Strava (Vince's since my Garmin turned off): http://app.strava.com/rides/11986123
Attendees: PV, Vince, Adrian, Jeremy, Vin, Jaffe, Marc, Hiroshi and Mitchell
I was a little pre-occupied during today's ride given that I found out this morning one of the guys who used to work on my team passed away. He had been hospitalized from a tumor they found in his brain and although they removed it where it appeared he would recover, he ended up having more complications and wasn't able to survive them. It's hard to think about riding and having fun when something like this happens, but I did what I could to get some training in with these maniacs.
For the most part, I stayed in the back and just hung on while they were moving pretty fast through Anteater and subsequently the rise up on Shady heading towards Sunnyhill (Strava confirms this based on movement in top 10 placements). PV, Adrian, Vince, Jeremy and I think even Mitchell were working together and doing a great job keeping the pace elevated. Vin was in my draft, but he broke me off even while I was just maintaining my own pace behind the other guys. Jaffe, you're welcome for the pick-up. :)
I continued to hang in the back as we got on Turtle Rock and watched as we started to climb how Jaffe launched the first attack. Jeremy chased him down and Vince did the same and caught up to Jeremy. Both were about ready to bypass Starcrest, but we called out to them just as we were making the right onto this climb.
PV started ahead of us and Jeremy and Vince made their way past me up to PV after making a u-turn on Turtle Rock. I got into a good rhythm and made my way past all of them when it got steeper, but Vince jumped on and stuck behind me launching an attack near the the top. BAM!
We kept going down Ridgeline back onto Turtle Rock where PV caught me, and the two of us caught Vince on the rise on Shady heading toward the bike trail opening. PV led us all the way down it. As the 3 of us got caught at the light, Jeremy and Mitchell caught up to us there.
When we got on Bonita Canyon and subsequently NPC, Jeremy, PV and Vince started to charge up and I wasn't having any of it. I stayed behind and worked with Mitchell up NPC, but by the time we rounded San Joaquin, the 3 of them ahead of us were no longer in sight. Mitchell and I continued working together on the horseshoe, and down San Joaquin.
I was up front as we got to Spyglass and after rounding, I could see the 3 guys ahead of me so I started charging up the hill. Mitchell had fallen off, but had almost caught me just at the little false flat in the middle. As it pitched up again though, he fell off and I was hoping to charge down the other side and catch the other guys. However, when I got there, the light was red and they were gone.
Mitchell had caught me at the light (which seemed to take forever) and we worked together on San Miguel hitting 1-2 more lights on there before getting back on San Joaquin and McArthur. Mitchell had been doing great to keep the pace up with me, but I LOVE that section so I jumped to the front and started hauling towards Ford/Bonita Canyon. I could see the light was red and the 3 guys stopped there, so I was really working hard to make the light. I had a ways to go when it turned green, but I was able to get through it where Mitchell eventually fell off my draft.
The 3 guys were just ahead of me as I rounded Bison and I almost got caught at the first light while they were coming up on the light before going over the 73. They ended up going through it, so once I got to go, I started sprinting where I watched them get caught on the last light on the overpass. The light turned green and as they took off, I was already in full stride where I passed them and pulled a Vince calling them bitches (a term of endearment in our group) as I did. I think PV got a kick out of it.
Thanks for the training today, gents!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Lunch Ride - Spyglass San Joaquin NPC Pelican PCH CDM BB Jamboree
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/11809869
Editorial:
Why is it that Paul Blart feels the need to harass us cyclists? Today, he came out of the Bldg 11 gym and started to tell us that they're going to install a camera to monitor and make sure we're not walking around on the mats with our cycling shoes. After all, there IS a sign there that says not to. I don't know if he realized it or not but we were OUTSIDE the building when he was telling us this. Further, I personally had not put my shoes on until I was on the bench just outside of the building. This is despite the fact that I always have cleat covers on just because I know he's looking to give us crap and wouldn't understand what a cleat cover was.
As to this camera that he's talking about, can you honestly tell me that the equipment and man power to monitor whether we walk in our cycling shoes in the gym is really warranted? Seriously? You'd think a more cleat friendly walkway would be a cheaper idea that would instead promote Broadcom's backing of people like us who have balance and maintain an active lifestyle and still get the job done. And to boot, the spin class is in THAT building so are we really the only ones who wear cycling shoes with cleats? Lastly, we do our best to promote Broadcom cycling and for what? To be made to feel like criminals of such a heinous crime as walking on rubber mats with cleats by an overzealous security guard? Sigh.
</rant>
Now back to the ride...
Despite the warm weather, we still had a good turnout today with 10 of us out there including PV on Todd's old bike and John Lenell, a ghost of the past but still with a lot of game.
I thought to exercise a little more humility today since Todd, Shannon and Galen were out there too, so I stayed in the line not taking a pull until just before the 73 heading towards San Miguel. Shannon had led us out and Todd jumped ahead to the front along with Jeremy (nice) prior to me pulling, but Galen didn't come around where I knew that would mean trouble later on.
We all managed to stay together all the way through San Miguel but once we got on Spyglass, mayhem. I think Jeremy led originally but John had passed him standing on his pedals. I gave chase originally and found my way past him where he stuck to my wheel subsequently, but Todd then Shannon made their way past us both to the crest and down the other side. Both Galen and John passed me on the downhill as I gasped for air hoping I'd having something for San Joaquin.
The 5 of us got caught at the light, but Jeremy had timed it perfectly and rounded as the light turned green. The other guys gave chase and were climbing with him, and I just didn't have anything to be able to keep up. If it wasn't for Mitchell passing me midway up and towing me for a while, I think I'd have just made a left on NPC and head back to work. HA HA
Mitchell and I exchanged pulls as we went down NPC and Pelican and as we made our way out of Pelican, we saw Vin come down NPC ahead of us skipping Pelican all together. This must have riled Mitchell up as he passed me on NPC before PCH and started to chase Vin down. We did make our way up to Vin and the 3 of us stayed together for the rest of the ride hoping to see the others but apparently got dropped like a bad habit from them.
Looks like the lead pack was moving based on what Strava showed. Glad I missed it. Props to Jeremy and John staying in the lead pack.
And if getting harassed and dropped wasn't bad enough today, Marc saw to it to drop his taint cream in the locker room, which splashed me all over my arms, pants and shoes. Now I KNOW Marc double-dips in that bad boy, so now I feel like I'm walking around with sandy colored man hair somewhere on my clothes. Terrific. I guess it's okay. I can be an ass sometimes anyway, so maybe the cream just found it's target.
Thanks for the training and sorry for my rant, gents.
Editorial:
Why is it that Paul Blart feels the need to harass us cyclists? Today, he came out of the Bldg 11 gym and started to tell us that they're going to install a camera to monitor and make sure we're not walking around on the mats with our cycling shoes. After all, there IS a sign there that says not to. I don't know if he realized it or not but we were OUTSIDE the building when he was telling us this. Further, I personally had not put my shoes on until I was on the bench just outside of the building. This is despite the fact that I always have cleat covers on just because I know he's looking to give us crap and wouldn't understand what a cleat cover was.
As to this camera that he's talking about, can you honestly tell me that the equipment and man power to monitor whether we walk in our cycling shoes in the gym is really warranted? Seriously? You'd think a more cleat friendly walkway would be a cheaper idea that would instead promote Broadcom's backing of people like us who have balance and maintain an active lifestyle and still get the job done. And to boot, the spin class is in THAT building so are we really the only ones who wear cycling shoes with cleats? Lastly, we do our best to promote Broadcom cycling and for what? To be made to feel like criminals of such a heinous crime as walking on rubber mats with cleats by an overzealous security guard? Sigh.
</rant>
Now back to the ride...
Despite the warm weather, we still had a good turnout today with 10 of us out there including PV on Todd's old bike and John Lenell, a ghost of the past but still with a lot of game.
I thought to exercise a little more humility today since Todd, Shannon and Galen were out there too, so I stayed in the line not taking a pull until just before the 73 heading towards San Miguel. Shannon had led us out and Todd jumped ahead to the front along with Jeremy (nice) prior to me pulling, but Galen didn't come around where I knew that would mean trouble later on.
We all managed to stay together all the way through San Miguel but once we got on Spyglass, mayhem. I think Jeremy led originally but John had passed him standing on his pedals. I gave chase originally and found my way past him where he stuck to my wheel subsequently, but Todd then Shannon made their way past us both to the crest and down the other side. Both Galen and John passed me on the downhill as I gasped for air hoping I'd having something for San Joaquin.
The 5 of us got caught at the light, but Jeremy had timed it perfectly and rounded as the light turned green. The other guys gave chase and were climbing with him, and I just didn't have anything to be able to keep up. If it wasn't for Mitchell passing me midway up and towing me for a while, I think I'd have just made a left on NPC and head back to work. HA HA
Mitchell and I exchanged pulls as we went down NPC and Pelican and as we made our way out of Pelican, we saw Vin come down NPC ahead of us skipping Pelican all together. This must have riled Mitchell up as he passed me on NPC before PCH and started to chase Vin down. We did make our way up to Vin and the 3 of us stayed together for the rest of the ride hoping to see the others but apparently got dropped like a bad habit from them.
