2015 Lunch Ride #15 - Irvine Bike Trail to Orchard Hills Loop and Back

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/260283976

Attendees:   Vince, Shannon, Mitchell, Jaffe, Seon and Vin

It was a pretty good turnout today with 7 of us making it out.  Todd couldn't make it out since he's getting ready to go skiing, but this worked out given he's not a big fan of riding up the bike trail toward Portola in a group.  Those who did come out were definitely game.

I brought out my TT bike today since I was pressed for time and it was the only bike I've ridden in a while with a decent amount of air in the tires.  This ended up working out to my advantage given the company.  I had originally planned to take it easy despite being on the TT, but that went out the window once Vince and Shannon started bringing the pace up.   I'd have been way off the back today had I been on anything else.

Vin started off leading the group down California, but fell back in line once we got on the bike trail.

I really did want to take it easy and got us going around 22-24 mph.  Vince not only brought the pace up but he also slipped by at breakaway pace shortly followed by Shannon who started to give chase.  THAT was the moment it got nutty.  Even on my TT bike, it was work just to try to keep up and definitely when trying to close the gap Vince had created.  What was impressive is how Jaffe, Mitchell and Vin were also right there.  Who are these guys?!?  Seon unfortunately had fallen off, but this was probably more by choice given I've seen him stay in the draft at a good clip on a flat no problem.

For me, it was like a day of intervals.  I'd push the pace up some when I'd get up front, hold it there for a bit, and then pop off with the guys passing me up.  Then, I'd hope to either catch people at a light or have to work a lot to do so on my own once I regained steam.

I saw sprints to the bridge by Shannon, Vince and Shannon charging up Portola and similarly up OH with a sprint down the other side, more sprint paces on Portola as we headed back to the bike trail, and even more by Vin, Vince and Shannon on the University bike trail heading to California.  My TT bike is not a sprinter, and I was often off the back during these sprint points, but it was cool to watch.

One thing I'll share is that I know I don't provide a good draft when I'm on my TT bike.  I really thought that when I'd push up and try to pick the pace up, there would be casualties as a result.  Ironically, I was the only casualty each time.  So much for that plan.  I may need to take my TT bike more often just because it's really the only way I can contribute and/or keep up.

All-in-all, it was a great training ride today.  I really needed it given I haven't been able to ride since Saturday.  Lots of 2015 medals on Strava by the others, and definitely impressive considering the heavy winds on the way back.

Thanks for coming out, everyone! 

Lunch Ride #13 - Hills, Sprints and Detonations

For today's ride, I opted to setup a route that would include some hills and some sprint points just to keep things interesting.  Offline, Shannon indicated it would be cool to train for sprints having worked on this the last couple rides, so I'm easy and accommodate as best I can.   Plus, if it helps anyone who races, I'm down with it and even offered to lead out or be a part of the lead out.  It's how I roll....

Unfortunately, Shannon couldn't make it out, but Vince came out where we upheld the agenda given he has plans to race this year as well.  While we could have sprints in the absence of people who race, I figure it would be more fun to do so strategically with people who do since we would know who's being setup for the sprint.  Otherwise, it's just chaos.

Also making it out today was Todd, who hadn't been out in a while for the lunch rides, Vin, who was sick but stuck it out, and the Jaffenator with his new faster cadence style of riding.  It made for a good crew today.

At first, I REALLY didn't want to push that hard given I've been so active over the last couple weeks (I think the previous Monday was my last rest day) that I would have just been happy to pedal on my own.  I told Todd I wouldn't call out his RED jersey if he didn't give me crap about hanging in back.  He ended up giving me crap at the end of the ride anyway (more on this later), so hence the reference to his jersey color.  In his defense, however, all his black jerseys have broken zippers.  Isn't that what tailors are for?

Despite my intent to stay in the back, I actually led the guys out in the beginning and at a pace that I didn't think was too shabby.  Vince and Todd eventually passed me, but I couldn't latch on and ended up riding with Vin and Jaffe not too far behind them.  Thankfully, we all managed to make the left turn to Culver together.

