Be Careful What You Wish For

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/228519715

It's been a while since I've ridden with Shannon and I've really missed it.  However, the description by others of the pain he doles out when he makes it out for a lunch ride is pretty accurate.  While he states he hadn't ridden in two weeks and that I shouldn't make excuses, my big fat belly begs to differ.  And of all days, I chose a hillier route...on a windy day...and with no other real support to help bridge the gap.  Okay, so Vin came out, but he's got a little Adrian-esque action going on with how he likes to burst up certain areas, but just like Adrian, the bursts are short-lived and overall ineffective.  HA HA

On top of being the monster that Shannon is, he also spent time warming up in the spin room.  To me, that would be like spinning up your tires to get heat in them ready for a drag race and racing a little girl on a tricycle after.  Vin would be that little girl.  I'd be the fat kid by the ice cream truck watching....

Anyway, I could give the play-by-play for the entire route, but here's the abbreviated version due to time constraints:

• I led us out (big mistake, Indy)
• Vin took over on Anteater and I dropped
• Shannon dropped both of us before Bonita Canyon
• We were fairly far apart on Bonita Canyon heading toward Spyglass
• I caught Vin at light while Shannon seemingly soft pedaled ahead of us
• We made the turn onto Spyglass just behind Shannon, but he left us again at will
• I passed Vin going up despite the substantial weight difference between us
• Vin passed me at the light going onto San Joaquin while Shannon was sitting waiting for the green that had just turned upon our approached
• I passed Vin but Vin passed me back as did Shannon as expected
• I stayed off the back while Shannon got away from Vin on NPC
• I was too far behind to see which way Shannon went, but he did the same route as us and was just gone before Vin and I could descend
• Vin led down NPC, but he fell behind on Pelican x1
• I made the first and 2nd loop not seeing anyone ahead of behind me after that
• I got on NPC and saw Shannon waiting as I neared San Joaquin.  I let him know I had to get back and kept going as he waited for Vin
• It was fun heading down NPC with a tail wind, but I got stopped under the 73 and at the bottom.  
• Vin and Shannon both passed me at the light, but I was able to latch on to Shannon while Vin surged again
• We were all together as we made our way to Bison
• I think everyone was getting ready for a final sprint, but we all got caught at the 2nd light over the 73.  
• I tried taking off and just when I started to feel confident in my sprint, Shannon squashed all sense of manliness I had and passed me like I was standing still.  

Great ride today, gents.  While we didn't ride together too much, it was nice being out there with all of us representing BRCM black.  Thanks for coming out!

BRCM Lunch - A Good Reminder of What Pain Feels Like

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/227915284

Attendees:  Vince, Todd, Mitchell, Vin and me.  There was a sudden rise in blood pressure when we saw Shannon, but he came in to spin and opted to torture us another day.

I know I said I would blog more, but it's been really difficult putting a ride together.  I never seem to know when I'm going to get out, and everyone else is doing their own thing.  I was going to write about my solo adventures, but who wants to read about how slow I am, right?

I didn't announce that I was going to ride until just today, but I also didn't let anyone know I brought my TT bike in.  1) I didn't want to be casted out of the lunch ride and 2) I figured I'd save people from saying I'm cheating until the locker room.  Now, no one actually said I was cheating, but Todd did grumble a little bit.  The irony of it was that the ride wasn't exactly flat and that my real intention for bringing it was that it's the only bike I've been riding given no one ever takes me up when I propose a weekend ride.

I don't know what's up with Strava, but 16.1 mph was not the average speed on the S-Gary Peltason segment.  From the get go, Vince and Todd appeared to have some bad intentions and was lighting up that segment.  I let Vin go ahead of me as I was already struggling a little going up E. Peltason, but we managed to arrive pretty close together to Bonita Canyon.

Todd and Vince continued to lead up Shady toward Sunnyhill and I just hung on for my life as did Mitchell and Vin behind them.  As we made the left turn onto Sunnyhill, Mitchell hit a bump on the road and started to get squirly but looked like he was going to save it.  However, he got a little too close to the sidewalk and ended up rolling off his bike as a result.  Vin and I slowed and called out to Todd and Vince but they barely slowed down to look back (talk about focus).  Fortunately, they turned around eventually and we were able to resume after Mitchell picked himself up and made sure his bike was okay.  It wasn't long after making the right on Turtle Rock, however, that Mitchell had a problem with his tire.  We offered to wait, but he wanted us to keep going.  I think from there he was able to just get his bike going again and went back to BRCM.  Hope you're okay, Mitchell.

As the 4 of us got going on Turtle Rock, I finally ended up taking a pull as did Vin, but we both stayed behind Todd and Vince as we made our way up the other side.  I was really struggling to stay on with them before the stop sign, but I was able to just get back behind them as we made our way back toward Sunnyhill.

Going up the bike path on Shady, it was more of the same where vince and Todd were taking turns working us.  When we got close to the top, I was just a little off the back and hoping to catch back up to them on the other side.  I was never really able to do so, however, and they extended the gap even further going through the S-turns of getting off and on the bike paths before the 405.

When I rounded the corner and was able to see them again, I saw Vin had popped off while Todd and vince were working together to increase the gap.  Since it was fairly flat, I took advantage of the aero bars and made my way up to Vin calling out for him to join me as I tried to get closer to the two ahead.  He was done.

Although I felt I made some progress trying to catch the two, it was short-lived.  They got through the light at Strawberry Farms and kept pulling away as they got on Ridgeline.  By the time I started the climb, I couldn't even see them anymore.  Bummer.

I made it up the hill just barely being able to stay on my big ring (a sign of my softness), and still couldn't see them as I descended down Turtle Rock toward Campus.  When I got on Campus, I saw them crossing the crosswalk probably because they couldn't get anyone to trigger the lef turn light.  I was able to go left not too far behind them, but I was pretty winded making the climb up Bonita Canyon difficult where catching them just didn't seem likely.  By chance, however, I was able to roll up on them at the Shady stop light.  Luck!

Given they've been working so hard, I decided to spend some time up front and helped in the rotation as we made our way toward McArthur.  It was windy, so the aero bars definitely helped me with keeping the pace up.  Okay, so yes this was cheating, but these guys are animals!

We opted to go up the condo despite me being prepared to head back by way of McArthur.  I was trying to catch my breath as we headed toward the condo with Todd leading the way.  I figured I'd try and charge the condo like old times and see how far up I got.  When we arrived at the corner, however, an SUV turning right pretty much prevented us from having any kind of momentum going up the hill.  On a TT bike, this is tragic.  Todd and Vince left me for dead as expected, and I was only able to catch them due to a light on McArthur holding them back.

There was no funny business on the landing strip, and I'm rather happy about that.  I hadn't ridden with such intensity for a while now, so I was well beyond spent by that time.

Thanks again for all the tows, Todd and Vince.  I dread how the ride would have gone if I brought a road bike.  For laughs, I may just do that on Thursday if I can make it out.