Strava: https://app.strava.com/activities/241519602
Attendees: Shannon, Todd, Gary, Vin and Seon (just missed Vince)
It was really nice to see the numbers that came out to ride today. Shannon and Vince hadn't been out with us yet on a 2015 lunch ride, so it was great seeing them join us. It was funny how there was a collective "whoa" when Shannon came into the locker room...probably an involuntary reaction resulting from hearts skipping a beat due to sheer nervousness. Vince came in late and had told us to go ahead and he'll catch up, and given how much riding he's been doing, we were confident he would. He must have taken a modified route, however, that just prevented him from riding with us. Bummer. Seon came out again, and it was actually nice that he joined us for the full course this time vs. only about 1/10 of it like Tuesday. Todd, the only one with the white jersey despite my announcement early this week, seemed in good spirits probably because he got his hill training in yesterday. Gary and Vin, along with me, were out there and the only ones so far who's been consistently participating in the 2015 lunch rides. That's right. We bad.
The ride started out moderately fast where Seon and I were off the back doing our thing. While we regrouped shortly at the base of California, the pace was just one that I wasn't interested in doing. As I don't expect anyone to conform to my pace, I also don't have a problem with others doing their own as well. Seon and I were off doing our thing and he even took the front on a couple occasions despite not having ridden much recently. We pretty much stayed together through all of Back Bay while the rest of the group were well ahead of us. I bet they didn't notice how beautiful it was out there as much as we did. :)
Seon and I ended up running into Todd and Gary at the top of Jamboree, while the Shannon and Vin waited for us just after turning left on PCH. Todd led the way after the light turned green, and we passed a standing Shannon and Vince knowing they would make their way back up to us. Seon had even joined in their line, but I wasn't too far behind and still enjoying the bike.
As we made our way onto Avocado, we were all pretty much together again but the kicker hill going up toward Ocean strung us out pretty good. I was in the back just riding Gary's awesome draft (now I know how it feels to get a giraffe's draft) as we rode through Ocean with Seon just ahead of us. By the time we got to PCH, Todd, Shannon and Vin were gone so the 3 of us managed a steady pace heading toward NPC. Seon indicated that Todd told him before taking off that we would regroup after Vista. This left us confuse, but I'll come back to this.
Going up NPC was long and arduous, but it was good to go up together with Gary and Seon. Seon started of ahead but Gary soon made his way to the front and held a pretty steady pace going up. I was somewhere in between, but we were all close together as we got to the top. Gary was impressed at my feat of pedaling off the seat the whole time, but the reality was it's more comfortable pedaling off the seat standing up for me; my stomach doesn't interfere with my stroke as much as when I sit.
At the top, we tried to decipher what Todd told Seon and concluded that we should meet at the bottom of Ridge Park since they were going to do Vista...something we weren't interested in. Upon our arrival there, despite hitting a couple lights, we didn't see anyone heading down so the natural presumption was "they left us." Despite this, we waited a little longer and finally decided to go on. Gary, however, felt that we should go ahead and wait on San Joaquin just in case. After sitting a few minutes and just when we were getting ready to take off, I opted to go back to the intersection again and I caught a glimpse of Todd, Vin and Shannon. It turns out they were waiting for us at the bottom of Ridge Park too. Todd wasn't too happy about waiting for nothing, but finally calmed down after I went over the above with him. Story of my life....
The pace started heating up going up and over San Joaquin and Shannon, Todd, Vin and Gary were jamming down it. Seon and I were a little less manic, but I did press ahead a little just to make sure we don't get separated at a light.
When we got to McArthur, the pace definitely picked up more and Todd led the charge initially. Shannon took the next pull, and Vin held him out to take a final charge to Bonita Canyon. Of course, something in me also clicks when I see Vin trying to finish the charge on a segment (probably because of the countless KOMs he's stolen in the past doing so...ha ha), so I took off with him and passed him. Okay, so I know that may have been a little "douchy" of me, but you know what? It was fun.
When we took off from the light heading toward Bison, Todd took off so I took the opportunity to stay with him although not too closely. Like the feeder fish that swims with sharks, Vin was just behind me seemingly looking for pay back. We hit a stroke of good luck where we didn't have to slow too much, and Todd continued to lead us out over the 73. I cinched up closer to him to get optimal drafting when I hear Vin winding up and making his move past us for a final sprint. He had a pretty good jump, but as before, same click, same result. BOOM! HA HA.
Okay, so the last 5% of the ride wasn't mellow, but overall it was a great team ride. We all finished pretty much together, and everyone did their thing and did great. Gary's improvements continue, and Seon seems like he's right there as well. Shannon is still maniacal, Todd is also maniacal but a gentleman as well (think Jekyll/Hyde) and Vin is still Vin where that's pretty much all I have to say about that.
Thanks for coming out, gents! Hope Vince had a great ride. See you Tuesday!