Vince and Todd held the front up and over Culver and as we made our way to Turtle Rock.  Vince decided to pull ahead on Turtle Rock, but Todd kept a less frantic pace allowing the rest of us to stay on.  Jaffe fell off at one point though on TR while Vin sometime after just getting on Starcrest.  I tried to hang on, but just couldn't do it.  I rolled up to the cul-de-sac at the top not too long after Todd, and Vin shortly thereafter as well.  Vince was nowhere to be seen but had ended up waiting for the rest of us on TR.  Todd retrieved Jaffe, who is still getting used to climbing with a different cadence, and we were all together again after regrouping with Vince.

While we rode toward Sunnyhill, a silver Benz SUV decided to get in between Vince/Todd and Vin/myself/Jaffe.  We also got a little separated before getting on the bike trail, but Todd and Vince soft pedaled until we could all get back together.

Vince attacked the hill after the bridge, but the rest of us stayed with Todd as he led us all up and over the top.  Vince had a gap on us on the descent, but I slowed to wait for Jaffe a bit.  However, it turned out I really didn't need to since he was able to close the gap avoiding a section of the bike trail.

Once we started heading toward the 405, Vince had a pretty sizable gap on us at that point.  Todd had the front and was holding a good pace, but I didn't think he was going to catch Vince all on his own.  After waiting for Vin to push up to help, I decided time was running out and pushed up to try and help close the gap for us on Vince.  I ended up blowing myself up in the process and all for nothing given we didn't really get close enough to make for a good sprint training session.  Vin and Jaffe went for it nonetheless and got under the bridge with Todd and I not far behind.

Vin was able to get up to Vince at some point, but Vince being Vince got away again at the intersection of Strawberry Fields.  The rest of us regrouped at that point and again at the base of Ridgeline.

With Vince nowhere in sight, Todd led us up Ridgeline and at a pace that I thought I could keep.  Vin hung on for a bit as well, but he dropped somewhere during the first rise while I did just before the end of the 2nd one.  Jaffe couldn't hold the pace unfortunately and dropped off.

We all regrouped on Sunnyhill including Vince and Jaffe, so I was going to see if we can make the next sprint zone training section (to the bike trail opening) more effective.  Todd led us up just after getting back on Shady, and I took over for a bit after.  I was relieved before the top, but I struggled to latch back on right away.  Thankfully, I was able to latch back on to Jaffe and used him to spring off to help leadout the sprint.  Vin, Vince and Todd were pushing the pace up, but I managed to get by and started to pick the pace up getting ahead of them and ultimately offering Vince a semi-respectful lead out.  Vince sprinted by me as expected with no one else contesting him.

When we got on Bonita Canyon, I thought we would slow down a bit but everyone was pushing up and keeping the pace up.  I helped as well, but it seemed pretty challenging to get back into the rotation after pulling off the front.  Thankfully, no one dropped including me.

We contemplated skipping Condo, but Todd felt we had time.  I haven't really charged that hill lately, so I thought I'd give it a go and just see what I could do.  Vince led us up and over Ford and we were all just able to make the turn onto Jamboree without any real traffic interfering with the momentum.  I stood up to make the charge from behind Vince and Todd, who had a little lead ahead of me, and managed to make my way past both of them.  As I did, I kept asking myself if I could hold the pace in the gear I was in and realized I was fading and fast at that.   I dropped to a lower gear near the top and just barely managed to stay off the seat, but totally blew up again after.  Vince, Vin and Todd easily passed me while I tried to slow enough to pick up my lungs that had fallen out.

I was lucky to catch the 3 guys at the McArthur light, but I knew we had one more sprint point coming.  I tried sucking up as much air as I could, but the light turned green pretty fast where I just had to make do with what I had.

