Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/57312186
Galen sent out an invite yesterday asking if anyone was interested in coming out this morning, and foolishly I agreed after being punished during yesterday's lunch ride. I threw out the idea of doing the Coffee Crew ride thinking it may be my saving grace given their relatively moderate start, but Vince chimed in indicating he was joining us and that we'd figure out what to do in the morning at 6 a.m. When I got up from the couch last night at one point, I realized my legs were feeling pretty cooked and was so close to sending an e-mail indicating I couldn't make it. Then I found out Gary was coming out too, so I couldn't miss that given I hadn't ridden with the guy for months. Thus, today was just another day where Advil was a part of my breakfast regimen.
When I pulled up to bldg 11, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Verm had come out too! I think it has been even longer since I've ridden with the guy, so it was nice to have him join us again. You can see he's been putting in some miles on Strava where on his last ride, Shannon and I commended and coaxed him to come back out with us. I guess Finance guys succumb to peer pressure rather easily. Paul B. was arriving at the gym just as we were heading out and wisely opted to do his own thing...wisely because these rides are nutty!
The riding conditions were pretty ideal this morning given the overcast above and the relatively low winds. The temperature was mild, but I still half expected that we would take it easy for the first few miles to allow some blood circulation so early in the morning. The moderate pace lasted until we got to E. Peltason with Galen breaking away for a bit, followed by Verm breaking away on Anteater. Gary did make a comment after the ride how everything is still the same including how I complain about starting so fast. HA HA.
We did regroup on Bonita Canyon and pretty much were all together by the time we made the left onto NPC. That lasted for only a little bit, as immediately upon starting the climb, Galen, Vince and Verm began to break away. Social riding is just not within these guys makeup. Since Gary expected we were going to do our thing and would never want us to wait (given he's still building up his base mileage but still BAM through and through), I stood up and started climbing after the three. It took until almost the light before the 73 underpass before I finally made it up to Vince and Galen with Verm not too far behind. After yesterday's ride, I opted to swallow some humility pills and stay behind these two with Galen leading us all way up to the top. While this seems easy enough, it's not.
We started rotating after San Joaquin and down NPC, and just when you think we're going pretty fast down the hill, someone would jump ahead and go even faster. Okay, so I'm equally guilty, but hey...we moved up in position on the Newport descent segment so isn't that what it's all about?
Steve wasn't far behind, so he joined us on PCH and we were off. There were some solid pulls and everyone seemed to be working well together as we made our way toward Laguna Beach. I rather enjoyed the teamwork, but you gotta know, I mean you seriously gotta know, someone's going to change that at some point during the ride. Sure enough, madness ensued on the 133.
While the beginning of the climb up the 133 was fairly cooperative, it seemed after the 73 underpass that things started to get nutty. There's something about that highway that seems to spark a fire under Galen, regardless of the direction, so the climb was pretty intense. Unfortunately, it got a little too hot for the Verminator, but Vince and I hung on while Galen seemingly did his best to make us hurt. It was near the top of the first crest where he finally decided to back it down, so I passed to take a turn. He eventually came around and once again had a pace that seemed to be full of bad intentions, but Vince was right on him and I was able to barely latch back on. As it started to flatten out and upon descending, Vince launched at least 2 attacks (this is evident by him pedaling off the seat in a sprint manner) and attempt breakaways. I think it was the 2nd one that had Galen calling out how that was just mean. Ironic. We were always able to close the gap, but it definitely took some work to do so. By the time we arrived at Laguna Canyon, we were spent.
Vince led the two of us to the Knollcrest climb since Galen and I have never done it before. We paced Vince going up the hill, but once he stood up and started climbing, we knew we must be near the top, so Galen and I instinctively did the same. It does look like a good hill to include more often during our lunch rides, so I'm thinking we'll be changing the top 10 rankings on those segments to include more "- Team Broadcom" in the near future.
Steve was actually not far behind us when we climb, and we were all able to regroup once back on Quail Hill. The climb up Shady was at a relatively moderate pace with no attacks, and the same on the descent given the possibility of early morning pedestrian traffic.
Once we got back on the road after the gate, Galen turned it up while we all hung on all the way to the top. Vince took over after followed by Verm, who started to elevate the pace as we started to make our way to the bike trail opening. I figured I'd give the ol' sprint a try and came around Verm to go for it. I thought I was moving at a pretty good clip where I was going to arrive ahead on the trail uncontested, but Galen passed me just before. Kudos.
On Bonita Canyon, I took the lead and brought the pace up to a respectable 29 or so mph all the way until after the 73. To show their gratitude for my pull, I get passed by all three of them at a rate that was just plain mean. HA HA. Gotta love 'em. Even Vince decided it was too painful and opted not to stay on, but fortunately we caught them both at the light at the top.
The rest of the ride was still fast, but fairly incident free. I did expect that someone would try to close out the ride with a sprint to California, but I was the only idiot who took off. There was too much traffic anyway, so....
Great training ride, and especially great to see some OG riders back out again. With Andy back in the mix, and PV talking about wanting to ride again, we'll just need Tim to come out and it'll be like the old times. Thanks for coming out, gents! Now where's that other packet of Advil in my office...?
