May 1, 2010: 80 mile bike ride
We started off not too early this week at 7:30am. We started in Poway at the Community Park. I had a week off since I was sick last week. I felt refreshed somewhat but had a late night since I was out and only had about 6 hours of sleep. I didn’t feel too crazy for the ride because they said it was going to be some climbing along with 80 miles. The week before that, we really pushed it to the limit for me.
We started off with the regular bathroom break and made our way through Civic Center Drive to where it meets Community Road. I couldn’t even remember this when we got back. We made our way to Twin Peaks Road and took a right and I knew we were heading towards Poway Lake. We made a left onto Espola Road. There were some small hills here but I knew we had a large group of 11 and that helped a bit. I think we may have gone out too fast in the beginning but it wasn’t too bad overall. We followed this and made our way onto a long straightaway. We hit Pomerado Road now and headed North.
At the end of Pomerado, we got onto the freeway for a little bit which seemed cool and dangerous. We exited onto Via Rancho Parkway towards North County Fair and made a right towards Kit Carson Park. We followed the road till we hit San Pasqual Valley Road. The light didn’t like us so we ended up running the light. It ended up turning into Ash Street and then hitting El Norte Parkway.
The left onto El Norte then right turn to Broadway looked very familiar. I was leading the group and going very strong. We eventually hit Jesmond Dene Road where there was some good climbing. I was tired and then coasted down to N Centre City Parkway. We then took a left onto Deer Springs Road and came to our first SAG. The SAG seemed very short. I just had a bathroom break and some quick food then we were off. We lost two members due to our speed. We were down to 9 people.
I led the group down Deer Springs Road. I really pushed it down. I got really ahead and had to slow down. We eventually got onto Twin Oaks Valley Road and passed the 78 till we go to Barham Drive and took a right onto Discovery Street then to Rush Drive. We took a right at the top onto Craven Road.
We got onto Discovery Street into a neighborhood and got onto San Marcos Blvd. I was doing good so far. We were going at a slower pace compared to the beginning. I think everybody had a thought in their mind to keep their energy for the last climb. San Marcos Blvd. became Palomar Airport Road which had some hills but not too many.
We took a left onto El Camino Real which took us through some hills and then a nice downhill to La Costa Ave. The headwinds were against us now. It was really windy there as it always is. We finally got close to the coast and got onto Vulcan Ave where we dodged some of the traffic before we hit our next SAG at Glen Park. The SAG seemed a little longer and I was happy. We were over halfway done.
We continued all the way through Del Mar with some hills and I had a great view of the ocean and Torrey Pines before we turned left onto Carmel Valley Road. I knew this route. I drive on it all the time. We turned onto El Camino Real and then took the bike route that went parallel with the 56 freeway. I liked this route a lot. I remember just riding it when I first bought my bike. The last part was a slow climb up to Black Mountain Road. We lost another one of our guys and a mentor. We were down to 7 people left.
Turing right onto Black Mountain Road was nice because it was downhill before we would turn onto Mercy Road. I knew how Mercy Road is. We were in for a climb. It started early. I think Mercy Road is a good climbing road all the way to the end. The first hill was long and somewhat steep. The next hill was shorter and better. After the long hill we got to the flat area of Scripps and that was nice till we go to the intersection of Pomerado and then there was a good hill there as well.
Once we go to the top of the last hill we headed over to the last SAG. It seemed deserted for some odd reason. Once of the guys we had a bee sting in his mouth and we lost another member. We were now down to 6 people. I asked at the last SAG if we had any hills left. They all seemed to joke with me. I didn’t know what was coming up. They called it the “Purple Monster.” I didn’t know what we were in for. I saw it and I almost died. I think I wanted to quit at the first 3rd of the way. I knew I couldn’t. I just keep doing my new climbing technique which included using pushing on each leg individually and pulling with each leg individually. I felt better doing it that way so that I wouldn’t cramp up. I was slow but I eventually got there. I was breathing hard and my hr was at 170+ the whole time. We turned around and went downhill. It was awesome. I was still tired and then we passed the SAG and made our way back.
We were finally back at the start and I was glad. I didn’t know how tough that was going to be and to finish without being too tired was good.
More From markdacoron
Related posts:
