{"id":202,"date":"2018-09-02T22:22:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T22:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/?p=202"},"modified":"2018-09-02T22:56:19","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T22:56:19","slug":"palomar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/02\/palomar\/","title":{"rendered":"Palomar Century ride – training report"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 20 years ago, when I lived in Fallbrook and drove a Jeep, I used to drive my jeep up to Palomar Mountain and find dirt fire-roads and trails along the way to justify owning a 4×4 in rural Southern California. One time, somewhere amongst the 12 miles of switchbacks rising up over 6000 feet elevation, I passed a guy riding a bicycle up the 9% grade. I distinctly remember thinking, \u201cwhat an asshole, why would anyone want to do that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday, I became the asshole. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since my recent foray into the world of road cycling, I\u2019ve made it my goal to do all the things I always thought cyclists were crazy for doing. The next two crazy rides on my list was Palomar and a century distance (100 mile ride). Since I don\u2019t often have 6+ hours to dedicate to the saddle (the amount of time it would take to ride 100 miles), I took the opportunity of an extra day off for the holiday weekend, that my wife and kids were still in school, to cross both rides off my list.<\/span><\/p>\n

I started from my house, about 3 miles inland from the Oceanside pier and not more than 50 feet above sea level, and headed east into some of the more remote, winding hills in all of San Diego County. At a point that\u2019s usually part of the return loop on longer Saturday shop rides (where Circle R Dr. meets W. Lilac Rd.) I continued east through Escondido, Valley Center, and Funner (yes they actually re-named the Rincon reservation \u201cFunner, CA\u201d) before reaching the base of the mountain climb.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dear Valley Center, I understand that your economy is about evenly split between ranching and drug trade, further evidenced by the number of syringes I saw on the side of the road, but I urge you to have a bake sale or gofundme or something to pay for resurfaced roads. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The roads through Valley Center and Funner were the roughest, most painful and dangerous I have ever ridden. Bad enough that if I ever do it again, I will look for another route to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The climb was epic. I started the ascent at about 9 a.m.; cloud coverage was just burning off but the temperature didn\u2019t get too hot. The views were incredible and the traffic minimal, mostly just a few other cyclists that I passed on the way up.<\/span><\/p>\n

I stopped briefly at the 5000 foot elevation sign, to gel and hydrate and take it in, not realizing I only had about a half mile left to the summit. The legs were shaky but I got back on and pushed to the top. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the summit, the local store was not open yet to get fresh water, so I continued down a long descent, and long gradual climb, toward the observatory. I never realized how much more down and up hill there was to get to the telescope and I was nearly out of water. Luckily the gift shop at the observatory had a few cold water bottles to sell so I refilled, re-sunscreened, cliff bar lunched and headed back. <\/span><\/p>\n

The descent down South Grade Rd was wild. Not a lot of traffic, but my paranoia had me slowing and looking back at every turn. World class bike handling practice on the 20+ hairpins; I feel like I learned more about my bike on that stretch of road than I had on all my previous rides combined.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time I got to the bottom, it was midday and hot. I stopped again in Valley Center for more water. By that time, the rough roads had taken their toll on my sit bones; my ass was so bruised, the last 30 miles I had to go to get home required lots of weight shifting, readjusting and otherwise unnecessary-out-of-the-saddle riding that made it really difficult to complete the trek. By the time I made it back into Oceanside and had about 10 miles to go, my leg started to cramp and I had to soft pedal just to keep moving forward and prevent it from locking up completely.<\/span><\/p>\n

It took me nearly 7 hours of ride time, with an extra hour for stops, which was about 1-2 hours longer than I thought it would take. The Garmin counted 103.5 miles and about 8900 feet of ascent. It was a great challenge and I am really happy to cross both accomplishments off my cycling to do list and glad to have the insight and experience under my belt to know what to expect for Giro De San Diego in October.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
from about 5000 ft on the way back down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About 20 years ago, when I lived in Fallbrook and drove a Jeep, I used to drive my jeep up to Palomar Mountain and find dirt fire-roads and trails along the way to justify owning a 4×4 in rural Southern California. One time, somewhere amongst the 12 miles of switchbacks rising up over 6000 feet… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_0437.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s9IVlY-palomar","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":230,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/01\/giro-di-san-diego\/","url_meta":{"origin":202,"position":0},"title":"Giro Di San Diego 2018 - ride report","date":"November 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Mesa Grande Century route - 105 miles, 10,000+ elevation gain Finish time: 07:13:22.36 Place: 20th of 111 This was my first organized ride and it turns out that I picked a good one. Some veteran cyclists I spoke with afterward discussed the number of other \u201cGran Fondo\u201d rides they\u2019ve done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/img_0600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":160,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/29\/memorial-day-ride\/","url_meta":{"origin":202,"position":1},"title":"A Fall for the Fallen; Memorial day ride","date":"May 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I realize I have some catching up to do on this blog so I'll try to do it quickly. After the Spring Sprint, I took it fairly easy for a week and then tried to get back into my training but was still pretty sore and tight. On a lunchtime\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/CrashDiagram-1017x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":302,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/08\/oc-triathlon-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":202,"position":2},"title":"OC Triathlon 2019 - race report","date":"June 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Official Time: 02:36:061.5k Swim: 00:33:03T1: 00:01:5040k Bike: 01:11:02T2: 00:02:1210k Run: 00:48:02Overall: 48th of 41635-39 AG: 2nd of 30 In 2014, after completing my third sprint distance race and getting completely hooked on the sport, I decided it was time to do a longer event. The Olympic distance (1.5k (.93 mi)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SCS_5543-ZF-1408-05527-1-001-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":247,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/13\/newport-dunes-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":202,"position":3},"title":"Newport Dunes Triathlon 2018 - Race Report","date":"December 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"November 4, 2018 Olympic Distance Official Time: 02:16:251500m Swim: 00:23:10T1: 00:01:3640k Bike: 01:04:51T2: 00:01:2410k Run: 00:45:24Overall: 9th of 18335-39 AG: 3rd of 24 I\u2019m 2 races behind on my blog now, so I\u2019ll try to be brief to get through them both. I came into Newport Dunes with very low\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/img_0641.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":283,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/11\/ironman-70-3-oceanside-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":202,"position":4},"title":"Ironman 70.3 Oceanside 2019 - Race Report","date":"April 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Official Time: 05:04:531.2 mile Swim: 00:34:52T1: 00:04:4756 mile Bike: 02:35:44T2: 00:02:3713.1 mile Run: 01:46:55Overall: 260th of 2,39035-39 AG: 37th of 277 The Backyard Ironman:A long time ago (2012), I (literally) stumbled upon Oceanside 70.3. I went for an early Saturday long run, pushing my (then) 6-month-old son in a jogger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/da92b914-aef3-4a5f-a03d-005e6ad18a14-4389-0000027245cf4890_file-e1554992275536.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":145,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/20\/the-good-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":202,"position":5},"title":"The good life","date":"April 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I got sidetracked from work and started to fill out an application to be an ambassador for a triathlon\/sports nutrition company. One of the prompts in the application was \"describe your perfect day\". Once I got over how odd a question to base my worthiness of representing the product\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "life is life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}