Looks like the lead pack was moving based on what Strava showed. Glad I missed it. Props to Jeremy and John staying in the lead pack.
And if getting harassed and dropped wasn't bad enough today, Marc saw to it to drop his taint cream in the locker room, which splashed me all over my arms, pants and shoes. Now I KNOW Marc double-dips in that bad boy, so now I feel like I'm walking around with sandy colored man hair somewhere on my clothes. Terrific. I guess it's okay. I can be an ass sometimes anyway, so maybe the cream just found it's target.
Thanks for the training and sorry for my rant, gents.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Vince's Bachelor Party Run
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/11712096
According to Dictionary.com, the term bachelor party (also known as stag party) can be defined as followed:
1. a social gathering or event for men only.
According to Dictionary.com, the term bachelor party (also known as stag party) can be defined as followed:
1. a social gathering or event for men only.
2. a party given a bachelor by his male friends before his marriage, often on the night before the wedding, ranging from a formal gathering to a night of carousing.
3. a gathering for men only, especially one for the purpose of watching sexually titillating movies or exhibitions.
Where the hell does it say a day of absolute punishment to the human body?!?
Shannon's bachelor party set the precedence last year when we went Strava hunting as a precursor to a night of team bonding mixed with alcohol abuse. In typical BAM fashion, we celebrated Vince by doing a team ride of a route of his choosing where the sadistic SOB had us do a self-sagged century plus ride down to San Diego and back from my house. Despite how painful this seemed, we had a great turnout with the following riders representing team Broadcom in red: Shannon, Todd, Paul, Verm, Gary, Jaffe, Hiroshi, Vin, Vince, Mitchell and me.
Now I'm not going to describe this ride in detail given it was a long friggin' ride. Instead, I'll list some of the highlights:
- It was pretty badass riding down and back in the same jersey where it was clear we were a team.
- We had several instances of girls hooting and hollering at us throughout the ride.
- We were moving at a pretty good clip all the way down to San Diego averaging easily over 20 mph despite the warm weather, the windy conditions, and the busy roads of downtown Oceanside.
- We picked up some stragglers on the way out and had a couple attempt to launch an attack on a a hill in Camp Pendleton only to be completely neutralized the two absolutely humbled if not embarrassed for trying.
- The route was legit with some good climbing out in the San Elijo Hills. On the climb up the hill at the reservoir, PV and Vin attacked it and Todd and Gary did a little wheel tango as they made their way up.
- We did get separated a couple times and this led to some doing a few more miles than others where the high total was 116.
- The main regroup point was a Chevron station at the beginning of the way back where Paul (celebrating his 50th b-day) feasted on a breakfast burrito among other things. He also had a beer on our first stop. Bad ass!
- As expected, Shannon, Vince and Todd were on their game and were strong throughout the entire ride. Unexpectedly, Vin finished strong as well powered by Taro buns and doing his share of pulls on the way back starting at Camp Pendleton.
- Shannon had expected there to be casualties on this ride, and there were plenty of casualties including myself. As far as rides go, I think I can honestly say that I experienced the worst cramps of my upper leg on this ride. Hell, even my hips were cramping up at one point.
- I think Mitchell is going to name his next born after me since in his words "I saved his life" when I towed him back from San Clemente to my house.
- Cramps continued for a lot of us at my house where I'm sure at some point, a picture of Vince having seizures on my lawn will surface on the Internet. I was so dehydrated that even turning my head caused a muscle in my neck to cramp.
- On a positive side, there was not one mechanical that occurred during the whole ride. This was an amazing feat considering how much dirt and grime were on both Vin's and Jaffe's bikes at the BEGINNING of the ride.
- Props to Jaffe and Hiroshi for allowing us to devirginize them to become members of the elite Team Broadcom centurions.
Mission accomplished. Congrats, Vince!
More pics below:
More pics below:
And the cramps
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday Lunch Ride - Turtle Rock Shady Ridgeline Summit Jamboree
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/11225460
Highlights:
Highlights:
- Shannon led us out all the way to Culver starting out the ride at a pace difficult to follow.
- Adrian and I helped out finally as we got on Culver heading over to Turtle Rock.
- We all made our way to Turtle Rock, and more people got in the rotation.
- As we went up Shady, Shannon started us out and I took over after the first bridge all the way to the top with several just behind me.
- The plan was that we were going to regroup at the bottom, but Adrian missed this memo and went on eventually taking the bridge to go across Jeffrey and onto the bike trail.
- The rest of us made our way to Ridgeline where Shannon got us going. I took a little past half way up at the first pitch in the grade, and Jeremy jumped ahead on the 2nd one almost snapping the group off.
- Shannon passed me as well and Mitchell helped to let us get back up to him and Jeremy where we made our way back toward Bonita Canyon together.
- On Summit, Jeremy and Shannon seemed to duke it out while Mitchell and I stayed together off the back. I think Shannon got ahead at the top but they both rounded and got away from Mitchell and I.
- We almost caught them at Bonita Canyon, but just missed the light.
- Mitchell and I worked together and was able to get through the light just behind them onto Ford. Mitchell led me out to Jamboree where I tried to make a charge to catch the guys ahead but midway up, my left calf had fully locked up where I could barely pedal. I was able to resume pedaling just before the turn to Bison though.
- We ran into Adrian, Shannon and Jeremy at the light after McArthur, and after some taunting, I tried to sprint against Adrian only to get blown out there too.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
PV's Big Bear 50 #2 - race report!
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
That’s the sound my bike made when it broke. The rear triangle had snapped and was rubbing on my tire. Panic time, I am racing a series final in a few days! (this happened last Wednesday) Luckily I had time to find a loaner. My friend Brent came through lending me his Niner Air 9 for the race (sweet!). I had time to squeeze in one ride on it before loading it up for Big Bear.
Sunday morning I woke up in Big Bear not feeling very good, my stomach was funky. I had brought some Perpetuem, so I drank that instead of eating something solid. It went down OK so at least I had some calories in me. Then before I knew it, it was time to get in the line up and go. The race started off pretty fast. This time I was jersey hunting, I knew what at least one of my competitors in my age group looked like (green SoCal Endurance jersey). I settled in behind him, kept him in eyesight, and kept pace.
I kept him in sight for about an hour, then lost him on a long singletrack down. I had never ridden it before, and being on a different bike threw me off a little too. Looking at the map beforehand I had thought this was a big fireroad bomb but surprise…. tricky singletrack instead. My stomach continued to feel funky, and I was getting really, really thirsty. It was impossible to eat or drink on this section as it required both hands on the bars and a lot of focus.
After that was a chewed up, super chunky fireroad that descended rapidly. It was about a half hour descent, it took you a long, long ways down the other side of the mountain. I got a chance to drink and ate a part of a bonk bar on a flat portion. I started to feel a little better after this.
About two hours in I hit the first feed zone. The temperature was already just over 100 according to my Garmin. No sign of the green jersey. I grabbed my stuff out of my feed bag and took off.
The long steady climb continued through a valley (very scenic by the way DT) all the way out to Highway 38. After that we made a sharp turn onto a singletrack with some serious exposure (more than San Juan Trail) for 7 miles. I was starting to feel better after eating more bonk bar and gels through the valley, but hadn’t hydrated enough before the ST so I had to stop and chug some liquids in the middle. I took it real easy through here with the exposure, not knowing the trail, and not feeling 100%. I wondered for a while how BobG would like this trail. :)
After what seemed like going to Nevada and back we hit some pavement and looped back up to head back to the feed zone. I was starting to synch up with more riders. I was also finally starting to feel OK. Shortly after this we hit the feed zone again where I loaded up with more cytomax and some banana bread. Then it was time.
On paper this is where the race started. A huge ass climb 3.5 hours into the race that would take about an hour. Did I mention it was around 100 degrees out? It is called 2N06 aka Radford Truck Trail, and it is a beast.
I started out slow and steady. It was so hot I was moving from shady spot to shady spot even if it was a longer path. I slowly started passing riders as they succombed to fatigue. It felt ridiculously hot, my Garmin peaked at 102 degrees. Other riders had stopped and started walking but I didn’t stop spinning the entire time. I passed a lot of people when I saw it….the green jersey. I got past him and continued. Yes!! My heart rate was fairly high but I was able to maintain it and hold my pace, even clicking down a gear here and there.
I knew I was doing fairly well when I eventually got to the top and no one had passed me. Then it was all literally downhill from there on fun singletrack. Zoom-zoom! I couldn’t let green catch me now!
Down and out and past the finish line. Sweet! I headed back to where I was parked for a cold one. Some guy flagged me down, ‘Hey are you Paul’? It was the guy who had taken 1st for the series, Dave Sullivan (dude is a serious blazer). I knew right away he was my type of people by the 22 oz Stone Ruination he was enjoying. We chatted for a while and traded war stories as I busted open my 22 oz Pizza Port Wipeout IPA. Man did that taste good!
