I signed up solo to do a charity ride for a Filipino organization that contributes to building schools in poverty-stricken location in the Philippines where the name of the ride was "Pedal for the Nation" (in tagalog though). The ride had over 100 riders signed up for the 62 mile route which started out at the Yorba Linda Regional Park > SART bike trail > Katella > E. Santiago > Jamboree > Santiago Canyon > El Toro > Trabuco > Irvine Blvd > Jamboree > E. Santiago and back to SART to starting location. Obviously, this was a route we are all too familiar with.
Unlike last year, there was not a mass start this year, so I waited around until a group formed. I saw a bunch of small little groups and individuals heading out, but I wanted to wait to see when some of the bigger teams were heading out. I was fortunate to run into one guy I knew from the Mira Mesa Cycling Club (Mike). His team ended up not being available for the ride, so he opted to ride with me. Woo hoo...someone to ride with.
Once some of the teams took off (Adobo Velo, River Velo, and others), about 25-30of us were off. The pace in the beginning was not our typical BRCM no-warm up pace, so it was nice for a change to run moderately. Since there were a couple teams out there, I decided not to jump to the front right away since I was flying solo. I did sit about 7th down from this group as they headed down to Katella.
When we got to Katella (where the Honda Center is located), the group got a little confused based on the markings and somehow, I found myself up front heading onto the street. I guess at this point, I wasn't going back, and decided to stay up front. I did break away for a bit and was riding on my own, chasing down people in front of me. However, at one of the light, the peloton caught up.
I started trading off at the front with a couple other guys, but once we got passed Cannon and started going through some of the rollers, I had broken away at one of the hills (not really intentionally) and found myself riding alone again. At the last hill before Jamboree, a few others had caught up to me and more so once we got to the light to turn into Santiago Canyon.
Going up dump hill, everyone stayed behind all the way but kept my pace. At the very top, there were some guys sitting up there resting but I rolled forward thinking that the others would follow behind me. However, when I started to descent, I looked back and didn't see anyone.
I kept going and chased down all who were in front of me, and at one point, noticed that the guys who were behind me had again caught me. A couple of the guys including Mike started taking turns with me, so it was nice to actually take a break here and there. We continued to pass others who had left before us and made our way up to the last hill before Cooks. At the bottom, I had slowed a bit to left the 3-4 remaining guys get go ahead so I can take a big drink. I'd been waiting since I pretty much had to go pee only minutes after starting out where I hadn't drank that much. Well, the guys started to charge the hill, so after a good swig, I was off after them. They were able to keep the distance for a bit, but eventually, I was able to reel them all in. One guy (who's name I later found out was Greg...I think) was able to latch on, but on the 2nd pitch right before the descent, I sprinted to the top and broke him off.
After the descent (and a quick bio break at Cooks), Mike and I chased down the 2 other guys who had kept going and ended up seeing them at the SAG in the middle of the descent down El Toro. One of their buddies, who was suppose to stop, decided he was going to keep going. They said he was a strong time trialist, so I thought it would be fun to chase him down once they had gotten their fill of water and food...I was still finishing up my first bottle.
Once we took off, I kept the pace high up front and had some occasional relief from 2 of the other 3 who were with me. The Trabuco to Irvine Blvd sections were riddled with lights, but we tried to keep the pace up despite. Once we got past Alton, we hit my favorite section where I started to bring the group up to a good pace. As needed, the other 2 guys who'd help out and relieve me, and ultimately, we caught their TT friend.
We also ran into a couple more guys who tried to break away at one of the lights, but I chased them down and we managed to pass them before we got back onto Jamboree. On Jamboree, we had picked up a couple riders, but by the top of the hill, I was alone again. I guess all the hill training we've been doing is paying off. The 3 guys who I'd been riding with had caught up again at the Santiago Canyon light, and we started trading off as we got on E. Santiago.
Once it turned to Katella, there was a lot of traffic, so we were pretty much soft pedaling for a while and chatting as we went through traffic. However, once we got back to SART, I told the guys my wife was waiting for me (she came with me today and was at the start point) and that I wanted to turn it up and get back. As they were willing, we were off. Little did I know that at this point, none of them were willing/able to get up front anymore, so I pulled us all the way back. I didn't mind doing a lot of the work today since I missed out on big hill training this weekend. It was just cool to have the guys behind me to ride with and push me to keep going. It was cool to be the first to get back.
Overall, it was a good training session for me and hopefully a good representation of the BRCM team. Unfortunately, no Garmin stats available since I forgot it (I was so bummed), but the average my buddy Mike showed was over 20.
Pics:
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| Chillin' at the start |
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| Taking off |
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| The Filipino peloton |
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| At the Finish line |
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| Represent |
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