Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/58223782
Typically, the title of the ride starts with just lunch ride, but today I saw it fitting to include "team." For the most part, we even looked like a team today with most of the boys wearing the black BRCM jersey. I was commenting just outside the gym how it was awesome that everyone wore black today as we were gathering, and Jaffe walked out wearing white having left his black jersey in his car. While this would typically warrant an online flogging, he took the cool picture above and rightfully gets a free pass. Adrian, on the other hand wearing a Stagecoach jersey, does not. I'll try to type slower for him and use words with single syllables only on my next e-mail ride announcement. For the record, "black" IS a single syllable word.
Anyway, back to the team ride.... It was a good-sized group today absent of just a few people, but quite intimidating nonetheless. Paul B. just missed our ride by 5 minutes, but hopefully we can get him out with us next time. Vince, Andy, PV, Verm, Gary, Mike Z., Noah, Eddie, etc., we missed you guys!
Adrian was the last to arrive for the ride, but once he did, it didn't seem like anyone wanted to roll out right away. I guess I wasn't the only one intimidated. HA. It was actually Mitchell who started the ride out and even gapped the rest of us early on all the way to near the top of East Peltason. It took a lot of effort for me just to be able to latch onto him, but I wasn't about to take the next pull given the firepower behind me. I may look dumb, but....
Todd stepped it up just before we got on Anteater and led the group up all the way to the Bonita Canyon intersection. Once the light turned green, the pace got maddening as we climbed toward Sunnyhill. Galen actually gapped us upon taking the front early on, but ended up back in the rotation eventually with multiple people working the front to reel him in.
As we approached Sunnyhill, it was good to see that almost everyone managed to negotiate the turn in a safe and courteous manner given there were cars that arrived at the intersection with us. There was this guy in an orange jersey (with a logo on it that rhymes with cockroach) though that opted to make the left turn ahead of everyone from the right of the car that was going straight, but I won't mention his name since he got enough flogging up above.
I believe we were all still pretty much intact by the time we got on Sunnyhill and ultimately onto Turtle Rock. There were some good pulls from the likes of what I'll just classify as those we've grown accustomed to taking the front. Everyone else just hung on, which was okay. I think at some point, I was too.
As we approached the climb after Campus, I think Galen saw this again as another opportunity to gap, but Todd started to close that immediately and I think I took the lead just before we made our way by him. I was trying to hold a good pace on the climb while others stayed close behind me. As we neared Starcrest, Jeremy and Galen opted to have a conversation while behind Todd and I about mascara, getting mani/pedis, or something just as insignificant (HAHA) to show that they just weren't working too hard back there. Todd took the opportunity to chime in and let them know that if they can have a conversation, then they should pull to the front. Even as I was short of breath, I was still able to chuckle a bit after hearing that. We may have to rename Todd "the truth."
Once on Starcrest, I led for a bit longer, but as it started to pitch up more, Galen, Todd, Jeremy and Adrian (wha?) started to make their way past me. BAM! I think Galen made it to the top first followed by Todd, but the rest of us weren't too far behind. I was just able to get passed Adrian and Jeremy (who hates that hill) but he was on my heels the whole time as was Shannon was on his (I believe) since he was in the circle too. Everyone else made it up, with some just making the cutoff for the timed regroup point.
On the descent on Ridgeline, we were all together right before Turtle Rock, but as fate would have it, my chain dropped just as we hit the intersection. Mitchell and Galen waited for me (thanks!), with Mitchell even helping me get my chain back on, so once I did we were in hot pursuit. Galen was going to take the first pull, but Mitchell had momentum and jammed past the both of us with us latching on once he did. Galen took over after that and managed to latch us onto the group ahead of us by the bottom of the hill. Excellent effort on both of these guys. I wanted to help, but I kept spinning out every time I'd try to pass.
As we all made our way onto the bike trail, Jeremy opted to take the road instead (similarly to last Thursday's ride), but this time went alone. We may need to go over the route with him a little more closely beforehand next time, but thankfully Todd led us to the bike trail leading to the 405 where we were able to latch on to Jeremy at that point. Todd even took the front eventually. What a nice guy.
The pace up onto the bridge and over to Jeffrey was led by Todd and was still high, but he and Jeremy were very mindful of the others behind them as we made our way to the bike trail opening leading back to work. Todd seemed to almost want to take off after making that tight right turn before going under the tunnel, but checked up accordingly until everyone cleared the turn. Nice.
