Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2506477
Attendees: Shannon, Galen, Adrian, Hiroshi, Seon, Vin, Jeremy, Peter, Robert, Mitchell and David
Good sized group came out today to do some work after the holiday weekend. I took us out initially on to Anteater, but Jaffinator helped out and rotated some pulls as we made our way to Bonita Canyon. Once there, we rode the Galen express as we made our way toward San Miguel with Adrian taking a final pull just before the left turn.
On San Miguel, Galen led us up originally, but I opted to bring up the pace a little and took the front leading up to the light to turn left. When the light turned green, Team Focus jumped ahead and created a nice little gap from the others including myself. When it flattened out a little before the last rise, I was going to sprint up but wanted some extra gears to do so where I decided to use the small ring up front.. This, however, led to my chain dropping despite having a chain catcher where I had to pull off interrupting Adrian and Shannon's pace to get it fixed. I had to get off the bike to do so since the chain catcher wouldn't let me just pull the chain back up onto the ring. Of course, by the time I did, everyone else was gone...except for Peter who was just making his way up to me.
I finished the hill and got caught at the light on San Joaquin where I could see others more than half way up the hill. By the time I was able to go, there was no point in blowing up trying to catch everyone so I opted for a steadier pace in anticipation that I'd be riding alone for the rest of the ride.
While I'd catch glimpses of 1 or 2 of our guys ahead of me, that soon faded after getting stuck at the light at NPC and Ridge Park. I probably should have taken the shortcut here had I known the light would take so long.
Once the light turned green, I picked up the pace a little and jammed through Pelican hoping to see someone...anyone...but nope. I kept the pace up as best as I could on PCH, and decided to skip Ocean to see if I can possibly see others coming out of Avocado. Instead, I ran into Hiroshi on McArthur at the light.
Hiroshi got the jump at the light, but I was eager to see if we can still run into the others where I took the front and brought the pace up to a respectable 25-26ish toward the last stretch before Jamboree. With no one in sight still, we pushed on after the Jamboree light into Back Bay. Hiroshi took a pull early on after the gate and then one more pull some time after San Joaquin, but left me solo after that to finish the rest of Back Bay and Jamboree.
At the top while waiting to cross Jamboree to Bison, I saw Hiroshi and some others making their way to the left turn lane. Thankfully, my light turned green first and I started rolling down Bison only to be caught by light. Of course, once the light turned green, it was perfectly timed for the others to roll by where we all got together at the subsequent light. This was where there was dialog exchange with Jeremy seemingly happy to have beaten me up Spyglass despite my chain dropping. You go, boy! HA HA
Once the light turned green, Galen led us out and I figured I'd give the final sprint a go. Thank goodness Galen couldn't respond by that time, but Vin seemed eager to try to get by. Not this time, young guy.
Bummed I missed riding with the group, especially through BB where I hear Galen and Shannon were killing it. It was still a good training day for me nonetheless. Now where are those damn compression pants?!?
Thanks, gents!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Team BRCM - Irvine, 133, Aliso Creek, Highland, Pac Island, PCH to LB and Back via BB
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2482213
I met up Gary, Shannon and Vin at our usual BJ's meetup spot in Irvine, and we'd pick Verm up on Irvine Blvd just after Jeffrey. It was a little nippy in the morning, but most of us ventured out with a base layer and arm warmers only. It was a little hard (for me anyway) to warm up while breathing in the cold air, so our initial pace was actually good to warm up in. Vin and Gary did take off at one point early on before we got to Verm, but Shannon and patiently worked our way back up to them.
After we picked Verm up, there were some actual rotations going on as we made our way to Alton, Barranca and subsequently Laguna Canyon. At one point on the 133, Shannon must have gotten a little excited and decided to open it up a little going up creating a gap. We were able to close the gap eventually as we headed down the other side to El Toro.
El Toro was rather uneventful so we did end up staying together as we headed to Aliso Creek. I thought I'd lead up Aliso Creek at a pretty good pace and found a nice rhythm to get us up there. After standing for a while, I thought I'd see how the old seated spin would feel. As we neared the top, Gary launches a stealth attack and passes just before the crest. Nice!
We made our way down the other side toward Alicia, and Shannon and I got the front and took turns making our way down. When we got on Alicia, S-G decided he wanted to pick the pace up again and broke away before we got to Highland. I gave chase and held a pace that led me past S-G, and in doing so, I looked back to see if he'd jump on but he didn't appear to do so. I decided to keep a good pace up, and started pedaling to the rhythm of some songs on my Ipod when near the top, S-G sneaks by me again where I yelled out "sneaky!" I took off and got by him this time, but he may have been laughing at how I called him on his stealthiness.
After the stop sign to go across Niguel, I decided that was just about enough of that business and tore down the other side of Highland and up Pac Island to get to the top. Sorry, S-G...you've had your fun, buddy. You may be asking yourself where was Shannon in all of this. Well, he decided he wasn't going to manage his pace today a bit more and be strong at the end, which was exactly what he did. Verm hadn't had a lot of sleep, so he was having trouble early on, but he did find his mojo after we got off the hills and out on PCH. Vin was also doing well not dropping off too much and still willing to take pulls subsequently.
On the other side of Pac Island, Gary led first but Shannon passed us both at a pretty good clip where he reached 55.1 mph. I gave chase, but only managed 54.3...can't do too much more on a compact crank.
We regrouped on PCH, and as we made our way to Laguna Beach, I decided to work off some turkey and led the guys through downtown. When we got to the rise just after the 133, I thought Gary was going to try to launch another attack again, so I opened it up a bit to keep him honest. Verm and Gary started taking turns with me subsequently, but Shannon had been off the back still trying to manage his output so he can dole out some pain on the stretches. Vin had a pretty strong pull (breakaway-ish though) after El Morrow, so I let him expend some of his youthful energy a little.
We picked up a rider on the way, and then a couple more after NPC, and Shannon had caught back up to us at this point as well. One guy took a pull on his tri-bike as we got into CDM, and after McArthur, seemed to want to open it up some. I'm not sure if he thought he was breaking away, but we reeled him in and subsequently passed him to let him know we're game if he's wanting to mix it up. He turned on Jamboree.
As we went through Newport, an older rider was sitting on Shannon's wheel as he was at the front where I wasn't sure if Shannon knew who was behind him. I rolled up from the back to this guy and asked him if he was interested in actually rotating up for if he wasn't, I was going to kindly ask him to fall back. He responded he was willing to rotate, but after one rotation to the front and being relieved, that was the last we saw of him.
Another rider on a Felt bike (the others thought it looked like PV's, but it was an F series with a Team Garmin paint scheme, not a Z series like Paul's) jumped up and decided he was interested in taking the front from the back rather than rotating up. After we rotated with him for a while, he ended up disappearing after a while too. Let's just say it was a day full of Houdinis.
One one of Shannon's favorite stretches, he decided to open it up. With Verm and I helping, this pretty much ensured no one was going to sit in our draft at this point. Even with a headwind, we were still averaging over 25 mph. It was nuts!
The three of us made our way through Seal Beach and eventually to Long Beach 2nd Street where we got to the Mobile station at the corner. FYI - you'll need quarters if you want to use the restroom here. Gary and Vin ended up rolling in after a bit, but they did stop at a prior gas station thinking we were there. This was our first real break, which was pretty good considering it was almost 60 miles out. My Garmin had us at a 20.3 average at this point.
On the way back, it didn't take too long before people jumped in and started to mix it up with us. One guy on a red bike started to ride with us, and when he didn't take a turn up front after sitting in the #2 spot, one of us passed to relieve our team member (I forgot who did what), but I guess this guy wanted to show us he was game and tried to break off. Of course, not on our watch. HA HA. He did rotate in a few more times, but eventually dropped before we got back to Huntington Beach.
A couple Surf City Cyclery guys also jumped in and rotated in, albeit not consistently, while Shannon, Verm and I pushed the pace. I tried to have Vin save some energy and not try to rotate in too long, but he still dropped as did Gary once the pace got pretty high. One of the SCC guys decided not to continue on past HB, but the other came with. We were still keeping a pretty fast pace as we were in front of beach stretch, where at one of the lights, the 2nd SCC guy says to us, I'm just going to sit in your guys draft since I'm tired after riding blah blah blah. We were about 60 miles into our ride at this point already, and he says this to us like we were all fresh. Then, after sitting in our draft, he decides to cut through a red light and try to break away from us. I even saw him standing up and pedaling. Once the light turned green, the chase was on and we reeled him in fairly quickly to have him once again just sit comfortably in our draft. Oh man, I was hoping he'd try to attack at least once...but he never did. The SOB never even said thank you once we turned off to the gas station across from Bayside to wait for the others.
After regrouping at the gas station and taking a final break, we decided to cut through BB and make our way back to BJ's via the bike trail. The plan was to keep a moderate pace, which I think we did for the most part. Okay, so it wasn't the 20-21 I said, but everyone was still pulling when they could. Verm and I kept the pace up on the bike trail, and we did go by a guy on a Trek who decided to join our paceline. No biggie. While we maintained a pace around 23ish, Mr. Trek decided he wanted to pick up the pace some and passes at a 25 mph or so pace and creating an immediate gap subsequently. Defending the honor of the jersey, I took off after him and eventually latched on to show him he wasn't as fast as he thought he was. Then, Shannon comes out of nowhere and launches a serious attack, so I pull out from behind Mr. Trek and joined Shannon on our breakaway. Yup...snapped him off too. Shannon called it a Shake N Bake.
Verm and Vin caught us on the light to Harvard, and we rode together from there. Shannon still had some unspent energy, so we still kept pushing on Harvard and then subsequently on the bike trail. Verm got a flat, but urged us to continue so we did. At Shannon's pace, we pulled away from Vin and just kept rotating all the way back to Bryan and eventually to BJ's. In the end, we managed to bring our average up to 21 mph, thanks in part due to some tail wind, but mostly due to just working our asses off.
Vin rolled in a little after us, and S-G, who helped Verm with his flat, came in safe and sound as well. It had gone from being quite cold in the morning, to a balmy 80 degrees at this point. Crazy.
One thing I wanted to point out was how I jumped into some new X2U recovery compression pants I just picked up yesterday right after the ride. Guys, you may want to look into this as my legs actually didn't feel too bad today after doing so. Should be good for the spin bike tomorrow. :)
Vin, you're doing better young guy. I know the only reason you fell off today was since you borrowed my arm warmers where they must have been flapping around all over the place like a sail. It's good to have you join us though, although the next time you bring buttered bread for your nutrition vs. taro buns for our post ride, we won't wait for you. Just kidding.
Thanks again for another good trainer, gents!
I met up Gary, Shannon and Vin at our usual BJ's meetup spot in Irvine, and we'd pick Verm up on Irvine Blvd just after Jeffrey. It was a little nippy in the morning, but most of us ventured out with a base layer and arm warmers only. It was a little hard (for me anyway) to warm up while breathing in the cold air, so our initial pace was actually good to warm up in. Vin and Gary did take off at one point early on before we got to Verm, but Shannon and patiently worked our way back up to them.
After we picked Verm up, there were some actual rotations going on as we made our way to Alton, Barranca and subsequently Laguna Canyon. At one point on the 133, Shannon must have gotten a little excited and decided to open it up a little going up creating a gap. We were able to close the gap eventually as we headed down the other side to El Toro.
El Toro was rather uneventful so we did end up staying together as we headed to Aliso Creek. I thought I'd lead up Aliso Creek at a pretty good pace and found a nice rhythm to get us up there. After standing for a while, I thought I'd see how the old seated spin would feel. As we neared the top, Gary launches a stealth attack and passes just before the crest. Nice!
We made our way down the other side toward Alicia, and Shannon and I got the front and took turns making our way down. When we got on Alicia, S-G decided he wanted to pick the pace up again and broke away before we got to Highland. I gave chase and held a pace that led me past S-G, and in doing so, I looked back to see if he'd jump on but he didn't appear to do so. I decided to keep a good pace up, and started pedaling to the rhythm of some songs on my Ipod when near the top, S-G sneaks by me again where I yelled out "sneaky!" I took off and got by him this time, but he may have been laughing at how I called him on his stealthiness.
After the stop sign to go across Niguel, I decided that was just about enough of that business and tore down the other side of Highland and up Pac Island to get to the top. Sorry, S-G...you've had your fun, buddy. You may be asking yourself where was Shannon in all of this. Well, he decided he wasn't going to manage his pace today a bit more and be strong at the end, which was exactly what he did. Verm hadn't had a lot of sleep, so he was having trouble early on, but he did find his mojo after we got off the hills and out on PCH. Vin was also doing well not dropping off too much and still willing to take pulls subsequently.
On the other side of Pac Island, Gary led first but Shannon passed us both at a pretty good clip where he reached 55.1 mph. I gave chase, but only managed 54.3...can't do too much more on a compact crank.
We regrouped on PCH, and as we made our way to Laguna Beach, I decided to work off some turkey and led the guys through downtown. When we got to the rise just after the 133, I thought Gary was going to try to launch another attack again, so I opened it up a bit to keep him honest. Verm and Gary started taking turns with me subsequently, but Shannon had been off the back still trying to manage his output so he can dole out some pain on the stretches. Vin had a pretty strong pull (breakaway-ish though) after El Morrow, so I let him expend some of his youthful energy a little.
We picked up a rider on the way, and then a couple more after NPC, and Shannon had caught back up to us at this point as well. One guy took a pull on his tri-bike as we got into CDM, and after McArthur, seemed to want to open it up some. I'm not sure if he thought he was breaking away, but we reeled him in and subsequently passed him to let him know we're game if he's wanting to mix it up. He turned on Jamboree.
