Sunday August 16, 2009 Training Ride

Today was an early start as the Scott & BR Cycling Challenge contestants had an immunity challenge. We had to count the calories in a bunch of Accelerade energy gel packs stuffed into a jar. I was way, way off. I totally over estimated the number of gel packs. If I'm not mistaken, Pat Thomas won with a number of around 8,100. 2 riders get cut in the contest this week. Fingers crossed. The ride from Del Mar to Ramona itself was great. I rode with group 3 today. It's a little more social than group 2 and I wanted to chat more with Mike Henderson and some of the other contestants which was nice. Adam and Joe rode up with group 2. The climb up Scripps Poway Parkway was nice. I found a good rhythm and felt good. The QMDC SAG stop was great as usual, complete with fruit-kabobs. Refreshing. The ride to Ramona was fine, except all the traffic on Hwy 67. I took a wrong turn in Ramona, and had to sprint to catch my group after stopping to talk to the Group 2 guys at a stop light. The ride back on Highland Valley Road was great, except I flatted right before the descent to the valley. Mike Henderson stopped and I got the flat fixed pretty quickly. Then, on the descent, I flatted again. I exhausted my Co2 cartridages and was stuck. A non-QMDC rider stopped to help and he had a pump. Our ride leader Mike noticed I was missing and rode up Highland Valley (no small feat at a 9% grade) and helped. He gave me a pointer that was new to me about checking for a pinch after putting a new tube in the tire. That is, looking for the wheel tape to make sure the tube hasn't snuck out between the tire and the rim. I always looked for the tube, but this is much easier. Thanks Mike. The ride through Rancho Bernardo, Penesquitos and through Del Mar Heights was a lot of fun. Those are roads I'm very familiar with since I use them on my training rides. I stopped at Scripps Green Hospital to see a friend who's sick, then stopped at Subway for a foot-long sandwich. I was starved! The sun really wiped me out, I guess. I got a little sunburned swimming at the Cove yesterday, and adding the sun today just wilted me. I Should sleep well tonight!