Lunch Ride - Todd's Ride Report

Great turnout today guys:

Adrian, Mitch, Vin, Jaffe, Shannon, Vince, Galen, and even a Noah.  There was one notable missing person so I will have to make a lame attempt at a write-up.

Highlights:

Jaffe picked the route after a bunch of us sat around jawin’ (sorry, listening to Brooks and Dunn while typing this).  He also sported a “new” old Trek 5200 in which he got a great deal on it. 

Vin has a new Cervelo S3 that looks awesome.  However, it needs some adjusting since when asked how the bike was, he said, “it was fine, but I think it needs some adjustments especially since the handlebars fell off.”

It was pretty cool having a decent size group out there again.  It has been a while.  Vince led the charge up S-Gary East Peltason, and he put a pretty good gap on the rest of us.  Galen and I chased and eventually the whole group was back together for Shady.  The Turtle loop was brutal as ever with Shannon, Galen, Vince and Adrian all taking pulls. After the descent to Campus, I led to the top of the stop sign.  Shannon led us on much of the bike trail through Shady.  Vince and I did some pulls and Galen took the charge to the summit of Shady.  I passed him on the way down and we were flying down the bike path along the 405.  Shannon, Galen and I all took pulls and I actually took the unofficial sprint at the bridge since the usual person that was missing wasn’t there to take it from me.  Galen gave me a good lead out as well, and I don’t think anyone else was really going for it.  I think I took it by default.  Heading towards Ridgeline, we saw Adrian coming from the other direction.   Turning around Adrian became the wabbit while the rest of us chased.  It was a great chase with Shannon, Galen, Noah, Mitch and I all racing up the hill after Adrian.  We caught him about half way up and kept going at a pretty mad pace.  We all traded a lot of pulls until we hit the condo.  I led out with everyone blowing by me half way up.  Noah turned on the jets and took the summit.  There was a bit of a sprint to the finish with Vince, Galen and Adrian, but I’m not sure who did what.

Here are the stats for today. 

http://app.strava.com/activities/29886015

SJC to Carlsbad OAB TT Trainer

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/29359301

Attendees:  Shannon, Adrian and me

Weather:  Very cold at the start (~43 degrees and averaged for the ride 55 per Garmin).  Very clear but windy on the way back.

It's been awhile since I've trained on the weekends with the crew, so it was nice to be out with Adrian and Shannon again for a longish ride.   The premise behind this training ride was to get some long miles in on the TT bars in preparation for the Stagecoach in January.  I had Eddie's bike, Adrian had his aero bars installed, and Shannon had his Trek fully modded as a TT with the bar shifters on the aeros and brakes setup accordingly. 

When we started out, I led us out to the bike trail by the wash that goes down to Doheny.  I was trying to set up a pace at a power level that I think had us moving at a good clip but was sustainable for a good distance.  Once we started rotating, Adrian pushed ahead and started to just go for it.  I didn't respond right away, but Shannon pushed up too and both of them had a good gap on me early on.  Our pace led to us getting top 10 in the segment that rode down to the beach.  When we got to Doheny, I caught up and rode by asking whether they realized we were doing an 80 miler today.  HAHA.

We still kept a decent pace through the parking lot and out to the bike lane on El Camino Real (aka the Doheny drag strip), but at that point the rotations were mostly between Shannon and I.  Adrian started not to feel as good so he opted to stay in the draft for most of the ride just to be able to stay with us.   No worries.

On the TT bikes, our pace, while elevated, was a lot less erratic and we were able to stay together easier.  This, however, led to a few guys latching on and riding with us mostly for the free tow.  No one wanted to rotate at all.  When they would push to the front, it seemed more to try a breakaway than anything else.  However, both times that happened, they would come around Shannon to try and break away, but I was there each time to show them the error of their ways. 

On the 2nd attempt, there were actually three guys who were in our paceline and they all held Shannon out for some time.  Shannon, pulling the way he does, did manage to cause one to drop and the other to not want any after he slowed up, but at his pace, this also caused Adrian to drop off some but not too far off.  We were all able to regroup at the top of the Vandegrift climb just before the McDonald's. 

We took an early break at the Oceanside gas station to get Adrian some Tums for his upset stomach, and left shortly after down the coast.  As always, it's never much fun riding through downtown Oceanside, and at one point, a car had pulled ahead and caused me to slow down and have to work my way back up to Shannon and Adrian.  However, on the TT bike, it was a little easier to do so. 

Shannon and I had been exchanging pulls and just making our way past everyone in our path all the way to Ponto Road (the 40 mile turnaround point).  On our way back, we did opt to stop one more time at the liquor store we normally stop at just to prepare for the rest of the ride home.  This was actually my planned stop, so I wanted to make sure we had enough fluids for the rest of the ride back.  We only refilled a little in Oceanside, so.... 

