Another Great Lunchtime Workout with the Team

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/295599711

Attendees:  Shannon, Todd, Vin, Mitchell, Jaffe, Seon and me

Highlights:

• Everyone work the black kit except Todd.   The reordered Giordana kits should fix this insubordination soon.
• Given that we shamelessly let Todd lead everyone out all the way to Culver, his defiance is excused.
• I did rotate to relieve Todd a couple times as we made our way to Turtle Rock, but he led us all the way to the top as well.  
• More began rotating in after with Shannon leading us up the Shady rise toward Bonita Canyon initially.  I made my way to the front on the descent after Vin, and Shannon busted an uncontested sprint to the bike trail opening.  We ain't dumb....
• We made our way up on Turtle Ridge toward Summit, but Shannon dropped a chain.  I made the mistake of waiting for him only to have him regroup with Vin and Todd at the front dropping me in the process.  
• I wasn't far behind after the turn around and Vin then Todd led toward the bottom.  As we got close to Turtle Ridge, I was yelling out to turn left but Vin and Todd didn't hear me in time and decided to follow Mitchell (who turned around early on the hill).
• Shannon and I waited for Jaffe only to let him set the pace up NPC up to the 73 underpass.  Once we got passed the offramp, Shannon took the front and turned it up a notch leaving me  hanging on for life and Jaffe off the back.  
• Shannon and I got to the horseshoe and it was 80% Shannon doing the work through it.  We did manage to catch up to Seon who skipped Summit (I'm guessing) and subsequently regroup with Jaffe at the San Joaquin corner.  
• On the way down, we hit some good sections of speed but got stopped at the McArthur light.  Vin showed up shortly after having skipped the horseshoe, so we opted to wait for Todd and Mitchell just after crossing. 
• Todd arrived with Mitchell indicating he didn't get any relief the whole time, and not one person found that the least bit surprising.  Not one.
• What Todd didn't know was that we really waited for him as we wanted him to pull us through Back Bay too.  
• Seon had taken off to give us a rabbit to chase, and this group loves chasing rabbits.  
• The rest of us stayed together all the way down to the entrance to Back Bay where Todd warned us how it will likely be painful given the Shannonator was with us.
• I led us onto Back Bay feeling pretty decent and tried to bring us to a respectable pace early...and then a big ass bug flew in my mouth.  I kept pedaling though like you're supposed to do, but I was shaking my head trying to spit out the bits and pieces of whatever bug broke apart in my mouth.  I literally could still taste it back in the locker room.
• Mitchell relieved me followed by the others rotating, but once Shannon took the front, it got nutty.  I literally struggled to latch on being at the back of the pack after getting accordion-ed off through some of the turns.  
• When Shannon finally rolled off, Mitchell had to push up and I don't think anyone wanted to be in his shoes after that much intensity.  The funny thing is neither Todd nor I was eager to get back in the rotation and 'kindly' let Shannon back in ahead of us.  
• Shannon did make his way back up to the front before the hill and started to amp it up, and while Todd didn't pursue, I gave it a shot...and failed as expected. 
• Shannon and I made it across the street to get just behind Seon just before Jamboree.  Seon actually led the climb up Jamboree at a pretty good pace, and I sat behind him thinking WTF?  Is he going to drop me too?  Good job, Seon!
• Shannon passed us after, and I hopped on the Shannon train as he towed me  up the hill.  I took advantage near the end and spun past him like the tool I described a few blogs ago.  It is what it is.
• We regrouped at the left turn and had Todd lead us out after the McArthur intersection.  As we got passed the first light, Vin decided to pull a noob move by taking off and passing Todd and Shannon to their 'right' (SMH) for a sprint.  Shannon reacted promptly and latched on ultimately setting Vin up for a pass just before the corner.  Nice work!

It was a good day of climbing, sprinting, and getting a great workout for sure.  Most importantly, it was another fun team ride.  Thanks for coming out!