So came in 2nd for the race, and 2nd for the series. If I had not passed up green and one other guy I would have came in 3rd for the series so that felt good. Thank goodness for huge ass hill climbs in hot weather? Great way to start the summer!!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190192176
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Morning Ride with Vince and Galen
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/10804554
The three of us met at Bldg 6 but Vince had forgotten his helmet. Galen thought he had a spare in his office, but I eventually ended up borrowing Adrian's since I knew he left his in his office (I guess I should tell him outside of this blog). Neither Galen nor I wanted Vince to go out at the pace we plan to hit helmet-free despite his willingness to do so. We look after our own.
I was feeling pretty good in the beginning of the ride (unusual, right?), so I was actually doing a fair share of the pulling early on. I think I led us all the way out to Bonita Canyon, which worked for me since it was a good warm-up pace to start out with. Once we crossed the street, the pace definitely picked up and the rotations began.
We all stayed together up and over the first rise and going up Shady on the bike trail, Galen cranked it up a notch after the last bridge where Vince wasn't up for it yet but was not too far behind. We were all together again on the downhill and at Quail Hill, and the rotations continued.
On the 133, I think I took the first pull after Galen had finished leading us out to it, and the 3 of us were working together and ended up going by another lone rider who jumped on our paceline. The 3 of continued to work together with the guy in tow as we made our way over the hill, but eventually he ended up joining the rotations but seemed to pass with some bad intentions. We all responded for a while, but after his last pass while I was up front toward the bottom, I ran out of steam. Galen and Vince went on with him, but fortunately for me, they waited for me just before getting on PCH.
From then on, it was mostly Vince and Galen doing the work, but I did get up front on occasion when I could. These guys were crushing it on several sections though, so I was struggling just to hang on. At the segment between McArthur and Jamboree, Galen dropped the hammer going for a PR and Vince and I hung on cheering him on at the end for a ridiculous pull.
On BB, you can tell we were pretty cooked, but me more than the other two. I did what I could to rotate up front and take some pulls, but fought just to latch on when the two would pass me. Toward the end, Galen had the last pull and I hung on to his wheel where I looked back and Vince seemed to have dropped off a little. As we hit the rise, though, Galen took off and I struggled to keep forward momentum where Vince passed me despite him cramping up midway up. Nice.
I had nothing left to keep up with the two after, so they went on ahead of me together to California while I casually made my way there on my own. Up California, I did end up leading the guys up to keep the pace honest, and Vince then Galen passed me near the top. By then, I was ready to have a fork stuck in me because I was surely done if not overcooked.
Fastest average on that loop so far, and I paid for it by trying to recover for several minutes in the gym after. Thanks for the great training, gents!
The three of us met at Bldg 6 but Vince had forgotten his helmet. Galen thought he had a spare in his office, but I eventually ended up borrowing Adrian's since I knew he left his in his office (I guess I should tell him outside of this blog). Neither Galen nor I wanted Vince to go out at the pace we plan to hit helmet-free despite his willingness to do so. We look after our own.
I was feeling pretty good in the beginning of the ride (unusual, right?), so I was actually doing a fair share of the pulling early on. I think I led us all the way out to Bonita Canyon, which worked for me since it was a good warm-up pace to start out with. Once we crossed the street, the pace definitely picked up and the rotations began.
We all stayed together up and over the first rise and going up Shady on the bike trail, Galen cranked it up a notch after the last bridge where Vince wasn't up for it yet but was not too far behind. We were all together again on the downhill and at Quail Hill, and the rotations continued.
On the 133, I think I took the first pull after Galen had finished leading us out to it, and the 3 of us were working together and ended up going by another lone rider who jumped on our paceline. The 3 of continued to work together with the guy in tow as we made our way over the hill, but eventually he ended up joining the rotations but seemed to pass with some bad intentions. We all responded for a while, but after his last pass while I was up front toward the bottom, I ran out of steam. Galen and Vince went on with him, but fortunately for me, they waited for me just before getting on PCH.
From then on, it was mostly Vince and Galen doing the work, but I did get up front on occasion when I could. These guys were crushing it on several sections though, so I was struggling just to hang on. At the segment between McArthur and Jamboree, Galen dropped the hammer going for a PR and Vince and I hung on cheering him on at the end for a ridiculous pull.
On BB, you can tell we were pretty cooked, but me more than the other two. I did what I could to rotate up front and take some pulls, but fought just to latch on when the two would pass me. Toward the end, Galen had the last pull and I hung on to his wheel where I looked back and Vince seemed to have dropped off a little. As we hit the rise, though, Galen took off and I struggled to keep forward momentum where Vince passed me despite him cramping up midway up. Nice.
I had nothing left to keep up with the two after, so they went on ahead of me together to California while I casually made my way there on my own. Up California, I did end up leading the guys up to keep the pace honest, and Vince then Galen passed me near the top. By then, I was ready to have a fork stuck in me because I was surely done if not overcooked.
Fastest average on that loop so far, and I paid for it by trying to recover for several minutes in the gym after. Thanks for the great training, gents!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Lunch Ride - Portola OAB + Jamboree
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/10673353
Attendees: Vince, Shannon, Adrian, Hiroshi, Jaffe and almost Mitchell ('amateur' mechanical before the start - bummer)
With all the hill training we've been doing leading up to last weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to get some fast flat training in for a change. The route was the dreaded Portola out and back, and I say dreaded because despite it's fairly low elevation gain for the ride, the sustained intensity seems to scare people away. With today's winds, that may have been the wiser choice to make.
For the most part, Shannon, Adrian, Vince and I rotated throughout the ride to keep the pace up while Jaffe and Hiroshi hung on for dear life. Going out was definitely tough as we made our way to Harvard, and I could barely hang on at some points. Have I mentioned I hate not warming up?
When we arrived at the light to cross Barranca onto Harvard, Hiroshi was just barely hanging on but Jaffe ended up cross the street to regroup with us where we were all together again. Once we took off, I think Shannon led first and kept us at a good pace, but as we approached one of the lights, Vince took the opportunity to play rabbit and break away. Once the light turned green, the chase was on.
I think Hiroshi and Jaffe even led the charge originally but I got up front to help close the gap once on the bike trail again. From here, the rotations came back to just Adrian, Vince, Shannon and me again. It was tough to hang on and everyone kept trying to catch their breath before jumping up front again to take a pull.
As we neared where the trail starts to pitch up heading to Portola, Vince turned it on and started to break away. I saw him go by me and knew his intentions, but I was fine with our pace. I slowly tried to close the gap on Vince as we climbed, but then Adrian came out of nowhere and was moving at a pretty good pace looking strong. I was certain he'd catch Vince but without any warning or signs, POP...not as in a tire but as in Adrian detonating again. HA HA. I got by him, but was just a few feet behind Vince as he reached the top.
I thought we may be regrouping, but Vince must have missed that memo and kept going. He did, however, do a rolling regroup where he soft pedaled until Shannon caught him with me just off the back Adrian came by though where I was able to jump on and we were able to latch on to the two guys ahead and start the rotations again.
At this point, the winds seemed to be real tough and everyone seemed to be getting as low as they can to keep the pace up while up front. We all kept pushing through the wind as we got back on Harvard, and still stayed together once we were back on the bike trail after Barranca.
The four of us were taking turns still as we were on the bike trail and Hiroshi ended up falling off early on. The winds were brutal and eventually also took its toll on Adrian also. We were struggling to keep a 21-22 mph average with just the 3 of us, but we rotated pretty well despite. Once we got beside University, I eventually jumped to the front and hoped to keep the pace up all the way to California. However, I was relieved by Shannon with Vince in tow some time after Mesa Road. I was thinking of hollering out that we should just go up California, but I didn't have enough lungs in my air to do so. HA HA
After we got past California, Vince got to the front and dropped the hammer reaching speeds in the 24-25 mph range where I just hung on for my life hoping he didn't expect me to jump ahead and keep this same pace. When we looked back, Shannon was no longer on so maybe we held him out too long on some of his pulls. It's hard to pass this guy when he gets up front, so....
The three of us regrouped at the light before the climb up Jamboree. Once we started climbing, Vince got up front but I slowly made my way to him and started to pass. He got behind me after and at some pointed made his way past me again where I jumped behind him. As his pace started to drop a little, we exchanged one last time and made it up to Bison together.
After regrouping on Bison, Shannon, Vince and I rode down back to BRCM without any shennanigans. They may have thought otherwise since I stood up to pedal the rest of the ride after going over the 73, but that was just to keep the average up and blow out the rest of what I had.
Great training today, gents! Glad it's over.
Attendees: Vince, Shannon, Adrian, Hiroshi, Jaffe and almost Mitchell ('amateur' mechanical before the start - bummer)
With all the hill training we've been doing leading up to last weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to get some fast flat training in for a change. The route was the dreaded Portola out and back, and I say dreaded because despite it's fairly low elevation gain for the ride, the sustained intensity seems to scare people away. With today's winds, that may have been the wiser choice to make.
For the most part, Shannon, Adrian, Vince and I rotated throughout the ride to keep the pace up while Jaffe and Hiroshi hung on for dear life. Going out was definitely tough as we made our way to Harvard, and I could barely hang on at some points. Have I mentioned I hate not warming up?