As we went through Newport, an older rider was sitting on Shannon's wheel as he was at the front where I wasn't sure if Shannon knew who was behind him. I rolled up from the back to this guy and asked him if he was interested in actually rotating up for if he wasn't, I was going to kindly ask him to fall back. He responded he was willing to rotate, but after one rotation to the front and being relieved, that was the last we saw of him.
Another rider on a Felt bike (the others thought it looked like PV's, but it was an F series with a Team Garmin paint scheme, not a Z series like Paul's) jumped up and decided he was interested in taking the front from the back rather than rotating up. After we rotated with him for a while, he ended up disappearing after a while too. Let's just say it was a day full of Houdinis.
One one of Shannon's favorite stretches, he decided to open it up. With Verm and I helping, this pretty much ensured no one was going to sit in our draft at this point. Even with a headwind, we were still averaging over 25 mph. It was nuts!
The three of us made our way through Seal Beach and eventually to Long Beach 2nd Street where we got to the Mobile station at the corner. FYI - you'll need quarters if you want to use the restroom here. Gary and Vin ended up rolling in after a bit, but they did stop at a prior gas station thinking we were there. This was our first real break, which was pretty good considering it was almost 60 miles out. My Garmin had us at a 20.3 average at this point.
On the way back, it didn't take too long before people jumped in and started to mix it up with us. One guy on a red bike started to ride with us, and when he didn't take a turn up front after sitting in the #2 spot, one of us passed to relieve our team member (I forgot who did what), but I guess this guy wanted to show us he was game and tried to break off. Of course, not on our watch. HA HA. He did rotate in a few more times, but eventually dropped before we got back to Huntington Beach.
A couple Surf City Cyclery guys also jumped in and rotated in, albeit not consistently, while Shannon, Verm and I pushed the pace. I tried to have Vin save some energy and not try to rotate in too long, but he still dropped as did Gary once the pace got pretty high. One of the SCC guys decided not to continue on past HB, but the other came with. We were still keeping a pretty fast pace as we were in front of beach stretch, where at one of the lights, the 2nd SCC guy says to us, I'm just going to sit in your guys draft since I'm tired after riding blah blah blah. We were about 60 miles into our ride at this point already, and he says this to us like we were all fresh. Then, after sitting in our draft, he decides to cut through a red light and try to break away from us. I even saw him standing up and pedaling. Once the light turned green, the chase was on and we reeled him in fairly quickly to have him once again just sit comfortably in our draft. Oh man, I was hoping he'd try to attack at least once...but he never did. The SOB never even said thank you once we turned off to the gas station across from Bayside to wait for the others.
After regrouping at the gas station and taking a final break, we decided to cut through BB and make our way back to BJ's via the bike trail. The plan was to keep a moderate pace, which I think we did for the most part. Okay, so it wasn't the 20-21 I said, but everyone was still pulling when they could. Verm and I kept the pace up on the bike trail, and we did go by a guy on a Trek who decided to join our paceline. No biggie. While we maintained a pace around 23ish, Mr. Trek decided he wanted to pick up the pace some and passes at a 25 mph or so pace and creating an immediate gap subsequently. Defending the honor of the jersey, I took off after him and eventually latched on to show him he wasn't as fast as he thought he was. Then, Shannon comes out of nowhere and launches a serious attack, so I pull out from behind Mr. Trek and joined Shannon on our breakaway. Yup...snapped him off too. Shannon called it a Shake N Bake.
Verm and Vin caught us on the light to Harvard, and we rode together from there. Shannon still had some unspent energy, so we still kept pushing on Harvard and then subsequently on the bike trail. Verm got a flat, but urged us to continue so we did. At Shannon's pace, we pulled away from Vin and just kept rotating all the way back to Bryan and eventually to BJ's. In the end, we managed to bring our average up to 21 mph, thanks in part due to some tail wind, but mostly due to just working our asses off.
Vin rolled in a little after us, and S-G, who helped Verm with his flat, came in safe and sound as well. It had gone from being quite cold in the morning, to a balmy 80 degrees at this point. Crazy.
One thing I wanted to point out was how I jumped into some new X2U recovery compression pants I just picked up yesterday right after the ride. Guys, you may want to look into this as my legs actually didn't feel too bad today after doing so. Should be good for the spin bike tomorrow. :)
Vin, you're doing better young guy. I know the only reason you fell off today was since you borrowed my arm warmers where they must have been flapping around all over the place like a sail. It's good to have you join us though, although the next time you bring buttered bread for your nutrition vs. taro buns for our post ride, we won't wait for you. Just kidding.
Thanks again for another good trainer, gents!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Team BRCM - PV's Pre-turkey Morning Madness Ride
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2427567
Admittedly, I didn't want to do this morning's ride when I first heard about it. Too cold and I already had ride plans for the following days. However, after finding out all who were attending, it just felt wrong to pass it up. PV set this up and got Galen, Shannon, Gary, Vince, Todd, Adrian, Verm and Mitchell to come out and play. Can you already tell what kind of ride it was going to be?
Temperature-wise, it wasn't really as cold as I thought it was going to be. While most of us wore arm and leg warmers, a base layer and jersey worked out for me where I didn't even shiver once. Given the pace was pretty aggressive early on, it didn't take much to warm up at all.
We had a really good pace going through Anteater and subsequently up the first Shady rise. It may have gotten a little strung out though on the latter. Shannon decided to do a little extra credit by taking the long way around the gate, but there were about 5 of us who jumped on the sidewalk together to head up the Shady bike trail. Todd, Galen and PV were taking turns before I got up front to help out. After crossing the last wooden bridge, Galen started to open it up and broke away for a bit. He had a pretty good lead, but I was able to slowly reel him in before we got to the very top. In doing so, alarms were going off in my head though reminding me we still had a lot of miles to go.
Galen and I regrouped at the bottom and continued on to Quail Hill. We didn't see anyone behind us, so we spun all the way to Laguna Canyon where we decided we would wait for everyone. After sitting for a couple minutes, we decided someone must have had a mechanical so we started to head back. When we saw the group making their way towards us (after addressing Adrian's flat tire), we busted a U-turn and got together with the group again.
Instead of making our way straight to Barranca, we turned early on Alton only to realize after that it's safer to cross the freeway on Barranca. We made a left on Irvine Center Drive and got back on Barranca where we did start to do some rotations to keep the pace up. This continued on through Alton and Irvine Blvd.
When we got to Bake, I led us out at a semi-aggressive pace and the group seemed to start splintering early. Shannon decided to display his hill climbing dominance and snapped me off, but working with Galen, we were able to get back up to him before making the right on Portola. Once we got on Portola, both PV and Todd ended up being behind us as well with Vince catching up to us by the left turn to Glenn Ranch. Sweet!
On Glenn Ranch, Shannon started us off but Galen decided to push the pace and broke away. I decided to stroke it out rather than try to match his initial pace, and this helped to allow me just to get past him where he jumped on my rear wheel. Then out of nowhere, PV passed us both where Galen cheered him on. I had some legs still, so I gave chase and got to the fire hydrant at the top ahead of him. PV did jump up front on the downhill where I followed and we both worked together to get to Cooks where we wanted to regroup and do the canyons together with everyone else. Of course, when Todd arrived just behind us, he was like "WTF? BAM doesn't wait." HA HA.
When we took off up the canyons, I led us up initially but PV in typical fashion passed stroking the bigger gear and breaking off from the rest of us. We do get by him eventually with Shannon and Todd helping, and 5 of us got split off from the others to make a run down the canyon.
After corralling PV and his passing, we actually had a pretty good paceline going as we headed down and through the canyons. It was Como Street-esque. Fast pace, short pulls, and constant rotations. Sa-weet! Unfortunately, just before the lake entrance, Galen got a flat where we stopped to let him repair it. The other guys rolled up shortly after and also waited.
Once we got going again, it was nice to be in a bigger paceline where everyone took a turn (whether they wanted to or not...ha ha). I think I was up front at the base of dump and worried that I was a little cooked prior to heading up. I believe PV took the front again, but Todd got past me and him and got a little gap on me. I was creeping up a little bit when Vince got by and the three of us started giving it all we got for the rest of the hill. I think Vince got to the top first, but Todd and I were right behind. Shannon was likely behind me as he was the first one to pass and work back into the rotation. Vince, in his infinite madness, decided to all out sprint on the last rise before Jamboree, so that was "fun."
On Jamboree, the paceline was pretty much organized chaos at this point and the pulls were more random than anything else. This still kept the pace up obviously, but made for more interval type training than anything else.
After a brake check for LTJ on Portola, we were headed down the bike trail with the rotations a bit more organized but nothing like the canyons. There were people and dogs walking around, so we did what we could to keep manage the madness.
The pace stayed high on Harvard, and once we arrived on the bike trail after Barranca, there was no way I was going to be in the back with this group. What's funny was I jumped all the way up to the front from the back just to hit the bridge first. Of course, in typical BAM fashion, I took off just after exiting the bridge. HA HA. I was caught shortly after, but I pity the fool(s) who were in the back.
The rest of the bike trail was with just everyone working as best as they could to keep the pace up and stay together. Galen took off just as soon as we got parallel to University (sadistic SOB) so I chased him down and took the next pull, which I knew would be the last one before California. vince and Verm ended up coming around for a final charge to the light.
When we started heading up California, I was saying how we were all honored to ride up with the current KOM owner (Verm). Verm took off after the 2nd light, and I jumped on his rear wheel for a bit and held his pace. Since I felt recovered, I thought I'd make it interesting and pick up the pace some more. I didn't realize no one would come with. By the top of California, Garmin showed a 21.2 average. It dropped to 21.1 when I finally stopped the timer.
Now PV was somewhat mocking those of us who rode (and rode hard) yesterday somehow believing that would factor into today's ride. If it did, I'd hate to think what we would have done had we taken yesterday off. These guys are ANIMALS (I love animals). I'm ready for a beer. Who's with me?
Thank for setting this up, PV, and to all those who came out today!
Admittedly, I didn't want to do this morning's ride when I first heard about it. Too cold and I already had ride plans for the following days. However, after finding out all who were attending, it just felt wrong to pass it up. PV set this up and got Galen, Shannon, Gary, Vince, Todd, Adrian, Verm and Mitchell to come out and play. Can you already tell what kind of ride it was going to be?
Temperature-wise, it wasn't really as cold as I thought it was going to be. While most of us wore arm and leg warmers, a base layer and jersey worked out for me where I didn't even shiver once. Given the pace was pretty aggressive early on, it didn't take much to warm up at all.
We had a really good pace going through Anteater and subsequently up the first Shady rise. It may have gotten a little strung out though on the latter. Shannon decided to do a little extra credit by taking the long way around the gate, but there were about 5 of us who jumped on the sidewalk together to head up the Shady bike trail. Todd, Galen and PV were taking turns before I got up front to help out. After crossing the last wooden bridge, Galen started to open it up and broke away for a bit. He had a pretty good lead, but I was able to slowly reel him in before we got to the very top. In doing so, alarms were going off in my head though reminding me we still had a lot of miles to go.
Galen and I regrouped at the bottom and continued on to Quail Hill. We didn't see anyone behind us, so we spun all the way to Laguna Canyon where we decided we would wait for everyone. After sitting for a couple minutes, we decided someone must have had a mechanical so we started to head back. When we saw the group making their way towards us (after addressing Adrian's flat tire), we busted a U-turn and got together with the group again.
Instead of making our way straight to Barranca, we turned early on Alton only to realize after that it's safer to cross the freeway on Barranca. We made a left on Irvine Center Drive and got back on Barranca where we did start to do some rotations to keep the pace up. This continued on through Alton and Irvine Blvd.
When we got to Bake, I led us out at a semi-aggressive pace and the group seemed to start splintering early. Shannon decided to display his hill climbing dominance and snapped me off, but working with Galen, we were able to get back up to him before making the right on Portola. Once we got on Portola, both PV and Todd ended up being behind us as well with Vince catching up to us by the left turn to Glenn Ranch. Sweet!
On Glenn Ranch, Shannon started us off but Galen decided to push the pace and broke away. I decided to stroke it out rather than try to match his initial pace, and this helped to allow me just to get past him where he jumped on my rear wheel. Then out of nowhere, PV passed us both where Galen cheered him on. I had some legs still, so I gave chase and got to the fire hydrant at the top ahead of him. PV did jump up front on the downhill where I followed and we both worked together to get to Cooks where we wanted to regroup and do the canyons together with everyone else. Of course, when Todd arrived just behind us, he was like "WTF? BAM doesn't wait." HA HA.
When we took off up the canyons, I led us up initially but PV in typical fashion passed stroking the bigger gear and breaking off from the rest of us. We do get by him eventually with Shannon and Todd helping, and 5 of us got split off from the others to make a run down the canyon.
After corralling PV and his passing, we actually had a pretty good paceline going as we headed down and through the canyons. It was Como Street-esque. Fast pace, short pulls, and constant rotations. Sa-weet! Unfortunately, just before the lake entrance, Galen got a flat where we stopped to let him repair it. The other guys rolled up shortly after and also waited.
Once we got going again, it was nice to be in a bigger paceline where everyone took a turn (whether they wanted to or not...ha ha). I think I was up front at the base of dump and worried that I was a little cooked prior to heading up. I believe PV took the front again, but Todd got past me and him and got a little gap on me. I was creeping up a little bit when Vince got by and the three of us started giving it all we got for the rest of the hill. I think Vince got to the top first, but Todd and I were right behind. Shannon was likely behind me as he was the first one to pass and work back into the rotation. Vince, in his infinite madness, decided to all out sprint on the last rise before Jamboree, so that was "fun."
