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.
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