Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/51593302
It was a good turnout today where originally, we thought we'd be doing a ride without Todd (hushed applaud in the background) and Jeremy, but they ended up being able to make it last minute. Also joining us today was Adrian, Vince, Vin, Mitchell, Jaffe, and once again Andy came out to partake in the mayhem that we call our lunch ride.
Temperature-wise, I don't think it can be any better than today with all the cloud cover keeping it cool but comfortable even without a base layer or arm warmers. The only thing is the winds seem to have returned from last week and definitely made some sections pretty difficult. One notable section was the climb up Ridgeline. It's bad enough that you're going uphill but with a direct headwind where you can see leaves heading toward you, it was definitely even tougher.
Vince started the group off and left in a hurry making it manic from the start. I think we were pretty much sprinting up E. Peltason just to catch up to him where thankfully, there was the stop sign at the top to allow a regroup. Todd decided to bust it on Anteater also gapping the group early on, but Jeremy got on his wheel with everyone else behind him.
Now I hadn't pulled yet by the time we got to Culver, but Vince and Todd saw to it to bring the pace up right away after making the left from the light. After we crested, I thought I'd give the segment a good seated sprint to breakaway from the others but expecting to be caught by Campus. This earned me 5th place on the segment, but I guess Andy must have been hauling ass as well given he shared my time.
On Campus, Vince and Todd got ahead of me and they turned it up a little as we headed to Turtle Rock but Todd got confused with the route where we checked up a little before making the right turn. Once we got climbing, we were all pretty much together and started rotating during the climb. Adrian in his infinite wisdom while on his son's bike opted to show his "technique" of sprinting ahead while I was at front at one point only to be reeled in and not offer anyone (me) reprieve from the wind. Sigh.
Aside from Adrian's move as described above, others took their turn and pretty much helped to keep the pace up as we climbed toward Sunnyhill. It wasn't the fastest pace, so I will say it seems somewhat "managed" given that people were still preparing for the upcoming climbs on Shady and Ridgeline. What this reflects is that either people are respecting their fellow riders OR that they're trying to set them up somewhere in the ride. I'd tend to side on the latter knowing the group's "culture."
When we got on the bike trail to go up Shady, the majority was still together, which does exhibit the resilience of the riders that come out. When we went over the first bridge, Adrian opted to try and sprint up the hill, but that's one of my favorite sections to make my way up to the front...so I did. I half thought about trying to break away at that point, but I think Vince was there with me and Todd behind him where I realized it wouldn't be a good idea. They did kindly let me lead them toward the top (HA HA) where Todd saw to it to attack near the crest undisputed. Okay, so I tried to keep up but couldn't at that point.
On the descent, there was still a good group of us together as we made our way off and onto the connecting bike trails. Jeremy opted to enjoy the direct route and just rode on the street to the last bike trail opening, which I'm going to consider as a great option next time to make up ground.
Once on the bike trail beside the 405, I was 4th and was trying to roll up to the front when Todd seemingly wanted to jump back in in front of me relegating me to staying behind him (wink wink). I think Jeremy took the last pull and maybe Todd got under the bridge first, but I'd hardly say it was a sprint as much as just a rotation. I was half trying to recover from Shady and the other half trying to prepare for Ridgeline, so I thought a sprint wouldn't help in either of those situations.
I did end up pushing up to the front as we climbed up toward University to lead for a little bit and relieve Vin who had gotten up front at the time. Vince and Todd ended up getting ahead of me though by the time we got to Ridgeline, and we caught the light and started the climb with Todd leading the way.
Looking down at my speed as we climbed, we were far from how fast we normally climbed but once I got to the front, I knew exactly why. As I mentioned above, that headwind was ridiculous, and it seemed to double our efforts as we made our way up. Vince finished up front after the last section that pitched up, and I was behind Todd watching to see if he was going to jam to the stop sign. It seems he hesitated a bit, but then he took off and Vince and I got behind him as we headed to the Turtle Rock intersection. While I think the three of us could have broken away at that point, we did check up a little bit and the others were so close behind that they were with us again by the time we got to Sunnyhill if not earlier.
As we made our way back onto Shady heading towards Bonita Canyon, Todd was up front but I opted to go ahead and get my pull in early and relieved him. The guys passed me at some point where I latched onto the back to prepare for any sprints to the bike trail opening. As we were heading down, Todd was at the front with Vince behind him and me on Vince's wheel when Jeremy passed to lead anyone to the sprint. Of course, Vince obliged but I was ready for him and took off getting to the bike trail first.
We had regrouped at the light to turn left on Bonita Canyon, but then got separated as we made our way to Turtle Ridge. Mitchell, Vin and I turned from the left turn lane ahead of Todd, Vince, and Jeremy who opted to go across from the crosswalk. As the three of us climbed Turtle Ridge, I thought to myself 1)would it would be a good idea to maintain the breakaway with Vin and Mitchell? 2) try to breakaway on my own or 3) realize it would be no fun trying to get away only to be chased down and caught by Vince, Todd and Jeremy. BAM would typically dictate 1 or 2, but TBAM (T = tactical) was my mode of choice where I'd just wait for them to pass at some point and be able to latch on. They must have been onto me though, because as we got on Summit, I ended up taking the front waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for someone to pass only to have Todd roll up beside me a little past half way up. He didn't pass, however, so HE was the one setting me up for a sprint to the top. Sure enough, after the last side street, off he went where I couldn't keep pace with him. Then, I look to my left half expecting it to be Vince or Jeremy only to see that it was Vin trying to beat me to the top. Nice. I made the u-turn ahead of him though, so next time. :)
The majority of the group managed to regroup at the left turn to Bonita Canyon, and I took the back once the light turned green. Talk about serious accordion effect.... I kept incrementally turning it up thinking I'll latch on, I'll latch on, but it didn't seem like the gap was closing even a little. I had to hit Zone 5 just to be able to latch on by the time we got under the 73.
As we made our way through a couple of the lights, at one point I was up front with Todd behind me where I guess Mitchell ended up getting a flat. Todd and I opted to keep going since others were staying to help. We slowed for the light at MacArthur, so Jaffe was able to roll up behind us. Todd opted to gap us on Ford, but I wasn't too far behind as I was trying to suck up wind enough for a sprint up the Condo. Unfortunately, Todd had to check up for the right turn due to a car, so I ended up sprinting past him early on. Todd's sneaky though, so I did look over my shoulder a couple times just to make sure he hadn't latched on...and he didn't.
When we got on Bison to stop at the MacArthur intersection, Jaffe and Vin rolled up on us and Todd was already preparing me for a sprint. Sure...why not? The lights after MacArthur weren't too cooperative, but once we saw that the 2nd light over the 73 was going to be green, I took off from behind Todd and Vin. Vin did end up rolling beside me at one point but I stayed seated and just kept hammering where we were both pretty close to being neck and neck by the time we got to California. He, however, opted to go straight to keep momentum while I made the right turn and was thinking he got me by the time we got back to the gym. I told him the sprint point ended by the first one to make the turn to Bison (not East Peltason), so ummm...sorry. HA HA.
These BRCM lunch rides are truly an effective way to get a great workout, but they also serve the purpose of being able to test strategies, practice sprints and climbing, etc. It's a mixed bag of pain for sure and one that you can never truly prepare for given how dynamic they can be depending on who makes it out. Gotta love it. Thanks, gents!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Como and Some Extra Credit with Vin and Jaffe
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/51263831 (Como); http://app.strava.com/activities/51263826 (post-Como)
Since I'll be in India in two weeks during Mother's day, I opted to celebrate it early and take my mom to my favorite AYCE sushi joint...Todai at the Westminster mall. Of course, being Filipino I gotta get my money's worth so I interpret "all you can eat" LITERALLY. The nice thing is the place serves sashimi in tray fulls, so three plates later, I'm actually at the point where I'm uncomfortable. Breathing is difficult and walking after even more so. So what does this have to do with cycling?!? Well, THIS was the reason why I would not have been satisfied with just a 32 mile training ride. Thus, regardless of how painful Como was (and it was painful alright), I was going to do another loop no matter how long it took and how hard it was. Period.
I had solicited our team to see who was going to Como, but no one responded where I was pretty certain I was going to be representing Team BRCM solo. Lo and behold, as I'm almost ready to start the ride, I see Jaffe roll up (in his standard blue jersey for Como). Vin ended up rolling up on us as well as he intercepted the peloton from Jeffrey, and he donned BRCM black. I was in the new white.
The air was a little cool at the start so the slow warm up (~16 mph) on Bryan took a while to get me going unlike when I left from Vin's the last time. It was a pretty good sized group today though and it appears a lot came out after racing yesterday in San Luis Rey because I could hear several people talking about it around me. It picked up a little bit on Irvine Blvd but as usual, the intensity increases on the climb up El Toro.
Vin and I were together up until El Toro, but I started to make my way up closer to the front earlier on to avoid having to bridge any gaps from some random surging. I was on the outside though and had to wait until an opportunity presented itself to jump behind someone for some relief. Thankfully, the group stayed together as a whole all the way up to Santa Margarita where the short and long courses split. I said where the short and long courses split.
Less than a handful of guys made the turn to go long, but ended up turning around to come back and do the short course today. Needless to say, there was a LOT of people out there today heading towards Cooks. Immediately, I started to take a bite of humble pie and did what I could to just be within the first half of the group as we kept going toward Cooks. As we got a little closer, I did pick it up and was probably in the top quarter of the group by the base of the climb. I pushed up some more as we started to climb, but I did have to accelerate to bridge some gaps that formed a couple times. After the 2nd time, the group ahead of me wasn't too big but I couldn't stay latched on anymore and started to fall off. I then found myself in between the breakaway and some chase groups. A few guys passed me before the 2nd crest, but I managed to latch onto the next where we managed to reel in the few guys ahead of us. I couldn't see anyone ahead of us after a while, but that's not to say there wasn't anyone else ahead of us. I just couldn't see them if they were.
We had a pretty good group, but I don't think we were working very efficiently. I didn't mind as it gave me some recovery time, but I'm sure we could have gone a lot faster if we had. After a while, our group had grown as we were caught by another chase group making it an even bigger group. Good, more rest time to prepare for Dump.
Once we got to Dump, I was toward the back and I saw the guys ahead start charging. I swung out and passed several guys to make my way toward the front to get to the guys who broke away, but about 3/4 of the way ran out of gas (again...sigh) and started getting passed by others. Fortunately, I was just able to latch on to the last guy who passed me and got pulled up to the top and over. We got stopped at the light over the toll road, and some guys sprinted after where I chased them down but did not get in the sprint as by the time I started to pass, no one was sprinting anymore. HA HA. I ended up leading after that to Jamboree.
At the intersection to turn left on Jamboree, I see Jaffe roll up next to me where I was a little perplexed. I actually expected that Vin would roll up first, but I guess Jaffe had a good day after exchanging some pulls with a guy on a TT bike. Jaffe came with me and we worked on Jamboree to lead the group on some sections as we headed to Portola and ultimately back to the Starbucks. There was a sprint on Jamboree as well after Champion or another street, but I was late for that party as well. HA HA.
22 mph average for the ride was pretty impressive considering how slow we went initially. I was feeling pretty cooked and almost questioned whether a 2nd loop would be a good idea. However, Jaffe and Vin came by my car and were willing to come with me, so back through the canyon the opposite way we went.
I told the guys my goal was to work on some standing climbing and had no plans to breakaway, so for the most part that's exactly what I did. I was trying to hold a good pace that wouldn't be too intense, allow us all to stay together but still allow us to pass people. When we saw some guys ahead of us on Jamboree just after Portola, Vin reminded me that it was okay that they stayed ahead but it wasn't too long before we were making our way past them.
Vin and Jaffe were doing well and we all stayed together through Jamboree and up Dump. They did start to drop a little on Dump but slowly made their way back up to me while I worked on my standing climb. Nice.
Now, I had been content to stay up front and keep the pace moderate to keep us together, but I guess Jaffe started to feel guilty and ended up taking the front to give me a little reprieve from the wind. I actually thought my pace was still pretty good, but who am I to argue if he wants to pull? I didn't hold him out too long though and took the front again all the way to Modjeska. Just before we got to the climb, Jaffe took the front again and I told Vin to get on his wheel while I took a swig of water. I got going after and saw two people up ahead of us, so I opted to pick it up a notch and make my way up to them before we reached the first peak. Unfortunately, Jaffe and Vin were not up for the pace and fell back, but we regrouped at the 2nd peak just before the descent to Cooks.
We brought the pace up some now that we were done with most of the climbing, and Vin broke off to Santa Margarita to go home while Jaffe and I continued on. Jaffe and I rode together to Sand Canyon on Irvine Blvd, and he made his way home from there. I still had to go back to the Starbucks at Tustin Market, so I made the rest of the way back solo always looking for someone to chase down. HA HA
I'm pretty certain all the sushi and other junk I ate was all gone, because by the time I rolled up to my car, I was starving. Good enough. I'm glad Vin and Jaffe came with me as it definitely made it more interesting than riding alone. Thanks, guys! 19.5 mph average not too shabby considering the winds.
Since I'll be in India in two weeks during Mother's day, I opted to celebrate it early and take my mom to my favorite AYCE sushi joint...Todai at the Westminster mall. Of course, being Filipino I gotta get my money's worth so I interpret "all you can eat" LITERALLY. The nice thing is the place serves sashimi in tray fulls, so three plates later, I'm actually at the point where I'm uncomfortable. Breathing is difficult and walking after even more so. So what does this have to do with cycling?!? Well, THIS was the reason why I would not have been satisfied with just a 32 mile training ride. Thus, regardless of how painful Como was (and it was painful alright), I was going to do another loop no matter how long it took and how hard it was. Period.
I had solicited our team to see who was going to Como, but no one responded where I was pretty certain I was going to be representing Team BRCM solo. Lo and behold, as I'm almost ready to start the ride, I see Jaffe roll up (in his standard blue jersey for Como). Vin ended up rolling up on us as well as he intercepted the peloton from Jeffrey, and he donned BRCM black. I was in the new white.
The air was a little cool at the start so the slow warm up (~16 mph) on Bryan took a while to get me going unlike when I left from Vin's the last time. It was a pretty good sized group today though and it appears a lot came out after racing yesterday in San Luis Rey because I could hear several people talking about it around me. It picked up a little bit on Irvine Blvd but as usual, the intensity increases on the climb up El Toro.
Vin and I were together up until El Toro, but I started to make my way up closer to the front earlier on to avoid having to bridge any gaps from some random surging. I was on the outside though and had to wait until an opportunity presented itself to jump behind someone for some relief. Thankfully, the group stayed together as a whole all the way up to Santa Margarita where the short and long courses split. I said where the short and long courses split.
