workout log: 25 june 2006

Activity: road cycling
Location: Aliso Viejo, CA > San Clemente, CA
Distance: 54.2 miles (moderately hilly)
Duration: 3:15
Weather: warm and breezy, 75 to 85 degrees
Avg HR: 158 (max 181)
Type: aerobic

My California ride with Jeff, marathon runner extraordinaire and all-around great guy (tip ‘o the hat to Dianna for hooking us up on IM). Jeff arranged a loaner bike for me from Edge Cyclesports: a Seven Elium SG which is the personal bike of one of the shop’s staff. It’s a $7,500 bike per his setup, and I borrowed it gratis, so long as I didn’t break anything. The bike was a shade too small for me, but I compensated by using low-profile SPD road pedals and my Shimano SPD sandals, which have a lower cleat platform.

And the ride was fantastic! It rode over the Laguna Hills to the Pacific Coast Highway, down through Dana Point and San Clemente to Camp Pendleton. The PCH portion was mostly flat with some long rolls of hills- perfect for a good, fast pace. I went easy with Jeff to warm up over the first 11-or-so miles, then turned up the gas from there. I averaged an estimated 24-26 mph on the flatter middle portion of the ride to Camp Pendleton, and Jeff got a draft from me on the return part of said flat until we reached San Clemente. It was his longest ride ever on his still-new road bike, and he did really, really well. I had better “sea legs” than him, but that’s to be expected, as I’m a cyclist and he’s a runner.

But we both had fun, got to chat and exchange stories, and have a great time in the gorgeous California weather.

You can see Jeff’s GMaps Pedometer profile of the route here, and you can read his account of the ride here.