When we arrived at the light to cross Barranca onto Harvard, Hiroshi was just barely hanging on but Jaffe ended up cross the street to regroup with us where we were all together again. Once we took off, I think Shannon led first and kept us at a good pace, but as we approached one of the lights, Vince took the opportunity to play rabbit and break away. Once the light turned green, the chase was on.
I think Hiroshi and Jaffe even led the charge originally but I got up front to help close the gap once on the bike trail again. From here, the rotations came back to just Adrian, Vince, Shannon and me again. It was tough to hang on and everyone kept trying to catch their breath before jumping up front again to take a pull.
As we neared where the trail starts to pitch up heading to Portola, Vince turned it on and started to break away. I saw him go by me and knew his intentions, but I was fine with our pace. I slowly tried to close the gap on Vince as we climbed, but then Adrian came out of nowhere and was moving at a pretty good pace looking strong. I was certain he'd catch Vince but without any warning or signs, POP...not as in a tire but as in Adrian detonating again. HA HA. I got by him, but was just a few feet behind Vince as he reached the top.
I thought we may be regrouping, but Vince must have missed that memo and kept going. He did, however, do a rolling regroup where he soft pedaled until Shannon caught him with me just off the back Adrian came by though where I was able to jump on and we were able to latch on to the two guys ahead and start the rotations again.
At this point, the winds seemed to be real tough and everyone seemed to be getting as low as they can to keep the pace up while up front. We all kept pushing through the wind as we got back on Harvard, and still stayed together once we were back on the bike trail after Barranca.
The four of us were taking turns still as we were on the bike trail and Hiroshi ended up falling off early on. The winds were brutal and eventually also took its toll on Adrian also. We were struggling to keep a 21-22 mph average with just the 3 of us, but we rotated pretty well despite. Once we got beside University, I eventually jumped to the front and hoped to keep the pace up all the way to California. However, I was relieved by Shannon with Vince in tow some time after Mesa Road. I was thinking of hollering out that we should just go up California, but I didn't have enough lungs in my air to do so. HA HA
After we got past California, Vince got to the front and dropped the hammer reaching speeds in the 24-25 mph range where I just hung on for my life hoping he didn't expect me to jump ahead and keep this same pace. When we looked back, Shannon was no longer on so maybe we held him out too long on some of his pulls. It's hard to pass this guy when he gets up front, so....
The three of us regrouped at the light before the climb up Jamboree. Once we started climbing, Vince got up front but I slowly made my way to him and started to pass. He got behind me after and at some pointed made his way past me again where I jumped behind him. As his pace started to drop a little, we exchanged one last time and made it up to Bison together.
After regrouping on Bison, Shannon, Vince and I rode down back to BRCM without any shennanigans. They may have thought otherwise since I stood up to pedal the rest of the ride after going over the 73, but that was just to keep the average up and blow out the rest of what I had.
Great training today, gents! Glad it's over.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
2012 Ride Around the Bear
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/10531427
Attendees: Noah, Shannon, Galen, Todd, Jeremy and me
This is my 3rd time doing this ride, and it was nice to know that a few of our team members were coming out too. This was Galen and Jeremy's maiden voyage, but they climbed exceptionally despite this. More on this later.
Now before this ride, everyone was trying to establish how we, as a team, were going to do this ride. What we decided was to stop as little as possible and just get through the ride and be done with it. I thought we'd at least start together, take it easy, and then start attacking the hill once we got on the 330. However, once everyone got their bar code scanned at the start, they were off and running. Noah and I were the last ones to get scanned, and by the time we got to the stop sign to make the first left of the ride, the other guys were already off and away. Had it not been for a light that they got caught on, I don't think I'd ever have seen them on this ride. They were flying!
I'm a slow starter and have a hard time warming up, but I did my best to stay in the line for as long as possible. However, after a few miles of keeping the pace already working up a sweat even before we got to the climb (Noah confirming that they were pushing watts upwards of 340), I decided I wasn't having any of it. I waved Noah on who bravely proceeded to ride with the guys thinking that they're probably going lighten up at some point, but even to his amazement, they kept pushing even after starting on the 330. In the end, I'm not too sure who ended up riding together but from what I could gather, everyone was mostly on their own for the length of the ride.
I decided to SAG at Snow Valley and skip the first one since I only had one full water bottle full of electrolyte. I saw Pam there who confirmed that the others were between 5-15 minutes ahead of me in separate groups. As was the plan, I just filled the bottle and rolled out shortly after.
I made it to the SAG at the Lake and kept a pretty good pace sticking to my plan where I refilled again, and was off. I don't know how far the guys were ahead of me at that point, but I wasn't there that long either. I rolled on and about there was where I started to feel lonely because there was hardly anyone up there to ride with. I just went into TT mode at that point and decided all I wanted to do was get to the top of Onyx.
When I started up, I thought I'd just save my legs and not blow them up because I didn't want to stop very long at the top either. I spun up and was 6 minutes slower than last year, but my legs were not the worse for wear at the top. I just filled up my bottle, turned on my GoPro (footage to follow later), and I was off.
Going down the other side was fun, and I got to ride down the first part with someone I know from Strava (Scott) through a mutual friend. I didn't know it at the time, but I did recognize the jersey. We were separated at the climb, and I was on my own again.
I did eventually see a familiar black jersey ahead of me...it was Noah! I took the opportunity to actually be able to ride with someone at that point and do a little filming of him as well. When he went to take a bio break or fill up at the SAG, I went on my own and was pretty much all alone for the rest of the way back. I passed a couple guys on the way down, but no one willing to jump on and work with me.
At the finish, the other guys were already there drinking a beer at Shannon's truck where all I wanted was a Coke. Of course, Todd and Shannon come through for me and got me one. Jeremy had even gotten there ahead of me, so that was awesome for his first official century! Good job. The other guys crushed it as well finishing at least a half hour before me but spoke of mostly how they were mostly on their own as well. Considering I was actually back more than 30 minutes earlier than the prior years, it was a solid day of riding for sure.
Now it's always about the post ride festivities when it comes to these rides, but Noah in all his wisdom asked on the way home, "Why do we have to ride only to have beers together after when we're pretty much alone on the rides anyway?" This point stuck with me and reminded me of the times when we actually used to ride together for the length of the ride. We're going to have to get back to this mode at some point since it's weird to call it team rides when we're all just doing our own thing. We'll have to have more discussions about this offline I suppose.
Thanks to Pam for coming out and supporting the team and bringing some snacks after. We did end up getting food after a couple drinks, but the burger I had on my bun dropped where I went to retrieve another one. I didn't realize Noah would pick it up and make himself a double double. Here's proof:
Attendees: Noah, Shannon, Galen, Todd, Jeremy and me
This is my 3rd time doing this ride, and it was nice to know that a few of our team members were coming out too. This was Galen and Jeremy's maiden voyage, but they climbed exceptionally despite this. More on this later.
Now before this ride, everyone was trying to establish how we, as a team, were going to do this ride. What we decided was to stop as little as possible and just get through the ride and be done with it. I thought we'd at least start together, take it easy, and then start attacking the hill once we got on the 330. However, once everyone got their bar code scanned at the start, they were off and running. Noah and I were the last ones to get scanned, and by the time we got to the stop sign to make the first left of the ride, the other guys were already off and away. Had it not been for a light that they got caught on, I don't think I'd ever have seen them on this ride. They were flying!
I'm a slow starter and have a hard time warming up, but I did my best to stay in the line for as long as possible. However, after a few miles of keeping the pace already working up a sweat even before we got to the climb (Noah confirming that they were pushing watts upwards of 340), I decided I wasn't having any of it. I waved Noah on who bravely proceeded to ride with the guys thinking that they're probably going lighten up at some point, but even to his amazement, they kept pushing even after starting on the 330. In the end, I'm not too sure who ended up riding together but from what I could gather, everyone was mostly on their own for the length of the ride.
I decided to SAG at Snow Valley and skip the first one since I only had one full water bottle full of electrolyte. I saw Pam there who confirmed that the others were between 5-15 minutes ahead of me in separate groups. As was the plan, I just filled the bottle and rolled out shortly after.
I made it to the SAG at the Lake and kept a pretty good pace sticking to my plan where I refilled again, and was off. I don't know how far the guys were ahead of me at that point, but I wasn't there that long either. I rolled on and about there was where I started to feel lonely because there was hardly anyone up there to ride with. I just went into TT mode at that point and decided all I wanted to do was get to the top of Onyx.
When I started up, I thought I'd just save my legs and not blow them up because I didn't want to stop very long at the top either. I spun up and was 6 minutes slower than last year, but my legs were not the worse for wear at the top. I just filled up my bottle, turned on my GoPro (footage to follow later), and I was off.
Going down the other side was fun, and I got to ride down the first part with someone I know from Strava (Scott) through a mutual friend. I didn't know it at the time, but I did recognize the jersey. We were separated at the climb, and I was on my own again.
I did eventually see a familiar black jersey ahead of me...it was Noah! I took the opportunity to actually be able to ride with someone at that point and do a little filming of him as well. When he went to take a bio break or fill up at the SAG, I went on my own and was pretty much all alone for the rest of the way back. I passed a couple guys on the way down, but no one willing to jump on and work with me.
