This was a very good cycling day in a little tough weather conditions. Got up with a little more time to get ready, so I wasn't the last for a change. Left around 8:45. We rode over to Platja d'Aro, and right away it was evident that we would be having a very humid day. Stopped in that village and met up with some of Mark's riding buddies - Krista, Susie, and her husband Jean-Michel. We were already sweating, even though it was flat on the way over. Continued from there, turning inland and riding up toward Romanya de la Selva. We turned off before getting to this village, I could tell that Jean-Michel and Susie were strong climbers. Then it was downhill for a short bit, at which point Krista dropped her chain on her rear cassette. She couldn't figure out what was wrong, but I helped her get it fixed, and we were on our way. Generally downhill and flats for a while. We stopped in a village for Jean-Michel to get some water, then continued until we got to the base of the big climb of the day, up to Sant Grau. It was about 5 miles and a little over 1100', with a small descent in the middle. Never super steep, probably averaged 5% most of the time. I got off to a good start, probably pushing a little too hard. Jean-Michel and Susie closed toward the top, and he caught me, so I hung on his wheel and finished just after him. We waited for the others, then r ode down a fairly steep descent to a former monastery, where we stopped for a break before continuing. The succeeding descent was a little tamer, but I stayed back with Krista, who was taking it slow. We eventually descended on a beautiful approach to the sea, maybe the most beautiful descent I've ever done. That eventually got us to a road along the coast, which was spectacular, with ups and downs. Mark and I had done much of this on my previous visit, and it was fun to do it again. All stayed pretty much together all the way down to Sant Feliu de Guixols. I think we rode down a climb into this village we had previously done. Along the coastal towns, the traffic was slow, so we rode at easy pace. Split up with the others near where we had met them, then we rode back into Palamós. Mark texted Karmi and found out where we were supposed to meet them (Mano a Mano by the marina), so we rode over there. Ann was still sleeping when they left. We had drinks and waited until she woke up and walked over, then we had a light lunch. I hadn't paid attention to when the bike shop closed, so we missed the window to drop off the bikes, bad planning on my part. We rode back to their house and went in the pool for a nice cool dip.
Avg speed = 14.1 mph. Total mileage = 49.5 mi
Avg power =115 W. Weighted avg power =158 W
Total elevation gain = 3310'
Avg heartrate =127 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 114
Training Load =196
Intensity = 72%
Stu and Helen left a couple hours little before 5:00 (we watched the last of the La Vuelta stage), and I had a little nap after that. In the evening we walked down to the beach and ate dinner at a beachside restaurant (I paid, since I was asking Karmi to return the bikes on Monday). There was a lunar eclipse, but the clouds covered it until it cleared up enough to see it about halfway covering the moon. After dinner we walked back to their house and called it a night. Arranged our stuff (some of it was still damp) to be packed in the morning and went to bed.
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