Strava (Extra Credit): http://app.strava.com/rides/3915732
Attendees: Gary, Jaffe, Hiroshi, Seon, Vin, and Craig
Weather-wise, the temp started out a little cool (48 derees) but it warmed up fairly quickly. It was definitely the right choice not wearing the arm warmers. Hiroshi started with them on but they were sticking out of his back pocket by the time we hit Irvine Blvd.
We had a pretty good showing with a lot wearing BRCM red except Vin. We weren't together too much from the beginning as I saw Sol pass by and wanted to see what his team was doing for today's ride. I pushed up to the front earlier than normal as a result, and some of the guys did eventually push up as well.
We got a little bit more toward the middle of the pack on Irvine Blvd, but by Trabuco was pushed up a little closer to the front again. I think this was a good idea since we wanted to be ready for the charge up Santa Margarita and being in the back would have been bad.
When we did start going up the hills on Santa Margarita, I only saw Hiroshi, Craig, and Gary on here. Vin also came out of nowhere to ride up here for a bit, but I didn't see him anymore after this.
Going down Live Oak is downright scary. After we made a left turn from Santa Margarita, it took a bit but once we rounded the corner, the pace started to pick up where I thought, they can't possibly all head down the tight switchbacks at this pace. When we started descending, it definitely made me nervous, so I checked up a little right at the tight turn. One of the girl racers pulled up on my inside, and I thought she was going to be good enough to keep up with everyone ahead of us. However, after we went over the bridge, I realized she wasn't as fast as I thought she was and I waited for someone to help bridge the gap as everyone in front of us took off and took off fast!
When no one responded, it was full sprint time and I just jammed away from everyone else and made my way to the front group who was a pretty good distance away from me. While I was able to get to the back of the pack, the work to do so took it's toll and I popped off twice. I was able to jump back on once by myself, but the 2nd time, I had to jump on someone else's wheel to jump back on to the rear. Still having problems with recovery, I just couldn't hold the pace anymore and just popped off the back completely.
As riders would go by, I would try to match pace but just didn't have it. Eventually, Hiroshi, Craig and Gary were passing me as well, and all I could do is watch. Hiroshi took off like he usually did where he tempo'd up pretty quickly past me. Craig had a good pace and managed to latch on to a chase group as he went up and over the top. I had managed to recover enough to get past Gary and Hiroshi before the top and just caught my breath all the way down the other side.
Here's how it looked:
The same girl racer who strung us out ended up passing me, and then took off up the hill past Cooks. I was able to reel her in though and get past. I tried to encourage her to come along, but she couldn't. Hiroshi was trying to make his way past me again, but eventually he fell off before the first crest. Upon the 2nd crest, I had found two guys to work with and the 3 of us started rotating.
At one point, I thought we were catching a group that was on the Como Street ride, so I told the two I was working with I was going to reel them in. I brought us pretty close, but when I realized they were not Como Street riders, I slowed because I had spent a lot just to close the gap. The two that were with me took off around them and started to pull away. Not wanting to lose them, I made my way around the group and was able to reel these two guys in again.
We kept working together and then one of the riders just didn't have enough leaving two of us. We did make our way to Craig who was riding on his own, and he got into our rotation with some really good pulls. When we started rotating with the 3rd guy though, he would hold us out and then take a real short pull. Eventually, we popped him off as well.
Going up Dump Hill, I wasn't sure how Craig was going to do, but he was there with me pushing as well and even got beside me just as we were cresting. Someone has definitely been training and it showed. We kept jamming all the way down the other side and to Jamboree.
At the light, the 3rd guy caught up to us again and the 3 of us started working together on Jamboree again. We were alternating pulls and had a real good pace working together. We had pretty good luck with the lights as well, so the pace stayed high throughout. On the last stretch, Craig opened it up and I used him as a lead out for a full on sprint to Irvine Blvd. Although there wasn't anyone left by that point, it was still fun. We finished with a 21.4 average for 40 miles with 2400+ feet of climbing. Thanks, Craig!
For extra credit, some of us decided to do a reverse short como loop and take it easy. We saw Shannon and Dina at Jamboree/Portola corner and stopped to say hi. Vin and Hiroshi led us out from there and I told Gary let's have them set our pace. We started going backwards (almost) at one point though, so Gary and I took up the front to help.
Gary and I also did some stand up drills going up Dump to moderate the pace. When we were going down the other side through the canyon, Jaffe, Gary and I were doing rotations while Hiroshi and Vin stayed in the back. When I had taken the front, I inadvertently broke off but then saw someone behind me. I thought it was someone we past, but after taking a better look back, I saw it was Vin.
I was maintaining a decent pace, and by the way, it was pretty windy. Lo and behold at one point, Vin decided to pass and take a turn up front. I took it as an opportunity to help him get stronger and kept him up front all the way to Modjeska. As we were climb the hill towards Cooks, I was pace matching him and encouraging to have him stand up. He stayed up for a bit, but then said "I thought this was suppose to be an easy pace." After confirming to him that it was, I took off. ha ha
We regrouped just after Cooks with Vin, Gary, Hiroshi and I left. Jaffe had turned around. Gary led us out in the beginning and when I relieved him and pulled for a bit, Vin decided he wanted to launch an random attack. Rather than just neutralize him, I chased him down and returned the pass favor where again, he claims he wasn't doing anything. Okay.
As we made our way down and hit a light, Hiroshi and Vin were in front and I encouraged them to again launch an attack, to which they obliged. I still had legs so I showed them what I thought of their attacks. BAM!
Vin made a left on Santa Margarita to head home, so the three of us made our way to Trabuco/Irvine Boulevard. After we passed Bake, Gary led us and we started rotating. At one point, however, I saw that only Hiroshi was left and he started to pass me where I wanted to see what kind of pace he could hold up front. Once we dropped down to 19, I decided that I was done with attacks and sprints for the day. To neutralize them, I pulled a Vince and just broke off and hit some pretty good speeds to stay ahead. It worked. I'm not used to doing that, but it was in the interest of training. Sorry, S-G, since that's not normally our mode when we ride together.
Overall, I think everyone had a good training day. Damn wind always makes rides like these not as fun, but we got it done. Thanks, gents!
No comments:
Post a Comment