Aztec Century, CarboMax Back-Breaker

Today is a good day to pick up a few things and also get in a 100 miler. Prepped up the SOMA Rando bike last night. Added the HB bag and lubed the stretched out 6701 Ultegra chain. Nytro only had one Ultegra chain last week and that went on the Fuji carbon bike. I also rolled up my old back-pack and strapped it to the front of my HB bag. Off I went before 0700 to around 49 degree clear skies. A little nippy with the wind chill so I added a paper vest under my NCCC yellow/white club jersey to compliment the wool arm warmers.

Saw Chuck's wife, Gretchen, cycling on Mission Road. Her head down and all bundled up! Yelled at her, but don't think she heard me. Finally the sun came out as I got near the coast. Several commuters rolling along to what seemed a slight tailwind? Stopped at a red light near Palomar Airport Road and Micki from Revolution bike blasted by on his pseudo-loaded Fargo! I figured I would catch up to him in due order. I pulled to within ten feet on a little climb. Another red light! Of course he ran that one to! Nice example for a bike shop employee. Stopped at Swami's for a whizz and gulp of water.

Picked up Dura Ace instead of Ultegra

Racer with black jersey went by at Surfer Kook's. I pulled him good along the Cardiff Beach and finally passed him before Solana Beach. Said "Hi Tim". It was rando Tim Knowles. Rode with him for a while and we chatted about his new Fargo. I mentioned I was planning on converting my "Trail" route to Brevets and if he would be interested in riding them. "Luv to". Said he would ride them all! Sounds good to me. Still need a dirt bike to lead them along the route. LOL. Tim's daughter is a new pastry chief at a shop near the Del Mar Racetrack. He turned off there to meet up with her and try some samples, I'm sure.

A couple of well fed racers passed me on the way up to Del Mar. Paced up Torrey with a decent climb. Stopped at the top for water. Driving range looked real green with the recent rains. Looks like Tiger will be back here next year for sure now that his back is recovered and he is swinging well again. Golf needs him back for ratings & interest.

Felt good now as I cyclied past UCSD and down Gilman Drive. Rose Canyon Bike Path was all dried out now so no detour like last Saturday's ride. Forgot to check air in tires before I left this morning. Rear was a little low. Thought I might stop at MTB Warehouse on Santa Fe Street, but they weren't open yet. Did the sidewalk cut and was soon cycling down Morena Blvd. Keith mentioned they were doing construction there and BEWARE. A few cones set up in the SB lane. No problem. India Street had some more construction but no traffic jams. No tailwind help through Mission Valley. No traffic either. I soon spun my way up Montezuma Road in the 34T ring. McDonald's had 4 customers!

Ordered a HF Sundae with a side of ice water. Cost $1.69 here vs $1.16 in Bonsall. Laced the ice cream with a Tri-Berry GU Gel. Sat and listened to 2 well-spoken older guys talking about Jay Leno's car collection. Especially his 1955 Roadmaster Buick, which he sleep in during the 60's. Soon I was heading downhill and back through Mission Valley again. No strong headwind this trip! Same on WB Friar's Road. Slight construction slow-down by India Street, but I hopped onto the sidewalk and missed it all.

Took Morena Blvd again and had a slight tailwind all the way. Quite unusual around here. I was cruising at 19 mph in the big ring the whole way. After the loop-e-doop I was quickly back on Santa Fe again. Thought about stopping at Bike Warehouse to top off my tires, but kept rolling. Slight headwind now as I plodded back up the Rose Canyon Bike Path. Met a few UCSD commuters on Gilman and also when I cut off on Scholar Drive through the Campus. No action till I got to Encinitas, where I stopped for a bit at Nytro.

Talked with Joe Morgan about my second Shimano chain. Also needed 2 SRAM 10-Sp Quicklinks for the new chains.He went looking for it in the back. I filled up my bottles and went out to the bike. Later Joe said the bad news was that someone sold my 6701 Ultegra chain. The good new was that he replaced it with a Dura Ace chain! Nice and shiny with full plating on the inner and outer plates! We chatted a bit about a MTB for my dirt rides next year. No Cannondale Demos this year. Dead end. Oh, well. Added 10 psi to the the rear tire and hit the road for the next stop.

Bruce had a full bucket of CarboMax!

Must be a tailwind as I was doing a fast 20 mph fast cruz up the coast. Turned off on Poinsettia Lane and climbed inland. Stopped over at Bruce Tipton's house to pick up some CarboMax maltodextrin mix. He was outside watering the grass. Bruce had a full 5 gallon bucket of the stuff he got from Mike Tull! Can't carry that in my backpack. Decided to put it in smaller bags. Bruce was nice enough to do that and I packed 2 bags into the backpack and headed out for the 3 climbs ahead on the way to finish up. That added about 16 lbs to my back. OUCH! ( I weighed it at home) I finally figured out a way to carry it OK. Get in the drops and let the backpack rest on your back instead of the shoulders! TA-DA! Several randos use a Camelbak on the long rides. Never figured out how they can tolerate that extra weight on their back.

Not too bad as I was making good time now. At each stop light I would rest the overloaded backpack on my seat to take the weight off my shoulders. With the sea breeze, it wasn't long and I was uploading stuff in the garage. Guess I'll have to repackage all that CarboMax and put into the fridge to delay the deterioration?

Good ride today. More rain forecast later in the week on Friday, so my extra two stops took care of the chain pick-up, and also got the dated CarboMax off Bruce's hands. ( He doesn't take that stuff due to sensitive stomach) I'll put the slick Dura-Ace chain on the SOMA tomorrow and give the CarboMax a go too. Any adverse effects and the dumpster diners will be getting a Christmas bonus early!

Sunny skies
Hi: 79     Lo: 49
101 miles

-randorides