There were some good pulls on the bike trail, but I think I was feeling a little bit worked at that point where I think I didn't take the front as early as I should at one point. This was when Galen followed by Shannon took the opportunity to launch a breakaway attack. Unfortunately for them, it was probably less than 500 feet until the next intersection crossing where you have to stop and check for cross-traffic beforehand...not exactly the ideal spot to breakaway.
There was no real breakaway attempts after that, and even crossing the bridge was controlled not causing too much of an accordion effect for those on the tail end. Everyone started taking turns again in the rotation, some more than others, but every contribution is still worthy of props.
As we were nearing the section that leads up to California, I wasn't sure if anyone would be up for a sprint given the headwinds on the trail and the upcoming climb on Jamboree. Galen had taken the front just as we got out from the last underpass and was leading us at a great pace with me just behind him. I was waiting for an ideal time to sprint by hoping someone else would come up from behind first to start it off. When I thought no one was going to do so, I pulled out only to bump into Shannon who, along with Adrian, were going to give the sprint a go. Now I don't know what that looked like from anyone else's perspective, but from mine, it was just a brief contact with my handlebar and him. I immediately pulled back in after feeling the contact and never really felt like I was on the verge of losing control. In fact, my only concern at that point was to make sure to apologize to Shannon for bumping into him. I hope and don't think he was mad at me in the end as he kept going past me and continued to pull away while Adrian was preparing to stop thinking it ended up California. I did roll up on him further down and apologize, so I think we're good or else I'm sure he'd let me know.
For the final climb up Jamboree, we all got a little bunched up as we were trying to cross University but managed to start the climb pretty much together. I believe Adrian launched another attack only to meet the same fate as on Starcrest, but Jeremy got going too and pulled ahead a bit. I was just able to get behind Todd as he reeled Jeremy in and as Todd passed, I swung out and started to pass them both hoping that my wicked witch of the west impersonation would let me breakaway. Todd was ready for me though and latched on unbeknownst to me, and then started accelerating past where all I could do was watch. He was able to catch the left turn light to Bison with me just behind him, and I checked to make sure the guys behind me (Jeremy and Galen) cleared it too before it turned red.
When we got to the McArthur intersection, I was hoping to contest the sprint to California but after clipping in on my 3rd attempt, the guys were gone. Snooze, you lose. Of course, all the lights ahead were green so all I could see was Galen followed by Todd and Jeremy arriving at California ahead of me. Nice work, gents!
Overall, I think today was one of our better team rides since we stayed together as a group most of the time and everyone had a great workout. Great pulls and even better, great looking out for one another too. Who knows? We may be onto something here and let this set a trend for future rides. Who knows?
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| Boy's reppin' the sexy black jersey |
Anyway, back to the team ride.... It was a good-sized group today absent of just a few people, but quite intimidating nonetheless. Paul B. just missed our ride by 5 minutes, but hopefully we can get him out with us next time. Vince, Andy, PV, Verm, Gary, Mike Z., Noah, Eddie, etc., we missed you guys!
Adrian was the last to arrive for the ride, but once he did, it didn't seem like anyone wanted to roll out right away. I guess I wasn't the only one intimidated. HA. It was actually Mitchell who started the ride out and even gapped the rest of us early on all the way to near the top of East Peltason. It took a lot of effort for me just to be able to latch onto him, but I wasn't about to take the next pull given the firepower behind me. I may look dumb, but....
Todd stepped it up just before we got on Anteater and led the group up all the way to the Bonita Canyon intersection. Once the light turned green, the pace got maddening as we climbed toward Sunnyhill. Galen actually gapped us upon taking the front early on, but ended up back in the rotation eventually with multiple people working the front to reel him in.
As we approached Sunnyhill, it was good to see that almost everyone managed to negotiate the turn in a safe and courteous manner given there were cars that arrived at the intersection with us. There was this guy in an orange jersey (with a logo on it that rhymes with cockroach) though that opted to make the left turn ahead of everyone from the right of the car that was going straight, but I won't mention his name since he got enough flogging up above.
I believe we were all still pretty much intact by the time we got on Sunnyhill and ultimately onto Turtle Rock. There were some good pulls from the likes of what I'll just classify as those we've grown accustomed to taking the front. Everyone else just hung on, which was okay. I think at some point, I was too.
As we approached the climb after Campus, I think Galen saw this again as another opportunity to gap, but Todd started to close that immediately and I think I took the lead just before we made our way by him. I was trying to hold a good pace on the climb while others stayed close behind me. As we neared Starcrest, Jeremy and Galen opted to have a conversation while behind Todd and I about mascara, getting mani/pedis, or something just as insignificant (HAHA) to show that they just weren't working too hard back there. Todd took the opportunity to chime in and let them know that if they can have a conversation, then they should pull to the front. Even as I was short of breath, I was still able to chuckle a bit after hearing that. We may have to rename Todd "the truth."
