Oct 4th - Fallbrook Loop

This weeks ride had the reputation of being long and hard-- we were going to get a break with the weather, but at 93Miles and 4395 feet of climbing it was going to justify that claim. I studied the route using Google Earth and felt that we would be ok.

On the morning of the ride, Hooter announced a change in route and we would cut off Couser and Rice Canyons. i had mixed feelings about this - in part I wanted to do it -- in other part I knew that would cut down on the suffering. :)

I had recently had the bike serviced, replaced the tires and tubes so I thought I would top off the air in the tires the night before -- mistake!! My pump has a gauge but it is not that accurate - -so I guessed it! -mistake 2!

Well the ride started fine but on the descent down Del Dios, the air must have expanded and it blew out the tire like a gun shot -- I was doing about 30mph and luckily it was the rear tire-- it if had been the front - well let's not think about that one!



I was able to control the bike and stop. Brent, Wain, Cowboy and Diane stopped and we changed out the tire, I checked for glass etc. . but I must have missed damage to the side wall. I was to discover that in a minute. I continued over Del Dios and caught the group up.



We rode through Escondido -- who came up with the idea of putting the cement works in the middle of town ! - and bang the second flat. Now bear in mind it has been years since I double flatted and I had only had one flat in last 3 years -- two in the space of 45 mins was tough. I felt that I was breaking the rhythm of the group and slowing everyone down.. but these guys are great and as Rob M said -- we all get our turn at this.

We had to "boot" the side way of the tire with Adam's "Device" and some Hooter Duct tape. Hooter did a great job in fixing the tire but now I was down to zero tubes and a long way to go. Apparently, it was a bad day for flats and group 3 had 6 !

When we got to SAG 1 - at 38M, we were 3 hrs in and only a third into the ride.. we had to cut it short now -- the rest of the ride was familiar and we ran into Group 2 at the second SAG. A strong wind made the Oceanside bike path hard work and we paced lined along it -- with Hooter pulling for the complete 7 miles.. we were clipping at about 20 mph into the wind and it felt like it .. but it was fun to the GP train -- not quite the postal express but we were cooking!

Back on the familiar coast, Hooter, Julie S, Rob and I were out the front and were moving at a fairly respectable speed. Given I ride the Carlsbad to Solana Beach route a lot, I feel like it is home ground and can judge it pretty well.





We made it back to Solana Beach and the chocolate milk tasted good!

The numbers (so we were about 500 feet of climb less than planned and 14 miles short of the distance) but that is doable to make up.
Distance:
77.66 mi
Elevation Gain:
3,823 ft
Calories:
4,586 C
Avg HR: 144 bpm
Max HR: 179 bpm

It was fun ride, and I changed the tire, reclaimed the boot and will buy a new pump this week!!

One more organized shorter ride next week and we are down the to wire!

Sunday 27th Sept - Change of plan - Oceanside Ranger twist

This week was supposed to be an inland ride of 82 miles with 3368 of climbing, but we were having exceptionally hot weather so at the last minute the route was changed to San Clemente and back.

I had been in Germany the week before, so flew back on the Saturday - which is 23 hrs door to door, which meant that getting up and driving to the start at 5 am was not high on my list -- so I decided to ride and meet the group on the way up the coast for the start of what I thought was the Ranger twist. I soon found out that the ride was through Camp Pendleton - which meant I needed my drivers license -- which of course I didn't have.

I was hoping that as part of a group (all wearing the same outfit) that we could talk to the sentry and get on -- we were able to do that but I was wondering for the next few hours what would happen if I couldn't get back on the return- I knew the only option was to ride I5 on the shoulder - not that was that appealing :-). We had done this ride before and a couple decided to turn around and cut it short. I wanted the miles though and so with a mixture of some of group 3 and 4 we continued North.

On the return, I started to feel the effects of the traveling and week before. Mainly it was dehydration, I just couldn't seem to get enough fluid in me. I really started to fade after about 60 miles and kept going the best I could. I was determined to get 80 miles out of it .. so continued down with Francesca until I felt that I would have the 80 once I did the U turn.

I then headed North on my own and made it home in not the best shape! If you look at the numbers it looks something like this:

80.27 mi
Elevation Gain:
2,886 ft
Calories:
4,823 C
Avg HR: 145 bpm
Max HR: 181 bpm

It's funny, when we started this, an 80 mile ride would have seen enormous -- and if it had not been for the dehydration this would have been fine. It just shows how the training program is working.

Was fun to get to know some of the group 3 riders too