Todd took the front as we started making our way toward the 73, but we all had to slow due to the first light turning red just ahead of us.  While we didn't come to a complete stop, we did slow down enough to where we had no real organization for the final sprint.  Vin and Vince went around Todd and I had to choose quickly at that point what I was going to do.  Since my plan from the beginning was to offer a lead out, I chose to "try" to pull Todd and see if we can close the gap and challenge the two ahead of us.  I called out to him to jump on as I passed, but after looking back twice and seeing he wasn't sitting too closely to my rear wheel, I pulled up "Adrian-esque" like seeing there was no point in going on.  And yes, I was blown the F up...again.  Todd apparently didn't think too highly of my half-hearted pull and gave me crap after passing me and subsequently in the locker room.  I suppose he's entitled to his opinion, but at the end of the day, I write the blog.  #penmightierthansword #notredjerseyday #partridgefamilyplaylist #dontgethulkangry #justplaying #thanksforthepulls

Great training ride, gents!
  

Lunch Ride #12 - Theeeyyyy'rreee Baaaack!

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/256345851

Today's inspiration:

Paul Colf (teammate's dad) - Read more here.

When I wrote my blog on Thursday, I received a good number of responses from people I hadn't heard from in a while who expressed interest in re-joining our lunch rides.  It worked!  HA.  Much to our delight, both Jaffe and Mitchell came out today joining Shannon, Seon and me.  We may have even gotten more people to come out had I not started the ride earlier than usual, but I'll take it!  I'm excited to see if the others who replied to me will keep their word (wink wink).

Jaffe, who likes to have his name mentioned on the blog in any way shape or form, had been off for a while due to a back injury he suffered from riding.   After some strength training, a much needed bike re-fitting, and foregoing his fear of not being able to keep up, I'm glad he's returned although we always have to be careful what we wish for, right?  Just kidding, Jaffe (note I said your name again).  If anything, our rides should once again be interesting, but we may just have to be a little more careful to boot.  Surprisingly, he rode today just as if he hadn't had any time off at all.  He was pushing up to the front, keeping up almost throughout, and just riding like he'd been doing so all along.  That must have been a great bike fitting!  Kudos to "Jaffe" and we can excuse the black jersey this time.

Mitchell, my wingman, who had been on a vegetarian diet for the last couple months too undernourished to ride with us, was also back out in full effect.  He must have eaten a big ass steak or something last night, because he was also out there pushing the pace, working the rotations, and actually almost impossible to drop (only by Shannon on Ridgeline just before the 2nd rise).  Hell, I dropped off a couple few times myself (which doesn't say much nowadays).  Impressive!

Despite the Shannon-inspired pace on the bike trail, Seon was doing really well also.  After I pulled the first time, I rolled off and headed to the back where I saw Seon seemingly off the draft.  When I pointed to my rear wheel for him to latch on, he instead sprinted past me and latched on to the guys ahead who had gapped us.  I was not as lucky and had to fend for myself.  I'm glad the road crossings allowed me to rejoin the group, but I was definitely not in a position to rejoin the front rotation for the rest of the bike trail.  Ummm...thanks, Seon.  Just kidding.  It's all good.

Not wanting to point out the obvious but Shannon once again was in good form.  He was definitely doing a bulk of the work on the bike trails, but he also seemed to be managing the pace somewhat and not stringing us all out or worse, leaving us to fend for ourselves.  Then again, maybe the Starcrest repeats he did yesterday had a little bit to do with it.  Probably not.  As expected, he was able to bust Mitchell and I off on Ridgeline and me on Culver subsequently.  When he fell back after the light on Shady, I started to work with Mitchell just as a way to counter him ultimately passing us.  Fortunately, that didn't happen and we all regrouped at McArthur.  Due to time, we opted to skip the condo and see what we could do to setup Shannon for a lead out on Bison.  Mitchell seemed reluctant at first, but when he took off after the light before the 73, I had to work just to catch and pass him for the final lead out.  Shannon came around pretty effortlessly after, so the boy's definitely stronger than I've ever seen him in this capacity.  Way to go!

Thanks for coming out!  Now I can't wait until Thursday!

Team Lunch Ride #12 with Bonus at the End

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/254110078

Attendees:  Shannon, Seon and Gary

We had a smaller group of guys come out today compared to Tuesday, but it was a great group of guys nonetheless.   I say this because these guys are coming out with greater consistency, and I'm digging being able to ride in a group again vs. individually.

