Entire Ride from Encinitas

Data for the Entire Ride from Encinitas

On Sunday I rode to Palomar Mountain with my friend Rick.  We had a great ride and although it was a little warm we survived the heat of Rincon Springs.  Rick is from Iowa.  He hosted me when I did the infamous Trans Iowa race.  As a good host, I loaned him Felicia a Felt F2 with Di2.  We left Encinitas at 6:15 am.

Lake Wholford Climb new PR of 11:15 Normalized Power 292 watts 4.3 w/kg

Above you see my power chart for the Lake Wholford Climb.  Below is the data for the climb.  I had a much better climb than on May 28th.  I took a 1:30 off my time.  It really helps to have fresh legs when going out on these centuries and doing timed climbs.  The last time I went to Palomar Mountain was after my hellacious experience up to Dawson Saddle where I was soaked to the bone and nearly froze.   I felt good through the climb and felt I could have pushed just a little harder.  I PR’d the climb and I am hopeful that with a little more training at higher intensity I should be doing the Lake Wholford climb in under 11 minutes in the future.

Comparison of data from May 28 (Left) and June 6 (Right)

Palomar Mountain Climb from store 1:18:30 Normalized Power 239 watts 3.5 w/kg

Above is the graph for the Palomar Mountain Climb.  I felt good but faded a little through a small section of the climb.  I finished strong and would like to improve my time towards my PR which is 1:16.  I’m really close just need to cut two and half minutes.  Below is the data and you can see the numbers are much improved on the graphic on the right for June 6.

Comparison of data from May 28 (Left) and June 6 (Right)

Let me help with some of the analysis.  I used the same gear ratios of my standard 53/39 and 11-23 cassette.  Yet because my legs were fresher my average numbers were better.

Cadence — was 3 rpm higher.

Average watts– up 28 watts– 12% increase

Normalized Power– up 18 watts.

Average speed — up 1mph from 8mph to 9mph

Intensity Factor– up from 80% to 87%

In my search for something completely different I found a website called Strava.com  I posted to it and found my friend Jerald Cook was posting on there as well.  It is a website where you upload your GPS files.  Their software automatically seeks out known climbs and then ranks the riders who have ridden the climb.  Pretty cool eh?  So here is the site and the link to my Palomar ride. I am now KOM of the local guys that ride Palomar Mountain.  Of course, as soon as I publish this blog posting 100 cyclists are going to go out and beat my time.  I guess a couple of days at the top as the KOM will be nice little memory.  But since few people would believe that I could be King of the Mountains of anything I took a screen shot and posted it below.

My friend Rick on Felicia- not bad form for an Iowan on a 12 mile descent

JAMIS XENITH SL

I am riding for Felt Bicycles this year.  You will notice I have positioned the Felt F2 in front for this picture.  However, on this day, and weekend for that matter, I have been test riding a Jamis Xenith SL.  I am evaluating the bike as a perspective new brand for our store.  I really enjoyed my long test ride of the Xenith SL.  It is a great bike with a great ride.  All the usual accolades are appropriate, smooth ride, climbs well and descends well.  I also believe it would make a great addition to our line-up at the store.  Jamis carries a wide and diverse line up of bikes from kids to pro-level race bikes.  More on the Xenith SL

And finally I need to give a SHOUT-OUT! to my friends at Smith Optics.  They hooked me up with a sweet pair of Pivlock 90 sunglasses.  I think they are very nice glasses, optically and aesthetically.  Thank you Smith Optics I’ll be wearing your glasses fo sho!