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
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