Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/105629666
The Weather
I don't think you can ask for more ideal conditions for SC TTT than with the weather we had for this ride. Looking at the forecast, it's probably going to be comparable to next week's conditions with a temperature range between 47-70+. We can only hope for the same wind conditions (i.e. nearly non-existent). Everyone dressed accordingly representing the new black where we all had shorts on, shorty gloves, arm warmers and a base layer only.
The Course
We started from BJ's in Irvine and headed toward Live Oak by way of Alton and Santa Margarita. We headed through the canyon, down the bike paths toward Back Bay, on PCH to the 133, and back up to Irvine Blvd by way of Barranca and Alton. The challenge with this course wasn't as much the hills as it was stop lights we kept hitting along with all the bike and pedestrian traffic we hit on the bike trails. Hell, we even saw Noah (representing BRCM black too...woohoo) on the bike trail on his Cervelo, which just goes to show just how many people were actually out there. We even had to skipped dropping down into Back Bay since there was so many people riding slowly making for hazardous conditions that we chose to avoid.
The Ride
We haven't ridden as a team for a while now, so I think we all wondered how we were going to be together on this week before the race. Personally, I knew everyone would step up to the challenge for the race, but it is always good to see how it would actually play out. As expected, Todd, Shannon and Galen came out to get the job done in typical BAM fashion. We talked about how we were going to do the rotations beforehand, called out what we needed to to keep the group working well together, and rotated equally with everyone providing solid pulls throughout. Were we perfect? No, but we were definitely a lot more refined than we had been in past rides where everyone feels very confident going into next week's race. It's scary when these guys are confident.
Although we did our best to be careful as we were on the bike trails and by avoiding Back Bay, there was still a little near crash between Shannon and Todd as we rode though the bike trail beside the mobile home park. A couple of dogs looked like they were being separated by their owners just after one of the blind corners, so that caused Shannon and Todd to make contact as they slowed to try and avoid them. Fortunately, both were able to keep their bikes upright and ride away from it unscathed. For this reason, we chose not to hit the bike trails on the way back as originally planned.
We stopped for a quick water refill at the Chevron on the corner of Bayside and Jamboree. While we were sitting there taking a little break, an elderly man on a bike with aero bars on it looked at us and asked if we were professionals. As he directed the question to me, I of course responded with "No, we just look good." I'm sure seeing us four together all in black with our aero helmets, etc., it must look intimidating especially when we pass people on the roads. One thing to note about this elderly gentleman who asked was how Todd said he smelled like reefer. I guess he was out riding to pick up some munchies.
We finished with a ~21.8 average for this ride, which is fast but I know would have been a lot faster had the traffic conditions been more ideal. Also, considering the elevation we completed yesterday is comparable for the whole of the SC route, the descent for the last ~20 miles added to this would have only meant even a faster average overall. As next week's goal is to simply to beat our best time, I think we're on target to do so. Stay tuned for next week's blog for sure....
Go Team BRCM!
The Weather
I don't think you can ask for more ideal conditions for SC TTT than with the weather we had for this ride. Looking at the forecast, it's probably going to be comparable to next week's conditions with a temperature range between 47-70+. We can only hope for the same wind conditions (i.e. nearly non-existent). Everyone dressed accordingly representing the new black where we all had shorts on, shorty gloves, arm warmers and a base layer only.
The Course
We started from BJ's in Irvine and headed toward Live Oak by way of Alton and Santa Margarita. We headed through the canyon, down the bike paths toward Back Bay, on PCH to the 133, and back up to Irvine Blvd by way of Barranca and Alton. The challenge with this course wasn't as much the hills as it was stop lights we kept hitting along with all the bike and pedestrian traffic we hit on the bike trails. Hell, we even saw Noah (representing BRCM black too...woohoo) on the bike trail on his Cervelo, which just goes to show just how many people were actually out there. We even had to skipped dropping down into Back Bay since there was so many people riding slowly making for hazardous conditions that we chose to avoid.
The Ride
We haven't ridden as a team for a while now, so I think we all wondered how we were going to be together on this week before the race. Personally, I knew everyone would step up to the challenge for the race, but it is always good to see how it would actually play out. As expected, Todd, Shannon and Galen came out to get the job done in typical BAM fashion. We talked about how we were going to do the rotations beforehand, called out what we needed to to keep the group working well together, and rotated equally with everyone providing solid pulls throughout. Were we perfect? No, but we were definitely a lot more refined than we had been in past rides where everyone feels very confident going into next week's race. It's scary when these guys are confident.
Although we did our best to be careful as we were on the bike trails and by avoiding Back Bay, there was still a little near crash between Shannon and Todd as we rode though the bike trail beside the mobile home park. A couple of dogs looked like they were being separated by their owners just after one of the blind corners, so that caused Shannon and Todd to make contact as they slowed to try and avoid them. Fortunately, both were able to keep their bikes upright and ride away from it unscathed. For this reason, we chose not to hit the bike trails on the way back as originally planned.
We stopped for a quick water refill at the Chevron on the corner of Bayside and Jamboree. While we were sitting there taking a little break, an elderly man on a bike with aero bars on it looked at us and asked if we were professionals. As he directed the question to me, I of course responded with "No, we just look good." I'm sure seeing us four together all in black with our aero helmets, etc., it must look intimidating especially when we pass people on the roads. One thing to note about this elderly gentleman who asked was how Todd said he smelled like reefer. I guess he was out riding to pick up some munchies.
We finished with a ~21.8 average for this ride, which is fast but I know would have been a lot faster had the traffic conditions been more ideal. Also, considering the elevation we completed yesterday is comparable for the whole of the SC route, the descent for the last ~20 miles added to this would have only meant even a faster average overall. As next week's goal is to simply to beat our best time, I think we're on target to do so. Stay tuned for next week's blog for sure....
Go Team BRCM!
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