Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/167316688
Attendees: Todd, Vince, Vin and Mitchell
It's been a while since my last blog, but I thought I'd throw this one out there to show that we're still riding. It's not because I've lost interest in the team (or the guys on the team for that matter), but sometimes life just gets in the way. I feel bad that I haven't been able to coordinate rides and motivate others to keep riding, which is evident with David Liu having been on top of our team leaderboard in Strava miles-wise for the better part of this week (no offense, David), but some restructuring in my personal life was warranted where time was just not available for me to do so. It's still not, but I'll do what I can.
Anyways....
It was nice to see Mitchell back on the bike again. In the gym, he mentioned how he missed me and that he never even misses his own boss. I'm not sure what the correlation there was, but I'm sure it was a good thing. Needless to say, I let him know I missed him too. Get a room, right?
Vince and Vin came out, and Todd showed up late where we all decided it was best to wait for him. After all, he's the least to complain about sitting on his rear wheel the whole time. 5 riders all together is probably the biggest group I've ridden with in over a month.
I called out the route on an e-mail yesterday, but we threw in a horseshoe variation to the NPC double-back bay route at the corner just before taking off. I also didn't remember how the route finished, so we determined we would go up California in the end. I guess I can see how it's more fun for the others to have the route totally laid out for them beforehand. This led to 3 different variations of the route, but needless to say we all got a great workout nonetheless.
Todd started out ahead of everyone right away, but the rest of us managed to get up on his wheel before the stop sign at the top of Eastbluff (no thanks to the others who didn't help close the gap...ha ha). I tried to help Todd with a pull or two, but I was feeling like a big fatty after not being able to exercise yesterday (plus the nightly beer drinking - just 1 or 2).
My fattiness was also seen climbing up NPC, where I ended up not being able to hang on after we passed the 73. Todd had been leading the whole way at a good pace, but when Vince finally decided to take the front, my stomach chub was too heavy for me to stay on. Fortunately, I had my wingman, Mitchell, with me since Vin dropped. He helped after we got to the top and we worked together on San Joaquin and the horseshoe. We did see Vince ahead of us on San Joaquin having skipped the horseshoe, but we thought he was alone and that Todd had turned. Mitchell wanted to follow him, but I said we're doing the horseshoe because I'm a stickler for following the designated route. I always think someone's going to give me crap in the locker room for doing a route other than what we discussed. It's the self-imposed burden I carry....
When we came out of the horseshoe and didn't see either Vince or Todd, we pretty much expected it would be a tough chase unless we totally get lucky with the lights and they didn't. Well, I think the opposite occurred as we hit long light after long light. We did roll up to Vin at McArthur (I think) since he skipped the horseshoe to catch up.
The 3 of us worked together hoping to catch a glimpse of Vince and Todd, but when we hit the light at Jamboree and didn't see them, we figured we were on our own. Both Mitchell and Vin were taking good pulls (surprise surprise...haha) with no antics. Vin even led us up Jamboree after going through Back Bay on the first pass.
The 3 of us were stopped at the light on Ford/Eastbluff heading toward the 2nd BB pass. Once the light turned green, two guys buzzed us on bikes having had momentum on their descent and making the green light perfectly. Of course, I entered chase mode immediately after they did only to realize it was Vince and Todd! They had extended their route by going by the trailer park bike trail. They definitely didn't slow down to wait for us, so we had to book just to get back up to them. We were all together at the stop light on San Joaquin given the red light though.
From here, we all worked together as we made our 2nd pass through Back Bay with everyone carrying their fair of the load up front. Vince and I had gotten a little ahead at the top of Back Bay as we made our way to University. We exchanged pulls after Vince gave me the arm wave to pass as he was rubbing down a cramp he was starting to get. When he relieved me as we got passed the bridge, you can see the other guys looming behind us. The next thing you know, Vin had passed and was going for it (or seemed like it) as we made our way toward California. I took the opportunity to get on his rear wheel and have him lead us close enough for a pass just before. It's how we do.... Nice pull. :)
When we started heading up California, Vin started off a little aggressive again, so the rest of us latched on. I took the next pull, and Todd the one after that. I saw Vin looking like he was getting ready to go, but he never went. I went to pass as we neared the top, and Todd and I just started pedaling our asses off side-by-side as we made our way to the stop light. Intense!
Thanks for the workout today, gents! I hope we can start getting others to join us more. While I can't say I'll blog every ride, I'll do so on occasion when I can.
