Saturday, July 19, 2008

Whore Catagory...

Wow, what a week!

Wednesday after work my co-worker and I rode from work in Temecula to his house in Yucaipa. According to Garmin Training Center we rode 50.9 miles and climbed 3284 ft. What those stats don't tell you was that the ride was after a day at work, and it was hot out. The route was interesting, and included a couple of miles on a dirt road, and lots of scenery in the back of Temecula/Murrieta near Lake Skinner. I felt pretty good on the ride, the first 35 miles or so were all fairly flat to slight incline with nearly all of the climbing coming in the last 15 miles. On the climb Dave wasn't feeling very strong so I dropped it down a few gears and rode with him. We did quite a bit of chatting. Overall a very enjoyable ride!

I did not sleep well Wednesday night though and we were up before the sun to head to the airport for our flight to Tucson. Thursday was a long day; up at 4:30am and we didn't return to Dave's till 10:30pm (I might have gotten to bed around 11:15). One of the cool things about our trip was that we stopped at a great bike shop in Tucson, Fair Wheel Bikes. It was a great little shop and I dare say it rivaled The Path bike shop for cool items in the store.

Friday it was time to ride home. We left Dave's house at 6:30am. Dave was in a hurry to get to work so I dropped the hammer and he fell into my draft. I pushed hard! Our average speed from Dave's to work was over 22mph and my average heart rate was 150 bpm! I was taking the day off from work to go spend it with my mom as she is having a tough time with things, so I then rode from work to home. I used the ride home as a cool down, and managed to flat my rear tire for the first time (ran over a piece of metal that had a spike sticking out). The Specialized Armadillo has been a great tire, it hadn't flatted before now and is almost completely worn out!

Spending the day with my mom on Friday was a good thing.

Today was a big day! Our route took us from Harrah's Rincon Casino up the South Grade of Palomar Mtn, down the East Grade to Lake Henshaw, then back up East Grade and down South Grade. It was brutal. Although Allison and I joked about it being a Whore Catagory, by cycling standards both climbs were Category 1 climbs. The route was about 50 miles and 7200 ft of climbing, almost zero flat. I used Allison as an excuse and rode slower than I could have (average HR of 131 bpm, kept it around 150 on the climbs, Allison was around 170 trying to hold my wheel!), which is fine considering the mileage I have done in the last 7 days (nearly 300 miles) and we are riding tomorrow as well. The views up there are spectacular, I can't wait to ride that route on a clear winter day! The temps were scorching, it was hot! I was very thankful for every bit of shade out there! Overall it was a great ride! Good to see Eric again too before he leaves for the east coast.










Tomorrow I hope to have some legs and energy as we are going to ride SJT. Should be great fun!

As a side note... I have started logging my rides on http://www.mapmyride.com/ They provide a really cool service. The links to my above routes in order are here...

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/murrieta/311757461

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/murrieta/263918805

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/murrieta/283636845

Wish me luck tomorrow!

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