Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/13856046
Attendees: Galen, Todd, Vince, Vin, Jeremy, Mitchell, Marc, Adrian, Hiroshi and Jaffe
Good sized group today, so I was glad I prefaced it by indicating I would not take any pulls in preparation for this weekend. Doing so does seem to incite some in the group to do whatever it takes to drop me (they detest weakness and try and make one pay). Nice, huh?
Early on, the pace was fast on Peltason with Galen, Jeremy and Todd leading the pack. I stayed in the back to prevent getting pushed up front, but this actually made things a little more difficult when we got on Anteater since the group started to string out and I was not yet warmed up (or willing) to give chase. By then, Vince and Adrian had caught up and started riding with the others, and fortunately for them caught the light to turn left onto NPC...unfortunately for the rest of us who got caught on the red.
Hiroshi didn't want to give up the break, so he was the first to go on NPC having the rest of us follow to see if we'd have a chance to close the gap. Mitchell led to get us past Hiroshi, but I decided to take the reigns after to see if we can close on the others.
We caught Adrian first before the 73 as he was just waiting for someone to help him at that point. He latched on and began to complain about my pace, so when we got past the offramp, I stood up and started pedaling breaking him off accordingly. Mitchell, my wingman, stayed on.
Vince had gotten separated from the others, but was definitely eager to regroup once Mitchell and I got with him after San Joaquin (thanks for the work, Mitchell!). From there, the 3 of us started working together down NPC, Pelican and on PCH. We saw that Jeremy had fallen off Todd and Galen's pace on PCH, so at this point, we smelled blood and amped it up some more where we were all able to come up just behind the three of them as they arrived to turn left on Poppy.
Now given that I did more work that I originally prefaced, I reminded the guys again at this point that I was done with pulling. I really need to do this more often. They took pity on me and obliged.
CDM was your usual slow pace (thanks to hotel transport van and a car crawling on Ocean), but once we got on PCH, the madness ensued. The pace was going up fast, but the first light after getting back on PCH caught us causing some disapproving grunting from those up front.
When we started going again, the pace kicked up real fast and I was content to let those pushing the pace rotate in front of me. When Todd rotated out though, I guess I did not give him enough notice and Vince and Galen had started to break away a little. Todd's a trooper though, so he gave chase as I knew he would (although with a slightly annoyed "thanks, Rich" response if not verbally, mentally). As I expected, Todd was able to close the gap eventually with me, Mitchell and Jeremy in tow. Stud!
When we got on Back Bay, Jeremy had joined the ranks up front again and he, Vince, Galen, and Todd were pulling a mad pace. While Mitchell was behind me, I was coordinating the rotations ahead of me by calling out who the person rotating out should fall behind. This worked like a charm and the guys were working well together. Todd found my role comparable to a coxswain (the guy who keeps the rowers on a boat coordinated), but I believe he and the others had a different spelling variation that was more suitable to how they felt about my wheelsucking today.
Anyways, at the end of Back Bay, Vince broke off and darted ahead of everyone to the top while I gave chase just to keep up. He had a small gap on me, while I had a gap on Todd and Galen once we got on the sidewalk. I figured the two guys behind me would close the gap sooner than I would since Vince was still moving pretty fast, but we inadvertently held Vince out until the bridge after the Jamboree underpass. Sorry, buddy. I did begin to pass after the bridge, but Todd and Galen pushed up front again and I jumped on for a free draft all the way to California. Thanks!
Going up California, Jeremy was eager to try and see if he can KOM that section (another rider wrecked by Strava), so he bolted ahead. Wisely, I stayed behind Galen and Todd, who were riding abreast one another, and they eventually reeled Jeremy in. Jeremy was saying he wanted to shoot for that KOM at the locker before the ride, and although I didn't think the wind conditions were ideal for it, I just didn't have the heart to let him know.
Overall, this was another great training ride for this week. Now what excuse can I come up with next week to keep sucking wheel? Thanks for all the work, gents!
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