Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/81558540
What a crazy day on the saddle. I had sent out the ride and route notification a day earlier only to have Todd indicate how he couldn't see the map. When I sent him a different link to the map, which happened to be one to a ride he did last week and posted on Strava, he responded with "Regroups at Starcrest and NPC?" I did respond with OK and was kind of glad for this given my legs felt like junk from yesterday's run. Of course, having mentioned this before the ride probably gave Todd (and Vince) incentive to breakaway early. Who'd have thought they wouldn't honor the regroup points? Sigh. I'll come back to this....
It was a fairly good sized group with Jeremy back from surgery (with more aerodynamic ears), Todd, Vince, Vin, Adrian, Hiroshi and Jaffe. Now Hiroshi and Jaffe also did coffee crew this morning, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Obviously, doing both rides should be considered impressive and deserve props, but does that mean our lunch rides are getting too easy for them? Hmmm.... Despite their morning outing, however, they were definitely still in the mix today, so for this I will give them props for sure. Props!
Jeremy, despite his little hiatus, still did the stand-up thing and led the group out. I was behind Adrian, who was behind Todd, on the way out, when Todd decided on Anteater he wanted to break away already. I'm thinking...doesn't he have the advantage already given today's ride is hilly?!? No one really reacted early on and as a result, Todd almost made the light to turn left to Bonita Canyon with out. Vince picked it up and got the rest of us going through the light but also started to break away immediately after making the turn. Adrian went with him, so the two weren't too far away from Todd while the rest of us gave chase.
It was after making the left that I thought I'd take the front and try to keep the gap manageable behind Vince and Adrian. When we started nearing Campus, Jeremy came around and decided he was going to close the gap for himself and catch the two ahead of us. I kept my pace steady, however, and eventually had the other guys get ahead of me as we made our way toward Turtle Rock.
As we approached the light to turn left on Turtle Rock, Todd, Vince, Jeremy and Adrian made it just ahead of us where it just wasn't safe for the rest of us to go through...so we stopped. What's the big deal anyway? We're suppose to regroup at Starcrest, so.... Once the light turned green, I figured there was no need to chase since 1) catching Todd, Vince and Jeremy on the hill from that far back was pointless and 2) did I mention there was suppose to be a regroup point at the top of Starcrest?
Vin took the front early on and led Hiroshi, Jaffe and myself up. I took advantage of riding behind them figuring I'll make it up later. It was on Starcrest when we caught Adrian, and when it pitched up some, I made my way to the front and unexpectedly (wink wink) gapped the rest of the guys behind me.
To my chagrin, I got to the cul-de-sac where we were suppose to regroup only to find that there was no one there (can you just see Vince and Todd laughing as they read this?). Of course, this sparked a little fire from under me and I took off hoping to catch them somewhere along the way. As I was making my way down toward Turtle Rock via Ridgeline, I see Jeremy doing circles trying to figure out where everyone was given he, too, expected a regroup. We decided to take off together after them, and after slowing for the first stop sign after making the right turn, it was good to see Hiroshi, Jaffe and Vin up with us again.
From that point on, Jeremy and I were just taking turns working the front as we made our way down Shady and onto Bonita Canyon. On NPC, he and Vin got going ahead of me, but I started accelerating on the hill toward them where I called out to Jeremy to come with me...so he did. We ended up breaking away from the others and hoping the catch the two guys in front of us. Once we got past the 73 offramp, I could see Vince and Todd near the top and was hoping that that we would be able to ride with them after the regroup point on NPC. Of course, after getting to the top and not seeing them up there, the chase continued.
Jeremy and I were working together and I was hoping it was enough to catch them. However, it seemed we were catching light after light on San Miguel and San Joaquin where it almost seemed futile. At one point, Jeremy mentioned how it would be cool if the guys behind us caught up to work together in Back Bay, but they just missed the light on McArthur toward Back Bay that may have given them a chance...especially with the lights we kept hitting. At one point, I thought I saw red jerseys on the San Joaquin/Jamboree intersection so I sprinted off hoping to catch them only to find that it was just a figment of my imagination. Sigh. Jeremy probably thought I was trying to snap him off when I took off.
When we got on Back Bay, there was still no sign of them and we were both taking turns pushing pretty hard. As we neared the sprinter hill to the top, a cop decided to pull to the left of another car that had stopped literally blocking the lanes of traffic for us. Jeremy and I had to check up a LOT just to squeeze between the two vehicles and then be rewarded with a climb up the hill with absolutely no momentum. Thank you, Newport Beach PD!
After having to perform a complete and safe stop at the top, make our way across, and start heading toward Jamboree, Jeremy led the way. I was still a little amped about the road block, so I stood up and started making my way to the top. Jeremy fell a little behind, but he was able to make the left turn light with me onto Bison.
Once on Bison, I saw Vince and Todd at the McArthur intersection at a red light. I started hauling ass at that point hoping that the light would stay green but just before I approached it turned yellow and red where I had to stop and only be able to watch the two guys ahead of us ride back toward work. Bummer. Jeremy and I looked back to see if the others were going to catch up, but we were all alone and made our way back to BRCM together.
In a way, you have to kind of see the humor in getting ditched based on my expectation to take it easier anticipating regroup points. I mean...what was I thinking? HAHA. Ultimately, I think we all still got great workouts and that's really what it's all about on these lunch ride, right? All I know is I'll not be caught sleeping again if Todd/Vince come out on a ride. They're sinister.
