By the way, all this riding on a hot day means I'd now properly heat acclimated, just in time for fall and winter.

Miles 69-100: Rolling into Escondido

After a short flat ride through Ramona, Highland Valley Rd felt a bit tiring with all its varied terrain. But this was where I really started struggling last time, and this time, I was still feeling pretty good. So I was pretty pleased with how things were going. Got to the outskirts of Escondido, where the climb past the Wild Animal Park caused me little difficulty. But the heat was getting to me a bit, so at mile 95, I took a short break in the shade. And then three miles later, I saw a gas station and couldn't resist the chance to get some cold soda and another snack as a substitute for hot sticky Clif bars and warm drinks. Got to the bottom of the final climb, feeling refreshed after that break.

Miles 100-107: Lake Wohlford and the big oops

By now, I was a bit over 8 hours ride time into the ride, and a 1000' climb separated me from my car. And the bottom two miles are the steepest part. Lake Wohlford probably wouldn't be too bad if it weren't at mile 100. Happily, I knew about this, so I had been conserving energy and resting every chance I could since Santa Ysabel, preparing for this final climb.

The first two miles went smoothly. I wasn't blazing fast, but I set a decent tempo and all the drivers were kind enough to leave me plenty of room on this narrow section of road. At the top of this section, I started feeling a slight cramp in my right leg. But the worst of this hill was over, and with a bit of stretching on a slight downhill, the cramp went away. By now, it was getting cooler, too. Feeling pretty good, and with the toughest part of the hill behind me, I decided to hammer home. This lasted for four miles until at mile 106, on the final grade of note, I was going about 9 MPH and decided to upshift and get out of the saddle one last time. Got out of the saddle, and both my legs immediately cramped up. I rolled to a stop and fell over to the left (direction definitely not chosen on purpose). Managed to protect the bike in the fall, looked over my shoulder to see no car bearing down on me (whew), and tried unsuccessfully to unclip. The next driver stopped to direct traffic around me as I uncramped, and the driver after that was a cyclist who rides with B&L, so she came over also to make sure I was okay and see if there was anything she could do. (She did happen to have some electrolyte water in her car, which I gladly accepted. But other than that, not much to do except wait until I uncramped enough to first unclip, and then eventually get off the road.) All the other drivers stopped to see if I was okay, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Likewise, the two nearest residents came to see if I was okay. It was very nice of all those people to check on me.

Anyway, the B&L cyclist asked me if I wanted her to get her bike rack. No way! Not with under two miles to go! They stayed with me for a while as I rested up, and then we parted ways. I rested a little more, then continued on my way. I felt fine after the break, but not wanting to tempt fate, I took it easy the remaining mile and change and never got out of the saddle. Rolled to my car in 8:55 ride time, with almost 11 hours total elapsed time. (Yeah, kind of slow.)

Survey of oops damage
Basically, it was a clipless incident. Just toppled over at a stop. My leg managed to cushion most of the bike. After carefully checking over everything, I found minor scrapes on the rear wheel's quick release and the left side shifter, bar tape, and bar plug. Basically what one might expect. Everything else on my bike is fine. Sorry, my beloved prima donna. But some sort of battle wound was an inevitability.

I have a slight cut on my left wrist. No big deal, only a few millimeters long, though it did draw a few drops of blood. But aside from that and a huge dose of embarassment, I'm fine. My helmet has some cracks, though, so I guess it's time to get another helmet.

Concluding thoughts
Even with the incredible embarassment of toppling over a mile and change from the end, I had a great time. Probably my most enjoyable ride since the original Pie ride thanks to all the great scenery and great riding (despite the wind). I have been putting off trying out electrolyte drinks since most of my rides aren't really long enough for it to matter. I guess I should get around to it, though.

Oh, and with this ride under my belt, I'm looking forward to the Grand Tour Lite double metric next Sunday, Tour de Poway century the Sunday after, and the SoCal BikeForums Baldy Challenge on Oct 14. It should be a fun month of riding.