Less than a handful of guys made the turn to go long, but ended up turning around to come back and do the short course today. Needless to say, there was a LOT of people out there today heading towards Cooks. Immediately, I started to take a bite of humble pie and did what I could to just be within the first half of the group as we kept going toward Cooks. As we got a little closer, I did pick it up and was probably in the top quarter of the group by the base of the climb. I pushed up some more as we started to climb, but I did have to accelerate to bridge some gaps that formed a couple times. After the 2nd time, the group ahead of me wasn't too big but I couldn't stay latched on anymore and started to fall off. I then found myself in between the breakaway and some chase groups. A few guys passed me before the 2nd crest, but I managed to latch onto the next where we managed to reel in the few guys ahead of us. I couldn't see anyone ahead of us after a while, but that's not to say there wasn't anyone else ahead of us. I just couldn't see them if they were.
We had a pretty good group, but I don't think we were working very efficiently. I didn't mind as it gave me some recovery time, but I'm sure we could have gone a lot faster if we had. After a while, our group had grown as we were caught by another chase group making it an even bigger group. Good, more rest time to prepare for Dump.
Once we got to Dump, I was toward the back and I saw the guys ahead start charging. I swung out and passed several guys to make my way toward the front to get to the guys who broke away, but about 3/4 of the way ran out of gas (again...sigh) and started getting passed by others. Fortunately, I was just able to latch on to the last guy who passed me and got pulled up to the top and over. We got stopped at the light over the toll road, and some guys sprinted after where I chased them down but did not get in the sprint as by the time I started to pass, no one was sprinting anymore. HA HA. I ended up leading after that to Jamboree.
At the intersection to turn left on Jamboree, I see Jaffe roll up next to me where I was a little perplexed. I actually expected that Vin would roll up first, but I guess Jaffe had a good day after exchanging some pulls with a guy on a TT bike. Jaffe came with me and we worked on Jamboree to lead the group on some sections as we headed to Portola and ultimately back to the Starbucks. There was a sprint on Jamboree as well after Champion or another street, but I was late for that party as well. HA HA.
22 mph average for the ride was pretty impressive considering how slow we went initially. I was feeling pretty cooked and almost questioned whether a 2nd loop would be a good idea. However, Jaffe and Vin came by my car and were willing to come with me, so back through the canyon the opposite way we went.
I told the guys my goal was to work on some standing climbing and had no plans to breakaway, so for the most part that's exactly what I did. I was trying to hold a good pace that wouldn't be too intense, allow us all to stay together but still allow us to pass people. When we saw some guys ahead of us on Jamboree just after Portola, Vin reminded me that it was okay that they stayed ahead but it wasn't too long before we were making our way past them.
Vin and Jaffe were doing well and we all stayed together through Jamboree and up Dump. They did start to drop a little on Dump but slowly made their way back up to me while I worked on my standing climb. Nice.
Now, I had been content to stay up front and keep the pace moderate to keep us together, but I guess Jaffe started to feel guilty and ended up taking the front to give me a little reprieve from the wind. I actually thought my pace was still pretty good, but who am I to argue if he wants to pull? I didn't hold him out too long though and took the front again all the way to Modjeska. Just before we got to the climb, Jaffe took the front again and I told Vin to get on his wheel while I took a swig of water. I got going after and saw two people up ahead of us, so I opted to pick it up a notch and make my way up to them before we reached the first peak. Unfortunately, Jaffe and Vin were not up for the pace and fell back, but we regrouped at the 2nd peak just before the descent to Cooks.
We brought the pace up some now that we were done with most of the climbing, and Vin broke off to Santa Margarita to go home while Jaffe and I continued on. Jaffe and I rode together to Sand Canyon on Irvine Blvd, and he made his way home from there. I still had to go back to the Starbucks at Tustin Market, so I made the rest of the way back solo always looking for someone to chase down. HA HA
I'm pretty certain all the sushi and other junk I ate was all gone, because by the time I rolled up to my car, I was starving. Good enough. I'm glad Vin and Jaffe came with me as it definitely made it more interesting than riding alone. Thanks, guys! 19.5 mph average not too shabby considering the winds.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Lunch Ride - Yup...Vince is Back
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/50680724
Last Tuesday, Todd had added a comment to my blog indicating that Vince was back. Based on today's ride, I can pretty much attest to that. Although we saw Todd today in the locker room, he was saving it for the TT tonight at GP, so I thought with the small numbers we had (Vince, Vin, Hiroshi, Mitchell and me), it shouldn't be too nutty. In typical Vince fashion though, he kept us honest for sure.
Even at the beginning of the ride, I was thinking it shouldn't be too fast, but the moment we turned right on E. Peltason, I felt like I was already struggling to keep up. Hiroshi took off up the hill followed by the others except Vin, who opted to stay behind me. When I tried to get on it, I looked up only to realize I wasn't making any ground on them. Damn! I talked to Vin after the ride and told him about that part, and he thought I was just chillin'. Nope. Nice work, Hiroshi!
Due to the above, I didn't even want to get up front until after we got on Anteater, but I knew I had to or Vince would let me know about it in the locker room. HA HA. The truth is he may or may not, but I'm always thinking that way when I ride at lunch.
We all managed to stay together on Bonita Canyon and up San Miguel where we opted to cross the street rather than making the left turn to Spyglass. Vince, having led up San Miguel jumped ahead of everyone right away on Spyglass, and had an early gap. I ended up catching and passing him, but only temporarily where he passed me before we got to the top. We were alone at that point, so I was content to just ride with him for the rest of the ride if the others didn't catch us at a light.
When we got to San Joaquin, however, Vince opted to make it interesting and performed a TLB so I guess the riding together business was pretty much out at that point. It made for a better workout though. By the time the light turned green, Mitchell and Vin just caught it and immediately started up the hill ahead of me. I made my way past Vin first, and continued to work until I made my way past Mitchell, but Mitchell latched on when I did. I was glad since I knew I could benefit from him coming with me to chase Vince down.
Vince, however, wasn't going to make it easy for us though and pretty much held a good gap on us solo all the way through Pelican and most of the way on PCH. We started closing as we neared Poppy and just came up behind him on the left turn light. Without Mitchell, I'd have never gotten it done alone for sure.
Riding through CDM was uneventful for the three of us, and once we got on PCH, we started working together again all the way to Jamboree. I think we passed a couple riders on the way there, but no one was willing to jump in and join us.
As we made our way onto Back Bay, I had the front and saw a guy ahead of us looking back every once in a while as we made our way toward him. He was sitting up initially where I thought he was on a road bike, but as we started to approach him, you see him drop down onto his aero bars and start going for it on his TT bike. I chased him down though and latched us three onto the back of his rear wheel just a little after entering Back Bay. When he saw us behind him though, I think he picked it up more but we stayed on him like bees on honey, white on rice, BAM on beer (or vice versa), etc.
TT guy checked up a little as we approached San Joaquin where I thought he was done, so I started to pass him only to have him drop back down on the aeros and go for it again. Vince was ready for him though and latched onto his rear wheel immediately but it took me a little bit just to be able to do so. When I did, I looked back and didn't see Mitchell behind me anymore. Looking down at my speed, we were bouncing in and out of 31 mph, so props to TT guy for the effort. Somewhere in the middle of the 2nd Back Bay section though, he either had enough and popped off or realized he couldn't drop us so he rolled off. Vince and I swung around and kept going on our own keeing the speed up where TT guy didn't end up coming with us. We exchanged pulls and when we got to the wall, Vince darted up it ahead of me where I couldn't close the gap.
After we got to the top and crossed, Vince was still slightly ahead of me on Jamboree, and I thought for sure I'd do okay and at the very least latch on to his rear wheel. Nope...he kept me off of him all the way up and to the left turn lane to Bison. Kudos. Yep...this is the Vince that's back that Todd was talking about. (Apply love/hate sentiments here. - for clarification, this in BAM just means mad respect).
We both rode on Bison, and I was certain he would try to make me his son for the final sprint to California, so I took off as soon as I knew I could cross the 2nd light over the 73 with a green. The funny thing is I thought I could hear his bike behind me, so I pedaled my ass off only to look back and realize he didn't follow me. Yep...another moment I probably looked like an idiot to onlookers. I'm used to it.
Great workout today, gents. My legs are fried.
Last Tuesday, Todd had added a comment to my blog indicating that Vince was back. Based on today's ride, I can pretty much attest to that. Although we saw Todd today in the locker room, he was saving it for the TT tonight at GP, so I thought with the small numbers we had (Vince, Vin, Hiroshi, Mitchell and me), it shouldn't be too nutty. In typical Vince fashion though, he kept us honest for sure.
Even at the beginning of the ride, I was thinking it shouldn't be too fast, but the moment we turned right on E. Peltason, I felt like I was already struggling to keep up. Hiroshi took off up the hill followed by the others except Vin, who opted to stay behind me. When I tried to get on it, I looked up only to realize I wasn't making any ground on them. Damn! I talked to Vin after the ride and told him about that part, and he thought I was just chillin'. Nope. Nice work, Hiroshi!
Due to the above, I didn't even want to get up front until after we got on Anteater, but I knew I had to or Vince would let me know about it in the locker room. HA HA. The truth is he may or may not, but I'm always thinking that way when I ride at lunch.
We all managed to stay together on Bonita Canyon and up San Miguel where we opted to cross the street rather than making the left turn to Spyglass. Vince, having led up San Miguel jumped ahead of everyone right away on Spyglass, and had an early gap. I ended up catching and passing him, but only temporarily where he passed me before we got to the top. We were alone at that point, so I was content to just ride with him for the rest of the ride if the others didn't catch us at a light.
When we got to San Joaquin, however, Vince opted to make it interesting and performed a TLB so I guess the riding together business was pretty much out at that point. It made for a better workout though. By the time the light turned green, Mitchell and Vin just caught it and immediately started up the hill ahead of me. I made my way past Vin first, and continued to work until I made my way past Mitchell, but Mitchell latched on when I did. I was glad since I knew I could benefit from him coming with me to chase Vince down.
Vince, however, wasn't going to make it easy for us though and pretty much held a good gap on us solo all the way through Pelican and most of the way on PCH. We started closing as we neared Poppy and just came up behind him on the left turn light. Without Mitchell, I'd have never gotten it done alone for sure.
Riding through CDM was uneventful for the three of us, and once we got on PCH, we started working together again all the way to Jamboree. I think we passed a couple riders on the way there, but no one was willing to jump in and join us.
As we made our way onto Back Bay, I had the front and saw a guy ahead of us looking back every once in a while as we made our way toward him. He was sitting up initially where I thought he was on a road bike, but as we started to approach him, you see him drop down onto his aero bars and start going for it on his TT bike. I chased him down though and latched us three onto the back of his rear wheel just a little after entering Back Bay. When he saw us behind him though, I think he picked it up more but we stayed on him like bees on honey, white on rice, BAM on beer (or vice versa), etc.
TT guy checked up a little as we approached San Joaquin where I thought he was done, so I started to pass him only to have him drop back down on the aeros and go for it again. Vince was ready for him though and latched onto his rear wheel immediately but it took me a little bit just to be able to do so. When I did, I looked back and didn't see Mitchell behind me anymore. Looking down at my speed, we were bouncing in and out of 31 mph, so props to TT guy for the effort. Somewhere in the middle of the 2nd Back Bay section though, he either had enough and popped off or realized he couldn't drop us so he rolled off. Vince and I swung around and kept going on our own keeing the speed up where TT guy didn't end up coming with us. We exchanged pulls and when we got to the wall, Vince darted up it ahead of me where I couldn't close the gap.
After we got to the top and crossed, Vince was still slightly ahead of me on Jamboree, and I thought for sure I'd do okay and at the very least latch on to his rear wheel. Nope...he kept me off of him all the way up and to the left turn lane to Bison. Kudos. Yep...this is the Vince that's back that Todd was talking about. (Apply love/hate sentiments here. - for clarification, this in BAM just means mad respect).
We both rode on Bison, and I was certain he would try to make me his son for the final sprint to California, so I took off as soon as I knew I could cross the 2nd light over the 73 with a green. The funny thing is I thought I could hear his bike behind me, so I pedaled my ass off only to look back and realize he didn't follow me. Yep...another moment I probably looked like an idiot to onlookers. I'm used to it.
Great workout today, gents. My legs are fried.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Orchard Hills Revisited with Shannon
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/50375609
Unlike the last time I did this ride, which was my first time out, I actually felt okay albeit just a little hungry. I downed a Tiger's Milk bar just before leaving from work, so I was hoping that it would hold me for the length of this training ride. If I knew it was going to be as fast as it was tonight I would have downed a whole box of them...followed up with a blood transfusion...and some EPO. Obviously, I kid about the box of Tiger's Milk.
Anyway, I met up with Shannon on Portola a little earlier than expected, so I guess he was ready to go already. We were rolling right away, and we rolled up to about 4 riders wearing Two Hub jersey riding a bunch of bling. They looked Filipino, and I mentioned to Shannon how our culture tends to be flashy. I wouldn't know though. HA HA.
As we started up the first loop, we passed a couple riders and one of them noticed our BRCM jersey. As we passed, we hear "Broadcom?" Then he proceeded to call my name. Wha? It turned out to be someone who knows me from Strava but someone I haven't meant before. His name was Steve and he actually is a member of the Rokform team (previously Sho-Air) and rides with Sol on occasion. Interesting how Strava can bring people together. Coincidentally, he once applied for an internship at BRCM in the controller group where I work. Small world. We rode with Steve and his bud for a bit, but they were going a little faster than we were wanting to go, so they rode ahead of us while we finished up our 2nd warm up lap.
When we got to the wait point at the top, there were some racers waiting up there including Trevor George himself. If you don't know Trevor, he's someone we knew about from the crits who is ridiculously fast. His narrow build with big quads may have something to do with that...quite intimidating I must say. For Strava followers, Trevor also has the KOM for the Orchard Hills loop so I knew it was going to get nutty fast.
When we got going, it wasn't too bad trying to keep up since it was mostly downhill. However, once we made the right on Culver to hit the climb, this is where it started to get crazy. For the first lap, Shannon was definitely mixing it up early on, but I waited a little bit more just to get accustomed to the pace and make sure I don't pop off right away. I actually got pushed up to the front once or twice as well, so I'll have to figure out how to avoid that the next time around.
On the 2nd lap, it was still fast and I managed to stay with the pack as well with Shannon still favoring the front. However, after that, it was just impossible. It was tough holding on, and when a guy in a Simple Green popped off in front of me, it was pretty much pointless to close the gap. I wouldn't fall off too far, but I was definitely not able to close the gap. It was only because of the light on Portola that I kept catching the fast group.
