1-30-11 Training Day

Today's GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/65976552

Attendees:  Gary, Eddie and me.

The temperature was in the 50s but with dark clouds pretty much throughout the ride.  There was a little sprinkle in Laguna Beach, but thankfully, it didn't last.  Armwarmers and base layer was adequate for today.

We left from the parking lot at the corner of Pacific Park and Alicia and to kick things off, decided we'd hit the hills first rather than on the way back.   We did Highland first followed by Pacific Island.  Eddie and Gary got up Highland first, and I was just a little bit behind by the time we got to the top.  We all descended together but Eddie got the jump on Pacific Island.  While he climbed well there too, Gary and I overtook and got atop Pacific Island first.  Bombing down the other side was a blast.

We headed to PCH and kept the pace up all the way through Laguna Beach.  On every incline during the roller, we kept pushing hard to keep the pace going.  Gary and I traded on the hills, and Eddie stayed within reach at all times.

After we got out of the rollers and past CDM, this was where Eddie started to come up and keep the pace up.  My slow clip in made me pay every single time with Gary and Eddie breaking away at the lights.  We were keeping the pace pretty high where at one point when I was up front, I thought 25 mph would be a good speed to hold.  However, when these guys would pass, they'd be going about 27 or higher, so it was an ongoing push all the way out.

The sad thing was there was no one to mix it up with on the way out while pushing as hard as we were.  When we turned around just before 2nd street, we finally ran into a group of other cyclist.  Gary, Eddie and I were taking turns up front, but the group was a mix of guys who just didn't really work with one another.  Had we not been pushing hard, we should have staged a breakaway, but we welcomed being in a group since it was pretty windy heading back.   There were some annoying guys in there who would not jump to the front, but also not let you back in when you came off the front.  One guy in particular would never jump up front, but kept blocking you out leaving no choice but to get back up again.

While nearing Huntington Beach, I got off from being the front and felt like my rear wheels were not spinning up and I felt more road than I was used to.  At first, Eddie thought I was okay but after checking again, realized I had a flat.  The tire never blew out, but lost a lot of air needing the tube to be replaced.  I could not find any damage or a hole, but replacing the inner tube got me back on the road.  Gary didn't realize what happened and stayed with the group all the way to the pier.  Eddie helped me out, and we worked together to get back on the road to battle the wind by ourselves.

When we met up with Gary, we just stayed together until Eddie broke off on Bayside to head back home.  Gary and I worked together on PCH back to Laguna Beach, and stopped for some fluids at the Stop and Go.

Starting off after even that little break was tough.  Both our hamstrings felt like they were worked, but after we warmed up, were back up to a decent pace.  Going through the rest of Laguna Beach, we decided not to chance fate and obeyed all stop lights and signs.

On the 133 and El Toro, we kept the pace fairly moderate to make sure we had some left for Aliso Creek.  Going up the hill, I felt pretty good so I got to the top first with Gary not too far behind.  Since I saw the lights in my favor, I rolled ahead but Gary wasn't as lucky.  We ended up meeting at the bottom on Pacific Park and charged the rest of the route to blow out any more remaining energy.

Great training day today for sure.  I was spent by the time I got home.