Paul's 2011 Sagebrush Race Report (with pictures!)

The drive up was cool (literally).  Are we going mountain bike or sled dog racing today??

Preview of the race course.....haha, not really, this is the road in, but it gives you an idea.  Little did we know what we were in for!

The friendly US cup folks were downing some hot coffee I am sure.......if they were smart they had a bottle of Kahlua in there somewhere too.......

Thar's cold in them thar hills!!  (I never get sick of bad puns in case you were wondering).  Up there is the original race course.

The Finish Line.....well, not completely.  We wound up going through here 4 times, so it was the start line, race course and finish line all in one.  Very efficient!!

The registration line.....yet again, not completely.  Little did we know we were standing on the race course.  Yup, it was just like that (but miles of it).  Sweet!!  :)

There is something special about the post-race beer, a fine tradition if there ever was.  In this case we just needed to avoid ingesting Giardia at the same time. 

Put a little snow in my ice chest and made a snowman when I got back.....of course Nathan had to put some down Jarod's back too!

Well, I have been thrown a few curve balls at races before, but never one like this!!

The entire race course was changed at the very last minute.....I really had no idea what we were doing, something about 4 laps.  I asked the race director about 30 seconds before start time if we climbed up the road to 4-Corners and looped back on the final downhill section....he just kinda laughed and said 'follow the arrows'. (the real answer was not even close!)

The entire Cat2 group took off at the same time, up the road and quickly took a hard left into a creek, and then another one.....and another one!  Pretty much completely soaked less than 5 minutes from start.  Surprise!! 

Then it was time for some fast and flowy singletrack, maybe the only section of the entire race that wasn't muddy (except for the paved section)?.  After that it was through the start line, hard right and time for roughly 2 miles of sloppy roads with thick, viscous, soul sapping mud pits to get through, tough!

After that you came back to the start and did the whole thing again 3 more times.  Yay!!  :)  The creek crossings turned out to be a great chain cleaner for every lap though! 

I had anticipated riding in snow covered mud and rocks and had some fairly burly tires which were not ideal for this flat almost Cyclo-Cross course.  Total Elevation for the 16 miles was ~350 feet.     

I thought I was doing OK but in the end didn't, came in 9th out of 14 even with a strong effort.  It looked like we were pretty tightly grouped, so will be interested to see the results.  I think there may be some new really strong competition in my category.

Next race is in two weeks, Bonelli Park (bring it on!! :) !!

my Garmin Edge 500 stats:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/70538474

Gary's 2011 Sagebrush Snowfari Race Report

Race was originally scheduled to start at 11:00am, so PV and I planned to leave his house at 7am.  I got there a few minutes early and we were on the road. 

Just past Alpine, the snow started to show up on the sides.  Going over the pass (4000’) there was snow still on the roads and I would estimate around 4” on the ground.  Everything was white and PV and I started wondering how different the course would ride compared to our pre-ride on the Monday before.  We  called ahead to a Rock N’ Road guy, Tim, who was also racing and he told us that they moved the start time to noon.  We turned off on the dirt road that took us to the start of the course and new then it was going to be a wet and muddy day.  There was a lot of snow on the ground in the parking lot and again the word that kept coming into my mind was “epic” and “insane”.

Got the bikes ready and even used a trick of spraying Pam on the bikes to keep the mud from sticking.  The big question was what to wear.  It did not feel too cold, but once you were riding it was definitely a multi-layer day.  I went with a base layer, a jersey and then my vest while PV skipped kept the vest on during the warm up but then removed it before the race.  We both had arm and leg warmers on. On the warm up, we stuck to the paved road to not get the bikes full of mud before starting out.  On the way back, PV pointed out were we come back onto the road from and went to check it out.  There were two other guys stopped at a stream crossing.   They were not doing the race and one of them took off to see if he could find the best line through it.  It turned out that staying to the left was a much better option.  PV and I were thanking them for testing this and helping us know the line to take.  At the time, we did not realize how critical this would be.

As we were heading back to the start, they were getting ready to send out the Pro’s.  Over the PA system, they were saying something about laps.  The pro’s would do 5 laps and everyone else would do 4.  I knew something was up with the course but was not quite sure how they had changed it.  We ended up getting back just before the Pro’s took off and had very little time before we took off.  It felt rushed and did not know why until we realized later that they had reduced the time between the category’s taking off and they were also grouping more of the folks together.

PV got right in line and took off shortly after.  I also got in line and went about 8 minutes later.  Right from the start, I tried to push it hard to get up front to reduce the number of people I would have to pass on course.  The ride starts out with about a mile of pavement and then turned off into the dirt.  The first section was going through the stream that PV and I learned the line just prior so I felt great about getting through it.  Sure enough, I took the far left line and blazed through it were others got stuck.   After going through 2 other streams, there was a wide single track flat section that you could just blaze on.  The pace stayed high.

We weaved through the course and ended up back close to the start line.  Right after passing folks handing out water, the course turned into a mud pit.  There was this right hand turn that got a number of people due to the mud being so deep, but PV cleared this every time and I touched down once due to a crash in front of me.  At one point, PV said that he came to a complete stop but managed to get going again.  After this section, it was just a lot more mud before you would complete the first lap.  Each lap was about 4 miles in length.

Some highlights over the 4 laps were:

·         Got passed on my second lap by a group of Cat 1/pro’s while on the road section.  I jumped on to the train and we booked it to the dirt.  I hung for a little while through the single track but they moved a little fast for me so started to pull back so I had something left for the remaining two laps.

·         For me, I was able to keep a high effort for most of the ride.  Sometimes it is hard to tell if you have more to give, but there were enough people on the course to push you.

·         The more laps you did, the more fun the course got.

·         Just before the finish, I was hoofing it to pass as many people as I could.  There was one guy I started to pass and he turned it on as well.  He looked like he could be in the same age bracket as me so game on J  I thought I had him since he took an outside line through the last mud section and earlier that day I never saw anyone save time by doing so.  I went straight and we merged with him slightly in front.  I tried getting around him before the finish but it did not happen.   In the end, it did not matter since he was in a different age group than me.

Either PV’s field of competition has grown since last year, or he just had an off day since he came in 7^th.  I think he would have done much better if they would have kept it the original course.  It matched better to his strengths overall.  Lots of climbing and technical descents.

I ended up with 2^nd place and missed first by 2 minutes.  Good day for me overall and looking forward to the next race in a few weeks.  If anyone is interested, we are doing Bonelli Park in San Dimas on March 12 – 13.

PV and I enjoyed the post ride activities by having some great beer.  I had a “double bastard” and PV had an “inferno”.  We hung out for the award ceremony so I could pick up my hardware.  It’s a pretty cool award and is being proudly displayed in my office right now J  The snow in the parking lot was mostly gone now, but still small pockets of it.  The drive home was also a lot easier with no snow left on the ground and everything being dry.

Super Cold Sunday Ride

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/70535731

Mike Z. invited Shannon and I to go out with his Coto crew (Craig and Dave...good guys!) where they wanted to leave from Ladera Ranch at 6:15 a.m.  Driving their and seeing the "ice" light come on in my car with temperatures dipping as low as 33 degrees had me worried to say the least.  I thought a long sleeve base layer, leg warmers, a wind breaker vest and full fingered gloves would be enough, but boy did I get that wrong.   Everyone else came better prepared. 

The pace was mellow like a warm-up should be in the beginning, but near the top of Antonio before dropping towards Ortega Hwy, Shannon picked it up some and was moving pretty good down the hill.  I followed and froze my hands and face off.  By the time we got on Ortega, my hands were just hurting.

We went down to Dana and took a quick bio break at the restroom near Cove.  From there, the charge up Cove followed.  I was so cold that all I wanted to do was warm up, so I took off up to the top.  This falsely  led Craig to believe that I loved hill where he was convinced that was my thing.  He obviously wasn't watching Shannon blaze up some of the other hills.

We then headed to Pacific Island Drive together and Shannon paced me going up where I was trying to see how long I can pedal off the seat.  Shannon could have passed me any time but held my rear wheel to monitor the power output.  Why buy a Powertap when Shannon can just pace you up a hill?

We climb Aliso Creek next and then went down to Laguna Beach via 133.  Some good pulls from the group going down.  We finally ended up at the Crystal Cove shopping center where we got some much needed coffee for more defrosting.

From there, we went up NPC where Shannon just lit us all up.  I tried to stay with him, but considering how hard he was charging, I decided quickly thereafter that it would be better just to hold my pace.

On NPC, Shannon was hauling ass down the hill and we all followed.  Craig was on a compact crank with a 12-27 cassette, so we definitely kept him spinning out on the downhills.

We went up Shady and I tried to make a little break away to see if I can charge to the top at a good pace.  I had a pretty good lead on Shannon...or so I thought, but the next thing I know, he was right behind me just before the top and passes me just before it crested.  Animal!

We then rode through to Quail Hill and Laguna Canyon.  Once on Barranca, Shannon pulled us to a group of guys who I thought we may end up mixing it up with.  However, it turned out Mike Z. knew these guys also and we ended up riding with them toward Mission Viejo.

Once we got on Los Alisos, Shannon wanted to bring up the wattage and I followed.  I wasn't sure where we were going at one point, so I think me calling out to Shannon to ask where we were headed slowed him up a bit.  Good tactic.  I'll use it for Solvang.  We did end up dropping the others based on Shannon's pace, but we ended up meeting at the top of Vista Del Lago.  This was my first time up that hill and I ended up losing sight of Shannon until I got to the top.  Craig and Dave followed shortly after and Mike Z. brought up the rear.

On the way down, we stopped at a Carl's Jr. to get Mike Z. some mustard to help with his cramping.  I offered a shot blok and Shannon offered electrolytes, but mustard was his savior for the day.  Craig said that the vinegar in the mustard should help, but my offering to let Mike Z. suck on my socks (vinegar equivalent) was turned down.

We ended up parting ways with the Coto crew at Antonio/Oso, and Shannon and I charged the last section of Antonio just before Crown.  Windy!

Good lunch and some good brew with a good buddy...life was good at the Ranch.  Shannon's the man!

Thursday Crew - NPC Pelican PCH Ocean PCH BB CA Loop

My GPS battery died 5 miles in so here's Shannon's:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69940397

Nice to have 11 guys come out today for this ride.  We opted to skip Summit and Ridge Park, but the ride was pretty painful nonetheless.  I knew Vince was going to make me work to make up for Tuesday and this was obvious when getting on East Peltason, he had me close the gap after I actually slowed down on the turn to not hit pedestrian (and David who yielded as well) crossing the street. 

I think for the most part, the pace going out to Bonita Canyon wasn't too bad.  Gary and Mike did a good job keeping everyone together.  Plus, Gary was racing this weekend, so it was perfect.

Once we got on NPC, the pace picked up a bit.  I don't remember who was up front initially, but Shannon started passing everyone, including a guy in a Bike Religion (BR) kit, with Vince and I in tow.  I guess BR guy jumped on our draft after as he was behind me for as long as I could hold onto Shannon and Vince's pace.  I ended up falling off where the BR guy passed and rode up with Shannon and Vince.   Adrian caught me after some time after he offramp and rode with me for a bit.  As expected, he turned it on after with the intent to drop and sure enough...I dropped.  Good job. 

At the top, we were expecting to regroup but that shifted over to the top of Pelican before the downhill.  When Eddie, Adrian and I approached, we were off with Adrian leading the charge.  We'll have to actually have a real re-group point next time, but not too sure I'd hold my breath for that.

Since I love the section after the DH, I charged the uphill and Vince and Shannon jumped on.  Near the bottom, Vince took over and was blasting down the rest of NPC and the beginning of PCH.  It took some time to get into his draft, but Shannon and I got on.  Shannon then took over and brought it up another 5 mph faster and held it. 

At Poppy, Eddie and Adrian caught up and Vince led us through the residential area in CDM.  All I can say is even through here, there was very little let up. 

Once back on PCH, I decided I better get front again and started that out at a pretty good pace (to avoid getting bitched at again).  I don't remember who took over after, but I almost got dropped after Jamboree where I was just outside the draft trying not to let the others get away.  Thankfully, I caught them on the right turn to Bayside. 

There was no let up on the bike trail, and Shannon pulled like mad behind the trailer park.  We all managed to stay together despite.  Adrian started up the BB run followed by Eddie, who led up to just before San Joaquin.  When Vince got up front, I thought about going for the sprint, but decided it would be better just to try and stay with the group.  I guess others thought the same thing.

I was getting ready to relieve Vince after when Shannon came around on the left side.  I jumped on and everyone one else got on behind me.  Shannon's pull was pretty intense and he again held a pretty high watt pace.  When he slowed down a little, I took over and just tried to keep the pace in the same area (bad idea).  After a while, I heard Shannon yell out to Adrian to get up front and probably about 10 minutes after (just kidding) he finally did. 

Oh but when Adrian did, he lit it up pretty good and I was not able to jump on the draft as the group passed me.  I was sprinting my ass off trying to catch them, but the gap persisted.  When I saw Adrian roll out and Vince take over, I was cooked.  Shannon, Vince and Adrian took off from there dropping Eddie as well and never seemed to slow down.  They were on turning onto Jamboree already by the time Eddie and I hit the top of BB.  We didn't see them after that.

Eddie and I rode together to CA.  On CA, Eddie started off with a good pace (could it be from sitting in my draft for the last 5 minutes...HA HA).  After the first light, I kicked the pace up a little and he wasn't able to jump on.  When I got to Bison at a red light, I didn't think the light would turn green but Eddie timed it perfectly where he was already in sprint mode just as it turned.  I tried to chase him down before the gate, but I wasn't able to catch him (I won't mention the car between us though as the reason...nope...I won't mention it at all).

Chalk up another good workout for the team.  I hope the others had a good one as well.  Okay, rain, we're ready for you.

Wednesday Ride - Portola and Back

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69802555

Went out with the Wednesday crew and stayed off the draft to let Jaffe, Vin and Marc get a good workout.  Pace going out to Portola was over 21 mph.  I jumped to the front on the last stretch to keep the pace up on the incline. 

After Vin got to the top, the three guys took off and I hung back to play chase.  The guys were keeping a good pace, so it took a while to catch up to them.  Shortly after doing so, Jaffe gets a flat.  Of course, brown guy services stayed back and helped him back on the road again, but Vin and Marc were gone.  Seon had caught up here and we rode together after.

The wind on the way back was ridiculous.  It took standing up to keep the pace up over 20-21.  Jaffe and Seon took a turn up front to help, but the wind was too tough.  Seon eventually dropped off, and Jaffe stayed with me the rest of the route.  I was worried Jaffe was going to drop going up Jamboree, but he kept right on it even when we tore up Bison.  Good job!

CCW Shady Laguna Canyon Bike Trail Jamboree Loop

My GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69650287

Todd's GPS with power stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69664756


7 of us started out the ride with Hiroshi leading out to Anteater probably as he was used to doing so for the Wed/Fri rides.     Todd and Vince took over at Anteater and kept the pace pretty high all the way up to Bonita Canyon where I think we started to get strung out.

I jumped to go ahead right before the light turned green, but others took over and pulled to the bike trail.  Adrian led the first attack on the bike trail trying to create a gap, but Vince and Todd (with me in tow) eventually reeled him in near the top.  There was one moment where I thought I'd challenge Todd and Vince to the top, but they both accelerated just as I was getting ready to attack.  Damn!

We regrouped at the bottom and the group had been reduced to 5.  Ironman Eddie stayed in the mix, and actually took some pretty impressive pulls here and there.  Mine paled in comparison according to Vince.  When I tried to take a pull after Adrian on the bike trail, Todd took over right away.  I guess that makes me a slacker, but I didn't want to pull a Cal.  Lastly, my solo 70 miler yesterday with 5500 elevation gain didn't help, but I love the no-slacking rule regardless. 

After the bridge, the pace was still pretty high, and it took me a while to even have a chance to get up front.  I was on the verge of dropping off at times, but I hung on.  When we got on the stretch headed to California, I decided I'd go ahead and lead out the group for a sprint that I would not participate in.   Adrian, Vince and Todd took off, along with another guy on a Madone (based on what was all over his kit) who jumped in with us on the trail after we passed him.

Once past California, I decided I better close the gap again since the locals don't take lightly to others jumping on.  Further, Mr. Madone decided he wanted to try and break away from us so Todd and Vince answered that, and Adrian and I ended up passing him as well before we got to Jamboree.  Lucky for him, he turned toward Back Bay while we went up the hill.

Going up Jamboree, Todd and Vince kept pushing and pulled away from us.  I was probably less than 10 yards back, but at the end, they extended the gap pretty good.  Adrian was still recovering from his sprint, and ended up dropping off going up.  However, he did catch us at the light on Bison.

On Bison, I ended up timing the light before McArthur in time, and ended up sprinting through the light on McArthur before it turned red leaving the other guys behind.  This was not so much an act of aggression as much as just so I can actually rest a little and get a drink since I barely was able to reach down during the whole ride.

Good ride today, guys!  I'll try to work harder on Thursday.  Thanks!

Thursday Ride - Turtle Rock Shady Ridgeline Summit Bonita Cyn Jamboree

Garmin stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/68770947

8 of us made it out today to squeeze a ride out in between storms (9 including Mike Z., but he went solo after we got back).  Nice to see Seon coming out again to join us.

Gary must not have liked how I yelled out to him to turn right on Health Sciences Rd as he was trying to bust it from the onset.   Thankfully, a car slowed him up on the turn to East Peltason.  I did relieve him and PV and Vince also kept the pace up all the way to Culver.

At the light, I believe Vince took off first toward Campus and was already pushing the pace and PV and Gary responded by pushing it even harder.   Vince eventually took over and then created a gap as he rounded to go on Turtle Rock.  He thought the route was flatter given what mapmyride.com showed for the elevation gain, so he was pushing hard the whole time.   Umm...hello?  This is not the first time we've done this route.  Plus, Summit was thrown in, which increased the elevation gain further. Unlike Paul, Vince may have map dependency issues.

When Vince gapped us, PV lead and I contemplated on trying to close it but KNEW this was going to be hilly and decided it would not be good strategically.  When I saw Vince wasn't slowing, I did alternate with PV (while Eddie sat comfortably in both our drafts) and kept Vince in our sights but never really closed the gap as we should have done.

On the bike trail up Shady, PV wasn't too far behind Vince but I fell off PV's draft.  Eddie took over and actually helped but, we were never able to close on PV after this.  I'm not saying it's Eddie's fault, but....  Near the top, I took over but according to Eddie, I pulled an "Adrian."  (Definition - passing with the intent to drop after sitting in the draft.  Synonym:  selfish).  In my defense, I was just trying to not let PV (and Vince for that matter) get away.   Eddie did end up catching me near the bottom, and we worked together through University.

On Ridgeline, PV and Vince were still visible through most of the hill, but not really after (except when Vince was going down Summit as I was nearing the top).  PV decided to take a different Summit  AND skip the Ford Jamboree climb (another handicapped map reader identified), but we'll let it go this time.

Eddie was doing pretty good on Ridgeline (albeit sucking on my rear wheel like a drug addict would on a doobie) but had fallen back a little 3/4 of the way up.  He was able to reel me back in though on Turtle Rock and stayed with me all the down to Bonita, up Turtle Ridge and the beginning of Summit.  He started having shifting problems though, so that must be how he fell off on the hill.

On the way down near the bottom of Summit, I saw Seon and Jaffe just starting to make the turn to climb.  Surprisingly, Jaffe didn't just make a u-turn and follow at this point to tell me how slow I was at the next light. 

On Bonita Canyon, I was in battling the wind solo but looking ahead, I could not see anyone else.  Bummer. I had to stop at the light before McArthur, and then spent going down the following hill trying to clip back in.  (For the record, the tolerance on Speedplays sucks if the cleat comes loose).  I thought I saw someone from our group ahead of me going onto Ford but I ended up missing the same green light.   Lo and behold, Eddie catches me here too.

We go up Ford together and I go wide to turn in tight on Jamboree to see if I can get a good pace going from the base of the hill.  When I thought I did, Eddie decided it was time to bust it and tries to breakaway to keep me honest.  Nice!  He actually gapped me for a bit, but I reeled him back in and passed to return the favor.  He kept me honest all the way to the gate.  I guess now that he's adjusted his seat height on the F1, he's now finding more power on it.  Officially, I'd have to agree with Adrian...Eddie's back!

We may need to do something to keep the group together more for the next ride.  The ride and ditch is great for training though, so I doubt Team Agro will change their MO.

Good ride today, gents!  Thanks for the workout.

NPC Double Back Bay Route

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/68475461

Decent size group with 9 of us out today.  We got out and made it back before the weather got too ugly.  I thought Adrian was sweating like me on the way back, but it was just starting to drizzle.  HA HA

Gary started us out, but ended up missing right turn on Health Sciences and had to turn around.  With this group, the "snooze you lose" saying applies, so poor S-Gary had to work to get back up to some of the group.  Vince was on a mission up front, so those of us who could hang on did.  Good job to Mike Z. for hanging on.

Once we got on NPC, Vince and Shannon took off.  Adrian trailed for a little bit but fell off where I stayed with him for a while.  Then Noah passed us but since he wasn't feeling too good today, couldn't hold the pace and Adrian ended up being able to latch on.  I just missed, but the two didn't get too far ahead.   At the top, Vince and Shannon where no where to be seen and Adrian rounded San Joaquin trying desperately to catch them.

I eventually caught Noah on the descend and was working to catch Adrian but we got caught at one of the lights.  Adrian got ahead and almost caught Vince and Shannon, but just missed the light at McArthur.  Noah and I sat at the intersection before McArthur while Adrian waited to cross also.  While our light took a while to turn green, Adrian's fortunately took longer.  The 3 of us got to ride together through PCH and through Bayside.  At one of the lights, Noah started making fun of my sweating again.  Original.

Once on BB, we were able to reel Adrian in after his attempted breakaway.  Adrian and I started working together, and after a while, I didn't see Noah behind us anymore.  Make fun of that, Noah  Just kidding!

Adrian was definitely lighting it up on some sections, and I tried to do the same.  He got to the top of Back Bay first on the first loop (and the 2nd actually).  On Jamboree, I knew better than to pass him since I now know his tactics.  When he tried to attack mid-hill, hecould not shake me off.  After we passed Bison, I took the pull for the remainder of the climb.

The 2nd loop was like the first except a guy in a van on his mobile phone almost took us out on one of the turns as he crossed over the double-yellow.  Narrowly escaping death (okay, maybe slightly exaggerated), we went on and as indicated above, Adrian took the 2nd top of Back Bay.  He then took off and chased down Jaffe and Hiroshi who we saw on the bike trail.  He eventually got ahead of them, but I just couldn't close the gap in time before CA.  Good job to Jaffe and Hiroshi.

On CA, we climb together for a bit, and then I tried to kick it up a notch, but Adrian and Jaffe (I think it was Jaffe) stayed with me.  Adrian took over a little past mid-way, and then I lit him up near the top (payback).  I sprinted through the green light and was happy to see it turning yellow as I went through but that didn't slow Adrian down.  He tried to chase me down to the gate, but after what Todd did yesterday, I couldn't let it happen.

Too bad we didn't really get to ride all together too much today, but it was still a good training session.  21 mph avg (21.5 moving) was pretty decent.  Good workout.  Thanks for coming out, guys!

BRCM Lunch Ride - Valentines Day

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/68332271

I wasn't sure anyone was going to go out on a Monday but was glad that others brought in their bikes.  PV, Todd, and Dave joined for a bike trail Shady loop.  Todd had his sexy new carbon hoops on with the powertap so I knew it was going to be interesting.  I also took new bike out for its maiden voyage with new pedals, so I was just hoping to just keep up.

Once we got on the bike trail, the pace kicked up pretty good.  Todd and PV were doing some mad pulls, and I took some turns up front as well.  Dave hung on as best as he could for a while where I looked back at one point thinking we had been moving pretty fast, but he was still there.  I think by the time we got to the bridge though, the pace got to him and it was just us 3.  Keep coming out, Dave!

Todd and PV were relentless on the bike trail, and I'm glad there were some pedestrians that slowed us up when they did.  I was afraid to reach down for a drink because these guys were pushing pretty hard throughout.  I think my first drink was actually at Laguna Cyn.  HAHA


We still stayed together through Laguna and Quail Hill, but I almost dropped trying to get clip in on new pedals (newbie!).  thankfully, we were going downhill, and I was able to catch them by the next light. 


On Shady, Todd first started the climb and I was right behind him.  PV passed us both at an increased pace, and I jumped right on with Todd behind me.  PV was holding a great pace going up, but near the end, Todd and I had a little more so we jumped to get to the top.  Todd powers through past me and got to the top first. 


Going down Shady, PV passed us both again to take the lead but after the bridge, dropped his chain.  We kept telling him to stop pedaling, but he was set on pedaling hoping it would just jump back on?  Maybe that works on a mountain bike, but I don't think road bike high modulus frames take too kindly to the chain banging on them.  Just saying.  PV got it back on quickly, and we were off. 

Todd led us going up the hill towards Bonita after the bike trail and I did a pull to finish the top.  Once there, PV took over followed by Todd and me.  When Todd passed PV, I wasn't sure if he was going to sprint or not, but I had some left over and decided to see what the bike can do.   Now if only I could have measured power. 

On Bonita Cyn, we were still hauling ass and everyone was taking turns all the way through Ford.  Near the top, I took over for Todd and I tried to lead them onto Jamboree going wide on Ford so we can get some good momentum.  PV and Todd didn't follow my line and took one inside instead.  I told them I was swinging in, so they checked up to let me keep my line.  Since they did, I took the opportunity to breakaway from these goats.  I expected to get passed, but curiously, they never did.  They must just want to make me feel good on the bike. 

On Bison going over the 73, I was wondering if they were going to sprint and they jumped one of the lights like they wanted to.  When I passed them after, I waited to see whether there would be a final sprint to the gate.  At the stop sign, Todd told me he wasn't going to sprint so I looked around to see where PV was in case he was interested.  As we neared the gate, Todd yells out "Just kidding" and sprints to the gate first.  Nice.

21 mph average today in the loop. Tomorrow should be equally interesting. Thanks for the workout, gents!

Tour de Palm Springs 2011

We only had 3 of us do this event, so it was going to be interesting to see how we did compared to last year when we had 5.  Shannon and I have different bikes since last year, and Eddie brought his TT bike so we had a fighting chance. 

The weather was just as predicted; cold in the morning (47) and warm by the end (80+) of the ride.  There was wind heading toward the windmills and some sections through the residential, but overall, it was pretty good.  We did wear a  base layer to start off, but no arm or leg warmers.  We represented BRCM white in preparation for the heat. 

Here's Eddie and I freezing our asses off before the ride:

We got out as scheduled, and got to park pretty much where we parked last year.  Perfect place for the out-of-the-way drinkfest that ensued after the ride (more on this later).  It didn't take us too long to get ready from there and be on our way.  Shannon even had time to decimate one of the porta-potties beforehand.

It was the same as last year...staggered start and freezing until we got to take off.  Everyone kept bunching up, and Eddie and I got a little separated from Shannon.  When we took off, Eddie and I rolled off but I was worried Shannon didn't get to go when we did.  I ended up pulling over to wait, and Eddie kept going.  When Shannon rolled up, we started to ride together but very slowly.  I actually stopped my Garmin since it was so crowded we were barely moving.  For that brief moment it was on, the average speed was 5 mph.  I started it when we were able to actually pedal and even then, the first mile average was still 8.9.  Bummer.  Getting around one old guy who had fallen helped contribute to this. 

After we got through a light to turn left, I was still feeling a little cold but we saw Eddie up ahead of us finally.  At that point, Shannon decided to get up front and passed me.  He told me just beforehand that he needed to take a leak, so I thought trying to keep up with Shannon on a mission would not be a good idea.  I saw that he caught up to Eddie where Eddie latched on and they were off.  I kept a moderate pace and was still passing everyone as we started the ascend.  Midway up, another guy passed me and I latched on to him.  One other guy latched on, and the 3 of us worked together to the first SAG.

The first SAG was actually worse than last year.  Again, they had people across the whole street just standing there and the only way to get through was to walk the bike.  I did well holding back the profanities, but what a serious clusterf#@*!  I did see Eddie there though, so we hooked up and took off together from there.  Shannon had just finished watering one of the road signs across the street when we saw him, so we called out to let him know and we were off down the hill.  Eddie, Shannon and I were just picking people off down the hill, but we did get some people to jump on and that's when a group started forming.  However, it wasn't exactly a group where others felt a need to take a turn up front. 

Shannon did a lot of the pulling through the rollers, and I'd try to help once the descents came since others weren't too eager.   Shannon said he was actually hurting a little after all his pulling, but you would never have known it.  I was always glad when he came around to take over.

We did pick up this one group who looked like they may be willing to help out, but it turned out they were only doing the 50, so they turned off.  We also saw this hot chick on a BMC that seemed like she was doing really well but unfortunately, she dropped off at some point.  There was one guy on a Trek that started to help out, but Shannon and I were pretty much dictating the pace on the downhill.  One guy on a TT bike tried to breakaway a couple times, but we'd reel him in and pass each time.

Toward the bottom and near the 50 SAG, the road got really rough.  It was pretty rough actually through a lot of sections, which was substantiated by all the people on the side of the road fixing their flats.  It was nice to be able to stop from all the vibrating from the road when we finally arrived at the SAG.  Shannon and I didn't realize Eddie had dropped off, but he arrived shortly after.  We refilled our bottles, got a little nourishment, and took a bio break and were off shortly after.  Breakaway Eddie got out first and made it through a light, but we ended up catching him.  There was a gal on a TT bike wearing some pretty small shorts who had some serious legs that ended up riding with us for a while, but she also met the same fate as BMC chick.

We did pick up others and a group started to form, but when the rotations up front weren't moving too quickly, I decided to tear away from the group where Shannon and Eddie followed along with a guy on an S2.  After a while, there was just the 4 of us working together to keep the pace up.  S2 guy was pretty strong, and Eddie and Shannon were also keeping the pace high.  Eddie kept upping the pace when he'd pass, and I think I'd slow it down.  Shannon would bring the pace up also (and keep it up), but he was more gradual.  Maybe that's why the S2 guy kept telling Eddie he's splitting up the line.   Too bad S2 guy decided to stop at the next SAG.

As Shannon started leading us toward the one climb in the residential area, a few guys who we passed as they were off to the side of the road eating passed us with fresher legs, but Shannon and I managed to latch on.  One guy was wearing a Bike Religion jersey, and I did hear them mention that the hill we were on reminded him of Ridgeline, so I thought that was pretty cool.

These guys pretty much kept the pace up throughout and we took advantage of the opportunity to finally let others do some of the work.  Eddie eventually caught us at a light, and we were all together from then on.  At one point while in Indio, we had a police escort helping us get through the intersections, so that also helped keep the pace up.  The guys up front  did SAG at mile 90, so at that point, we were on our own again.

Fortunately, we caught up to others who were willing to work and we pretty much rode with them through the rest of the ride.  There were even some ladies on TT bikes that were pretty solid who wouldn't keep up during the acceleration, but they would catch up on every light. There was no point in trying to breakaway since the different routes have merged and it was just too dangerous.  Some guys would sprint off from the stops, but we just kept reeling them in.  On the last stretch before the end, it was just too crowded.  I did try to get by this one old guy near the end, and he asked me "What's the rush?"  Sure enough, as we entered the parking lot for the finish, Eddie jumped in front of me to claim he beat me.  That's what the rush was.

The post ride beer fest courtesy of Shannon was perfect.  We did have to hide from the sun so we wouldn't get totally dehydrated, so we sat up against a wall and threw a few back.  Then, the mexfest at the Margaritas restaurant was perfect...definitely worth revisiting next year for the pre-ride meal.

Overall, it was a great ride and the averages for me were up from last year by at almost a whole mph.  Maybe we'll have more come out for next year where we can top this again.  Madness. 

Here are my stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67958770

BB PCH NPC Pelican Training Ride

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67470647

I was expecting to ride with Wednesday group, but instead found that Eddie, Todd, Jaffe, and Hiroshi came out.  Todd wanted to do BB NPC loop, so no Shady bike trail loop for today. Since they saw young guy (Vin), Hiroshi was suppose to encourage him to go.  Instead, he asks him to come out because I supposedly wanted him to go.  Too funny.  I didn't figure Hiroshi to be an instigator.

It was a windy day today, and Todd led the group out onto the bike trail and back bay.  Eddie jumped up front and kept the pace up and rotated back and forth with Todd.   26, 28, and 25 mph average through sections was strong.  I took some turns toward the latter part to keep the pace up as well, but understandably, Vin was just doing what he could to hang on; especially since he wasn't familiar with the pace/route.  By the time we got up Jamboree to PCH, there were just 4 of us because of the pace.

On PCH, Todd kept the pace up and by the time we got to Avocado, it was just 3 (including Vin).  Todd led throughout the residential area, and back on PCH, I took a couple turns rotating with him until we got to NPC where we met up with the others.

Going up NPC, it was cool to see Vin try and stay on Todd's wheel.  Gotta give the kid credit for having heart.  However, trying to do the same going up Pelican would prove to be too difficult.  He, Eddie and Hiroshi were ahead of me, but falling off Todd's wheel after the first set of climbs.  On the final climb up Pelican, I was able to reel them in midway up.  Hiroshi wasn't too far behind though.

We met up again on NPC, and except for Jaffe (who decided he wanted some Vista action), we got to bomb down the other side.  Eddie's a DH specialist, so he took a long pull going down.  There were some cars that thought they'd ride our draft us well, but in the end let us do our thing.

Going up Bonita Cyn, Todd led us out.  I couldn't clip in again right away, so it took a little to do so and catch back up.  After we went under the bridge, young guy looked like he wanted to pass THE Todd Jacobs to get to the top.  Of course, Todd didn't let that happen.  I jumped up there with Todd as well to make it interesting.

We went onto Ford and I wanted to set up Jamboree with a fast right turn to see if it could give me some momentum going up.  However, I got on the inside of young guy and Hiroshi, and had to start the climb from a near stop.  Todd was leading the two up when I tried to turn it on.  I thought I had a good pace, but Todd got right behind me and then took it to me  near the top.  Damn him.  HA HA

On Bison, the wind was pretty killer but I tried nonetheless to pass to get a jump for a sprint to the gate.  However, another casual cyclist got in the way where I didn't give Todd enough room to pass (again, sorry) and we backed it down some.  Young guy wanted to sneak by after the stop sign though with a sprint.  Cool that he tried but....

Another good training session today.  That's it for me this week until this weekend.  Thanks for the workout, gents!

Portola and Back with Jamboree Finish

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67330208

Nice turn out with 11 people out there today.  Good to see Seon join us today from Wed/Fri group.  S-Gary almost didn't make it, but the group waited for him (and waited...and waited).

From the onset, I knew it was going to be a fast one.  While the wind felt like it would be troublesome, the pace was fast pretty much throughout with only slowing on Harvard (due to lights) and of course, up Jamboree.  It probably didn't help that I was trying to break away on CA hoping to catch a light, but everyone jumped on and the tone was set. 

Todd and Adrian were pushing the pace once on the bike trail, and while the group stayed together for a good portion, the pace took it's toll and the group started to get strung out some.  However, no one dropped off too far back, and we were all together again to cross Barranca on Harvard. 

Gary was also taking some turns up front rotating with Adrian and Todd.  When the guy up front would roll out, they were always coming back into the line early so they can once again get into the rotation.  I stayed behind Mike Z., who provided the perfect draft throughout. 

Nearing Portola, the first sneak attack of the day came from Noah where he relentlessly charged to the top keeping the average for that last section still above 22.  Good job!

At the top, everyone sat and waited to re-group, but S-Gary didn't want to stop and get everyone going again.  It was a crazy pace going down the bike trail, and it was always scary to drop from the front since every opportunity to try and create a gap seemed to be taken.  However, it never really worked as someone would always reel in the breakaways.  This made for a maddening pace into the wind back, but a lot of people hung on and stayed together throughout.  

After Mitchell's pull on the bike trail, Adrian and Todd were up front and everyone was waiting for another attack to CA.  Out of nowhere, sneak attack #2 came from Eddie on his TT bike, and he just left the group while tucked in a full aero position.  I gave chase once I realized he was going for a breakaway (I thought he may take another turn up front initially), and it was just too late.  Good job!

On Jamboree, Todd and Noah were duking it out to the top and despite Noah's sandbagging with how he's sick, I heard he reached the top first.   I guess tactics begin even before the ride.   I found a decent pace going up it, and mistakenly believed it was good enough to pass Adrian.   The bastard let me reel him in only to crank past me shortly after.  Eddie did the same thing, but we kept swapping back and forth.  He rolled past me across Bison though, so....

On Bison, Adrian and Todd were going for it but got caught at the light on McArthur.  Once the light turned green, Gary got the breakaway, but Adrian and Todd reeled him in.  Over the 73, I wanted to finish strong so I broke away here.  I did have to keep looking over my shoulder, but ultimately, no one contested to the gate.

Although this was a good training ride, the true highlight was that runner we passed just before going under Jamboree on the bike trail.  My goodness gracious. 

Thanks for the workout, gents!

4 Sisters, 1 Cove, 2 BRCM Brothers, and 3 Pitchers of Longboard

GPS stats for today:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66792903

Pretty early start today where I left at 6:15 a.m. to meet up Shannon and the Ranch Sports Grill for a 6:45 a.m. departure.  Car was registering 39 degrees at my house, so I was a little worried about how hard it would be to warm up in these conditions.  Fortunately, it had warmed up an additional 6 degrees by the time I got to Ladera/RSM where Shannon was there already seemingly trying to stay warm in his truck.  Full finger gloves, pants/leg warmers and arm warmers were still necessary, but at the last minute I ended up ditching my wind breaker vest since Shannon wasn't wearing one either.  Plus, it would cover up the jersey. 

We rode towards Todd's meetup point on Olympiad and Jeronimo and headed towards Marguerite and then the canyons.  Todd and Shannon were quite merciful and not tearing it up, probably to save some for the hills for the most part, but I was appreciative nonetheless...especially since I was able to stay behind them without getting dropped on El Toro. 

Going up the hill after Cooks, the pace was still relatively moderate but I knew that would change once I saw someone roll up on us from Team Velosport.  He asked where we were going, and after finding out we were doing something similar, I suggested for him to ride with us.   Of course, this got the natives a little restless, so the plan to take it easy through the canyons went out the door.  We were averaging just under 30 for the next 7 miles with just a small dip to 24 at one point (I must've been pulling at that point...haha).  Velodude stayed with us the whole time, and also took some turns up front as well.  Going up dump hill was where Todd opened up a pretty good gap, but Velodude wasn't doing too bad and was looking like he was going to close.  Shannon and I were right behind him.  When Todd saw us coming, he kicked it up a notch, and Shannon and I followed dropping Velodude before the crest. 

Once we got over, we didn't stop and continued to drop the hammer toward Jamboree.  With Shannon up front, we were moving.  After going over the 261, he hit a bump though and out flew his water bottle to the left.  I saw it pop out as did Todd, but I think it was still rolling forward when Todd got by it.  Once I approached, it hooked and rolled right in front of me where I just barely missed it.  Scary.  We stopped to let Shannon retrieve it,and Velodude caught up by then and we were off again...with my HR probably off the charts from being scared shitless.

While I did take some turns on Santiago, I pretty much decided just to hang in the back heading towards PCH.  With Velodude riding with us, Shannon and Todd were still in competition mode, so staying in the back was all I could do.  Plus, the thoughts of the 2 unfamiliar sisters lingered where I wanted to save as much as I could to be able to keep riding with the guys. 

The pace was still pretty decent going down the bike trail from Portola and on Harvard.  Velodude hung on and 1 other kitted guy jumped on, but at the light at Barranca, he ended up going straight while we turned onto the bike trail.  We called out to let him know, and it looked like he was going to turn around and follow, but probably thought it wiser just to do his own thing.

We were going at a fairly decent clip through the bike trail, but once we got on Back Bay, Shannon kicked it up a notch again similar to our lunch rides and towed us the whole way.  I'm glad we stopped after the exit in the trailer park to use the restroom as I couldn't imagine keeping that pace heading toward the sisters. 

Once we were off, Todd and Shannon were keeping a good pace on PCH when a guy on a Pinarello Prince decided to join us.  Great...here we go again.  He sat in our draft for awhile, but at one of the hills, he jumped to the front and everyone got right on him.  I couldn't tell if he was trying to get ahead or just up front, but either way, the reaction is always the same.  I stayed with everyone (in the draft of course) but after the first descend once in Laguna Beach, I grabbed a drink and fell just a little off the back.  Thankfully, Princeguy turned off on one of the streets, and we were able to resume a somewhat normal pace. 

And then we got to Park.  What possesses someone to make streets this long and steep?   I was able to see Shannon and Todd for a while as we went up this hill, but after a bit, I knew I was on my own and I just had to keep pedaling.  It was already a humbling experience to do this hill with the pace that these guys did it with Shannon blazing up to the top first, but at one point, Todd turned around and rolled back down the hill just to make sure I knew which way to turn.   Of course, he turned around and climbed back up again.  What a team player and a stud.  I think they need to re-name this street to Will Hill because that's pretty much all that got me up there.  Ridge Park's for pussies.  HAHA.  I guess on the way down, we missed one of our teammates (PV) who did his own ride on the sisters. 

Going up Nyes, Todd got a headstart so Shannon rode with me for a bit offering some coaching as we climbed.  I then told him he better pass me if he doesn't want me to fall in front of him, so he did.  This was also another ridiculous hill, and the one section where you turned right was crazy.  I can kind of see how Verm could fall off his bike going up this thing.   Actually, I can't, but I thought I'd make him feel better.  When I got to the park near the top, I saw Shannon's bike at the restroom and thought this was where it ended.  However, Todd came back up and pointed out that it was the stop sign at the top of the hill I had to do to complete the hill and pretty much twisted my arm to finish it...so I did with a little sprint.

We headed towards Dana Point after coming down and got some water at the gas station.  While there, we noticed Todd's rear tire was a little low, so we ended up going to Revo so he can fix it without having to use up one of his CO2s.   Once he fixed it (brown guy was excused from this one), we were off and up towards Cove we went.  Going up, I wanted to see what kind of tempo I could hold standing up, so I thought I found one that was pretty decent.  Shannon called it an attack, but I called it "temporary" as I exclaimed to Todd when I passed him.  Sure enough, it was and Todd lit up the rest of the hill. 

After, we got back on PCH and rather than riding all the way to Crown Valley, we took a bike trail at the bottom of the hill where I was thinking we were going to skip the last two sisters and just make our way back toward Mission Viejo.  Wrong answer.  We come out of the bike trail right at the base of Pacific Island.   Great.

After the 3 earlier hills, this was just another hill, and although I began to fall off from the 2 near the top, I didn't think it was too bad.  My hamstring was hinting that it would cramp, but that was alleviated with a Shot Blok.  Shannon waited for me at the top, and going down, it was a little sketchy with a Mercedes not going down too fast in the beginning and then wanting to pass just before we got to Highland. 

Todd was waiting for us on Highland, and I took advantage of the momentum and thought I'd see how long I can hold the big gear on the way up.  I actually thought I was doing pretty decent where I'd make it to the top first, but then I hear this whoosh, whoosh, whoosh coming up on me and it was Todd pushing even a bigger gear to pass me before the top. 

After that last hill, you'd think these guys would slow down, but they're like robots.  I again thought my hamstring was hinting of cramping at one point, but another Shot Blok along with some more fluids took care of that for the rest of the ride.  I still sat in the draft since I know my place with these guys, and I did start to trail on some of the remaining hill sections, so it was good enough not to get dropped too bad. 

Once we separated from Todd, Shannon and I decided to take it easy, but Todd's shortcut still put us through 2 good hill sections.  He says he saved us about 100 feet of climbing, but it sure didn't feel like it.  I finally took a turn up front going down a hill (haha) to help Shannon, and he said he was counting on me for Antonio.  Of course, I couldn't let the big guy down, so I did what I could on there, and thankfully, he alleviated and took over when I had no more just before Crown.

Overall, it was a good training day with the BRCM boys.  I read Verm did his own thing, and Eddie did too where he saw us on Santiago.  I hope we can corral everyone for the next ride AFTER the Palm Springs and keep the training going for the big rides.  Again, the best part is hanging out after with a few cold ones.  If you're ever in the area, give the Longboard draft a shot...it tasted like perfection after a ride like this.  Thanks, Todd and Shannon.

Vince Puke Ride

(From Paul)

fairly big group started, but the pack split up on ridge park.  I chased todd and vince to the gate....was somewhat close but then they gapped me hard down Vista and I didn't see them again. 

Pretty much a solo ride after that...I saw some riders when I got towards the top of Pelican but didn't pass anybody until heading up Vista. 

Jaffe perked up when I passed him and started pursuing me like a crazed wombat.  He followed me to the gate for #2, and then we pretty much stuck together on the return.  He definitely gets the crazed wombat award of the day.

Absolutely perfect day to get out, sunny, cool temps, a little wind but great ocean views and some lung busting climbs are a great way to break up the day!!  :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66486898

(From Vince)

Good one today.  I broke my old PR on this ride and made it into the 19s.  I think it is more attribitted to the fact that Todd and I worked together for the majority of the ride.  The last time I did this route I was solo.  PV looked good and was not too far behind us.  He did the extra credit both times. 2.6k of climbing over 21.22 miles, not too shabby.  Just think, do this ride 4 times in a row and we might be ready for L’Etape.  

(Me)

It was a little funny how the group decided to go ahead after I wanted to roll out and get a head start due to meeting leaving Verm in the parking lot.  Todd needed to go to, so he lead everyone out (his fault).  We saw Gary’s bike, but no Gary, so we left given he gave us a waiver yesterday to do so.

I tried to get a head start up NPC, but it didn’t take long for Vince, Todd and PV to catch up.  Mitchell got behind me after, but then pulled (saved) me to keep me up with the 3 guys ahead.  Verm must have been PISSED that we left, as by the time we got to the top of NPC, he was right there too. 

The front 3 guys were still visible going up until they went to do their extra credit.  I followed Mitchell onto Vista with Verm having blown his wad up NPC not too far behind.  We saw Mike Z on the way down and he turned around to join us (and boo me for trying to get another headstart at the bottom on NPC).  I knew time was short, and my legs were junk, so I was trying to get as much of the route as possible in.  They ended up catching me on NPC and Mike led us down but gapped us thanks to gravity.

On Pelican, we climbed the first sections together, but Verm lit it up on the final incline leaving me and Mitch thinking he’s probably still mad about getting left behind. 

On NPC, Vince and Todd passed us at the top and was joined by Verm.  Mitchell was saying he was going to go back with me, but ended up going up Vista (way to go!).  I cut it short and still had to get in line for the shower. 

Thanks for the workout!

 

 

THE Todd Jacob's Hill Trainer

I wasn't sure whether I was riding by myself today or with the Wednesday crew, but ran into Todd along with Jaffe and Mike Z.  Since Todd had planned to do some hills today, we opted to go with him instead.  What a team!  

The rout was pretty similar to Vince's puke route, but we went to Back Bay up San Joaquin vs. Anteater/NPC.  Nevertheless, the vert is pretty comparable.

What made today's ride interesting was how windy it was to boot.  14 mph was what weather.com showed, and that seemed about right.  It was cool when it was behind you, but rough (even downright scary) otherwise...especially on the descents. 

Since it was Todd's route, and the dude loves hills, he graciously offered to tow us (as much as we can keep up) for the whole of the ride.  On the hills, we figured it wouldn't matter, but I definitely took him up on it on the bike trail and Back Bay.  Mike Z. did take some pulls on Back Bay as well despite knowing he was going to have trouble keeping up on the hills.  Stud.

On San Joaquin, Todd led us up the hill and created a nice little gap toward the last hill section.  He must have waited for me, as I end up getting behind him before getting on NPC.  We both got to Ridge Park at the same time and after the light turned green, Jaffe came around for a pass to start the hill with Todd.   He tells me at the gym it feels good to be up front even for a little bit.  Nice.

Todd broke away and decided to do some extra credit since he was a good distance ahead.  I got past Jaffe and decided extra credit was not for me.  After turning right on Vista, mid way down was where I saw Mike Z. as he had gone up that way so he can turn around and ride with us.  Although a little nervous about the wind, I thought I was still going at a pretty good speed.  I turned around at one point to see if a car was coming, and Jaffe was not too far behind on the charge.  Mike Z. followed after and us three re-grouped at the bottom.

Jaffe took the lead down NPC (again, cool to see no-quit attitude), and midway down, I got in front and rounded first to go up Pelican.  I think I broke away a little after a while, and I caught the light back at the top to turn right at NPC, so I just kept going.  It turns out I was in Jaffe's view the whole time including going up Vista.  Todd caught Jaffe midway up Vista, but I had crested before he can get to the top.  I looked back but didn't see them, so I went ahead on Ridge.   The wind was a little scary, plus I was worried a car was going to turn left in front of me, so I definitely didn't bomb down this hill, nor NPC after.  I had some pretty good wobble on NPC with the winds seemingly hitting both sides of the bike/wheels.

Bonita Canyon was sick as it was tail wind most of the way on it...total silence when you're pedaling, so that was a good stretch.

For a windy day on a hilly route, I'd say it was a pretty good trainer.   The thought of Todd catching up early on also kept me going.  I guess we do it again tomorrow.  Thanks for the ride, gents.

Garmin stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66365829

2-1-11 Training Ride

GPS stats:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66231503

Weather was near perfect for a ride today with a good size group.  Props to David and Eric for making it out and joining us from Wed/Fri crew.

We started out looking for Eric since we saw him getting ready, and didn't realize he had started ahead of us.  I'm going to call him the deja vu kid because I kept seeing him throughout the ride.  I also saw David a couple times as well.  Nice pedaling guys.  Keep coming out.

Was it just me or did it seem like we were pushing hard from the very beginning?  Maybe my speed perception was a little off since I was on Eddie's bike, but I could swear that was even faster through Anteater than normal.  It's good we got to regroup again (albeit temporarily) on Bonita Canyon.

Up Turtle Rock, the group definitely started to string out while I was pacing Hiroshi and Mitchell.  On Starcrest, I took a stab at catching Adrian, but he kicked it up just near the top to keep me at bay.  Mitchell and I tried making up some ground on Ridgeline, but at the bottom, it felt different when putting the power down on the Felt, so I ended up dropping some just to watch the guys pull away on the bike trail.

I was on my own after that, but it was nice to get some alone time with the loaner.  Going uphills, the bike felt really good.  It's hard to know for sure how well I was doing given I was riding on my own, but perception-wise, I liked it.  On the flats and downhills, I liked how the bike rode but it seemed to have just a little less snap (again, likely seat height related) than my bike.   Thanks for letting me borrow, Eddie!

Overall, a good training day today with the guys.  Looking forward to Thursday already.  Thanks, gents.