Blow me down...

This week's big ride was another run up and down the coast. We did a total of 62 miles today under very blustery conditions. There were a total of 7 riders in my group. We were back to the majority of our core riders this week and not surprisenly, the pace line was much smoother than last week when we had 4 new riders.

It was a very cold and windy day. The forecast was for rain but we luckily didn't get any on the ride. The wind was very challanging over the long mileage and made good drafting essential.

Overall it was a very good ride for me. The week before the ride had really tired me out and I was a little worried about this week as I knew we were going to increase the mileage. Christine made some delicious pasta the night before. I had also made sure to watch my hydration the last few days including adding electrolytes to my normal water drinking. These small changes made all the difference in the world. I felt strong the entire ride.

My only complaint about the ride was that I was very cold for almost all of it. After working up an initial sweat, I took off my windbreaker and did about 1/2 the ride without it. We don't stop very often so I didn't really have a chance to put it back on for a long while. On the way back our last stop was right before the last big climb of the day. I was torn between putting it on and possibly being uncomfortable during the climb or leaving it off and being cold the rest of trip back to base. I decided to put it on and was happy I did. The wind was biting even on the climb.

One interesting thing about this week as that we had Coach DJ along with us. He gave me some very helpful tips about bike management on the road. He also tested me on the climbs. As I mentioned from last weeks ride, I have a tendency to take off at the first sign of elevation. We hit a moderately steep but very long incline at Faraday avenue in Carlsbad near Palomar Airport and I pulled ahead of the group. We are instructed to climb at our own pace as everyone has different speeds uphill. I was by myself for a while and DJ pulls up next to me. I initially thought he was going to rein me in and asked if I should wait for the others. He told me that we could do whatever I wanted as we had a planned stop at the top of the hill. Music to my ears. The slope was moderate enough that I could really maintain a good cadence. I concentrated on making "circles" with my pedaling by pulling up as well as pushing down with each stroke and just hammered away. It was a very good workout. Towards that end he reminded me that we still had about 20 miles to do so I should kick it down a notch. Really fun.

At Torrey, DJ was there again when I pulled away. He let me get ahead and then caught up to me and then tantalized me by staying just ahead of me. We call it "rabbiting". I tried my best to get him but I'm just not at that level yet. He pulled away and beat me to the top by a good minute or so. There's always room to improve, right?

Today was the longest mileage for me ever at 62 miles which was good for 4144 calories burned!

Next week, we finally get away from the coast and move inland. Can't wait.