Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/1550026
GC: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112861277
While today was slightly cooler than yesterday, the route, the pace, the number of guys (12) along with who came out for today's ride made for even hotter conditions where I was deep in the red for a while after the ride.
David and Gary led us out originally, and it seemed like they were on a mission to break away from the rest of us. Or maybe it was just me being in the #3 spot and not wanting to push so hard in the beginning knowing what was in store for us on this hot day. I guess others behind me were on board with my "strategy" at least until we got on Anteater where others finally reeled David and Gary back into the pack.
We all pretty much stayed together on Bonita Canyon Road, but Galen took the front on San Miguel causing a gap at one point. Unfortunately, he and the guys behind him didn't study the route and almost missed Spyglass where we had to yell out to let them know they were going to miss the turn. Fortunately, they heard us, but they had to turn from the light to cross whereas some of us made the left hand turn.
I took advantage of making the turn and decided to play rabbit for those who wanted to give chase. Seon was the original rabbit, but I was able to get by him about midway up the hill. By the way, this is a good hill that we'll need to incorporate more often. I never got caught on this hill until we got to the bottom on the other side, but Strava shows that Vince and Todd had a better pace pushing me down the ranking after they uploaded their data. Nice.
On San Joaquin, there were some early surges by Adrian and someone else (I can't remember who), but eventually it thinned out to Vince, Todd, PV and me. There were some exchanges in taking the front as we were going up, but ultimately the 3 of them started to gap me near the top. I was already on preservation mode knowing we still had to climb Pelican and vista, so I figured it was okay. When we got on NPC, Galen, Vin and Adrian got in the line-up and helped keep the pace up as we headed down toward Pelican. I'm not sure trying to gap on the downhill is the best "strategy" though, because once the road pitched up on Pelican, they seemed to have gassed enough to let us attack on the hill.
Vince led the initial attack, and I was just glad to be able to sit on his wheel. Todd actually fell off a little bit, but slowly made his way back up and ultimately pass me on the final climb. PV had a chain problem, so he fell off as a result, but he had a good pace and ultimately made his past everyone else...I believe. Vince and Todd kept their pace up on Pelican, but fortunately got caught at the light where I was able to catch them on NPC.
On Vista, I started the climb ahead but Todd then Vince passed me here as well. They didn't hit the first crest too far away from me, but they did gap me good from there once I hit it. As I was approaching the final hill, I could see the two ahead of me, but to my surprise I also glanced back and saw PV making his way up behind me. Sweet! At that point, I decided to sprint up the hill as much as possible and totally got cooked in the process. when I got to the top where vince and Todd were waiting, all I could do at that point was let them know I need to get back to a meeting and just kept rolling. I don't think I pedaled once as we headed down Ridge.
On NPC, Todd took the front all the way down to the bridge, but I tried to help and keep the pace up after. I definitely went deep into the red again doing so, but that's how BAM rolls, right?
On Bonita Canyon, the 3 of us were still trying to keep the pace up, and at one point, PV jumps up to the front unexpectedly...at least to me. Good to have him back. Vince was pretty cooked from all the hill charges at that point, and I gave up as well since I was taking a shortcut (McArthur) back due to time. Todd and PV still went on to hit the "duplex" where PV tried to see if he could challenge the top spot. Unfortunately for him, he missed by 26 seconds. :) Anyway, the duplex is full.
Vince ended up catching back up to me on Bison, but he and I were both just glad to have made it back at that point where there was no more sprint left in either of us. Thank goodness.
I was definitely cooked in today's ride, so maybe 1700 ft of elevation gain on a 98 degree day was not the smartest thing. It should be cooler tomorrow though, so one final ride for the week should just about do it. Thanks for coming out, gents!
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