On Jamboree, the paceline was pretty much organized chaos at this point and the pulls were more random than anything else. This still kept the pace up obviously, but made for more interval type training than anything else.
After a brake check for LTJ on Portola, we were headed down the bike trail with the rotations a bit more organized but nothing like the canyons. There were people and dogs walking around, so we did what we could to keep manage the madness.
The pace stayed high on Harvard, and once we arrived on the bike trail after Barranca, there was no way I was going to be in the back with this group. What's funny was I jumped all the way up to the front from the back just to hit the bridge first. Of course, in typical BAM fashion, I took off just after exiting the bridge. HA HA. I was caught shortly after, but I pity the fool(s) who were in the back.
The rest of the bike trail was with just everyone working as best as they could to keep the pace up and stay together. Galen took off just as soon as we got parallel to University (sadistic SOB) so I chased him down and took the next pull, which I knew would be the last one before California. vince and Verm ended up coming around for a final charge to the light.
When we started heading up California, I was saying how we were all honored to ride up with the current KOM owner (Verm). Verm took off after the 2nd light, and I jumped on his rear wheel for a bit and held his pace. Since I felt recovered, I thought I'd make it interesting and pick up the pace some more. I didn't realize no one would come with. By the top of California, Garmin showed a 21.2 average. It dropped to 21.1 when I finally stopped the timer.
Now PV was somewhat mocking those of us who rode (and rode hard) yesterday somehow believing that would factor into today's ride. If it did, I'd hate to think what we would have done had we taken yesterday off. These guys are ANIMALS (I love animals). I'm ready for a beer. Who's with me?
Thank for setting this up, PV, and to all those who came out today!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
BRCM Lunch - NPC San Joaq Horseshoe Spyglass San Miguel McArthur PCH BB Jamboree
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2419066
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, 14 guys made it out for today's ride probably trying to build up that deficit before this upcoming holiday weekend. S-Gary was back from England, so it was nice to have him back. It was definitely a loaded ride today in terms of who came out, so I knew it was going to be a good workout.
S-Gary led us out originally in typical S-Gary fashion. I took over on E. Peltason though, and others started rotating in working the group into a frenzy as we made our way up through Anteater. As we got on Bonita Canyon, there was some confusion as to whether Summit was part of the route, but once Vince indicated it wasn't, we all made our way to NPC.
After the light, Vince and Gary led the group up initially. I relieved Vince eventually and kept the pace pretty reasonable as we made our way toward the 73. Lo and behold, when I was relieved I didn't think it would be Adrian doing so but there he was...for as long as it lasted anyway. :) Shannon took over and several of us just jumped on and tried to stay with him and Todd as they made their way up to the top. Galen and I were just a little off their wheel at the top but got back with them as we headed toward the horseshoe.
Shannon started us up the horseshoe, but I came around to bring the pace up. Galen and Todd were also game to help, but we all finished probably in the same order as we started once we got back to San Joaquin.
On San Joaquin, we were going at a good pace and Galen jumped to the front as we started to descent. Since Spyglass was the first light after descending, a few of us checked up to make the turn but Galen missed the memo and kept going straight despite our attempts to call out to him to make the right.
I led Todd and Shannon up on Spyglass and when LTJ tried to pass before the top, I wasn't ready yet to give up the front position. He passed after we started to descend and just made the yellow light to turn left on San Miguel. I checked up and made sure I didn't go through in case Shannon was behind me, so we caught the red. When the light turned green, Vince came by and started darting up the hill on San Miguel. Slowly, we were able to pull him back in and we all ran into Todd at the intersection just before San Joaquin.
When we got on San Joaquin to turn left on McArthur, we totally missed the light (again) and tried to cross going straight from the crosswalk. Sure enough, after getting out of the left turn lane to do so, a car shows up to turn left and gets the light to turn green for the other guys led by Adrian who were behind us. Fortunately, we caught them at the first light on McArthur.
We were doing a pretty good pace on it and PCH subsequently with guys alternating rotations. I did try to make my way to the front but never managed to do so. It was only after we were descending after Jamboree that I came around from the back to close a gap that Adrian, Mitchel, Todd, Vince and Shannon created. I don't think anyone was able to latch on though.
After closing the gap on PCH, I also had to close one after a serious according effect once the guys jumped on the bike trail by the trailer parks. The same thing happened once we got on BB drive since Vince and Shannon got a head start by jumping the curb while the rest of us checked up to get on the road after the bike trail. As a result, I couldn't participate much in the rotation early on in BB.
On the first section of BB, Shannon appeared to have had some minor mechanical as he rolled off the group despite his breakaway with Vince. Vince kept going, so I waited for Todd and Adrian to reel him back in. When Vince latched on to David (not sure how he got there ahead of us though), I decided to just close the gap to Vince there and jumped to the front.
We then all started to rotate subsequently, and even Mitchell relieved me on one of my pulls (wha?). I think Adrian asked him to do so. As we neared the end, Adrian took a final pull and I decided to go ahead and lead us up to the top of Back Bay. I tried to defend from the front and see if I can get to the top first, but Vince just got by me.
I got to cross the street first to make my way to Jamboree, but decided not to try and break away and instead just wait for the others to see if I can work with someone up the hill. I had a pretty good pace going up when I started, but Todd got by me and was able to hold a higher pace that I just couldn't keep. I thought I may be able to spin up and catch him at one point, but that didn't happen and he got to the left turn lane to Bison ahead of me pretty much uncontested.
A few of us regrouped at that light and made our way to Bison together. I knew Adrian was going to set that last section up for a sprint, so I decided to try something different and take off early without dragging him behind me. I managed to create a gap, but Adrian was holding a bigger gear and got by me again over here. I again hoped he would pop as I jumped on his rear wheel, but he held it for the 3rd time in a row. Good job. I'll have to try something different again next time.
21+ average, some good movement on Strava for several people, and totally gassed at the end of the ride. Yup, it was a good day on the saddle today. Thanks for the workout, gents!
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, 14 guys made it out for today's ride probably trying to build up that deficit before this upcoming holiday weekend. S-Gary was back from England, so it was nice to have him back. It was definitely a loaded ride today in terms of who came out, so I knew it was going to be a good workout.
S-Gary led us out originally in typical S-Gary fashion. I took over on E. Peltason though, and others started rotating in working the group into a frenzy as we made our way up through Anteater. As we got on Bonita Canyon, there was some confusion as to whether Summit was part of the route, but once Vince indicated it wasn't, we all made our way to NPC.
After the light, Vince and Gary led the group up initially. I relieved Vince eventually and kept the pace pretty reasonable as we made our way toward the 73. Lo and behold, when I was relieved I didn't think it would be Adrian doing so but there he was...for as long as it lasted anyway. :) Shannon took over and several of us just jumped on and tried to stay with him and Todd as they made their way up to the top. Galen and I were just a little off their wheel at the top but got back with them as we headed toward the horseshoe.
Shannon started us up the horseshoe, but I came around to bring the pace up. Galen and Todd were also game to help, but we all finished probably in the same order as we started once we got back to San Joaquin.
On San Joaquin, we were going at a good pace and Galen jumped to the front as we started to descent. Since Spyglass was the first light after descending, a few of us checked up to make the turn but Galen missed the memo and kept going straight despite our attempts to call out to him to make the right.
I led Todd and Shannon up on Spyglass and when LTJ tried to pass before the top, I wasn't ready yet to give up the front position. He passed after we started to descend and just made the yellow light to turn left on San Miguel. I checked up and made sure I didn't go through in case Shannon was behind me, so we caught the red. When the light turned green, Vince came by and started darting up the hill on San Miguel. Slowly, we were able to pull him back in and we all ran into Todd at the intersection just before San Joaquin.
When we got on San Joaquin to turn left on McArthur, we totally missed the light (again) and tried to cross going straight from the crosswalk. Sure enough, after getting out of the left turn lane to do so, a car shows up to turn left and gets the light to turn green for the other guys led by Adrian who were behind us. Fortunately, we caught them at the first light on McArthur.
We were doing a pretty good pace on it and PCH subsequently with guys alternating rotations. I did try to make my way to the front but never managed to do so. It was only after we were descending after Jamboree that I came around from the back to close a gap that Adrian, Mitchel, Todd, Vince and Shannon created. I don't think anyone was able to latch on though.
After closing the gap on PCH, I also had to close one after a serious according effect once the guys jumped on the bike trail by the trailer parks. The same thing happened once we got on BB drive since Vince and Shannon got a head start by jumping the curb while the rest of us checked up to get on the road after the bike trail. As a result, I couldn't participate much in the rotation early on in BB.
On the first section of BB, Shannon appeared to have had some minor mechanical as he rolled off the group despite his breakaway with Vince. Vince kept going, so I waited for Todd and Adrian to reel him back in. When Vince latched on to David (not sure how he got there ahead of us though), I decided to just close the gap to Vince there and jumped to the front.
We then all started to rotate subsequently, and even Mitchell relieved me on one of my pulls (wha?). I think Adrian asked him to do so. As we neared the end, Adrian took a final pull and I decided to go ahead and lead us up to the top of Back Bay. I tried to defend from the front and see if I can get to the top first, but Vince just got by me.
I got to cross the street first to make my way to Jamboree, but decided not to try and break away and instead just wait for the others to see if I can work with someone up the hill. I had a pretty good pace going up when I started, but Todd got by me and was able to hold a higher pace that I just couldn't keep. I thought I may be able to spin up and catch him at one point, but that didn't happen and he got to the left turn lane to Bison ahead of me pretty much uncontested.
A few of us regrouped at that light and made our way to Bison together. I knew Adrian was going to set that last section up for a sprint, so I decided to try something different and take off early without dragging him behind me. I managed to create a gap, but Adrian was holding a bigger gear and got by me again over here. I again hoped he would pop as I jumped on his rear wheel, but he held it for the 3rd time in a row. Good job. I'll have to try something different again next time.
21+ average, some good movement on Strava for several people, and totally gassed at the end of the ride. Yup, it was a good day on the saddle today. Thanks for the workout, gents!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
80 Mile Trainer with Todd and Craig
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2381025
It was a long week of pedaling for me, but I needed to get out and Todd heading to San Diego was a perfect opportunity to ride with someone albeit only until Carlsbad. Craig, Mike Z.'s neighbor, had pinged me earlier this week and wanted to come out for one of our group rides since he's been riding solo mostly and in his words, wanted to "get his ass kicked on some of our group rides." Who can refuse such a request?
We met up and were ready to roll out at 8 a.m. as planned, and the weather wasn't as cold as I expected where a base layer and arm warmers were adequate for today's adventure. The temp probably hovered around the 50's the whole time, even from the start, so my fear of cramping was fairly non-existent. Given that, I was ready to work.
After a mile warm up, Todd and I were doing the initial rotations to let Craig get accustom to our pace, which was in the low 20's as we headed toward coast. Once Craig got comfortable, he started working in some of the rotations as well and helped keep the pace up as we headed toward San Clemente.
Once we got to the hill heading up into downtown, I thought I'd test out the climbing legs and see how they felt. Todd came with and we started racing for the top in typical BAM fashion. When we got to the top, Todd asked "you do realize we're doing 100 today?" or something to that effect. HA HA. Since my legs felt good after the climb, I was just going to keep pushing and see how long I could push them for.
As we rode through the rest of San Clemente, San Onofre, and to the base, we never really slowed up much. It wasn't race pace (or Strava pace) by any means, but it was a solid one nonetheless. My recovery came much quicker than I expected, so I kept throwing myself up front as much as I could and didn't mind doing so. Todd and I both agree, however, that drafting Craig was like drafting Gary where there was hardly any wind behind him.
As we rode through the base, we never really stopped pushing, and after the last climb before the downhill, I decided to just keep the pace high enough and just keep the front for as long as I could. Todd had mentioned I was pushing some pretty good watts through that section, but despite this, I never really felt too winded or tired.
We made our way to Oceanside and didn't stop for a break until we got to the liquor store next to the Mexican restaurant in Carlsbad. Craig bought some water (thanks), and after refilling our bottles and a bio relief, we were back on the road. I took the front again at this point to see if my muscles were still warm and they were. When Todd took a turn up front, I knew he still had a long ride to go, so I just asked him to sit in the back and save it for his solo ride past Ponto Rd (our turnaround point)...so he did.
After we hit Ponto and split off from Todd, Craig and I were off again and unlike on the way out where there was some strong head and crosswind sections, we had the wind behind us through a lot of sections so I used it to keep the pace up but not expend too much energy doing so.
Craig took the front at Carlsbad and another time in Oceanside but I was eager to make sure to keep the pace up and get him the workout he sought earlier in the week. I also kept pushing as we went into the base and I thought I'd test out his climb at the hill called the Stuart Mesa Kicker on Strava. I was going to hold a solid pace and see if he'd drop, but he hung on better than I expected. I did hear him take some deep breaths at the top, but he was still game to stay with me so I pushed on.
I brought the pace back up to 23-25 mph for the next few miles and Craig even took a couple turns after to let me know he was game. We stayed together throughout the base, so I tested him out on the climb after the gate and he still took a pull after we got under the 5 freeway. When we finished the final climb and headed toward the State beach parking lot, he did start to feel a twinge so we chilled for a little while he got some fluids in after we got past the gate. I told him the p-lot was the fun section, so after he put his bottle away, I started to push again.