On our way back, we definitely could feel some headwind where we knew we would be working to make good time back.  Being in the TT position was definitely helpful in this regard, so I think we still maintained a pretty good pace despite the winds.  Of course, downtown Oceanside was busier by this time, so we did have to stop a lot through there.  However, once we got on base, it was straight pedaling from there. 

Adrian was feeling a little better, so he took a couple pulls on the base, but Shannon and I did most of the work given the pace we were holding.   We held a good pace all the way to the San Onofre State Beach parking lot, but once we got past the fence, the other guys were starting to feel it from the ride and slowed up for a little bit.  I was interested in keeping the pace up, and while I wanted to regroup and have everyone latch on, I wasn't sure they were both up for it at the time.  I was interested in still trying to manage my output and pace, so I ended up going ahead on my own. 

While I rode through the state beach, I was feeling good and felt like I could hold the pace I was holding for a good distance.  However, I started feeling some serious discomfort in the chamois area, so I tried shifting around the seat to feel better.  It didn't work, so as I neared the entrance to the state beach, I looked back and saw Shannon and Adrian making their way up to me.  I took the opportunity to check up and give my taint a rest, but once Shannon and Adrian drew near, I was able to get back on it and led them all the way to Trestles. 

Shannon started exchanging with me up front again once we got to the road next to the freeway that headed back toward El Camino Real.  We made our way to San Clemente and after going through downtown, there was one guy we caught at one of the lights who appeared wanted to show us how fast he was.  Once we got on the downhill, he took off so I gave chase and catching him at the bottom.  I thought he was going to ride with us after that since he said he was heading back to Irvine, but we popped him off on the first protected bike lane. 

When we got to the 2nd protected bike lane that led to Capo beach, we were still reeling people in ahead of us and Shannon and I kept pushing through all the way to the parking lot.  We tried to keep the pace up in the parking lot, but cars, kids on bikes, etc., made that pretty much impossible. 

Once on the bike trail that heads back up the wash from Doheny, we picked up the pace again.  Shannon and I were really pushing here and it was at this point that Adrian finally pulled a Roberto Duran stating "no mas."  After yelling out to him to let him know where to turn, Shannon and I kept going.  We probably could have gotten that segment had it not been for one idiot who caused both of us to check up since he was on his TT bike riding straight toward us on our lane.   Shannon actually had to yell out to him to get him to switch back to his lane, but the damage was done to our efforts timewise.  I was going to push up for a final pull, but didn't because of having had to check up.  Shannon still got #2 though with an average of 26.4 mph for the 1.5 miles.   Nice work!

Since Adrian didn't know his way back, I ended up waiting for him while Shannon road back to my house.  Adrian was pretty spent and couldn't manage to stay in the draft any longer at this point, so we moderately made our way back to my house as a result. 

Overall, it was a great training ride with the two, but we talked about how more people need to start training up for January where more people would have made it even more intense.   There's always next week.   Thank, Shannon and Adrian!

Extended Pre-Turkey Lunch Ride

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/28849115

Attendees:  Shannon and Todd (Adrian for partial)

Weather:  Nice and cool in the beginning, but winds picked up during the ride

It's been a while since I've ridden with the guys for a longer ride (more than our 20 mile lunch rides anyway), so I guess I forgot what it takes to get ready for such an event.  I've been doing solo rides for a few weeks now during the weekend, and despite the distance on those rides, it does nothing to prepare me for riding with the likes of Todd and Shannon.  I definitely wanted the training, especially before feasting tomorrow, but I didn't think it would bring me to the brink of death.  That's what I get for only bringing one water bottle (with water) and no food.  BIG mistake, Indy.

The pace in the beginning was pretty fast, but I think with Todd and Shannon being veteran distance riders, they knew not to go all out right away.  Thus, I've definitely been up to Portola faster than our pace today, but that doesn't mean we weren't working.  I think the 3 of us work really well together as a matter of fact, so we all did our share of the work throughout the ride.

When we got out to Jamboree, I was worried about not wanting to hinder the other guys' pace, so I did let them know to feel free to drop me if that happens.  Todd wanted us all to stay together though, so I wasn't getting out of it that easy. HA HA.

Todd was definitely helpful to set the pace up the hills, but I think when I took my turn going up Jamboree, I may have changed the pace a little and Shannon wasn't willing to expend that much energy right away.  Todd and I got away for a little bit, but regrouped as we went up into the canyon.  Todd helped set up the pace going up toward Dump as well, which was perfect for me, as I stayed behind him.  Shannon wanted to pull back some on the hills and was going to work to get back up to us on the downhill and flats.