There were a lot of people out there today, and some riding across the bike lane here and there making it challenging just to get around them. I think they need to find a more leisurely area to train on if you ask me just because it seemed a little scary at some points.
The rest of the laps were pretty much the same...ride with the fast crew up until Culver, hold on for as long as I can, pop off, and either work with others to get up to the top or just set up my own pace so I can plan to hopefully catch the others once back on Portola. Eventually, I was able to make my way up to Shannon again where at that point, I mentioned to him that I was done and ready to go since I had an appointment at 7 (sold my motorcycle). He did better than me but was also done for the night as well.
After some reflection, I think it was disrespectful to have come out on this training ride after having done a fast paced lunch ride where I deserved the abuse. The funny thing is I also wonder if I had skipped the lunch ride whether there would be any difference in the outcome. The guys out there are definitely FAST, so I may have been able to hang in there more for maybe one additional lap or so if that.
Shannon did great but also thought he should get in more lunch rides if he thinks he wants to improve for this training loop. Can you say, "uh oh?" I guess our lunch rides are going to get even nuttier sooner than later. Great.
Thanks for coming out, Shannon!
Unlike the last time I did this ride, which was my first time out, I actually felt okay albeit just a little hungry. I downed a Tiger's Milk bar just before leaving from work, so I was hoping that it would hold me for the length of this training ride. If I knew it was going to be as fast as it was tonight I would have downed a whole box of them...followed up with a blood transfusion...and some EPO. Obviously, I kid about the box of Tiger's Milk.
Anyway, I met up with Shannon on Portola a little earlier than expected, so I guess he was ready to go already. We were rolling right away, and we rolled up to about 4 riders wearing Two Hub jersey riding a bunch of bling. They looked Filipino, and I mentioned to Shannon how our culture tends to be flashy. I wouldn't know though. HA HA.
As we started up the first loop, we passed a couple riders and one of them noticed our BRCM jersey. As we passed, we hear "Broadcom?" Then he proceeded to call my name. Wha? It turned out to be someone who knows me from Strava but someone I haven't meant before. His name was Steve and he actually is a member of the Rokform team (previously Sho-Air) and rides with Sol on occasion. Interesting how Strava can bring people together. Coincidentally, he once applied for an internship at BRCM in the controller group where I work. Small world. We rode with Steve and his bud for a bit, but they were going a little faster than we were wanting to go, so they rode ahead of us while we finished up our 2nd warm up lap.
When we got to the wait point at the top, there were some racers waiting up there including Trevor George himself. If you don't know Trevor, he's someone we knew about from the crits who is ridiculously fast. His narrow build with big quads may have something to do with that...quite intimidating I must say. For Strava followers, Trevor also has the KOM for the Orchard Hills loop so I knew it was going to get nutty fast.
When we got going, it wasn't too bad trying to keep up since it was mostly downhill. However, once we made the right on Culver to hit the climb, this is where it started to get crazy. For the first lap, Shannon was definitely mixing it up early on, but I waited a little bit more just to get accustomed to the pace and make sure I don't pop off right away. I actually got pushed up to the front once or twice as well, so I'll have to figure out how to avoid that the next time around.
On the 2nd lap, it was still fast and I managed to stay with the pack as well with Shannon still favoring the front. However, after that, it was just impossible. It was tough holding on, and when a guy in a Simple Green popped off in front of me, it was pretty much pointless to close the gap. I wouldn't fall off too far, but I was definitely not able to close the gap. It was only because of the light on Portola that I kept catching the fast group.
There were a lot of people out there today, and some riding across the bike lane here and there making it challenging just to get around them. I think they need to find a more leisurely area to train on if you ask me just because it seemed a little scary at some points.
The rest of the laps were pretty much the same...ride with the fast crew up until Culver, hold on for as long as I can, pop off, and either work with others to get up to the top or just set up my own pace so I can plan to hopefully catch the others once back on Portola. Eventually, I was able to make my way up to Shannon again where at that point, I mentioned to him that I was done and ready to go since I had an appointment at 7 (sold my motorcycle). He did better than me but was also done for the night as well.
After some reflection, I think it was disrespectful to have come out on this training ride after having done a fast paced lunch ride where I deserved the abuse. The funny thing is I also wonder if I had skipped the lunch ride whether there would be any difference in the outcome. The guys out there are definitely FAST, so I may have been able to hang in there more for maybe one additional lap or so if that.
Shannon did great but also thought he should get in more lunch rides if he thinks he wants to improve for this training loop. Can you say, "uh oh?" I guess our lunch rides are going to get even nuttier sooner than later. Great.
Thanks for coming out, Shannon!
Lunch Ride - NPC Horseshoe Double BB Route (Hodgepodge Jersey Day)
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/50326335
Attendees: Vince, Galen, Todd, Vin, Adrian, Jaffe, Mitchell, Jeremy and Paul B.
It was a good sized group today to welcome Todd back from his vacation in Arizona. Todd told me yesterday before he took out his TT bike that he wasn't feeling 100% as he's still feeling the effects of the flue he had, but then uploads a 22.6 mph average ride to Strava subsequently. Ummm...does it say sucker on my forehead? I don't think anyone else bought it either.
I have training plans later with Shannon at Orchard Hills, so I announced my plan to ride the draft the whole time during lunch so I can save some and not have Shannon chew me out for wasting his time. HA HA. If that sounds easy enough though, I'd beg to differ. When you have all of those guys who came out today show up, you can bet you'll still get a great workout...if you can keep up.
The group was moving at a good pace through the campus and up Anteater reeling in one of the BRCM guys who rides alone that took off ahead of us pretty easily. Paul B. also opted to take off ahead of us, but we were able to catch up to him by Bonita Canyon. The group was pretty much together by the bottom of NPC before the climb, so once the light turned green everyone pretty much knew to line up behind Todd. He sets a great pace up hills after all...IF you can keep up.
Todd led us past one guy who was on a steel bike and climbing off the seat, but I guess this guy opted to pick it up and jump on as we made our way under and past the 73 underpass. Todd was still holding a good pace and reduced the number who were able to follow to a smaller few. I guess steel bike guy wanted to pick it up more though and ended up passing with some authority seemingly with the intent to breakaway...at least that's what registers in the minds of a BAM. Although Galen was the only one to wear BRCM, we still had to represent...so I took off after him and jumped on his rear wheel. I think Vince and Todd were behind me when I did. As we started getting closer to the top, we returned the favor and accelerated past steel bike guy snapping him off all in the spirit of friendly competition. ;) Todd wanted to duel it out near the top, so I tried but could barely hang on as he and Vince both passed me before San Joaquin.
As we made our way to the horseshoe, it was just the three of us but the others, with the help of Galen I'm sure, reeled us back in on that road. I did end up taking a pull just before the end of the horseshoe just to help lead anyone out in case they wanted to charge this segment, but from what I could see we weren't able to challenge for the top spot (previously mine but recently stolen. HA HA).
As we descended down San Joaquin and made our way to Jamboree, we eventually were able to regroup in full. Paul B. was even riding with us at that time, and doing well in the line. Jaffe just caught us as we were planning to make the left on Jamboree with Paul B. opting to go straight to hit Back Bay.
Going through Back Bay was pretty intense, and it looked like everyone was doing their part to help keep the pace up...okay, everyone but me. I was hoping the winds would be in favor of a good BB run, but there were sections that still seemed windy and not conducive to a KOM-worthy effort. When we got closer to the end (the wall), Todd and Jeremy or Galen charged it, so I came around just so they don't take off without me. HAHA. I did get to hear Vince audibly express his disapproval of those who opted to slow down before the wall.
Getting across East Bluff was tough due to traffic, so we almost rode all the way to Jamboree on the opposite side of the road waiting for an opening. Jeremy had snuck through a small opening though and opted to keep going ahead of us. I stayed with GTJ since I knew he doesn't take well to guys breaking away.
On the Jamboree climb, Jeremy was actually doing very well and Todd wasn't closing the gap too quickly likely to setup him up later on. I was climbing off the seat and matching Todd's pace, but when I sat down and dropped gears, I felt I had enough to reel Jeremy in so I took off. It was kind of a cheap move to do on a teammate, but seriously, this would NOT be the first time something like that happened on our lunch ride. I did catch Jeremy and opted to latch on and he pretty much kept us ahead of the others all the way to the top and down the other side. When we were descending, however, I saw Todd and Vince fast approaching, so at that point I had a decision to make: 1) help Jeremy break away or 2) wait. #1 would not have satisfied my agenda for lunch and would likely have resulted in failure anyway. By San Joaquin, the 4 of us were all together again.
When we were going back on Back Bay drive, I was still bringing up the rear but as we neared the gate, Vince tried to wave me up to get into the paceline. I responded "I don't want to take away from your workout" and let him get back in ahead of me. It worked!
The three guys rotated through Back Bay, but at one point Jeremy said to go ahead. As we were already half way through, I figured I'll go ahead and take a pull. I would say it wasn't one of the shortest pulls I've ever done (HA HA) but that would be the last one for that segment. Jeremy did end up getting back in the rotation, but I guess for having missed one, Vince decided to hold him out (or set him up) for the final charge up the wall. Jeremy did great though keeping the pace up, so he's definitely swinging back around to what we saw last year. Vince rotated up eventually and then began to sprint but Todd and I were just able to stay with him. As we started climbing the wall, there were riders heading down and it was a little sketchy. Todd ended up getting to the top first, but Vince and I were right there and back on the line once we got on the sidewalk.
Todd led us all the way past the bridge on the trail beside University, but I did relieve him and took the front after. Vince jumped before we got to California to be first to the light.
Going up California, Vince and Todd were talking about my "move" on Jamboree, so having felt guilty decided to go ahead and lead us up. I was holding a pretty good pace for most of the way up, and seeing that the Bison light was green, Todd swung around and accelerated past me to tow me through the intersection and complete the ride with a 22.2 mph average according to Strava (22.5 according to Garmin Connect). In any case, it was FAST!
I did confirm with Shannon afterwards that we still have plans to go to Orchard Hills tonight, so ummm...yay? Just kidding. Expect another write-up for that later.
Thanks for coming out, gents!
Attendees: Vince, Galen, Todd, Vin, Adrian, Jaffe, Mitchell, Jeremy and Paul B.
It was a good sized group today to welcome Todd back from his vacation in Arizona. Todd told me yesterday before he took out his TT bike that he wasn't feeling 100% as he's still feeling the effects of the flue he had, but then uploads a 22.6 mph average ride to Strava subsequently. Ummm...does it say sucker on my forehead? I don't think anyone else bought it either.
I have training plans later with Shannon at Orchard Hills, so I announced my plan to ride the draft the whole time during lunch so I can save some and not have Shannon chew me out for wasting his time. HA HA. If that sounds easy enough though, I'd beg to differ. When you have all of those guys who came out today show up, you can bet you'll still get a great workout...if you can keep up.
The group was moving at a good pace through the campus and up Anteater reeling in one of the BRCM guys who rides alone that took off ahead of us pretty easily. Paul B. also opted to take off ahead of us, but we were able to catch up to him by Bonita Canyon. The group was pretty much together by the bottom of NPC before the climb, so once the light turned green everyone pretty much knew to line up behind Todd. He sets a great pace up hills after all...IF you can keep up.
Todd led us past one guy who was on a steel bike and climbing off the seat, but I guess this guy opted to pick it up and jump on as we made our way under and past the 73 underpass. Todd was still holding a good pace and reduced the number who were able to follow to a smaller few. I guess steel bike guy wanted to pick it up more though and ended up passing with some authority seemingly with the intent to breakaway...at least that's what registers in the minds of a BAM. Although Galen was the only one to wear BRCM, we still had to represent...so I took off after him and jumped on his rear wheel. I think Vince and Todd were behind me when I did. As we started getting closer to the top, we returned the favor and accelerated past steel bike guy snapping him off all in the spirit of friendly competition. ;) Todd wanted to duel it out near the top, so I tried but could barely hang on as he and Vince both passed me before San Joaquin.
As we made our way to the horseshoe, it was just the three of us but the others, with the help of Galen I'm sure, reeled us back in on that road. I did end up taking a pull just before the end of the horseshoe just to help lead anyone out in case they wanted to charge this segment, but from what I could see we weren't able to challenge for the top spot (previously mine but recently stolen. HA HA).
As we descended down San Joaquin and made our way to Jamboree, we eventually were able to regroup in full. Paul B. was even riding with us at that time, and doing well in the line. Jaffe just caught us as we were planning to make the left on Jamboree with Paul B. opting to go straight to hit Back Bay.
Going through Back Bay was pretty intense, and it looked like everyone was doing their part to help keep the pace up...okay, everyone but me. I was hoping the winds would be in favor of a good BB run, but there were sections that still seemed windy and not conducive to a KOM-worthy effort. When we got closer to the end (the wall), Todd and Jeremy or Galen charged it, so I came around just so they don't take off without me. HAHA. I did get to hear Vince audibly express his disapproval of those who opted to slow down before the wall.
Getting across East Bluff was tough due to traffic, so we almost rode all the way to Jamboree on the opposite side of the road waiting for an opening. Jeremy had snuck through a small opening though and opted to keep going ahead of us. I stayed with GTJ since I knew he doesn't take well to guys breaking away.
On the Jamboree climb, Jeremy was actually doing very well and Todd wasn't closing the gap too quickly likely to setup him up later on. I was climbing off the seat and matching Todd's pace, but when I sat down and dropped gears, I felt I had enough to reel Jeremy in so I took off. It was kind of a cheap move to do on a teammate, but seriously, this would NOT be the first time something like that happened on our lunch ride. I did catch Jeremy and opted to latch on and he pretty much kept us ahead of the others all the way to the top and down the other side. When we were descending, however, I saw Todd and Vince fast approaching, so at that point I had a decision to make: 1) help Jeremy break away or 2) wait. #1 would not have satisfied my agenda for lunch and would likely have resulted in failure anyway. By San Joaquin, the 4 of us were all together again.
When we were going back on Back Bay drive, I was still bringing up the rear but as we neared the gate, Vince tried to wave me up to get into the paceline. I responded "I don't want to take away from your workout" and let him get back in ahead of me. It worked!
The three guys rotated through Back Bay, but at one point Jeremy said to go ahead. As we were already half way through, I figured I'll go ahead and take a pull. I would say it wasn't one of the shortest pulls I've ever done (HA HA) but that would be the last one for that segment. Jeremy did end up getting back in the rotation, but I guess for having missed one, Vince decided to hold him out (or set him up) for the final charge up the wall. Jeremy did great though keeping the pace up, so he's definitely swinging back around to what we saw last year. Vince rotated up eventually and then began to sprint but Todd and I were just able to stay with him. As we started climbing the wall, there were riders heading down and it was a little sketchy. Todd ended up getting to the top first, but Vince and I were right there and back on the line once we got on the sidewalk.