Galen sent out an invite yesterday asking if anyone was interested in coming out this morning, and foolishly I agreed after being punished during yesterday's lunch ride. I threw out the idea of doing the Coffee Crew ride thinking it may be my saving grace given their relatively moderate start, but Vince chimed in indicating he was joining us and that we'd figure out what to do in the morning at 6 a.m. When I got up from the couch last night at one point, I realized my legs were feeling pretty cooked and was so close to sending an e-mail indicating I couldn't make it. Then I found out Gary was coming out too, so I couldn't miss that given I hadn't ridden with the guy for months. Thus, today was just another day where Advil was a part of my breakfast regimen.
When I pulled up to bldg 11, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Verm had come out too! I think it has been even longer since I've ridden with the guy, so it was nice to have him join us again. You can see he's been putting in some miles on Strava where on his last ride, Shannon and I commended and coaxed him to come back out with us. I guess Finance guys succumb to peer pressure rather easily. Paul B. was arriving at the gym just as we were heading out and wisely opted to do his own thing...wisely because these rides are nutty!
The riding conditions were pretty ideal this morning given the overcast above and the relatively low winds. The temperature was mild, but I still half expected that we would take it easy for the first few miles to allow some blood circulation so early in the morning. The moderate pace lasted until we got to E. Peltason with Galen breaking away for a bit, followed by Verm breaking away on Anteater. Gary did make a comment after the ride how everything is still the same including how I complain about starting so fast. HA HA.
We did regroup on Bonita Canyon and pretty much were all together by the time we made the left onto NPC. That lasted for only a little bit, as immediately upon starting the climb, Galen, Vince and Verm began to break away. Social riding is just not within these guys makeup. Since Gary expected we were going to do our thing and would never want us to wait (given he's still building up his base mileage but still BAM through and through), I stood up and started climbing after the three. It took until almost the light before the 73 underpass before I finally made it up to Vince and Galen with Verm not too far behind. After yesterday's ride, I opted to swallow some humility pills and stay behind these two with Galen leading us all way up to the top. While this seems easy enough, it's not.
We started rotating after San Joaquin and down NPC, and just when you think we're going pretty fast down the hill, someone would jump ahead and go even faster. Okay, so I'm equally guilty, but hey...we moved up in position on the Newport descent segment so isn't that what it's all about?
Steve wasn't far behind, so he joined us on PCH and we were off. There were some solid pulls and everyone seemed to be working well together as we made our way toward Laguna Beach. I rather enjoyed the teamwork, but you gotta know, I mean you seriously gotta know, someone's going to change that at some point during the ride. Sure enough, madness ensued on the 133.
While the beginning of the climb up the 133 was fairly cooperative, it seemed after the 73 underpass that things started to get nutty. There's something about that highway that seems to spark a fire under Galen, regardless of the direction, so the climb was pretty intense. Unfortunately, it got a little too hot for the Verminator, but Vince and I hung on while Galen seemingly did his best to make us hurt. It was near the top of the first crest where he finally decided to back it down, so I passed to take a turn. He eventually came around and once again had a pace that seemed to be full of bad intentions, but Vince was right on him and I was able to barely latch back on. As it started to flatten out and upon descending, Vince launched at least 2 attacks (this is evident by him pedaling off the seat in a sprint manner) and attempt breakaways. I think it was the 2nd one that had Galen calling out how that was just mean. Ironic. We were always able to close the gap, but it definitely took some work to do so. By the time we arrived at Laguna Canyon, we were spent.
Vince led the two of us to the Knollcrest climb since Galen and I have never done it before. We paced Vince going up the hill, but once he stood up and started climbing, we knew we must be near the top, so Galen and I instinctively did the same. It does look like a good hill to include more often during our lunch rides, so I'm thinking we'll be changing the top 10 rankings on those segments to include more "- Team Broadcom" in the near future.
Steve was actually not far behind us when we climb, and we were all able to regroup once back on Quail Hill. The climb up Shady was at a relatively moderate pace with no attacks, and the same on the descent given the possibility of early morning pedestrian traffic.
Once we got back on the road after the gate, Galen turned it up while we all hung on all the way to the top. Vince took over after followed by Verm, who started to elevate the pace as we started to make our way to the bike trail opening. I figured I'd give the ol' sprint a try and came around Verm to go for it. I thought I was moving at a pretty good clip where I was going to arrive ahead on the trail uncontested, but Galen passed me just before. Kudos.
On Bonita Canyon, I took the lead and brought the pace up to a respectable 29 or so mph all the way until after the 73. To show their gratitude for my pull, I get passed by all three of them at a rate that was just plain mean. HA HA. Gotta love 'em. Even Vince decided it was too painful and opted not to stay on, but fortunately we caught them both at the light at the top.
The rest of the ride was still fast, but fairly incident free. I did expect that someone would try to close out the ride with a sprint to California, but I was the only idiot who took off. There was too much traffic anyway, so....
Great training ride, and especially great to see some OG riders back out again. With Andy back in the mix, and PV talking about wanting to ride again, we'll just need Tim to come out and it'll be like the old times. Thanks for coming out, gents! Now where's that other packet of Advil in my office...?
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