Great group ride

So the ride wasn't all that challenging, but the people were great. We met at Mitchell Park in San Luis @ 8:30. Unlike Tucson, it doesn't snap cold here at sunrise, so I was pleasantly surprised by the warm morning temps. A good variety of riders showed up. I got a few leads on good rides before the group split. My group (seven riders) rode up Santa Rita from the coast to Templeton, and meandered our way back to San Luis. I met people from all over a Canadian and an Irishman, Gordon who's been in California for a week. I would have liked to have my camera, but alas, I chose to take food instead. After the group got back to town, I wanted more time/miles, so I did Prefumo Canyon. I still can't get over how scenic the views are. All-in-all a solid ride.

I had a well-deserved smoothie after the ride, but my true culinary achievement was the hamburger and mixed greens, mushrooms, orange peppers, campari tomatoes, cucumber, onions, avocado, & balsamic salad. Yum. I'm tried, but more so excited about Erin arriving tomorrow evening!

ill

I feel ill. Tension headache and upset stomach.

Decided to rest

So I decided that today is a rest day, so I'm catching up on my world events. I open up CNN.com and this is the picture I see. That dude looks scary, but I'm also wondering how hot it was in Baghdad today? I'll bet you he's breakin' a sweat. Also, Nat sent me a hilarious SNL short.

Draggin' a bit

Rode south today. First on the bill was Prefumo Canyon. It's a great climb close to home. I was up and over the whole thing (1300 ft?) within an hour of riding. It's picturesque; that's all I can say. I'll take my camera next time I climb it. One thing to note, if you climb it the other direction, there's ~1 mile of relatively steep dirt that you'll have to contend with. After the climb I headed south along the coast, through Pismo Beach (with it's 1700+ ft. pier) and Grover Beach. I got a little lost north of Guadalupe, near the Conoco Phillips refinery. It was odd to see (I couldn't actually see it) a refinery in the middle of all the state and national parks. Back inland to Arroyo Grande, and then north along Orcutt to San Luis. I was dragging the whole time and might have to take a rest day tomorrow. I had a siesta when I got home; when I woke up it was dark outside.

Almost epic

Today's ride was a great ride, but a hour or so short of being epic. I rode the Pacific Coast Highway out to Morro Bay (where I saw a Slipstream rider), cut east (inland) to Atascadero via Hwy 41 (where I got stung by a bee in my jersey ~15 times), north to Templeton, back west on Hwy 46. Here's where it gets interesting: Santa Rita Creek Rd. Going the other direction this climb is known as "The Wall", a name well earned. Because I already had some elevation it wasn't that bad of a climb, but the descent is a potential killer. I rode off the road when I overcooked a corner and was surprised by a Mercedes. No harm, no foul. After hitting Cambria, I had a tailwind and was able to cruise at 30 mph all the way to Cayucos. I just tempo'ed the rest of the way back into town.

Excited to be here

I'm just excited to be here. I rode downtown this morning, just to reacquaint myself with the town. I stopped at a few places, the bank, the market. When I got home, I sat out on the back porch and finished Naked by David Sedaris. It's a strange book; I don't really know if I liked it. Either way, it was a book that you could put down or pick up with ease.

My 'recovery' ride wasn't quite that. I should have gone easier and shorter, but it's hard to do when it's only your second day in California. I rode to Arroyo Grande and back. It's a great ride. Lots of vineyards along the way. I snapped a photo of the backyard when I got back. It's been 3 years since I was out here, and the backyard has transformed. Ron & Betsy have put in raised beds for produce, etc. After a good dinner I'm now weighing all my ride options for tomorrow.

Ahhh, California

At last. Let's be honest, Tucson has great weather, but Cali riding hands it to Tucson. I arrived in San Luis at ~4am pst. I was up by 9:30 and out for a ride by noon. My Uncle Ron and I did a favorite route of his that I've done before. It's been a few years since I've been to San Luis for riding, and I forgot how great the riding is. One thing I am bummed about however is that the Central Valley Classic Pro/1 field is full. I really wanted to do that race. Oh well. More training for me.Uncle Ron

Ugh

SAT: The race was hard. Ninety minutes of snake alley like efforts. I did 60 minutes of the race. About 5 minutes into the race I lost both bottles in one pothole-hit. It wasn't that hot outside, but you can't do a 90 minute crit with no water. I got a spectator to hand me back my OS mix, but that wasn't going to save me. Check out the course profile.After an hour of that loop, my back was killing me and my workout was over. I got a nice, complementary massage after the race, but somewhere along the line lost my sunglasses. I still haven't found them. A loooong drive ensued.

I'm gettin' outta here

Spent all/most of the day packing up my stuff for tomorrow's race & drive to California.

Power Intervals

I've done some of these power intervals before, but not on Lemmon. Being my last true workout day in Tucson, I wanted to get this ride in. Todd and I began the ride by looping south (to extend the ride time). Once on the climb I did 10 on, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, 10 on. By the end of each interval my back would ache and my legs would shake. I thought my knees would hurt more, but I'm actually not hurting too bad after some ice. Happy hour as soon as Mike and Todd are ready to go.

Another highlight was seeing Jose in his SRAM car on Lemmon. I guess he was providing support for a tour group.