Lunch Ride - Easier Does Not Necessarily Mean Easy

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/294392788

Attendees:  Shannon, Vince, Todd, Mitchell, Jaffe, Seon and me

Admittedly, I was a little concerned about riding with the guys today.  I really wanted to take it easy given my hamstring was bugging me after my less-than-stellar run yesterday during lunch.  I also broke out in some sort of mysterious hives after my run where I was worried it may recur if I pushed too hard during today's ride.   Unexpectedly, no one gave me crap about my plan to take it easy and what's cool was how Shannon also was planning to pull back some given he was starting to feel the effects of his BWR outing from a couple days ago. Given this, I felt I was in the clear as far as if I opted to sit in the back for the length of the ride until I couldn't keep up any longer.

Curiously, after a slight warm-up on a stationary bike before the ride, my legs didn't seem to bother me while I pedaled.  Now I could have still taken it easy at this point and stayed in the back, but with a solid group of riders making it out, I opted to get in the rotations and do my share to help the team maintain a good pace.  And a good pace we did....

Shannon led going down California, but Todd assumed the lead once we got on the bike trail.  The team rode very smoothly despite maintaining a good pace.  Just about everyone was pushing up to the front and taking turns even as we rode down onto Back Bay.  From my perspective, I thought we looked pretty bad ass...despite wearing different colored jerseys.  HA HA.  Now I didn't think there were any hold outs that were occurring like you'd normally see, although some pulls were a little shorter than others...but at least people were pushing up.  Great teamwork to get ~25 mph average through Back Bay.

When we got on PCH, there was still a good amount of rotating but the typical workhorses stood out as usual.  We lost Seon after we got on PCH, but we managed to regroup with him after we got out of CDM and back on the PCH stretch heading toward NPC.  We were definitely moving throughout and it was great to see the team still working together and looking strong.

Once we turned around to head back toward NPC, there was definitely less teamwork.  HA HA.  This is where everyone started to prepare for the upcoming climb and aren't as willing to burn up energy.  Todd, Shannon and Vince...not so much.  Vince tried a little breakaway up one of the climbs, but got pulled back into the group just before the climb.  

I was feeling pretty good despite the pace and led everyone onto NPC to start the climb.  It wasn't long before Todd passed me with Mitchell in tow.  When Shannon passed, I decided I was going to try and keep pace with him with "try" being the operative word.  He probably took it easy knowing he was towing me behind him but did break me off just near the higher Pelican opting to leave the rest of us behind.

After a regroup at the top minus Shannon, we continued on with Todd still willing to provide the draft.   We were going to go down NPC, but I thought we opted to go down San Joaquin before we left so we made the turn rather than going straight.

On San Joaquin, we were moving at a pretty good clip to the pea and more so as we made our way down the hill.   Vince took off ahead at that point and had gapped some of us but not by too much.  As we approached Spyglass, our light started to turn yellow and I immediately called out my plan to stop.  Now, this was a situation where I don't think anyone could do anything wrong because several factors come into play:  1)  we were moving between 40-45 mph at the time 2) everyone's bike and braking ability differs 3) reaction times differ.  Given this, Vince going through was understandable, Todd and Vin stopping was appropriate given they were able to do so without going into the intersection, and Steve and Mitchell having to turn right due up on Spyglass was also appropriate.  I wanted to point this out in case anyone wondered what my thoughts were on this.  The one thing that I don't know if anyone noticed was the guy in a beefy sports car who took off from Spyglass once his light turned green.  I'm really glad none of us ended up being in front of him.

As we made our way onto McArthur, Todd and Mitchell had gotten ahead of us due to a car being behind them on the turn.  As I worked to close the gap after the light and called out to have them join me, I guess Mitchell had experienced yet another tire blow out at the time and caused them to get separated.  I didn't hear it and kept on going only to have Todd let me know later on what happened.  Again, considering the speed and how that road can be full of debris, I'm glad everyone was okay.

Despite the warm weather, the ride ended up being a good team workout in my opinion.  There's something to be said when the guys you ride with start to get in sync much like how women friends sometimes have their mensies sync.  Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy, but the point is that we're beginning to ride more like a team again and I'm diggin' it.

Thanks for coming out, gents.