At the finish, the other guys were already there drinking a beer at Shannon's truck where all I wanted was a Coke. Of course, Todd and Shannon come through for me and got me one. Jeremy had even gotten there ahead of me, so that was awesome for his first official century! Good job. The other guys crushed it as well finishing at least a half hour before me but spoke of mostly how they were mostly on their own as well. Considering I was actually back more than 30 minutes earlier than the prior years, it was a solid day of riding for sure.
Now it's always about the post ride festivities when it comes to these rides, but Noah in all his wisdom asked on the way home, "Why do we have to ride only to have beers together after when we're pretty much alone on the rides anyway?" This point stuck with me and reminded me of the times when we actually used to ride together for the length of the ride. We're going to have to get back to this mode at some point since it's weird to call it team rides when we're all just doing our own thing. We'll have to have more discussions about this offline I suppose.
Thanks to Pam for coming out and supporting the team and bringing some snacks after. We did end up getting food after a couple drinks, but the burger I had on my bun dropped where I went to retrieve another one. I didn't realize Noah would pick it up and make himself a double double. Here's proof:
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Team Morning Ride - Shady 133 PCH NPC Jamboree Loop
Strava:
http://app.strava.com/rides/10217791
For this morning's ride, it was Jeremy, Gary and me where Jeremy joked as we started that no one had anything to prove since Galen (who was in the gym) wasn't coming with us. Yet, that didn't change the agenda of the ride one bit. With a moderate pace in the beginning (yet still taxing for some reason), the pace started to pick up once we crossed Bonita Canyon heading toward Shady. The three of us actually worked pretty well together and were taking turns up front accordingly.
After the 2nd bridge on Shady, however, Jeremy picked it up a little and gapped where I thought it was a good time to bring up the ol' heart rate to a respectable level and chase him down. I was able to crest ahead of him at the top, but he was on me like white on rice.
We were all together again as we were on Quail Hill and Gary was pushing the pace again as we headed on it. Actually, both he and Jeremy kept doing so all the way up the 133 and down the other side. Gary would get up front on some of the inclines and just start killing it where I could not even really latch on to his wheel. Nice power, Gary!
After some rotations and with Gary being the last up front as we headed toward Laguna Beach, I decided to kick it up a notch and sprint up the hill that leads to PCH. That snapped both of the guys off, but Jeremy made his way back up to me and we kept going on PCH sans Gary.
Jeremy was leading on PCH for a while as I recovered from my sprint, but I took the front just as we were coming across two other guys who were climbing up one of the rollers ahead of us. I did gap Jeremy at this point, but he was in non-drop mode and again made his way back to me. Even more impressive was that he was also pulling up to the front and even at times surging ahead of me where it seemed he had intentions of dropping me. Nice!
When we got to NPC, Jeremy was ahead and had gotten a pretty good gap on me as I was trying to find a good tempo to climb up it off the seat. I think I only made it half way up off the seat, but I was barely able to make any ground on Jeremy. I sat my fat ass down finally and started spinning up where it took almost to the 2nd Pelican to finally make my way past Jeremy. I gapped him as I made it to the top but it wasn't long again before he was back on my wheel and we were heading down NPC together.
While we were at the bottom waiting at the light to go to Bonita Canyon, we saw that Gary wasn't too far behind us. As the light turned green, he had just gotten to the intersection so we were all together once again. I led the initial pull on here but without fail, Gary once again was charging up the first rise after the 73 underpass requiring a sprint just to get on his wheel.
We opted to go on Jamboree to blow it out hoping to get a decent run with Gary offering a lead out, but a car pretty much was parked on the corner of Jamboree and Ford where we had almost no momentum once we started up the hill. This didn't stop Gary from standing up and just going for it, so I figured I'd do the same. Man, Gary was hard to reel in almost taking the whole hill before being able to get up to him and ultimately pass him. It was cool to here him let out a big sigh as he popped after trying to keep up beside me. :)
We were still in BAM mode at the light on McArthur, so Gary sprinted away at the light and I chased after him but he was moving at a pretty good clip. I was glad he got caught at the first light on the 73, and as I passed before the 2nd light, I was wondering if he or Jeremy were still up for a sprint. I tested it out and started to sprint away only to look behind me and see that they weren't following. Good. I was cooked.
Great training ride, gents! Strong showing by both Jeremy and Gary for sure.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Lunch Ride - Zoom Zoom BAM style
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/10168743
Attendees: Shannon, Vince, Todd, Galen, Adrian (partial), Eddie, Seon, Vin, Mitchell, Hiroshi, Gary, Marc and Jeremy
Looking at the attendees list, do I really need to blog how difficult today's ride was? And yes, that is Eddie's name on there and not a typo. Welcome back, bud.
It was a windy ride today but you would never think it from some of the speeds and average speeds attained by some of the guys. My strategy was to be humble and suck as much wheel as possible and hopefully, I would be able to finish with the guys. When Shannon and Gary turned it on just after having to stop on E. Peltason one-by-one courtesy of the Irvine PD arriving at the intersection at exactly the same time, it was chase mode early on.
I was hoping to find some relief on Anteater, but by the time I started getting passed, I had blown my first among the multiple wads I would blow on this ride. It was fortunate that we were all able to regroup at the left turn to NPC. Once we started to go, I was hoping to moderate my pace for the climb when just about everyone (except Seon, Eddie and me) started charging up the hill. The three of us were slowed at the first light as a result, so it was catch up mode from there.
Seon started climbing ahead of me, but I eventually found my way past him. I saw that the pace held up front started to blow guys up, so I was able to pick up Jaffe before the 73 and we got by Vin shortly after.
When we got to the top, we ended up catching those ahead of us at the light on Vista. It was a good sized group, so I thought I could sit and rest in the back while we crested and started dropping down the other side. However, this plan failed as those up front started turning it up early on and even more so on the descent. I can't remember the last time I dropped off on a descent, but that's exactly what happened.
At the bottom, I didn't end up being too far back but Jaffe and I still managed to get a little held up on our U-turn. As we started to ascend, Jaffe started to charge up and left me behind trying to get an off the seat pace going. That lasted only until the first Pelican, but sitting and spinning did eventually help me pass Gary (albeit contested) and then Jaffe, who was able to latch back on. Now I led for a while and started working to close on others when I dropped into the small ring having Jaffe burst ahead of me. It took some time to reel him back in again, but sometime shortly after, Gary was back holding a good pace and passing me while I fought desperately to latch on.
We caught the 2nd Pelican light, and this allowed me to jump ahead and work with Gary for the last of the climb and to catch up to all those ahead of us on the Park Ridge light. Thank God for that. Now I desperately needed some recovery time, so as we got on San Joaquin and the Horseshoe after, I was going to try and suck as much wheel as possible. I was already off the back of the front group heading into it, but Shannon helped closed that gap. When Shannon was falling a little off, I tried to get around and close the gap but Shannon started powering it up again so I again jumped behind him. However, I did pull ahead and got behind Todd as he and Vince were encouraging Galen to keep pulling us for the rest of the loop. Galen started to slow to let others pass, but Vince and Todd thought it was time to tire Galen a little to make the ride a little less manic. I thought about helping, but I agreed with them. HA HA. Looking at the times, we probably could have sprinted the last section when Galen slowed and taken down the KOM again, but why...I'm the current KOM holder. Hello?
As we rounded San Joaquin, Vince then Todd started us up, but i decided I finally better start helping so I jumped ahead followed by Jeremy who was getting ready to get in front to help pull. Since he didn't know the route, however, he let me stay up front until Vince could jump ahead to lead us to Spyglass.
On Spyglass, I thought I needed to redeem myself a little from all the abuse handed to me early on, so after rounding behind Vince, I started to sprint up the hill. Vince was beside me for a while, but I ended up breaking away and did make it to the to top ahead of the others...for all of about 2 seconds anyway or less. Todd crested just behind me and charged past me on the downhill (probably pissed at my antics in a competitive way), so I latched on hoping we could breakaway at the light to head back to San Joaquin. It didn't happen, so everyone including Adrian was there at the light with us. Oh great, Adrian's here now too and the route is mostly flat from there on.
We all got on San Miguel together, and there was no slowing down this group. Hirsohi and Jaffe were in front of me, but I had to get around them to close the gap that was forming from the pace up front. After rounding San Joaquin, we all got caught on the light at McArthur. I thought this was a good time to take a swig of water, and as Vince didn't have any, I also gave him some of mine...and then the light turned green. Damn.
We were just a little off the back starting off, but Vince waited and we were going to work to reattach to the guys ahead, but we got caught on another light. Yes! When we got going, Todd I believe led us out but I jumped to the front to offer one of my few pulls. Now as we approached Jamboree, we did decide it may be best to slow down for Back Bay just to make sure we didn't round the corner to it only to hit a closed gate...something we'll always remember to be watchful for.
