Chilli's Ride Jan 2, 2010

I thought this would be a good day to go do the Chilli's ride. I have been doing this ride about once a month for the last three months, so today was the day. I haven't been since completing the cycling camp out at Borrego Springs and also, I've been doing the Ranchos ride consistently. I was really curious how much improvement I've made in the fitness area. Aerobically speaking that is. Right now, I've just moved into the muscle endurance phase of my training program, so I have been building quite a strong base over the last few months of base miles. I have not concentrated on high intensity intervals, just low intensity. The saturday group rides are the one day of the week where I go out and ride competitively with the group. When I say comopetitively, I'm sure that the other guys are in an off season phase of their training as well, so you have to consider the results of the ride with a grain of salt. But, I am seeing the same guys each ride, so atleast there is some consistency to the make up of the ride and the route is the same on the Chilli's ride, so there are some definite fitness indicators.

Ride Report:

There are three decisive climbs during this ride. The total distance was 34 miles today. The first :20 it's a nice slow roll out. Once we turn onto Marina Blvd going North the pace picks up. You want to stay about mid-pack and the right side as the wind is coming from the left usually. The whole point is to be in the front group, conserve energy, yet still put in enough work to not alienate yourself from the group. I was able to get into a good position, as we went onto the bike path that would take us to the first, short climb. If you want to have any chance of being up front for the climb, without working too hard to get into a good position, you have to be in the front 5 or 6 at the end of the bike path. I was about # 6 coming onto the climb and able to stay in good position until 3/4 the way, where one guy came by. I latched onto his wheel and eventually passed him at the top. I came across the top soft pedaling in the front with a couple guys next to me. That was a great place to be, as I hadn't been able to get myself in that position on the previous two rides with this group. If you are getting the idea that there are some serious tactics involved during this ride, you are right. It's not neccesarily who is the strongest rider, it's the strongest at the right times.


There is a soft pedal regroup at the top of this climb. The next interesting part is to hop on Interstate 5 North at Gennesee (yep that's I-5). We are only on for about 3/4 of mile, but it's downhill and fast paced. A mistake at this point would put you down on the freeway with weekend traffic in southern california. Once we exit, we get onto Sorrento Valley Road, where nobody really wants to work with the "five minute" climb coming up on Carrol Canyon. I put in my time at the front and waited for someone to break away. Sure enough, a few guys came by and we caught their wheel. Red light going up hill. Had to stop, since it's a blind off ramp off of 805. This allowed quite a few riders to catch up that never would have otherwise. Once green, we went another 1/4 mile and turned onto Carrol Canyon. There is about 3/4 mile of flat before the road pitches up. It's not so long or even so steep, it's just a part of the ride that is ultra competitive. I had good position at the bottom and ended up with one other guy at the halfway point with the pack looming about 15 yards behind. Knowing that they would be coming or atleast a handful of them would, I was conserving, even when the other guy peeled off. When the group came by, I was able to latch on and keep up to the top. We ended up with about 6 guys at the top. I was at the back of that 6, but with them. I think I used a little too much energy at mid-climb. That combined with my weight (184) when most of these guys are in the 150 range is still a hinderance.

There is a regroup at the top and then the final run down Kearny Villa south running parralell to I-163. Actually, Kearny Villa is the old 163 for all of you familiar with San Diego. This is the last decisive part of the ride and ends with a sprint just before crossing over the 52 freeway. Last time, I mis read the sprint and thought it was just before crossing over the 163. Oopps! This time, I had great position all the way down. A break away group came flying by with about 1.5 miles to go. I latched onto them and got into another good position at 3rd inline. We were up to almost 30mph now on the flat. The guy in front of me went and I followed. He was up and kicking pretty good. I was still feeling really fresh, just upshifted and rode by him, continuing to upshift and still in the saddle. I could've upshifted once more and stood up, but there was no one who was coming around me, so I didn't need to.

The rest of the ride rolls back to Chilli's on Camino del Rio. A lot of people peel off during the roll in. I felt great and was happy with the ride. Tactics, fitness and strength all came together today. I guess it doesn' happen too often, but it did today. Cheers!!!!