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.
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