Not having done a group lunch ride for awhile, I was really looking forward to getting out today. However, that eagerness transformed to nervousness once I saw in the locker room who was coming out: Shannon, Todd, Vince, Jeremy and Vin. It's not the biggest group, but definitely some good firepower...especially for a somewhat hilly route.
Todd led us all out and at a good clip where there really was not much sense to relieve him right away. Others started pulling up once we got in Anteater, but I was going to wait my turn while eating humble pie.
Vince ended up launching the first attack and took off on the descent toward Campus. He stayed ahead until Turtle Rock where he was relegated back into the rotation.
The pace was pretty solid going up Turtle Rock, so Vin had dropped off at this point never to be seen again until back at the gym doing some weight training on his legs. Okay....
Todd did a lot of the leading up Shady and had ended up pulling the rest of us over the crest. Everyone was exercising a lot of self-restraint probably thinking the same thing I was: save it for the rest of the ride and don't get dropped. Or maybe it was just me.
The descent on the other side was fast, and being in the back as you go off and on the trails/sidewalks was tough. The accordion effect is ridiculous. It was work just to stay on and keep up, so I wasn't in any hurry to get up front again.
Jeremy seemed to try and breakaway for a sprint, but the chase group didn't panic and just held a pace that eventually reeled him back in. Either that or he got bored waiting for a challenge.
We made our way to Ridgeline and Jeremy immediately picked the pace up and gapped the rest of us early on. I heard Vince and Todd in front of me say how it was not a good idea to let Jeremy get too much of an early lead, so took off after him with me and Shannon also responding behind them. Once caught, Jeremy stayed in front and led the rest of us at a good pace all the way past the two times it pitches up. Strong effort!
Before getting to Turtle Rock, Todd took off with Vince following where it seemed as though they were trying to break away. Shannon ended up picking up our slack, and towed me and Jeremy back up to them.
As we made our way back in Shady toward Bonita Canyon, the wind was pretty rough so everyone was doing what they could just to keep the pace up. Although I didn't want to push the wind in a sprint to the bike trail, I was willing to lead anyone else who wanted to go for it. I guess everyone else thought that the wind was enough of a deterrent for sprinting as well as it pretty much was uncontested.
When we made our way up Turtle Ridge, Todd and Jeremy started to gap right away. I was #3 initially, but Shannon started asserting his climbing spirit and passed me I while still relatively early on in the climb. I found some energy to reel the three in ahead of me during the first full flat, but they broke off again leaving me in the dust. I'm not sure who made it to the top first since I was too far behind, but great climbs by the three of them for sure.
Vince helped tow me back to the base of Turtle Ridge where the three ahead of us were waiting at the light. Once we got going, it was once again a fast pace especially with everyone rotating to keep it up.
We got stopped for a light on McArthur, but once it turned green, Todd immediately got us going again with Shannon taking over midway in preparation for leading us out on Jamboree.
We managed to get a good turn in onto Jamboree without any cars or pedestrians getting in the way. I took the opportunity to break away in this climb but always worried about getting caught. There were all sorts of safey cones over the crest, so I had to navigate around them to prevent being out on the road with the cars. This was when I noticed my rear wheel sliding out a little and realized my tire pressure must be low. I still made it to Bison ahead of everyone, but coasted to the McArthur intersection where I can inspect my tire.
With the pressure low upon my arrival and getting lower as we sat at the intersection, I decided to try and finish off the ride by putting some CO2 in just to get me back. I failed with my first canister, but it was great to have Vince wait for me while the others took off at the green. Fortunately, I got some CO2 in my tire and pretty much had enough for Vince to tow me the rest of the way back. What a guy! And some wonder why I love this team so much....
Despite the tire fiasco, a 21+ average for this route is pretty impressive. There was definitely some super strong efforts out there and it's just humbling to ride with these guys. The training is awesome though, so I hope to keep making it out for more of these. Thanks, gents!!!
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