This was a frustrating morning. Woke up early, but still got enough sleep. Had some cereal, then I got ready for the Bisikleta ride. I saw that my Wahoo was running low on charge, so I decided not to load the planned route for the day. Rode over to the 4S Target through the neighborhood and then the long way through the 4S Ranch neighborhood, several people were already there.. Others started showing up, including several right around 7:30. Urgh! On this day, at the start, there were the following riders: Ray, Perse, Jed, Fritz, Andy, Paula, Charlie, Nel, Rob T., James, and Aaron. I only vaguely remembered what the route was, so others prompted me about the start. We headed over to PdS and took it through the Del Sur neighborhood and down to CdS. James and I were out front. I think the others saw this as a more casual-paced ride, at least at the start. After the turn onto CdS, I rode for just a little bit and then caught a screw (with a washer!) in my front tire, flatting it right away. This was a portent of things to come. I changed the tube, got my tire pumped (slowly) up to about 85 psi, and we were off. I was pumped with adrenaline, so I took off, with James out in front again, and powered up the CdS bump, leaving him behind and continuing to push all the way down to the turn onto Carmel Valley Rd. I got there, several others came in, and then we found that somebody (Rob T.) had had a flat. We waited there for a while, eventually the others showed up without Rob. His tire had been damaged too much, so he had to call for a ride. We headed down to the 56 bike path, James and I again out in front but Ray further in front of us. Around the bend, and we saw Ray by the side of the road. Another flat! He was running tubeless, so he learned how to install a plug, filled the tire with CO2, and was pretty quick with the fix. I waited for Jed to pack his stuff back up, then the two of us rode to catch up with the others. Down to the 56 bike path, taking it to ECR. By that time we had caught up with some other riders, but the group was splintered and would generally stay that way for the rest of the ride, unfortunately. At this turn Perse started riding back, as his knee was really bothering him. So, we were down to 10 riders. I was initially at the back of the group but caught up with some other riders on the shallow climb up to Carmel Mountain Rd, where we turned right and rode down to Sorrento Valley Rd, taking another right. Aaron and I were out in front for a bit on this stretch, I told him about the skin cancer treatment and my blotchy face. Back to Carmel Valley Rd, where we split the group again. Paula and I rode at the back and ended up turning into the parking lot for Torrey Pines SB, since she wanted to get a picture along the coast highway at a particular spot. We rode up a pedestrian path to PCH and continued north until she found the spot. Took the picture, then we turned around and headed toward the Torrey Pines climb. On this section I somehow got another front tire flat, didn't see what caused it, but I had to push hard to catch up to her and let her know. We stopped by the entrance to the other SB parking lot, and I fixed this flat with my second tube. The repair went fairly quickly (Aaron was there at the beginning, but we told him to go ahead), then the two of us rode at Paula's pace up the inside route on Torrey Pines. By this time, I knew I wasn't going to be setting any records, so I dialed my pace back for the most part. Once we got to the top, we heard that Ray had ridden ahead to get back sooner. Over to Genesee Rd, going down the hill and turning to get onto the bike path that runs along the west side of I-5. Charlie thought I had fallen behind again, so he stayed to wait for me until calling me to find out my situation. I was ahead of him, so I waited at the turn, then we rode together down the hill to meet up with the others. This was the last time our reduced group was all together, we really splintered after this. We headed over to Vista Sorrento Pkwy and took it north. The original plan was to ride through a neighborhood, but Fritz and Nel, who were in the lead, didn't have the route loaded, so they ended up riding back to Carmel Mountain Rd. I decided to have the group follow them, and only James stayed on the original route. The rest of us rode up to CMR, turned right, then turned right again to stay on CMR. Andy was falling back by this point, so I sent the others ahead and waited for him, then then two of us rode to the top and over to Carmel Country Rd, where we turned and took the nice downhill back to the 56 bike path. I had hoped to catch up to some of the other riders on this descent but caught an unfortunate red light that slowed me down. Eventually, Andy and I caught up with the tail end of the group, for just a short while, as we got on the 56 bike path and took it all the way back to CdS. Andy's pace was slow, so I dialed my pace back and rode with him to make sure he was okay and could get back to the starting point. Jed, Paula, and Aaron waited to see that we made the turn onto CdS, then they gapped us again. Andy was plugging away, and we stayed pretty much together on the ride back to Target, with me getting out ahead a couple of times during climbs and then waiting for him to catch up. I was running out of energy as well, it had been a hectic ride for me. Back to the starting point, where Nel, Paula, and Jed were still there. I stayed around for just a short while before heading home. It was cloudy but still warm and more humid than usual. I took RB Rd to W Bernardo Dr and followed that route home, very glad to pull into the garage.
Avg speed = 15.5 mph (15.7 mph). Total mileage = 49.4 mi
Avg power = 129 W. Weighted avg power = 158 W
Total elevation gain = 2950' (2960')
Avg heartrate = 132 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 117 (120)
Training Load = 192 (195)
Intensity = 72% (73%)
Got home had a light lunch, and watched a little World Cup on TV before heading upstairs and taking a nap, after which I felt better. Later I patched the two tubes that I had flatted earlier on the ride. Watched a little more TV in the afternoon. Evening was quiet, I read quite a bit and enjoyed a piece of the peach pie that Ann had made for Independence Day. Turned in fairly early, after the fireworks quit going off.
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