Attendees: Shannon, Todd, Gary, Vin and Seon (just missed Vince)
It was really nice to see the numbers that came out to ride today. Shannon and Vince hadn't been out with us yet on a 2015 lunch ride, so it was great seeing them join us. It was funny how there was a collective "whoa" when Shannon came into the locker room...probably an involuntary reaction resulting from hearts skipping a beat due to sheer nervousness. Vince came in late and had told us to go ahead and he'll catch up, and given how much riding he's been doing, we were confident he would. He must have taken a modified route, however, that just prevented him from riding with us. Bummer. Seon came out again, and it was actually nice that he joined us for the full course this time vs. only about 1/10 of it like Tuesday. Todd, the only one with the white jersey despite my announcement early this week, seemed in good spirits probably because he got his hill training in yesterday. Gary and Vin, along with me, were out there and the only ones so far who's been consistently participating in the 2015 lunch rides. That's right. We bad.
The ride started out moderately fast where Seon and I were off the back doing our thing. While we regrouped shortly at the base of California, the pace was just one that I wasn't interested in doing. As I don't expect anyone to conform to my pace, I also don't have a problem with others doing their own as well. Seon and I were off doing our thing and he even took the front on a couple occasions despite not having ridden much recently. We pretty much stayed together through all of Back Bay while the rest of the group were well ahead of us. I bet they didn't notice how beautiful it was out there as much as we did. :)
Seon and I ended up running into Todd and Gary at the top of Jamboree, while the Shannon and Vin waited for us just after turning left on PCH. Todd led the way after the light turned green, and we passed a standing Shannon and Vince knowing they would make their way back up to us. Seon had even joined in their line, but I wasn't too far behind and still enjoying the bike.
As we made our way onto Avocado, we were all pretty much together again but the kicker hill going up toward Ocean strung us out pretty good. I was in the back just riding Gary's awesome draft (now I know how it feels to get a giraffe's draft) as we rode through Ocean with Seon just ahead of us. By the time we got to PCH, Todd, Shannon and Vin were gone so the 3 of us managed a steady pace heading toward NPC. Seon indicated that Todd told him before taking off that we would regroup after Vista. This left us confuse, but I'll come back to this.
Going up NPC was long and arduous, but it was good to go up together with Gary and Seon. Seon started of ahead but Gary soon made his way to the front and held a pretty steady pace going up. I was somewhere in between, but we were all close together as we got to the top. Gary was impressed at my feat of pedaling off the seat the whole time, but the reality was it's more comfortable pedaling off the seat standing up for me; my stomach doesn't interfere with my stroke as much as when I sit.
At the top, we tried to decipher what Todd told Seon and concluded that we should meet at the bottom of Ridge Park since they were going to do Vista...something we weren't interested in. Upon our arrival there, despite hitting a couple lights, we didn't see anyone heading down so the natural presumption was "they left us." Despite this, we waited a little longer and finally decided to go on. Gary, however, felt that we should go ahead and wait on San Joaquin just in case. After sitting a few minutes and just when we were getting ready to take off, I opted to go back to the intersection again and I caught a glimpse of Todd, Vin and Shannon. It turns out they were waiting for us at the bottom of Ridge Park too. Todd wasn't too happy about waiting for nothing, but finally calmed down after I went over the above with him. Story of my life....
The pace started heating up going up and over San Joaquin and Shannon, Todd, Vin and Gary were jamming down it. Seon and I were a little less manic, but I did press ahead a little just to make sure we don't get separated at a light.
When we got to McArthur, the pace definitely picked up more and Todd led the charge initially. Shannon took the next pull, and Vin held him out to take a final charge to Bonita Canyon. Of course, something in me also clicks when I see Vin trying to finish the charge on a segment (probably because of the countless KOMs he's stolen in the past doing so...ha ha), so I took off with him and passed him. Okay, so I know that may have been a little "douchy" of me, but you know what? It was fun.
When we took off from the light heading toward Bison, Todd took off so I took the opportunity to stay with him although not too closely. Like the feeder fish that swims with sharks, Vin was just behind me seemingly looking for pay back. We hit a stroke of good luck where we didn't have to slow too much, and Todd continued to lead us out over the 73. I cinched up closer to him to get optimal drafting when I hear Vin winding up and making his move past us for a final sprint. He had a pretty good jump, but as before, same click, same result. BOOM! HA HA.
Okay, so the last 5% of the ride wasn't mellow, but overall it was a great team ride. We all finished pretty much together, and everyone did their thing and did great. Gary's improvements continue, and Seon seems like he's right there as well. Shannon is still maniacal, Todd is also maniacal but a gentleman as well (think Jekyll/Hyde) and Vin is still Vin where that's pretty much all I have to say about that.
Thanks for coming out, gents! Hope Vince had a great ride. See you Tuesday!
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