Attendees: Todd, Vince, Vin and Mitchell
It's been a while since my last blog, but I thought I'd throw this one out there to show that we're still riding. It's not because I've lost interest in the team (or the guys on the team for that matter), but sometimes life just gets in the way. I feel bad that I haven't been able to coordinate rides and motivate others to keep riding, which is evident with David Liu having been on top of our team leaderboard in Strava miles-wise for the better part of this week (no offense, David), but some restructuring in my personal life was warranted where time was just not available for me to do so. It's still not, but I'll do what I can.
Anyways....
It was nice to see Mitchell back on the bike again. In the gym, he mentioned how he missed me and that he never even misses his own boss. I'm not sure what the correlation there was, but I'm sure it was a good thing. Needless to say, I let him know I missed him too. Get a room, right?
Vince and Vin came out, and Todd showed up late where we all decided it was best to wait for him. After all, he's the least to complain about sitting on his rear wheel the whole time. 5 riders all together is probably the biggest group I've ridden with in over a month.
I called out the route on an e-mail yesterday, but we threw in a horseshoe variation to the NPC double-back bay route at the corner just before taking off. I also didn't remember how the route finished, so we determined we would go up California in the end. I guess I can see how it's more fun for the others to have the route totally laid out for them beforehand. This led to 3 different variations of the route, but needless to say we all got a great workout nonetheless.
Todd started out ahead of everyone right away, but the rest of us managed to get up on his wheel before the stop sign at the top of Eastbluff (no thanks to the others who didn't help close the gap...ha ha). I tried to help Todd with a pull or two, but I was feeling like a big fatty after not being able to exercise yesterday (plus the nightly beer drinking - just 1 or 2).
My fattiness was also seen climbing up NPC, where I ended up not being able to hang on after we passed the 73. Todd had been leading the whole way at a good pace, but when Vince finally decided to take the front, my stomach chub was too heavy for me to stay on. Fortunately, I had my wingman, Mitchell, with me since Vin dropped. He helped after we got to the top and we worked together on San Joaquin and the horseshoe. We did see Vince ahead of us on San Joaquin having skipped the horseshoe, but we thought he was alone and that Todd had turned. Mitchell wanted to follow him, but I said we're doing the horseshoe because I'm a stickler for following the designated route. I always think someone's going to give me crap in the locker room for doing a route other than what we discussed. It's the self-imposed burden I carry....
When we came out of the horseshoe and didn't see either Vince or Todd, we pretty much expected it would be a tough chase unless we totally get lucky with the lights and they didn't. Well, I think the opposite occurred as we hit long light after long light. We did roll up to Vin at McArthur (I think) since he skipped the horseshoe to catch up.
The 3 of us worked together hoping to catch a glimpse of Vince and Todd, but when we hit the light at Jamboree and didn't see them, we figured we were on our own. Both Mitchell and Vin were taking good pulls (surprise surprise...haha) with no antics. Vin even led us up Jamboree after going through Back Bay on the first pass.
The 3 of us were stopped at the light on Ford/Eastbluff heading toward the 2nd BB pass. Once the light turned green, two guys buzzed us on bikes having had momentum on their descent and making the green light perfectly. Of course, I entered chase mode immediately after they did only to realize it was Vince and Todd! They had extended their route by going by the trailer park bike trail. They definitely didn't slow down to wait for us, so we had to book just to get back up to them. We were all together at the stop light on San Joaquin given the red light though.
From here, we all worked together as we made our 2nd pass through Back Bay with everyone carrying their fair of the load up front. Vince and I had gotten a little ahead at the top of Back Bay as we made our way to University. We exchanged pulls after Vince gave me the arm wave to pass as he was rubbing down a cramp he was starting to get. When he relieved me as we got passed the bridge, you can see the other guys looming behind us. The next thing you know, Vin had passed and was going for it (or seemed like it) as we made our way toward California. I took the opportunity to get on his rear wheel and have him lead us close enough for a pass just before. It's how we do.... Nice pull. :)
When we started heading up California, Vin started off a little aggressive again, so the rest of us latched on. I took the next pull, and Todd the one after that. I saw Vin looking like he was getting ready to go, but he never went. I went to pass as we neared the top, and Todd and I just started pedaling our asses off side-by-side as we made our way to the stop light. Intense!
Thanks for the workout today, gents! I hope we can start getting others to join us more. While I can't say I'll blog every ride, I'll do so on occasion when I can.
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