I was in mock TT mode at that point, so my objective was just to hold a nice steady pace all the way through the p-lot and through old Pacific Highway. Too bad we didn't run into anyone to mix it up with though. Craig stayed with me, and then took the front after we got into the gate into Trestles. I downed a honey gel then, and decided to push up the little sprinter hill right before Cristianitos. At this point, Craig didn't have enough to keep up. However, after slowing to let him regroup, he still hung on as we rode through Avenida del Presidente but fell off a bit through one of last hills before we got back on El Camino Real.
We regrouped at the light, and Craig was a trooper and still took the front when we made the left. He and Gary must be related. :) I took the lead shortly after and lead him down the Doheny Sprint section at a 23.6 mph pace and he still hung on. Once we got to Camino Capistrano, we got a little separated at the light crossing the entrance to the 5 North. Once regrouped, I brought the pace up again but waited until we got San Juan Creek to really open it up and let everything go. He asked for an ass kicking, so although no other BAM members were available, I did what I could. In the end, we finished with a 20.6 mph average where I hope Craig got the workout he was looking for. I know I did.
Thanks for coming out, Todd and Craig.
It was a long week of pedaling for me, but I needed to get out and Todd heading to San Diego was a perfect opportunity to ride with someone albeit only until Carlsbad. Craig, Mike Z.'s neighbor, had pinged me earlier this week and wanted to come out for one of our group rides since he's been riding solo mostly and in his words, wanted to "get his ass kicked on some of our group rides." Who can refuse such a request?
We met up and were ready to roll out at 8 a.m. as planned, and the weather wasn't as cold as I expected where a base layer and arm warmers were adequate for today's adventure. The temp probably hovered around the 50's the whole time, even from the start, so my fear of cramping was fairly non-existent. Given that, I was ready to work.
After a mile warm up, Todd and I were doing the initial rotations to let Craig get accustom to our pace, which was in the low 20's as we headed toward coast. Once Craig got comfortable, he started working in some of the rotations as well and helped keep the pace up as we headed toward San Clemente.
Once we got to the hill heading up into downtown, I thought I'd test out the climbing legs and see how they felt. Todd came with and we started racing for the top in typical BAM fashion. When we got to the top, Todd asked "you do realize we're doing 100 today?" or something to that effect. HA HA. Since my legs felt good after the climb, I was just going to keep pushing and see how long I could push them for.
As we rode through the rest of San Clemente, San Onofre, and to the base, we never really slowed up much. It wasn't race pace (or Strava pace) by any means, but it was a solid one nonetheless. My recovery came much quicker than I expected, so I kept throwing myself up front as much as I could and didn't mind doing so. Todd and I both agree, however, that drafting Craig was like drafting Gary where there was hardly any wind behind him.
As we rode through the base, we never really stopped pushing, and after the last climb before the downhill, I decided to just keep the pace high enough and just keep the front for as long as I could. Todd had mentioned I was pushing some pretty good watts through that section, but despite this, I never really felt too winded or tired.
We made our way to Oceanside and didn't stop for a break until we got to the liquor store next to the Mexican restaurant in Carlsbad. Craig bought some water (thanks), and after refilling our bottles and a bio relief, we were back on the road. I took the front again at this point to see if my muscles were still warm and they were. When Todd took a turn up front, I knew he still had a long ride to go, so I just asked him to sit in the back and save it for his solo ride past Ponto Rd (our turnaround point)...so he did.
After we hit Ponto and split off from Todd, Craig and I were off again and unlike on the way out where there was some strong head and crosswind sections, we had the wind behind us through a lot of sections so I used it to keep the pace up but not expend too much energy doing so.
Craig took the front at Carlsbad and another time in Oceanside but I was eager to make sure to keep the pace up and get him the workout he sought earlier in the week. I also kept pushing as we went into the base and I thought I'd test out his climb at the hill called the Stuart Mesa Kicker on Strava. I was going to hold a solid pace and see if he'd drop, but he hung on better than I expected. I did hear him take some deep breaths at the top, but he was still game to stay with me so I pushed on.
I brought the pace back up to 23-25 mph for the next few miles and Craig even took a couple turns after to let me know he was game. We stayed together throughout the base, so I tested him out on the climb after the gate and he still took a pull after we got under the 5 freeway. When we finished the final climb and headed toward the State beach parking lot, he did start to feel a twinge so we chilled for a little while he got some fluids in after we got past the gate. I told him the p-lot was the fun section, so after he put his bottle away, I started to push again.
I was in mock TT mode at that point, so my objective was just to hold a nice steady pace all the way through the p-lot and through old Pacific Highway. Too bad we didn't run into anyone to mix it up with though. Craig stayed with me, and then took the front after we got into the gate into Trestles. I downed a honey gel then, and decided to push up the little sprinter hill right before Cristianitos. At this point, Craig didn't have enough to keep up. However, after slowing to let him regroup, he still hung on as we rode through Avenida del Presidente but fell off a bit through one of last hills before we got back on El Camino Real.
We regrouped at the light, and Craig was a trooper and still took the front when we made the left. He and Gary must be related. :) I took the lead shortly after and lead him down the Doheny Sprint section at a 23.6 mph pace and he still hung on. Once we got to Camino Capistrano, we got a little separated at the light crossing the entrance to the 5 North. Once regrouped, I brought the pace up again but waited until we got San Juan Creek to really open it up and let everything go. He asked for an ass kicking, so although no other BAM members were available, I did what I could. In the end, we finished with a 20.6 mph average where I hope Craig got the workout he was looking for. I know I did.
Thanks for coming out, Todd and Craig.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
BRCM Lunch - Starcrest Shady Summit Duplex Route
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2363726
A good training ride doesn't have to be in a big group...at least that's what I found out today. We all gathered at the corner where Seon brought out the new Sandy for its maiden voyage with team BRCM. Vince was a little late and almost got left behind, but Jeremy saw him where I decided to wait and work with him to catch up to the group. On E. Peltason, he caught up and passed and then I rotated up front just before Anteater and helped bring us up to where most of the others had stopped on the other California Ave. intersection.
Shannon had gotten ahead but we all regrouped at the light to turn left on Culver. When we made the left turn, I felt like my quads had tighten up a little, so I fell off the back just a little as we headed up and over the hill headed toward Campus. I was able to make my way up close to the front by the time we got to Campus, but just fell in line behind others as we rode towards Turtle Rock.
On Turtle Rock, Vince lead the group out, but I was interested in a slightly higher pace where I got by. Jaffinator rolls up to the right of me some time after and pulled away for a little bit even as I held my pace. I was able to reel him back in, but he jumped on my rear wheel after and stayed with me for a good portion of Starcrest. I thought I was holding a pretty good pace, but when I turned around, I saw someone behind me but I couldn't make out who it was. Then I heard his unmistakable voice say, "good pace, Rich" and sure enough, it was Shannon. He went by me pretty easily after that, but I was going to keep him in my sights and see if I can spin up for the latter part of the hill. Then, Vince passed me too stroking the crank at a higher gear than me, so I started getting ready to spin up. Then I felt it...that unnatural slowing. Of course, as I looked at my front and rear brakes to check for rub, neither were showing it but I ended up opening up my rear brakes here and it never seemed to come back after.
Vince and Shannon decided not to break at the top and kept going, so I was in chase mode all the way down Ridgeline and on the bike trail to University. I think I would have caught them at Strawberry Farms, but they took off at that point never to be seen by my again. Nice.
I decided to do my own thing at this point and just keep an elevated pace to try and keep the rest of the guys behind me honest. I had kept them off all the way up and down Shady. Since I took the long way on the bike trail that crosses the street in front of the guard station (I think I was the only one), I looked back and never saw anyone behind me. After climbing the last section of Shady on the bike trail and then exiting the sidewalk onto the street, I look to my right and see the chase group making their way up. I decided to go ahead and keep them off and not let them catch me for the sprint down to the bike trail opening, but I ended up getting caught at the light on Bonita Canyon.
When the rest of the guys arrived, Vin and Jaffe were going on about how they caught the rabbit. I was way too tired to say anything at that point. Then, Adrian rolls up beside me and started saying how I did good keeping them off for a while but then said I got reeled in. At this point, I decided to point out their little shortcut they took and asked them not to break their arms trying to pat their own backs too much. HA HA.
When the light turned green, I was a motivated to try and drop them again. Going up Turtle Ridge, I thought I had a pretty decent pace when out of nowhere, Jeremy blows by me. I picked up my pace a little more but was glad we all hit the light to turn left on Summit.
After making the left, Jeremy and Adrian (I think) took off ahead of me, but Jeremy definitely had some momentum. I wasn't sure I was going to catch him, but just before where it flattened out a little, I was able to make my way past him. I thought he may attack at the end, so I stood up and sprinted for the last section just to make sure he didn't. When I made the u-turn, I could see that he and the others were actually not too far behind. So I bolted.
I was broken away going down Summit and continued to keep the pace up on Turtle Ridge heading toward Bonita Canyon, even waving off a bus to let me get it front of it for the left turn...she obliged. As a result, I was able to make the green and just kept the pace up all the way to McArthur. Unfortunately, the light had just turned red upon my arrival, so Jeremy and the others caught me here.
Adrian and Mitchell were together and were still rolling as the light turned green, but they ended up both jumping behind me as we made our way up the hill. Nice. However, Adrian did get in front on the way down headed toward Jamboree and admitted he had nothing so he'd offer me a lead out. Who could refuse?
As we made the right turn to Jamboree, however, I had a different line than Mitchell (who was behind me) so I asked him politely not to take me out as we made the right turn. Adrian had a different line than me also, and didn't get his ideal drive to start the Duplex run. He was still able to get moving though. I was never able to get in his draft, but instead chased him down and only managed to catch him 3/4 of the way up the steeper section. I was thinking I may have a shot at Strava, so I went for it. As I was nearing the light on Bison, however, I saw a police car on the opposite side at the front of the intersection and thought best to run the red on the right turn just to get a Strava KOM. I did ended up having my rear wheel get squirly trying to stop, but managed to do so just in time. 24 mph average only as a result.
On Bison, we all regrouped at the light on McArthur. We were trying to setup a final sprint, and Mitchell launched the first attack just before the last light over the 73. I was able to get past, but Adrian stroked it out and got by me for the finish. I could only hope that he'd putter out at his pace, but he held me off again for the 2nd time this week. Good job!
While almost more than half of the ride was solo for me, I won't complain about the 20 mph average. Thanks to the guys up front and behind for pushing me today.
P.S. Seon had fallen off with the new Sandy but did have a good butt whippin' experience with her. Awesome.
A good training ride doesn't have to be in a big group...at least that's what I found out today. We all gathered at the corner where Seon brought out the new Sandy for its maiden voyage with team BRCM. Vince was a little late and almost got left behind, but Jeremy saw him where I decided to wait and work with him to catch up to the group. On E. Peltason, he caught up and passed and then I rotated up front just before Anteater and helped bring us up to where most of the others had stopped on the other California Ave. intersection.
Shannon had gotten ahead but we all regrouped at the light to turn left on Culver. When we made the left turn, I felt like my quads had tighten up a little, so I fell off the back just a little as we headed up and over the hill headed toward Campus. I was able to make my way up close to the front by the time we got to Campus, but just fell in line behind others as we rode towards Turtle Rock.
On Turtle Rock, Vince lead the group out, but I was interested in a slightly higher pace where I got by. Jaffinator rolls up to the right of me some time after and pulled away for a little bit even as I held my pace. I was able to reel him back in, but he jumped on my rear wheel after and stayed with me for a good portion of Starcrest. I thought I was holding a pretty good pace, but when I turned around, I saw someone behind me but I couldn't make out who it was. Then I heard his unmistakable voice say, "good pace, Rich" and sure enough, it was Shannon. He went by me pretty easily after that, but I was going to keep him in my sights and see if I can spin up for the latter part of the hill. Then, Vince passed me too stroking the crank at a higher gear than me, so I started getting ready to spin up. Then I felt it...that unnatural slowing. Of course, as I looked at my front and rear brakes to check for rub, neither were showing it but I ended up opening up my rear brakes here and it never seemed to come back after.
Vince and Shannon decided not to break at the top and kept going, so I was in chase mode all the way down Ridgeline and on the bike trail to University. I think I would have caught them at Strawberry Farms, but they took off at that point never to be seen by my again. Nice.
I decided to do my own thing at this point and just keep an elevated pace to try and keep the rest of the guys behind me honest. I had kept them off all the way up and down Shady. Since I took the long way on the bike trail that crosses the street in front of the guard station (I think I was the only one), I looked back and never saw anyone behind me. After climbing the last section of Shady on the bike trail and then exiting the sidewalk onto the street, I look to my right and see the chase group making their way up. I decided to go ahead and keep them off and not let them catch me for the sprint down to the bike trail opening, but I ended up getting caught at the light on Bonita Canyon.
When the rest of the guys arrived, Vin and Jaffe were going on about how they caught the rabbit. I was way too tired to say anything at that point. Then, Adrian rolls up beside me and started saying how I did good keeping them off for a while but then said I got reeled in. At this point, I decided to point out their little shortcut they took and asked them not to break their arms trying to pat their own backs too much. HA HA.
When the light turned green, I was a motivated to try and drop them again. Going up Turtle Ridge, I thought I had a pretty decent pace when out of nowhere, Jeremy blows by me. I picked up my pace a little more but was glad we all hit the light to turn left on Summit.
