Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/60628893
With my separation date of 6-20-13 fast approaching, I had setup this finale ride weeks back in order to get one last ride in with the team while I still work at Broadcom. I wasn't sure who'll be able to make it, but Shannon, Todd, Noah, Mitchell, Vin, Galen, Adrian, Andy, Jeremy, Verm and Hiroshi showed up in BRCM white to represent on the bike. Eddie and James came by after to hang out at Noah's and Sarah's, who graciously offered to host the post-ride festivities. Pam, Heather and Nicole showed up after as well making for another memorable event for the books.
With my separation date of 6-20-13 fast approaching, I had setup this finale ride weeks back in order to get one last ride in with the team while I still work at Broadcom. I wasn't sure who'll be able to make it, but Shannon, Todd, Noah, Mitchell, Vin, Galen, Adrian, Andy, Jeremy, Verm and Hiroshi showed up in BRCM white to represent on the bike. Eddie and James came by after to hang out at Noah's and Sarah's, who graciously offered to host the post-ride festivities. Pam, Heather and Nicole showed up after as well making for another memorable event for the books.
The objectives for this ride were simple: 1) go out as a team, 2) no one drops, 3) enjoy the company and 4) represent. Of course, in true fashion it wouldn't be a team ride absent of a little BAM here and there.
Todd offered to have Pam give me a ride home, but this entailed riding to his house in the morning and riding to Noah's picking up Vin on the way. This 22 mile commute was easy enough despite some climbs here and there, and we still were able to drop some guy on a TT bike who tried to pass us on Irvine Blvd.
Upon arriving at Noah's, almost everyone was there already with the rest arriving shortly after. I must say I was a little overwhelmed to see such a great turnout, but sorry there's just no crying in cycling. Rule #5 strikes again. I also saw Shanon had his tubulars on, so I knew he'd be doing his share and more of the work out there as usual. It's how he rolls.
After everyone was set to go and after some pictures, which I hope the others will forward to me, we were off. It wasn't long before we were on Irvine Blvd where initially I stayed toward the back just taking it all in how cool we looked going out representing in such good numbers. When we saw Noah pedaling away from the group in a frantic pace, however, I thought it would help alleviate some of the emotions brewing inside by giving chase. Todd accompanied me for the chase only to find out upon getting to Noah that he had pedaled away hoping to resync his PowerTap. It didn't help that Todd and I both had PowerTaps too. Haha. We backed off and joined the group, but then Jeremy did what we had just done. With Jeremy having a standard rear hub though, he didn't receive the same disapproving look upon getting to Noah as we did.
Eventually, we were all rolling together again and despite it being a no drop ride, the guys were still rolling toward El Toro at a respectable pace. We reeled in a pretty decent sized group who cheered us on as we passed. My excitement got the best of me and I actually joined them in the cheering. "Woo hoo...Team Broadcom!" Seriously a dork moment there, folks.
The pace going up El Toro was moderate (compared to the manic pace I've experienced on the Como Street ride), but as we neared Cook's, it definitely seemed Como-esque. I took to the back to play sweeper thinking that the charge up to the top would result in guys popping off early on. I even backed off the group a bit to still get some good hill training in thinking I would be able to pass a couple guys before the 2nd crest (first designated regroup point). When I saw them pulling away in a pretty tight pack, however, I literally thought to myself "Oh shit!" Fortunately, I was just able to get to the 2nd crest behind a couple of the guys, but I knew at that point there'll be no more underestimating during the rest of the ride. These guys are legit!
On the descent, BAM was still in full effect and the guys were hauling. Todd somehow had gotten behind me on the descent early on, and he was calling me Jaffe since I had left a gap between myself and the rest. We still managed to close the gap, so I waved Todd on to resume my sweeper duties.
The guys were all rotating in a fairly orderly fashion with some getting back in the paceline right away rather than rolling all the way to the back. For those who would roll all the way to the back, they did so willingly just in front of me after I called to them. Needless to say, this kept the pace up through the canyon. There were some moments when I thought someone wasn't going to be able to latch on, but latch on they did. Again...legit.
The pace was relentless as we made our way by the lake, so it did eventually take its toll. After Hiroshi rolled out from the front, he just wasn't able to latch on and started to drop off. I jumped in front of him and pointed at my rear wheel, so he latched on as we tried to get him back to the group. We actually closed a little, but he needed to recover just a little more where I checked up again to give him some wind protection to the base of Dump Hill. There was suppose to be a regroup point at the top, so I took off once we got there.
I had rolled up to Shannon at the top where he heeded the next designated regroup point while the others got into mixing it up with someone who tried to challenge them on the climb up Dump. Hiroshi wasn't far behind, so we regrouped and rode down to the rest at Jamboree. Except for Noah, those waiting at the bottom had turned around already expecting to go through the canyon again. However, that would have taken away a significant number of miles from the actual route planned where we were going to turn around somewhere on Irvine Blvd. Thus, we got everyone straightened out and were headed up Jamboree subsequently.
Just to spice up the ride a little bit, I thought I'd lay down an attack on the Jamboree climb and see when (not if) it would take the rest to catch back up to me. It seemed I did catch those up front sleeping, so I was able to get a gap immediately after sprinting by. Upon reach the top, I was hoping the descent would allow me to hold the gap even more but it wasn't too long before I looked back and saw Galen leading the group coming fast behind me. I tried a final sprint effort as they closed on me, but that probably only gave me an extra second, if that, before they closed and began to pass. We still mixed it up some as we headed to Portola, with Noah even getting in the mix. On a downhill? Wha?
Shannon opted to take a bio break somewhere at the Portola intersection, so I looked for more opportunities to take another attack or two. Noah was still game and was also launching attacks, so the trading back and forth was reminiscent of a Como ride for sure. Fun times!
Rather than turning around at Culver on Irvine Blvd, it seemed best to just make a u-turn and head back up Jamboree toward the canyons for the 2nd pass. We passed Irvine Regional Park and apparently, Madison saw us in our BRCM kits during her Saturday run. See that? People notice.
After Shannon jumped back on, we started up the Jamboree climb toward Santiago, and as always it became another contest to the top. Nice. Andy seemed to have dropped off a little, so I was trying to work to bring him back to the group albeit we were only going to stop at the Chevron for a refueling. He was telling me he was thinking about turning back around at some point during the canyon should he fall off again and just head back home to get ready for the afternoon festivities. Despite my attempt to help, he was still pulling past me at some points, then ended up leading the group up Dump for the most part, and actually ended up finishing out the ride staying in the group for the rest of the ride. That's some OG BAM right there.
When we were heading up Dump, we started passing a lot of riders who apparently had come out for the Big Ring Century, which goes through the canyon the same direction. It was pretty cool to pass all sorts of people with the size of our group, so truly Team Broadcom was out and in effect representing. There were some who chose to get in our line, including a rider from Veloviet, but there weren't too many who stayed on for too long. The pace was actually getting a little too hot for a couple of our own riders as we neared Modjeska, but I jumped ahead of them and we were successfully able to re-attach back to the group before the final climb up towards Cooks.
As we were climbing up, we were bunched up originally and some other riders, including one in a Rockform kit, had gotten behind us. I started to push up to see if I could shake him off, but once we got close to the first crest, he started spinning up by me. Of course, I returned the favor and beat him to the crest. I had gotten by the others at this point except for Todd, who had broken away on the climb. I prepared for the 2nd crest by charging after Todd to make sure I can avoid any other attacks, and was able to keep the other guy at bay for the final crest too. Todd was a little startled upon our approach, but I'm sure would have participated in the fun had he known sooner.
Once we regrouped again at the top, Verm had rolled up indicating he had a problem with his chain and told us to go ahead. I didn't realize he hadn't come with us on the descent, but looking at his stats saw that he opted to go up Glenn Ranch instead and held a very respectable average for the rest of his way back solo. Kudos!
Adrian was trying to recruit for a breakaway on the descent to Cooks, but that would have been contradictory to the ride objectives...so I didn't go with him. As we headed toward Trabuco, some ladies tried to ride with us but our pace was just a little too hot. Vin ended up popping off the line after a pull and didn't seem to want anymore, but after I convinced him to jump on my rear wheel, we were back with the rest again.
There was a little separation at one of the lights on Irvine Blvd, but we were all regrouped by Alton. The pace was fast but everyone stayed tight where it looked like everyone was set for the rest of the ride to stay together. When Jeremy decided to ride to the right of some pylons passing the rest of us in a line seemingly in a TT position, I pulled to the front and collected everyone behind me to have us all jump behind Jeremy. I thought I'd help us finish the ride strong and did more pulls toward the end, although with some others STILL willing to take a turn. In the end, we made good time on Irvine Blvd all the way to Culver. Vin sprinted by once on Culver, but no one cared since we were all in cool down mode being so close to Noah's. HA HA.
All in all, this was probably one of the best team outings we've ever had in terms of riding and staying as a group for the entire time. I tried to explain the chaos theory and the butterfly effect to the others afterwards indicating how one small change to the dynamics of our ride could have had a substantial impact to the outcome. I think I failed miserably in this attempt. In any case, I'm glad everything worked out as planned and everyone had a great ride.
As for the post ride festivities, Mitchell and Noah had skipped the 2nd loop so that they could have everything ready for us once we arrived. How awesome was that? Mitchell had brought some food to barbecue, so he and Eddie were finishing up the grilling upon our arrival. Thanks, guys. The food was excellent and accompanied the libations perfectly. The antics were nutty as always, maybe even over the top at times, but all-in-all just some good natured alcohol induced fun.
