Lunch Ride - Turtle Rock Ring Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/23132513

So I go into the shower after the ride and upon entering felt like I needed to burp...nope, burps aren't solid.  Nothing like swallowing vomit before going back to the office.  This pretty much sums up today's ride for me.

Today's group consisted of Todd, Galen, Jeremy, Vince, Vin, Hiroshi and Jaffe.  While we stayed together for the most part up through Anteater to Bonita Canyon, the pace got hot going up the first Shady rise with Galen, Todd, Jeremy and Vince up front.  When it started to string out behind them, I had to work just to be able to keep the 4 guys just ahead of me but outside of a draft.  I was hoping Vin, Jaffe or Hiroshi would come around but looking back, they had dropped off on the rise and was never to be seen again for the rest of the ride.

On Turtle Rock, I was still not willing to rotate up just because I actually was afraid I would cause anyone behind me to be split off from the rest.  I let Jeremy rotate in front of me only to hear him sound like a disgruntled postal worker for me not willing to help.  These guys were pushing a good pace though without me, and it wasn't like I was on someone's wheel the whole time.  I'd drop a little and have to work every so often just to close the gap.  It wasn't until we started climbing on the other side that I was able to latch back on.  Going up, the 5 of us pretty much stayed together all the way to Ridgeline with maybe a couple individual efforts for a last second charge beforehand.  When a person across from us was suppose to turn left but just sat there...and sat there...and sat there, I decided to push ahead past the stop sign ahead of the guys but not for very long.  Galen came by, smiling as he usually does, and the rest of them passed me as well.

Going up the bike path on Shady, I was a little off the back as we were navigating through the sidewalk to the actual bike trail.  I tried to catch up here and there, but the 4 guys had gotten too far ahead where all I could do was watch as they stayed together while I rode alone (insert crying sounds here).  By the time I crested Shady, I could see that they were already at the bottom working their way through the other bike trails, so I was definitely on my own for the 405 section. I did peek back just in case the other guys were catching up, but I couldn't see anyone so it was just me.  The 405 trail was windy, but I managed a decent pace as I worked my way toward Ridgeline where I would run into the 4 guys who were caught at the light.

Going up Ridgeline, I was riding with the guys for a little bit, but Todd and Galen had broken away a bit and Jeremy was just behind them.  Vince was ahead of me, and I just couldn't reel him in and could only watch as he rounded to Turtle Rock ahead of me where I knew catching him on the downhill would be impossible.  I kept sight of him though for the whole way down, and fortunately again, was able to catch the 4 guys at the light to turn left onto Culver.

Going up Culver, Galen took the lead and that pretty much caused me to be off the back again with Vince just behind me.  As we climbed, a black Suburban nearly grazed every single one of us as we climbed up the hill (a hole in one minus "in one").  I was lucky to catch them on the first light, but then Todd took over and split me off again.  They got caught at the light at Shady/Anteater where Vince and I were able to roll up on them again.  Crossing onto Shady from Anteater, who do we see but Mike Z. back in action representing the BRCM white jersey.  Woo hoo!

As we proceeded to Bonita Canyon, I think I did take my one pull to relieve Todd at one point where I felt like the pace could go up a little bit.  I was relieved by Vince after and then we all made our way to the light on McArthur where we got caught along with another cyclist who looked like he was going straight.  Once the light turned green though, he decided to cut across and make a left turn at the light.   We do tend to have that effect on people.

Going on Ford, the pace was definitely a little hotter than what I like before going up the condo...but I followed.  The turn onto the condo pretty much sucked given that the cars crossing Ford/Eastbluff on Jamboree had just gotten the green making for a timid turn onto Jamboree for all of us.  Todd and Vince started charging up the hill while Galen and Jeremy stayed together, so I decided to do what I can to accommodate Todd/Vince in my home.  I was making ground on the two and was hoping to pass before we got to Bison, but they were able to stay just ahead of me.  Strava showed their pace as 20.4 compared to my 20.8.  I tried.

On Bison, everyone was taking off after the Condo, so I was glad that we all got caught at the light on McArthur.  I would have ridden the rest back by myself again.  HA HA. I had a little sprint in me at the end, and so when I decided to make my move past the others, I set it up just enough to get by Todd, Jeremy and Galen right after the last light over the 73.  Lo and behold, Vince had some game as well and went zooming by to my left catching me totally offguard and as he would call it "making me his son."  Nice.  We did give Todd props for the leadout though...he gets angry otherwise.

Tough ride today, and I can't make excuses since Irish people tend to object when I do.  HA HA. I will say I did set all sorts of PRs today...for my run this morning that is.  :)   Thanks for making me vomit, gents!  Now that's good training!