This turned out to be a good day on the bike. I had planned for a Bisikleta ride up the East Grade toward Mt Palomar, and this was the day for it. Rob came over, and we drove to the starting point at Lake Henshaw together. I was riding my old bike since I hadn't figured out how to bleed the brakes on the new one. Perse and Gio were there when we got to the Cafe parking lot, and it was cold, particularly in the shade. Others started trickling in and getting ready. I had hoped to get started around 8:30 (even though I told everybody we were starting at 8:15), and we were pretty close to this target. On this ride at the start, there were: Rob, Perse, Jed, Gio, Fritz, Zac, Joey, Nel, and Eric. There is a little shaded downhill on Hwy 76 right at the start, and I was shivering a lot until we turned onto East Grade Rd and started climbing. I put my head down and tried to keep consistent power, was largely successful throughout the climb, although there were numerous points where I was in my lowest gear, even though the grade never really got above 7%. Generally, it was 4-6% in the ascending sections, and there are a couple of spots where the gradient drops, even some areas where you have a slight descent for a bit. Was stronger on the first half of the climb, but unlike the last time my back didn't start aching, and I had a decent finish. I set a Strava PR for the East Grade climb (1:03:03, 211 W, 151 bpm). I rode down to Mother's Kitchen, then turned around and rode back to an intersection to make sure nobody took a wrong turn. Zac was about 4 minutes behind me, he had ridden the first half at modest pace and then put in a bigger effort on the second half. We gathered a little past the summit of the climb. Nel ended up having to turn back because his hip was giving him trouble. Everybody else made it to the top. Then we rode over to Mother's Kitchen, had a short biobreak, and all decided to ride together up to Boucher Lookout. We met another rider, Elmer Maniti, from Orange County, and he rode with us as well. On the stretch to the Lookout, Fritz and I got out in front, and he pretty much stayed with me until just past the really steep section on the access road to the overlook. I set a PR for the section from Mother's Kitchen to the State Park (11:18, 151 W, 129 bpm) as well as for the climb up Boucher Rd to the lookout tower (4:40, 229 W, 152 bpm). Another break at the top before we started heading down, taking care on the steep descending and curving road. Again, Fritz and I were together in front on the return, and he stayed with me the whole way. After a short break to allow everybody to gather up again, we rode down the South Grade. I was again out front on the descent, and it was exhilarating and a little scary. Set a PR for the descent (12:53, 56 W, 112 bpm), the Fuji handled pretty well. I heard later that Elmer took a turn too wide and almost got hit by a car. Luckily, he got back into his lane and no harm was done. Once we got to the bottom, we headed back on the 76 toward Lake Henshaw. It was much warmer by then. I was feeling the effects of the climbing, so I didn't have a lot of push left for the relatively small amount of climbing left. The last 5 miles or so were uphill, not steep but energy-sapping. Jed and I got out in front, and Jed hung on my wheel until the last little climb. He would have traded leads but was doing everything just to hang with me. I was glad to come around the final bend and see the cafe ahead. The others trickled in over the next 5 minutes or so, and most felt the same way about the finish of the ride. Zac and Joey brought out cookies that they had baked the previous evening, and the energy boost from eating a cookie was pretty great.
Avg speed = 15.0 mph. Total mileage = 37.7 mi
Avg power = 169 W. Weighted avg power = 190 W
Total elevation gain = 4220'
Avg heartrate = 140 bpm
Relative Effort = 155
Training Load = 182
Intensity = 82%
A little bit of socializing after the ride, then Rob and I drove home. We had good conversations on the drives, it sounds like he is handling his stressful job pretty well, not letting it get to him, although he's more susceptible to getting sick (probably due to stress effects). Curiously, I wasn't that hungry when I got home. I was a little jazzed from drinking a Pepsi after the ride but not wanting a lot of food. We spent the afternoon hanging out and getting our outfits ready for the dinner party. Borrowed some stuff from Caleb and Emily on the way, along with picking up the gifts I had ordered from Amazon. The restaurant was nice, food was good, service was quite excellent. I got stuck at the end of the table but still had a fine time. The others enjoyed the quiz questions before and during dinner, and it generated a fair amount of humor and funny lines. So, mission accomplished. The gift exchange was a little disjointed but went okay as well. All in all, a nice evening out with the opportunity to dress up.
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