Here are some of the highlights for today's ride:

• It was F'ing hot, but everyone conformed to the black jersey Thursday nonetheless.  
• Seon is definitely picking up his game and improving all the time.   He's starting to push up more and just working harder out there, and it's showing.  Good job!
• I can't say enough about Gary's character.  Gary always impresses me when he pushes up like he does.  He loves to give it all, recover, and then do it again.  He's the epitome of interval training, and we all know how painful intervals are, right?  He and Seon teamed up on PCH even and made a pretty good run after NPC.  
• Shannon was kind enough to not blow us away too badly, but he definitely had moments of where we all just had to say "see ya!"   He allowed for us to regroup with him though, but then you wonder if that's a good thing or not given only more punishment can be doled out.  HA HA.  J/K.  It was a good thing.  One last thing was I had a chance to lead him out for the Bison sprint, albeit my lead out came after blowing myself up on Bonita Canyon.   1158W max with 735W average for 21 seconds equals ouch!

Now here's the bonus part I wanted to write about:  What is the 2015 version of Team Broadcom Cycling?  

When we originated, we started out as a smallish crew of cycling enthusiasts that really liked to push the pace (as we knew it then).  Then we got a little more people, got a little more organized, and started challenging ourselves (through lunch rides, events and hill challenges).  We then pushed ourselves even further at that point and started entering races, although we knew nothing about strategy initially.  HA HA.  Then, life got in the way.  The disparity in performance between racers and non-racers grew and this made for less than ideal "team" outings.  People were racing 1-2 at a time, lunch rides thinned out, and most importantly, the beerfests have dwindled down a lot.   Too much if you ask me.  

After talking to Shannon at lunch today, I started to really ask myself, who are we and what does it mean today to wear a Broadcom jersey?  I definitely don't think it means the same as it used to.  Another point of clarity was how it makes perfect sense that those who are still very active competitively may seek out to find other team rides to participate in for better training and fundamentally, more consistency.  And if it came down to racing, the BAM in us should want to win and winning solo or with only one other helping is not very likely.  I get it.

I think we need to reevaluate who we are and what we do.  Personally, I know I contributed to a lot of the different directions we went, especially last year, but I'm not going to dwell on the past.   My question to all would be "Who do we want to be in 2015?"  Let's not kid ourselves either.  If we're not going to race as a team, let's not even pretend that that's who we are.  That's not to say racers shouldn't be a part of us, or worse, not ride with us, but I think it's perfectly fine if they don the jersey of other teams who actually do come out and race in numbers.  That's a no-brainer.  We should still want them to win.  

I'm of the opinion that we need to focus on just coming out together again like we did in the past.  It's not an exclusive group of elite climbers, masterful time trialists, etc.  Let's just share our love for cycling together like we used to do.  Okay, so there are going to be people with their own agendas for training during lunch, which is perfectly fine.  If you race, train hard.  If you don't, train however you want.  If you want, don't train at all.  However, the last thing you'll want to do is not share the company of the great guys that I've gotten to know and love over the years.  While we may not have exchanged blood, we've definitely sweat on each other enough to form that familial bond.   This is what my vision of what the 2015 version of Team Broadcom should be.   This is what wearing the kit should represent.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  

2015 Lunch Ride #11 - Can You Believe I'm Still Counting?

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/253206391

Attendees:  Shannon, Vince, Gary, Vin (the only one in a black kit while everyone represented white - SMH) and Seon (we saw Todd in locker room but he had TT bike and did different route)

I have to say it's really great to see a good turn out of people today coming out for the ride.  S-Gary was out last week, so it's nice to see that it was only temporary.  I don't think Vince made it out (on Tues/Thurs anyway) last week either, so good to see him too.  Vin, Seon and Shannon came out 1-2 times last week and  once Todd gets his road bike back, we may actually be starting to build up some momentum here, folks.  Cool.

