Rosarito to Ensenada

Sick ride this year! Started out a bit slow as we were far in the back and didn't pass the start/finish till almost 10:20am..... We were a bit disorganized at the start and I lost the others (joe, matt, garey) After a few miles I realized that finding them was gonna be tough! too many people moving too fast. So I put the hammer down and pushed myself. The first couple initial small climbs I felt really strong, cranking thru them in my big ring. Turning inland off the coast I realized that I was avg'ing almost 20MPH for the first 20 miles! nice! hit the base of El tigre and started spinning the legs up, I did drop into my granny but never into my easiest gear. I kept it at 9MPH for most of the climb (think I dipped to 8mph on one spot where it was uber steep) At the aid station at the top of El tigre I stopped for ~1min downed a glass of power aid and ate a gu packet and kept going. The rolling terrain of the messa is the killer part, yea you climb ~1,000 feet but then its these short sheep rollers, 30mph+ on the decents....11mph on the ensuing climb.... Finally I hit the decent, and there was a nasty headwind coming out of the west! I didn't even break 40MPH.... and I was tucked and cranking! I grabbed onto the wheels of a group as I turned back onto the Baja coastal hiway. Nobody was working really well together. I took a monster pull and as I dropped off 2 guys pulled thru but the rest made me go in to a spot 3rd in line.... So those 2 guys take nice pulls then I take another HARD pull (I'm ready to pop!) I fall off and again only 2 guys pull thru...... I'm like WTF... so after staying in the pace line my turn to pull was coming up again, just then a lone rider doing at least 30mph (we were going 25-26) comes by us..... I give it all I have! and jump onto his wheel. I take a look back and we dropped that group like a bad habit! He was pulling me like a parent pulls a kid thru the grocery store. He let up a bit and looked back I said "I'll try and pull my weight here" so I took a pathetic pull :( I was only out front for 1 min and dropped back to 25 mph.... He came around me and I said "Sorry I'm pedaling squares those guys back there worked me hard" he said no worries and paced me into the finish straight, he sat up for a min and said "sprint ya for it" which was totally unfair as he had been doing all the work but I got in the drops and sprinted it out (calves were starting to cramp bad!) I pipped him at the line :) 2:40:30 5 mins better than my goal time! PS this caps a record 111.29 mile week for me! Nice! so 30 mins later I saw the guys roll back to the finish meeting spot :) We then downed lots of beers! good stuff Activity Route: Rosarito to Ensenada Elev. Avg: 392 ft Location: Tijuana, -- Elev. Gain: -10 ft Date: 09/29/07 Up/Downhill: [+3103/-3113] Time: 12:00 PM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0   Weather: Overcast   63F temp; 72% humidity   63F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 49.86 miles Time: 2:40:30 Speed: 18.6 mph Pace: 3' 14 /mi Heart Rate: 158 bpm (Avg) Calories: 2487 193 bpm (Peak) Map Tijuana,   Elevation (ft.)

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