When Todd and I crested, I took over but he alternated with me as we rode through the canyon.  After we passed Silverado, we saw Adrian heading the opposite way, and slowed down to let him come back around to ride with us.  We also spun up at this point to let Shannon regroup since it was pretty windy through the canyon so it must have been a bear to ride through it alone to try and catch Todd and I.

Once we got going, we had a paceline of 4 as we made our way past Modjeska and onto the climbs right before Cook.  Todd and Shannon got into a groove, and I thought I was going to fall off when they did, but I managed to find mine and worked my way to pass them before the first crest.  Well as expected, Todd wasn't going to have any of that, so he made his way past me as we hit the first crest. What he didn't realize, however, was that I was hoping he would so I could set him up for a pass on the last and final crest before the descent to Cooks.  Once I found the opportunity, I stood up and sprinted past him just after the short descent and kept going all the way to the top.  Oh man, you can tell after Bruce Banner, I mean Todd, passed me that he was starting to turn into the Hulk.  It's not that he's mad at me or anything, but more so at himself for not defending against that.

He passed after the top and led us down with Shannon and I behind him.  When we got near the bottom, my chain dropped (happens when I pedal backwards while in the biggest gear for some reason).  After stopping to fix it, this allowed for Adrian and a Sho-Air guy to catch up and pass us after we started rolling again.  With the Sho-Air guy ahead in the beginning, Adrian saw to it to sprint past him and all of us and try and break away.  I responded first to chase Adrian down with everyone in tow, and then passed to lead us toward and up Glenn Ranch.

When I rounded the corner, Adrian did pass me for a bit, but I made my way past him and started working to climb up the hill.  I was thinking the Sho-Air guy was coming to chase me down, so I was trying my best to hold him off only to realize that as we neared the top, it was actually Todd.  I was glad since I planned to try and stand up and mix it up some more if it was Sho-Air.

Given that Glenn Ranch was the last real hill for the ride, I started taking more opportunities to push the pace up front, which later I realized was the dumbest thing I could have done.  Had I pulled back some, I may have been able to finish strong at the end, but ultimately, I ended up bonking pretty bad as we got on Bonita Canyon and just after the 73 underpass.  I was already feeling starved while we were on Barranca, but I still took opportunities to get up front here and there.  Once I realized I was nearly about to pass out, I asked Todd and Shannon to rotate in front of me as I tried to hang on.  By the time we hit Prairie, I could barely focus in front of me.  Needless to say, the two took off and I pretty much soft pedaled the rest of the way back.

Shannon waited at the corner to make sure I got back okay, so it was nice of him to do so.  When I got into the gym, I pretty much just threw everything off me and made a beeline to the break room to get a much need Coca Cola.   I think I downed that thing in less than a minute.  Just what the doctor ordered.

What a great training ride, despite my pre-finish bonk.  I guess I'll have to plan the next one better.  Thanks for coming out, gents, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Lunch Ride - Shady 133 PCH NPC Loop - Broken Spoke

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/28686993

Attendees:  Todd, Shannon, Vin, Mitchell and me

Weather:  Temperature was good but windy windy windy

We opted for a slightly longer route today just to get some extra work in just before the holiday weekend (at least that's why I did it), and I chose it as the opportunity to take out R5 on its maiden voyage.  Let me just say that it is NOT a good idea to use a lunch ride to get accustomed to a new bike geometry and position.  It was pretty immediate that I noticed my seat may have been set up a little too high, but I'd try and make the best of it nonetheless.

Shannon and Todd were pushing the pace immediately out of the gate, so I just hung on as best as I could but was definitely off the back on the last section of Anteater just before Bonita Canyon/Culver.  Hell, even Vin passed me before we got to the light.

Despite this, I did take front initially after the light turned green but LTJ got in front of me where I latched on and waited until closer to the top to resume taking the front again.  Shannon relieved me shortly after and he and Todd took turns leading us up to the top of Shady.  The cool part was we were all together as we crested and then made our way down to Quail Hill.

I rotated in with Todd and Shannon as we made our way to the 133, and Vin and Mitchell joined the rotation as we made our way up the hill.  This, however, led to Vin popping off, but Mitchell remained with us as we crested and made our way down the other side.  It was good that he did, because the wind just felt brutal even as we were descending.

When we got to the little shortcut that leads you onto PCH, LTJ and I duked it out to the top and he was able to nose me out.  I heard him coming and picked it up just as he was starting to pass, but I couldn't hold him off...plus, we were coming up to a stop sign so....  :)

Shannon made his way up to us as did Mitchell, and Shannon and Todd worked together to get us through Laguna Beach.  I may have jumped ahead once, but I was already feeling worked and started having Stagecoach flashbacks.  I did what I could when I could, but tried not to overexert before the NPC climb.

