Woke up in the night and finished my book, then got a little more sleep before it was time to get up. Ate some cereal, cleaned up the kitchen of a few dishes, then I got ready for a bigger-than-usual Bisikleta ride. I ended up having to swap out my power meter battery, so thatade me a little late to leave home. Through the neighborhood and then the old short route through the 4S Ranch neighborhood. Perse and Andy were already there, I wasn't sure how many would show up. Eventually, we had 11 riders: Perse, Andy, Jed, Jed A., Charlie, Nel, Arnold, Fritz, James, and Paula. Fritz arrived just as we were taking off, so I sent the others on and rode back to ride with Fritz and Jed A. We rode on CdS to RB Rd, I was pushing the pace to catch up to the others. Was cool but not cold by this time. We caught them at W Bernardo Dr, then 8 led the group over to Pomerado Rd, turning left there. Paula was hanging in there pretty well in the early part of the ride. I should mention that I had noticed I had a broken right cleat before I even got started but didn't have time to swap it out. So my right shoe would periodically pop off of the pedal, often when I was trying to put in a bigger effort. Was just luck that I didn't bang my shin on the crank and hurt myself. We rode down to the lake and crossed it (all except James) using the pedestrian bridge. Then we rode over to BVP and kept heading north. I had hung back and then missed a couple of lights, so Jed A. and I had to hustle to connect back with the group. We caught the tail end, and the others were waiting just before the left turn onto Citrus Ave. I got out ahead again and led the group on this stretch back over to BVP. Right turn there, over to Valley Pkwy, where we headed up to Valley Center. I was at the back as we started this climb. Made my way past the group, Arnold and Fritz were talking in the lead. I passed them and kept spinning, initially in third gear but dropping to a combination of first and second throughout the rest of the climb. Got to the top, just a little off my PR and 11th fastest form my age group. I think I could push a little harder to get into the top 10. Waited for the others to show, Jed was there along with Arnold. Paula was middle of the pack. After everyone was there we continued down and over to Lilac Rd, turning left there. Several riders stripped off their cool-weather gear here, and we had to wait for James to replace his HR monitor battery. I ate a little something here. We continued on, and shortly after this Romeo showed up. He had ridden up W Lilac Rd to meet us. He was hammering the pace, especially on the descents, and I struggled to keep up with him, usually catching him on the climbs. We turned on W Lilac Rd, really nice road to ride on but has its share of ups and downs. Romeo and I were out front. There was another rider who was going fast, especially on the descents, and I was putting in a big effort to catch up to him. Eventually we got to the arch bridge over I-15, where I waited for the others to show up. Took some video there, then we enjoyed (most of us) the nice downhill into Bonsall. Romeo was out front, and Arnold and I were chasing him. Near the bottom, here came James on the attack. Got to the stop sign at Camino del Rey, waited for the others to show up, then we turned right and took it over to Old River Rd. Followed this south through a neighborhood and eventually crossed the 76 getting on S13. There was a steady climb here, and I started at the back. Had to work hard to pass everybody, Jed and Arnold last. After it flattened out, Arnold passed me and gapped me, couldn't close the distance. We rode down to Bobier Dr and stopped at a Chevron station for the mid-ride break. I ate a banana while waiting here. Thankfully it wasn't too long, although I was watching the time and starting to calculate how fast I'd need to ride to get home by 1:00. After the break we headed west on Bobier Dr and headed generally down to Melrose Dr. On the S13 Romeo had started to cramp up, so he was planning on turning right on Melrose Dr and heading back home, but his legs felt better after the break, so he stayed with us at the left turn. I was a little worried about the amount of climbing on this road, but it turned out to be generally downhill until we passed under the 78, then there were a couple of small climbs until we got to Sycamore Ave. I gapped the others here, even though I didn't feel like I was riding fast. Left on Sycamore Ave, which we used to get to Santa Fe Ave. I've been on Sycamore Ave before, but I don't think I've ridden in this direction. It has some rollers but is a nice stretch of road, taking us back to the other side of the 78. We gathered back up after the right turn, and that was the last I saw of the big group. James had gotten out in front, so I pushed to catch up to him and then pass him. Jed A., Jed, and Arnold were generally riding with me, although I was leading nearly all the time. We rode over to Mission Rd and turned on it to head back into Escondido. This stretch had a favorable tailwind helping us along, and I was glad for that, my high effort level was starting to catch up to me. I still led, and the others were content to follow, as we passed through San Marcos and eventually turned right on Quince St. I needed to keep pushing after the turn, so James and I left the others behind and rode back toward our house. To 13th Ave and over to Centre City Pkwy, then the usual way home, across the freeway, from there. James was still feeling good, so I did all I could to stay on his wheel, mostly with success. When we crossed the freeway, there were two broken down cars in the emergency lane, and it was definitely sketchy going into the freeway car lane to get by them. Don't want to have to do that again. The last two climbs were painful, my legs were basically done, and James gapped me as we rode past the park. The route had us going by our house, so he rode with me to the house and then continued on. I was definitely glad to be done with this ride, it was a bigger effort than expected. More training needed before I will feel comfortable sustaining this effort level for 100 miles.
Avg speed = 16.6 mph. Total mileage = 72.8 mi
Avg power = 148 W. Weighted avg power = 172 W
Total elevation gain = 4250'
Avg heartrate = 132 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 164
Training Load = 308
Intensity = 78
I got home in plenty of time to actually have something to eat, shave, and shower before we drove over to the California Center for the Arts in Escondido for an Eastern Swing dance class. Crazy coincidence, Amy and Ed van Liew were at the class as well. We chatted with them a little before class started. The teacher, Mercedes Moore, was very engaging, and her teaching style helped me a lot, although I was definitely a slow starter. Felt a little more comfortable at the end of the class. It was a little awkward switching partners, but we had to do it, since there were more followers than leaders. I kept pretty busy, and the females were mostly forgiving. The class was energizing, we'll see about going to future classes as well. Drove home after that, and the rest of the day was pretty quiet. Heart-shaped pancakes for dinner, thankfully easy to clean. I made some modifications to my ride analysis program to allow me to view the average power levels for every 10 miles. More work to be done there to report them in some kind of format. That was the day.
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