Given I hadn't ridden since last Thursday (missed my ride over the weekend due to sore running legs and work) and missed my run yesterday (forgot shoes), I was in dire need of some serious calorie burning action.  It didn't help that my morning was filled with work-related anxiety, so I looked forward to some endorphin release also.  While this goes against my "I don't want to work that hard cycling since I'm not racing this year" theory, we do what we gotta do.  Given that Vince and Shannon both came out today (a combo I hadn't seen for a while), I figured this would be a perfect ride for it.  I'll resume the less manic mode on Thursday.

The ride started out at a good pace with Gary leading the pack half-way through the section named after him.  Shannon took over after, and I knew this would be a good time to jump on board.  I even opted to take a pull after, and Vin spun past us to arrive at Bonita Canyon/Culver first where we all regrouped at that point.

Once the light turned green, Vince decided he was going to push the pace toward Sunnyhill, and I happily dropped in right behind Shannon who hadn't gotten on Vince wheel at the time.  Shannon was pushing a pretty intense pace, and I was just barely able to hang on.  I saw Vin just behind us somewhat, but I couldn't tell who else was back there given I was only able to quickly glance back.

Once we descended, I pushed ahead of Shannon with the intent to pull us all in behind Vince.  When I looked back, however, there was a little separation, so I decided at that time I'll just hold (or do my best to) Vince's wheel and wait for the others to join us.  If you know Vince, that just doesn't bode well with his MO, so he kept the pace up with me in tow as we made our way around Turtle Rock.  It was only when he signaled he was turning to do Starcrest that I said, "see ya later."

As I made my way up toward Ridgeline alone, Shannon passed me where I did all I could just to not get dropped when he did.  There may have been a little separation though, but the next two stop signs helped to keep me with him.

We made our way back to Sunnyhill and then up Shady toward Bonita Canyon, and Shannon and I traded pulls.  Shannon passed to take the final pull and offered to set up the sprint to the bike trail, but I'm just barely hanging on at that point and trying not to let the gap he was forming grow too substantial.

We looked back at that point and after not seeing anyone, we proceeded to make our way to NPC.  Shannon was doing all the work to get us there and also started us up the climb as well.  Now I really didn't expect to keep up with Shannon on the climb, especially if he turned it up some, so I was fully expecting to drop at some point.  When I opted to drop to the small front chain ring, however, my chain did a little dance and wouldn't engage onto the ring right away where I knew I was doomed at that point for sure.  I tried to spin up behind him and made a little progress at one point, but that ultimately lead to full detonation before the 73 underpass.  I seriously expected others to be passing me at that point.

I was still able to see Shannon though as he made the turn to San Joaquin and ultimately onto the horseshoe.  I knew I'd only be able to catch him again by chance if a light worked in my favor, but I'm glad he was waiting just after the horseshoe back on San Joaquin.  I pulled over to wait with him to see if there would be others regrouping.  However, after looking back for a bit and not seeing anyone, I convinced Shannon to continue on spinning and hoping to regroup with others.

We caught a couple lights at the bottom including McArthur, and it was taking off when the light turned green when we saw Vince's blur go by us both.  I gave chase right away to try and close, but I didn't see Shannon behind me when I did.  Instead of riding as 3 separate individuals (with me behind both of them), I got together with Shannon and prepared to give chase to Vince as we made our way onto Back Bay.

Just after the right turn, there was some construction going on and a Jeep that was trying to make its way through.  Vince had gotten by ahead of the Jeep, but we weren't as lucky.  The Jeep someone thought it was a good idea to keep pulling into the opposite side of the road cutting Shannon and I off only to have the construction worker tell him to stop.  We were allowed to go ahead of the Jeep, thank goodness, but we could see Vince had gotten a pretty good head start.

I think Shannon took the front initially, but I rallied him on to work on catching Vince where I took the front and began to give chase.  It wasn't too long before Shannon took the front and really started turning it on where it was downright scary.  I had considered taking the front at one point, but it faded fast once I realized I was actually having trouble just trying to stay latched on.  HA HA.  Shannon was really moving, so Vince kept getting closer and closer.  When we hit the base of the climb, Shannon had set me up to give Vince a run to the top.  Even though I was pooped, I took off anyway as a token of appreciation for Shannon's hard work.  Regretfully, I was only able to come up just behind Vince at the top.