As we approached and saw that the gate was open, Jeremy started us off and gapped a little while Galen looked back to see who was latched on. Adrian was just ahead of him and he closed the gap on Jeremy as did Galen did once everyone was latched on. Adrian relieved Jeremy bringing the pace up even more, and then Galen took the front and amped it up even more. Since his pace wasn't slowing, I was not going to attempt to pass him until it did or unless he rolled out. When he did finally slow, I asked him to roll out just so we can keep the pace up and it was my turn. I was feeling okay so I held the front for a bit, but this was where I probably could have exercised a little more humility and roll out sooner. When I did start to get passed, I wasn't sure I'd be able to latch on but the line was long, so I was just able to just ahead of Jaffe (I believe) who let me in ahead of him.
The guys pushing the front were definitely keeping the pace up, so when Vince and Shannon rolled off, I was still struggling to hold on, so I let them get back in ahead of me. Weak, I know, but I was in survival mode. When we got to the rise just before Eastbluff, the group splintered pretty good here and at that point only Todd, Vince, Shannon and Galen were ahead of me.
I was about to give chase just to try and latch on, but I opted for the steady pace instead watching the 4 guys ahead of me pull away. I was only able to roll up to them at the light to cross Univversity to California, but surprisingly, several others rolled up just behind me. Yowza.
I was expecting more of the same going up California, but only Todd started to break away on the climb. I decided to latch onto him and we broke away together. Now I tried to pass and offer some wind protection, but Todd only picked up his pace as I attempted to pass (this seems to happen more and more in this group), so when I realized I couldn't pass, back on his rear wheel I went. Just as we were going on the last little increase in grade before the light, I got around Todd to get rid of any remaining energy I had left...which wasn't a lot.
High octane training ride today for sure. Congrats to Vince who ended up taking the KOM for the San Joaquin to Eastbluff segment after uploading his data last. Plenty of PRs received on this ride as well. I can't ask for more. Thanks, gents!
Attendees: Shannon, Vince, Todd, Galen, Adrian (partial), Eddie, Seon, Vin, Mitchell, Hiroshi, Gary, Marc and Jeremy
Looking at the attendees list, do I really need to blog how difficult today's ride was? And yes, that is Eddie's name on there and not a typo. Welcome back, bud.
It was a windy ride today but you would never think it from some of the speeds and average speeds attained by some of the guys. My strategy was to be humble and suck as much wheel as possible and hopefully, I would be able to finish with the guys. When Shannon and Gary turned it on just after having to stop on E. Peltason one-by-one courtesy of the Irvine PD arriving at the intersection at exactly the same time, it was chase mode early on.
I was hoping to find some relief on Anteater, but by the time I started getting passed, I had blown my first among the multiple wads I would blow on this ride. It was fortunate that we were all able to regroup at the left turn to NPC. Once we started to go, I was hoping to moderate my pace for the climb when just about everyone (except Seon, Eddie and me) started charging up the hill. The three of us were slowed at the first light as a result, so it was catch up mode from there.
Seon started climbing ahead of me, but I eventually found my way past him. I saw that the pace held up front started to blow guys up, so I was able to pick up Jaffe before the 73 and we got by Vin shortly after.
When we got to the top, we ended up catching those ahead of us at the light on Vista. It was a good sized group, so I thought I could sit and rest in the back while we crested and started dropping down the other side. However, this plan failed as those up front started turning it up early on and even more so on the descent. I can't remember the last time I dropped off on a descent, but that's exactly what happened.
At the bottom, I didn't end up being too far back but Jaffe and I still managed to get a little held up on our U-turn. As we started to ascend, Jaffe started to charge up and left me behind trying to get an off the seat pace going. That lasted only until the first Pelican, but sitting and spinning did eventually help me pass Gary (albeit contested) and then Jaffe, who was able to latch back on. Now I led for a while and started working to close on others when I dropped into the small ring having Jaffe burst ahead of me. It took some time to reel him back in again, but sometime shortly after, Gary was back holding a good pace and passing me while I fought desperately to latch on.
We caught the 2nd Pelican light, and this allowed me to jump ahead and work with Gary for the last of the climb and to catch up to all those ahead of us on the Park Ridge light. Thank God for that. Now I desperately needed some recovery time, so as we got on San Joaquin and the Horseshoe after, I was going to try and suck as much wheel as possible. I was already off the back of the front group heading into it, but Shannon helped closed that gap. When Shannon was falling a little off, I tried to get around and close the gap but Shannon started powering it up again so I again jumped behind him. However, I did pull ahead and got behind Todd as he and Vince were encouraging Galen to keep pulling us for the rest of the loop. Galen started to slow to let others pass, but Vince and Todd thought it was time to tire Galen a little to make the ride a little less manic. I thought about helping, but I agreed with them. HA HA. Looking at the times, we probably could have sprinted the last section when Galen slowed and taken down the KOM again, but why...I'm the current KOM holder. Hello?
As we rounded San Joaquin, Vince then Todd started us up, but i decided I finally better start helping so I jumped ahead followed by Jeremy who was getting ready to get in front to help pull. Since he didn't know the route, however, he let me stay up front until Vince could jump ahead to lead us to Spyglass.
On Spyglass, I thought I needed to redeem myself a little from all the abuse handed to me early on, so after rounding behind Vince, I started to sprint up the hill. Vince was beside me for a while, but I ended up breaking away and did make it to the to top ahead of the others...for all of about 2 seconds anyway or less. Todd crested just behind me and charged past me on the downhill (probably pissed at my antics in a competitive way), so I latched on hoping we could breakaway at the light to head back to San Joaquin. It didn't happen, so everyone including Adrian was there at the light with us. Oh great, Adrian's here now too and the route is mostly flat from there on.
We all got on San Miguel together, and there was no slowing down this group. Hirsohi and Jaffe were in front of me, but I had to get around them to close the gap that was forming from the pace up front. After rounding San Joaquin, we all got caught on the light at McArthur. I thought this was a good time to take a swig of water, and as Vince didn't have any, I also gave him some of mine...and then the light turned green. Damn.
We were just a little off the back starting off, but Vince waited and we were going to work to reattach to the guys ahead, but we got caught on another light. Yes! When we got going, Todd I believe led us out but I jumped to the front to offer one of my few pulls. Now as we approached Jamboree, we did decide it may be best to slow down for Back Bay just to make sure we didn't round the corner to it only to hit a closed gate...something we'll always remember to be watchful for.
As we approached and saw that the gate was open, Jeremy started us off and gapped a little while Galen looked back to see who was latched on. Adrian was just ahead of him and he closed the gap on Jeremy as did Galen did once everyone was latched on. Adrian relieved Jeremy bringing the pace up even more, and then Galen took the front and amped it up even more. Since his pace wasn't slowing, I was not going to attempt to pass him until it did or unless he rolled out. When he did finally slow, I asked him to roll out just so we can keep the pace up and it was my turn. I was feeling okay so I held the front for a bit, but this was where I probably could have exercised a little more humility and roll out sooner. When I did start to get passed, I wasn't sure I'd be able to latch on but the line was long, so I was just able to just ahead of Jaffe (I believe) who let me in ahead of him.
The guys pushing the front were definitely keeping the pace up, so when Vince and Shannon rolled off, I was still struggling to hold on, so I let them get back in ahead of me. Weak, I know, but I was in survival mode. When we got to the rise just before Eastbluff, the group splintered pretty good here and at that point only Todd, Vince, Shannon and Galen were ahead of me.
I was about to give chase just to try and latch on, but I opted for the steady pace instead watching the 4 guys ahead of me pull away. I was only able to roll up to them at the light to cross Univversity to California, but surprisingly, several others rolled up just behind me. Yowza.
I was expecting more of the same going up California, but only Todd started to break away on the climb. I decided to latch onto him and we broke away together. Now I tried to pass and offer some wind protection, but Todd only picked up his pace as I attempted to pass (this seems to happen more and more in this group), so when I realized I couldn't pass, back on his rear wheel I went. Just as we were going on the last little increase in grade before the light, I got around Todd to get rid of any remaining energy I had left...which wasn't a lot.
High octane training ride today for sure. Congrats to Vince who ended up taking the KOM for the San Joaquin to Eastbluff segment after uploading his data last. Plenty of PRs received on this ride as well. I can't ask for more. Thanks, gents!
Monday, June 4, 2012
PV's Big Bear 50 Race Report
Big Bear......Bike Racing.
What comes to my mind first is lung busting climbs at altitude, tough (Chuck Norris tough) competition, and trying to close gaps on endless fire road climbs……only to get bitch slapped instead.
So with this in mind it was time to start the race. There was a neutral rollout for the first couple miles (it didn’t seem all that neutral after ½ mile), then it was on. The lead group shot out of sight pretty quickly at a ridiculous pace. With the 50 mile format you start with the pro’s and you can see how insanely strong they are (for the short amount of time it takes before you get dropped :). Super impressive to say the least!
I settled in for the long haul, content to watch my HR and keep it reasonable. I was still passing people though and felt really good. The altitude did seem to get to me this time, not sure if it was the reduced pace but I was not complaining.
I was hitting my time targets and staying on top of my hydration and fuel plan. The course seemed easier than I remembered. I was relieved at the top of the last big climb because it went by quickly and didn’t seem to have as much of an impact on me as I thought it would. Nice! Shortly after that the first lap was over and I stopped to pick up my food drop I had stashed before the race.
