nice little climb. I turned left when I got to Danielson St and rode up to Scripps-Poway Pkwy.  Down the hill and then the climb, which was challenging as usual. I didn't go all out on this climb, kept it steady but not overpowering. It was starting to heat up by the time I got to the 67, so I had a short break there at the turn and ate a banana. The road up to Mt Woodson has been recently paved, which is nice, but there are a couple of spots where the "bike lane" is quite narrow. So, with traffic going at high speed, it's not super safe. I took it fairly easy on the climbs up to Poway Rd and then to the saddle summit near Mt Woodson, then I really enjoyed the descent on good roads all the way into the outskirts of Ramona, benefiting from a little tailwind as well as the downhill. When I got to Dye Rd, I saw I was going to be short for the 40 mile target, so I turned right and rode it until it turned into Ramona St, where I turned around and retraced my route back to Highland Valley Rd. Temperature was climbing here, but again I had something of a tailwind on the initial stretches, riding fairly fast until I started climbing, at which point I slowed down a lot. Took my time on this gradual climb up to the top, then it was a thrilling, enjoyable descent on the winding roads all the way back to the flats. Home the normal way from there, other than riding a little bit beyond the house when I got there to boost my elevation gain above 2700'. With the sustained climbing in the first half of the ride, my lower back was a little stiff in the latter half but not too bad. Hands also got numb at times, particularly my left hand.

Avg speed = 15.9 mph. Total mileage = 41.6 mi

Avg power = 134 W. Weighted avg power = 167 W

Total elevation gain = 2720'

Avg heartrate = 121 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12088136636

I had a little free time after I got home. Ann went to the beach, I ate some lunch and then got showered and ready for my volunteer shift at the hospital. It was pretty busy at the start, there had been a couple of deaths in the ED in the morning, unrelated to each other but each traumatic. While I was there we had a patient in one of the rooms who was near death, but they moved him up to a room in the hospital where he and his family could have more privacy. Not much else of note to report. Rode home afterwards and had a quiet evening.

08-06-2024 Swim/Ride

This was a busy day. I did sleep in, a little bit, knowing there was a lot going on during the day. Then I rode over to the WWC to meet Avi and go for a swim, focusing on stroke count and power exercises. We ended up swimming about 1800 yds, including the pyramid exercise that we had done before. I rode home and got ready for a bike ride, not entirely sure where I was going to ride. Headed through the neighborhood to RB Rd, staying on it until it turned into Lone Quail Rd, which looped around until I turned right onto 4S Ranch Pkwy, taking it down the hill and then using Dove Creek Rd to get over to Dove Canyon Rd. Then to Carmel Valley Rd, up the two little climbs at a fairly slow pace, then a left onto Black Mountain Rd. I took this past the 56 and turned right onto Park Village Rd. I decided to stay on this road until I hit its dead end at a trailhead, turning around and riding back to Camino del Sur. Up this gradual climb to the 56 bike path, where I turned left and rode down to Carmel Valley Rd. Then I started heading back home, taking this road to Camino del Sur and then home the usual way, other than taking Dove Canyon Rd to get to RB Rd, then to W Bernardo Dr. This route was fairly decent, I saw some new neighborhoods. It was mostly Zone 2 for me. Before I rode, I changed out the battery on my Coospo HR monitor, and it appears to be working again.

Avg speed = 15.5 mph. Total mileage = 31.5 mi

Avg power = 123 W. Weighted avg power = 155 W

Total elevation gain = 1910'

Avg heartrate = 117 bpm (Coospo)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12079665494

As soon as I got home, I saw the reminder about lunch with Earl, so I had to hustle to cut up the vegetables and prepare the marinade for them and the chicken. I got it all done and in the fridge, then I showered and drove over to Chan Dara Thai Restaurant in Escondido, by Felicita. Lunch was good, a little spicy, and our conversation focused on defining our identities and the role that church is now playing in these definitions. When I got home, I had a little down time until I needed to start cooking, so I read and took a little nap. I also continued working on the code to parse the Fitbit steps data from the download I got from Google. I got it all to work, but the step count was wrong for the days until I figured out that the times listed in the data files are UTC, not Pacific time. So there is still work to do to try and figure out how to calculate the step conversions when I'm not in my home time zone. Then I grilled the vegetables and chicken, it took an hour and a half, including the time to heat the charcoal. The charcoal was particularly hot. Dave came over around 6:00 and the three of us had a nice chat before, during, and after dinner. His mission trip to India sounded interesting, but the weather was really hot and humid. Rachel now goes by Rae and is gender non-binary; Dave seems to be having some difficulty coming to terms with that change. He'll stay with his mom when he moves back to PA next week, at least for a time.

08-05-2024 Run/Swim

Got up early and went for a run down by the park, two loops around the park and then back. Felt fine until I was finishing up the third loop, when I started feeling some pain in my left side. I ran through it, but it was sore for the rest of the day. I think it's a slightly pulled muscle.

Avg pace = 8:17/mi

Total distance = 3.19 mi

Elapsed running time = 26:28

Avg heartrate = 118 bpm (Fitbit)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12068380382

I have a few more body aches, presumably as a result of falling on my bike on Saturday, since my right side is generally more sore. After I got back from the run, I ate some breakfast, then got ready to head over to the WWC for a swim. Finished the first 2000 yds (standard protocol) in a little under 39 minutes, then I swam an additional 500 yds with the pull buoy, first focusing on stroke lengthening by doing only one stroke at a time (200 yds), then single-arm stroke exercises for 25 yds (200 yds), finishing with a standard 100. After I got home, I went out behind the fence and chopped down the last leafy bush there, got almost done with chopping it up before I ran out of bin space. I was tired at the end, glad to be done with it. I then replaced the tube in my front tire with a successfully (?) patched one.

08-04-2024 Ride

Got up a little later than usual and, because it was going to be a hot day, I got ready for an easy-paced bike ride. Down and by the park, then up Pomerado Rd, staying on it past Poway Rd and turning left onto Metate Ln. I also turned into the horse trail off this road, could be a future hiking destination. Instead of riding up to Community Rd, I took the little spur road to the left in an attempt to avoid that intersection. No luck, ended up having to ride on the sidewalk for a bit before I could cross over on Community Rd. Back to Poway Rd, where I turned left and rode on the old time trial route, then followed the new time trial route until turning right onto Carmel Mountain Rd. Took it to Paseo Lucido, then stayed on this road until turning right near the bottom of Bernardo Heights Pkwy. Home from there via RB Rd and W Bernardo Dr. It was a low-output day for me, legs felt fine and it felt even better to just be out riding without hammering the pace. My Coospo HR band didn't start up, not sure if it's the battery (which I just changed) or something more serious.

Avg speed = 14.8 mph. Total mileage = 23.0 mi

Avg power = 115 W. Weighted avg power = 137 W

Total elevation gain = 1240'

Avg heartrate = 127 bpm (Fitbit, not sure I trust this number)

https://www.strava.com/activities/12061548339

I got home and hurried to shower up and get dressed for church. Pastor Lisa seems like a nice person, we will see if she is a strong enough leader to bring folks together and keep the church from shrinking faster than it normally would. Seems like a people-pleaser to some extent. I talked with some of the old regulars in the patio, most folks were happy to see Ann and me at church. It was a quiet afternoon. I tried to repatch an inner tube, and I cleaned up my workbench, which had gotten quite cluttered. Later in the afternoon, I worked on my code, figuring out a way to filter the segments list so that only the ones in the latitude range of the ride are checked. After dinner, Ann and I went for a short walk around the neighborhood (to get my steps in), but I didn't record it.