What a crazy day on the saddle. I had sent out the ride and route notification a day earlier only to have Todd indicate how he couldn't see the map. When I sent him a different link to the map, which happened to be one to a ride he did last week and posted on Strava, he responded with "Regroups at Starcrest and NPC?" I did respond with OK and was kind of glad for this given my legs felt like junk from yesterday's run. Of course, having mentioned this before the ride probably gave Todd (and Vince) incentive to breakaway early. Who'd have thought they wouldn't honor the regroup points? Sigh. I'll come back to this....
It was a fairly good sized group with Jeremy back from surgery (with more aerodynamic ears), Todd, Vince, Vin, Adrian, Hiroshi and Jaffe. Now Hiroshi and Jaffe also did coffee crew this morning, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Obviously, doing both rides should be considered impressive and deserve props, but does that mean our lunch rides are getting too easy for them? Hmmm.... Despite their morning outing, however, they were definitely still in the mix today, so for this I will give them props for sure. Props!
Jeremy, despite his little hiatus, still did the stand-up thing and led the group out. I was behind Adrian, who was behind Todd, on the way out, when Todd decided on Anteater he wanted to break away already. I'm thinking...doesn't he have the advantage already given today's ride is hilly?!? No one really reacted early on and as a result, Todd almost made the light to turn left to Bonita Canyon with out. Vince picked it up and got the rest of us going through the light but also started to break away immediately after making the turn. Adrian went with him, so the two weren't too far away from Todd while the rest of us gave chase.
It was after making the left that I thought I'd take the front and try to keep the gap manageable behind Vince and Adrian. When we started nearing Campus, Jeremy came around and decided he was going to close the gap for himself and catch the two ahead of us. I kept my pace steady, however, and eventually had the other guys get ahead of me as we made our way toward Turtle Rock.
As we approached the light to turn left on Turtle Rock, Todd, Vince, Jeremy and Adrian made it just ahead of us where it just wasn't safe for the rest of us to go through...so we stopped. What's the big deal anyway? We're suppose to regroup at Starcrest, so.... Once the light turned green, I figured there was no need to chase since 1) catching Todd, Vince and Jeremy on the hill from that far back was pointless and 2) did I mention there was suppose to be a regroup point at the top of Starcrest?
Vin took the front early on and led Hiroshi, Jaffe and myself up. I took advantage of riding behind them figuring I'll make it up later. It was on Starcrest when we caught Adrian, and when it pitched up some, I made my way to the front and unexpectedly (wink wink) gapped the rest of the guys behind me.
To my chagrin, I got to the cul-de-sac where we were suppose to regroup only to find that there was no one there (can you just see Vince and Todd laughing as they read this?). Of course, this sparked a little fire from under me and I took off hoping to catch them somewhere along the way. As I was making my way down toward Turtle Rock via Ridgeline, I see Jeremy doing circles trying to figure out where everyone was given he, too, expected a regroup. We decided to take off together after them, and after slowing for the first stop sign after making the right turn, it was good to see Hiroshi, Jaffe and Vin up with us again.
From that point on, Jeremy and I were just taking turns working the front as we made our way down Shady and onto Bonita Canyon. On NPC, he and Vin got going ahead of me, but I started accelerating on the hill toward them where I called out to Jeremy to come with me...so he did. We ended up breaking away from the others and hoping the catch the two guys in front of us. Once we got past the 73 offramp, I could see Vince and Todd near the top and was hoping that that we would be able to ride with them after the regroup point on NPC. Of course, after getting to the top and not seeing them up there, the chase continued.
Jeremy and I were working together and I was hoping it was enough to catch them. However, it seemed we were catching light after light on San Miguel and San Joaquin where it almost seemed futile. At one point, Jeremy mentioned how it would be cool if the guys behind us caught up to work together in Back Bay, but they just missed the light on McArthur toward Back Bay that may have given them a chance...especially with the lights we kept hitting. At one point, I thought I saw red jerseys on the San Joaquin/Jamboree intersection so I sprinted off hoping to catch them only to find that it was just a figment of my imagination. Sigh. Jeremy probably thought I was trying to snap him off when I took off.
When we got on Back Bay, there was still no sign of them and we were both taking turns pushing pretty hard. As we neared the sprinter hill to the top, a cop decided to pull to the left of another car that had stopped literally blocking the lanes of traffic for us. Jeremy and I had to check up a LOT just to squeeze between the two vehicles and then be rewarded with a climb up the hill with absolutely no momentum. Thank you, Newport Beach PD!
After having to perform a complete and safe stop at the top, make our way across, and start heading toward Jamboree, Jeremy led the way. I was still a little amped about the road block, so I stood up and started making my way to the top. Jeremy fell a little behind, but he was able to make the left turn light with me onto Bison.
Once on Bison, I saw Vince and Todd at the McArthur intersection at a red light. I started hauling ass at that point hoping that the light would stay green but just before I approached it turned yellow and red where I had to stop and only be able to watch the two guys ahead of us ride back toward work. Bummer. Jeremy and I looked back to see if the others were going to catch up, but we were all alone and made our way back to BRCM together.
In a way, you have to kind of see the humor in getting ditched based on my expectation to take it easier anticipating regroup points. I mean...what was I thinking? HAHA. Ultimately, I think we all still got great workouts and that's really what it's all about on these lunch ride, right? All I know is I'll not be caught sleeping again if Todd/Vince come out on a ride. They're sinister.
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