Lunch Ride - Hmmm...Will They Miss Me When I'm Gone?

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/51983436

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

As I sat at the corner waiting for everyone to gather for our lunch ride today, I pondered over how someday I may not be around to get in on some of the amazing training that we refer to as our lunch rides.  With the firepower out there today in the form of who came out, I knew it was going to be a good one for sure.  Ultimately, I concluded that I may as well make the best of what may be a limited amount of sessions left and give the others something to hopefully remember me by should that situation arise.  In other words, my objective would be that today, I'd make sure they knew I was out there so that they might be able to answer the question of the blog title with a resounding "yes."

It was a warm one out there with temps averaging in the mid 80's.  The winds were supposed to be off-shore, but looking at the flags on campus before and after the ride, it was obvious that the winds were on-shore since they were facing away from the ocean.  The ocean route was still the best choice for sure, but Back Bay into the wind definitely took it's toll.

Once we got rolling, Galen took the initial lead going down CA, but I took the front after to bring the pace up where I already began trying to fulfill my objective above.  Todd ended up taking the lead on the bike trail after the light, and I got pushed to the back due to another cyclist who was on the trail causing a lot of us to check up as we got on.

Todd had a good pace heading toward BB, and Vince pushed up after to keep it going once on Eastbluff.  Galen took the front on BB and immediately got us all going.  I was behind Mitchell in the rotation, so I waited for him to relieve Galen before pushing up the front.  Due to the pace, however, Mitchell took a little time to push up and once he did, he didn't seem to hold it where I would find him just inching past Galen.  Gotta give him credit for pushing up though, but I would come around probably just seconds after he did and take the front from him just to help keep the pace nutty.  I didn't want anyone to get too much rest.  HA!

Vince, Todd, Galen and Vin rotated up front keeping the pace up as well, but at some point, the wind/heat/pace/effort/partying the night before/add additional excuses here got the best of Vin.  I don't know if I would have mentioned that on today's blog, but Vince instructed me to do so at the light before getting on PCH.  HA HA.  Sorry, little buddy.

As we cross the street to start the climb up PCH after the trailer park, Jaffe (who hadn't taken the front AND was the only one to wear BRCM red with everyone else repping white) took off.  Todd had taken the front of the chase group initially, but I immediately jumped to the front not only to give chase but also purposely put the hurt on the others.  We passed Jaffe shortly after and at the top, I got kudos from the guys for the lead up, but what was especially rewarding was how I heard a complaint here and there about how legs hurt.  HA.

I got relieved I think after the first light at the top, but as soon as I could pushed up to the front again and got the pace going.  I think by this point, the group had thinned out to just Vince, Todd, Galen, Mitchell and me, so it would definitely take a lot more effort to try and make them remember.  A lot more.

We did have plans to enter "view appreciation" mode as we rode through CDM, but I did accelerate on Fernleaf just to see if I could wear the other guys down.  I don't think they reacted though, so so much for that.  HA.  While we did check up a little as we rode through Ocean, the talent pool was slim so we still rode through at a fairly decent clip.

Once we got back to PCH, Vince had jumped on the sidewalk due to some cars making a right from Poppy.  I, like Galen, thought Vince might make a break for it as he had gapped us a little when he got on PCH first (historically the case), but it wasn't long before we were all together again.  I pushed up as soon as I could, but I think Vince and/or Galen took a pretty good pull that finished us off on PCH to NPC where I thought better to bring it up anymore just prior to some climbing.

We all opted to cross from the crosswalk (vs. the left turn) and started up NPC.  Todd made his way up to the front, and I made my way beside him AND subsquently passed him before we got to Pelican.  Oh boy, talk about poking the bear.  We then made the left turn to Pelican and Todd took the front immediately where I thought...hell, I'll keep poking and started rotating the front with him.  Vince stayed in the #3 spot and just watched our antics...smart man.  When we got to the bottom of the final climb, Todd had gotten up front again and started us off.  I thought I had recovered enough where I started to climb past Todd breaking away from him and Vince, but probably about half way up realized that I had thought wrong.  I did have a gap on the two, but when I looked back half way up I realized that they were starting to reel me in.  I was yelling at myself internally, STAND UP or PEDAL FASTER, but at that point, panic had set in and I hit the detonate button resulting in Todd and Vince passing me unchallenged.  Bummer.  I did recover a little bit shortly after, but that just let them pull away from me a little slower than they were originally.  Todd had reached the top first with Vince not too far behind.

Fortunately, the light on NPC held them until I could catch up where I rolled up on them just as it turned green.  I thought it was just the three of us, but when I jumped to the front eventually to get us going again on NPC, I heard Galen behind me also.  He had dropped off a little on Pelican, so it was a nice pick up on his part to be able to make the light as well.

Going down NPC toward Bonita was as expected...manic.  Despite being on a compact crank, I was trying to help keep and/or bring the pace up but then my chain seemed to be hopping around making clicking noises while on the tallest gear.  I guess Todd's and Vince's bikes were having some issues and making some noise too where I'm sure the three of us together sounded like we were advertising cereal (snap, crackle, pop).   I skipped a turn as a result of my bike issue, but after the first light past the 73 underpass, I didn't care and pushed to the front again to finish the descent with the three in tow.

On Bonita Canyon, the four of us were doing our part to keep the pace up, and Galen pushed us through to make the green light on McArthur.  I opted to drop off from the three after we got on Ford just to recover from that sprint, so the three of them stayed together and made their way to Jamboree ahead of me.  Vince, in his infinite wisdom, made sure to create a good-sized gap since he knows that's my favorite sprint zone.  They made the left turn well ahead of me as a result but did have to check up for a car making a right turn onto Jamboree.  Unfortunately, that car was still sitting there when I arrived, so I didn't get the start I wanted as well.

Looking up just after the turn, I saw Vince was ahead of Galen and Todd with the latter 2 probably about 2/3 of the way up already.  I started to sprint up the hill and was only just able to latch on to Todd's wheel near where it starts to flatten out as Galen started accelerating again at that point.  Vince was still ahead of us the 3 of us, so I opted to give chase after a little recovery only to have Vince STILL be just ahead of me on the right turn to Bison.  He rightfully raised his arms up based on his triumphant strategy to get to Bison first soon after making the turn.  Nice.

We all made our way down to the light at MacArthur, and I wasn't sure at this point if anyone would be game to sprint to California.  Galen had talked about how he was going to just spin toward the finish to cool down, so I didn't think he would be game.  Once we got past the last light over the 73, however, Mr. I'm_just_going_to_cool_down took off.  By the time I realized it, Galen had momentum and all I could do was watch as he made it onto California ahead of me.  Call me lollipop.

That's one more for the books, and after next week, I'll be in India for 2 weeks where I'll just have to figure out some way to stay in shape for when I return.  I'm not looking forward to that at all.  2 weeks away from this group would be comparable to dog years.  In the gym and locker room, it seemed everyone had a great workout today and hopefully felt my contributions on this ride.  I hope I get in on next week's rides where my internal objectives will continue, so for those who make it out, plan accordingly.

Thanks, gents!