Shannon led us onto NPC, and Todd came around and broke away early on.  I had found a pretty good rhythm as well and managed to pass Shannon early, but as everyone knows, doing this is often temporary on a hill.  After a couple lights, he did work his way up to me, and although I tried to hang, I fell off a bit but still had a pretty decent pace.  I got up to Shannon and Todd not too much longer before they arrived at the top to regroup.  Once Mitchell arrived, we were off again.

Todd kicked the pace up early, but we were able to stay pretty close to him.  Shannon must have gotten tired of the space I left between me and Todd, so he got in between us and eventually took the front around the San Joaquin intersection.

He and Todd led the charge down the hill, but I took a few stabs up front to try and keep the pace up.  It was after going under the bridge and a stop light or two where I had been behind Todd when I heard a pop, clank, clank, clank....  At first I wasn't sure what happened, but as I slowed realized that I must have lost a spoke.  Stopping to inspect, I found the broken spoke on the front wheel.  Bummer.  Shannon and Mitchell had stopped as well, but Todd didn't hear and broke away solo for the rest of the ride back.

Now this is where it gets a little corny, but I'm going to write it anyway.  Shannon going back and picking me up, Mitchell staying with me until then, and Todd calling to check on me when he got back is such a big reason I like riding with this team.  I know on occasion we get wrapped up in competitiveness, which is what happens when most everyone who rides with us is an alpha male, but I think as a group we all genuinely care about each others welfare.  Okay, so it was only a busted spoke incident, but still.  Team BRCM for life, baby.

Thanks for the training and the support, gents!  Let's ride again tomorrow!

Noah's AZ IM Race Report

Drove out to Tempe early on Thursday to get registration done before the crowds arrived.  Managed to get in a 90-minute ride and 30-minute run on parts of the course that afternoon, then tried to relax that night.  Got in a short 30-minute ride the next day and finished as much of the logistics as possible – coming up with a nutrition plan (apparently I was supposed to do that in July), packing transition bags, etc.  You drop your bike & bags off on Saturday for these things, which is actually nice for procrastinators like me – it forces me to get everything put together early instead of the morning of the race.  I was sort of winging it on the nutrition plan, but figured I’d just eat all the gels I could shove in my face and see what happened from there.  I bought some shorts and jersey at the expo to wear during the race, so I guess I was winging it on that side of things too.  That’s probably something I should work on in the future…

Got down to the race site fairly early on Sunday.  Weather was looking great for the day – it’s the desert, so there’s always going to be some wind out there, but the temps were going to be in the upper 70’s, which is pretty nice.  Racing in the 90’s is pretty miserable.  The water temp was around 62/63, which was a lot better than when my friends did it last year, so I was pretty happy all around.  It’s a deep-water start, so you end up jumping off a dock into the lake about 20 minutes before the race starts so you can swim 200 yards under a bridge and then cram in tight with 2500 of your closest friends to wait for the canon.  I was in the front row for a while, but then more and more people were crowding in and swarming, and the kayaks were trying to keep us behind the start line so I was probably in the 3^rd row when the race actually started.  Lots of incidental contact goes on in these swims.  I was apparently starting between 10 water polo players doing egg beater kicks.  It’s tough to sit in the water for 10 minutes with one hand treading water while the other is protecting your junk.  Got lots of kicks to the quads and calfs.  Wetsuits are buoyant folks – if we all just sit here and float, no one has to get kicked…  The other issue with these starts is that you’re basically shoulder to shoulder with everyone, and then when the canon goes off, everyone gets horizontal and starts kicking.  There’s really no way to avoid getting kicked by the row in front of you, but hey – that’s half the fun.

Besides getting mildly molested and taking a heel to the lip, there’s really nothing to report on the swim.  It lasts a long time, you have no indication of how much time has passed, you start to recognize wetsuits of people that you plan to punch in the face if you meet them in the transition tent – pretty normal stuff.  The exit of this is up a steep ladder and the lowest rung is about 6 inches below the water line, so it’s pretty tough to climb up.  There are volunteers to try to pull people up, but lots of guys were trying to get their legs up and would fall back in the water screaming “Cramp!!!”.  No real issues for me, so I was off through the transition tent and on to the bike.

