Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/1562291
GC: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113065661
You'd think leading into the weekend, you'd want to drop it down a notch when going out on a Friday lunch ride...especially after riding consecutively for the last 2-3 days. Wishful thinking I guess. Even with the size of this group being relatively small today, we still knocked out some pretty impressive times where everyone seemed to advanced in the world of Strava.
LTJ and I took turns on the bike trail keeping the pace up where at the end, we were both really close to previous PRs for the segment that leads all the way to Laguna Canyon. Not bad considering we were the only ones in the rotation. I think Peter dropped off before the bridge, and David some time after, but Jaffe managed to hang on for the length of that run. By Laguna Canyon, my Garmin had us at a 23.1 average.
We made our way to Shady, and Todd started us out going up the hill. I jumped ahead and thought I had a good pace going up (got my PR) but LTJ flat out sprinted by me just over half way up. All I could do was watch at that point. He ended up getting his PR on that segment and moving up to 4th on the leaderboard. Good job! Although he says he was dying at the top, I tried chasing him down on the descent and couldn't even close in on him. Thankfully, he waited for me and Jaffe at the gate.
LTJ started us off from there as I was still in recovery mode, but once we started climbing toward the crest, I jumped ahead to keep the pace up. When we crossed the street from the bike trail, both Todd and Jaffe had dropped back a little so I thought I'd take advantage and see if I can keep them off. Well that didn't happen. They were able to close in on me, and had they launched a sprint attack, I probably would have just watched them go by. Thankfully they didn't, but we were all panting pretty good at the light on Bonita Canyon.
Now the route originally was to make our way through Eastbluff, up onto the bike trail to University and California. However, Todd offered me a lead out on the Duplex where at first, I didn't think I had anything left and refused. However, after a few more deep breaths, we decided to go for it. We recruited Jaffe to pull us on Bonita Canyon, and like a team player, he did. We hid behind him all the way until after the 73 bridge, but relieved him over the last couple rollers before McArthur.
Todd took the front once we got on Ford, but I asked Jaffe to jump to the front and play rabbit to give us even a better chance of doing well up the "duplex." As we were making our way toward Jamboree, Jaffe rounded first with Todd closely behind but taking a wider line, and I pretty much did the same as Todd to get momentum. Once I got going, I knew I found a good rhythm and was quickly coming up on Todd who had passed Jaffe. I recruited Todd to jump in the draft, and although he did, he realized he had accidentally dropped to the small chainring up front and couldn't hold the pace where he dropped off to try another day. I kept going and thought I had a good chance given I was able to stay off the seat longer than my previous attempts. As I was coming up toward Bison, there was a car ahead that was turning right so I did have to check up just a little before hitting that intersection. If anything, I thought THAT would be why I wouldn't have taken the segment today. It turns out, however, that I was able to get the KOM and am now the sole proprietor for the duplex. I'm thinking of redecorating and knocking down the shared wall. People can still come over and bunk it. What makes this even more rewarding is having Shannon comment on the ride from friggin' New Zealand. You can bet it'll be on for him when he gets back though given this. That's right, boys...worry.
Great ride for a Friday, and thanks to Jaffe and Todd for the lead outs!
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