By Bryan Mewes for the San Diego Century.
Bryan Mewes is a cycling blogger for the San Diego Century and Bike the Coast - Taste the Coast. He is preparing for the 37 mile route at the San Diego Century (though we’ll try to get him to upgrade to the 66 or 103 by May). Along with the San Diego Century he has a full schedule of 2011 events. To follow his training and stories from the road stay tuned to his regular blog posts at http://sdcentury.com and http://bike-the-coast.com
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1/8/11 and 1/9/11
This weekend was a twofer. I got a good ride in both Saturday and Sunday. I used my GPS phone and the application from Endomondo to track both rides. The tracks for both bicycle rides are linked at the end of each daily entry.
Saturday was a brutal day. I did a 5k in Irvine at 8am. Once I finished that I headed straight to Harvard Athletic Park. I was going to meet up with Zack again for our ride down the mountain to beach bike path. But he got caught up at work and couldn’t make it.
By the time I left the 5k and finally got on my bike it was about 90 minutes later. So my legs were nicely recovered and I was planning to hit the route pretty hard. I had a pretty solid pace going but I wasn’t going all out. But that was going to change. I made a turn and down the strait away I saw one other rider way ahead of me and all I wanted to do was catch her. I dropped the hammer…well to me it was dropping the hammer, and 15 grueling minutes later I finally caught her. We were in a tight area so I wasn’t able to pass her right away, so I just caught my breath for a few minutes. She was a tri girl and so we kept our four bike lengths between us and had a few back and forths. I’d pass her, she’d pass me, I’d pass her again, she’d pass me again. It was a good time. Sadly the trail ended and I went right to another trail and she went straight…which was a much better decision. For some reason the path that would take me the rest of the way to PCH was closed, so I headed back.
The ride back did not go as well as the ride out. I don’t know what happened buy my calfs were not happy with me. On the way out my calfs cramped up a few times but nothing I couldn’t pedal through real quick. On the way back they cramped up at least 8 times, I lost track after that, and I had to stop twice.
Other then the calf cramps nothing too exciting happened on the way back. It was a pretty fun ride today. Overall I did 21.01 miles with an average speed of 17.9.
View the workout track for the Irvine bicycle ride on Endomondo:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/m-PUfttKlC4
Since Zack missed the ride on Saturday we planned another ride for Sunday. We met up at the Harvard Athletic Park, which is pretty much our standard ride. Pretty early on we had a serious roadie pass us. Zack tried to jump on his draft but it was way too late for that. This guy was one of those guys that would put his chin on his stem when going downhill. It was intense…and quite impressive. He was gone seconds later.
Besides the super roadie, Sunday’s ride was very similar to Saturday’s. It was the same route, and there was another triathlete that we had some exchanges with. It made for a good recovery ride. And no cramps this time.
Sunday we did 20.53 miles with an average of 16.7.
View the workout track for the Sunday Irvine bicycle ride on Endomondo:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/h6qyBcqPN6U
Bryan’s Previous Entries:
1/2: Bryan’s Rides for the 37 mile route
12/26: Bryan Keeps up with an Ironman
12/24: Bryan’s Sights on 13 miles
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About the San Diego Century Bicycle Tour
The San Diego Century Bicycle Tour is a choice of 37, 66, or 103-mile bicycle ride starting and finishing with food, fun and music at MiraCosta College in Cardiff, California on Saturday, May 21. The cycling courses provide riders with an opportunity to taste the hills with both varying elevation gains and tasty cuisine at the Ramona aid station and finish line. Hills on the courses range from moderate on the 37 mile course to challenging on the 103 mile course. Proceeds from the ride support the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition — www.sdcbc.org — a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to making bicycling better in greater San Diego. Registration Info>>
