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.