Torrey Pines is probably one of the most beautiful stretches of beach in Southern California. With its rugged coastline, and awesome hiking trails, it is easy to see why so many San Diegans visit this awesome beach. Thursday was no exception. The weather was perfect and a little cool once the ride was over. The marine layer was coming in pretty thick and it definitely kept the temperature perfect for hill repeats.After breaking my core in Pat Jaks Boot Camp, I thought there was nothing left to break, right? Wrong! Thursday saw us out at Torrey Pines State Reserve for a new training ride of hill repeats. Now, my interpretation of repeats means two or more of something with two being the minimum (or sometimes maximum) number you need to do in order to consider something repetitive. Well, I think our coach Mari Holden had a higher number in mind.
Mari is the QMDC Trainer who has put together an impressive, but grueling 20-week training program to whip us all into shape for the 600 mile ride down the California coastline in October. Mari has an impressive competitive cycling resume and currently sits on the Board of Directors at USA Cycling, the United States Cycling Federation, as well as consulting for Giant, Castelli and Time. So to have Mari training us is a true honor.
Here are just a few of Mari’s Achievements
- 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Women's Time Trial
- UCI Road World Champion - Time Trial
- US National Road Champion - Road Race
- 5 time US National Road Champion - Time Trial
Getting back to the training – the number Mari had in mind had been six. The objective was to ride up the outside hill (N. Torrey Pines Road) first, then come down the inside hill (Torrey Pines Park Road or old highway 101), then back up the inside hill and down, then back up the outside hill, and down the inside hill. Well, let’s just say that all in all we rode up the outside hill and inside hill a total of six times.
Mari set us out at about 9.5 mph up the first hill and with each time up the hill the group spread out more and more. Mari was great in that she always stayed back and made sure that everyone was ok and got up and down the hills safely.
About half way through is when my legs started to break down. With each time up the hill, the speed increased and increased until we were finally giving it a constant 90% effort. Matt (a.k.a The Hammer) dropped the hammer a couple of times up the outside hill and just smoked the rest of us. He even rode up the inside hill on his big ring, which was pretty impressive. Honorable mention goes out to Scott Bailey, a Qualcomm employee and all-around good guy. He rode pretty strong and made his presence felt the entire ride.
In fact, everyone rode pretty well and we all ended up back in the parking lot in one piece. My legs felt pretty good afterwards, but we’ll see what effect this training has had on them come Sunday for our 60+ mile ride. Some of us had to get back home to be with our families, but I know of a few riders that stayed behind to swim in the ocean and enjoy the scenery a little. After all, why ruin a perfectly good sunset.