Just then a couple people I had passed flew past me, not stopping for water or food. Crap! In retrospect I may have took too long refilling water bottles and grabbing food. It did feel good to stop though! I started off again trying to catch one guy I was pretty sure was in my class.
The 2nd lap started out feeling good but slowly got tougher as fatigue set in and the temperatures rose. I stuck in there and was happy to not be having cramps or stomach issues like I did at Sagebrush. Somewhere around the four hour mark I starting feeling bonked though. One guy made a slow pass (he was following me for an hour at least) and got past me on the singletrack climb. He broke away towards the top, I never did catch him or the guy who got past me at the water stop. I hate when that happens! :)
I stuck in there and made it to the finish, then back to the start for a cold one. It took a while for the results, but I came in 5th in my Cat. Today though I see 1st place has an impossible time so maybe actually 4th? For the series I am sitting at 2nd overall, with one more to go in two weeks. That race will be on big loop instead of two laps, and I know what the guy who got past me looks like. :)
OK, here some pic's, results and a short video.
so far, so good. (only problem is haven't gone so far! :)
the guy behind me is the guy who got past me at the water stop and ~3.5 minutes ahead of me in my cat (bastard! :)
short video of some of the ST towards the finish >>
strava posting of the ride >>
http://app.strava.com/rides/10055307
ps - shannon rode up with me and raced, this picture says it all >>
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Todd and Jeremy's Saturday Sisters Trainer
Hooked up with Jeremy at 6:30,
right on time. We cruised out through the canyon and did Modjeska
grade. It was a nice warm up. Unfortunately J got a flat right before
dump hill. He fixed it and we were back on the road. We went down
jamboree to the
Portola bike path. Jeremy starting pushing the pace and I had to give
him the same advice that I gave Galen. If you are feeling good then
save it. There is a lot more work to be done. We ended up stopping at
Newport Dunes to hit the head. We hooked up
with a pretty cool Sho Air guy who wanted a tow to NPC. Once we got
through CDM, we had a straight shot to Laguna. J was game for the wall
on 3rd st. And hammered up it strong. No problem for him. We then went
up Park and he was strong the whole way. Basically
he was on my wheel until half way up. Even then, he was strong to the
top. We got water at the park and then headed down. Thalia was a long
biyotch but J was not too far behind. Once again another strong climb.
Then came the steeps, Bluebird And Neyes.
Bluebird took its toll, but once again J was game. I ended up doing
the extra credit at the top and met J at the top at the intersection.
He had to rub out some cramps and then we descended. J made it up
Neyes and we met at the top for water. It was a
tough one. We headed to PI, but J decided to head home. I finished off
the sisters and added Vista Del Lago for some extra work. After VDL, I
was done. 86mi and 8k+ of climbing. Tough day and thanks to J for
coming out and putting out that effort.
Team Hill Trainer
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/10024688
It seems like it was a good weekend of cycling for Team BRCM. Our ride was no different with both Mitchell and Vince joining Gary and I for a hilly training route. It's been several months since I've ridden with both Vince or Mitchell over the weekend, so it was a pleasant surprise for sure. On top of this, Gary seemed like he was on his A game today unlike last week.
We started out at the BJ's parking lot where I arrived with Gary getting ready, Mitchell having ridden from home sitting waiting ready to go, and Vince arriving at the same time as I did. It didn't take too long until we were all mounted and ready to go. I thought Gary had forgotten a bottle since he only had one on his bike, but that was intentional as he planned on getting water during the ride. The things we do for advantages on the hills. HA HA.
When we started off, we kept a pretty mellow pace in the beginning...or so I thought. I was trying to spin up in the beginning but ended up spinning ahead from the others early on. Once I realized this, I backed it down a little until the guys rolled up on me. Gary started trading pulls with me as we worked toward Portola. Once on the incline, I got up front and Gary called out "gap" once I started to get ahead of the others. I gladly adjusted my pace since I was not wanting to race up the hill as much as set up a tempo that I thought would be good to follow. Gary, however, had other ideas and was pushing up and trading pulls all the way up to the top.
It was pretty much the same thing going up Chapman, but all four of us stayed together regardless. It was only when we went up Cannon that we got a little strung out. I was still trying to find a good pace to climb up keeping in mind we have a lot of climbing left for the day, but Gary launched an attack after the last stop sign where his efforts made top 10 on that Strava segment. Nice! Vince, Mitchell and I were a little behind by the crest, but Vince had a good downhill and was able to get by Gary and arrive at the light first.
We all were together as we started up the other Cannon, but I found a good rhythm and pace this time and pulled away from the other guys. I did get caught a light though, and the guys went by me as I latched on to try and re-establish my pace. I was with them as we went by the fire station 3/4 of the way up, but as I started to accelerate toward the top, I realized my front wheel was bouncing off the stem. Yup...a flat.
As I fumbled to replace my inner tube, Vince opted to get a little head start making his way to Nohl Ranch ahead of us. The three of us finished up the climb and dropped down for a 50+ mph rush down the other side. We were together as we got on Nohl, but Gary dropped back a little while Mitchell and I pressed on. As far as Gary dropping back, I think it was more of him managing his pace for a charge up the hill more than anything else since he definitely still had a lot in the tank.
Mitchell and I came up on Vince who was pulled over and possibly taking a bio break on the side of the road. Vince joined us and the three of us hit the steep part of the climb together. I started to pull away from the other guys with my higher cadence offered by my compact crank, and although I thought I had a pretty good gap, I did see Vince over my shoulders making his way up to me near the top. I opted to spin it up more at that point getting to the top first, but Vince was just behind me and started us off going down Serrano. We were both trading pulls down the hill, and I thought maybe we should slow down a bit and wait for Gary and Mitchell. Looking over my shoulder as we neared Cannon, however, I saw that they were not too far behind us. By the time we were at the light, the 4 of us were all together again.
We all made our way down to E. Santiago and Gary and I started trading pulls again on there. At one point, however, I thought it was my turn to take the front but Gary wasn't having any of my passing on the hill to take the pull. He starts sprinting up beside me, so I relegated myself back to being on his wheel. I heard Vince and Mitchell chuckling behind me at our antics, and rightfully so. Aha. I was finally "permitted" to pass Gary once it got flatter and we made our way to Santiago Canyon.
Once on it, Gary had suggested we stand all the way up to the top of Dump Hill again, so he and I did just that. Gary was again pushing the pace standing up and had actually broken away for a bit ahead of us 3 at one of the lights. Vince and Mitchell were able to spin up and reel him in while I was maintaining the standing climb but at a pace where I felt I would still have something for the canyons. I did get caught at one more light letting them gap me that much more, but I met up to an awaiting Mitchell and Gary at the top who had slowed to let me catch up to them. Good job on the climb, Gary! Vince took the opportunity having reached the top first to break away and play rabbit, so the chase was on.
The three of us made our way down together on the other side, but Gary eventually was off the back leaving Mitchell and I together. Mitchell was taking turns on the canyon with me even taking the final pull just before Silverado. We did see Vince ahead of us in the canyon, but once on Silverado, Vince was no where to be seen near the base of the road.
On Silverado, Mitchell decided to stay on my wheel and match my pace as we made our way up. I was feeling pretty good, so I kept a decent pace alternating from standing and seated climbing. Mitchell was a trooper and stayed with me for probably 3-4 miles up. Once we got to the steeper sections, I did start to break away. He reeled me in the first time I did, but after a few more steep sections, he had fallen off.
At one point, I was finally able to see Vince again and was slowly making my way up to him. On the last steep climb just before the final run to the end, he was just ahead of me, so when I crested that section I thought I'd see him, but he had taken off to the top and had turned around and started heading down without taking a break. I know Vince is a mad downhiller, so I hit the end and did the same thing.
On my way down, I saw that Mitchell was actually not too far behind and more impressively, Gary was also not too far behind Mitchell. I still went ahead and kept descending though to keep the training up. I was going at a pretty good clip on the way down and had passed a couple guys. I thought that was the end of them, but one of them had decided to pass me at one point. Nice...someone to mix it up with. I stayed with him for a while to watch to see if he was fast and actually wondered how he caught me given that he seemed to check up some on the turns. After staying with him for a while, I decided it was time and passed him hoping he'd latch on and keep mixing it up with me to keep the pace up. However, looking back after a bit I noticed he had fallen off. BAM!
I finally saw Vince near the bottom and the last few descents and very slowly made my way toward him. By the time we got back onto the canyon we were together as we crossed the street. Vince, however, was still in his TT mode and had gotten a little ahead of me where I had two choices: try and sprint up to latch on and hope to not blow up doing so or go into TT mode also and just try to keep up. I opted for the latter since I figured it was my best bet. Vince was holding a great pace and he would pull away a little at some points but I would close the gap a little at others. Our average pace to Modjeska was probably pretty similar despite the fact that we worked it on our own.
On Modeska, I had fallen back a little taking a drink and opting for a gel. Soon after, I picked it up and started to close the gap as we approached the grade. I was probably about 10-20 feet behind Vince as we started the climb, but once I dropped into my small chainring, I dropped my chain. Bummer! How does that happen with a chain catch?!? Better today than Bear, I guess. Back to the shop it'll go.