Todd led us all the way past the bridge on the trail beside University, but I did relieve him and took the front after. Vince jumped before we got to California to be first to the light.
Going up California, Vince and Todd were talking about my "move" on Jamboree, so having felt guilty decided to go ahead and lead us up. I was holding a pretty good pace for most of the way up, and seeing that the Bison light was green, Todd swung around and accelerated past me to tow me through the intersection and complete the ride with a 22.2 mph average according to Strava (22.5 according to Garmin Connect). In any case, it was FAST!
I did confirm with Shannon afterwards that we still have plans to go to Orchard Hills tonight, so ummm...yay? Just kidding. Expect another write-up for that later.
Thanks for coming out, gents!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Pedal for the Nation Charity Ride - Team of One
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/49766934
This is a fundraiser ride to help build schools for underprivileged children in the Philippines...where I'm from. This official name of this ride is Sikad Ng Bayan, which is tagalog (native Philippine dialect) for Pedal for the Nation. I try to do this ride regularly to pay homage to my origin (3rd time so far), but I missed last year due to a schedule conflict. I'm glad I made it out today though as I got to meet up with some friends from where I grew up in San Diego. They ride as part of a group called the Mira Mesa Cycling Club (MMCC). I had tried to get others on our team to join me previously, but this year I had pretty much expected to do it alone again. At least I got to ride with MMCC.
It's been so windy the last few weeks that I was a little worried it would continue through today. While it was still pretty windy in some sections, it did appear to have calmed down noticeably where it wasn't too rough today...finally! The temperature was actually a little cool at the start but it was pretty nice out there otherwise. I had gotten back before it started to get real warm (80s).
Although I ate like crap on Friday night (my wife loves to feed me), I was still content to just ride in the peloton throughout the ride. I figure with 63 miles and a trek through the canyon, I would likely burn enough calories to offset my previous night's dietary recklessness. That's 3+ hours of riding after all.
When we were riding out, the pace was decent on the bike trails. When we got on Lincoln, it seemed to slow down a bit but it wasn't too bad. When I looked up to see who was up front, I noticed it was this big guy who was pretty muscular but probably weighed about 210-220 lbs. We had ended up running into another group on E. Santiago and for some reason, we sat behind them as they went even a slower. When I saw the big guy come out of the line and start pushing up again, I decided I would help him to keep the pace up to a "respectable" level. HA HA. I guess when I got up front though, I gapped the group a little up a hill as we made our way to Cannon. I saw another group up ahead and I was just trying to close the gap.
Now I hadn't paid attention to the route change they made, but apparently they changed it to go over Cannon toward Chapman as opposed to going straight and ending up on Jamboree. I hadn't really planned for a climb that steep, so when I made the right turn onto Chapman, I was interested in just finding a pace that I could keep steady on my standard crank bike. I ended up closing in on the group who had made the turn ahead of me, and then started pushing up to the front. In doing so, I turned and noticed another rider latch on to my rear wheel, which to me was cool. Then I saw a guy who I remember mixing it up with on GMR on one of our training rides before, and he started to make his way by me. I pushed it a little more and started to pull ahead of him again only to have him try it again near the top. When he did, I dropped to my shortest gear and just spun it up and broke him off before we got to the top. From that point on, the type A switch was flipped and I was just wanting to get it done.
I got to Chapman and got the green light ahead of the others behind me. I then was just in chase mode from here and started reeling rider after rider in. I passed riders near the top of Chapman, going up dump, and on the following descent waiting to see if anyone would latch on and no one. I kept reeling in riders and past the SAG after Silverado just as some other riders were just pulling in. When I got to Modjeska, I saw a few more riders and made my way past them too. One guy, however, was able to keep me off up the climb to the first crest before descending down to Cooks. I set him up for a pass by the 2nd and final crest and past him with authority where he just couldn't latch on. BAM! HA HA.
I descended and past a couple other riders but then got stopped at a light after Cooks. This allowed the guy I past on the 2nd crest catch up to me, and he latched on for the descent down to Trabuco. He didn't have his bib on but confirmed he was also a part of the ride, so I thought it'd be cool to have someone to ride with. He was saying he wasn't as strong, but he'd do what he can...so I said cool. He did take some short pulls, but stayed in the draft mostly otherwise. We ended up splitting up on Jamboree where he opted to wait for his friend, so from this point on I was on my own.
I ended up making my way back following the well marked course and didn't see any other 63 mile riders ahead of me. I saw some of the shorter course riders though but made my way past them without anyone wanting to work with me. Oh well. When I got back to the finish, the lady asked what route I was part of and I told her the 63. She mentioned to me I was the first one back from that route, and by looking at those who were back (not a lot), I believed her. Let's just say you can tell that those who were there just didn't seem like they can do a 20 mph average 63 miler. HA HA
I rinsed off and changed by my car and watched to see the riders coming in. I didn't see anyone come in right away, so I just sat in my car having a cold one hoping to see someone I recognized. When i didn't see anyone, I opted to just go ahead and eat by myself. The Filipino cuisine was tops and was a great way to top the ride since I was starved. I only brought two gels with me and 2 shotblok cubes, so I was starving! After I ate, however, I was good to go.
Since the ride was well organized and the food was tops, I'll be doing this ride again next year for sure. Maybe I'll take it easy for that one. Maybe.
This is a fundraiser ride to help build schools for underprivileged children in the Philippines...where I'm from. This official name of this ride is Sikad Ng Bayan, which is tagalog (native Philippine dialect) for Pedal for the Nation. I try to do this ride regularly to pay homage to my origin (3rd time so far), but I missed last year due to a schedule conflict. I'm glad I made it out today though as I got to meet up with some friends from where I grew up in San Diego. They ride as part of a group called the Mira Mesa Cycling Club (MMCC). I had tried to get others on our team to join me previously, but this year I had pretty much expected to do it alone again. At least I got to ride with MMCC.
It's been so windy the last few weeks that I was a little worried it would continue through today. While it was still pretty windy in some sections, it did appear to have calmed down noticeably where it wasn't too rough today...finally! The temperature was actually a little cool at the start but it was pretty nice out there otherwise. I had gotten back before it started to get real warm (80s).
Although I ate like crap on Friday night (my wife loves to feed me), I was still content to just ride in the peloton throughout the ride. I figure with 63 miles and a trek through the canyon, I would likely burn enough calories to offset my previous night's dietary recklessness. That's 3+ hours of riding after all.
When we were riding out, the pace was decent on the bike trails. When we got on Lincoln, it seemed to slow down a bit but it wasn't too bad. When I looked up to see who was up front, I noticed it was this big guy who was pretty muscular but probably weighed about 210-220 lbs. We had ended up running into another group on E. Santiago and for some reason, we sat behind them as they went even a slower. When I saw the big guy come out of the line and start pushing up again, I decided I would help him to keep the pace up to a "respectable" level. HA HA. I guess when I got up front though, I gapped the group a little up a hill as we made our way to Cannon. I saw another group up ahead and I was just trying to close the gap.
Now I hadn't paid attention to the route change they made, but apparently they changed it to go over Cannon toward Chapman as opposed to going straight and ending up on Jamboree. I hadn't really planned for a climb that steep, so when I made the right turn onto Chapman, I was interested in just finding a pace that I could keep steady on my standard crank bike. I ended up closing in on the group who had made the turn ahead of me, and then started pushing up to the front. In doing so, I turned and noticed another rider latch on to my rear wheel, which to me was cool. Then I saw a guy who I remember mixing it up with on GMR on one of our training rides before, and he started to make his way by me. I pushed it a little more and started to pull ahead of him again only to have him try it again near the top. When he did, I dropped to my shortest gear and just spun it up and broke him off before we got to the top. From that point on, the type A switch was flipped and I was just wanting to get it done.
I got to Chapman and got the green light ahead of the others behind me. I then was just in chase mode from here and started reeling rider after rider in. I passed riders near the top of Chapman, going up dump, and on the following descent waiting to see if anyone would latch on and no one. I kept reeling in riders and past the SAG after Silverado just as some other riders were just pulling in. When I got to Modjeska, I saw a few more riders and made my way past them too. One guy, however, was able to keep me off up the climb to the first crest before descending down to Cooks. I set him up for a pass by the 2nd and final crest and past him with authority where he just couldn't latch on. BAM! HA HA.
I descended and past a couple other riders but then got stopped at a light after Cooks. This allowed the guy I past on the 2nd crest catch up to me, and he latched on for the descent down to Trabuco. He didn't have his bib on but confirmed he was also a part of the ride, so I thought it'd be cool to have someone to ride with. He was saying he wasn't as strong, but he'd do what he can...so I said cool. He did take some short pulls, but stayed in the draft mostly otherwise. We ended up splitting up on Jamboree where he opted to wait for his friend, so from this point on I was on my own.
I ended up making my way back following the well marked course and didn't see any other 63 mile riders ahead of me. I saw some of the shorter course riders though but made my way past them without anyone wanting to work with me. Oh well. When I got back to the finish, the lady asked what route I was part of and I told her the 63. She mentioned to me I was the first one back from that route, and by looking at those who were back (not a lot), I believed her. Let's just say you can tell that those who were there just didn't seem like they can do a 20 mph average 63 miler. HA HA
I rinsed off and changed by my car and watched to see the riders coming in. I didn't see anyone come in right away, so I just sat in my car having a cold one hoping to see someone I recognized. When i didn't see anyone, I opted to just go ahead and eat by myself. The Filipino cuisine was tops and was a great way to top the ride since I was starved. I only brought two gels with me and 2 shotblok cubes, so I was starving! After I ate, however, I was good to go.
Since the ride was well organized and the food was tops, I'll be doing this ride again next year for sure. Maybe I'll take it easy for that one. Maybe.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Lunch Ride - Strava Can Suck It
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/49463072
So yesterday, I had this epiphany that more people may want to come out on a lunch ride if there were specific Strava segments they could move up on or at a minimum at least improve their existing time. The premise behind this was based on a series of recent "Uh Oh" e-mails indicating that someone either stole one of our KOMs or tied it. Coincidentally, I received yet another one of these e-mail after planning this ride. Unfortunately, it did not bring out the numbers I was hoping in order to tackle designated segments, but one original BAMMER decided to come back out and join us: Andy! He looked like he was in good form and hopefully will be joining us more often. The rest of the crew out today were Vince, Vin, Jaffe and Mitchell.
So the plan was to attack the Back Bay segments as well as those on Bonita Canyon, but unfortunately, Mother Nature does not look at Weather.com. I was hoping for some good NE or NNE winds to help push us through them, but if anything I think we faced headwinds in both sections that made it unrealistic to even try. That's not to say we wouldn't push through them or anything, but we definitely had no expectations of achieving any medal glory.
We did start out mellow as planned, and I hoped to stay in the back until we got to Back Bay since I was on my TT bike. The reasoning here would be that if I pushed up to the front immediately, it may string out our group right away and we wouldn't be able to take advantage of a group effort to achieve a good segment run. On the way down California, however, just coasting down that road had me up front already, so I made an effort to stay in the back once we got on the bike trail. Vince was just ahead of me, and Andy in front of him. We let Vin, Mitchell and Jaffe set the pace so that they, too, can contribute to the BB run vs. being spent already by the time we got there. It all seemed like a good idea despite already feeling that the wind would be limiting factor, but Andy having dropped his bottle pretty much scattered the group immediately. Vince and I checked up to wait, but the others pushed ahead and didn't even slow down despite me calling out to wait. Sigh.
Andy had been able to catch up before Eastbluff and even got in front of me before Back Bay, but Jaffe and Mitchell had already dropped in while Vin lingered near the top as we approached the gate. As we rounded, Vince gave the GO and I went ahead and pushed up front to chase Jaffe and Mitchell down. I did have to avoid a white Nissan at the beginning of the drop, but everyone else managed to clear it okay behind me.
Despite the winds, I was able to catch Jaffe and Mitchell (Jaffe seemed like he was panting pretty hard as I passed but this is understandable given the wind), and Mitchell latched on where after a while it was just me, him and Vince. Working the front in the wind was tough, but I believe more so for the other two even just to be able to keep up. Nevertheless, Vince and Mitchell did push up and take a turn or two during the run where despite the winds, we still managed a respectable ~26 mph average to San Joaquin that dropped slightly to 25.3 by the time we reached the other gate. These were definitely no PRs by any means, but it was still a helluva workout.
We all regrouped on PCH just at the top of Jamboree, and rode together down toward CDM. Vince charged up the Fernleaf kicker segment, and Vin followed him where they were broken away for a little bit as we rode through Ocean. However, by the time we got back on PCH, we all had gotten together again.
When we got to NPC, I was worried that I won't be able to keep up with the group on my TT bike, but after Vince outright called me a female reproductive organ, I said no more and decided to make the best of it. We weren't suppose to charge it anyway, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Going up Pelican, Jaffe and Vin opted to pick up the pace some and had actually gapped the rest of us. Andy was doing well though and kept pace as we made our way up to them just before the real climbing began on the other side. I opted to stand it up and push a little more on that climb after a while, and Vince came with me to NPC where we regrouped with the others just after the light.
Given that our efforts on Bonita Canyon would likely be foiled by the wind as was the case on BB, Vince and I ended up tearing down NPC and actually managed to make the left turn green light at the bottom. We had broken away from the others, and I guess Vince was just ready to get back so he took off and I ended up following. As expected, there would be no medal glory after the 73, so we just did what we could to get a good workout for the rest of the way back.
Overall, it was another great workout, but I'm pretty much tired of this wind just as everyone else probably is based on the titles of rides I'm seeing on Strava. Hopefully, we can try something like this again with more participants, but this is a crew that's difficult to harness where I may have to come up with something more alluring to get everyone to come out and give it a go. Wish me luck.
So yesterday, I had this epiphany that more people may want to come out on a lunch ride if there were specific Strava segments they could move up on or at a minimum at least improve their existing time. The premise behind this was based on a series of recent "Uh Oh" e-mails indicating that someone either stole one of our KOMs or tied it. Coincidentally, I received yet another one of these e-mail after planning this ride. Unfortunately, it did not bring out the numbers I was hoping in order to tackle designated segments, but one original BAMMER decided to come back out and join us: Andy! He looked like he was in good form and hopefully will be joining us more often. The rest of the crew out today were Vince, Vin, Jaffe and Mitchell.
