Had an okay night's sleep, perhaps a little caffeine-disturbed, especially with vivid early-morning anxiety dreams. Got up and got ready for the Bisikleta ride. I left early enough to be able to ride through the neighborhood and take the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood. Several riders were already there when I arrived at the 4S Target, and others kept showing up. At the start, we had the following riders: Perse, Ray, JoJo (visiting from Japan), Nel, Fritz, Jed, Arnold, Aaron, James, Cam, and Kamal. We rode Camino del Sur to RB Rd and took it down to W Bernardo Dr, then rode down to Lake Hodges and crossed the pedestrian bridge. We met Rob T. at the Chevron station, then cut through the mall parking lot and took the route through Kit Carson Park to get to El Ku Ave. Up to Escondido Blvd, where Aaron and I were riding together at the front. In fact, I was at or near the front almost the entire ride, should have dropped back at times to mix with the others and talk to them. We rode up to Brotherton Rd and cut onto Centre City Pkwy, taking it through town and over to El Norte Pkwy, where we turned left. Not long after we made the turn, Romeo joined us. We stopped at the gas station by Iris Ln and had a longer-than-expected break as folks got themselves ready for the upcoming climb. I got everybody back riding, and we continued to Borden Rd and up to Twin Oaks Valley Rd. Romeo and I were out in front along with a few other riders, so I stopped at the turn to gather everybody up again. We rode over the freeway and soon after started the climb up toward Double Peak. Aaron was on his gravel bike, with wide tires, and he still dusted everybody else. JoJo and Fritz tried to match his pace for a while, to no avail. I got into a sustainable rhythm and eventually passed and gapped Fritz while getting closer to JoJo. I was close enough to him at the turn onto Ledge St to let him know to make the turn. Aaron also made the turn ahead of us. JoJo and I went through the main gate by following a truck. This climb is generally easier than the other way. It has a couple of really steep pitches, including one just past the gate, but there are some less-steep stretches where we could recover. JoJo and I pretty much matched each other's pace on this road up to the other gate, where he got past the gate faster than me and kept the space as we got onto Double Peak Rd for the last really steep section by the water tower. Still, I did pretty well on this stretch, benefiting from the little break in climbing that came before it got really steep. Aaron came back down the hill and climbed this last stretch again with us, and I rode up to the end of the parking lot, where a new weather station has been installed since I was up there last. I ended up riding up a dirt and gravel path to the very top, where Aaron was, then we rode down to the end of the Double Peak segment, by the sign. It took quite a while for the others to show up, and most of them had ended up missing the turn at Ledge St, going to Double Peak Rd and climbing up from there. Kamal got a little lost after making the turn onto Ledge St. Arnold and Fritz totally missed that turn and rode all the way down into San Elijo Hills town center before turning around and riding all the way back up to just below the water tower. We saw them there as we were coming down from the top, and they joined us. Rob and Romeo turned left on San Elijo Rd, while the rest of us turned right and rode down into San Elijo Hills village. A left turn onto Elfin Forest Rd, where we rode for a little bit before stopping to regroup everybody. Kamal thought we should try a pace line on this stretch, but I wasn't up for that, so I rode ahead. Eventually, several riders passed me on the last downhill stretch before turning onto Harmony Grove Rd, including Arnold, Aaron, and Fritz. I pushed pretty hard to catch up to them after the turn, ended up passing them, and from there led a smaller group all the way to the turn onto Citracado Pkwy. Didn't know who else was riding with me, I just put my head down and pushed without thinking too much about it. I waited at the turn to make sure everybody made it, then we rode up to the turn to stay on Citracado Pkwy, then up to Valley Pkwy, turning right there and riding down to Via Rancho Pkwy. Single file on this stretch, and I was in front again, pulling the others up this gradual climb. We rode down to the Chevron and gathered everybody up for a final time, while James rode across the freeway. The stop extended into a bathroom and electrolyte break, then we got going again. Jed and Nel were out front, and Jed kept in the lead as we crossed the pedestrian bridge again and turned onto W Bernardo Dr. I passed him on the first climb, and I kept expecting others to pass me as we started the second climb. Eventually, Fritz and JoJo caught up before the light, and the three of us rode together to the turn onto RB Rd. I led up this stretch again, and Aaron pushed hard from quite a way back to catch us and talk us into turning onto Broken Bow Ct, the left onto Via del Campo to suffer through a really steep but short climb before dropping back to RB Rd. We took the normal way back to the starting point from there, passing James near the turn onto Camino del Sur. I think Kamal turned off earlier and headed home, since he didn't come back to Target. I stayed around for a little while until everybody else showed up, then I rode home, pretty slowly, the new normal way. Legs held out really well all the way through this ride, I could probably have fueled a little better, but I did better than usual with taking in fluids.
Avg speed = 15.3 mph. Total mileage = 53.7 mi
Avg power = 140 W. Weighted avg power = 176 W
Total elevation gain = 3870'
Avg heartrate = 123 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 101
Training Load = 264
Intensity = 80%
It was pretty warm by the time I got home. Had some food, a pretty light lunch, then watched a little TV to unwind. I had a little nap in the early afternoon. Ann went to the store to get groceries for the car amping trip. I watched some TV and then, in the late afternoon, I had to get >8k steps in, so I walked down toward the park and then turned under the freeway to get over to Escala Dr, then I took an extended walk around that neighborhood before getting to Bernardo Center Dr and heading home from there. Had a light dinner when I got home and watched a little more TV before a quiet evening.
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