After making the left, Jeremy and Adrian (I think) took off ahead of me, but Jeremy definitely had some momentum. I wasn't sure I was going to catch him, but just before where it flattened out a little, I was able to make my way past him. I thought he may attack at the end, so I stood up and sprinted for the last section just to make sure he didn't. When I made the u-turn, I could see that he and the others were actually not too far behind. So I bolted.
I was broken away going down Summit and continued to keep the pace up on Turtle Ridge heading toward Bonita Canyon, even waving off a bus to let me get it front of it for the left turn...she obliged. As a result, I was able to make the green and just kept the pace up all the way to McArthur. Unfortunately, the light had just turned red upon my arrival, so Jeremy and the others caught me here.
Adrian and Mitchell were together and were still rolling as the light turned green, but they ended up both jumping behind me as we made our way up the hill. Nice. However, Adrian did get in front on the way down headed toward Jamboree and admitted he had nothing so he'd offer me a lead out. Who could refuse?
As we made the right turn to Jamboree, however, I had a different line than Mitchell (who was behind me) so I asked him politely not to take me out as we made the right turn. Adrian had a different line than me also, and didn't get his ideal drive to start the Duplex run. He was still able to get moving though. I was never able to get in his draft, but instead chased him down and only managed to catch him 3/4 of the way up the steeper section. I was thinking I may have a shot at Strava, so I went for it. As I was nearing the light on Bison, however, I saw a police car on the opposite side at the front of the intersection and thought best to run the red on the right turn just to get a Strava KOM. I did ended up having my rear wheel get squirly trying to stop, but managed to do so just in time. 24 mph average only as a result.
On Bison, we all regrouped at the light on McArthur. We were trying to setup a final sprint, and Mitchell launched the first attack just before the last light over the 73. I was able to get past, but Adrian stroked it out and got by me for the finish. I could only hope that he'd putter out at his pace, but he held me off again for the 2nd time this week. Good job!
While almost more than half of the ride was solo for me, I won't complain about the 20 mph average. Thanks to the guys up front and behind for pushing me today.
P.S. Seon had fallen off with the new Sandy but did have a good butt whippin' experience with her. Awesome.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
BRCM Lunch - Portola OAB with Jamboree Finish
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2341946
Good turnout today: Galen, Todd, Vince, Shannon, Adrian, Mitchell, Seon, Vin, Jaffe, Peter, and Jeremy (on his new Focus steed). Both Vince and Galen honored the "Sandy" today, so I guess you can say she came too.
You can tell by those who were in attendance it was going to be a fast one...and it was. I can only imagine how it would have been had LTJ not have just come back from vacation and if Shannon didn't get a flat on his 25s on the bike trail heading out.
I was feeling really good today, so I thought I'd go ahead with the lead out on the bike trail (plus, it sucks having to overcome the accordian effect from the back). Todd, Galen and Adrian took turns with me where we had a pretty solid pace by the time we got to Harvard (23.4 average). Despite this, we were all able to regroup at the light.
When we took off on Harvard, Seon took the initial pull (nice to see). He did break off on his own for a bit, but looked back and let me latch on. I took over after, and I think Todd helped here as well. When we got on the bike trail again, Galen was keeping us all honest and at times I just had to tell the guy flat out I had nothing left until I could recover more. I eventually did take over but the rotations were definitely thin in terms of participants.
Vince thought to make it interesting by launching an all out attack (1 of 2 or 3 for today) before the rise up toward Portola, so this was appreciated by the group...NOT! We did reel him in on these attacks, but they were as fun as getting nuts kicked.
We didn't stop at the top and just busted a U and we kept a high pace all the way back. At one point, Adrian relieved me on one of my pulls and actually suggested I rest a bit (who was this guy?). When we rounded the corner and headed back toward Harvard, we saw Shannon ahead of us and immediately we knew it was going to get worse before it got better.
Shannon led us on Harvard for a bit, but I did relieve him as I know he doesn't like being held out too long. I did get a little worked here though, so I was in major recovery mode once we got back on the bike trail. I knew going onto the bridge, it was going to be a bear from the back, so after rounding the corner, I was already full on standing and making sure not to pop off. The guys ahead of me were keeping the pace up, so I rested up a bit while they worked the rotation.
Shannon was the last one to lead us out on University headed to California, but no one relieved the guy. Of course, when I passed the #2 wheel to do so (names withheld to protect the innocent), I did say "nice blocking." HA HA
The guys let me lead them up to Jamboree, which was very nice of them. Shannon got a jump, but I found a good rhythm here and made my way by him. Then to my left, I see Mitchell trying to work his way by me. Was it to pull (finally...just kidding)? Was it an attack? I wasn't sure, but I didn't up letting him get by. No Strava KOM here today, but then again, this one's mine already.
After re-grouping at the light, we headed down Bison and I just knew Adrian was trying to set up a final sprint. When the last light turned green, Mitchell and Shannon were ahead of us but there was also a truck to their left on the lane. When Adrian came around me, he was moving at a good clip and all I could do was just latch on and see if he'd pop before California. He didn't. Good job.
It was definitely a fast pace today with a 22.8 average (according to my Garmin) where Strava knocked it down to 22.5. Boo. I still am having problems with my Edge, but at least I was able to post it on Strava. It stopped talking to my PC again before I can upload to GC. I'm hoping Garmin sends me an RMA# soon.
Thanks, gents!
Good turnout today: Galen, Todd, Vince, Shannon, Adrian, Mitchell, Seon, Vin, Jaffe, Peter, and Jeremy (on his new Focus steed). Both Vince and Galen honored the "Sandy" today, so I guess you can say she came too.
You can tell by those who were in attendance it was going to be a fast one...and it was. I can only imagine how it would have been had LTJ not have just come back from vacation and if Shannon didn't get a flat on his 25s on the bike trail heading out.
I was feeling really good today, so I thought I'd go ahead with the lead out on the bike trail (plus, it sucks having to overcome the accordian effect from the back). Todd, Galen and Adrian took turns with me where we had a pretty solid pace by the time we got to Harvard (23.4 average). Despite this, we were all able to regroup at the light.
When we took off on Harvard, Seon took the initial pull (nice to see). He did break off on his own for a bit, but looked back and let me latch on. I took over after, and I think Todd helped here as well. When we got on the bike trail again, Galen was keeping us all honest and at times I just had to tell the guy flat out I had nothing left until I could recover more. I eventually did take over but the rotations were definitely thin in terms of participants.
Vince thought to make it interesting by launching an all out attack (1 of 2 or 3 for today) before the rise up toward Portola, so this was appreciated by the group...NOT! We did reel him in on these attacks, but they were as fun as getting nuts kicked.
We didn't stop at the top and just busted a U and we kept a high pace all the way back. At one point, Adrian relieved me on one of my pulls and actually suggested I rest a bit (who was this guy?). When we rounded the corner and headed back toward Harvard, we saw Shannon ahead of us and immediately we knew it was going to get worse before it got better.
Shannon led us on Harvard for a bit, but I did relieve him as I know he doesn't like being held out too long. I did get a little worked here though, so I was in major recovery mode once we got back on the bike trail. I knew going onto the bridge, it was going to be a bear from the back, so after rounding the corner, I was already full on standing and making sure not to pop off. The guys ahead of me were keeping the pace up, so I rested up a bit while they worked the rotation.
Shannon was the last one to lead us out on University headed to California, but no one relieved the guy. Of course, when I passed the #2 wheel to do so (names withheld to protect the innocent), I did say "nice blocking." HA HA
The guys let me lead them up to Jamboree, which was very nice of them. Shannon got a jump, but I found a good rhythm here and made my way by him. Then to my left, I see Mitchell trying to work his way by me. Was it to pull (finally...just kidding)? Was it an attack? I wasn't sure, but I didn't up letting him get by. No Strava KOM here today, but then again, this one's mine already.
After re-grouping at the light, we headed down Bison and I just knew Adrian was trying to set up a final sprint. When the last light turned green, Mitchell and Shannon were ahead of us but there was also a truck to their left on the lane. When Adrian came around me, he was moving at a good clip and all I could do was just latch on and see if he'd pop before California. He didn't. Good job.
It was definitely a fast pace today with a 22.8 average (according to my Garmin) where Strava knocked it down to 22.5. Boo. I still am having problems with my Edge, but at least I was able to post it on Strava. It stopped talking to my PC again before I can upload to GC. I'm hoping Garmin sends me an RMA# soon.
Thanks, gents!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Team BRCM - Tour de Foothills
Shannon's Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2305672 (I can't get my 500 to connect to my PC)
I wasn't sure how this ride was going to go and who was actually going to make it out given the rain forecast since the beginning of the week. I didn't want to push anyone to go given that the last thing I wanted was to be responsible should someone get hurt under dangerous conditions. Thus, worst case scenario was I would just do it alone. Now you'd think I'd have learned from previous rides in the rain that it's just no fun. However, I actually had some rain gear this time, so I was pretty much going to give it a go unless it snowed. Fortunately, PV, Shannon and Verm decided to venture out despite the rainy conditions in the morning. Woo hoo.
It was raining pretty heavily when I got up, but as I got closer to Uplands, the rain had lightened up and even stopped through some sections. The sky didn't look too bad either, but it was hard to tell since it was still dark thirty when I got going.
Shannon had arrived there around the same time, so we found each other fairly easily being that we parked near one another. PV showed up soon after and got to register, while Verm came in a little later. He was delayed based on how long the line had gotten and to boot, he had to do #2 and the closest restroom was just a public one that didn't even have doors on the crapper. He opted for another one elsewhere and we wondered if he would even make the mass start. Fortunately, he just made it.
The weather had dried up but we were all pretty geared up in case it rained since clouds still loomed above us. When we took off, the roads weren't too bad, and we were able to make our way around a lot of the slower riders all the way up to the front group. This took some time to do, but we got up there. At one point, I had fallen back a little and then got separated from the other 3 at a light. Once we got going, I had to pick it up and get the others who were with me to catch back up to the front group. I didn't do it alone obviously, but I'd say I did about 60% of the pulling to do so. Sheesh.
When we caught up, we hit the first SAG stop shortly after and this SAG along with the others were pretty top notch. They had just about everything including honey waffles. I think some of us decided at this SAG to strip down some since it really hadn't rain and the 21+ mph pace to get her got us all pretty warm. Of course, shortly after we left, rain started coming down. Great.
We made our way onto Sierra Madre and toward GMR, and I was asking the guys to slow up a bit and save it for the mountain. Glad they listened as I was wanting to have some left for the climb. Plus, there was some pretty strong winds we were fighting, so it was definitely wearing me out.
Once we got on GMR, Verm decided to take it easy but Shannon and PV took off even before the gate. By the time I picked up my pace at the gate, they were GONE! Nice. It was tough doing it with all the gear we had on, but it helped given that the weather even got a little more rainy near the top. I passed several people on my way up, but never enough to make up the ground on the Shannon and PV.
When we got to the top, Shannon and PV were enjoying the SAG but I was not willing to get off of my bike! Shannon being the bud that he is handed me either a Honey stinger Peanut Butter protein or energy bar, and I gotta say "Damn that's a good bar!" Even though Verm rolled up shortly after, I needed to go as the air temp up there was just too high. Sorry, Verm, but I was freezing!
I headed down toward the 39 and upon reaching the fork, I heard PV behind me where I wasn't sure what he said. He went by me and since I didn't see Shannon and Verm, I decided to follow as he went by me. PV is a madman though. Despite the conditions of the road, he was still railing down the hill. I admittedly wasn't that ballsy, so I checked up to make sure I didn't loose traction on the painted line and loose rocks and gravel. I ran into PV at some point down the way as he pulled off to relieve himself, and we rode together for a bit until he had to relieve himself AGAIN. That must have been some good coffee at the top. I kept going because I really wanted to get off the mountain to get warm again, so I kept going solo all the way to the SAG at the bottom. Shannon and Verm rolled in after and PV rolled in not too long after but had had problems with his pedals (speedplays) not being able to clip in. He didn't wear covers and walked in the dirt up at the top of GMR, so no wonder.
We made our way to Baldy through the route provided, and there were some small climbs where we were able to separate from those who were riding on our wheel. One guy hung on though, so I rode his wheel out at times when he was working pretty hard seemingly to try and break away from us. Couldn't let it happen. When we went up Baldy, PV jumped ahead but I let this guy do some work. Shannon and I finally worked and got past him and PV. Since I found a good rhythm on this hill and no longer cold, I had a little break away for a bit with no one opting to chase. I thought the SAG was where we turned around, but it was actually Shinn road, which was less than half a mile up. I went on and then waited after the first drop. When PV passed, I joined him. We worked together along with that other guy who ended up catching up again on the downhill.
When we were suppose to make a left, PV missed it but I double-backed and decided to wait for Shannon and Verm at the corner. Shannon had gotten there and was still rolling so we ended up rolling together from there. The guy who we were riding with had called out to us but made the turn and got away. When Shannon and I caught up to him, he was stretching out his hamstrings as they had cramped on him.
Shannon and I worked together and was able to take down a few guys, one of whom had passed us pretty aggressively at one point. He hung with us for a while until we got on some rollers, but he fell off eventually. I had been feeling good, but after working with Shannon, that turned to not feeling so good shortly after. Thankfully, we only had 8 miles left, but this was a hard 8 miles as we continued to take turns all the way back to the finish.
I had 17.9 mph on my GPS, but unfortunately am not able to upload it as I mentioned above, and with all the elevation gain on this ride (between 6.5 and 7.5K), that was pretty damn good. We were all worked. Verm had to take off early but PV, Shannon and I got to enjoy their pasta lunch.
Despite the weather, it ended up being a great long distance trainer with some good elevation. I think we can still only get better from here. Thanks again for all the guys who came out today...you guys rocked!!
