Strava stuff:
Garmin stuff:
Gary, Shannon and I met up at BJ's at 7:30 a.m. and ended up seeing Mitchell, Jaffe, and Verm in the peloton early on. We decided to wait for the peloton to pass initially rather than jump up front in the beginning like the last time, and what was immediately noticeable was how many people were out today. Even on Bryan, there was already a lot of people out but it progressively increased as we rolled out through Jeffrey and Irvine Blvd. We estimated at the end of the ride that there must have been at least 100-150 people out there today. It was quite intimidating to say the least. Will we even be able to make it up to the front?
On the warm up heading towards Jeffrey, we were content toward the back and didn't make any move to get closer to the front during this time. Mitchell and Jaffe were closer to the front while Gary, Shannon and I hung back. Steve eventually joined us as well.
Once we got on Irvine Blvd, the pace picked up as usual but with so many people out there, it helped that you can always find a spot to jump in but more difficult getting around those who were not able to hold the pace. I did start to move up a little at this point, and Gary, Shannon and Verm were nearby.
There were a couple lights we hit that ended up turning yellow as we approached where it seemed fairly safe to keep going through as a large group. However, when we approached Bake, the light turned yellow pretty early on where the guys up front should have stopped but didn't. A lot of people checked up at this point, but once they saw the front rolling through, a lot of people followed includnig most of our crew. Unfortunately, this is where we ended up losing Gary as he ended up stopping probably with a lot of others.
When we got to the light for El Toro, you can tell others were trying to get into position on the left hand turn. People were moving all around, and all I could do was watch. When it turned green, I saw Verm and Shannon start to make their way on the right side, but I wasn't close enough to ride with them. I ended up having to make my way up on the right side as much as I could but also try to save some for Cooks.
I ended up making my way up to Shannon and Verm, but I was a little worried because my HR was a lot higher than what I wanted it to be. Verm and I were riding by this one young kid who ended up blowing out his rear tire, and while Verm checked to see if he needed help, I just kept going since I was still working on getting my HR down to a reasonable level. Fortunately, I was able to calm down enough where it didn't end up being a factor. I was also in a good position with Shannon, so we were ready to make a go for it.
On the climb, I started to work my way up and was holding a pretty decent pace. It was not one of those times where it felt like I got swarmed near the top. At one point, I heard Shannon encouraging me to keep going, so I hung on and we managed to crest both hills together. There were a small number of guys who broke away at the 2nd crest, but Shannon and I were in a good sized group where we swallowed them up pretty quickly.
The downhill was pretty fast again, and there were some attacks going on up ahead of us. However, the attacks were short-lived. Shannon and I got pushed up to the front for some rotations, and the only thing you can do here is just sprint for a bit and roll out to get out of the way. There were times when we let one another in, but at one point, Shannon offered to let me in toward the front after I rolled out, and it was just too soon for me. Shannon had also been #2 in the line up, but I jumped ahead since it seems like the guys behind us were wanting us to push on. I'm not sure Shannon heard it.
When we got to dump hill, Shannon and I were in a pretty good position, so I just found a pace I could hold for a while. Shannon was a little ahead of me, but I found a good rhythm and made my way to him. I think Shannon ended up flatting out shortly after, but I didn't hear him as I passed so I kept going. When I was beginning to tire, a Sho-Air guy passed me, and I just jumped on his rear wheel and he carried us over the crest. I did pass him after we crested, but we traded places as we chased some of the guys who had broken away ahead of us. Ultimately, we ended up passing a few of the guys and catching the rest at the light on Jamboree.
On Jamboree, the pace was pretty high, but I opted not to chase anyone down going up the hill. Nonetheless, before we reached the crest, I found myself up front through the rotations and leading everyone over the hill...again. HA HA.
On the downhill, I moved toward the back of the pack and was going to wait to see if I can mix it up for the final sprint(s) after Portola. Attacks kept happening, but no one was able to break away from the rest of the group. They did pick up and try to sprint after Portola, but we got caught at the following light. One guy had gotten across, but the rest of us got stopped at the red. Some were yelling out to the guy who got through to go on and win it, but he didn't seem to want to.
I did make my way up to the front at the light expecting everyone was going to blast the next section, and when the light turned green, I was still clipped in. I took off at this point since it was clear in front of me. I was in full sprint mode, so I broke off thinking everyone was going to come after me. I passed the one guy who went through the red at a pretty good clip, and he didn't jump on. At this point, I put my head down and just went for it. Upon coming up on the next light, it just turned green in front of me so I kept going. When I finally looked back as I was coming to Irvine Blvd, either no one chased me down and opted to cool down or they just didn't catch me. I'll believe the latter until otherwise proven. HA HA
At the car, Verm, Mitchell, Gary, Shannon and Jaffe eventually rolled up where I only found out about Shannon's flat at this point. Verm mentioned how he and Mitchell got to mix it up with some guys through the canyon as well, and how there was still the shortage of people willing to pull.
While Gary was done having ridden the day before and Mitchell needing to get back, Verm, Shannon, Jaffe and I decided to do a reverse loop. Jaffe wasn't sure he was going to do it all since he had to meet his family at 11, but he ended up going to dump hill and back instead.
I think the plan was it was going to be a spin around the loop, but Shannon and I both think Verm had other ideas. Verm was pushing the pace here and there, and had some really strong pulls as well. I think my HR was just as pegged going the reverse way with these guys as it was with Como. The heat didn't help.
On the final climb up toward Cook's, I tried my best to stay with Shannon but decided not to violate Fight Club Rule #1 again. His pace and continuous power is relentless, so I instead pulled back a little and waited until I can sprint after the slight downhill before the final crest. Eventually, I was able to make my way toward Shannon on the hill towards Cook's. We were moving at a pretty decent clip, but I was thinking to myself how I should find a place to regroup since Verm had dropped off on the hill. Then, the next thing you know, Verm goes by me. Holy smokes.
We ended up going up Glenn Ranch vs. going all the way down to Trabuco, and I took the opportunity to try and climb the hill at a good clip. Shannon was feeling some pains here and there and opted not to follow...thank God!
I couldn't wait until we got to Irvine Boulevard as it is one of my favorite sections normally...until today. The headwind was pretty ridiculous, so we all did what we could just to get through it. At one point, I had been pulling at a 19 mph pace because of the wind, but Shannon kicked us back up to the 24s after. Humbling. Verm was also taking some good pulls and never skipping a beat, so it was a good effort by everyone.
In the end, combining the speeds for both rides came up to over a 21 mph average. I split up my times between the rides, so the total for the Como was 23.1 (improving by .4 over last outing) and 19.4 on the reverse route. Both were awesome workouts.
Thanks to all who came out today. It was a good day for sure despite the heat and the winds. Tomorrow will be a guilt-free day based on it where I won't be riding as I originally planned. Hopefully, I can make the Tuesday ride.
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