Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/83253349 (It's nice that Strava knocked it down .4 mph from what Garmin showed)
You've heard that saying "Be careful what you wish for," right? Well, those words definitely rang out repeatedly in my mind before the ride this morning given that Galen now has a TT bike. I mean, it's good that he does given that we'll be able to take advantage of his power on our training rides, but "taking advantage of" can easily be replaced with "be abused by." Adding to this Todd and Shannon coming out on TT bikes and the power they put out as well just made it downright scary. Todd pointed out that I seemed depressed or sad in the locker room before the ride since I was so quiet, but what he didn't realize was I was just praying at the time hoping to survive the anticipated madness.
We decided to do the same route we've been doing in the mornings, which includes a run up to Portola. Unlike before, however, I think Shannon had different ideas as to how he was going to approach the ride where he opted to participate in the rotations less than normal. When we got to the the bike trail after Harvard, he decided he would pretty much ride it on his own vs. trying to do the interval type pace we were doing as a group. Considering that he was always just behind us for the length of the ride, even catching us at intersections here and there despite the three of us working together (or Todd and Galen working together while I hung on for dear life), we were amazed that someone solo could do that. Then again, folks, we're talking about Shannon McGee here.
Working with Todd and Galen was pretty tough. They almost snapped me off at the top of Portola, but Todd heard my brakes rubbing in the back and they stopped once we got on Portola to let me fix it. I not only fixed it, but it also gave me a chance to catch my breath. From there, it seemed that they did a bulk of the work where I felt like I was only able to offer them a short reprieve here and there. It was tough mostly because I was behind Galen most of the time where he would let Todd do monster pulls to the point seemingly until he (Galen) was recovered (with Todd not complaining one bit I might add), pull after at a pace that was tough to stay behind and then have me try and come around after working so hard just to keep up. I tried to ride behind Todd at one point since his power delivery, while high, is more flat, but Galen got between us shortly after. Damn! HA HA. Maybe this was what Shannon was talking about. We'll definitely need to improve our "flow" as we continue training during the next few months.
We kept the pace up, getting some PRs and even KOMs, all the way up to Ridgeline. I was a little worked on the 405 bike trail, so I stayed behind Todd and Galen the whole time, but shamelessly got a KOM as a result. At least it was a shared KOM with Todd and Galen, so it wasn't like I stole it. Still...I don't feel I deserve it.
Todd managed our pace going up Ridgeline perfectly, and we all stayed together all the way to the top. Galen and I helped out on the last part that pitched up, but Todd led us onto Turtle Rock.
When we started up Shady heading toward Bonita Canyon, Todd once again took the lead early on and held it for most of the climb, with Galen and I offering relief closer to the top. Todd and Galen came around me at the crest and led the charge down but I took the final pull that took us to the bike trail giving me a PR for that section. Cool.
Most people would probably tend to cool down toward the end of a ride today, but the pace on Bonita Canyon was equally as intense as the earlier part. This is substantiated with the Strava hardware I received. There wasn't even really any let up on Bison, where I think Galen was trying to race a Scion to CA. I think we did slow down a little as we rolled into the parking lot (finally!), and it was wild seeing Shannon again rolling in even before we could get onto the sidewalk. Mad solo effort on his part for sure.
While overall not as fast as the last time, mostly because we got stopped by a lot of lights but also because of the change in today's dynamics, it was still an excellent training ride. There's talk of another on Friday morning, but ummm...let me sleep on that for now and see what my body tells me tomorrow. Thanks for the ass whooping today, gents!
You've heard that saying "Be careful what you wish for," right? Well, those words definitely rang out repeatedly in my mind before the ride this morning given that Galen now has a TT bike. I mean, it's good that he does given that we'll be able to take advantage of his power on our training rides, but "taking advantage of" can easily be replaced with "be abused by." Adding to this Todd and Shannon coming out on TT bikes and the power they put out as well just made it downright scary. Todd pointed out that I seemed depressed or sad in the locker room before the ride since I was so quiet, but what he didn't realize was I was just praying at the time hoping to survive the anticipated madness.
We decided to do the same route we've been doing in the mornings, which includes a run up to Portola. Unlike before, however, I think Shannon had different ideas as to how he was going to approach the ride where he opted to participate in the rotations less than normal. When we got to the the bike trail after Harvard, he decided he would pretty much ride it on his own vs. trying to do the interval type pace we were doing as a group. Considering that he was always just behind us for the length of the ride, even catching us at intersections here and there despite the three of us working together (or Todd and Galen working together while I hung on for dear life), we were amazed that someone solo could do that. Then again, folks, we're talking about Shannon McGee here.
Working with Todd and Galen was pretty tough. They almost snapped me off at the top of Portola, but Todd heard my brakes rubbing in the back and they stopped once we got on Portola to let me fix it. I not only fixed it, but it also gave me a chance to catch my breath. From there, it seemed that they did a bulk of the work where I felt like I was only able to offer them a short reprieve here and there. It was tough mostly because I was behind Galen most of the time where he would let Todd do monster pulls to the point seemingly until he (Galen) was recovered (with Todd not complaining one bit I might add), pull after at a pace that was tough to stay behind and then have me try and come around after working so hard just to keep up. I tried to ride behind Todd at one point since his power delivery, while high, is more flat, but Galen got between us shortly after. Damn! HA HA. Maybe this was what Shannon was talking about. We'll definitely need to improve our "flow" as we continue training during the next few months.
We kept the pace up, getting some PRs and even KOMs, all the way up to Ridgeline. I was a little worked on the 405 bike trail, so I stayed behind Todd and Galen the whole time, but shamelessly got a KOM as a result. At least it was a shared KOM with Todd and Galen, so it wasn't like I stole it. Still...I don't feel I deserve it.
Todd managed our pace going up Ridgeline perfectly, and we all stayed together all the way to the top. Galen and I helped out on the last part that pitched up, but Todd led us onto Turtle Rock.
When we started up Shady heading toward Bonita Canyon, Todd once again took the lead early on and held it for most of the climb, with Galen and I offering relief closer to the top. Todd and Galen came around me at the crest and led the charge down but I took the final pull that took us to the bike trail giving me a PR for that section. Cool.
Most people would probably tend to cool down toward the end of a ride today, but the pace on Bonita Canyon was equally as intense as the earlier part. This is substantiated with the Strava hardware I received. There wasn't even really any let up on Bison, where I think Galen was trying to race a Scion to CA. I think we did slow down a little as we rolled into the parking lot (finally!), and it was wild seeing Shannon again rolling in even before we could get onto the sidewalk. Mad solo effort on his part for sure.
While overall not as fast as the last time, mostly because we got stopped by a lot of lights but also because of the change in today's dynamics, it was still an excellent training ride. There's talk of another on Friday morning, but ummm...let me sleep on that for now and see what my body tells me tomorrow. Thanks for the ass whooping today, gents!
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