13 guys came out today for what was proclaimed to be a "mellow" ride to allow for some recovery after the epic weekend event. For those who haven't ridden with the group that long, they don't realize that this term comes with the following caveats:
- If Verm comes out, prepare for an attack against anything that moves
- If Adrian comes out, understand he preys on the weak and those in recovery mode.
- If Vince and Shannon come out, realize they won't just ignore the above.
The immediate omen was when 2 guys in kits, with one on a tri-bike, were on the bike trail just ahead of us as we were first getting on. I remember being towards the back with Eddie when he started calling out how those up front were taking off...obviously in chase and destroy mode. At this point, if you weren't sprinting to catch up (or Shannon), your fate would be sealed.
We ended up catching the front group as Steve, Adrian and Vince reeled in the 2 guys up ahead. The one on the tri-bike eventually popped (I found out it was his first time on the bike), but his buddy stayed with us as those up front kept the pace up. At some point though, he ended up letting us pass so he can wait for his friend, but that didn't slow us down until we got to the light at Barranca.
Most everyone regrouped at this point, and the light didn't take long to change. The pace remained pretty fast and at one of the intersections, the light split the group up. I was just behind Seon and had momentum as the light turned yellow, so I bailed out of his draft when he checked up (I didn't see or hear any indication he was stopping by the way) and caught up to the others up front. Seon and a few others ended up stopping while Adrian, Vince, Verm, Shannon, Mitchell, Jaffe (or was it Marc) and me went ahead.
The pace was solid going out with rotations up front and eventually had Adrian, Vince and Shannon up front. I was able to get back up to them and bring Verm with me. Eventually, Verm turned off and it was just the 4 of us working together up to Portola.
Once at the top where it is not customary to wait, we turned around and Shannon led us out notifying the riders making their way out to turn around if they wanted to get in the draft. Mitchell made it back in the draft, but the others weren't able to do so as the pace (plus the wind) made it difficult.
Everyone (well, almost everyone...hee, hee) was doing their best to take their turn, but the head wind on the way back seemed brutal. Despite, we still kept the pace in the low 20's. Shannon probably had some longer pulls here and there, but some times it's just impossible to get past the guy. I never wanted to look down at the Garmin because at times, it felt like we were just barely cutting through the wind.
Once we got on University, Adrian started to charge with Vince behind him and then Mitchell came out from the back and started hauling ass past everyone. I was able to catch him and get in his draft with Vince behind me. As we neared California, I broke off for a sprint and Vince and I passed Mitchell. Vince made his way up but there was not a lot of runway left, so we ended up just rolling up to the light rather than passing it at race pace. When Mitchell rolled up, I guess he wasn't expecting us to pass and yelled out "Idiots!" If you know Mitchell, that's really no different than if you sit in Todd's draft and pass him going up to Portola and him calling us F@#$ers. I actually wasn't sure what Mitchell called us originally, but he confirmed it in the locker room and stated it was because we passed him. Classic.
Mitchell also had a good pace going up California, so he led us up for most of the way up. As we passed the halfway point, I passed with Adrian and started to accelerate. Adrian did the same, and we both sprinted to the top and ended up crossing Bison (green light) together. I was expecting a run to the gate, but pulled a Roberto Duran against Sugar Ray Leonard wanting "no mas."
Good run today, guys. The only close call I saw was Adrian doing some accidental off-pavement riding on the bike path for a bit, but he was able to recover. Sandy worthy? You decide.
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