We arrived in Palm Desert Friday afternoon and stayed at the Hampton Suites where it was less than a mile away from the start/finish. Shannon picked up his packet before Galen and me, so we went there after and got ours. We saw Jim and told him how we were out there to have fun but we were getting the timing chip. He began to talk about how his guys were there and then the conversation turned to the Stagecoach where he immediately went into how he's going to make sure everyone reads the rules. Galen walked away at that point and I stood there feeling awkward as I'd rather avoid the topic all together. I did say, however, that we're going out and planning to compete against ourselves as we usually do and expect to have a good time regardless.
Dinner the night before was interesting. Shannon mentioned there was a nearby Italian food place we can go in lieu of one that we reserved a table for. It was actually a great restaurant, but we'll need to look up what across the street means given our little trek there. At first, we all were trying to be good and abstain from drinking but I opted to order a small beer to accompany my eats. Galen followed suit but chose a small IPA. When Shannon ordered a large 25 ouncer, however, Galen and I looked at each other and changed our order immediately opting for having what Shannon ordered. If we go down as a result, we'll go down as a team. Lol. Mmmmm...beer!
Okay, so let's talk about the ride now, shall we? The boys were up early and ready to go in time for the first wave, since we figured it would be safer than having to dodge riders throughout the course. We arrived about 5-10 minutes before the start and it was a little chilly where at one point, even my ass cheeks were shivering. I hate that. We had all donned arm warmers only though as we knew the weather would warm up and that we would find warmth soon enough once we got going.
Of course, we brought the pace up to a respectable level and as a result had picked up some people to ride behind us. The cool thing was we were pretty left to work the front, which was ideal for our training, as others would let us rotate in front of them. There was only one point when another guy pulled up to the front on a TT bike, but he was relieved shortly after and relegated to one of the drafters behind us from then on.
Shannon, Galen and I had pretty good rhythm and worked well with one another to keep the pace up. That's not to say there was no room for improvements as there definitely was, but we would talk and make adjustments as needed, which worked out pretty good. It definitely helped us stay together throughout and finish with a ridiculous move time average , which was exactly what we set out to do.
During one point on the way out, Shannon thought he flatted, so Galen and I stopped, letting those who were still in our draft (which thinned out to about 6-7 after awhile) go ahead. Understandably, some were hesitant since they were enjoying the pace we were affording them. Lol. When Shannon found out he was okay, it wasn't long before we were going again. Additionally, it also wasn't long before we caught up to the guys we let go ahead of us.
At first, Shannon was indicating that we should let them do some work, but it wasn't long after that I got us back to the front again. Well, I thought us meant all three, but when we started rotating, it was just Galen and I so we thought maybe Shannon just wasn't feeling good. We ended up pulling into the SAG just before the timed section climbing up box canyon. Shannon rolled in just a little behind us, so we were both hoping he was okay.
After a quick break, we started off with the group that came in with us and I took the front first thinking we would maintain a good tempo. When Shannon pulled to the front, however, the pace picked up significantly where at that point, I realized he slowed up before the last SAG specifically for this purpose. Doh! Fear set in for me at this point and I began to wonder if I'd have enough to be able to keep Shannon's pace. It didn't take that long to see that everyone else behind us dropped off. I was thinking that with all the drafting that they had done that someone would be able to keep up, especially considering we were on TT bikes weighed down with hydration packs to boot. Galen had tried to pass a couple times to help Shannon, but helping Shannon on a climb is like helping a bird fly or a fish swim. It took a few attempts, but Galen was finally able to get up front. I was worried that doing so may upset the tempo Shannon had set, but he wasn't up for too long and Shannon's rhythm would eventually have him passing Galen not too long after. I was just staying on as best as I could and was hoping for a flatter area where I thought I'd be able to contribute again. I think there were 2, but even then I was getting passed by Shannon again to do about 90 percent of the leading up the hill. As we neared the end of the time trial section, I heard Shannon call out "Go! Go!" I didn't really think I had anything left but I had to try for the team. I sprinted at that point and went over the timing mat ahead of the others hoping that any additional time I could get us would help get us a good result for the TT incidentally since that wasn't really what we were there for. If it was, we would have brought road bikes, carried up less fluids, and pulled back a lot sooner. Looking at those who bettered out time that day, they averaged over 2 mph slower overall for the length of the ride, so.... Through our efforts though, Shannon and I got 2nd in our age class and Galen first in his. BAM!
We took a break at the top to refuel and prepare for the ride back. We didn't want to bypass the stops we paid for, so it was not going to be a non-stop trainer, which we all were good with.
When we got going again, I didn't realize I had inadvertently stopped my Garmin. As a result, I lost 9 miles of data, which was the downhill section that Galen and I worked together on to give Shannon rest for his efforts up the hill. We had others who were with us for a free draft again, but despite it being downhill never tried pushing up to the front. When I finally realized my Garmin shut off, I turned it on and was lucky it was able to sync up again. It did jack up my stats in the end though, and I guess Shannon had GPS problems too, so Galen's stats most accurately reflect our team effort.
When we got to the bottom, Shannon rejoined the rotations and we were all working together again. We still had some rotation kinks we had to work out, but we worked through them. It was important to do so, especially through the windier sections. We had 2 drafters, which dwindled to just one after awhile. He was barely hanging on though and at one light commented something to the effect that it sucked that we were on TT bikes. To this I responded with "most people just say thank you" considering how much we towed him. He dropped off shortly after.
We hit one more SAG for a quick break, and left with no one wanting to ride with us at that point. We stayed together rotating and pushing through where ultimately we were close to being back. Galen decided to pull a lunch ride move and amp it up just before finishing without letting anyone know, but Shannon and I were fine letting him get away at that point. I did try and chase h down for fun at the last stretch, but we'll definitely not be doing that for the Stagecoach. It'll be all about the team for the actual race, so all "we" efforts and no "me" efforts for sure.
In the end, we finished with a move time of ~4:15 minutes with 30 minutes of break and stop light times resulting in an elapsed time still way under 5 hours. Needless to say, there were no other century finishers there with us in the end. With a move average of ~23.5 mph, I don't think anyone was even close to finishing behind us.
It was definitely a great day of riding and more importantly, a great training ride for the 3 of us. We came, we rode, we represented big time. I'm so glad to have made it out with Shannon and Galen. These guys kicked ass and showed their BAM spirit in so many aspects that I was just glad to be a part of it. We'll definitely consider doing this ride again next year and hopefully with Todd too making for an actual 4 man team. Dare I say 24 mph average?
Next stop: Stagecoach. Woohoo!!!
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