This was a challenging ride day. I woke up a little after 4:00 and got up around 4:30. Got dressed for a ride, cleaned the dishes and started the dishwasher, then I gathered up my food and water bottles (one with Gatorade) and headed out. I drove to Harrah's Rincon and parked in the parking lot, got there a little before 5:40. It was cool but not cold, and there wasn't a marine layer I was going to have to ride through like last time. I was rolling a little after 5:45, heading up to the 76. My left glute muscle was tight and a little sore at the beginning of the ride, but it loosened up okay. I didn't push really hard on the climb up to South Grade Rd, but I was still averaging over 200 W. Will need to dial this effort back when I ride next week. I had arm warmers on, but once I got on South Grade Rd I pushed them down, as it was a pretty nice temperature to ride in by that time. Rode up to the top in about 1:38 (I stopped once on the climb to take a picture), have done it faster but was pleased with this time. I kept going over to East Grade Rd without stopping, climbed a little more, then started the descent. I stopped soon after to take another picture, then took the descent pretty fast but still about a minute slower than last time. I wasn't as cold this time, I had put my arm warmers back on. Down to the bottom and the intersection with Hwy 76, where I stopped for a short break, got out the package of sweet potatoes that Rob had given me, and stuffed some in my mouth before starting the ascent on East Grade Rd. Those things are dense, I think I worked on chewing and swallowing them for the first two miles up. Started pretty strong but slowed down a fair amount on this second climb. I was in first or second gear nearly all of the time except for the short sections where it flattened out or descended. The last couple of miles, from mile 8 to mile 10.5 or so, were a challenge. My legs were just tired, and I couldn't generate a lot of power to put into them. I was glad when I got to the short descent to Mother's Kitchen. Did the East Grade ascent in about 1:18, pretty slow. The general store was closed, but the owner (we have met him before) pointed out that the restroom was open (I used it) and would have opened the store if I needed something. Nice guy. I don't think any vehicles passed me, either way, on the way down South Grade Rd. I was pretty fast as the beginning but slowed down somewhat especially when I got back onto the 76. Down the sweeping turns, where I tried to brake less and keep more speed. There was a road construction crew near the roundabout, and I had to stop and wait for several minutes before getting the all-clear to continue. There is a Strava segment for riding up from the taco shop to the top, then down the East Grade, and reversing back to the taco shop. I how have the fourth fastest time for my age group on this segment, and that includes several rest stops. Back to the car, was glad to have completed this ride without any significant issues or mishaps.
Avg speed = 12.4 mph. Total mileage = 49.6 mi
Avg power = 156 W. Weighted avg power = 180 W
Total elevation gain = 7240' (new PR, soon to be eclipsed)
Avg heartrate = 131 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 145
Training Load = 277
Intensity = 82%
I stopped at the convenience store and got a Pepsi in a cup, then drove home from there. Legs felt tired throughout the day, but otherwise I recovered fairly quickly. Got home around 10:45 and had some time to relax in the late morning before heading over in early afternoon to meet Joe Swoboda at the Bear Roots Tavern. I had a root beer there, and we talked about general topics before focusing on plans for the upcoming backpacking trip, now scheduled for 7/12 - 7/16. There are still a couple of options for routes and regions to hike in, but it looks like the days should be fairly manageable regarding hiking distance. Headed home and had a quiet afternoon, including a short nap. I then worked on adding the functionality into my cycling analysis program to break down selected ride segments into decades for assessing power output and heartrate. The basic algorithm implementation went pretty quickly, but I fooled around with the formatting and display output for a while. Still a little more work needed, but the functionality is now there. Read for a bit in the evening before going to sleep.
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