I wasn't sure how this ride was going to go and who was actually going to make it out given the rain forecast since the beginning of the week. I didn't want to push anyone to go given that the last thing I wanted was to be responsible should someone get hurt under dangerous conditions. Thus, worst case scenario was I would just do it alone. Now you'd think I'd have learned from previous rides in the rain that it's just no fun. However, I actually had some rain gear this time, so I was pretty much going to give it a go unless it snowed. Fortunately, PV, Shannon and Verm decided to venture out despite the rainy conditions in the morning. Woo hoo.
It was raining pretty heavily when I got up, but as I got closer to Uplands, the rain had lightened up and even stopped through some sections. The sky didn't look too bad either, but it was hard to tell since it was still dark thirty when I got going.
Shannon had arrived there around the same time, so we found each other fairly easily being that we parked near one another. PV showed up soon after and got to register, while Verm came in a little later. He was delayed based on how long the line had gotten and to boot, he had to do #2 and the closest restroom was just a public one that didn't even have doors on the crapper. He opted for another one elsewhere and we wondered if he would even make the mass start. Fortunately, he just made it.
The weather had dried up but we were all pretty geared up in case it rained since clouds still loomed above us. When we took off, the roads weren't too bad, and we were able to make our way around a lot of the slower riders all the way up to the front group. This took some time to do, but we got up there. At one point, I had fallen back a little and then got separated from the other 3 at a light. Once we got going, I had to pick it up and get the others who were with me to catch back up to the front group. I didn't do it alone obviously, but I'd say I did about 60% of the pulling to do so. Sheesh.
When we caught up, we hit the first SAG stop shortly after and this SAG along with the others were pretty top notch. They had just about everything including honey waffles. I think some of us decided at this SAG to strip down some since it really hadn't rain and the 21+ mph pace to get her got us all pretty warm. Of course, shortly after we left, rain started coming down. Great.
We made our way onto Sierra Madre and toward GMR, and I was asking the guys to slow up a bit and save it for the mountain. Glad they listened as I was wanting to have some left for the climb. Plus, there was some pretty strong winds we were fighting, so it was definitely wearing me out.
Once we got on GMR, Verm decided to take it easy but Shannon and PV took off even before the gate. By the time I picked up my pace at the gate, they were GONE! Nice. It was tough doing it with all the gear we had on, but it helped given that the weather even got a little more rainy near the top. I passed several people on my way up, but never enough to make up the ground on the Shannon and PV.
When we got to the top, Shannon and PV were enjoying the SAG but I was not willing to get off of my bike! Shannon being the bud that he is handed me either a Honey stinger Peanut Butter protein or energy bar, and I gotta say "Damn that's a good bar!" Even though Verm rolled up shortly after, I needed to go as the air temp up there was just too high. Sorry, Verm, but I was freezing!
I headed down toward the 39 and upon reaching the fork, I heard PV behind me where I wasn't sure what he said. He went by me and since I didn't see Shannon and Verm, I decided to follow as he went by me. PV is a madman though. Despite the conditions of the road, he was still railing down the hill. I admittedly wasn't that ballsy, so I checked up to make sure I didn't loose traction on the painted line and loose rocks and gravel. I ran into PV at some point down the way as he pulled off to relieve himself, and we rode together for a bit until he had to relieve himself AGAIN. That must have been some good coffee at the top. I kept going because I really wanted to get off the mountain to get warm again, so I kept going solo all the way to the SAG at the bottom. Shannon and Verm rolled in after and PV rolled in not too long after but had had problems with his pedals (speedplays) not being able to clip in. He didn't wear covers and walked in the dirt up at the top of GMR, so no wonder.
We made our way to Baldy through the route provided, and there were some small climbs where we were able to separate from those who were riding on our wheel. One guy hung on though, so I rode his wheel out at times when he was working pretty hard seemingly to try and break away from us. Couldn't let it happen. When we went up Baldy, PV jumped ahead but I let this guy do some work. Shannon and I finally worked and got past him and PV. Since I found a good rhythm on this hill and no longer cold, I had a little break away for a bit with no one opting to chase. I thought the SAG was where we turned around, but it was actually Shinn road, which was less than half a mile up. I went on and then waited after the first drop. When PV passed, I joined him. We worked together along with that other guy who ended up catching up again on the downhill.
When we were suppose to make a left, PV missed it but I double-backed and decided to wait for Shannon and Verm at the corner. Shannon had gotten there and was still rolling so we ended up rolling together from there. The guy who we were riding with had called out to us but made the turn and got away. When Shannon and I caught up to him, he was stretching out his hamstrings as they had cramped on him.
Shannon and I worked together and was able to take down a few guys, one of whom had passed us pretty aggressively at one point. He hung with us for a while until we got on some rollers, but he fell off eventually. I had been feeling good, but after working with Shannon, that turned to not feeling so good shortly after. Thankfully, we only had 8 miles left, but this was a hard 8 miles as we continued to take turns all the way back to the finish.
I had 17.9 mph on my GPS, but unfortunately am not able to upload it as I mentioned above, and with all the elevation gain on this ride (between 6.5 and 7.5K), that was pretty damn good. We were all worked. Verm had to take off early but PV, Shannon and I got to enjoy their pasta lunch.
Despite the weather, it ended up being a great long distance trainer with some good elevation. I think we can still only get better from here. Thanks again for all the guys who came out today...you guys rocked!!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
BRCM Lunch - Anteater Spyglass San Joaquin Pelican Vista NPC Bonita Cyn McArthur
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2261353
GC: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127436635
Good turnout today.
With Todd and Gary out and PV hitting it up early this morning, it was almost a full house otherwise.
In the beginning, it seemed everyone was content to manage their pace in preparation for the hills...except Seon. He broke away early on Anteater and I didn't feel like giving chase...neither did anyone else I guess. Once we got separated at a light, I never saw him again mostly because he went the wrong way. He did end up running into the others at some point, so all was not lost.
So with Seon off the front on his breakaway, I had the front all the way to Bonita Canyon. Once we got there, Marc actually jumped to the front and began working with Jaffe and maybe even Vin as we made our way to San Miguel.
Once we got to San Miguel, Shannon had taken over but was running more of a managed pace. Nevertheless, no one would take the front ahead of him. I actually had come from the back just to get in front and finish out the stretch to Spyglass. I don't know what's going on with this "blocking" thing btw.... Vin had a mechanical at this point where the screws came out of one of his pedals, so he was relagated to only using one. Ummm...time for a new bike?
Once we got on Spyglass, Shannon led the group up with Adrian in tow, but I thought I'd do it Strava style and made my way up passed the group only to get 4th. Bummer. Of course, as I waited for the light to get on San Joaquin, I knew there would be hell to pay. Sure enough, Shannon snapped all of us off here and we never really saw him until Vista (for a glimpse) and then at the top. That's what happens when you wake the giant. He killed it. To make matters worse, today was when he satisfied his obligation to carry Sandy from last week's ride. Holy ish!
Adrian had a nice lead up San Joaquin (actually, this was pretty much all the subsequent hills) and had me in chase mode on everyone of them. He does seem to be improving on the hills, but he is still getting caught but albeit with a bit more effort though. He did catch me where it flattened out on Vista to sit in my draft there where I knew he'd try to stick me on the last rise, but I gave him a little surprise there and snapped him off at the base so he doesn't pull an "Adrian" at the end.
When I met up with Shannon, he asked how the hills felt where I felt like handing him a lung as my response. When Adrian arrived, I just wanted to go since I was feeling that last hill sprint, so we ended up just taking off.
We took turns down NPC, although I had fallen off the back based on the stupid light in the middle, but caught back up just after the 73. We all continued to take turns on Bonita Canyon and I took the front just before we rounded McArthur. I pointed to a couple vehicles that were veering into the bike lane, one of which was a commercial van, and he got an earful for doing so especially without signaling.
We rounded to Bison and I knew Adrian was trying to set up a sprint at one point. How? He wouldn't get up front! Sure enough, after we left from the last light over the 73, he slingshots past me to take the sprint to Bison. I contested but didn't have much left at that time. Kudos.
Sorry we didn't wait for the others today. I had a great workout though and now am looking forward to tapering off for the rest of the week. Finally! Good riding, gents! Thanks!
GC: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127436635
Good turnout today.
 |
| Courtesy of Seon's camera |
With Todd and Gary out and PV hitting it up early this morning, it was almost a full house otherwise.
In the beginning, it seemed everyone was content to manage their pace in preparation for the hills...except Seon. He broke away early on Anteater and I didn't feel like giving chase...neither did anyone else I guess. Once we got separated at a light, I never saw him again mostly because he went the wrong way. He did end up running into the others at some point, so all was not lost.
So with Seon off the front on his breakaway, I had the front all the way to Bonita Canyon. Once we got there, Marc actually jumped to the front and began working with Jaffe and maybe even Vin as we made our way to San Miguel.
Once we got to San Miguel, Shannon had taken over but was running more of a managed pace. Nevertheless, no one would take the front ahead of him. I actually had come from the back just to get in front and finish out the stretch to Spyglass. I don't know what's going on with this "blocking" thing btw.... Vin had a mechanical at this point where the screws came out of one of his pedals, so he was relagated to only using one. Ummm...time for a new bike?
Once we got on Spyglass, Shannon led the group up with Adrian in tow, but I thought I'd do it Strava style and made my way up passed the group only to get 4th. Bummer. Of course, as I waited for the light to get on San Joaquin, I knew there would be hell to pay. Sure enough, Shannon snapped all of us off here and we never really saw him until Vista (for a glimpse) and then at the top. That's what happens when you wake the giant. He killed it. To make matters worse, today was when he satisfied his obligation to carry Sandy from last week's ride. Holy ish!
Adrian had a nice lead up San Joaquin (actually, this was pretty much all the subsequent hills) and had me in chase mode on everyone of them. He does seem to be improving on the hills, but he is still getting caught but albeit with a bit more effort though. He did catch me where it flattened out on Vista to sit in my draft there where I knew he'd try to stick me on the last rise, but I gave him a little surprise there and snapped him off at the base so he doesn't pull an "Adrian" at the end.
When I met up with Shannon, he asked how the hills felt where I felt like handing him a lung as my response. When Adrian arrived, I just wanted to go since I was feeling that last hill sprint, so we ended up just taking off.
We took turns down NPC, although I had fallen off the back based on the stupid light in the middle, but caught back up just after the 73. We all continued to take turns on Bonita Canyon and I took the front just before we rounded McArthur. I pointed to a couple vehicles that were veering into the bike lane, one of which was a commercial van, and he got an earful for doing so especially without signaling.
We rounded to Bison and I knew Adrian was trying to set up a sprint at one point. How? He wouldn't get up front! Sure enough, after we left from the last light over the 73, he slingshots past me to take the sprint to Bison. I contested but didn't have much left at that time. Kudos.
Sorry we didn't wait for the others today. I had a great workout though and now am looking forward to tapering off for the rest of the week. Finally! Good riding, gents! Thanks!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Team BRCM - Irvine BJ's to San Onofre State Park and Back via Antonio
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2224977
GC: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/126713338
Steve was right...starting a ride at 7 a.m. was definitely brrrrrly. My car temperature reading showed 45 degrees when I got there, and I don't think it warmed up much for a while where the Garmin showed an average of 55 degrees for the whole ride. It was such a drastic change from last week's weather, but I suppose it's that time of year for the cold weather gear.
So I was thinking it would only be Shannon, Verm and I who were going to make it out, but Vin and Seon were able to confirm last minute that they were coming out too. However, before we started the ride, who should roll up but Ironman Eddie himself. And after we got on Irvine Drive heading towards Yale where we were to pick up Vin and Seon, we see a guy in a red kit turn left in front of us from a side street. We weren't sure who it was, but upon rolling up to Yale, lo and behold it was super stud climber Noah himself on his 13 lbs. sexy cheater bike.
Now I mentioned the temperature above, but for some reason both Noah and Vin didn't think it was necessary to wear leg warmers, a jacket/wind breaker or even full fingered gloves. Noah didn't think it would honor the kit to wear anything else, and I won't even begin to try and figure out how Vin thinks. Just to let you guys know, Vin indicated that his hands were freezing at one of our stops, so he then proceeded to put them down his shorts to keep them warm. Please use discretion when shaking his hands.
Okay, so back to the ride: Shannon was leading us out on Irvine at a fairly mild pace in the beginning and then began to pick up the pace some after a warm up. Although the pace wasn't hot compared to Como, the cold weather made it challenging to hold on. After what seemed like several minutes, Shannon checked up probably thinking WTF? Isn't anyone else going to work today? In my defense, Verm was on his rear wheel. HA HA. I had some trouble getting warm as well but did start working after Verm took the front. Noah got in the mix as well and the four of us traded off throughout the ride.
Going up one of the hills on Trabuco, I felt the sensation of having my bike slow down unnaturally and had to check it out where Eddie and Seon rolled up to me while the others went ahead. After not seeing the cause, I went on. Thankfully, the other guys waited for us at the corner of Marguerite and we were off again.
It was nice and quiet on Marguerite as we went up and down some of its hills. Shannon pushed the pace going up the hill after Oso, and we traded near the top. Noah then led us as we started descending, but I dropped in a tuck and got by for a quick downhill descent.
After we crossed Avery onto Camino Capistrano, Eddie and Seon decided to turn around to get back due to some commitments but the rest of us pushed through. Shannon and I traded pulls here and then on the bike trail headed toward Doheny where Shannon got the record time for the stretch from the bridge to the state beach.
