It was a very good day, and a hard workout, on the bike. I got up a little before 6:00 and started getting ready for my ride up to Julian. Filled water bottles and took a banana and a granola nut bar with me. I headed down by the park and over to Highland Valley Rd, intent on trying to either set or get close to a PR for the entire segment up to the 67. So I pushed a little harder on the climbs than the last time I did this ride. Had some trouble getting into first gear after the first climb, and for a short while I thought one of my shifter batteries had died. Nope, I was just not thinking straight about shifting. Middle climb was tough as always, I couldn't do it all without getting out of the saddle, especially in second gear. The sun came out on the gradual climbing section after the middle climb. For the third climb, I kept pushing in second gear. On the general descent toward Ramona, I stayed pedaling more than usual, and I was also working harder on the flat section up to the turn onto the 67. I ended up setting a PR for the entire eastbound segment on Highland Valley Rd (56:09, 190 W, 135 bpm), thought I would be close when I got to the intersection with the 67, and it was gratifying to see after the ride. Down into Ramona and through the town. There is a distinct split in the town at the 78. South of this intersection is the newer part of the city, while the old village is located north of it, at least along this highway. I turned right onto 3rd St and started the Old Julian Hwy section, which is about 8 miles long. I looked at my time around this point and was a little disappointed in my progress, but that turned out to be misplaced. Was actually on a good pace. There's about 1000' of climbing in this 8 miles (about 600' of it is in a single climb), along with some minor descents at times. As mentioned before, the road quality is generally not good and actually bad in some places. The road quality improved dramatically when I got onto the 78, but it has narrow shoulders for the most part and is therefore more challenging to ride, especially with lots of traffic. On this day, the traffic level wasn't too bad, and I made good time. A couple of climbs here but not huge elevation gains, then it was the descent into Santa Ysabel. Set a PR for the stretch from Ramona to Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel (51:19, 170 W, 136 bpm). I stopped at Don's Market and got a PowerAde, drank some of it while I ate my granola bar and banana and had a brief rest. I poured the rest of the PowerAde into my water bottle and continued on up to Wynola. This section is never very steep, has some 7% gradient but not for long. It's more for grinding up and staying consistent in pedaling. I stayed in the saddle for most of this climb, stretched my lower back every now and then. It's flat to descending through Wynola, then the grade picks back up and stays that way up to the stop sign in Julian. I set another PR on this segment, again was feeling pretty good and not really letting up at all (34:04, 183 W, 147 bpm). I checked Strava, and this time would be the fastest ever for riders over 65, will need to try this route again after November. It was quite sunny by this time, not super hot but I could feel the effects of the sun when I wasn't in shade. I got into town a fair bit earlier than I thought I would, so on a whim I decided to keep riding. Turned right at the stop sign and rode over to Hwy 79, where I turned right again and rode up to the fire station, about a mile and a half. That got me to 5000' of elevation gain for the day. I stopped and took a picture of an old sheriff's car, then turned around and rode back (into a mild headwind) into town. Still got there with plenty of time to rest before Ann showed up around 10:15. As near as I can calculate, using GPX data downloaded from Strava and then analyzed using Excel, my riding time from home up to Julian was 2:54:37, which was faster than my previous best, in April of 2024, by about 5 minutes. Still not my fastest time from Ramona up to Julian (1:36), but at 1:38 after riding from home to Ramona (and being a lot older) was pleased with the effort.
Avg speed = 13.8 mph (13.8 mph). Total mileage = 43.4 mi
Avg power = 170 W. Weighted avg power = 191 W
Total elevation gain = 5060' (5350')
Avg heartrate = 135 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 133 (125)
Training Load = 244
Intensity = 87%
After Ann got there, I put my bike in the car, and we walked around the village, looking in the knick-knack shops on a very quiet Tuesday. A number of shops were closed, which was fine by me. We eventually got over to the Julian Pie Co, I had apple pie with cinnamon ice cream (too much ice cream, maybe they were hiding the relatively small size of the pie slice) and a coffee. Coffee was really welcome, it woke me up nicely. After the pie Ann drove us back home. I had a relaxing early afternoon, then started packing my stuff for the trip. This always takes longer than I think it will, but the process was useful for reminding me of additional things to take as well as checking off all the items on my list. Talked to Mom, and Ross briefly, in the late afternoon. She was in good spirits, didn't dwell on the car repair issue, which I was glad to hear. A quiet evening.
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