At one point, the guys presented me with a poster that contained pictures of several past events Vince and Noah put together for the guys to sign, and I was just speechless. That's right...I said I was speechless. I'm not sure I'm worthy of such an honor and in all honesty, I feel I should be giving them something for all the things they've done for me. However, I'm truly grateful for it and all the sentiments as well. It was the perfect touch to accompany a perfect day of riding, laughing, working together and building life-long relationships. Thanks again to everyone who came and/or contributed to the the post ride festivities, especially to Noah and Sarah for putting up with us for more than 8 hours, Mitchell for the barbecue, and Todd and Pam for getting me home safe and sound.
Seriously, I love you all of you guys, and I hope at a minimum we can still continue to ride together on the weekends. We'll just have to see what the future holds.
Pics courtesy of Hiroshi and Sarah/Noah:
More pictures can be found here (parental guidance is suggested): http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Just to spice up the ride a little bit, I thought I'd lay down an attack on the Jamboree climb and see when (not if) it would take the rest to catch back up to me. It seemed I did catch those up front sleeping, so I was able to get a gap immediately after sprinting by. Upon reach the top, I was hoping the descent would allow me to hold the gap even more but it wasn't too long before I looked back and saw Galen leading the group coming fast behind me. I tried a final sprint effort as they closed on me, but that probably only gave me an extra second, if that, before they closed and began to pass. We still mixed it up some as we headed to Portola, with Noah even getting in the mix. On a downhill? Wha?
Shannon opted to take a bio break somewhere at the Portola intersection, so I looked for more opportunities to take another attack or two. Noah was still game and was also launching attacks, so the trading back and forth was reminiscent of a Como ride for sure. Fun times!
Rather than turning around at Culver on Irvine Blvd, it seemed best to just make a u-turn and head back up Jamboree toward the canyons for the 2nd pass. We passed Irvine Regional Park and apparently, Madison saw us in our BRCM kits during her Saturday run. See that? People notice.
After Shannon jumped back on, we started up the Jamboree climb toward Santiago, and as always it became another contest to the top. Nice. Andy seemed to have dropped off a little, so I was trying to work to bring him back to the group albeit we were only going to stop at the Chevron for a refueling. He was telling me he was thinking about turning back around at some point during the canyon should he fall off again and just head back home to get ready for the afternoon festivities. Despite my attempt to help, he was still pulling past me at some points, then ended up leading the group up Dump for the most part, and actually ended up finishing out the ride staying in the group for the rest of the ride. That's some OG BAM right there.
When we were heading up Dump, we started passing a lot of riders who apparently had come out for the Big Ring Century, which goes through the canyon the same direction. It was pretty cool to pass all sorts of people with the size of our group, so truly Team Broadcom was out and in effect representing. There were some who chose to get in our line, including a rider from Veloviet, but there weren't too many who stayed on for too long. The pace was actually getting a little too hot for a couple of our own riders as we neared Modjeska, but I jumped ahead of them and we were successfully able to re-attach back to the group before the final climb up towards Cooks.
As we were climbing up, we were bunched up originally and some other riders, including one in a Rockform kit, had gotten behind us. I started to push up to see if I could shake him off, but once we got close to the first crest, he started spinning up by me. Of course, I returned the favor and beat him to the crest. I had gotten by the others at this point except for Todd, who had broken away on the climb. I prepared for the 2nd crest by charging after Todd to make sure I can avoid any other attacks, and was able to keep the other guy at bay for the final crest too. Todd was a little startled upon our approach, but I'm sure would have participated in the fun had he known sooner.
Once we regrouped again at the top, Verm had rolled up indicating he had a problem with his chain and told us to go ahead. I didn't realize he hadn't come with us on the descent, but looking at his stats saw that he opted to go up Glenn Ranch instead and held a very respectable average for the rest of his way back solo. Kudos!
Adrian was trying to recruit for a breakaway on the descent to Cooks, but that would have been contradictory to the ride objectives...so I didn't go with him. As we headed toward Trabuco, some ladies tried to ride with us but our pace was just a little too hot. Vin ended up popping off the line after a pull and didn't seem to want anymore, but after I convinced him to jump on my rear wheel, we were back with the rest again.
There was a little separation at one of the lights on Irvine Blvd, but we were all regrouped by Alton. The pace was fast but everyone stayed tight where it looked like everyone was set for the rest of the ride to stay together. When Jeremy decided to ride to the right of some pylons passing the rest of us in a line seemingly in a TT position, I pulled to the front and collected everyone behind me to have us all jump behind Jeremy. I thought I'd help us finish the ride strong and did more pulls toward the end, although with some others STILL willing to take a turn. In the end, we made good time on Irvine Blvd all the way to Culver. Vin sprinted by once on Culver, but no one cared since we were all in cool down mode being so close to Noah's. HA HA.