After a short break, we were off and headed toward San Clemente through the parking lot and then through the stretch of bike path on El Camino Real to downtown. While we didn't set any records there, our rotations did keep the pace up. Vin did take the front just as we were getting to San Clemente, but I wonder if he would have thought differently had he known we were going up a decent hill heading into downtown.
Noah took the reigns here and started up the hill for us. We got to go up it at a pretty good clip thanks to him. I got to lead the rest of us through downtown. Shannon and I kept the pace up on Presidente, and through the beach entrance from Cristianitos. We also kept everyone honest on Old Coast Highway all the way up to San Onofre state beach.
After another quick break there, we were off again and trading pulls heading back. Rather than take a pull, Vin did pass at one point here somewhat aggressive, but I put that fire out fairly quickly. Again, I'm not sure how this boy thinks, but I did tell him later if he's going to pull out the guns, he better be ready to also pull the trigger. He didn't listen though as he did the same thing on Irvine Blvd. Same result. Another guy did try to get in front of us as well, but didn't say anything as we passed him shortly after. Maybe they're related.
We kept the pace up as we made our way back toward and through downtown San Clemente. We also had a good run on the Strava named "Doheny Drag strip - North bound." We made our way to my house en-route to Antonio Pkwy hardly slowing down. After a quick water fill up, we were off and on our way up Antonio Pkwy. Noah led us up again, and I was content with just keeping his wheel...until I got the mystery slowing again. I didn't stop long and found my way back up with Noah where we rode together to Crown Valley.
After looking back and not seeing Shannon or Vin, however, I decided to wait just after the light and Verm rolled up and joined Noah as they kept going. However, after not seeing either approach, I went back to the last light on Antonio just before the fast descent to check if I can see them on the side of the road. Vin had his chain break and Shannon had gotten a flat, but I didn't see either of them. I figured that I must have missed them due to the different levels of the road where on some sections, I couldn't see the opposite side. At this point, I was resolved to just ride back solo.
After making my way up Antonio, I took a shortcut and got on Empressa to get to Santa Margarita. When I got to the light to turn left, I looked to my ride and saw Shannon towing Vin behind him. Woo hoo...people to ride with again! Not sure who caught who, but the timing was perfect.
We made our way up toward Marguerite, where we took a quick break at the Shell station. By the way, Shannon drinking a Coke always scares me. We didn't stay there long and I think we were just anxious to get back. Although our plan was to go onto Bake for a fast descent, we ended up turning left on El Toro. Now as we were descending, we see a guy with a full red kit riding on the bike trail and thought...hmmm, that looks familiar. To our surprise, it was David. We got him to join us as well, so it was a team of 4 at this point.
We made our way to Irvine Blvd but after going through a few rollers, we lost Vin again only to find that he had again broken a chain. Ummm...this may be a good time to consider a new one. After he got going again, Shannon lead the 4 of us out with me on the back. I decided to pull up to the front after and take a turn keeping a good pace. David (probably annoyed after I said to him earlier if we had been ahead of him on Irvine Blvd, he'd never have caught us) decided to BAM it up a notch where even after I tried to pass him to take over, he didn't want to have any of it. Okay, so we were 70 miles deep in our ride and he was probably 25, but I'll play. He brought the pace up at a pretty good pace, and then I kept it up where we had both gotten away from the others. He took one more turn, but I decided I'd finish it before we got to Jeffrey and dropped him. It was a good effort on his part though.
Shannon had done a lot of work on this ride, so he wasn't up to keeping these young guys in line, but I was okay to play. Like I mentioned above, Vin wanted to do an aggressive pass in which I responded right away asking him, "do you really want to do this and is that all you got?" while matching his pace. He mentioned something about how he didn't want to break his chain again. Yeah, that's what it was. HA HA
I had a good day with the weather being cold/cool, so I didn't have any problems cramping this week. 80 miles with a ~20 mph pace with some good hills made for another good trainer for the weekend. The appetizers and Pirahna at BJs with Shannon was a perfect way to end the ride.
Thanks to all those who came out! Cool to see all the BRCM representation on the road today for sure.
GC: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/126713338
Steve was right...starting a ride at 7 a.m. was definitely brrrrrly. My car temperature reading showed 45 degrees when I got there, and I don't think it warmed up much for a while where the Garmin showed an average of 55 degrees for the whole ride. It was such a drastic change from last week's weather, but I suppose it's that time of year for the cold weather gear.
So I was thinking it would only be Shannon, Verm and I who were going to make it out, but Vin and Seon were able to confirm last minute that they were coming out too. However, before we started the ride, who should roll up but Ironman Eddie himself. And after we got on Irvine Drive heading towards Yale where we were to pick up Vin and Seon, we see a guy in a red kit turn left in front of us from a side street. We weren't sure who it was, but upon rolling up to Yale, lo and behold it was super stud climber Noah himself on his 13 lbs. sexy cheater bike.
Now I mentioned the temperature above, but for some reason both Noah and Vin didn't think it was necessary to wear leg warmers, a jacket/wind breaker or even full fingered gloves. Noah didn't think it would honor the kit to wear anything else, and I won't even begin to try and figure out how Vin thinks. Just to let you guys know, Vin indicated that his hands were freezing at one of our stops, so he then proceeded to put them down his shorts to keep them warm. Please use discretion when shaking his hands.
Okay, so back to the ride: Shannon was leading us out on Irvine at a fairly mild pace in the beginning and then began to pick up the pace some after a warm up. Although the pace wasn't hot compared to Como, the cold weather made it challenging to hold on. After what seemed like several minutes, Shannon checked up probably thinking WTF? Isn't anyone else going to work today? In my defense, Verm was on his rear wheel. HA HA. I had some trouble getting warm as well but did start working after Verm took the front. Noah got in the mix as well and the four of us traded off throughout the ride.
Going up one of the hills on Trabuco, I felt the sensation of having my bike slow down unnaturally and had to check it out where Eddie and Seon rolled up to me while the others went ahead. After not seeing the cause, I went on. Thankfully, the other guys waited for us at the corner of Marguerite and we were off again.
It was nice and quiet on Marguerite as we went up and down some of its hills. Shannon pushed the pace going up the hill after Oso, and we traded near the top. Noah then led us as we started descending, but I dropped in a tuck and got by for a quick downhill descent.
After we crossed Avery onto Camino Capistrano, Eddie and Seon decided to turn around to get back due to some commitments but the rest of us pushed through. Shannon and I traded pulls here and then on the bike trail headed toward Doheny where Shannon got the record time for the stretch from the bridge to the state beach.
After a short break, we were off and headed toward San Clemente through the parking lot and then through the stretch of bike path on El Camino Real to downtown. While we didn't set any records there, our rotations did keep the pace up. Vin did take the front just as we were getting to San Clemente, but I wonder if he would have thought differently had he known we were going up a decent hill heading into downtown.
Noah took the reigns here and started up the hill for us. We got to go up it at a pretty good clip thanks to him. I got to lead the rest of us through downtown. Shannon and I kept the pace up on Presidente, and through the beach entrance from Cristianitos. We also kept everyone honest on Old Coast Highway all the way up to San Onofre state beach.
After another quick break there, we were off again and trading pulls heading back. Rather than take a pull, Vin did pass at one point here somewhat aggressive, but I put that fire out fairly quickly. Again, I'm not sure how this boy thinks, but I did tell him later if he's going to pull out the guns, he better be ready to also pull the trigger. He didn't listen though as he did the same thing on Irvine Blvd. Same result. Another guy did try to get in front of us as well, but didn't say anything as we passed him shortly after. Maybe they're related.
We kept the pace up as we made our way back toward and through downtown San Clemente. We also had a good run on the Strava named "Doheny Drag strip - North bound." We made our way to my house en-route to Antonio Pkwy hardly slowing down. After a quick water fill up, we were off and on our way up Antonio Pkwy. Noah led us up again, and I was content with just keeping his wheel...until I got the mystery slowing again. I didn't stop long and found my way back up with Noah where we rode together to Crown Valley.
After looking back and not seeing Shannon or Vin, however, I decided to wait just after the light and Verm rolled up and joined Noah as they kept going. However, after not seeing either approach, I went back to the last light on Antonio just before the fast descent to check if I can see them on the side of the road. Vin had his chain break and Shannon had gotten a flat, but I didn't see either of them. I figured that I must have missed them due to the different levels of the road where on some sections, I couldn't see the opposite side. At this point, I was resolved to just ride back solo.
After making my way up Antonio, I took a shortcut and got on Empressa to get to Santa Margarita. When I got to the light to turn left, I looked to my ride and saw Shannon towing Vin behind him. Woo hoo...people to ride with again! Not sure who caught who, but the timing was perfect.
We made our way up toward Marguerite, where we took a quick break at the Shell station. By the way, Shannon drinking a Coke always scares me. We didn't stay there long and I think we were just anxious to get back. Although our plan was to go onto Bake for a fast descent, we ended up turning left on El Toro. Now as we were descending, we see a guy with a full red kit riding on the bike trail and thought...hmmm, that looks familiar. To our surprise, it was David. We got him to join us as well, so it was a team of 4 at this point.
We made our way to Irvine Blvd but after going through a few rollers, we lost Vin again only to find that he had again broken a chain. Ummm...this may be a good time to consider a new one. After he got going again, Shannon lead the 4 of us out with me on the back. I decided to pull up to the front after and take a turn keeping a good pace. David (probably annoyed after I said to him earlier if we had been ahead of him on Irvine Blvd, he'd never have caught us) decided to BAM it up a notch where even after I tried to pass him to take over, he didn't want to have any of it. Okay, so we were 70 miles deep in our ride and he was probably 25, but I'll play. He brought the pace up at a pretty good pace, and then I kept it up where we had both gotten away from the others. He took one more turn, but I decided I'd finish it before we got to Jeffrey and dropped him. It was a good effort on his part though.
Shannon had done a lot of work on this ride, so he wasn't up to keeping these young guys in line, but I was okay to play. Like I mentioned above, Vin wanted to do an aggressive pass in which I responded right away asking him, "do you really want to do this and is that all you got?" while matching his pace. He mentioned something about how he didn't want to break his chain again. Yeah, that's what it was. HA HA
I had a good day with the weather being cold/cool, so I didn't have any problems cramping this week. 80 miles with a ~20 mph pace with some good hills made for another good trainer for the weekend. The appetizers and Pirahna at BJs with Shannon was a perfect way to end the ride.
Thanks to all those who came out! Cool to see all the BRCM representation on the road today for sure.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
BRCM Lunch - Double BB (Chase the Rabbit)
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2202411#36650800
The last time we did a Double Back Bay route, we did it with a point system as motivation for everyone to push a little harder. For today's ride, we opted for a slightly modified route (straight on San Joaquin to Jamboree vs. left on McArthur and PCH) that led into the opening of Back Bay. Additionally, "chasing the rabbit" was today's motivation, and since no one volunteered when prompted, I ended up taking the role of the rabbit...again.
Now unlike the last time, I asked for a 4 minute head start from 3 of the guys (Todd, Vince and Shannon) and 2 minutes from anyone/everyone else. In the end, when and how they started were completely up to them. This works for me, however, because I know trying to corral this group is like trying to corral chaos. Some did leave 2 minutes after I did (I assume) while others followed after but I'm not sure when.
The rules were simple:
- Obey stop signs and signals
- Don't kill one another or yourself
- Velominati #5
- If you fall off the front chase group, you can take a shortcut as long as it doesn't put you in front of me. If it does and I catch you, just accept that you need Sandy on your next training ride anyway.
The goal was to get to the top of California Ave (just before Bison) ahead of me. The prize was an IPA on a weekend outing, but the consequence should one not is to carry the coveted Sandy award (a 2 lbs. bottle of sand in a following outing).
At 11:41 a.m. exactly, I was off. My goal was to keep a steady pace (or power output - mentally) as much as possible, time the lights, and just pedal. I wasn't sure if I would let the others just catch me, since I could latch on and race to the top of CA from their draft, or if I would try to just keep away. I was going to let the lights and conditions decide, and since I was able to time a few key lights properly, I opted for the latter.
I would only occasionally glance back, especially after hitting a light, but for the most part I just pushed through. I was almost certain I would get caught when at the light to turn left on Jamboree, but I still saw no one over the horizon. I still pushed through after the left turn because I'm always under the impression it's not a matter of if I get caught, it's a matter of when.
I had a good steady pace through my first Back Bay pass and looking back when I can on the bends, I didn't see anyone approaching yet. However, as I made my way up and over Jamboree, I got caught at the light on Ford for a little. Once the light turned green, I saw to my right Mitchell, Eddie and Adrian on Eastbluff (a shortcut). My first impression was they must have been broken off from others who were probably steadily gaining on me on Jamboree, so immediately I tore up the "San Joaquin kicker sprint segment" (oddly named considering it was on Jamboree) resulting in a PR for me there. THAT was how scared I was of getting caught.
Fortunately, I caught the light at San Joaquin but I wasn't about to slow down. Going through Back Bay the 2nd time, I could feel more pressure having seen others on approach, but I didn't want to pick it up too much only to blow up and get caught. I managed another 25 mph pass again and this was enough to keep Mitchell, Eddie and Adrian (who then were working together again to catch me) from catching me.
