Rare Weekend

I skipped my normal Saturday long mileage session with the Team as I was feeling decidedly poor on Saturday morning. All the tell-tale signs were there from last weekend and I was feeling particularly worn out on Friday night. My body ached, had the bad headache and congestion in my lungs. I woke up on Saturday morning and just rolled over and stayed in bed. Having a Saturday free is a very rare occurence for me, especially one where I resolve to stay in and rest. Christine was out of town for the Long Beach 1/2-marathon with some of her friends. So... I did what anyone else in my position would do. I spent the day bundled in a blanket, slurping chicken noodle soup and watching Samurai movies.

I woke up on Sunday feeling much, much better and had to get out on my bike. I didn't want to push it too hard so I headed out with a goal of 30 miles on the day. It was a bit cool so I wore a couple of undershirts under my jersey and rode westward towards Fiesta Island which is about 7 miles away. I get there just in time to see the awards ceremony of the last Time Trials of the season there. I didn't even know that they were going on or I would have planned to arrive earlier to catch some of it.

I started riding around the island and at about 10-miles in, I bump into one of my C-Rider teammates Brian, getting some extra miles in. He had been stung by a bee during yesterday's ride and had to abandon the ride at 30 miles as he is allergic to them. We rode another 10 miles together which was nice and then split up to go our respective ways. I headed back inland on Friar's Road which is normally very trafficky, but was very light today. Everyone must have been watching football or something. I briefly consider tackling Texas Street to climb out of Mission Valley but then come to my senses. It's a brutal unforgiving grade and I don't want to push myself too hard today. I'm feeling good so I continue westward for another couple of miles and then make the climb out of the Valley on the more reasonable Fairmont Ave, then circle back and head home. Total for the day is 35 miles at an average pace of 14.6 mph.














October 12 Route