So the plan was to attack the Back Bay segments as well as those on Bonita Canyon, but unfortunately, Mother Nature does not look at Weather.com. I was hoping for some good NE or NNE winds to help push us through them, but if anything I think we faced headwinds in both sections that made it unrealistic to even try. That's not to say we wouldn't push through them or anything, but we definitely had no expectations of achieving any medal glory.
We did start out mellow as planned, and I hoped to stay in the back until we got to Back Bay since I was on my TT bike. The reasoning here would be that if I pushed up to the front immediately, it may string out our group right away and we wouldn't be able to take advantage of a group effort to achieve a good segment run. On the way down California, however, just coasting down that road had me up front already, so I made an effort to stay in the back once we got on the bike trail. Vince was just ahead of me, and Andy in front of him. We let Vin, Mitchell and Jaffe set the pace so that they, too, can contribute to the BB run vs. being spent already by the time we got there. It all seemed like a good idea despite already feeling that the wind would be limiting factor, but Andy having dropped his bottle pretty much scattered the group immediately. Vince and I checked up to wait, but the others pushed ahead and didn't even slow down despite me calling out to wait. Sigh.
Andy had been able to catch up before Eastbluff and even got in front of me before Back Bay, but Jaffe and Mitchell had already dropped in while Vin lingered near the top as we approached the gate. As we rounded, Vince gave the GO and I went ahead and pushed up front to chase Jaffe and Mitchell down. I did have to avoid a white Nissan at the beginning of the drop, but everyone else managed to clear it okay behind me.
Despite the winds, I was able to catch Jaffe and Mitchell (Jaffe seemed like he was panting pretty hard as I passed but this is understandable given the wind), and Mitchell latched on where after a while it was just me, him and Vince. Working the front in the wind was tough, but I believe more so for the other two even just to be able to keep up. Nevertheless, Vince and Mitchell did push up and take a turn or two during the run where despite the winds, we still managed a respectable ~26 mph average to San Joaquin that dropped slightly to 25.3 by the time we reached the other gate. These were definitely no PRs by any means, but it was still a helluva workout.
We all regrouped on PCH just at the top of Jamboree, and rode together down toward CDM. Vince charged up the Fernleaf kicker segment, and Vin followed him where they were broken away for a little bit as we rode through Ocean. However, by the time we got back on PCH, we all had gotten together again.
When we got to NPC, I was worried that I won't be able to keep up with the group on my TT bike, but after Vince outright called me a female reproductive organ, I said no more and decided to make the best of it. We weren't suppose to charge it anyway, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Going up Pelican, Jaffe and Vin opted to pick up the pace some and had actually gapped the rest of us. Andy was doing well though and kept pace as we made our way up to them just before the real climbing began on the other side. I opted to stand it up and push a little more on that climb after a while, and Vince came with me to NPC where we regrouped with the others just after the light.
Given that our efforts on Bonita Canyon would likely be foiled by the wind as was the case on BB, Vince and I ended up tearing down NPC and actually managed to make the left turn green light at the bottom. We had broken away from the others, and I guess Vince was just ready to get back so he took off and I ended up following. As expected, there would be no medal glory after the 73, so we just did what we could to get a good workout for the rest of the way back.
Overall, it was another great workout, but I'm pretty much tired of this wind just as everyone else probably is based on the titles of rides I'm seeing on Strava. Hopefully, we can try something like this again with more participants, but this is a crew that's difficult to harness where I may have to come up with something more alluring to get everyone to come out and give it a go. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Lunch Ride - Turtle Rock Ring Loop (The Windy Edition)
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/49141880
Attendees: Vince, Galen, Mitchell, Vin, Jeremy, Hiroshi and Jaffe
After a week off, it's nice to come back and do a lunch ride with the crew, but I must say that I thought I stepped into the Twilight Zone early on in the ride. Having started the ride from the back, I must have blinked several times when we headed out seeing Mitchell leading everyone out thinking my eyes must be deceiving me. Further, Galen and Vince were hanging back early on, so I was almost certain I had entered some other dimension where things behaved opposite of the norm. By the time we got to Anteater though, normalcy resumed.
The pace going up Shady toward Sunnyhill was a little heated early on courtesy of Vince and Galen, and I couldn't help but keep the pace up when I got up front. However, it didn't seem like I was up front for very long since Mitchell and the others passed me eager to take a turn up front as well. Thus, hints of that other dimension still loomed.
Jeremy led us onto Sunnyhill and subsequently Turtle Rock where it seemed like he was held out a little bit. Vince finally swung around from near the back and pulled Galen and I toward the front to relieve the poor guy.
Galen started us off on the climb on the other side and I followed where combined, it seemed we had some attrition that brought it down to I think only 4 of us. Vince took the front on the final rise before the stop sign and we mixed it up a little just before arriving at the intersection. Vince then led after followed by Galen and Jeremy, and pretty much took us all the way to the bike path on Shady. Mitchell also managed to latch on as well behind me.
Vince, Galen and Jeremy had a small gap on us initially, so I waited until after the first bridge where it pitched up to close the gap. Vince had accelerated near the top creating a gap on the others, but I managed to just latch on and the two of us took off trying to keep the others at bay. We probably could have had a better time climbing up Shady during our breakaway but Vince wisely suggested we pull back a little just so we'll have some left over for the stretch on the 405. At least I moved up on Strava for that segment. :)
The wind was especially noticeable on the 405 bike trail but Vince and I worked together to keep our pace up just enough to not be caught there. We pushed on toward University, and approaching Strawberry, Vince took the liberty of clearing the intersection and playing rabbit. I hesitated a little bit, but having already traveled half way, I figured I'd keep going. After crossing, I looked back and saw Mitchell, Galen, Vin and Jeremy just pulling up...so I picked it up some playing first chase group but trying to keep ahead of the 4.
When we got to Ridgeline, Vince was still ahead of me and he opted to go up the sidewalk to keep ahead, so I followed suit. You could see the others were coming, so I picked it up some and managed to catch up to Vince by the first section that pitched up. When I passed, I thought he had latched on, but then I realized I was on my own by the second section that pitched up. I didn't think it would last though and expected Vince to catch me on the Turtle Rock descent. However, he was just behind me as I rolled up to the red light on the left turn to Culver. We kept looking back to see if the others were coming, especially since we saw Jeremy was fast approaching on Ridgeline, but we never saw anyone so we knew we were in the clear after the light turned green.
Going on Culver and subsequently Bonita Canyon was an absolute bear. The headwind was pretty ridiculous at this point, so the two of us fighting through it was pretty abusive. We still had a gap on the others and saw our chance to clear the McArthur intersection when the light was green, but it turned yellow before our approach so I ended up stopping just to make sure we were safe.
As the light turned green, Vince took off seeing the others approaching fast and sure to make the green light with us. I knew the guys were just behind me, so I did some blocking crit style and held them off while Vince continued to gap. When the others finally passed me at the top of Ford, I hung back and prepared for a pass on Jamboree and would try and hook back up with Vince on the hill. To my surprise, none of the 4 guys I passed responded but I kept going anyway slowly closing the gap on Vince. Vince saw me coming and picked it up staying ahead of me for the rest of the condo segment. I was never able to get close enough, and thus lost Vince as he made the yellow crossing McArthur.
The others caught me at the McArthur intersection, and as always, I wanted to see who was game for a sprint. Despite the first light slowing us down, Vin eventually obliged after Jeremy gave the "Asian GO." The kid has some sprint, but I was still able to come around (although probably earlier than I should) and make my way past him before the intersection. He gave me kudos later in the locker for the sprint but then said he still had some left. Woulda, shoulda, coulda I always say. He must be learning from Adrian.
21 mph average for such a ridiculously windy day is pretty good. My forearm has been cramping randomly for the last hour or so after the ride, so I'd say I got a good workout. Galen was giving kudos to Vin and Mitchell for doing a lot of work when they were chasing us, but ummm...I wouldn't know since they were behind us. I know, I know...I'm a d#@$.
Thanks for coming out, gents!
Attendees: Vince, Galen, Mitchell, Vin, Jeremy, Hiroshi and Jaffe
After a week off, it's nice to come back and do a lunch ride with the crew, but I must say that I thought I stepped into the Twilight Zone early on in the ride. Having started the ride from the back, I must have blinked several times when we headed out seeing Mitchell leading everyone out thinking my eyes must be deceiving me. Further, Galen and Vince were hanging back early on, so I was almost certain I had entered some other dimension where things behaved opposite of the norm. By the time we got to Anteater though, normalcy resumed.
The pace going up Shady toward Sunnyhill was a little heated early on courtesy of Vince and Galen, and I couldn't help but keep the pace up when I got up front. However, it didn't seem like I was up front for very long since Mitchell and the others passed me eager to take a turn up front as well. Thus, hints of that other dimension still loomed.
Jeremy led us onto Sunnyhill and subsequently Turtle Rock where it seemed like he was held out a little bit. Vince finally swung around from near the back and pulled Galen and I toward the front to relieve the poor guy.
Galen started us off on the climb on the other side and I followed where combined, it seemed we had some attrition that brought it down to I think only 4 of us. Vince took the front on the final rise before the stop sign and we mixed it up a little just before arriving at the intersection. Vince then led after followed by Galen and Jeremy, and pretty much took us all the way to the bike path on Shady. Mitchell also managed to latch on as well behind me.
Vince, Galen and Jeremy had a small gap on us initially, so I waited until after the first bridge where it pitched up to close the gap. Vince had accelerated near the top creating a gap on the others, but I managed to just latch on and the two of us took off trying to keep the others at bay. We probably could have had a better time climbing up Shady during our breakaway but Vince wisely suggested we pull back a little just so we'll have some left over for the stretch on the 405. At least I moved up on Strava for that segment. :)
The wind was especially noticeable on the 405 bike trail but Vince and I worked together to keep our pace up just enough to not be caught there. We pushed on toward University, and approaching Strawberry, Vince took the liberty of clearing the intersection and playing rabbit. I hesitated a little bit, but having already traveled half way, I figured I'd keep going. After crossing, I looked back and saw Mitchell, Galen, Vin and Jeremy just pulling up...so I picked it up some playing first chase group but trying to keep ahead of the 4.
When we got to Ridgeline, Vince was still ahead of me and he opted to go up the sidewalk to keep ahead, so I followed suit. You could see the others were coming, so I picked it up some and managed to catch up to Vince by the first section that pitched up. When I passed, I thought he had latched on, but then I realized I was on my own by the second section that pitched up. I didn't think it would last though and expected Vince to catch me on the Turtle Rock descent. However, he was just behind me as I rolled up to the red light on the left turn to Culver. We kept looking back to see if the others were coming, especially since we saw Jeremy was fast approaching on Ridgeline, but we never saw anyone so we knew we were in the clear after the light turned green.
Going on Culver and subsequently Bonita Canyon was an absolute bear. The headwind was pretty ridiculous at this point, so the two of us fighting through it was pretty abusive. We still had a gap on the others and saw our chance to clear the McArthur intersection when the light was green, but it turned yellow before our approach so I ended up stopping just to make sure we were safe.
As the light turned green, Vince took off seeing the others approaching fast and sure to make the green light with us. I knew the guys were just behind me, so I did some blocking crit style and held them off while Vince continued to gap. When the others finally passed me at the top of Ford, I hung back and prepared for a pass on Jamboree and would try and hook back up with Vince on the hill. To my surprise, none of the 4 guys I passed responded but I kept going anyway slowly closing the gap on Vince. Vince saw me coming and picked it up staying ahead of me for the rest of the condo segment. I was never able to get close enough, and thus lost Vince as he made the yellow crossing McArthur.
The others caught me at the McArthur intersection, and as always, I wanted to see who was game for a sprint. Despite the first light slowing us down, Vin eventually obliged after Jeremy gave the "Asian GO." The kid has some sprint, but I was still able to come around (although probably earlier than I should) and make my way past him before the intersection. He gave me kudos later in the locker for the sprint but then said he still had some left. Woulda, shoulda, coulda I always say. He must be learning from Adrian.
21 mph average for such a ridiculously windy day is pretty good. My forearm has been cramping randomly for the last hour or so after the ride, so I'd say I got a good workout. Galen was giving kudos to Vin and Mitchell for doing a lot of work when they were chasing us, but ummm...I wouldn't know since they were behind us. I know, I know...I'm a d#@$.
Thanks for coming out, gents!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Como Revisited for 2013
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/48849356
After the Belgian Waffle Ride last week, I was ready to get back into some shorter but more intense riding. I did some solo rides on my TT bike on Tuesday and Thursday that were pretty intense where I even set a PR for the route by .5 mph and got some KOMs in the process. However, I knew a true test of intensity would be to get back on the Como Street ride. I thought it's only been a few months since I did it, but after looking it up, it's actually been a whole year! I'm glad we chose the short course to start off with.
Vin's been a regular on this training ride for some time now, so I thought I'd rely on his experience to reintroduce me back to the ride. Since he typically starts from his house in Mission Viejo, I thought it would be good to start with him there. It was a cold start from his house, but Vin's pace to the start of the ride was more than adequate to warm us up. Umm...23 mph average from his house. I looked down while we were on Irvine Blvd and we were bouncing over 30 on occasion. Yeah, we were warm all right.
We passed a couple small groups on the way in but before 8 AM, but we ended up waiting with another guy at a corner until the real Como ride came by. When they went by, there were about 40 or so in the group but it kept growing as we made our way toward Irvine Blvd. Cool. I saw team RockForm there in good numbers including Sol, so we opted to stay behind them in case there would be a break where they can give chase with us in tow.
Once we got on Irvine Blvd, there were a couple people making breakaways, but the group never really panicked. In fact, the pace was fairly easy with only a couple spikes but I believe the headwind had a lot to do with it. Thus, the group stayed together all the way to El Toro.
Once we got on El Toro, Vin and I started moving up and working to get in a better position...and the timing was almost perfect. As we pushed up, some guys started turning up the heat up front, and we were just able to get in the line and keep up with everyone. It happened a couple times up until we got to Santa Margarita where the long course group breaks off from the short course. We managed to stay in a good position despite those surges.
The pace was still pretty tough climbing the rest of the way towards Cooks, and you can see some people feeling it as they popped off. There were two ladies who were doing well, but one popped off just before Cooks only to be able to latch back on at the climb. Impressive. Once we got past Cooks and started climbing, there were more casualties and the front started to thin. The lady who didn't drop was doing well holding on, but she ended up dropping just after 3/4 of the way before the first peak. I think Vin ended up falling off shortly after. I managed to keep the pace and had visions of grandeur thinking I could pass some after the first crest, but opted to still play it safe and held the back over the 2nd crest.
