Well, this was an eventful day. I was originally going to ride with Rob Tran from Target, other Bisikleta riders had opted out for numerous reasons. Woke up to a message from Rob saying he wasn't going to ride, so I planned on a solo ride. Paula texted me and asked if I wanted to join the Swamis group that she rides with. I said yes, and after some back-and-forth, we agreed on a place to meet, the Via Rancho Park n Ride. I got ready as quickly as I could and rode over there via the freeway to keep the riding time as short as possible. Got there before she did, and then she told me her plan was to ride from this spot down to Solana Beach. Seemed ambitious to me, but I said okay, and we headed out. I had stopped my ride from home and saved it, so this ride started from the Park n Ride. We headed up Via Rancho Pkwy, I dialed my effort back and rode with her for most of the climb. We got over to Del Dios Hwy and turned left there. On the first downhill, near the bottom, I hit something big in the road, didn't see what I hit, but it threw both of my water bottles off and flatted my rear tire. I was able to find one of the water bottles but not the other. It took longer for me to replace the tire than I would have liked, some difficulty in getting the tire off, and then back on. After that chore, we were off again. We rode together to the bigger descent, and I followed her down the hill, no difficulty on the descent, even though the wind was swirling somewhat. We stayed on Paseo Delicias into RSF village and then took Linea del Cielo out of town. I was stressing a little about being late for the 8:30 meet-up time, but Paula said it wasn't a big deal. We rode to Lomas Santa Fe and took it down to the coast, where most of the others were waiting. We still had to wait for another rider, so we weren't the last ones to show up. From there, we headed north on PCH at a slower pace than usual for me, but I was okay with it. Here are the names of some of the riders I met and talked with on the ride: Variba, Jean-Louis, Brian, Gina, Anna, Otto, Ralph, and Brielle. Folks were very nice in general. Just before we got into Carlsbad, Jean-Louis and I got out ahead and pushed the pace a little more than the rest of the group, creating a gap. We rode through Carlsbad and then turned on State St at the roundabout on the northern end of the city. Then it was left on Laguna Dr and another left on Jefferson St. Rode over the freeway and then took a right on Marron Rd, followed by another right on Monroe St. A little climb here, then another right on Carlsbad Village Dr, with a left soon after on Highland Dr. Around this point Ralph told Variba to hit the gas, so she pushed the pace, and the three of us gapped the others. She has some sprint in her. We took a right to stay on Highland Dr (Ralph missed the turn and caught up with us later), then another right on Hoover St to get to Adams St, where we turned left to keep heading roughly south. We took a right on Park Dr and followed it around until we stopped for a bio break at a neighborhood park. Took a couple of pics here, then we turned on Kelly Dr and rode up to ECR. A right turn there, gathering everybody together at the turn, then another right on Cannon Rd, taking it to Faraday Dr, where we turned left. At this point, I knew basically where I was, most of the streets before this turn were unfamiliar to me. There was a climb back up to ECR, and Variba and I used it to stretch ourselves a little bit. We turned right on ECR and took it to La Costa Ave. Brian split from the group around here, the rest of us turned right on La Costa Ave and rode into a pretty stiff headwind coming from Tropical Storm Rachel. It was around this point that I started getting concerned about finishing the ride before the storm came in. I pulled a small group of riders over to Saxony Rd, where we turned left and rode up to Quail Hollow Dr / Quail Gardens Dr. I had ridden down these roads but never up, and I was a little apprehensive about the climb up to Quail Gardens. J-L rode ahead of the others, then Variba and I got out in front, she was further ahead. I tracked her down, and we rode together up to the turn. I pushed my pace and dropped her on the climb, which turned out to be not anywhere as tough as I thought it would be. I got to the top and rode to Leucadia Blvd before turning around and riding back to the entrance to Fox Point Farms, our planned coffee stop. The weather was definitely coming in by this time, and several riders kept going, while we stopped for a bit. Paula and I were the last to get our drinks, and the service was really slow (one barista), so the others were finished by the time we had our drinks. We were splitting from them anyway, so they took off. Paula quickly downed the drinks, then we rode to Leucadia Blvd and turned left. It was a little sketchy on the descent to ECR, with a stiff tailwind that was moving my bike around. On familiar roads by this time, we took Olivenhain Rd up to RSF Rd, benefiting from a steady 20-mph tailwind any time we were generally heading east or south. I was still feeling strong, but Paula was slowing down, even with the tailwind helping her along. We gathered together at the turn onto El Camino del Norte and took that little climb together up toVia de Fortuna. Right turn there, then a left on El Montevideo got us back to Paseo Delicias. We rode to VdlV, turned there and took it down to Via de Santa Fe and then over El Apajo to San Dieguito Rd. I gapped Paula again on this relatively flat section, so I knew she was fading. I dialed my pace way back on the Three Witches climb, where we had a big help from the tailwind. Up to CdS, where I called Ann to make sure the car was home. She texted me that the rain was supposed to have started, and shortly after this text the rainfall started for us. It was light at first and got heavier as we rode back toward 4S Ranch. It never got really heavy, but both of us were wet and pretty dirty from road grime. We rode back home via RB Rd and then through the neighborhood, arriving there before the rain got steady again. The stats below are a combination of the short ride I took over to the meet-up spot and the longer ride with Paula.
Avg speed = 15.2 mph. Total mileage = 70.8 mi
Avg power = 114 W. Weighted avg power = 145 W
Total elevation gain = 3880'
Avg heartrate = 116 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 83
Training Load = 229
Intensity = 65%
I was pretty wet and dirty when I got home, so I changed quickly, put Paula's bike in the back of the car, and drove her back to our meet-up spot. It was raining steadily by this time. I dropped her off, helped her put the bike on the rack, then drove home. Took a shower to wash off the road filth. Was hungry but not ravenous, so I had cheese and biscuits, then some cole slaw while watching a little NCAA football. Afternoon and evening were quiet. I finished the book about black holes and started another one, The Perfect Theory, by Pedro Ferreira, about the general theory of relativity.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.