Woke up around 4:30 for this ride, since we needed to drive more than an hour to the starting point. Had some cereal for breakfast, emptied the dishwasher, and checked the route out. Then I got dressed, had already packed my gear in my backpack. I also made coffee to drink on the way. Catalin and Paula were late, so I had a little extra time. Loaded up my bike when they got here, then we drove to Pine Valley. It took a while for them to get ready for the ride once we got there. We looped through Pine Valley before getting on Old Hwy 80 and climbing out of this town. We got to the intersection with Sunrise Hwy, turned right to stay on Old Hwy 80, and took a mostly downhill or flat road over to Kitchen Creek Rd, where we turned left. I overshot the turn a little bit but quickly got back on route. As soon as we started climbing I left them behind and tried to follow my own pace. That worked for the first three miles or so, and then I noticed that my rear tire felt squishy. So I stopped and discovered I had a flat. Dang it! This was after I had swapped out my old Enve tires for sturdier Gatorskins the previous day. I swapped out the tube and had the tire seated in the bead before Paula caught up. I told her, and Catalin a little later, to keep going, and I would try to catch up. Filling the tire with air from the Cycplus pump took several minutes to get to 80 psi, where I stopped it and called it good enough. Then it took a bit to pack all my stuff back up and get back on the bike. I put in a little more effort to try and catch up to them, eventually did between mile four and five. Paula had stopped to wait for me, Catalin was still riding. I waited for her to catch up with me, got up to Catalin, then continued on at my pace. Not too long after we came to the gate across the road and had to lift our bikes over it. Then we continued on a road that had weeds growing out of it but was rideable. Stopped a couple of times to take pics or video, not always successfully. I would get ahead of them, then stop to let them catch up before continuing on. Overall, this climb wasn't too bad. It had some initial steeper sections, then the grade lowered a bit. I was able to keep a decent cadence and pace, mostly in first or second gear. Gradient would occasionally get to 7%, but a tailwind was helping us along for the most part. There was some sand on the road and an increasing number of potholes to watch out for. I rode past the second gate and kept going, and the road quality deteriorated. Got into a wooded area, and my right shifter battery finally died, so I stopped to replace it. Got it replaced before they showed up, but we stopped here for a longer break. I had eaten a banana earlier, and at this stop I ate a Clif bar. As we continued, the road quality got worse and stayed that way until we descended to Sunrise Hwy. I waited for the others to get to this intersection, then we turned right and rode several miles up to the little community by Burnt Rancheria Campground. We stopped for a break at the general store there, and I bought us ice cream treats. This was our turnaround point. We had a couple of modest climbs to negotiate before starting the long, continual descent all the way back to Old Hwy 80. I was out in front after the little climbs, and I don't think I touched my brakes during the entire descent after that. Long winding curves and a headwind to slow us down a little bit worked in our favor. This got us back to Old Hwy 80, where I stopped to wait for them. We rode the last mile and a half back into Pine Valley and got back to the car safely.
Avg speed = 13.2 mph (13.4 mph). Total mileage = 35.0 mi
Avg power = 147 W. Weighted avg power = 172 W
Total elevation gain = 3890' (3840')
Avg heartrate = 129 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 103 (103)
Training Load = 193 (173)
Intensity = 78% (79%)
Here is a breakdown of the Kitchen Creek climb (every 1.17 miles or so), which took me a little over 2 hours of riding time to complete at 11.7 mi and 4.3% average gradient.
Power Heartrate Ratio Gradient
198 W 134 bpm 1.479 4.67%
239 W 153 bpm 1.555 7.79%
181 W 145 bpm 1.249 2.81%
171 W 141 bpm 1.215 7.65%
200 W 141 bpm 1.414 6.33%
200 W 147 bpm 1.362 6.12%
151 W 134 bpm 1.127 2.36%
179 W 142 bpm 1.260 5.34%
120 W 124 bpm 0.966 3.19%
178 W 146 bpm 1.215 5.45%
Loaded our bikes up and then stopped nearby at a picnic table to have some beer (me and Catalin) and cake to celebrate Paula's birthday. Chatted for a while there before getting back in the car and driving home. This was a good day. My face was a little irritated from the skin treatment, but I'd put SPF 100 sunscreen on, so it didn't really bother me on the ride. Got home, and an came out to wish Paula a happy birthday as well. Had a refreshing shower when I got home, felt better after that. Then I had some potato salad for lunch, felt good to eat something not sweet. I watched a little TV, then called Ross to talk about tech stuff. I owe him some info on laptop recommendations. In the late afternoon we drove to Lake Poway, parked at the intersection, and walked up to the lake, where we had a picnic dinner and watched a concert by The Jackstones. They were decent, a couple of the singers, including the keyboard player, weren't so great, but the lead guitarist was good. Toward the end of the concert they did a fine cover of White Wedding, and we had to get up and dance. It was an enjoyable evening, I'm glad I wore long pants. Walked back to the car and drove home for a quiet rest of the evening.
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