Once we got over the crest, there were about 7-8 of us in the group and I waited patiently in the back to rotate to the front and do my share of the work. The pace was fast but we were working pretty efficiently. I think we could have gone a little faster though, but when I would pick it up just a little as I took the front, one guy would ask me to back it down some and keep it smooth...I complied.
After a while, 1-2 guys would skip the rotation, but I didn't mind the extra work. We did get picked up by a chase group after the lake, but that just meant more people to work with so cool. As we approached dump, I was toward the rear of the pack where I couldn't see when others made a break. Once we started climbing though, I started pushing up and actually closed a gap from some guys who had taken off at the bottom. Others had latched on to me as I made my way up, and then passed me before the top only to have me latch on to them. When we crested, I was with two or three other guys and we started to reel in someone ahead of us who I couldn't tell if he were a part of the group or some random person.
We did get stopped at one of the lights over the toll road, but as one light turned green, one guy thought he'd try and break away and I ended up chasing him down alone and latching on just before the last little rise before Jamboree. I wasn't in full aggro mode though and just stayed there, but then two guys ended up passing us where I swung around and jumped on to keep them honest.
When we got on Jamboree, the guy on the Masi bike who's big but unusually fast was there along with someone on his team and a RockForm guy. I had gotten in the back on the turn where several others had arrived there with us, but the three aforementioned guys ended up breaking away without a response from the group. I was a little annoyed, so I came around and broke away from the group to try and give chase hoping that I may get lucky and catch them at a light. I ended up riding alone in between both groups though all the way to Portola.
Two guys ended up passing me after crossing Portola, so I sprinted and latched on. I was thinking they were going to take turns but the #2 guy held out #1 for a while. I finally came around to take the front hoping they would latch on, but they were just off the back and I guess just done. No point in doing anything more at that point.
The Starbucks was where Vin and I agreed to regroup, and he was there only minutes after I arrived so he was definitely not far behind. He ended up working with other people as well and had a good ride also. We rode back on our own together, and I think I ended up actually feeling more worked after that only because there was some pretty good headwind when headed toward his house. Also, he pointed out a couple hill sprint sections that he does, so add that to it and I was done by the time we got to his pad.
I think I'll be doing this ride more regularly because it IS a great workout and I'd like to get out when the pace is really fast (according to Vin, it wasn't that fast today). It'd be nice to see what that's like. Thanks for hosting, Vin!
After the Belgian Waffle Ride last week, I was ready to get back into some shorter but more intense riding. I did some solo rides on my TT bike on Tuesday and Thursday that were pretty intense where I even set a PR for the route by .5 mph and got some KOMs in the process. However, I knew a true test of intensity would be to get back on the Como Street ride. I thought it's only been a few months since I did it, but after looking it up, it's actually been a whole year! I'm glad we chose the short course to start off with.
Vin's been a regular on this training ride for some time now, so I thought I'd rely on his experience to reintroduce me back to the ride. Since he typically starts from his house in Mission Viejo, I thought it would be good to start with him there. It was a cold start from his house, but Vin's pace to the start of the ride was more than adequate to warm us up. Umm...23 mph average from his house. I looked down while we were on Irvine Blvd and we were bouncing over 30 on occasion. Yeah, we were warm all right.
We passed a couple small groups on the way in but before 8 AM, but we ended up waiting with another guy at a corner until the real Como ride came by. When they went by, there were about 40 or so in the group but it kept growing as we made our way toward Irvine Blvd. Cool. I saw team RockForm there in good numbers including Sol, so we opted to stay behind them in case there would be a break where they can give chase with us in tow.
Once we got on Irvine Blvd, there were a couple people making breakaways, but the group never really panicked. In fact, the pace was fairly easy with only a couple spikes but I believe the headwind had a lot to do with it. Thus, the group stayed together all the way to El Toro.
Once we got on El Toro, Vin and I started moving up and working to get in a better position...and the timing was almost perfect. As we pushed up, some guys started turning up the heat up front, and we were just able to get in the line and keep up with everyone. It happened a couple times up until we got to Santa Margarita where the long course group breaks off from the short course. We managed to stay in a good position despite those surges.
The pace was still pretty tough climbing the rest of the way towards Cooks, and you can see some people feeling it as they popped off. There were two ladies who were doing well, but one popped off just before Cooks only to be able to latch back on at the climb. Impressive. Once we got past Cooks and started climbing, there were more casualties and the front started to thin. The lady who didn't drop was doing well holding on, but she ended up dropping just after 3/4 of the way before the first peak. I think Vin ended up falling off shortly after. I managed to keep the pace and had visions of grandeur thinking I could pass some after the first crest, but opted to still play it safe and held the back over the 2nd crest.
Once we got over the crest, there were about 7-8 of us in the group and I waited patiently in the back to rotate to the front and do my share of the work. The pace was fast but we were working pretty efficiently. I think we could have gone a little faster though, but when I would pick it up just a little as I took the front, one guy would ask me to back it down some and keep it smooth...I complied.
After a while, 1-2 guys would skip the rotation, but I didn't mind the extra work. We did get picked up by a chase group after the lake, but that just meant more people to work with so cool. As we approached dump, I was toward the rear of the pack where I couldn't see when others made a break. Once we started climbing though, I started pushing up and actually closed a gap from some guys who had taken off at the bottom. Others had latched on to me as I made my way up, and then passed me before the top only to have me latch on to them. When we crested, I was with two or three other guys and we started to reel in someone ahead of us who I couldn't tell if he were a part of the group or some random person.
We did get stopped at one of the lights over the toll road, but as one light turned green, one guy thought he'd try and break away and I ended up chasing him down alone and latching on just before the last little rise before Jamboree. I wasn't in full aggro mode though and just stayed there, but then two guys ended up passing us where I swung around and jumped on to keep them honest.
When we got on Jamboree, the guy on the Masi bike who's big but unusually fast was there along with someone on his team and a RockForm guy. I had gotten in the back on the turn where several others had arrived there with us, but the three aforementioned guys ended up breaking away without a response from the group. I was a little annoyed, so I came around and broke away from the group to try and give chase hoping that I may get lucky and catch them at a light. I ended up riding alone in between both groups though all the way to Portola.
Two guys ended up passing me after crossing Portola, so I sprinted and latched on. I was thinking they were going to take turns but the #2 guy held out #1 for a while. I finally came around to take the front hoping they would latch on, but they were just off the back and I guess just done. No point in doing anything more at that point.
The Starbucks was where Vin and I agreed to regroup, and he was there only minutes after I arrived so he was definitely not far behind. He ended up working with other people as well and had a good ride also. We rode back on our own together, and I think I ended up actually feeling more worked after that only because there was some pretty good headwind when headed toward his house. Also, he pointed out a couple hill sprint sections that he does, so add that to it and I was done by the time we got to his pad.
I think I'll be doing this ride more regularly because it IS a great workout and I'd like to get out when the pace is really fast (according to Vin, it wasn't that fast today). It'd be nice to see what that's like. Thanks for hosting, Vin!
Monday, April 8, 2013
SPY Belgian Waffle Ride - Ridiculous!
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/47798232
I think Strava needs another classification for its suffer score rating. I suggest "Ridiculous" as it would fit this ride perfectly. As I go into the details of the ride, you'll understand why.
Noah caught wind of the ride and opted to share it with all of us only to have Shannon, myself and Todd follow suit. Unfortunately, Todd couldn't make it out due to health reasons, but Noah's buddies, Kevin and Brad, came along and took part in this sufferfest that was advertised as a 130 mile, 12K feet of climbing and with on- and off-road terrain. Actually, the draw for us was the Belgian waffles before the ride and the Belgian beer after. Okay, so maybe it was just the beer.
The organization of the race was definitely different than others we participated in previously. They were only in the 2nd year of holding the event, so I suppose it was understandable. They didn't really have any pre-rider instructions as to what to expect other than they had an expo the day before that continued on the day of the race at 6:30 a.m. They also indicated there were two waves to join in: the CAT Pro/1/2 leaves at 8:30 and everyone else leaves 10 minutes after. Other than that, it was a daily e-mail of hype and more hype.
The breakfast beforehand, which Shannon and I skipped just because we didn't want to upset our stomachs, was with waffles and eggs. Based on Noah's culinary assessment, it wasn't really worth it as the eggs seemed like they were made from powder. As to the beer and food after the ride, both were also a miss given that they ran out of the beer that we wanted to try and there was no food as well (clams and fries...umm...yeah). They did have a food truck there that sold sausage sandwiches, but personally I think the organizers should have picked up the cost of those given they ran out of food.
Unlike a lot of rides, this one definitely brought out a lot of good riders, both men and women alike, making for a seemingly legit race-type ride. I don't think it was a really big ride in terms of number of people, so those who made it out seemed more serious. And from some of the things we saw while we were on the course, it was definitely a day of awe and humility.
When we staged for our wave to go out, Noah, Shannon and I represented the BRCM white kit and we were among a lot of riders in full kits as well. In typical Noah fashion, he made fun of two riders in Matchbox kits saying we can take them. There were a lot of Spy sponsored riders, including those from Swamis, so we knew this was going to be good. We even saw a couple Descenders, but no one we recognized.
The first 22 miles of the ride was escorted by CHP and at a moderate pace intended to keep everyone together. We did hit a couple short but steep climbs along the way, so to have HR be so low during the flat section and spike up for those hills was actually more tiring than I expected. Maybe that was the plan.
The escort finally ended at the opening to a bike trail, and this was where I ended up losing everyone. I was with Shannon and Noah beforehand, although we'd get separated on occasion given the numbers of riders, but I totally lost them given we had to line up pretty much single file to get on the bike trail. By the time I had gotten on, I knew I was behind everyone so I tried making my way around people just to close the gap and hopefully be able to ride with the others. Nope...they were gone!
After the bike trail, we hit a section where we had to get off our bikes and carry it down a soft dirt ravine to a dirt trail that was flat but with a lot of loose gravel. Riding through that section was very unnerving on slicks, and the bike was pretty much all over the place. There were some real soft sections as well where I kept thinking I'm going to lose my front, so a lot of the time on that section I spent on my small chain ring just so I can pedal through when I had to. Ridiculous.
At one point, we hit another section where we had to dismount again and carry our bikes up a soft ravine that led up to another bike trail. I don't think my speedplays were made for that, and I was really afraid I wouldn't be able to clip in at the top. It did take some work to do so, but I got them in and was pedaling to catch up again. I think we hit even one more dirt section that actually was not just flat, but also had some big rocks, ruts, downhills and uphills and was something that was more suitable for a cross or mountain bike. All I kept thinking was that I hope my wheels, tires, and actually my whole bike holds up to the beating. Ridiculous.
It was nice to finally be back on the road again, but I can tell that my bike wasn't running as smooth as it was originally. However, everything still worked and pedaling had me moving forward, so on I went. At this point, I was pretty much on my own but I had gotten in with some groups here and there. Sometimes I would break from one group and jump to another, but it was hard to find a group that seemed to want to push at the pace I was wanting to go. When I would take the front, I often did gapping the others behind me. I'd check up when I would, but this happened more often than not leading to some inefficient riding. After a while, I just relegated myself to be in the pack just so I can have others to ride with rather than being on my own.
When I was about 40-50 miles in and on one of their bigger climbs, I saw a familiar white jersey ahead of me. It was Noah, with Kevin just ahead of him. Noah had been having stomach issues, but opted to do the ride anyway being the Ironman stud that he is. I kept my tempo on the hill though because I think breaking it could actually tire me out even more, so I ended up pushing ahead and trying to mix it up with others on the climb. The mixing up part just gives me something to shoot for so I can finish the climb sooner than later.
I ended up in a group again and as we hit the 2nd SAG, I was going to keep going but somehow managed to drop my chain just upon arriving. Staying on my bike and bending down to fix it, my lower abdominal ended up cramping and I had to stand for a bit until it subsided. Might as well go pee in the bushes while I'm here. Another lady, also was looking for a place to pee since they didn't have porta potties at the SAGS (ridiculous), so she peed in the bushes nearby.
Upon hitting the SAG at the 60, I did a self evaluation and thought to myself, there's no way I can keep going at the pace I've been considering there was still more than half the ride left. However, I saw Shannon there where I just opted to refill my bottles and take off again without getting too much rest. I did start to eat on the bike after we both took off, but Shannon started to gap me pretty good where I just told him to go. Shannon took off for a little bit, but I think checked up to let me catch up and ride together with him. When he tired near the end, I reciprocated just like what team members do.
From the 60 mile mark, we still had several climbs to do along with even more dirt riding and even a small stream crossing. The dirt riding was even more rocky and difficult to maneuver through on the road bike, and it was a blessing that none of us had any mechanicals or flats for that matter. It must have been weird to the onlookers seeing a bunch of us on road bikes riding the trails. During the stream crossing, I did contemplating carrying my bike over but opted to go ahead and ride through. Some mountain bikers on the other side who were watching gave me kudos after, to which I replied with "f#@* that shiz!" I'm also thankful none of us biffed it but there were some people you'd see with some rash, some broken spokes, etc. The good thing was at the end of the dirt road, there was a SAG so the Coke and the granola bars were very much needed at that point. I guess the 3 waffles, 4 gels and 2 Shotbloks I brought were just not enough for the day.
After almost 100 miles in, they had one big hill to climb called double peaks, and it was a grind making it to the top. Thankfully, the training up the 7 sisters and Baldy during the prior weeks gave me perspective to make it seem less horrific than it was. I just kept pedaling and passing people on the way up. Near the top, a lady was handing out towels soaked in cold water, which she hands you as you have 200m left to finish the climb. It was perfect. At the top, there is another SAG and another Coke and some bonk busters would help get us back.
The rest of the ride was a lot of downhills, but there were still some climbs here and there. Shannon, who was wanting to break away from groups earlier on, was finally content to staying with the pack that we had grouped up with for the rest of the way. I tried to convince him earlier but we ended up riding alone for 20 miles believing we would gap others only to be caught subsequently. I tried to help bring up the pace on occasion toward the end but no one would ever really follow or keep the pace, so I stayed and just finished the rest of the ride with others towing us for the rest of the way.
True to its ad, it was pretty much 130 miles for the whole route. Shannon thought they probably overshot the estimate as we would experience in other rides, but not this time. 8 hours on the saddle for this event, so everything from the legs, taint, arms (from all the vibration of the dirt trails) and lower back were just done by the end. We had a couple beers by Shannon's truck with everyone, but I was pretty much ready for bed. I think I had passed out at one point during the drive home, and Shannon being the trooper let me sleep.
We'll definitely be checking this one off the bucket list, and I'm not too sure I ever want to do that again. Actually, I'm pretty sure I don't. I think everyone else was of the same opinion. Good job to all of those who made it out and thanks to Shannon for all the support. Now I'm going back to sleep....
