Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/57181891
It's an unspoken rule that if someone new comes on the ride OR if someone leaves for a bit and comes back that they need to pay their dues on our lunch rides. After all the years I've been riding with these guys, I KNOW this. Thus, I expected that today's ride would be no different and I expected to get the naan beat out of me after being off in India for two weeks. I tried my best to train for it with what equipment they had over there, but there's really no way one can be fully prepared for riding with this lunch crew. The word "nutty" comes to mind to describe today's ride. There are other words, but they may be a little too profane.
It was a good turnout though with Vince, Shannon, Adrian, Jeremy, Hiroshi, Mitchell, Andy, Vin and Jaffe coming out representing BRCM jersey (except Jeremy..haha - listen next time). Seeing this size of a group, I was both pleased AND anxious at the same time. It was pleasing to see everyone come out but in the back of my mind, the anxiety rose based on knowing that it was just a longer gauntlet I'd have to walk today on my return ride.
The ride started out pretty calm, and I was holding the back just to see where my legs were to make sure I didn't drop off before we even crossed Bonita Canyon to get to Shady. HAHA. From the back, I wasn't sure who was working the front as we made our way through East Peltason and up Anteater. After feeling like I wasn't going to drop, I took the front just before we got to Bonita Canyon.
When we started to up the Shady start segment, someone took the front early but I came around shortly after since I found a pretty good pace to be on off the seat. Jeremy was just behind me, and he asked me to let him know when to come around (nice), so I took the opportunity to take a break shortly after. I thought we were climbing at a pretty good clip and half expected some attrition early on, but not today. This crew has definitely been training up as EVERYONE stayed together up the climb. I should have taken that as a sign....
When we got onto Sunnyhill and ultimately on Turtle Rock, Adrian had the lead and had a little gap initially, but that was closed shortly after. There were some good rotations on the descent down Turtle Rock, albeit not from everyone...which is okay. Once we passed Campus and started the climb, Jaffe got it in him to take off and break away from the group. Vince was at the front at the time, but I came around to lead up the hill but not at the pace Jaffe was going. While Jaffe had a good run, his pace was just a little too hot, so we made our way past him about half way up.
I was still leading the group after Starcrest, but then Shannon, Vince and Andy (nice!) passed me. I matched their pace once they did, but then Jeremy decided to go on the offense and launched an attack. I still had some naan in me at the time, so I countered and managed to pass him before getting to the stop sign. This act of aggression on my part, however, probably led to my undoing later on, but I'll get to that.
Vince and Shannon had gotten past me after the stop sign and seemingly were on a mission to break away. They almost would have by Sunnyhill, but thankfully the truck that was approaching the stop sign beside some of us let us go. Vince ended up relegating himself behind me and/or Jeremy while Shannon had a little breakaway on the Shady bike trail. I didn't think it would be a good idea to try and close the gap early while trailing behind Shannon, so I was waiting until after the bridge to see if I could make a move to close the gap. However, Vince and Jeremy came around me at that sprinter hill, so I latched on as they worked their way up to Shannon. I believe there were still others behind me as well, but I never looked back to see and obviously they were very courteous (wink wink) to let me jump in behind Vince or Jeremy.
Shannon kept the front after we latched on, but Jeremy and Vince made a move near the top with Vince finishing first, but I jumped on behind them with Shannon and the rest behind me.
On the descent, we all stayed together but Jeremy and Shannon opted for the less dangerous use of the streets while Vince, myself and the others opted to stay on the trail. Vince raised his arm up at this point seemingly making a WTF? gesture (haha), but upon getting on the final bike trail toward the 405 ended up latching on to Jeremy and Shannon who had momentum coming in from the street. I couldn't get on to the trail fast enough, and the three amigos broke away.
I knew I couldn't catch the three on my own, so I tried to maintain a good pace just so I wouldn't lose sight of them. Then, Adrian came around and started to work with me where I thought we started to gain some ground. However, with just the two of us, it was not enough. Mitchell was behind us, but the pace was probably too high early on so he was not able to contribute to the cause.
Adrian, Mitchell and I made our way to Ridgeline, and Adrian started off the climb breaking away early and holding a pretty good pace. At one point, I think he even started to pull away for a bit (now it was my turn to think WTF?), but once it pitched up, I managed to reel him in and pass with Mitchell still behind me. I could see Vince just ahead of us, so I turned it up a little more dropping Mitchell in the process, but I was just a few seconds behind Vince once he started the descent down Turtle Rock. Since Vince can descend, I knew all I could do at this point is wait and hopefully catch him at the light on Campus and Culver. Sure enough, that's just what happened. We had to sit through 2 cycles since the left turn light didn't turn green for us, so both Mitchell and Adrian were able to roll up on us as well.
Vince was definitely annoyed at the light situation, so he took off first once it finally turned green. Having rested though, I ended up taking the front and leading the guys up I believe even past the first light. Adrian took the lead after followed by the others and started amping it up where I started to fall off. I hadn't lost hope though as I knew if I maintained my pace that I'd have a good chance to reel them back in once it flattened out. When I saw the red light at the Shady intersection though, I knew I was going to be able to regroup. Or so I thought....
Apparently, the traffic light was only red to me (haha), so I ended up sitting it out and finishing the rest of the ride on my own. Did I mention how today's ride seemed "nutty?"
In the end, I got a great workout that one can only get by coming on our lunch rides. I'm so glad to be back (I think), and obviously with everyone trained up even more, I'll be getting a beatdown every week until I can find a way to not only be better conditioned but also be more tactful. You get the best of both worlds here, folks.
Thanks for the welcome back beatdown, gents!
