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!
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