Once I got my chain fixed, I started to make my way up. I could see Vince ahead of me, but I was nowhere near enough to be able to reach him by the crest. When I did reach the top, I could Vince jamming down the hill, so I kept going. When I was close to Santiago Canyon, I could see Vince across the street already making his way down.
I was thinking I'd be chasing him all the way through the rest of the ride, but gladly I saw him waiting at the base of Live Oak. Since Vince hadn't been out on a long ride for awhile, he opted to not want to push too hard for his first long outing so that he'll actually want to come back out again...smart. Thus, he opted for the 58 mile route I had offered. I didn't see Mitchell and Gary coming up behind us, so I decided I'll just go ahead and TT the rest of the ride up Live Oak, down Santa Margarita and back through Trabuco/Irvine boulevard for a 67 miler for the day with over 5K of vert. Of course, my favorite part was Irvine Blvd and the occasional tail wind it had to offer.
At the parking lot, Vince's truck was gone but he game back after running a quick honey-do errand and Gary and Mitchell arrived shortly afterwards where they had a good ride also staying together the whole time. They ended up doing the full Monty as well.
Vince, Gary and I were starved so we took down some BJ's and some brew, which is something I was glad they could stay for. Nothing better to finish a good training ride with just the ride amount elevation and mileage.
Next, Big Bear or bust.
It seems like it was a good weekend of cycling for Team BRCM. Our ride was no different with both Mitchell and Vince joining Gary and I for a hilly training route. It's been several months since I've ridden with both Vince or Mitchell over the weekend, so it was a pleasant surprise for sure. On top of this, Gary seemed like he was on his A game today unlike last week.
We started out at the BJ's parking lot where I arrived with Gary getting ready, Mitchell having ridden from home sitting waiting ready to go, and Vince arriving at the same time as I did. It didn't take too long until we were all mounted and ready to go. I thought Gary had forgotten a bottle since he only had one on his bike, but that was intentional as he planned on getting water during the ride. The things we do for advantages on the hills. HA HA.
When we started off, we kept a pretty mellow pace in the beginning...or so I thought. I was trying to spin up in the beginning but ended up spinning ahead from the others early on. Once I realized this, I backed it down a little until the guys rolled up on me. Gary started trading pulls with me as we worked toward Portola. Once on the incline, I got up front and Gary called out "gap" once I started to get ahead of the others. I gladly adjusted my pace since I was not wanting to race up the hill as much as set up a tempo that I thought would be good to follow. Gary, however, had other ideas and was pushing up and trading pulls all the way up to the top.
It was pretty much the same thing going up Chapman, but all four of us stayed together regardless. It was only when we went up Cannon that we got a little strung out. I was still trying to find a good pace to climb up keeping in mind we have a lot of climbing left for the day, but Gary launched an attack after the last stop sign where his efforts made top 10 on that Strava segment. Nice! Vince, Mitchell and I were a little behind by the crest, but Vince had a good downhill and was able to get by Gary and arrive at the light first.
We all were together as we started up the other Cannon, but I found a good rhythm and pace this time and pulled away from the other guys. I did get caught a light though, and the guys went by me as I latched on to try and re-establish my pace. I was with them as we went by the fire station 3/4 of the way up, but as I started to accelerate toward the top, I realized my front wheel was bouncing off the stem. Yup...a flat.
As I fumbled to replace my inner tube, Vince opted to get a little head start making his way to Nohl Ranch ahead of us. The three of us finished up the climb and dropped down for a 50+ mph rush down the other side. We were together as we got on Nohl, but Gary dropped back a little while Mitchell and I pressed on. As far as Gary dropping back, I think it was more of him managing his pace for a charge up the hill more than anything else since he definitely still had a lot in the tank.
Mitchell and I came up on Vince who was pulled over and possibly taking a bio break on the side of the road. Vince joined us and the three of us hit the steep part of the climb together. I started to pull away from the other guys with my higher cadence offered by my compact crank, and although I thought I had a pretty good gap, I did see Vince over my shoulders making his way up to me near the top. I opted to spin it up more at that point getting to the top first, but Vince was just behind me and started us off going down Serrano. We were both trading pulls down the hill, and I thought maybe we should slow down a bit and wait for Gary and Mitchell. Looking over my shoulder as we neared Cannon, however, I saw that they were not too far behind us. By the time we were at the light, the 4 of us were all together again.
We all made our way down to E. Santiago and Gary and I started trading pulls again on there. At one point, however, I thought it was my turn to take the front but Gary wasn't having any of my passing on the hill to take the pull. He starts sprinting up beside me, so I relegated myself back to being on his wheel. I heard Vince and Mitchell chuckling behind me at our antics, and rightfully so. Aha. I was finally "permitted" to pass Gary once it got flatter and we made our way to Santiago Canyon.
Once on it, Gary had suggested we stand all the way up to the top of Dump Hill again, so he and I did just that. Gary was again pushing the pace standing up and had actually broken away for a bit ahead of us 3 at one of the lights. Vince and Mitchell were able to spin up and reel him in while I was maintaining the standing climb but at a pace where I felt I would still have something for the canyons. I did get caught at one more light letting them gap me that much more, but I met up to an awaiting Mitchell and Gary at the top who had slowed to let me catch up to them. Good job on the climb, Gary! Vince took the opportunity having reached the top first to break away and play rabbit, so the chase was on.
The three of us made our way down together on the other side, but Gary eventually was off the back leaving Mitchell and I together. Mitchell was taking turns on the canyon with me even taking the final pull just before Silverado. We did see Vince ahead of us in the canyon, but once on Silverado, Vince was no where to be seen near the base of the road.
On Silverado, Mitchell decided to stay on my wheel and match my pace as we made our way up. I was feeling pretty good, so I kept a decent pace alternating from standing and seated climbing. Mitchell was a trooper and stayed with me for probably 3-4 miles up. Once we got to the steeper sections, I did start to break away. He reeled me in the first time I did, but after a few more steep sections, he had fallen off.
At one point, I was finally able to see Vince again and was slowly making my way up to him. On the last steep climb just before the final run to the end, he was just ahead of me, so when I crested that section I thought I'd see him, but he had taken off to the top and had turned around and started heading down without taking a break. I know Vince is a mad downhiller, so I hit the end and did the same thing.
On my way down, I saw that Mitchell was actually not too far behind and more impressively, Gary was also not too far behind Mitchell. I still went ahead and kept descending though to keep the training up. I was going at a pretty good clip on the way down and had passed a couple guys. I thought that was the end of them, but one of them had decided to pass me at one point. Nice...someone to mix it up with. I stayed with him for a while to watch to see if he was fast and actually wondered how he caught me given that he seemed to check up some on the turns. After staying with him for a while, I decided it was time and passed him hoping he'd latch on and keep mixing it up with me to keep the pace up. However, looking back after a bit I noticed he had fallen off. BAM!
I finally saw Vince near the bottom and the last few descents and very slowly made my way toward him. By the time we got back onto the canyon we were together as we crossed the street. Vince, however, was still in his TT mode and had gotten a little ahead of me where I had two choices: try and sprint up to latch on and hope to not blow up doing so or go into TT mode also and just try to keep up. I opted for the latter since I figured it was my best bet. Vince was holding a great pace and he would pull away a little at some points but I would close the gap a little at others. Our average pace to Modjeska was probably pretty similar despite the fact that we worked it on our own.
On Modeska, I had fallen back a little taking a drink and opting for a gel. Soon after, I picked it up and started to close the gap as we approached the grade. I was probably about 10-20 feet behind Vince as we started the climb, but once I dropped into my small chainring, I dropped my chain. Bummer! How does that happen with a chain catch?!? Better today than Bear, I guess. Back to the shop it'll go.
Once I got my chain fixed, I started to make my way up. I could see Vince ahead of me, but I was nowhere near enough to be able to reach him by the crest. When I did reach the top, I could Vince jamming down the hill, so I kept going. When I was close to Santiago Canyon, I could see Vince across the street already making his way down.
I was thinking I'd be chasing him all the way through the rest of the ride, but gladly I saw him waiting at the base of Live Oak. Since Vince hadn't been out on a long ride for awhile, he opted to not want to push too hard for his first long outing so that he'll actually want to come back out again...smart. Thus, he opted for the 58 mile route I had offered. I didn't see Mitchell and Gary coming up behind us, so I decided I'll just go ahead and TT the rest of the ride up Live Oak, down Santa Margarita and back through Trabuco/Irvine boulevard for a 67 miler for the day with over 5K of vert. Of course, my favorite part was Irvine Blvd and the occasional tail wind it had to offer.
At the parking lot, Vince's truck was gone but he game back after running a quick honey-do errand and Gary and Mitchell arrived shortly afterwards where they had a good ride also staying together the whole time. They ended up doing the full Monty as well.
Vince, Gary and I were starved so we took down some BJ's and some brew, which is something I was glad they could stay for. Nothing better to finish a good training ride with just the ride amount elevation and mileage.
Next, Big Bear or bust.
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