I first heard about an IronTEAM ride to “San Diego” last year when my roommate Carlos was on the Team. He was documenting his experience, and this video was one of the first to spark my interest in joining the team:
Ever since then I’ve been looking forward to this ride! It’s really crazy to think that we rode our bikes to SAN DIEGO (Del Mar to be exact). Our route took us from Anaheim to Del Mar, passing through parts of the OC ride we did a few weeks ago, to the San Onofre boobies (see below), Camp Pendleton Base, Oceanside, Encinitas, and more.
It was our “recovery week” for the Full Vineman team, so we had to dial back the effort, and made it more of social (but not to social) ride. We rode in packs, but still respecting all the rules of the road. I had my fun using my bike bell here and there, then we tried to have conversations when we can, so the time actually flew by pretty quickly. We had two SAG (Supplies & Gear) stations along the way to switch out any bottles or special needs, so that was a nice break as well. We rode through some neighborhoods near Oceanside which reminded me of E.T. (see the main image of this post) and its chase scene. Since it was technically still training and not some easy ride down south, I still tried to challenge myself and practiced my aero position, letting go more on the downhills, letting the turns take me, and I squeezed in a few speed bursts, especially on the tarmac of Camp Pendleton.
So the actual ride was 80 or so miles, and there was an optional extra 20 miles to the Torrey Pines area near SDSU in La Jolla if we wanted to top off the 100. By the time I got to the turn, I actually felt really good to continue for another century, so I did! 5 minutes into it, my watch beeped to warn me it was time to take in some nutrition. So I reached down to get my second water bottle, and NOPE, it wasn’t there! What?!? Did I drop it along the way? I didn’t hear anything! Hmm… do I keep going without any nutrition? I’m already 80+ , and there’s another SAG at 90. Should I keep going? Well, my sister used to live in La Jolla and I kinda remember how hilly it was. It was a recovery week, so I decided to turn back, and not to push it, especially with no water or Accellerade! That would be stupid. I already passed 100 last week, no need to do it this time. We all eventually made it to the Del Mar Hilton safely, and when I gathered all my gear at the parking lot, guess what was in my bag, the extra bottle full of Accellerade I thought I dropped. Doh!
So, what do you think ?