Thursday Lunch Ride - Good Stuff

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/291300543

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

Highlights:

• With Shannon doing the BWR this Sunday, he brought out his Surly CX bike for the lunch ride.  Most would think this would help equalize the field.  Not really.
• Hiroshi was racing in the evening at GP, so he came out rocking the Rock Racing jersey and played sweeper to save up for the race.
• Saw Todd in the gym, but he was on TT bike as road bike in the shop where he opted to do his own thing.  I hear it's not his favorite route anyway....  :)
• Shannon was already off the front going down California.  due to most us getting caught at the California/University light opted to play rabbit on the bike trail.  We never saw him until Laguna Canyon where he sat waiting for us.  
• Vin and Jaffe waited and probably because they didn't want to have to work with Shannon, but it was good that they did.   They did some good share of pulling along with Seon, Mitchell and me.
• It was funny how after we met with Shannon on Laguna Canyon, the guys riding changed where they seemed less inclined to get up front.  
• Going up Shady, Shannon mentioned how it would be a KOM section. I did a good amount of work up front from Laguna Canyon to the trail, so I was just happy if I could stay with everyone.  Vin took up the challenge and launched a kamikaze attack getting to the top first.  
• We regrouped at the bottom of Shady just after SunnyHill, and Shannon led everyone up and over the hill at a pace that dropped a few and probably discouraged a few from sprinting.  I saw Vin look though and I guess since I was behind him felt that his kamikaze attack wouldn't work this time for the sprint section Shannon called out.  I pushed to the front when I realized no one was going to relieve Shannon and no one opted to sprint by this time.  I guess I won?
• We started rotating again on Bonita Canyon and not sure if it was just me, but it seemed Vin launched up the hill in a breakaway fashion.  Not sure why.  Just squirly I guess.
• Vin and Jaffe led us initially on Eastbluff, but Shannon took over and got us going.  As we approached the sidewalk after Back Bay, we had a little separation and Shannon took off with me just barely off and trying to keep up.  I looked back and could see others chasing, so we tried to keep the gap.  I was finally able to get up to Shannon and tried to pull him, but he did a lot of work to get us there and opted to let me break away from the others at that point.  
• Going up California, everyone just lined up behind Shannon and I as we rode abreast all the way up.  

Great workout as always, and although humbling to have someone on CX bike keep pace, consider who was on it.   Thanks for the workout, gents.

Lunch Ride - Perspective

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/286780181

Rather than go into how this lunch ride went, I thought I'd change it up a little and share some insight about our lunch  rides (or group rides in general) that my teammates hopefully find informational or at the very least, funny.

Here you go:

• If you're the first one back from a lunch ride, you don't win anything.  It's just a lunch ride.
• If you're up front leading a group and you go through an intersection where the light is about to turn red, stop it. You're going to feel horrible if someone behind you gets hurt trying to keep up.
• If you think beating someone who actually races in a segment or a sprint during a lunch ride means you don't need to race as you're already "fast," think again.  Your delusions of grandeur needs to be checked as racing is all together a different animal than a lunch ride.  Period.
• Riding is not binary.  I know most alpha males have only an on and off switch when it comes to riding, but you can still get some good training in without being "on" for the entire ride.  In fact, I'll bet you can get better results otherwise.
• Challenge yourself.  If you're strong on the hills or on the flats, work on your weakness rather than punish everyone based on your strength.  It'll make you more well-rounded.
• I've heard this more than once, but when some people break away, they claim to enjoy how they don't have to work as hard as when they're in a group.  If you want to get great training, however, think about how counter-intuitive that statement is.
• If you want to be good at sprinting, setting up the group so that you can sprint while those who challenge you are at their weakest just means you're being a tool.  I'm not going to say I've never been a tool, but it is what it is.
• There are claims that certain routes are unsafe to ride, especially in big groups.  Most likely, the danger is not with the route but the riders taking chances on the route.  Inherently, it's dangerous to ride ANYWHERE in a large group.  If you think it's dangerous, maybe consider backing it down a notch...or 3.
• If you're not racing and you're training like you're getting paid, cool.  To each his own, but it's also okay to realize that if you're not racing, maybe you don't have to subject  yourself to all the pain for nothing.  Maybe it's better to just enjoy the company with whom you ride instead.  Thanks for the reminder last Saturday, Hiroshi.
• When we wear our BRCM jerseys or kits, be mindful of how you'd like others to perceive the team.  A lot of trouble went towards getting them, and doing dumb things on the road while wearing them is...well...dumb.  If you want, I have a Sho-Air kit I can loan you, which would make it more understandable.

