Got out of bed around 5:45, had some cereal for breakfast before getting ready for a ride with Paula, Catalin, and their friend Eric Ross. I had changed out my tires, all looked good in the morning. Through the neighborhood and then the extended route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, as I had left with plenty of time to get there. Got to CdS and then took the normal way over to San Dieguito Rd and then down to El Apajo, where I waited in the school parking lot for the others to show up. They were late, mildly frustrating more from the standpoint of getting started later than we planned. We headed toward RSF, taking the Calzada del Bosque climb (no PR on this day, had a slow start) over to Rambla de Las Flores. I waited for them at the top, then started behind them as they descended to La Granada. I put on some speed and caught up with them, then we turned left and took the little climb that followed. I pushed enough to stay with Eric, who was also working hard. We stayed together on Los Morros and La Bajada down to RSF Rd, taking it to Encinitas Blvd and navigating the first part of that climb. I took it pretty fast, creating some separation from the others, waited for them at the turn onto Village Park Way. Here is where the neighborhood rambling began. I won't try to document it all. We crossed over Olivenhain Rd, then Calle Barcelona, getting over to El Camino Real. I was in the back of the group at the right turn onto El Camino Real. Paula had stopped to wait for us, and Eric was passing by as Catalin came up on them, not paying attention to the road. He crashed at fairly low speed into Eric, and they both went down. I was really worried when I saw it happen, thankfully neither one was injured, just a little banged up. We took time for them to settle down and check themselves out. Catalin's bike took more of the impact, I initially helped him straighten out his handlebars. After a while, Paula and Eric took off. I stayed with Catalin, who discovered a couple of other issues with his bike that I helped him fix. Then we were off. We connected back with them at the Omni La Costa Resort, rode through there and then into neighborhoods north of La Costa. Over to Alga Rd, taking it for a short period before heading into another neighborhood and stopping by a street that apparently has really impressive Christmas lights. We headed through some Carlsbad neighborhoods, including heading east on Poinsettia Ln until we turned off toward Bressi Ranch. Through that area and eventually back to ECR, heading south there until we got to Cassia Rd, where we turned right and got back over to Poinsettia Ln. At the first turn Eric and I got out in front and stayed that way until we got down to the coast, where we waited for Catalin and Paula to show up. I had to pee pretty bad, so when they showed up we agreed to take a pause at the State Beach, use the bathroom and take some pics by the ocean. Eric was on a time schedule, so we modified the original route to keep it flatter. After we got back onto PCH I got out in front and tried to set a pace that others could follow and that would help Eric get back as soon as possible. We all stayed pretty much together until the little climb into Solana Beach, when I got out ahead. Eric wasn't too far behind, and we rode together to the turn onto VdlV. We waited there a little bit, but they didn't show up so we continued on. I set the pace and tried to give Eric a draft as we made our way over to San Dieguito Rd. On the flats back to El Apajo, I again tried to push the pace and set a draft for Eric but wasn't so successful. He was running out of gas and couldn't keep up so well. We got back to the meet-up point just a little late, I helped him load his stuff into the car. Just as he was pulling out, Paula and Catalin showed up. They said a quick goodbye, and I chatted briefly with them to align on where to have lunch (a little frustrating, both were indecisive) and started back after we decided on Taste of Thai. I worked pretty hard on the return, didn't slack off any more than my legs could handle. Got back to 4S Ranch Town Center right on schedule and put my bike in the car.
Avg speed = 15.2 mph. Total mileage = 55.4 mi
Avg power = 136 W. Weighted avg power = 171 W
Total elevation gain = 3450'
Avg heartrate = 123 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 96
Training Load = 255
Intensity = 78%
We met Catalin and Paula and had a good lunch, talking in part about their attempts to visit every National Park and National Monument in the US. After lunch we headed home, and I had a fairly relaxing afternoon. Watched a little TV and, later in the afternoon, I did some clean-up on my cycling route analysis programs and cleared up some errors from the major re-write I did. Successfully solved the issues that cropped up, then I talked to Mom right before dinner. She sounded pretty good, is looking forward to our visit in January. I talked to Ross after dinner, he was in decent form, and I got some more details about his upcoming dental surgery. Was a quiet evening after that.
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