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!
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!
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