I think Strava needs another classification for its suffer score rating. I suggest "Ridiculous" as it would fit this ride perfectly. As I go into the details of the ride, you'll understand why.
Noah caught wind of the ride and opted to share it with all of us only to have Shannon, myself and Todd follow suit. Unfortunately, Todd couldn't make it out due to health reasons, but Noah's buddies, Kevin and Brad, came along and took part in this sufferfest that was advertised as a 130 mile, 12K feet of climbing and with on- and off-road terrain. Actually, the draw for us was the Belgian waffles before the ride and the Belgian beer after. Okay, so maybe it was just the beer.
The organization of the race was definitely different than others we participated in previously. They were only in the 2nd year of holding the event, so I suppose it was understandable. They didn't really have any pre-rider instructions as to what to expect other than they had an expo the day before that continued on the day of the race at 6:30 a.m. They also indicated there were two waves to join in: the CAT Pro/1/2 leaves at 8:30 and everyone else leaves 10 minutes after. Other than that, it was a daily e-mail of hype and more hype.
The breakfast beforehand, which Shannon and I skipped just because we didn't want to upset our stomachs, was with waffles and eggs. Based on Noah's culinary assessment, it wasn't really worth it as the eggs seemed like they were made from powder. As to the beer and food after the ride, both were also a miss given that they ran out of the beer that we wanted to try and there was no food as well (clams and fries...umm...yeah). They did have a food truck there that sold sausage sandwiches, but personally I think the organizers should have picked up the cost of those given they ran out of food.
Unlike a lot of rides, this one definitely brought out a lot of good riders, both men and women alike, making for a seemingly legit race-type ride. I don't think it was a really big ride in terms of number of people, so those who made it out seemed more serious. And from some of the things we saw while we were on the course, it was definitely a day of awe and humility.
When we staged for our wave to go out, Noah, Shannon and I represented the BRCM white kit and we were among a lot of riders in full kits as well. In typical Noah fashion, he made fun of two riders in Matchbox kits saying we can take them. There were a lot of Spy sponsored riders, including those from Swamis, so we knew this was going to be good. We even saw a couple Descenders, but no one we recognized.
The first 22 miles of the ride was escorted by CHP and at a moderate pace intended to keep everyone together. We did hit a couple short but steep climbs along the way, so to have HR be so low during the flat section and spike up for those hills was actually more tiring than I expected. Maybe that was the plan.
The escort finally ended at the opening to a bike trail, and this was where I ended up losing everyone. I was with Shannon and Noah beforehand, although we'd get separated on occasion given the numbers of riders, but I totally lost them given we had to line up pretty much single file to get on the bike trail. By the time I had gotten on, I knew I was behind everyone so I tried making my way around people just to close the gap and hopefully be able to ride with the others. Nope...they were gone!
After the bike trail, we hit a section where we had to get off our bikes and carry it down a soft dirt ravine to a dirt trail that was flat but with a lot of loose gravel. Riding through that section was very unnerving on slicks, and the bike was pretty much all over the place. There were some real soft sections as well where I kept thinking I'm going to lose my front, so a lot of the time on that section I spent on my small chain ring just so I can pedal through when I had to. Ridiculous.
At one point, we hit another section where we had to dismount again and carry our bikes up a soft ravine that led up to another bike trail. I don't think my speedplays were made for that, and I was really afraid I wouldn't be able to clip in at the top. It did take some work to do so, but I got them in and was pedaling to catch up again. I think we hit even one more dirt section that actually was not just flat, but also had some big rocks, ruts, downhills and uphills and was something that was more suitable for a cross or mountain bike. All I kept thinking was that I hope my wheels, tires, and actually my whole bike holds up to the beating. Ridiculous.
It was nice to finally be back on the road again, but I can tell that my bike wasn't running as smooth as it was originally. However, everything still worked and pedaling had me moving forward, so on I went. At this point, I was pretty much on my own but I had gotten in with some groups here and there. Sometimes I would break from one group and jump to another, but it was hard to find a group that seemed to want to push at the pace I was wanting to go. When I would take the front, I often did gapping the others behind me. I'd check up when I would, but this happened more often than not leading to some inefficient riding. After a while, I just relegated myself to be in the pack just so I can have others to ride with rather than being on my own.
When I was about 40-50 miles in and on one of their bigger climbs, I saw a familiar white jersey ahead of me. It was Noah, with Kevin just ahead of him. Noah had been having stomach issues, but opted to do the ride anyway being the Ironman stud that he is. I kept my tempo on the hill though because I think breaking it could actually tire me out even more, so I ended up pushing ahead and trying to mix it up with others on the climb. The mixing up part just gives me something to shoot for so I can finish the climb sooner than later.
I ended up in a group again and as we hit the 2nd SAG, I was going to keep going but somehow managed to drop my chain just upon arriving. Staying on my bike and bending down to fix it, my lower abdominal ended up cramping and I had to stand for a bit until it subsided. Might as well go pee in the bushes while I'm here. Another lady, also was looking for a place to pee since they didn't have porta potties at the SAGS (ridiculous), so she peed in the bushes nearby.
Upon hitting the SAG at the 60, I did a self evaluation and thought to myself, there's no way I can keep going at the pace I've been considering there was still more than half the ride left. However, I saw Shannon there where I just opted to refill my bottles and take off again without getting too much rest. I did start to eat on the bike after we both took off, but Shannon started to gap me pretty good where I just told him to go. Shannon took off for a little bit, but I think checked up to let me catch up and ride together with him. When he tired near the end, I reciprocated just like what team members do.
From the 60 mile mark, we still had several climbs to do along with even more dirt riding and even a small stream crossing. The dirt riding was even more rocky and difficult to maneuver through on the road bike, and it was a blessing that none of us had any mechanicals or flats for that matter. It must have been weird to the onlookers seeing a bunch of us on road bikes riding the trails. During the stream crossing, I did contemplating carrying my bike over but opted to go ahead and ride through. Some mountain bikers on the other side who were watching gave me kudos after, to which I replied with "f#@* that shiz!" I'm also thankful none of us biffed it but there were some people you'd see with some rash, some broken spokes, etc. The good thing was at the end of the dirt road, there was a SAG so the Coke and the granola bars were very much needed at that point. I guess the 3 waffles, 4 gels and 2 Shotbloks I brought were just not enough for the day.
After almost 100 miles in, they had one big hill to climb called double peaks, and it was a grind making it to the top. Thankfully, the training up the 7 sisters and Baldy during the prior weeks gave me perspective to make it seem less horrific than it was. I just kept pedaling and passing people on the way up. Near the top, a lady was handing out towels soaked in cold water, which she hands you as you have 200m left to finish the climb. It was perfect. At the top, there is another SAG and another Coke and some bonk busters would help get us back.
The rest of the ride was a lot of downhills, but there were still some climbs here and there. Shannon, who was wanting to break away from groups earlier on, was finally content to staying with the pack that we had grouped up with for the rest of the way. I tried to convince him earlier but we ended up riding alone for 20 miles believing we would gap others only to be caught subsequently. I tried to help bring up the pace on occasion toward the end but no one would ever really follow or keep the pace, so I stayed and just finished the rest of the ride with others towing us for the rest of the way.
True to its ad, it was pretty much 130 miles for the whole route. Shannon thought they probably overshot the estimate as we would experience in other rides, but not this time. 8 hours on the saddle for this event, so everything from the legs, taint, arms (from all the vibration of the dirt trails) and lower back were just done by the end. We had a couple beers by Shannon's truck with everyone, but I was pretty much ready for bed. I think I had passed out at one point during the drive home, and Shannon being the trooper let me sleep.
We'll definitely be checking this one off the bucket list, and I'm not too sure I ever want to do that again. Actually, I'm pretty sure I don't. I think everyone else was of the same opinion. Good job to all of those who made it out and thanks to Shannon for all the support. Now I'm going back to sleep....
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Lunch Ride - What Was Supposed to be a Taper Ride for Me.....
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/47256082
In life, there are good ideas and bad ideas. While it may be a good idea to spin the legs some during the week of big race, it's definitely a BAD idea to believe you can take it easy during a lunch ride with the BRCM crew. Vince, Galen, Adrian, Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell and Jaffe came out and made sure of it.
Even from the back, I could feel the intensity of the ride as we made our way out through the S-Gary Peltason segment. 20.1 mph average here is definitely respectable considering the winds today. Nevertheless, everyone managed to stay together with Galen doing a bulk of the work to get us through it.
When we went up NPC, Galen once again took the front early on and started to gap everyone. I saw Vince in chase mode with Mitchell on his rear wheel ahead of me, so I made my way up to them and had a couple riders latch on behind me. In the end, I think Jeremy was the only one who stayed on as we all pretty much rode up NPC behind Galen.
We proceeded to Pelican where a car the opposite direction had gotten the left turn green light just as we approached. This caused Jeremy and I to get a little separated from the group, but Jeremy worked to get us latched back on before the downhill at the top. Good job!
The pace was pretty fast as we headed down and started climbing up, but I think there was a car on the ascend that had to have us check up a little preventing any Strava glory. Once we got going though, the heat continued....
We made our way down NPC and onto PCH, and Vince (in typical fashion) seemed eager for a breakaway, but everyone was able to stay together (mostly because they'd sit behind Galen to close any gaps formed). We saw Jaffe, Adrian and Vin ahead of us, so either they hit a time warp space continuum or they skipped Pelican. You decide.
Going through CDM was a little bit of a cluster, and we ended up losing Jeremy as we made our way onto Poppy. Adrian's chain dropped as we hit Ocean, and after the steep downhill got a little separated because of some cross traffic. Are ya sure this way is safer than staying on PCH? HAHA
We were all together again, including Adrian, by the time we got back to PCH. At one point after a light though, the crew dropped the hammer and Jaffe got caught sleeping. Of course, I was behind him. HAHA....not funny. I broke off to try and catch the group ahead, but the headwind out there was just ridiculous. It was impressive how they held their speed for so long, and I was just fortunate to catch them at the light on Jamboree. Jaffe was also.
We went through the bike trail by the trailer park probably a little faster than we should, but fortunately it was incident free. Once we got on Back Bay, the pace picked up even more and was pretty much bordering on ridiculous (haven't heard that in a while). I stayed in the back as long as I could, but had to push up when guys would pop off (cough, Mitchell, cough). I had thought about breaking off early toward the end just to make things interesting, but the group seemed like they were going to just stick together the whole time with no attempts to break at the hill. Once we got to the base though, Vince and Galen seemingly went for it...so I pulled out and followed. I don't really think I was trying to get to the top first, but the two were not expecting me where I managed to squeeze ahead of them onto the sidewalk.
Of course, doing a move like this isn't my typical MO...or is it, but I learned it from Noah who did the same thing to us on Saturday. As a result though, I felt guilty and decided to go ahead and stay up front leading us over to University. Jeremy took the front after and seeing no one follow him, I got on his rear wheel but I guess Galen was right behind me. Galen then came around and started to charge the front and all I could do was just latch back onto his wheel as we made our way to California.
Up California, Jeremy generously held the front for most of the climb and I took over just after the last grade. I know, I know, but I'm suppose to be saving it, remember? Saving it my ass though: 21.7 mph average with 161 average HR. I'm sure I'll pay for this on Sunday.
Thanks for letting me hang with you fellas today. I think.
In life, there are good ideas and bad ideas. While it may be a good idea to spin the legs some during the week of big race, it's definitely a BAD idea to believe you can take it easy during a lunch ride with the BRCM crew. Vince, Galen, Adrian, Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell and Jaffe came out and made sure of it.
Even from the back, I could feel the intensity of the ride as we made our way out through the S-Gary Peltason segment. 20.1 mph average here is definitely respectable considering the winds today. Nevertheless, everyone managed to stay together with Galen doing a bulk of the work to get us through it.
When we went up NPC, Galen once again took the front early on and started to gap everyone. I saw Vince in chase mode with Mitchell on his rear wheel ahead of me, so I made my way up to them and had a couple riders latch on behind me. In the end, I think Jeremy was the only one who stayed on as we all pretty much rode up NPC behind Galen.
We proceeded to Pelican where a car the opposite direction had gotten the left turn green light just as we approached. This caused Jeremy and I to get a little separated from the group, but Jeremy worked to get us latched back on before the downhill at the top. Good job!
The pace was pretty fast as we headed down and started climbing up, but I think there was a car on the ascend that had to have us check up a little preventing any Strava glory. Once we got going though, the heat continued....
We made our way down NPC and onto PCH, and Vince (in typical fashion) seemed eager for a breakaway, but everyone was able to stay together (mostly because they'd sit behind Galen to close any gaps formed). We saw Jaffe, Adrian and Vin ahead of us, so either they hit a time warp space continuum or they skipped Pelican. You decide.
Going through CDM was a little bit of a cluster, and we ended up losing Jeremy as we made our way onto Poppy. Adrian's chain dropped as we hit Ocean, and after the steep downhill got a little separated because of some cross traffic. Are ya sure this way is safer than staying on PCH? HAHA
We were all together again, including Adrian, by the time we got back to PCH. At one point after a light though, the crew dropped the hammer and Jaffe got caught sleeping. Of course, I was behind him. HAHA....not funny. I broke off to try and catch the group ahead, but the headwind out there was just ridiculous. It was impressive how they held their speed for so long, and I was just fortunate to catch them at the light on Jamboree. Jaffe was also.
We went through the bike trail by the trailer park probably a little faster than we should, but fortunately it was incident free. Once we got on Back Bay, the pace picked up even more and was pretty much bordering on ridiculous (haven't heard that in a while). I stayed in the back as long as I could, but had to push up when guys would pop off (cough, Mitchell, cough). I had thought about breaking off early toward the end just to make things interesting, but the group seemed like they were going to just stick together the whole time with no attempts to break at the hill. Once we got to the base though, Vince and Galen seemingly went for it...so I pulled out and followed. I don't really think I was trying to get to the top first, but the two were not expecting me where I managed to squeeze ahead of them onto the sidewalk.
Of course, doing a move like this isn't my typical MO...or is it, but I learned it from Noah who did the same thing to us on Saturday. As a result though, I felt guilty and decided to go ahead and stay up front leading us over to University. Jeremy took the front after and seeing no one follow him, I got on his rear wheel but I guess Galen was right behind me. Galen then came around and started to charge the front and all I could do was just latch back onto his wheel as we made our way to California.
Up California, Jeremy generously held the front for most of the climb and I took over just after the last grade. I know, I know, but I'm suppose to be saving it, remember? Saving it my ass though: 21.7 mph average with 161 average HR. I'm sure I'll pay for this on Sunday.
