Today was a big one. I chose today to go to Caliente because of the weather forecast. It was predicted to be between 50 and 77 degrees. I figured that was my window of opportunity. I used the old method to get things going in the morning. I had everything ready on Friday. I decided to put on some new tires at the last moment. I got up in the morning around the time I planned. I did my usual checklist thing. Everything went orderly. I shoved off around 8AM, give or take. I arrived at the parking lot and there was no one else there, so I parked in the usual spot. After parking, I got my gear together, took a quick bio and then shoved off after making sure I had everything I wanted to bring. Turns out that I didn’t forget a thing. Although, I had to decide on the layers. I made the decision to where arm coolers and a thick base layer. It proved to be enough, but I could have used layers in the latter part of the ride.
I shoved off around 9AM-ish, give or take 15 minutes. The body felt good to start. No ailments to work through. I had to stop about 5 minutes into the ride as I forgot to start the HR sensor. I made my way to the entrance to the major climb of the day. My approach was exactly as I planned. I let the climbing legs to kick in. That is, I eased into it. On the steeper slopes, I weaved my way up the road so save my legs as much as I could. I was going by the landmarks. The GPS can show the climbing progress, but it feels more discouraging than helpful. I completed the climb without stopping to take photos. The first time in a while. I had my GoPro going, of course. As I was reaching the upper slopes, the weather started to cool off. I wasn’t too concerned about it because I knew I would be descending to lower elevations where I anticipated to be warmer. After making it to the summit, I pulled over to feed for the first time. I fed a Clif Bar and some water and sport drink. I was doing the calculations in my mind about how to ration my provisions. I decided to wait until later to mix another sport drink. After feeding, I headed down the mountain and then made my way through the valley. I had a generous tailwind for most of that segment. I stopped once to bio and then once more to mix a sport drink as I planned. I had to think about how to do it as the wind made it a bit tricky. Nonetheless, I managed to do it. From there, I made my way to the fire station summit. I felt good, and the tailwind helped. I stopped after I made it there. I quickly fed a Clif Bar, hydrated, took a photo, and then headed down the mountain. The wind turned 180, and it was turbulent. I couldn’t let the wheels to spin as I feathered the brakes to keep things under control. It was like that for a few miles. I made my way to the Bar and Grille café and asked for water. Around this time, I noticed my GI was starting to complain. Perhaps too much sugars. I wish I could have brought another bottle of water. I did my best to keep it under control. From there, I got back on the road. This segment was mostly patience. I was going into a turbulent tailwind. I stopped once to bio. I was counting the land marks while trying to stay calm as to keep the GI from complaining too much. After reaching the Caliente climb fork in the road, I was much better in the morale, but I had to keep things calm. I was stretching as much as I could and I was drinking water more than the sport drink. I made it back to the car with a sigh of relief. The first thing I did was to gulp a cup of Pepto to get the GI to calm down. I knew I was going to be ok. Although, I wasn’t able to feed the P&J sandwich I had prepared. It doesn’t go as planned all the time, and this was one of those times. Overall, it was a success. I was near my limit of physical and psychological abilities. I think that’s what I get out of this ride every single time. All of my gear and vehicle survived unscathed. I took no losses.
Concentration was good. I was coaching myself when things started to feel questionable. I was in the zone most of the time. I had good feelings and not so good feelings. My wisdom about this ride paid off in the end. Balance and form was good. The new shoes were remarkable. I have the cleats dialed in and the shoes were compliant. Nutrition was good, although the GI went sour with over an hour remaining in the ride. At least I didn’t have to make an emergency pit stop. I fed close to two Clif Bars and went through most of two sport drinks and water. Ailments consisted of soreness in the quads (exasperated by the colder weather in the last hour or two), the usual hand soreness. Some nausea when I was at the café. I had to take a few moment because I felt light headed when I made it there. The knees, hips, back, arms were in check. Gear worked flawlessly. I got everything on the GoPro using one battery connected to a battery bank. Other notes, there were no other cyclists today. There were the usual motor cyclists and some friendly motorists. I tipped the café waitress a dollar for filling my bottle with water (as I planned).