It's an unspoken rule that if someone new comes on the ride OR if someone leaves for a bit and comes back that they need to pay their dues on our lunch rides. After all the years I've been riding with these guys, I KNOW this. Thus, I expected that today's ride would be no different and I expected to get the naan beat out of me after being off in India for two weeks. I tried my best to train for it with what equipment they had over there, but there's really no way one can be fully prepared for riding with this lunch crew. The word "nutty" comes to mind to describe today's ride. There are other words, but they may be a little too profane.
It was a good turnout though with Vince, Shannon, Adrian, Jeremy, Hiroshi, Mitchell, Andy, Vin and Jaffe coming out representing BRCM jersey (except Jeremy..haha - listen next time). Seeing this size of a group, I was both pleased AND anxious at the same time. It was pleasing to see everyone come out but in the back of my mind, the anxiety rose based on knowing that it was just a longer gauntlet I'd have to walk today on my return ride.
The ride started out pretty calm, and I was holding the back just to see where my legs were to make sure I didn't drop off before we even crossed Bonita Canyon to get to Shady. HAHA. From the back, I wasn't sure who was working the front as we made our way through East Peltason and up Anteater. After feeling like I wasn't going to drop, I took the front just before we got to Bonita Canyon.
When we started to up the Shady start segment, someone took the front early but I came around shortly after since I found a pretty good pace to be on off the seat. Jeremy was just behind me, and he asked me to let him know when to come around (nice), so I took the opportunity to take a break shortly after. I thought we were climbing at a pretty good clip and half expected some attrition early on, but not today. This crew has definitely been training up as EVERYONE stayed together up the climb. I should have taken that as a sign....
When we got onto Sunnyhill and ultimately on Turtle Rock, Adrian had the lead and had a little gap initially, but that was closed shortly after. There were some good rotations on the descent down Turtle Rock, albeit not from everyone...which is okay. Once we passed Campus and started the climb, Jaffe got it in him to take off and break away from the group. Vince was at the front at the time, but I came around to lead up the hill but not at the pace Jaffe was going. While Jaffe had a good run, his pace was just a little too hot, so we made our way past him about half way up.
I was still leading the group after Starcrest, but then Shannon, Vince and Andy (nice!) passed me. I matched their pace once they did, but then Jeremy decided to go on the offense and launched an attack. I still had some naan in me at the time, so I countered and managed to pass him before getting to the stop sign. This act of aggression on my part, however, probably led to my undoing later on, but I'll get to that.
Vince and Shannon had gotten past me after the stop sign and seemingly were on a mission to break away. They almost would have by Sunnyhill, but thankfully the truck that was approaching the stop sign beside some of us let us go. Vince ended up relegating himself behind me and/or Jeremy while Shannon had a little breakaway on the Shady bike trail. I didn't think it would be a good idea to try and close the gap early while trailing behind Shannon, so I was waiting until after the bridge to see if I could make a move to close the gap. However, Vince and Jeremy came around me at that sprinter hill, so I latched on as they worked their way up to Shannon. I believe there were still others behind me as well, but I never looked back to see and obviously they were very courteous (wink wink) to let me jump in behind Vince or Jeremy.
Shannon kept the front after we latched on, but Jeremy and Vince made a move near the top with Vince finishing first, but I jumped on behind them with Shannon and the rest behind me.
On the descent, we all stayed together but Jeremy and Shannon opted for the less dangerous use of the streets while Vince, myself and the others opted to stay on the trail. Vince raised his arm up at this point seemingly making a WTF? gesture (haha), but upon getting on the final bike trail toward the 405 ended up latching on to Jeremy and Shannon who had momentum coming in from the street. I couldn't get on to the trail fast enough, and the three amigos broke away.
I knew I couldn't catch the three on my own, so I tried to maintain a good pace just so I wouldn't lose sight of them. Then, Adrian came around and started to work with me where I thought we started to gain some ground. However, with just the two of us, it was not enough. Mitchell was behind us, but the pace was probably too high early on so he was not able to contribute to the cause.
Adrian, Mitchell and I made our way to Ridgeline, and Adrian started off the climb breaking away early and holding a pretty good pace. At one point, I think he even started to pull away for a bit (now it was my turn to think WTF?), but once it pitched up, I managed to reel him in and pass with Mitchell still behind me. I could see Vince just ahead of us, so I turned it up a little more dropping Mitchell in the process, but I was just a few seconds behind Vince once he started the descent down Turtle Rock. Since Vince can descend, I knew all I could do at this point is wait and hopefully catch him at the light on Campus and Culver. Sure enough, that's just what happened. We had to sit through 2 cycles since the left turn light didn't turn green for us, so both Mitchell and Adrian were able to roll up on us as well.
Vince was definitely annoyed at the light situation, so he took off first once it finally turned green. Having rested though, I ended up taking the front and leading the guys up I believe even past the first light. Adrian took the lead after followed by the others and started amping it up where I started to fall off. I hadn't lost hope though as I knew if I maintained my pace that I'd have a good chance to reel them back in once it flattened out. When I saw the red light at the Shady intersection though, I knew I was going to be able to regroup. Or so I thought....
Apparently, the traffic light was only red to me (haha), so I ended up sitting it out and finishing the rest of the ride on my own. Did I mention how today's ride seemed "nutty?"
In the end, I got a great workout that one can only get by coming on our lunch rides. I'm so glad to be back (I think), and obviously with everyone trained up even more, I'll be getting a beatdown every week until I can find a way to not only be better conditioned but also be more tactful. You get the best of both worlds here, folks.
Thanks for the welcome back beatdown, gents!
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