Thanks for letting me hang with you fellas today. I think.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Orchard Hills Loops Review - Finally De-virginized
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/47024290
After Shannon told us about his training on Orchard Hills last week, I couldn't resist and had to try it out for myself. I think he described it like racing in a crit but free. Sold!
We met at the corner of Jamboree and Portola (thanks to Eddie for hosting me/my car) and rolled out from there. He still needed to warm up, and I was feeling the lunch ride still so needless to say, we cruised over to the loop.
I've been on Orchard Hills before, but always going counter clockwise. Thus, when we got there and started to run some warm up laps clockwise, it definitely took a little to figure out how to do the loop optimally. From the onset on Culver, you find yourself climbing right away but nothing too crazy. In fact, staying on the big ring for the whole loop was not a problem. You do hit a false flat afterward, and then it pitches back up again all the way to the top where people congregate to ride together in a group. After that spot, it's downhill all the way to Portola. When making a right on Portola, you do have to check for cross traffic and try not to turn and end up on the road vs. the bike lane. You can start to pick up speed here as it's slightly downhill, but after hitting a stop light (yes a stop light), you can proceed and pick it up even more as the grade decreases as you head back to Culver. All together, the number of miles for the loop is 2.6.
I got to ride with Shannon for the first two laps, but on the 3rd lap, Shannon got a flat just before we got back on Culver. I tried to wait for him, but he insisted on me going on...so I did. Unfortunately, this was the last I saw Shannon for the rest of the afternoon. Bummer. Seeing his Strava stats, he definitely got in some good fast laps. He told me after that he was just in a group of three too, so that was pretty impressive.
I wasn't as lucky. I waited at the top of the hill after leaving him for a little bit, but then a group went by that I wish I had jumped in on. I ended up jumping on a chase group behind them, but they ended up not being too much of a chase group. Instead, they were more of a drafting group as they sat behind me after passing them on Portola.
Two guys did step it up on the climb and I ended up working with them while the rest of the group had fallen off. On the second loop with them, a rider with a Felt kit riding a Cannondale had made a u-turn in front of us and got in our line. As I was leading the group up the hill, Felt kit guy opted to turn it up and started sprinting away from us on the climb. Being in BRCM black, I just couldn't let that happen. I picked it up and dropped the guys behind me and ultimately caught him as he was panting for his life 3/4 of the way to the top. I didn't even pass him that fast, and all I could hear was how out of breath he was. Classic. Needless to say, he didn't latch on.
On the following laps, I passed a couple riders only to have them latch on and ride behind me for I think a whole lap. We definitely won't get fast laps this way. HA HA. I checked up after and let them pass to see if they could bring the pace up on their own. During the climb, one of the guys had a bad misshift, so I opted to take the front followed by another guy who never once took a pull. He continued to remain in my draft for a good portion of the climb, but as it pitched at the end, I thought it would be good to push it and see if he could stay on. Nope...popped him off too.
20 miles in, I thought it was time to go. I saw the guy I popped off coming up behind me after I got caught at the light on Portola, and took one last opportunity to turn the screws up again. Yup...gapped him again. I know...aggro right? It's how we do.
On my way back to Eddie's, one of the guys opted to follow me and sat in my draft all the way to Jamboree. I told him I was making a u-turn, but if I didn't, I think he would have kept following me. He did give me kudos after, but in my eyes, the BRCM jersey was just well represented. Shannon did his thing in BRCM black too, and there's no doubt he represented well also.
Too bad there wasn't a lot of people who made it out today, so I guess I'll be going back again for some more crit type training. Thanks for coming out with me, Shannon!
After Shannon told us about his training on Orchard Hills last week, I couldn't resist and had to try it out for myself. I think he described it like racing in a crit but free. Sold!
We met at the corner of Jamboree and Portola (thanks to Eddie for hosting me/my car) and rolled out from there. He still needed to warm up, and I was feeling the lunch ride still so needless to say, we cruised over to the loop.
I've been on Orchard Hills before, but always going counter clockwise. Thus, when we got there and started to run some warm up laps clockwise, it definitely took a little to figure out how to do the loop optimally. From the onset on Culver, you find yourself climbing right away but nothing too crazy. In fact, staying on the big ring for the whole loop was not a problem. You do hit a false flat afterward, and then it pitches back up again all the way to the top where people congregate to ride together in a group. After that spot, it's downhill all the way to Portola. When making a right on Portola, you do have to check for cross traffic and try not to turn and end up on the road vs. the bike lane. You can start to pick up speed here as it's slightly downhill, but after hitting a stop light (yes a stop light), you can proceed and pick it up even more as the grade decreases as you head back to Culver. All together, the number of miles for the loop is 2.6.
I got to ride with Shannon for the first two laps, but on the 3rd lap, Shannon got a flat just before we got back on Culver. I tried to wait for him, but he insisted on me going on...so I did. Unfortunately, this was the last I saw Shannon for the rest of the afternoon. Bummer. Seeing his Strava stats, he definitely got in some good fast laps. He told me after that he was just in a group of three too, so that was pretty impressive.
I wasn't as lucky. I waited at the top of the hill after leaving him for a little bit, but then a group went by that I wish I had jumped in on. I ended up jumping on a chase group behind them, but they ended up not being too much of a chase group. Instead, they were more of a drafting group as they sat behind me after passing them on Portola.
Two guys did step it up on the climb and I ended up working with them while the rest of the group had fallen off. On the second loop with them, a rider with a Felt kit riding a Cannondale had made a u-turn in front of us and got in our line. As I was leading the group up the hill, Felt kit guy opted to turn it up and started sprinting away from us on the climb. Being in BRCM black, I just couldn't let that happen. I picked it up and dropped the guys behind me and ultimately caught him as he was panting for his life 3/4 of the way to the top. I didn't even pass him that fast, and all I could hear was how out of breath he was. Classic. Needless to say, he didn't latch on.
On the following laps, I passed a couple riders only to have them latch on and ride behind me for I think a whole lap. We definitely won't get fast laps this way. HA HA. I checked up after and let them pass to see if they could bring the pace up on their own. During the climb, one of the guys had a bad misshift, so I opted to take the front followed by another guy who never once took a pull. He continued to remain in my draft for a good portion of the climb, but as it pitched at the end, I thought it would be good to push it and see if he could stay on. Nope...popped him off too.
20 miles in, I thought it was time to go. I saw the guy I popped off coming up behind me after I got caught at the light on Portola, and took one last opportunity to turn the screws up again. Yup...gapped him again. I know...aggro right? It's how we do.
On my way back to Eddie's, one of the guys opted to follow me and sat in my draft all the way to Jamboree. I told him I was making a u-turn, but if I didn't, I think he would have kept following me. He did give me kudos after, but in my eyes, the BRCM jersey was just well represented. Shannon did his thing in BRCM black too, and there's no doubt he represented well also.
Too bad there wasn't a lot of people who made it out today, so I guess I'll be going back again for some more crit type training. Thanks for coming out with me, Shannon!
Lunch Ride - Pre-Orchard Hills Warm-up?
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/46979180
I contemplated going on this lunch ride today since Shannon and I were planning to train at Orchard Hills with the racers this afternoon. I knew Todd was out sick and Shannon couldn't make it, so I figured I can spin in the back of the crew today just to get some miles. At least I gave them heads up beforehand. Then, as I was performing my pre-ride ritual (ahem), I heard his voice as he came into the locker room and thought, damn, Galen's riding today. Of all days to return to the lunch rides....
Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell and Adrian came out too, so although it was a rather smallish crew, they seemed all eager to work despite some pretty windy sections today. Mitchell took a good pull early on before we hit Harvard, and in typical fashion, the guys punished him for not latching on right away after coming off. Maybe it was me not calling out soon enough to have him rotate in front of me, but he should have been watching nonetheless. BAM! I forget who was up front at the time, but they accelerated rather abruptly leaving him trying to regroup and catch back up. Since I was in DQD (Draft Queen Diva) mode, I was behind him waiting for him to do so. HAHA. When I saw him drop his head, however, I knew he was cooked where I had to get around him and yell "don't quit!" which only fell on deaf ears.
Vin also took a few turns up front, but for some reason wasn't doing so hot today and struggled to keep up. I did help to try and latch back onto the group a couple times, but he was definitely not as energetic as normal...even from the draft. Here's a suggestion: eat!
Galen was a monster throughout and took some good pulls, as would Adrian and Jeremy. Adrian would do also try to inflict pain by taking the turns fast and trying to pull away causing everyone to have to accelerate really hard just to get back in the draft. What's that called again? Oh yeah..."cheap!"
Jeremy and Galen got us over to Shady via Quail Hill, and Jeremy led up the hill originally. Galen thought to rile things up here though and began accelerating like mad up the hill. Of course, being fresh from having sat in the draft, DQD had to oblige and give chase. I stood up mashing it in the beginning and hardly gaining any ground on the guy after he broke away for a little bit. Once I dropped down a gear and spun up, however, I began to reel him in. As I was coming up on him, I yelled out to him to "Work!" to which he responded "No!" and cheered me on as I passed him on the climb. That's so Galen.
I did break him off by the top and had visions of grandeur where I thought, hmmm...maybe I should breakaway here and have some fun. I squashed that idea about 2.4 seconds later though since 1) I know Galen will catch me and 2) I can hear Shannon yelling at me later for not saving any for OH.
We managed to regroup by the gate, and the guys originally tried to get me to pull them up the hill. With my pace up front being virtually in reverse, they did opt to pass me and take the front again with Galen breaking away momentarily but checking up to regroup before the top. Adrian took the front as we were making our way to the bike path, and I thought I'd use my DQD skills to see how hard I could snap them off in a sprint to the bike path. I felt like I had a really good jump and didn't really notice that anyone had latched on, but as I neared the bike trail I turned around only to see that Galen was right there behind me. Nice pick up!
Mitchell was waiting at the light when we arrived there, so we were all together again on Bonita Canyon. I returned to my DQD self, but after having ridden behind Galen, I did take the front once and led them to the light where we would turn to go up Spyglass. Thankfully, that was it for me and Adrian, Jeremy and Galen continued to rotate to get us back.
On University, Galen amped it up some after we went over the bridge, and we all sat in his monster pull draft as he led us toward CA. I did opt to come around him and relieve him near the end, but Adrian took that as a sign to sprint albeit we were like 20 feet from the CA intersection. Okay, whatever, stud.
Jeremy led us up California at a pretty good clip while everyone sat behind him. As it flattened out, I could hear Galen (who said he was going to spin up but never really slowed down) telling Jeremy to sprint as I started to pass. I was only trying to take the front to keep the pace up, but I couldn't resist accommodating Galen's taunting...so I took off. I probably looked like an idiot to any bystanders looking on given no one followed me. Oh well.
Good work, everyone. 21.4 mph average today despite the winds. Thanks for letting me play DQD!
I contemplated going on this lunch ride today since Shannon and I were planning to train at Orchard Hills with the racers this afternoon. I knew Todd was out sick and Shannon couldn't make it, so I figured I can spin in the back of the crew today just to get some miles. At least I gave them heads up beforehand. Then, as I was performing my pre-ride ritual (ahem), I heard his voice as he came into the locker room and thought, damn, Galen's riding today. Of all days to return to the lunch rides....
Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell and Adrian came out too, so although it was a rather smallish crew, they seemed all eager to work despite some pretty windy sections today. Mitchell took a good pull early on before we hit Harvard, and in typical fashion, the guys punished him for not latching on right away after coming off. Maybe it was me not calling out soon enough to have him rotate in front of me, but he should have been watching nonetheless. BAM! I forget who was up front at the time, but they accelerated rather abruptly leaving him trying to regroup and catch back up. Since I was in DQD (Draft Queen Diva) mode, I was behind him waiting for him to do so. HAHA. When I saw him drop his head, however, I knew he was cooked where I had to get around him and yell "don't quit!" which only fell on deaf ears.
Vin also took a few turns up front, but for some reason wasn't doing so hot today and struggled to keep up. I did help to try and latch back onto the group a couple times, but he was definitely not as energetic as normal...even from the draft. Here's a suggestion: eat!
Galen was a monster throughout and took some good pulls, as would Adrian and Jeremy. Adrian would do also try to inflict pain by taking the turns fast and trying to pull away causing everyone to have to accelerate really hard just to get back in the draft. What's that called again? Oh yeah..."cheap!"
Jeremy and Galen got us over to Shady via Quail Hill, and Jeremy led up the hill originally. Galen thought to rile things up here though and began accelerating like mad up the hill. Of course, being fresh from having sat in the draft, DQD had to oblige and give chase. I stood up mashing it in the beginning and hardly gaining any ground on the guy after he broke away for a little bit. Once I dropped down a gear and spun up, however, I began to reel him in. As I was coming up on him, I yelled out to him to "Work!" to which he responded "No!" and cheered me on as I passed him on the climb. That's so Galen.
I did break him off by the top and had visions of grandeur where I thought, hmmm...maybe I should breakaway here and have some fun. I squashed that idea about 2.4 seconds later though since 1) I know Galen will catch me and 2) I can hear Shannon yelling at me later for not saving any for OH.
We managed to regroup by the gate, and the guys originally tried to get me to pull them up the hill. With my pace up front being virtually in reverse, they did opt to pass me and take the front again with Galen breaking away momentarily but checking up to regroup before the top. Adrian took the front as we were making our way to the bike path, and I thought I'd use my DQD skills to see how hard I could snap them off in a sprint to the bike path. I felt like I had a really good jump and didn't really notice that anyone had latched on, but as I neared the bike trail I turned around only to see that Galen was right there behind me. Nice pick up!
Mitchell was waiting at the light when we arrived there, so we were all together again on Bonita Canyon. I returned to my DQD self, but after having ridden behind Galen, I did take the front once and led them to the light where we would turn to go up Spyglass. Thankfully, that was it for me and Adrian, Jeremy and Galen continued to rotate to get us back.
On University, Galen amped it up some after we went over the bridge, and we all sat in his monster pull draft as he led us toward CA. I did opt to come around him and relieve him near the end, but Adrian took that as a sign to sprint albeit we were like 20 feet from the CA intersection. Okay, whatever, stud.
Jeremy led us up California at a pretty good clip while everyone sat behind him. As it flattened out, I could hear Galen (who said he was going to spin up but never really slowed down) telling Jeremy to sprint as I started to pass. I was only trying to take the front to keep the pace up, but I couldn't resist accommodating Galen's taunting...so I took off. I probably looked like an idiot to any bystanders looking on given no one followed me. Oh well.
Good work, everyone. 21.4 mph average today despite the winds. Thanks for letting me play DQD!
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