Once on Starcrest, I led for a bit longer, but as it started to pitch up more, Galen, Todd, Jeremy and Adrian (wha?) started to make their way past me. BAM! I think Galen made it to the top first followed by Todd, but the rest of us weren't too far behind. I was just able to get passed Adrian and Jeremy (who hates that hill) but he was on my heels the whole time as was Shannon was on his (I believe) since he was in the circle too. Everyone else made it up, with some just making the cutoff for the timed regroup point.
On the descent on Ridgeline, we were all together right before Turtle Rock, but as fate would have it, my chain dropped just as we hit the intersection. Mitchell and Galen waited for me (thanks!), with Mitchell even helping me get my chain back on, so once I did we were in hot pursuit. Galen was going to take the first pull, but Mitchell had momentum and jammed past the both of us with us latching on once he did. Galen took over after that and managed to latch us onto the group ahead of us by the bottom of the hill. Excellent effort on both of these guys. I wanted to help, but I kept spinning out every time I'd try to pass.
As we all made our way onto the bike trail, Jeremy opted to take the road instead (similarly to last Thursday's ride), but this time went alone. We may need to go over the route with him a little more closely beforehand next time, but thankfully Todd led us to the bike trail leading to the 405 where we were able to latch on to Jeremy at that point. Todd even took the front eventually. What a nice guy.
The pace up onto the bridge and over to Jeffrey was led by Todd and was still high, but he and Jeremy were very mindful of the others behind them as we made our way to the bike trail opening leading back to work. Todd seemed to almost want to take off after making that tight right turn before going under the tunnel, but checked up accordingly until everyone cleared the turn. Nice.
There were some good pulls on the bike trail, but I think I was feeling a little bit worked at that point where I think I didn't take the front as early as I should at one point. This was when Galen followed by Shannon took the opportunity to launch a breakaway attack. Unfortunately for them, it was probably less than 500 feet until the next intersection crossing where you have to stop and check for cross-traffic beforehand...not exactly the ideal spot to breakaway.
There was no real breakaway attempts after that, and even crossing the bridge was controlled not causing too much of an accordion effect for those on the tail end. Everyone started taking turns again in the rotation, some more than others, but every contribution is still worthy of props.
As we were nearing the section that leads up to California, I wasn't sure if anyone would be up for a sprint given the headwinds on the trail and the upcoming climb on Jamboree. Galen had taken the front just as we got out from the last underpass and was leading us at a great pace with me just behind him. I was waiting for an ideal time to sprint by hoping someone else would come up from behind first to start it off. When I thought no one was going to do so, I pulled out only to bump into Shannon who, along with Adrian, were going to give the sprint a go. Now I don't know what that looked like from anyone else's perspective, but from mine, it was just a brief contact with my handlebar and him. I immediately pulled back in after feeling the contact and never really felt like I was on the verge of losing control. In fact, my only concern at that point was to make sure to apologize to Shannon for bumping into him. I hope and don't think he was mad at me in the end as he kept going past me and continued to pull away while Adrian was preparing to stop thinking it ended up California. I did roll up on him further down and apologize, so I think we're good or else I'm sure he'd let me know.
For the final climb up Jamboree, we all got a little bunched up as we were trying to cross University but managed to start the climb pretty much together. I believe Adrian launched another attack only to meet the same fate as on Starcrest, but Jeremy got going too and pulled ahead a bit. I was just able to get behind Todd as he reeled Jeremy in and as Todd passed, I swung out and started to pass them both hoping that my wicked witch of the west impersonation would let me breakaway. Todd was ready for me though and latched on unbeknownst to me, and then started accelerating past where all I could do was watch. He was able to catch the left turn light to Bison with me just behind him, and I checked to make sure the guys behind me (Jeremy and Galen) cleared it too before it turned red.
When we got to the McArthur intersection, I was hoping to contest the sprint to California but after clipping in on my 3rd attempt, the guys were gone. Snooze, you lose. Of course, all the lights ahead were green so all I could see was Galen followed by Todd and Jeremy arriving at California ahead of me. Nice work, gents!
Overall, I think today was one of our better team rides since we stayed together as a group most of the time and everyone had a great workout. Great pulls and even better, great looking out for one another too. Who knows? We may be onto something here and let this set a trend for future rides. Who knows?
Great ride today gents, had a great time.
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