Day 1 - Pull on the Rain Gear

Departure: Ocean Beach, CA      Finish:  Pine Valley, CA.        Distance:    53.3 miles

Elevation gain:  5,665 feet (mostly in the last 26 miles)

Winds: 10-12 mph from the west

Weather:   Rain / Cold / Persistent Overcast

The greatest cycling event in the world - The Tour de France - will include 2,162 miles in 2024. They call the first stage the “Grand Depart” (the “t” is silent, of course). Today was our grand depart, but that’s where the similarity ends. We hope to accomplish our 2,940 miles in 45 days. The pros cover their course in 21 days.

The "Grand Depart"

 

We left the Pacific Ocean this morning at 8:30 and wound our way on bike paths and city streets until we left the San Diego area and followed I-8 on a frontage road. It was 57 degrees and cloudy when we departed and 42 degrees and raining at the finish. At mile 10 the rain began, and continued until the end. It was sporadic and mostly light, with a few heavy showers, but the persistence of it fomented a nice mental challenge, particularly on the climbs. As we gained elevation, we entered the clouds and diminished visiblity. At one point, as we were crossing a long, high bridge as we road on the shoulder of the interstate, I realized the cars going past us were disappearing quickly and I could not see anything over the edge of the bridge that would inform me of the purpose of the bridge. All this, while it’s raining and an 8 to 10 degree incline, and a heart rate of 145. It was wonderful!!

I am writing this blog primarily as a personal journal. I’ve never been faithful to journaling, but this adventure is too epic to entrust to my fading reservoir of memory items. So, I don’t know if anyone will read this, but I intend to include statistics, emotions, and other narratives that other readers may scratch their head about. 

During my training I learned to perform according to my heart rate. I wear a Garmin heart rate monitor on an elastic strap that fastens at my sternum. It send the HR to the Garmin computer on bike. I have found that my “happy place” for endurance is 125 beats per minute. I have also learned that my current “Zone 2” heart rate is 122 to 131 BPM as calculated by my iPhone. There are 5 zones. I try to stay out of Zones 4 & 5. If I stay in Zones 2 & 3, I have more success in riding multiple long days in a row. Currently my “resting” heart rate (I measure that before I get out of bed in the morning) is 56 BPM. I intend to monitor that each week during this trip to see how this sustained effort will affect it.

Overall the group did well today. I fully intended to hang in the back of the pack. I planned to pace the day and get a feel for how the other riders were doing. At mile 5, the couple on the tandem bicycle (Tom & Athena) got a flat. We waited for about 20 minutes before we resumed. After that, the group began to organically disperse. I found myself in a lead group of four guys. They were all pacing at a comfortable rate for me. I didn’t realize we pulled away from everybody else. Then when we started the big climbs, Peter pulled away from us and we let him go. He is a great climber and was soon out of sight. I got to the hotel in Pine Valley with my toes so cold I couldn’t feel them. I stripped off all my soaked gear and hopped into a warm shower for an almost embarrassing long time. When I got my dry street clothes on I went to the front of the hotel to great the other riders. There were multiple flat tires today. I’m thankful I arrived unscathed. 

I think everyone arrived with a waterlogged, but adventurous spirit.