It’s a 3-loop course of a gradual uphill which steepens a bit near the turn around, then you get a nice slight downhill all the way back.  Maybe five 90-degree corners in each direction so you could watch triathletes try to corner (note:  I’m not the worst one out there).  I’d been slacking on my training a bit over the last six weeks, so I was nervous about taking the bike too hard.  I really wanted to save it for the run so I wouldn’t struggle late.  Based on testing and previous training rides, I should have been okay keeping the watts in the 200-205 range for the day and still would have been able to run okay.  Yes, I know that sounds ridiculously low compared to LTJ and his 370W TT’s, and it is – but I have a decent aero position and tend to get a lot of speed for my tiny watts.  I wanted to take the first lap easy, so I was keeping the power around 190 watts.  I don’t look at speed when I ride, but I had a Garmin screen set up with the overall average so I could get a ballpark estimate after each lap.  I was in the top 12% or so of the swimmers (which just shows the sad state of triathlon swimming these days), so it wasn’t too crowded on the first lap.  By the time I was on the second, everyone else was on the bike so I had to dodge a lot more people.  After the first lap, I looked at my average speed and I was just over 22mph.  I had wanted to be in the high 21’s to get a low 5-hour split, so I was happy to see that it was going well.  Since I wasn’t putting out too many watts and had a speed I wanted, I decided to hold back for the rest of the bike to try to bank some energy for the run.  The next two laps were kind of a blur.  Ate a lot of gels, had the straw fall out of my front aero-bottle so I had to switch up the plan a bit, got completely soaked in all sorts of sports drink, snot and sweat, passed a lot of cheating drafters and more than a few crashed cyclists – again, pretty standard IM stuff.

Off the bike and onto the run.  My only goal for the race was to break 10 hours.  Throughout training, that goal seemed reasonable or ridiculous depending on the week.  When I started the run, I saw the clock leaving transition and knew I had to run around a 3:45 to make it.  Seemed possible, so I was in good spirits.  Tried to run the first lap conservatively, which is difficult in these things.  I wanted to sit at 8:30’s, but my Garmin kept showing low 7’s and high 6’s during the first mile, so I would actually start walking to slow down.  It’s amazing how whacked out your perception gets coming off the bike, but taking the first 6 miles easy is pretty crucial to not collapsing in a pile of tears around mile 22.  I finished the first lap right on pace, so I decided to do the next lap at the same effort.  I sped up for a few of the flatter miles to try to bank a few seconds, but really I just wanted to be stead and keep up with the nutrition.  Lots more gels – yummmm…  Started the 3^rd lap and figured I would keep it steady for a while and then give it what I had left for the last 3 miles, after the final hill.  And that’s pretty much how it went.  Felt good, sped up late and finished strong.

Crossed the line at 9:57 and felt pretty awesome.  Felt much better than any previous IM – probably a combination of actually training and then racing conservatively.  Got a massage, ate a bunch of pizza, chatted with other finishers – felt great, when I wasn’t trying to walk.  I probably could have pushed the bike a bit more and maybe sped up the whole last lap instead of just the final three miles, but I was hitting my goal and there wasn’t much difference to me of a 9:51 vs a 9:57, so I’m happy with how it all went down.

Thanks for all the support & cheers.  Glad that’s over with…

Noah

Todd's Santiago TT Race Report

It was another learning experience.   There were some really competitive guys out there with the full on TT rigs, speed suits etc.  I finished 3rd in Cat4/5 with only 18 seconds between me and first.  I would have finished second in my age group and I finished ahead of all Cat 3, but one guy.  I woke up at 4:00am and was amped up for the race.  I looked outside and saw that it was pretty wet.  Since it wasn't raining and the clouds were breaking up, I was all in for the race.  After training, I would have raced in a downpour if it was still going on.  The temp was pretty decent and once I got to R N R the sun started to shine periodically. Before checking in, I actually drove up to Cook's Corner to park and check out the turn coming out of the tunnel once more.  When I parked and started to unload my bike, a Sons of Anarchy dude asked me what I was doing.  I said I needed about 5 minutes to ride down to the tunnel to check it out for the race.  He said that was no "F" ing excuse and that my truck was going to be towed.  Keep in mind, the parking area was completely empty and Cooks wasn't even open yet.  I thanked him for his hospitality, told him that I will probably never be going there again (actually I have been there several times to eat, drink and listen to music),  packed up my bike and headed to check in.  Needless to say, I was a bit pissed off at this point.  I decided to use that for motivation along with the 3 cups of coffee and the natural adrenaline that I get from racing.    I cranked up the AC/DC("Spoilin' for a Fight" was one of the songs along with Hells Bells),  checked in and then went to the start.  I had about 20 minutes of up and down the bike path for a good warm up.  My start time was at 9:19 so after a bunch of warm up efforts I headed to the start.  The climb from the bike path to the peak was pretty brutal in TT mode.  It was a constant grind.  I caught the first guy ahead of me at Cooks.  I stayed mainly on the aero bars for all but a very short distance of the climb.   I started to weigh whether I should stay on the big ring or drop to the 39.  I decided to grind it on the big ring.  I caught the next rider at the peak of the climb and blew by her at the start of the descent.  Much of the rest of the ride was just trying to get enough oxygen and keep the speed up.  I had to pass several casual riders, but fortunately traffic was light and there was nothing to slow me down.  It felt like I was flying.  I went as hard as I could for the last mile and it took all that I had to not collapse at the finish. On the ride back I saw a guy sitting at the top on of the climb waiting.  I asked if he was ok and he said ya so I kept going.  My wife Pam talked to the guy to see if he needed a ride, but he was waiting for someone.  He said that he got a flat on the fast downhill and his bike took off into the oncoming traffic lane.  Fortunately, there were no cars coming.  He was bit shaken though.  Thank God he was ok!

