2/25/19
Wow what day!! Great start in Carlsbad. Long climb out but it was great. My buddy John who lives in Carlsbad (and owns an awesome Pedego bike shop with his awesome wife Denise) put me up for the night and rode out the first 30 miles with me which was really great. As soon as he turned around though the big climb began! By the time I got to Ramona, about 35 miles into the ride, I was crushed! About 2000 feet of climbing with 60 lbs of bike and gear, all before lunch and 22 more miles and 3300 ft of climbing left! It necessitated a big Mexican meal! After some good chicken enchiladas and a huge Coke (full sugar thank you very much) I was off again. Unfortunately, while my legs felt good, my back was spasming which was bad (back surgery 10 years ago and some arthritis / disc compression - aging sucks). Now started the real grind. Very slow, stops along the rode, and more really really slow pedaling! By the time I reached the base of the final climb, 10 miles and 1500 more climbing left, I was not good! Luckily my wife Kim rallied my daughters and I was getting all kinds of motivational texts, thank goodness! Then a virtual miracle, I realized that my hotel wasn't actually in the town I was headed to, but 3 miles closer and 600 ft lower !!! I was saved!! Day 1 in the books (plus a massive pizza and some beer - - - for the back of course)
Comments