I still maintained a good pace all the way to California, but just as I got to the light to cross University, I turned and saw Adrian down the stretch. Eventually, he, Eddie and Mitchell all caught up to me at this light. When I asked them if they fell off the front group to take the shortcut, they indicated they never saw the others and stated they just didn't know the route. Hmmmm.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and decided let's make it or break it on CA. When the light turned green, I jumped ahead and it didn't seem like they were too interested in following closely behind. Well, no wonder...the next light was red. When it turned green, I managed not to have to stop and was considering trying to break away at this point. I brought my pace up just high enough to see if they'd stay with me, and in looking back, they were stuck to me like glue.
I then deployed new strategy and checked up a little to then have Mitch jump ahead of me. I latched on to his rear wheel while Adrian and Eddie followed behind mine. Adrian then saw to it to go ahead and pass us both, so I jumped ahead of Mitchell to jump on Adrian's rear wheel. When it flattened out a little, you can tell Adrian was slowing up and trying to either 1) prepare for a sudden sprint or 2) respond to mine. I chose to exercise option 2, and waited until the right moment. When I did take off and pass him, you hear him changing through the gears where I knew that I had him at that point. He "claims" his gears miss-shifted (really? - HA HA), but just maybe...and this may be a stretch here...shouldn't he have been in the right gear to defend a sprint to begin with? Just sayin'. In any case, that was the end of that and I got to the top of CA uncontested.
Looking over Strava results, it looked like there was some insane efforts behind me. However, my prayers to the traffic light god must have been answered where based on the rules set forth initially, everyone who came out for this event will have the honor of carrying Sandy. She's been pretty lonely in the Bldg 6 gym shelf anyway, so it's good she gets to get out for a bit.
I think the guys are mad at me for some reason though. The e-mails have been reduced to 0 after lunch, but I hope everyone had a good workout. I know I did.
Thanks, gents!
The last time we did a Double Back Bay route, we did it with a point system as motivation for everyone to push a little harder. For today's ride, we opted for a slightly modified route (straight on San Joaquin to Jamboree vs. left on McArthur and PCH) that led into the opening of Back Bay. Additionally, "chasing the rabbit" was today's motivation, and since no one volunteered when prompted, I ended up taking the role of the rabbit...again.
Now unlike the last time, I asked for a 4 minute head start from 3 of the guys (Todd, Vince and Shannon) and 2 minutes from anyone/everyone else. In the end, when and how they started were completely up to them. This works for me, however, because I know trying to corral this group is like trying to corral chaos. Some did leave 2 minutes after I did (I assume) while others followed after but I'm not sure when.
The rules were simple:
- Obey stop signs and signals
- Don't kill one another or yourself
- Velominati #5
- If you fall off the front chase group, you can take a shortcut as long as it doesn't put you in front of me. If it does and I catch you, just accept that you need Sandy on your next training ride anyway.
The goal was to get to the top of California Ave (just before Bison) ahead of me. The prize was an IPA on a weekend outing, but the consequence should one not is to carry the coveted Sandy award (a 2 lbs. bottle of sand in a following outing).
At 11:41 a.m. exactly, I was off. My goal was to keep a steady pace (or power output - mentally) as much as possible, time the lights, and just pedal. I wasn't sure if I would let the others just catch me, since I could latch on and race to the top of CA from their draft, or if I would try to just keep away. I was going to let the lights and conditions decide, and since I was able to time a few key lights properly, I opted for the latter.
I would only occasionally glance back, especially after hitting a light, but for the most part I just pushed through. I was almost certain I would get caught when at the light to turn left on Jamboree, but I still saw no one over the horizon. I still pushed through after the left turn because I'm always under the impression it's not a matter of if I get caught, it's a matter of when.
I had a good steady pace through my first Back Bay pass and looking back when I can on the bends, I didn't see anyone approaching yet. However, as I made my way up and over Jamboree, I got caught at the light on Ford for a little. Once the light turned green, I saw to my right Mitchell, Eddie and Adrian on Eastbluff (a shortcut). My first impression was they must have been broken off from others who were probably steadily gaining on me on Jamboree, so immediately I tore up the "San Joaquin kicker sprint segment" (oddly named considering it was on Jamboree) resulting in a PR for me there. THAT was how scared I was of getting caught.
Fortunately, I caught the light at San Joaquin but I wasn't about to slow down. Going through Back Bay the 2nd time, I could feel more pressure having seen others on approach, but I didn't want to pick it up too much only to blow up and get caught. I managed another 25 mph pass again and this was enough to keep Mitchell, Eddie and Adrian (who then were working together again to catch me) from catching me.
I still maintained a good pace all the way to California, but just as I got to the light to cross University, I turned and saw Adrian down the stretch. Eventually, he, Eddie and Mitchell all caught up to me at this light. When I asked them if they fell off the front group to take the shortcut, they indicated they never saw the others and stated they just didn't know the route. Hmmmm.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and decided let's make it or break it on CA. When the light turned green, I jumped ahead and it didn't seem like they were too interested in following closely behind. Well, no wonder...the next light was red. When it turned green, I managed not to have to stop and was considering trying to break away at this point. I brought my pace up just high enough to see if they'd stay with me, and in looking back, they were stuck to me like glue.
I then deployed new strategy and checked up a little to then have Mitch jump ahead of me. I latched on to his rear wheel while Adrian and Eddie followed behind mine. Adrian then saw to it to go ahead and pass us both, so I jumped ahead of Mitchell to jump on Adrian's rear wheel. When it flattened out a little, you can tell Adrian was slowing up and trying to either 1) prepare for a sudden sprint or 2) respond to mine. I chose to exercise option 2, and waited until the right moment. When I did take off and pass him, you hear him changing through the gears where I knew that I had him at that point. He "claims" his gears miss-shifted (really? - HA HA), but just maybe...and this may be a stretch here...shouldn't he have been in the right gear to defend a sprint to begin with? Just sayin'. In any case, that was the end of that and I got to the top of CA uncontested.
Looking over Strava results, it looked like there was some insane efforts behind me. However, my prayers to the traffic light god must have been answered where based on the rules set forth initially, everyone who came out for this event will have the honor of carrying Sandy. She's been pretty lonely in the Bldg 6 gym shelf anyway, so it's good she gets to get out for a bit.
I think the guys are mad at me for some reason though. The e-mails have been reduced to 0 after lunch, but I hope everyone had a good workout. I know I did.
Thanks, gents!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
BRCM Lunch - BB CDM PCH NPC Vista Ridge Newport Ridge San Joaq McArthur
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/2179686
I think it would be easier to say who wasn't there vs. who was given the size of today's crowd. Notably missing would be Gary, Todd, Paul B., Verm, and Noah. Even Eddie's been coming out again with consistency. I know, right?
With a group this size, it seems always advisable not to blow up in any given section despite the urge to want to let it all go. I was definitely hanging back for the early part of the ride as a result while the rest of the group charged on the bike trail and through Back Bay. I did slowly try to make my way up to the front on Back Bay, and I appreciated those who let me cut in so that I can eventually be part of the rotation. At least I think that warrants a thank you.
The pace was pretty solid going out, and eventually Adrian and Vince went to go mix it up with a little breakaway after San Joaquin. When I finally got to the front, I thought I'd lead toward the final gate but Vince jumped out in the end to hit the gate first.
On PCH, PV and I lead the group toward Avocado at a solid pace. As we cut through toward Ocean, we all pretty much stayed together. Then Vin and Adrian grew a wild hair and decided to launch a breakaway through Ocean. I guess that's a good place for one with all the cars, people, and all?!? Vince, PV and Galen ended up joining them and they had a pretty good gap on PCH. I stayed with Shannon and Seon as we made our way toward NPC, and fortunately (unfortunately for the breakaway though), we caught all but Vince at the light. He was nominated to carry Sandy to slow him down for our next ride, and of course, Vince accepted the honor.
On NPC, there were some real solid performances out there...except for some who participated in the earlier breakaway. Shannon and PV eventually disappeared at some point along with Vince, but Galen, Seon, Hiroshi were definitely holding their own going up where it seemed to take forever to catch up to them. Eddie did awesome also despite his extended absence and got passed the guys with me except for Galen. I kept looking back expecting not to see him, and it was like we were attached. HA HA. Nice.
When we got to NPC, Galen made his way back in front of me and jumped ahead on Vista Ridge. Seon did too, but he was not able to hold the tempo. Now I was thinking I'd catch Galen on the final rise, but the SOB just cranked away and managed to reach the crest just ahead of me. Awesome considering the guy can't put a load on his shoulder.
We tore off down Ridge Park and hit the San Joaquin light where I believe Jaffe, Marc, Mitchell and Hiroshi joined us. There may have been more but I didn't do inventory. On Newport Ridge, Galen made the turn first but I took the lead shortly after and keep the pace up. Galen and Jaffe rotated with me here and kept the pace up. Just at the final rise, I "pulled an Adrian" and jumped to the front and started out the San Joaquin downhill as well.
While we were moving at a pretty good clip down San Joaquin, a car decided he wanted to pull out in front of us as we approached but fortunately just got by before we got there. Galen jumped ahead at this point and seemed like he was going to let the driver know how he felt about that, but opted to uphold the honor of "the kit."
We rolled up to Mike Z. at the light, and he led us out right after it turned green. I upped the pace just before McArthur but both Mitchell and Galen decided to bring it up even more after we rounded the corner. As we were making our way toward Bonita Canyon, I saw PV ahead of us so the chase was on. By the time we crossed the road, Galen and I were alone and he led us through to Bison where we were closing on PV pretty fast. PV saw us and immediately started pounding it. Once I saw that, it was like exposing blood to a vampire. With the lights not being a factor, I gave chase and pretty much just let it all out. I don't know if PV or Galen could hear me, but I was grunting like a pig from working so hard. I didn't want to stop though, and did manage to get by an unsuspecting PV before Bison. Of course, after rounding the corner, PV wanted some more but he must not have read the rule book...no more sprinting after the turn. It's in there...look it up.
Overall, it was an awesome day out and nice to see such a good turnout. I hope everyone got as good a workout as I did if not more. Shannon and Vince must have being that they were mostly on their own after the hills. Studs! Thanks, gents!
I think it would be easier to say who wasn't there vs. who was given the size of today's crowd. Notably missing would be Gary, Todd, Paul B., Verm, and Noah. Even Eddie's been coming out again with consistency. I know, right?
With a group this size, it seems always advisable not to blow up in any given section despite the urge to want to let it all go. I was definitely hanging back for the early part of the ride as a result while the rest of the group charged on the bike trail and through Back Bay. I did slowly try to make my way up to the front on Back Bay, and I appreciated those who let me cut in so that I can eventually be part of the rotation. At least I think that warrants a thank you.
The pace was pretty solid going out, and eventually Adrian and Vince went to go mix it up with a little breakaway after San Joaquin. When I finally got to the front, I thought I'd lead toward the final gate but Vince jumped out in the end to hit the gate first.
On PCH, PV and I lead the group toward Avocado at a solid pace. As we cut through toward Ocean, we all pretty much stayed together. Then Vin and Adrian grew a wild hair and decided to launch a breakaway through Ocean. I guess that's a good place for one with all the cars, people, and all?!? Vince, PV and Galen ended up joining them and they had a pretty good gap on PCH. I stayed with Shannon and Seon as we made our way toward NPC, and fortunately (unfortunately for the breakaway though), we caught all but Vince at the light. He was nominated to carry Sandy to slow him down for our next ride, and of course, Vince accepted the honor.
On NPC, there were some real solid performances out there...except for some who participated in the earlier breakaway. Shannon and PV eventually disappeared at some point along with Vince, but Galen, Seon, Hiroshi were definitely holding their own going up where it seemed to take forever to catch up to them. Eddie did awesome also despite his extended absence and got passed the guys with me except for Galen. I kept looking back expecting not to see him, and it was like we were attached. HA HA. Nice.
When we got to NPC, Galen made his way back in front of me and jumped ahead on Vista Ridge. Seon did too, but he was not able to hold the tempo. Now I was thinking I'd catch Galen on the final rise, but the SOB just cranked away and managed to reach the crest just ahead of me. Awesome considering the guy can't put a load on his shoulder.
We tore off down Ridge Park and hit the San Joaquin light where I believe Jaffe, Marc, Mitchell and Hiroshi joined us. There may have been more but I didn't do inventory. On Newport Ridge, Galen made the turn first but I took the lead shortly after and keep the pace up. Galen and Jaffe rotated with me here and kept the pace up. Just at the final rise, I "pulled an Adrian" and jumped to the front and started out the San Joaquin downhill as well.
While we were moving at a pretty good clip down San Joaquin, a car decided he wanted to pull out in front of us as we approached but fortunately just got by before we got there. Galen jumped ahead at this point and seemed like he was going to let the driver know how he felt about that, but opted to uphold the honor of "the kit."
We rolled up to Mike Z. at the light, and he led us out right after it turned green. I upped the pace just before McArthur but both Mitchell and Galen decided to bring it up even more after we rounded the corner. As we were making our way toward Bonita Canyon, I saw PV ahead of us so the chase was on. By the time we crossed the road, Galen and I were alone and he led us through to Bison where we were closing on PV pretty fast. PV saw us and immediately started pounding it. Once I saw that, it was like exposing blood to a vampire. With the lights not being a factor, I gave chase and pretty much just let it all out. I don't know if PV or Galen could hear me, but I was grunting like a pig from working so hard. I didn't want to stop though, and did manage to get by an unsuspecting PV before Bison. Of course, after rounding the corner, PV wanted some more but he must not have read the rule book...no more sprinting after the turn. It's in there...look it up.
Overall, it was an awesome day out and nice to see such a good turnout. I hope everyone got as good a workout as I did if not more. Shannon and Vince must have being that they were mostly on their own after the hills. Studs! Thanks, gents!
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