The maiden 10 mile ride complete!  23 mile ride with the Tri Club San Diego Beginners group done!  Cardio was challenged, but legs were in a happy enough place to think I could do more.  Time to step it up a little bit more I thought.  So, back to the Tri Club San Diego training event calendar to see what they had for me there.

Sure enough, there was a Saturday coastal ride  touted as “One of the longest running bike rides in San Diego.”  There was a minimum 30 mile ride available to all levels.  Perfect.  Plus, it has been really hot and humid where I live and riding on the coast would be much more comfortable.  Not to mention the coast route does not feature much of an elevation challenge.  Just 30 miles of flat and a little bit of rolling hills next to the big blue Pacific Ocean.

I decided to try it out for the first time last Saturday.  Again, as usual, I arrived early.  This time it was definitely a good thing.  We were supposed to meet at the Del Mar Starbucks.  If you have never been to Del Mar before, there is little to no parking.  Why we were meeting somewhere that has no parking is beyond me.  Sure enough, that was the case.  Fortunately, I had enough time to drive around and figure out that there were alternatives to the really expensive parking within a block or two of the Starbucks.  I drove up into a neighborhood four blocks away and discovered free on-street parking in front of the quaint $3,000,000+ homes in this little town by the sea just North of the even more expensive homes in La Jolla.

I parked, unloaded the van, and coasted down to the Starbucks to find the classic Del Mar combination of wealthy old guys chewing the fat over coffee with other wealthy old guys, crazy fit women in yoga gear that didn’t look like they came from yoga, and lots of cyclists.  Welcome to the California coastal town coffee shop scene.  The only character missing from the movie were the local beach girls who are usually studying for a class before going to their minimum wage job at the other coffee/restaurant/beach wear shops.  Del Mar doesn’t offer enough housing in their price range to be within walking distance and hence their absence from this episode.

I asked a few of the cyclists out front if I was in the right place for the Tri Club San Diego ride and there was a friendly “yes” and “welcome” from almost the entire crowd of spandex out in front of the java stop.  Danny introduced himself to me as the organizer of the day.  I asked him how people are put into appropriate groups and what the riding rules were having experienced such organization with the Trek Century group last year.  He said, “Well, we start riding and the groups just sort of happen.  Other than that, there aren’t really any rules other than the 30 mile group will turn around at the Starbucks in Carlsband, the 40 mile group will turn around at the harbor in Oceanside, and another group will be going into Camp Pendleton and who knows how far they will go and when they will turn around.”  In other words, no rules and no formal groups.  Fortunately, it is all on Pacific Coast Highway so there is really no way to get lost.

By the time we were ready to roll, there were easily 75 of us.  Quite the Peloton.  Danny was right, you just kind of fell into groups.  Then, you would fall out of a group thanks to a red light, then you would fall into a new group and so on, and so on.  In some cases you would fall into a group that was out there to ride and test themselves.  In other cases, you would end up riding with a group that all knew each other and were quite chatty.  Usually, the chatter was about their injuries, upcoming races, and strategies of what they would wear, what they would eat, etc.  Typical triathlon talk.

My favorites were the groups of women who were non-stop talking and flying past me as I gasped for oxygen.  They were amazing.  Powerful trains of social butterflies leaving me, and others, in the dust as they caught up on each others lives seemingly effortlessly.  Impressive!

I have just come off two weekends where I had riden my first 10 miles and my first 23 miles following the injury.  I opted for the 30 mile version today.  Longer than last week, but less climbing.  There were only a few takers on the 30 miler.  The woman who was kind of leading my group said she opted for the 30 miler because she has an 8 mile run right after she gets off the bike.  She further explained that she is now in the phase of “two-a-days” where you do two of the three triathlon disciplines each day generally right after you complete the first.  A form of conditioning and often a opportunity to practice your transition routine if you are in a place that allows for that freedom.  In other words, she wasn’t whimping out, she was just getting warmed up for the next activity.

The day ended well, the foot felt good, and my van didn’t get towed from where I parked it in front of the really expensive house.  All wins.

I returned once again today to stretch it out to the 40 mile route.  Again, this would be new territory just two weeks after my first ride of only 10 miles.  I now had more confidence in my cardio, my legs felt great, but it would likely be pushing my still tender foot.  However, I believed I needed a bit of a test.  That being said, it was all on Pacific Coast Highway.  I could turn around anytime if I felt I needed to take it easy.

Spending most of the time riding with Aly, a student at UCSD and daughter of a military family that lives out on Cornado, she gave me plenty of triathlon tips since she has a few half Ironman races under her as she is now preparing for her first full Ironman.  We were very much the same in our riding speed so I was able to emulate my hero group of women mentioned earlier who could talk and ride at the same time though at a much slower pace and without as much vocal animation.

Again, the ride ended with a successful full 40 miles and only a slight soreness in my foot.  My cardio ability was also greatly improved today.  Progress is coming rapidly on the bike I am happy to say.