It wasn't a fluke...

I did today's long bike ride on California's Pacific Coast Highway. Another training first. It was beautiful. Lot's of cyclist and in California the cyclists are friendly and wave to each other. No prima donnas. I also noticed that women outnumbered men 3 to 2. California is usually ahead of the curve, so I anticipate the same trend happening everywhere else soon.

I stared at Pepperdine University and rode North. The first thing I realized was that this ride was not going to be as easy as I anticipated. I thought it was going to be flat, flat, flat because it runs along the shore line of the ocean. Wrong! It was a fairly challenging ride.

There was a lot more hills and rollers than I anticipated. It was also windy. On the first downhill, with the wind blowing, my front wheel was shimming like a speed wobble as I was going 51 kph and I thought it was mechanical, until I realized it was the wind.

I felt strong from the beginning and rode hard into the wind. About a hour into the ride, I passed a guy who jumped on my rear wheel. I was pulling at about 35 kph and he drafted me for about 45 minutes until he had to turn off to go home.

We spoke at the red lights and he couldn't believe I was going to do over 6 hours at this pace. He was huffing and puffing just riding in my slipstream. He told me that the route Nina and Dana recommended was the best stretch of PCH to ride.

I did my first out and back and for 102 km, I averaged 33.8 kph/21 mph. As I started the second loop the wind really picked up and I was going into a direct head wind. At the 100 mile point, it took me 4:58:30 and I was averaging 32.1. I didn't think that was too bad considering 2/3 of the 100 mile distance was into a stiff wind.

Before I finished, I had a fairly steep climb up to my car near the top of a hill at Pepperdine University. I was thinking that if this was the end of an Ironman bike ride, having to go up this hill would be a sadistic thing for the race director to do.

I quickly transitioned and did my brick run. It was an out and back along the PCH. The first half was all downhill and the return was mostly up steep hills. A few times I had to walk in order to keep my heart rate under 143 bpm.

Overall, I was pleased with the day. First off, it didn't rain and secondly, I maintained a 32.3 kph (19.96 mph) pace for 206 km (127.7 miles). It was my second ride in a row over 32 kph. I now feel confident that I have a shot at having a decent bike ride in China.

After I got back to "the ranch" and showered, I tagged along with Nina and Dana to the birthday party of a friend they met through a fundraising training group they had belonged to. I forget what the group was called, but the initials were "TIT". Funny what you do remember.

Initially none of the people at the party were athletes and through this fundraising training group, they were coached along to finish biking or triathlon events. Everyone was so welcoming, supportive and positive. There was just a fantastic energy throughout the room.

What amazed me was that most of these people were older with grand kids and age wasn't holding them back. One gentleman was around my dad's age and was a rower and cyclist and recently started to surf. Nina made an interesting comment along the lines that older people in California are much more active than the same aged people in the Midwest. Very true.

I kept looking at these people and saw older on the outside, but young enough feeling on the inside to do endurance events. Most were cyclists and started getting into it 5 years earlier and they were all so pumped about the lifestyle. I think most all had completed a century ride (100 miles). It was inspiring. It just goes to show that no matter how old you are, it's never too old to start.

Long Bike - 6:22.51 / 206 km (127.7 m) / 32.28 kph (20 mph) / 5503 ft climbing / 128 avg hr

Brick Run - 30:01 / 5.91 km / 5:03 pkm pace / 463 ft climbing / 135 avg hr