The Torrey Story

This week's big Saturday ride was supposed to be another session at Fiesta Island to practice pace lines without traffic. Apparently, there was some sort of triathlon time trial thing going on we had a last minute change of plans and had to hit the road after all. I decided to move up a group to the B3's. The group was 12 people with most being pretty experienced riders.

The ride was 2hrs 50 minutes and we rode 28.6 pretty hard miles. The highlight was "Torrey". There is a 1-1/4 mile stretch of road running along side Torrey Pines State Reserve that is a 1900 foot climb and it is all uphill. While not the most feared climb in San Diego, it not a hill to be trifled with and is usually spoken of in hushed tones. Our route first took us down the big hill and then we did a U-Turn to climb back up it. Going down was a blast. No paces line were in affect as everyone just screamed down the hills. I was doing just a hair under 25 mph on the way down. About halfway down the hill, something started hitting my face as I rode by. We were right near the ocean and there was a pretty strong wind blowing in so I assumed it was sand. Get to the bottom, and everyone is talking about it. I look down and see dead bugs splattered on my arms. We rode straight through a swarm of gnats, sand fleas or whatever they were. Good thing I ride with my mouth closed.

The ride back up the hill was adventure on it's own. I started out as pace leader as we headed back. We had actually gained a little elevation after the steep drop so the way back up to the top started with a downhill. I hadn't realized what exactly was going on so I tried to maintain a good pace leader speed. As soon as the downhill hit, people started flying past me. Whoops! I tried desperately to get into a higher gear so I could crank down the hill. To much, too fast as I throw my chain. Went from first to last in about 20 seconds. Frown. Chain is really locked up but I'm able to get back on the road in about 2 minutes with help from Coach Jay. It was a blessing in disguise as I get some nice one on one time with the Coach. As we start up the hill, he gives me some climbing tips. There's the standing climb, the seated rocking climb and one other I can't remember anymore. Next thing you know, I'm caught up the the last rider. I keep cranking. My fitness is pretty good right now with all the marathon training and with my rides up and down Fairmount avenue when I ride to work so I start passing people. I'm so glad I elected to get the triple cog set rather than the double when I bought my bike. Those baby gears really make a huge difference when climbing. All of a sudden, I'm at the top and I've caught all but 2 of the riders. Felt pretty good.

The ride back was pretty uneventful except that I made a huge mistake by not bringing any food with me. I stare jealously at the other riders eating everything from power bars to Oreo cookies. I won't make that mistake again. Energy started to wane pretty quickly but I made it back ok. Spoke to Coach Jay and we agreed for me to stay in this group for at least another week. While I'm a strong rider, my biking skills still need some polishing. The entire ride I tried to hold myself back from going out too fast but I think I was still too eager. At this mileage I've got the stamina to handle it, but I was pretty tired immediately after the session and pretty sore the day after. If I'm going to complete a century ride, I really need to learn to hold myself back.