Here are the results:

http://santiagocanyontt.com/Results.html

Overall I was pleased with the power output of 369 watts.  It was 10 more watts than the Great Park TT.  Even though I dropped my handle bars lower than the GP TT, I'm going to take Noah's advice and drop them all the way down next time.  Pam said I was up much higher than the other top guys.  Better aerodynamics may have made up those 18 secs.  I'm also looking forward to that speedsuit coming in. 

BRCM Lunch - Triple Bypass Route

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/27891257

Attendees:  Shannon, Vince, Vin, John L. and Mitchell

Weather:  Overcast with not too much wind and a little cool (i.e. near perfect)

Good to see John L. come out and join us today, but he was wanting to do some hills and opted to find some after the first pass through Back Bay.  Good showing though.

While we did see Todd in the locker room, he was up for some solo TT training to prepare for this weekend's race.  Cool...one less aggro dude on the ride.  Galen and Adrian also let me know they weren't going to make it, but despite this, we pulled off my fastest average for this route...23.5 mph.  Not too shabby.

Then again, those of us who did come out were all working and rotating together for the first 2 passes through Back Bay.  That's not to say we weren't trying to drop anyone, because it wouldn't be a Broadcom ride otherwise, but that's what makes our lunch rides such a rush.

Vince was definitely up to his "tricks" of trying to stage breakaways, including solo ones, but this is why him coming out makes training that much more interesting.  I can recall 3 sections where he just stood up and started cranking away.  The first time, he came up from behind Shannon pulling at Shannon's pace and basically started to sprint ahead.   I was behind him where he asked me after why I didn't grab his wheel.  Since when do we sprint during pacelines?  HA HA...no thank you.  The 2nd breakaway was on the bike trail behind the trailer park.  He just tore off, but since Shannon didn't react, neither would I (given I was resting comfortably behind Shannon...haha).  Oh and the last one, I had taken a pull on Jamboree before Back Bay drive and was recovering but as I rounded the corner, he took off and was followed by Shannon and Vin where it looked like they were ALL trying to drop me.  I did manage to latch back on after sprinting ahead to do so, but I definitely had to recover a bit and didn't jump immediately into the paceline.  I ain't as dumb as I look.

Mitchell and Vin were also doing their share of rotations (wha?) today, which definitely helped out a lot.  Vin even came up behind Shannon, Vince and I at the top of Jamboree and re-joined us for the final pass through Back Bay.  He must have had a taro bun this morning.

With Shannon coming out regularly again, the pain train is definitely once again in full effect.  In the locker room after, he was saying how we were short a couple miles during the ride and it wasn't enough of a workout.  Vince tried to assure me that he was kidding, but I honestly don't think he was.  He scares me.  He did get to the gate first on the way out and the top of Back Bay first on the 2nd pass as well as mixed it up with Vince for the sprint to California (which I could have sworn Vince said last week was probably too dangerous to do...such a trickster) after having gotten up front all the way from the bridge.  These are examples of why he scares me.

As for me, I was also on Vince's wheel for the sprint to California and I did remember what he said about it last week.  When he took off first and then had Shannon chasing him, I slowed up enough to where I was able to make the light to cross and go up California ahead of the two.  I took full advantage of this and opted to stage my own breakaway.   I learned from the last time I tried this to not go too hard or as before when Todd caught me, Shannon and Vince working together would be able to do so also.  What's funny, however, is that they probably used the hill as an opportunity to cool down, but I didn't care.  I just wanted to get to something first today.  BAM!

Thanks for the training, gents!

Lunch Ride - Turtle Rock Shady Ridgeline Summit Condo Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/27727772

When you think of the word dry, a few things may come to mind:  a martini, what my jersey is NOT after a ride, or Jaffe's and Vin's bike chains.  However, this would be how I would describe today's weather.  My eyes are bloodshot and my face feels like it's been sitting in front of a hairdryer for a few hours.  The temperature wasn't too bad otherwise, but man my eyes hurt.

It's been since the Santa Barbara Century when I last rode with Shannon, so it was nice to be out with the Irishman again today.  Todd, Adrian, Vin and Hiroshi also came out, but Hiroshi came out of nowhere on Shady given he didn't start with us.  We saw Jaffe in the locker room, but he won't be on a bike probably until next year given he's waiting for his R5 to arrive.  Nice choice!