All in all, this was probably one of the best team outings we've ever had in terms of riding and staying as a group for the entire time. I tried to explain the chaos theory and the butterfly effect to the others afterwards indicating how one small change to the dynamics of our ride could have had a substantial impact to the outcome. I think I failed miserably in this attempt. In any case, I'm glad everything worked out as planned and everyone had a great ride.
As for the post ride festivities, Mitchell and Noah had skipped the 2nd loop so that they could have everything ready for us once we arrived. How awesome was that? Mitchell had brought some food to barbecue, so he and Eddie were finishing up the grilling upon our arrival. Thanks, guys. The food was excellent and accompanied the libations perfectly. The antics were nutty as always, maybe even over the top at times, but all-in-all just some good natured alcohol induced fun.
At one point, the guys presented me with a poster that contained pictures of several past events Vince and Noah put together for the guys to sign, and I was just speechless. That's right...I said I was speechless. I'm not sure I'm worthy of such an honor and in all honesty, I feel I should be giving them something for all the things they've done for me. However, I'm truly grateful for it and all the sentiments as well. It was the perfect touch to accompany a perfect day of riding, laughing, working together and building life-long relationships. Thanks again to everyone who came and/or contributed to the the post ride festivities, especially to Noah and Sarah for putting up with us for more than 8 hours, Mitchell for the barbecue, and Todd and Pam for getting me home safe and sound.
Seriously, I love you all of you guys, and I hope at a minimum we can still continue to ride together on the weekends. We'll just have to see what the future holds.
Pics courtesy of Hiroshi and Sarah/Noah:
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| Pre-ride sans Noah and Todd (who were probably taking dumps at the time) |
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| Two ominous figures in the background (insert Jaws music here) |
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| So Mitch, is it amateur to carry juice in a carton on the ride? |
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| Picture was candid. We were all just siting this way. |
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| Looking down at the crazy bunch |
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| Note Andy's position originally.... |
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| Note Andy's new position. HA HA |
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| Noah doing the honors |
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| Mitchell beyond messed up. Someone get him a burger. |
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| The only lines on Jeremy's stomach are from his tattoo. |
Rich,
ReplyDeleteWow I didn't realize you were leaving Broadcom. And that this was the finale ride. Well I must say you definitely made the lunch ride more exciting. Too bad I just can't keep up with you guys. Best of luck!
David
Hi David,
DeleteI wish you could have joined us. I'm sure you're on the e-mail list about it, but you're probably like a lot of others who filter out my e-mails and rightfully so. Aha. I think you don't give yourself enough credit, my friend. Start coming back out with the guys on Tues/Thurs, and watch your numbers start to improve again. Thanks!
Rich
Th only bummer was my Garmin got corrutped and didn't record the ride. Thanks to Noah and Sarah for th party. A hug thanks to Mitch!! The meat was fantastic and the left overs fed my fmaily for Father's Day. I think I owe you something!! Great time, Rich!! Many more rides to come.
ReplyDeleteAll you have to know is that we were moving fast. Thanks for all your work up front, and stop calling me Jaffe!
DeleteThanks to everyone for coming out, and especially to Mitch for feeding the whole crew. For days -- seriously, my fridge is stocked. My beer fridge, however, is surprisingly empty... Had a blast on the ride -- looking forward to many more!
ReplyDeleteYeah, but I'm sure your neighbors dislike you now. Seriously, we were there waaaayyyy too long. You and Sarah are the best.
DeleteSounds like a good one! Bummed I missed such a great ride in honor of the "Captain" of Team Broadcom and his contributions over the years. Kudos for Noah and Sarah hosting the chaos! Rich's ability to motivate, narrate, and have a good time will be missed. I for one will continue to ride with him on the weekend, as I am convinced ingesting his sweet has helped my riding!
ReplyDeleteVince, you were definitely one of the ones missed on the ride. I'm looking forward to continuing our riding on the weekends with you though as it's always guaranteed to be a great workout when you're there. Thanks for your work with the poster as well, bud. It's awesome!
DeleteThanks for planning a great outing Rich and making sure everyone got their fair share of the roast.
ReplyDeleteThanks Noah and Sarah for having us over and dealing with us. I like your patio door.
Thanks for the extra meat Mitchell, you truly know the way to a man's heart.
And thanks Galen for shaving 1/5th of a leg and breaking phone. Maybe you can help finish the other 4/5th on the next outing.
Curiously, it wasn't really my intention to roast anyone but just reflect on how we started to show how far we've come. Maybe being under the influence isn't the best time to do that.
DeleteThanks to you and Heather for coming out.