Vince kept going where I didn't have enough to latch on, so I soft pedaled to Jamboree hoping to have enough just to make it up to Bison.  What's funny is when Shannon made his way past me, he asked what I was doing for Valentines Day as though we were sitting at Starbucks having coffee.  I don't even think I was able to answer him, but I tried to drop down to the small ring hoping I can at least spin enough to keep up somewhat.  My front derailleur was just not a happy camper today, and my crank actually seized for a bit where I couldn't pedal.  Fortunately, it fixed itself and I was able to make my way to the Bison intersection where Shannon was waiting.  Vince caught the left turn light, so that was the last we saw of him.

Shannon and I made our way toward California together, and I think I was supposed to sprint with him as he led us over the 73.  However, how do I sprint when I can't even stay on his wheel?   Yeah, I'll need to work on that...someday.

It was a great (and much needed) workout today, and I really appreciated all the tows I received from Vince and Shannon.  If you think riding in their draft is not a workout, you just don't know.  I know Gary had to get back early, but I hope everyone else was able to get an equally good workout.  We'll go back to team riding mode on Thursday for sure.

Thanks, gents!

2015 BRCM Lunch Ride #10 - Quality over Quantity

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/250871413

If you've been paying any attention, you'll notice that I went from BRCM Lunch ride #8 straight to #10 where you're probably wondering what happened to #9.  Well, 1) my attendance does not make for a BRCM lunch ride and 2) I was out sick as a dog on Tuesday where I hear only Vin and Seon made it out for #9.  Neither blog, so there  you go....

For today, the participation level continues to be minimal with only 3 of us out there.  Has everyone already given up on their New Year's Resolution?!?  HA HA.  One cool thing though was Shannon made it out with Seon and he actually opted to slow down enough so that we can ride with him until he broke off to do some "real" hill training beast-mode style...a setting that neither Seon nor I have at the moment.

Given today's participants, I hoped to make it interesting for Shannon by "trying" to run a worthy pace and/or keep up with him as much as possible.  I may have even tricked him by engaging in conversation when in fact, my primary motive was to have him slow down enough to hear what I was saying.  It worked!  I got to ride with him up to the top of NPC!  Mind you, he really must have backed down A LOT to allow this, but I'll take it given I missed riding with the big guy.

After regrouping at the top, I took the lead and wondered if/when Shannon would pass not really knowing if he was following us all the way down Pelican/NPC before starting his hill climbing.  One thing I've learned over the years riding with him was that when Shannon slows down, there's usually a method to the madness...one that typically results in getting passed at some point.  Assuming he was following still, I took off once I made the right to to the first Pelican to make it interesting for him and anticipating he would follow and pass me at some point.  I had some post nasal drip action going on, so boogers were flying everywhere!  I kept looking back to make sure none flew toward his direction, but he never came and for all I know, he probably never even went down Pelican with us.  HA HA.  I only slowed down at the bottom of NPC where I regrouped with Seon after he passed with Shannon nowhere in sight.

Now, through all of the antics described above, Seon was definitely not far behind and regrouped with us both at the bottom of NPC (after Anteater) and the top.  He was holding a pretty good lead from jumping the first light after NPC, but Shannon's megawatt high cadence spin helped us make our way past him just before the 73 underpass.  Despite this, Seon brought up the back not long thereafter and hardly gave me a chance to recover.

As Seon and I made our way to CDM, he had a gap for a bit after he passed and held the front until I made my way past him to take the lead.  I was a little more "hyped" than normal given the beast who was in our presence, so I pushed a little more today on this ride.  Seon stayed with me the whole time though, even at times when I pushed more and at one time considered taking a pull as well.  He even pushed the pace early on the climb up California, so don't let this guy lead  you to believe that he's not capable of keeping up.  He's now the only one who's been persistent over the last few rides given Vin wasn't present today, so it makes sense that he's improving.  Good job!

Thank you guys for coming out today!  I really appreciate the company.