The pace of the group was pretty fast going out, and I had a little trouble being able to hang on right away with Todd and Shannon pushing the pace early on.  Once we made the left turn onto Culver, I was dropped like a bad habit by everyone.  I tried not to panic when I saw them pulling away, but they literally went up and over the crest at over a mph faster than what I was doing.  I think Adrian was responsible for getting that started again, and with Todd and Shannon there...forgetaboutit!

I was still off the back on Campus and the beginning of Turtle Rock, but I saw Adrian pop off the other three during the climb.  I made my way up to him, and we began exchanging pulls all the way up to the first bridge on the Shady bike trail.  Once it pitched up at that point, he fell off.

I saw a red jersey ahead of me, and eventually made my way up to him by the 2nd bridge where it was Hiroshi.  He jumped on for a bit, but also fell off on the last part of the rise before the crest at the top.  Thus, I was on my own at this point.

I couldn't even see where Todd, Shannon and Vin were as I made my way down to the bike trail by the 405.  However, after it rounded to University, I did catch a glimpse of Vin at that point.  He was still a good distance away though, so I just worked on trying to close the gap once I got on Ridgeline.

I did see Todd and Shannon climbing up for a bit, but lost them after they made their way past where it pitches up the first time.  I was starting to close on Vin and was hoping to get up to his wheel before the stop sign, but I ran out of steam and just came in a little behind him to an awaiting Shannon and Todd at the regroup point on Turtle Rock.

Adrian had told me to not have us wait for him, so once I got there, I let the others know and we were off again.  Todd's been pushing the pace the whole time, and once again jumped to the front and had a little gap in front of the rest of us.  Even as we climbed the Shady rise, Todd was still trying to break us off, so I decided to close the gap and then take a turn with him.  When he went to pass me for his turn, no one was behind him, so he and I mixed it up for the sprint to the bike trail.  I wasn't sure he was going to go for it at the end, but I did bring the pace up just before thinking it would be enough to deter him.  It wasn't, and sure enough he passed me just before we crossed the bike trail.

We did get the light on Bonita canyon ahead of the others, and Vin jumped on the curb to try and join us as we made our way up Turtle Ridge and eventually Summit.  I tried to stay on Todd's wheel as we climbed, and managed to do so for about half way up, but he snapped me off at that point and that was that.

I got to the top and saw the others climbing behind us as I descended, and I ran into Todd and the light on Turtle Ridge just before Bonita Canyon where we agreed to regroup again there with Vin and Shannon.  Once we got going, Todd took off again and I had to work just to pull us back onto his wheel.  Now I should have just sat there for a bit to let him work, but I opted to be a team player and rotate up front.  Shannon and Vin also were team players and rotated in as well.

Once we got across McArthur, Shannon and Todd were a little bit ahead, but Vin and I caught up to them where I tried desperately to try and catch my breath to prepare for the condo.  What sucked about it was that there was a car sitting at the corner as we approached where we didn't really get to have too much momentum going onto it, but se la vie.  Shannon had a good pace going up, and Todd kicked it up a notch passing him.  I found a pretty decent rhythm also which allowed me to eventually catch Todd.  Now the "smart" thing to do at that point was just wait a bit and make a move later since he's been crushing it everywhere else, but I opted to pass since I had momentum.  I wasn't sure if he was behind me after I did, but I continued to try and bring the pace up to finish strong and hopefully deter him from passing here.  Nope...he did so there too.  Nice.

The 4 of us were able to regroup at McArthur, and I thought to myself I just can't let Todd have everything today.  I just can't.  When the light turned green, he took off and I was watching the lights trying to make sure I didn't waste any effort unnecessarily.  Vin got ahead of me and I started pacing him while Todd was ahead of us.  Once I saw we were a go for the 2nd light over the 73, I busted a sprint.  Now although I know this is not Todd's strength, I still expected that he may jump on after I passed him.  Thus, I probably hammered much longer than I needed to, but I wasn't falling for it a 3rd time today.  :)

Great training today, gents.  Thanks for coming out.  By the way, did I mention it was dry out there today?

Lunch Ride - Bike Trail Laguna Cyn Shady Bonita Cyn Eastbluff CA Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/27115055

Attendees:  Vince, Vin, Galen, Paul and Jaffe

Weather:  Mild temperature, but heat and wind seemed more noticeable once we got to Laguna Canyon

Highlights:

• Saw Shannon coming out of locker room in running clothes.  I asked him why he's not riding with us, but at my age, you tend to learn not to push for things that won't be pleasant.
• Saw Todd at the end of the ride and told him likely, he would have gotten dropped today.  I hope he forgets this by the next ride.  If not, I was just kidding!
• I heard Adrian made it out today as well after we left and ran into Vin/Jaffe.  meh
• Pace was fast from the get go on the bike trail with Vince gapping early.  I slowly worked to close it, but Galen stepped up and got it done.
• Vin took a pull at one point, but that just gave us enough time to rest where subsequently, Vince, Galen and I broke away. 
• With a fast pace initially, I was just doing what I could to keep up.  If it weren't for the road crossings, I think I would have popped earlier.
• On the bike trail after Jeffrey, I took a turn and worked to keep the pace up, but blew up just before we got to Laguna Canyon.  Thank goodness Galen got lost.
• The three of us went up Laguna Canyon together with everyone taking strong pulls.  I think I was being overzealous considering the company, and going up Shady, I just couldn't hold their pace.  Vince and Galen duked it out, and Vince I think got to the top first.
• I crested only to not see anyone so I made my way down Shady and through the gate where I saw the two making their way up toward Bonita Canyon.  I was fortunate to catch them both at the light.  Vince mentioned as I arrived how he thought I must have stopped to pick flowers.  Nice.
• We rode together on Bonita Canyon and I gotta say, I don't like it when Galen passes me after I pull.  As Vince points out, it's Adrian like where it's tough to latch on.  I stood up on a full sprint right after a pull just to be able to do so.  Thanks?  HAHA
• We sprinted to catch the light to cross McArthur, and then we rode through Eastbluff where I went into TT mode and towed the guys all the way to the Jamboree bike trail underpass.  
• Galen took over after and kept the pace up getting us some good times to CA.  Vince went for a pass and the two duked it out to the light where they decided subsequently that it was probably not the safest thing to do.  
• Going up CA, they said they would take it easy, but I thought I'd try to keep the pace up to a respectable level as we climbed.  I tried to pull back a little where I would have enough to respond, but both of them passed me before the final pitch near the top.  

Vince is definitely coming back to form making for great workouts once again.  Thanks, gents!

Lunch Ride - Halloween Powered BB NPC Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/26663352

Attendees:  Vince, Todd, Galen, Adrian, Jaffe, Mitchell and Vin

Weather:  Cool start with slight winds but everyone was warm by the end of Back Bay

Highlights:

• Galen was already sandbagging in the locker room about a hacking cough.  No one bought it. 
• I led down CA and onto the bike trail in the beginning (wha?) and then my wingman, Mitchell, took over (wha?) and I got to sit in the back to rest.
• On Back Bay, being in the back was not a good idea as the group started hauling once they hit the descent.  
• Jaffe was the first casualty and a couple of us had to come around and close the gap on the guys up front.  NO fun
• The pace was solid on the first part of BB with everyone rotating up front.  We may have been able to have upped the average a little more, but some where hung out probably a little bit longer than ideal.
• I took us past San Joaquin and then Galen and Todd came around with no one latched on.  I was just able to latch on where others had latched onto me subsequently keeping us all together to the end.  No one dared sprint to the end.  HA HA
• Todd and I kept the pace up through trailer park and out to the other side, and we all caught the light going onto PCH.  
• I led us up the rise on PCH, but Galen and Todd helped keep the pace up after all the way to Avocado. 
• Adrian darted up that one sprinter hill to show off his fresh legs given he hadn't taken a pull since Back Bay.  LMAO!
• We all were able to make the right turn to PCH headed toward NPC together without it being crazy for the guy in the back to keep up (me).  Vin was worried he may dropped, so he let me get ahead of him, but he was there the whole time as we all made our way to NPC. 
• Going up NPC, Vince and Todd were up front but they didn't realize the route was to go on Pelican.  Those of us who knew called out to them, but they were well ahead of the light already by that time so they kept going.  
• Another rider got to mix it up with them going up and created a nice little gap during the confusion.  Todd chased him down though and caught up to him by the 2nd Pelican.  
• The rest of us went on Pelican and Galen and I eventually broke away from the others.  I got ahead of Galen and he jumped on and rode with me until about half way up the last climb.  He then pulled away for a bit but didn't get too far ahead.  I reeled him in and tried to sneak by, but he caught me and shot ahead just as I was starting to pass.  That was mean.  HAHA
• We stayed together hoping to catch a glimpse of Todd or Vince, but we didn't do so until Bonita Canyon despite flying down NPC.
• Galen led a lot on Bonita Canyon, and I jumped to the front just before the last rise.  When we saw  Vince, however, we went racing off to make the light to cross Bonita Canyon.  Galen had snapped me off as a result, but waited for me after.
• Galen started to pull away on the descent just before the condo, but that always makes it fun to chase someone there.  He had a decent gap after rounding the turn, so it took until after the crest to be back on his rear wheel.  
• We saw Vince at the light on McArthur, but there was no sprint in anyone for the ride toward Bison.  Cool.

Great training today, folks.  Glad it's over.  Now onto more Halloween candy....