I'd been thinking about riding up the East Grade of Palomar, so I committed to doing it. Originally planned on waking up at 5:30, but I was awake and up at 5:00, allowing me to get an earlier start. Packed some food and fluids into the car, made coffee and took it with me. I drove to the La Jolla Trading Post, where I had started before. It was foggy on the drive, with even some light mist, until I descended into Funner, where it was clear and stayed that way. Temperature was about right at the start (I forgot to attach my HR monitor to my band, so no HR data), which featured a little descent before flattening out and then gradually climbing. It is longer to the East Grade Rd turnoff than you think, about six miles from this starting point, involving a net elevation gain of about 300'. I got to the turn in about 25 minutes, didn't stop, just started climbing. I spent most of the time in first or second gear, except where it flattened out or descended slightly. The first four miles is a steady climb, then the grade lowers and there's even a small descent before another six-mile climb with little descending and just a small stretch across a valley where the grade is lower. Total official distance for the Strava segment is right at 11 miles. My Wahoo kept track of the climb pretty well, since I didn't stop long enough for it to reset, as it has in the past. During the climb I had an annoying sound coming from my brakes, as if they were occasionally rubbing against the rotors. I got to Mother's Kitchen (closed) in about 1:35, it was only my third-fastest Strava time (out of five attempts) up the East Grade. I thought I would be faster, but I need to work on my fitness after not riding so much on vacation. Still, it was a top-20 time for my age group, hard to see how I can crack the top-10, but perhaps. And my average power for the whole climb was 193 W, not too bad. I didn't stop there, kept going to focus on continuing effort, heading up to Palomar Mountain SP. My time to the park was faster, fifth-fastest in my age group, which felt pretty good. I rode to the base of the road up to Boucher Lookout, wasn't interested in doing this steep little climb. On the return, I stopped a couple of times to take pictures, so my time wasn't anything special. I was a little concerned about the remaining climbs, but they weren't too bad. The little climb just past Mother's Kitchen was less than I expected, then the serious descending began. I hadn't ridden down the East Grade in a long time, and it was thrilling. If you are bold, you don't need to apply the brakes at all, but that wasn't me. I was cautious on the sharper turns as well as the sections of road in shade. I stopped just one time at a vista point to take a picture of Lake Henshaw, then zoomed back down to the 76. It had seemed like I was riding into a headwind on the way to East Grade Rd, but on the return I didn't really feel like I was getting any assistance from the wind. This stretch was generally flat to downhill, but my legs were tired, so the flat sections were more of a chore than they should have been. There was a little climb near the end to get back to the convenience store where I had parked, but again it wasn't as bad as I feared it was going to be. Got back to the car in less than three hours elapsed time, another accomplishment.
Avg speed = 14.8 mph. Total mileage = 41.5 mi
Avg power = 154 W. Weighted avg power = 178 W
Total elevation gain = 3920'
Training Load = 187
Intensity = 81%
I stopped at the store after finishing and packing my stuff back in the car, bought a large Coke, and enjoyed it on the drive home. A little traffic on the way back, but I avoided rush hour. Got home, changed, and had a somewhat early light lunch and rested for a bit. My afternoon was quiet, Ann and I went to see Jeff Ross in mid-afternoon, his advice wasn't so helpful or knowledgeable, in my opinion. I got home and had just a little time before riding over to the park to meet Emily for a hike. For a change we walked up by the waterfall and beyond, a little longer than we typically hike. Came home and ate a large dinner, I was hungry from the day's exertions. My right leg was also tender from the bike ride, will have to pay attention to this potential issue. I watched some TV in the evening and read as well before calling it a night.
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