For the Strava enthusiasts: http://app.strava.com/rides/848722
It was quite the barn burner out there on today's route, and it didn't help that Gary wanted to do more hills and not ones close to the ocean. Noah came out without a water bottle (he pinged me via e-mail after I left already), so he did it Ironman style, which he regretted after due to the heat (89 degrees average).
Not a lot came out today, but this didn't seem to matter much as it was still a tough workout. Noah asked originally if this was just a spin or was this a Strava ride, so I answered honestly and said I may shoot up a couple of the hills just to see if I can advance position. The plan was to take it easy (for the most part) until we hit those hills. I don't think it worked out as planned too much after Starcrest, but that's pretty much the nature of this group.
Gary led us out and I took some turns as we headed out toward Starcrest. When we finally got to Starcrest, I decided to give the hill a run and Noah accompanied me. I did pretty good for a while, or so I thought, until Noah snapped me off near the top. Since he's not on Strava yet, I got 2nd behind Shannon on the Starcrest segment. Gary, Seon and Eddie were just behind me, so we were able to go on shortly after regrouping at Summit Court.
We went back down and met Noah at the bottom of the hill (he's not a fan of waiting at the top), and we were off to Shady. Gary was leading us out for a bit with Noah and Seon behind him. I took a turn mid-hill and turned the screws up a bit as we neared the top. I expected to be passed, but ended up cresting solo. I knew the pack wasn't far behind though, but I only took little peeks.
I wanted to keep the pace up on the bike trail by the 405, and was hoping to at least keep the others off me until after the bridge. I had been sneaking some peeks back to see where they were, but mostly I was working the headwind that ultimately reduced me to a little girl. Just as I was getting ready to look back before the bridge, Eddie passed me followed by the rest of the crew. HA HA...nice.
On Ridgeline, I was still trying to recover at the bottom. Eddie opted for the sidewalk route while the rest of us waited for the light. Gary led us out initially followed by Noah and Seon and I took up the back gasping for air. Noah decided to charge and broke off a bit from the rest of us. When I felt I could breathe again, I gave chase and had a pretty good pace going up. Seon jumped on as we made our way to Noah. I had a pretty good rhythm going up the hill and managed to get by both Eddie and Noah, but on the false flat before the second rise, I detonated pretty good. Noah blasted past me and all I could do was watch. I did see Seon at one point coming up behind me, which helped motivate me to keep going up to the top. When I got to the top to turn around, I was surprised it was Gary who was behind me instead. S-Gary in the house!
After regrouping at Turtle Rock, we made our way to Shady. Noah was already ahead of us as he kept going after he turned around. Seon decided to bust it on the incline up Shady toward Bonita Canyon and had gapped us pretty good. I decided to give chase eventually with Gary in tow, and we made our way past him before the crest. We saw Noah also and let him know we were coming so he can jump on as well. I was trying to hold a pace up front as we were going down that would discourage any attacks, but S-Gary attacked anyway. Nice. After he got by me, he tried to shake me off his draft but I stuck to him like soy sauce on rice (Filipino-style). As we neared the end of the sprint zone, I went ahead and shot by him. When we sat at the light, I was on the verge of throwing up as a result of all the effort. Nice.
On Summit, Noah led us up originally, then Seon went by to take the lead while Gary, Eddie and I were a little off the back. I was still trying to recover from the sprint, but as Noah and Seon started pulling away, I picked it up. I was sure I wouldn't catch Noah at this point, but with Seon I was less skeptical. It took some work, but I finally made my way past Seon before we reached the gate. Great effort on his part though.
We regrouped to go back on Bonita Canyon, and we made our way through Ford and Eastbluff. I must have been a little delirious at one point as I didn't even see a van that was turning left at an intersection in front of me. Thanks to Gary calling it out, I was able to avoid running into him. That's why I like riding with S-Gary. He's got my back!
On the climb to Jamboree, Gary was up front initially and Noah, Seon and me behind him in that order. Noah pulls out and starts charging the hill, so I thought I'd try to make my way up to him. Even though he hadn't drank any water and was on the verge of passing out at one point, he still kept me off where I couldn't ever get close enough to him. Once again, puke was knocking on my throat's door.
When we got on Bison, I wasn't sure if these guys were going to power up over the 73 or not. I was hoping for the latter. Noah decided to charge up his power meter and Gary jumped on his rear wheel while I watched from behind Seon. I broke off and gave chase and felt like vomit was getting ready to come out of my ears as I worked my way past them. It took some time as these guys were moving!
I have to say today was one of the harder days of training. The speed intervals were ridiculous on this ride, and the distance, elevation, pitch and the warmth made it even worse/better (depending on how you look at it). It was a great way to lead up to the weekend though. Thanks, guys!
P.S. Noah's comment about today's ride:
If I ever meet ol' Mr Strava, I'm planning on kicking him square in the nuts. He's done more to ruin our BRCM group rides then Shannon's dope vendor. Every tiny bump in the road is another reason for Rich to attack to earn his little digital badges. Ridiculous. Why do we have to suffer so he can be Mayor of Jamboree from Bonita to Ford? As if the peer pressure from each other wasn't enough -- now he has to impress the entire internet by bringing the pain.
No comments:
Post a Comment