BRCM Lunch - Anteater, Turtle Rock, Starcrest, Shady, Summit and Condo Run

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/3420441

When it came to today's ride, it seemed that there were those who were eager to put the beat down despite the weekend sufferfest we just had.  Thankfully, PV and Adrian were among the few who came out, so at least I wouldn't be alone.  Curiously though, I did wonder where Vince, Todd and Shannon were and thought to myself maybe they know something I don't.  By the end of the ride, I know they did.

No one was eager to get up front initially, so they all sat behind me pretty much all the way to Culver.  Vin, being Vin, passed with authority at some point before Culver...again...likely to annoy me...again since it offered me no relief for all the pulling up to that point.  Of course, he succeeded to annoy me so I passed him in the same manner only to have him say "I'm not racing you, Rich"...again.  One day I hope he realizes that that gets old.

On Culver,  I took the initial pull but PV decided to kick it up a notch and brought the pace up to a respectable pace.  It took a little work to latch on, but we all managed to do so for a draft all the way to Campus.

We all started Turtle Rock together but PV and Hiroshi took off early on.  We managed to reel Hiroshi in before Starcrest, but PV was on a mission.  Up StarCrest, Adrian took the front (finally...haha) and led with I believe Hiroshi passing me to get behind him.  Hiroshi was on attack mode today for sure and this was despite having ridden in to work today...nice!  We reeled him in again with Mitch as my wingman, but Adrian and PV got to the top first.

We didn't stop at the circle, but kept going where Adrian ended up catching PV on Ridgeline.  Eric had intercepted and was in front of me as I crossed Turtle Rock to continue down the hill.  After I passed him, I didn't expect he latched on, but the next thing you know, Eric was jumping to the front and taking a pull.  Nice!

We saw PV and Adrian just ahead of us, but rather than sprinting to catch them, we maintained a nice tempo as we made our way on the bike trail beside the 405.  Both Mitchell and Eric helped to close to the gap on them with some good pulls, but we didn't get to close enough before we could catch PV up Shady.  We did reel Adrian in before the climb though.

Going up Shady, the pace was steady and Mitchell stayed with me all the way up and down over the other side.  Adrian soon rolled up behind us and eventually took a pull just before the gate.  We didn't see PV anymore at this point, and based on Strava, he had gone through the gate while we went on the bike trail, so that didn't help us at all.

On the downhill toward the sprint point, Mitchell led out and then Adrian looked back and checked to see if I was latched on.  I confirmed, so Adrian dropped on his aeros and just hammered it down.  I hung on for my life until he ran out of steam, thankfully before the bike trail opening.

By the time we made the left on Bonita Canyon and subsequently to Turtle Ridge, Jaffe, Hiroshi and Vin had caught up to us.  Going up Summit, we did hear PV on the other side, but couldn't see him since the roads were offset.  Hiroshi took off up this hill too, and I had to dig deep at the end just to catch up to him before the top.

We regrouped at the left turn to Bonita Canyon as we headed toward Jamboree.  Good pulls here with all but Vin taking a turn...ha ha.  As we headed up Ford toward the condo, I fell back a little and watched the group ride up but get caught at the light at the top allowing me to catch up.  After the light, Hiroshi broke off and made a dash up the condo and gapped pretty much everyone.  It took working with Adrian to reel him in after the ascent.  Adrian had pushed passed me allowing me to jump on and keeping the pace up, and jumped on after I passed to catch up to Hiroshi.  Nice teamwork.

On Bison, everyone was setting up for the final sprint and Jaffe led the attack after the first light over the 73.  I took off after him and passed knowing others were behind me, and sure enough, Adrian comes around and take the sprint to the corner.  Nice.

Good training today, gents, but I think I'll actually take tomorrow off.  Everyone smelled blood out there, so I think I'll save some for Thursday's ride.  This group is too fast and furious otherwise.  PV, you're an animal.

Thanks!