Irvine Hill Trainer with Shannon

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/12226314

I always expect a good workout when Shannon makes it out for a training ride, and today was no different.  I did look around the BJ’s parking lot to see if anyone else would join us to share the pain, but I guess the thought of doing a hilly ride with Shannon probably scared everyone else away.  Admittedly, I had reservations riding with a machine, but the guilt from the last two days of eating gave me no choice.  I just hoped he would get as good a workout as I would.

We started out with a nice warm up pace as we got on Jamboree headed toward Chapman, but the pace picked up once Shannon got up front.  We did see a couple guys round Jamboree from Portola ahead of us where I hoped they weren’t wanting to mix it up, and thankfully we passed them without incident. 

We climbed up Jamboree together and worked with one another (more him than me) to get over it pretty easily.  The next hill was on Chapman, and that was more of the same.  Together, we did get top 10 placement for that segment. 

On the Cannon of Chapman, Shannon had never done that hill before, so he stayed with me as we climbed up and over.  Once we got on the other Cannon across from E. Santiago, Shannon led and as expected, began to snap me off after the last intersection heading to the top.  I tried to hang, but thought oh man, if I do this now, what will I have left for the rest of the day?  I did end up stopping in the middle of the last incline pitched up thinking I had a flat, but after verifying both tires were good was back on my way.  By the time I hit the top though, Shannon was no longer in sight. 

I made my way down the other side and tried to keep a decent pace on Nohl so Shannon wouldn’t have to wait for me at the top so long.  I was able to see him ahead of me before the last climb where it pitched up where he was looking back and waiting (thanks!).  I got closer to him but he hit the hill where it was go time for him, so I did my best to just finish that hill so he wouldn’t wait too long.  I did see him stop just as I was able to see over the crest, so I’m glad I didn’t keep him waiting. 

We made our way down Serrano and through E. Santiago together, but as we started heading up the canyon, he started to pull away from me just after the overpass.  Man, he’s got some holding power.  He crested and was going down the other side of Dump hill way ahead of me, so when I crested I kept a decent pace on the other side and made my way to Shannon who again slowed for me so I can catch up. 

We did alternate pulls at this point, but once we got on Silverado, I took one pull on it and the rest was ALL him.  I figure I’d just hold his wheel for as long as he’d let me, and thankfully, he let me all the way up where I was able to get a PR for that hill!  He did almost break me off at the very last steep pitch, but thankfully the end was near and I was able to roll back on his wheel just before we hit it. 

When we took off from a break up there, we made our way down and the plan was to not go too crazy on the descent.  This allowed us to stay together and continue on Santiago trading pulls all the way to Modjeska.  When we got on Modjeska, I shamelessly sat on his wheel letting Shannon lead us to the grade.  I was able to get a PR up that hill as well from all the resting Shannon was providing to me. 

We made our way to Live Oak after and after running into Bubba midway up for a quick chat, we continued on and stayed together both up the rest  of the hill and up to the Shell station on Plano Trabuco for one last break. 

When we got going again, we were doing pretty good on Santa Margarita but hit a few lights that would break our momentum.  We made our way to El Toro staying together and decided to take the bike path for a little as we headed down toward Trabuco. 

Once we got back on the road, we saw a guy on a BMC and made our way up to him where we were wondering if he’d come with us and share the load.  However, that didn’t happen even after having rolled up on us at a couple of lights on Trabuco.  We had a good pace between the both of us, so understandably he didn’t want any of it. 

On Irvine Boulevard, it felt pretty windy but we couldn’t really place the wind.  When we stopped, it didn’t look like the trees were moving much, but it sure felt like they should have been.  Despite this, Shannon and I were just ducking down low and keeping the pace high and hitting speeds over 30 mph even. 

As we got closer to the end, Shannon said at an intersection that he wasn’t going to pull a Gary and I said “Thank God!”  I did start out from the intersection standing up wanting to let everything out thinking Shannon was with me, but I guess I’m the one who probably seemed like I pulled a Gary.  smh

It ended up being a great ride with lots of PRs and some good hardware including Shannon’s 2^nd from E. Santiago to the top of Silverado.  Contratulations, big buy!  Thanks for all the super pulls today.