What better way to have a bachelor type party with this group than starting it out with a ride? This ride (considered Stage 1 of 3 for the day's festivities) was to honor Shannon based on the limited number days of freedom he has left. They say that the shortest sentence in the world is "I am" where the longest sentence is "I do." With Shannon about ready to exchange "I dos," we decided to get him out to attack as many Strava sections as possible before his life sentence of absolute marital bliss begins.
Vince, Todd, Gary, Steve, Mitchell and I came out to be the designated lead out guys for the ride. What was obvious from this outing was that this was definitely not the strength of this group and HTC will not be knocking at any of our doors anytime soon. Seriously.
We did not have a segment to attack until Harvard, but in typical BAM fashion, it wasn't long on the bike trail when we were averaging over 26 mph. It did start out slow enough, but maybe for all of 2 minutes or so. The wind was behind us as well, so that probably helped to bring up the pace some. I guess warming up is also not one of our strengths.
Once we got on Harvard, we knew there was a segment that led up to the train tracks here. For this first segment, Todd was going to lead us out by getting up front right away, but immediately popped out of his pedals. This probably should have been taken as a sign of lead outs to come, but the rest of us jumped ahead and tried to take it down anyway. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), we hit the first stop light and knew from there that we would not be able to beat the existing record as a result.
The next section we were going to hit was the bike trail leading up to Portola. Since Harvard was completely closed, we had to take a little detour to head over. Steve led us on a sidewalk tour for a while as we made our way around, and once on the road, Mitchell got us back on the trail to start the next run.
As we tried to get ready for the section, Gary did a warm up sprint beforehand. When we neared the section, although we weren't too sure where it started, Steve led us out upon the onset of the climb. He was in full sprint mode, so after he popped off, I was too. I guess I inadvertently snapped Gary off the back and Vince had to go around almost running into Gary. By the time they caught up, we started popping off like old inner tubes. Todd managed to give Shannon a little more lead out after, and Shannon was able to finish it up getting the segment KOM by more than 5 mph over the previous holder!
A funny observation I had at the regroup point at the top on Portola was where people were already reaching for gels and finishing up bottles. We were just 11 miles out, people! Ha ha. Okay, so it was warm...but really?
Our next segment attack came with a little more planning where we set up a lead out order. It was random on the last one, so maybe coordinating the order would help. I was behind Todd and was going to perform the final leadout, so I knew it was going to take some work. When we hit Tustin Ranch road, Todd started yelling at the guys up front to pick up the pace. I said "dude, this is a long freakin' hill" and I thought their pace was good considering. Nevertheless, they picked up the pace and sure enough, almost everyone started popping off less than half way up the hill. By the time Todd had gotten up front, hanging onto his wheel was tough enough, but when I looked back and saw Shannon off my wheel, I thought we were done somewhat glad I didn't have to try and take a last pull. The next thing you know, Shannon keeps going past me and Todd picks up the leadout. Shannon did manage to get by and keep going after Todd popped, and ended up getting this segment as well. Woo hoo!
We all decided to regroup at the gas station and get some more fluids. Even though we were only 15 miles into our ride, I decided maybe more nourishment was in order too at this point. The intensity from the interval riding we were doing was going through our fuel sources a lot quicker than normal. Some even sought out Cokes at this point. Crazy. At this break, we did decide to skip the Dump hill segment and try to ride together through the canyon where our next attack zone would be Modjeska. That WAS the plan.
When we got going again, Steve and Gary started up front, but I thought it might be a good idea to take the lead and see if we can maintain a managed pace to the top of dump. I knew the guys would get antsy behind me if I went too slow, so I tried to set a decent pace that would keep everyone interested. The next thing you know, Gary kept coming up beside me somewhat encouraging me to push the group a little harder. I tried to tell him it was cool and I'll stay up front, but he kept coming up eventually causing Todd and Shannon to fall off the pace for a bit. So much for taking it easy on Dump.
Once we hit the crest, all hell broke loose and the pace picked up significantly. People kept jumping to the front with fast rotations, and Shannon was already joining even though I thought we were trying to save him up for the next KOM. I guess he figured we should go ahead and attack this section as well and see what we see. Our group started to thin out as a result and I think got down to Shannon, Vince, Todd and me. Vince, being on Shannon's wheel, tried to hang on, but at one point yells out "F#@* and waves me and Todd on rolling off the paceline. I didn't want to blow up too much trying to close the gap Vince left, so I was working just enough to keep Shannon close. Todd decided though he'd close the gap (thank, God!) and I jumped on his wheel after he passed me. We both took turns with Shannon trying to keep the pace up, but at some point, we just did what we could to hang on. Shannon had been pulling like a freight train, so that was pretty much all we could do. When we actually saw the turn off to Modjeska, I think we both were just glad we survived. I even yelled out "Modjeska!" with the little breath of air I had left. Shannon had been working so hard, he even went past the turn off just so he can cool down.
