Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/171371863
I wasn't sure how many people were going to be able to make it out for the team ride, but we ended up having better numbers than I expected. Galen, Todd and Vin confirmed early on but we were lucky to have both Vince and Hiroshi join us last minute also. Woo hoo.
The plan was to meet at my house and depart for the ride around 8:30 a.m. Galen was the first to arrive despite living the furthest away, and he was followed by Todd, Vince, Vin and Hiroshi (who ran into some traffic on the way down due to an accident). We still managed to get going before 8:45 a.m. though even after taking some pics beforehand.
The weather was already pretty warm when we got going and we wondered how this was going to affect us during our ride. Fortunately for us, there was a lot of overcast by the ocean where it kept it from being a lot cooler than what we expected. Stopping on the way back allowed us to feel the warmth, but overall it wasn't bad at all. The winds weren't that bad either and the headwinds were mostly on the way down.
With Hiroshi still in recovery mode and Galen not having ridden too much lately, we definitely started out a lot more mellow than usual. Everyone did a great job keeping the pace moderate so that we don't have anyone falling off early on. I would do my sweeping duties to make sure no one was dropping, but after I saw how solid everyone was riding, I pushed up to help up front as much as I could. It was a "team" ride after all.
When we got on PCH, someone pushed the pace up a little higher (I think it was Galen from the rumblings after we got to San Clemente), but everyone did great nonetheless and there wasn't really any fallout as a result. In fact, I think that there wasn't one time on the way down that we weren't riding tightly as a team.
We held a great pace all the way down and reeled in groups and individuals all the way down. We did have some people jump on behind us here and there, but none of us minded. I think Galen must have said hi to everyone on the way down AND back, but that's good BRCM cycling ambassadorship.
Todd and Vince were doing a lot of the work up front as expected to keep the pace up, while Galen did his thing trying to provide Hiroshi a solid draft since Hiroshi was still in recovery mode from his surgery a few weeks back. Hiroshi did fantastic considering that he just started riding again recently, and definitely exceeded my expectations for the day. Vin was participating in the rotation when he could, but he seemed to favor pushing up and creating a gap after sitting in the draft for a while where it appeared to be the end of Strava segments from what I could see. Ha ha...typical.
Although we didn't have any mechanical incidents, we did stop/slow a couple times thinking someone had a flat. Fortunately, they were both false alarms. There was no bonking during the ride, but we did have to regroup a couple times on the way back when gaps would form. Everyone did the team thing and waited for others when needed, so overall you couldn't ask for better team work than what I saw yesterday.
We had a good break at McDonald's and in the end had a ride time under 3 hours, with just 25 minutes of extra time elapsed for the break. Todd, Vince and I were definitely trading off the pulls on the way back and helped to get us back in a great time. I know I was just thinking about getting to the cold beers waiting for us, so I would push when I could. I'm sure the other guys were thinking the same thing.
We got back and chilled out in my garage for a little to get a little hydration, but that eventually moved to my back yard where the beer fest began. Everyone brought different kinds of beer where we had the following samplings to choose from:
Negra Modelo
Kona Castaway IPA
Black Butte Porter
Shock Top Belgian White
Peroni
Lagunitas Fractional IPA
Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'
Chimay Grand Reserve
Delirium Nocturnum
La Fin Du Mond
Allagash Curieux
Magic Hat Not Quite Pale Ale
Along with the above, the ladies had some margaritas with Grand Marnier and triple sec (Cadillac). I didn't really eat enough Mexican food to buffer the alcohol intake, especially after draining my bottles for the ride, but at least I didn't fall asleep this time. As always, it was definitely a great time hanging with the fellas both during and after the ride and in all honesty, is why I love being on this team. As always, let me extend my apologies should I have offended anyone after the ride, but hey...at least I kept my clothes on this time.
Great times with great peeps. Thanks for making it out, gents!
I wasn't sure how many people were going to be able to make it out for the team ride, but we ended up having better numbers than I expected. Galen, Todd and Vin confirmed early on but we were lucky to have both Vince and Hiroshi join us last minute also. Woo hoo.
The plan was to meet at my house and depart for the ride around 8:30 a.m. Galen was the first to arrive despite living the furthest away, and he was followed by Todd, Vince, Vin and Hiroshi (who ran into some traffic on the way down due to an accident). We still managed to get going before 8:45 a.m. though even after taking some pics beforehand.
 |
| Is it weird Vin is always next to me in pics? Pic courtesy of Vince who wore white. |
With Hiroshi still in recovery mode and Galen not having ridden too much lately, we definitely started out a lot more mellow than usual. Everyone did a great job keeping the pace moderate so that we don't have anyone falling off early on. I would do my sweeping duties to make sure no one was dropping, but after I saw how solid everyone was riding, I pushed up to help up front as much as I could. It was a "team" ride after all.
When we got on PCH, someone pushed the pace up a little higher (I think it was Galen from the rumblings after we got to San Clemente), but everyone did great nonetheless and there wasn't really any fallout as a result. In fact, I think that there wasn't one time on the way down that we weren't riding tightly as a team.
We held a great pace all the way down and reeled in groups and individuals all the way down. We did have some people jump on behind us here and there, but none of us minded. I think Galen must have said hi to everyone on the way down AND back, but that's good BRCM cycling ambassadorship.
Todd and Vince were doing a lot of the work up front as expected to keep the pace up, while Galen did his thing trying to provide Hiroshi a solid draft since Hiroshi was still in recovery mode from his surgery a few weeks back. Hiroshi did fantastic considering that he just started riding again recently, and definitely exceeded my expectations for the day. Vin was participating in the rotation when he could, but he seemed to favor pushing up and creating a gap after sitting in the draft for a while where it appeared to be the end of Strava segments from what I could see. Ha ha...typical.
Although we didn't have any mechanical incidents, we did stop/slow a couple times thinking someone had a flat. Fortunately, they were both false alarms. There was no bonking during the ride, but we did have to regroup a couple times on the way back when gaps would form. Everyone did the team thing and waited for others when needed, so overall you couldn't ask for better team work than what I saw yesterday.
We had a good break at McDonald's and in the end had a ride time under 3 hours, with just 25 minutes of extra time elapsed for the break. Todd, Vince and I were definitely trading off the pulls on the way back and helped to get us back in a great time. I know I was just thinking about getting to the cold beers waiting for us, so I would push when I could. I'm sure the other guys were thinking the same thing.
 |
| Chillin' with the crew |
Negra Modelo
Kona Castaway IPA
Black Butte Porter
Shock Top Belgian White
Peroni
Lagunitas Fractional IPA
Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'
Chimay Grand Reserve
Delirium Nocturnum
La Fin Du Mond
Allagash Curieux
Magic Hat Not Quite Pale Ale
Along with the above, the ladies had some margaritas with Grand Marnier and triple sec (Cadillac). I didn't really eat enough Mexican food to buffer the alcohol intake, especially after draining my bottles for the ride, but at least I didn't fall asleep this time. As always, it was definitely a great time hanging with the fellas both during and after the ride and in all honesty, is why I love being on this team. As always, let me extend my apologies should I have offended anyone after the ride, but hey...at least I kept my clothes on this time.
Great times with great peeps. Thanks for making it out, gents!
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