Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/4795161
The weather predictions for today from what I can recall was that it would be in the high 70's at best. Wrong. My Garmin showed an 80 degree max for the Como ride and a 90 degree max for our "plus" ride. Thus, representing BRCM in black today was NOT a good idea. Despite this, Vin, Seon and I wore black but Gary and Hiroshi wore red.
Gary and I decided early on that doing the short route today would be ideal and the rest of the guys followed suit. Apparently, a lot of the riders today had the same intentions (probably due to the heat), so it did seem like the popular route.
The start of the ride was the typical warm up pace, but it never got too crazy once we got on Irvine Blvd. Going up El Toro, the pace picked up some but I hung back and tried a different tactic The rest of the guys were spread out through the peleton, but I did eventually push up closer to the front just behind where Hiroshi was.
At one point, I did see Vin (who joined the ride from his house), but it was just at the moment when I was ready to start pushing even closer to the front. I moved up shortly after and got a bit closer to the front. It seemed like the perfect timing since it was just at the last crest before it flattened out just before Cooks.
At the climb after, I'd say there was probably about 30 people going up at the front with a couple guys trying to make a break. It did thin out some but not too much where after the first crest, there was still a lot of guys there. The pace picked up as we raced up to the 2nd crest, and while a couple guys got over first, the rest of the guys crested as a pack and reeled the two in right away. I was about 3/4 of the way in that chase group and was happy just to stay there.
As we went through the canyon, the pace was pretty fast so it was fine to stay in the latter part of the pack of about 20. The rotations weren't very organized, so I wasn't really getting pushed up to do a pull. I'd even have some guys jump in front of me just because I'd leave more than a 1 inch gap in front of the guy ahead of me.
When we got closer to Irvine Lake, I did try to make my way toward the front but there were just too many guys to get past, so I'd end up rolling back into the pack midway. I think a couple Simple Green guys didn't like this very much, but they never said anything directly to me. At least I was trying to help pull.
When we got to Dump Hill, I was ready for a charge up the hill and gave chase to a few guys who tried to break off. I started to pass people as we were going up and was just able to latch on to the guys up front at the crest. The downhill wasn't too fast, and I was going to try to mix it up after the toll road overpass. When I gave chase to one of the guys who tried to break everyone off, he ended up soft pedaling after I got just behind him.
On Jamboree, we were all together going up the hill and I had thought up pulling near the top, but decided I'd wait until after we crested. I did end up getting up front for a while, but finally was relieved.
I was hoping for some sprint training after we got to Portola but no one ever really did. One guy in a Capo jersey did break off so the only thing I did was give chase and ride with him to Irvine Blvd.
Gary and Hiroshi ended up joining me at the BJ's parking lot shortly after, and Gary sounded like he had a great ride. I think one of them said they rode with Vin but I'm not sure what ever happened to Seon.
Strava post ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/4795164
Gary and I decided to do a reverse loop for extra credit together since no one else could join us. Gary was pushing a very good pace, and it was quite the task just being able to stay with him. At one point, I looked down and saw my Garmin had turned off as we were climbing up Jamboree, but it was a good excuse not to have to keep up with S-G as well.
When we went up Dump from Jamboree, we did our standing climb drill again and this time, Gary had some tricks up his sleeves. He had gapped me for a long time, and I just wanted and tried to manage my pace all the way up the hill. At one point after the toll road, I did start to reel him in but as I was coming abreast, he picked up the speed and had done so twice. We were both climbing together as we neared the top, and he wanted to sprint to finish it ahead of me. I decided to do the same, and worked my ass off just to be able to get ahead...barely.
As we went through the canyon, it was windy as hell and it took a lot of work just to get through. We were both taking turns as needed and he was helping me just as much as I was trying to help him. We did pass a few guys here and there and no one wanting to latch on and work with us.
We stayed together for the most part until the last hill before Cooks but Gary was right there. We stayed together after and just kept a good pace all the way back. The wind never seemed to stop even though I was hoping for a nice tail wind on Irvine Blvd. That never happened.
On the last light, I knew Gary was going to sprint but I was thinking I should be able to reel him in. That didn't happened and S-G actually had a good sprint to the last light that turns into the BJ parking lot. I think S-G is definitely on his way back. Watch out!
22.2 mph average for the Como ride and ~20 for the reverse loop. This pace was not as torturous as not being able to have an icy cold beer on a hot day of riding like this. Sigh
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