Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/87827777
I truly believe that one of the best ways to fire up the guys on the team is to give them a target and have them shoot for it. It kinda sucks when I have to wear the bullseye on my back to do so, but in the end we all get a good training session out of it. Isn't that the point?
I wanted to get some seat time on my TT bike given an upcoming race this weekend, and the weekend festivities made it difficult for me to do so yesterday. I opted to bring it in today and wanted to see if the guys were interested in "chasing the rabbit" as an option where hopefully a group of guys on road bikes working together can catch a solo guy on a TT bike with a minute head start. Of course, Todd was the first to chime in that he was game...the guy loves to hunt after all. I didn't realize he was going to do so with an elephant gun though as he ended up deciding to bring his TT bike as well. Oh great. All together, Vince, Jeremy, Adrian, Mitchell, Jaffe and Vin came out too, and I suggested to them to hold Todd out as he chased me (which probably motivated Todd more to not only catch me but skin me alive and toss me into a deep fryer...more on this in a bit).
I took off just as soon as 11:45 hit on my Garmin, and it looked like the chase crew was pretty much all there too in time to leave exactly a minute after. I always get a little anxious being the rabbit, and it doesn't help to know I'm being chased while having to go through obstacles as well. Immediately, I had slow moving truck on Health Science Road I had to check up for, some cars to avoid for the right turn on E. Peltason, a pedestrian walking across the stop sign at the top, and then 3 cars that stopped me again on Anteater at the first light. I could already feel the heat breathing down on my neck as I kept having to reset and try to pick up a rhythm on my TT bike. Before even getting onto Bonita Canyon, I looked back and already saw others making their way behind me. Damn!
I tried to pick it up on Bonita Canyon some more but sure enough, had to stop at the left turn on NPC. I knew the guys were right behind me, which pissed me off even more, so I did the unthinkable...I did a TLB...which lasted for probably about 200 feet. HA HA. In my effort to get away though, I ended up blowing my wad as Todd, Vince and Jeremy came up behind me. I guess Todd was so crazed in his pursuit that he blew everyone else up a lot sooner. Nice. Jeremy tried to let me in after I got passed, but I just couldn't recover enough where I ended up waving him on. In my mind, I had reset my strategy at that moment to hope that they would get caught a light on the course and I'll be able to catch them there...and maybe try to get slippery some time after. Little did I know it would be me who would keep getting hit with a ton of lights. I saw two chances to catch the three ahead of me (once on McArthur and then the 2nd on the left to Jamboree), but both times the light turned red just as I was approaching where all I could do was watch them roll away. Sigh.
The rest of the route I ended up riding on my own hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the three ahead of me, but no such luck. Looking at their Strava though, it's unlikely I would have even been able to hang on should I have caught the light at the two aforementioned intersections. With Todd leading the charge and on a mission (to skin and deep fry the rabbit at that point), I didn't even have an ounce of a chance. They killed it! Wait...let me rephrase that...they KILLED IT! 23.6 average...get outta here! That doesn't just warrant "budos." It's just plain "budiculous!"
It's not an easy pill to swallow getting dropped as bad as I did today, especially as a self-proclaimed member of BAM, but humility is a good thing. It reminds me that I can always get better and motivates me to train even harder. That's truly the best thing I can get out of coming out to our lunch rides. Thanks for the training and the big slice of humble pie, gents! As our former governator once said...or maybe more than once...I'll be back!
I truly believe that one of the best ways to fire up the guys on the team is to give them a target and have them shoot for it. It kinda sucks when I have to wear the bullseye on my back to do so, but in the end we all get a good training session out of it. Isn't that the point?
I wanted to get some seat time on my TT bike given an upcoming race this weekend, and the weekend festivities made it difficult for me to do so yesterday. I opted to bring it in today and wanted to see if the guys were interested in "chasing the rabbit" as an option where hopefully a group of guys on road bikes working together can catch a solo guy on a TT bike with a minute head start. Of course, Todd was the first to chime in that he was game...the guy loves to hunt after all. I didn't realize he was going to do so with an elephant gun though as he ended up deciding to bring his TT bike as well. Oh great. All together, Vince, Jeremy, Adrian, Mitchell, Jaffe and Vin came out too, and I suggested to them to hold Todd out as he chased me (which probably motivated Todd more to not only catch me but skin me alive and toss me into a deep fryer...more on this in a bit).
I took off just as soon as 11:45 hit on my Garmin, and it looked like the chase crew was pretty much all there too in time to leave exactly a minute after. I always get a little anxious being the rabbit, and it doesn't help to know I'm being chased while having to go through obstacles as well. Immediately, I had slow moving truck on Health Science Road I had to check up for, some cars to avoid for the right turn on E. Peltason, a pedestrian walking across the stop sign at the top, and then 3 cars that stopped me again on Anteater at the first light. I could already feel the heat breathing down on my neck as I kept having to reset and try to pick up a rhythm on my TT bike. Before even getting onto Bonita Canyon, I looked back and already saw others making their way behind me. Damn!
I tried to pick it up on Bonita Canyon some more but sure enough, had to stop at the left turn on NPC. I knew the guys were right behind me, which pissed me off even more, so I did the unthinkable...I did a TLB...which lasted for probably about 200 feet. HA HA. In my effort to get away though, I ended up blowing my wad as Todd, Vince and Jeremy came up behind me. I guess Todd was so crazed in his pursuit that he blew everyone else up a lot sooner. Nice. Jeremy tried to let me in after I got passed, but I just couldn't recover enough where I ended up waving him on. In my mind, I had reset my strategy at that moment to hope that they would get caught a light on the course and I'll be able to catch them there...and maybe try to get slippery some time after. Little did I know it would be me who would keep getting hit with a ton of lights. I saw two chances to catch the three ahead of me (once on McArthur and then the 2nd on the left to Jamboree), but both times the light turned red just as I was approaching where all I could do was watch them roll away. Sigh.
The rest of the route I ended up riding on my own hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the three ahead of me, but no such luck. Looking at their Strava though, it's unlikely I would have even been able to hang on should I have caught the light at the two aforementioned intersections. With Todd leading the charge and on a mission (to skin and deep fry the rabbit at that point), I didn't even have an ounce of a chance. They killed it! Wait...let me rephrase that...they KILLED IT! 23.6 average...get outta here! That doesn't just warrant "budos." It's just plain "budiculous!"
It's not an easy pill to swallow getting dropped as bad as I did today, especially as a self-proclaimed member of BAM, but humility is a good thing. It reminds me that I can always get better and motivates me to train even harder. That's truly the best thing I can get out of coming out to our lunch rides. Thanks for the training and the big slice of humble pie, gents! As our former governator once said...or maybe more than once...I'll be back!
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