We all regrouped again at Modjeska, and the day wasn't getting any cooler. Todd and I decided to seek shelter under some shade on the road until everyone came by to head towards the North grade. Shannon decided not to go for this KOM based on how much he expended through the canyons, but Todd took off up the hill ahead of us. I went shortly after since I knew it was going to be steep, so I thought I'd find a good rhythm to get up this climb. I found a pretty good rhythm that let me catch up to Todd before the first bend, and he warned me that there was still a lot of climbing to do. I couldn't really help it though because I didn't have my compact crank and had a 26 on the back. When I saw Todd spinning a faster cadence than me (which is never the case), I knew it wouldn't take too long before he'd make his way past me again...and he did. He started to pull away some on one of the grades, and at some point, Shannon made his way past me as well. I met up with both of them on the other side albeit almost locking up my brakes before hitting Santiago. The others made their way behind us as well shortly after.
After regrouping, we all made our way down past Cooks heading toward Glenn Ranch. I was trying to recover a little bit, so I brought up the back after leading down the hill after the regroup. As we made the right turn onto Glenn Ranch where I was getting ready for that climb, Gary and the others starting pulling over. It turned out Gary was stung by a bee on the thigh, so he pulled over to remove the stinger. Since there was enough people who stopped, I started rolling a little bit ahead as Verm had never slowed down not realizing what happened behind him. He was in Verminator mode on that hill, so I thought it best to chase him down to let him know. Todd came with me and we eventually were able to corral him some time after the top of the hill.
After the rest of the group made their way over, we all rolled together and Shannon and I were just off the back for a bit. I guess at some point he thought I should have already closed the gap ahead of us on Portola and decided to just do so himself. I was still trying to digest a honey stinger at that point, but I jumped on so that I don't drop.
Going down Bake was fun, and initially, I thought it would make for a good non-pedaling downhill. Vince and Todd ended up shooting past Gary and I at one point, and I couldn't resist the chase. I worked my way towards the both of them, and I probably startled Todd a little thinking I had been blown out the back after they passed. He must have forgotten I loved downhills. The 3 of us traded pulls going down, so when we got to Irvine Blvd, we waved Vince on since he was headed to Doheny going straight on Bake.
The rest of us regrouped again and contemplated doing a fast run down Irvine Boulevard. However, we didn't think conditions were ideal and based on the time and decided to just go back via Alton/Barranca. Even though there were no segments there, we were all still having little sprints just to keep everyone honest. That was probably another not-so-smart idea on our part given that we still wanted to hit the Shady hill segment for Shannon.
As we neared, we decided once again to setup an order and the plan was to have everyone only go up to 80% output as we made our way up the hill as we took turns up front for the leadout. Every one of us agreed to do so. I thought I heard Shannon say all I need is to get up to the sign in the middle and I'll take over from there. I guess he meant that for Gary only being he would be the initial person in the lead out. As before, everyone started popping off early again going too hot initially not realizing what 80% meant...including me. Another odd thing was once everyone started going, I tried to get on it and it felt like my quads were hinting they were going to cramp. Nevertheless, when it came down to my turn to pull, I did what I could but it would be more about spinning since I was worried about my legs not holding up. I guess I spun up too fast though overcompensating, and Todd and Shannon didn't stay on my wheel when I took the front. I did manage to make it to the sign he mentioned before blowing up though, but again I did not really do anything to contribute to this segment. Todd kept a good pace and was able to pull Shannon for a good portion of the hill. Once we all got over the top and regrouped, we all thought Shannon must have been shot up from the top since he was nowhere to be seen. It turned out he was waiting for us at the gate. Unfortunately, Shannon was only able to attain a medal on this section.
We opted not to take the long route from the gate and took a shortcut on the sidewalk to go toward Bonita Canyon. We went into lunch ride mode going up the hill though and on the downhill, we started charging our regular sprint point. I was hoping with Shannon behind me, he would come with once I took off toward the bike trail opening. He opted not to, however, since he was still recovering from all the KOMs we've had him go after.
I guess at the intersection, a lot of people were wanting to go straight onto Anteater, but I must have been out of it. When the light turned green, I went ahead and started riding toward McArthur. At some point, Todd passed me and said I broke a lot of hearts given we didn't opt to take the short way back. Despite this, everyone followed and still tried to hold the pace we've been doing all day. Todd was still up for a race pace finish on Bison, so I obliged and charged with him all the way to California. BAM!
In the end, we ended up doing what we all agreed was the hardest 50 miles of riding we've done in a while. Shannon is looking forward to the next person's birthday, so we can punish the next celebrant. Thank goodness my birth certificate burned when I was a child where I no longer officially celebrate birthdays (at least not with this group).
Now there were 2 other stages that followed this ride, one of which was a dinner and the other a post dinner activity. I won't/can't go into too much detail in them, except that Tim, Eddie and Bob G. (of the mountain bike group) joined us. All I'll say is that these 2 stages were just as epic as the ride and that the coordination it takes to ride a bike doesn't necessarily translate to moves on a dance floor. Just kidding, guys!
I hope you had fun, Shannon! We did! Well...maybe not so much for Gary at the end of stage 3.
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