Woke up a little early, before my alarm went off, to get ready for the big Palomar ride. I had all my stuff organized pretty well. Ate some breakfast (skipped the milk), trying to build up some calories to burn. Ray showed up a little after 6:30, we loaded the bike, and away we were. Had a nice talk on the way to Harrah's, and we were the first to arrive. On this ride, it was a smaller group than past Palomar climbs. We had: Arnold, Ray, Aaron, Nel, Perse, and Kamal. I stayed with everybody until the roundabout that signals the start of the climb. Initially, I planned on riding with Arnold and Ray, but they were pretty slow from the beginning, so I found my comfortable pace and rode ahead. It was a different ride from last year, when I was in much better shape. I made it up the first half of the climb, on the 76, and I was a little surprised at the places where the grade was higher than I remembered. Made it up to the turn onto South Grade Rd, and I settled in for the steeper climb. I was worried that my lower back was going to start giving me problems. Stayed in my lowest gear for most of this climb, only shifting higher when I got up out of the saddle or when the grade lessened a little bit. This second half wasn't as steep as I remembered, there were some spots where I was able to recover a little bit. Still, I was measurably slower than last year, as expected, but I had good legs all the way to the top and didn't run out of gas. Aaron started the climb about 15 minutes after we did and passed us all, me when I was about 2 miles into the South Grade climb. I got up to the top second, after him, and we waited and chatted for a bit until he had to start heading back down. I stayed there and took videos of some of the riders finishing the climb. We gathered at Mother's Kitchen, took a break, and while we were waiting Jamil showed up in his car. Arnold, Kamal, and I decided to ride up to Boucher Lookout. Legs were a little sore at the start but I settled in okay. Arnold and I gapped Kamal on the way to the State Park entrance. Arnold had caught up with me and pulled ahead on the initial part of the climb up to Boucher Lookout. I kept my cadence and pace and passed him after a bit. Nice views of the Pauma Valley below when we got to the top. We didn't stay there very long after Kamal showed up. I had a good ride from there back to Mother's Kitchen, setting a PR for this segment. Again, we weren't at that stop long before starting to head down the hill. Jamil took off in his car, and we followed. I found myself out front and it stayed that way all the way down the hill, surprising because both Arnold and Ray are faster descenders than I am. Pushed the pace all the way down, and my bike handled well this time on the long curving descents on the 76. I had PR on the descent. Back to the parking lot, safe and sound.
Avg speed = 12.5 mph (12.5 mph). Total mileage = 35.3 mi
Avg power = 166 W. Weighted avg power = 189 W
Total elevation gain = 5450' (5490')
Avg heartrate = 133 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 117 (109)
Training Load = 222
Intensity = 86%
After the ride, Ray, Arnold, Nel, and I had lunch at Jilberto's, by the roundabout. Food was good. Arnold had cold beer in his car, and those beers tasted fine indeed. Then I rode home with Ray and had a very light afternoon. Took a nap (<>) and talked to my Mom in the early evening. She was more upbeat at the end of the call than at the beginning. I also talked to Laura, who is flying to a conference this week, then meeting Joe in St Louis to drive down to Palm Beach with him. Wishing him the best in his transition to a very different job. Apparently, he was upset about the relatively sparse communications from other chemistry department faculty members when it was announced that he was leaving.Went to bed early.
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