Disclaimer:  The author of the above is not perfect and the information above is just that...information.  If you do not agree and/or are upset by any of it, there's an X at the upper right hand corner of your browser you can use anytime you want to stop reading it.  

Weekend Team Ride for the Big Guy - Until the Next Time

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/283634609

Attendees:  Gary, Todd, Vince, Mitchell, Galen, Hiroshi, Verm, Vin, Adrian and me
Post ride festivities:  above + Tim, PV, Jeremy, Marilyn, Leslie and Pam

With the list of guys who were going to attend and the weather conditions being ideal, I just knew it would be a great team ride.  Galen got to my house first (7:30 am), so you can tell he was eager to get out.  Mitchell got here next and everyone started to trickle in shortly.  While we didn't roll out at 8:30 a.m. as planned, we did manage to get some pictures taken including one with Mitchell's selfie stick that he claims was his daughters.  Sure, Mitchell.  It's your daughter's, huh?  Okay.

Say cheese!

Hodgepodge

Hardcore

Mitchell, look at the camera!

He's here!

As you can see from the above, there was a hodgepodge of jerseys worn and admittedly, I did not conform to what was announced.  I was wearing white originally, but those who arrived first to my house were in black since they don't read all of my e-mails.  I figured most probably didn't also, so I went ahead and changed.  Everyone who came after I changed pretty much was in the announced white kit, so we threw uniformity out the window at that point.  Verm, nice jersey but seriously, what were you thinking?  HA

We finally rolled out almost 20 minutes after the scheduled time of 8:30 a.m., and I had arranged for a police escort all the way to the bike trail.  Actually, we had one of San Juan Capistrano's finest just follow us to make sure we stopped at all of the stop signs and lights, so we did the obligatory 3 second stop and/or 1 foot down to avoid getting citations, which could have really put a damper on the day.

By the time we got to the bike trail and after the bridge, it was pretty tame for the most part but we were still doing a lot of passing.  It was after we got onto El Camino Real that it got kinda nutty and I was wondering if anyone was taking into account the entire ride vs. just that single section.  Then again, that's how Gary rolls and sure enough, he was in that crowd going for it on the stretch as well.

The BRCM train

The climb up San Clemente caused some separation, but we all regrouped on Presidente and rode down to Trestles together.  When we got to the top and got on Old PCH Hwy, we passed 3 guys on TT bikes and offered them friendly salutations as the guys went by only to have them respond with "see you soon."  I had been behind them playing sweeper as the rest of the guys passed, but I saw them drop down on their aero bars together looking like they intended to pass our bunch with some aggressive intent.  I didn't hear their comment, but the manner in which they passed just didn't sit very well with me.  I gave chase and latched on as soon as they passed and it wasn't long after that I realized Vince had come with me to make sure these guys didn't think we were soft.  I'm sure more of us could have done the same, but it was rather a statement to say that 2 of us could stuff their breakaway.  They were definitely going for it, although they couldn't climb very fast, but Vince and I stuck with them as they tried desperately to drop us, or so it seemed.  At first, we weren't sure they wanted anyone to join their rotation, but we soon started to push up and also take pulls to show that even on road bikes, we can hang.  As we started approaching the fence, one of the guys (probably the one who said "see you soon") took off dropping his buddies where Vince took off and gave chase followed shortly by me leaving the others behind.  Vince and I passed him right before the gate as he appeared to have a "no mas" look on his face despite me saying good job, and it was fortunate for him as we definitely would have left them behind up the climb.  While this may not have been on the cards for this ride originally since sticking together was going to be most important, Gary knew that we couldn't let others dishonor our jersey and most importantly dishonor THIS ride.  Needless to say, he was happy we did what we did as was the others.  BAM!

We regrouped at Las Pulgas, and rode through the base staying pretty much together throughout.  We had a comfortable pace going, and we took the opportunity to talk and ride and truly enjoy each other's company.  Why don't we do this more often?!?

We got to do more of the same at our rest stop at McDonald's hanging out, getting some food in, and taking some pictures.  I noticed, however, that the time was an issue since PV would be coming over and I didn't want him not being able to get into my house.  No one was home and my dumbass forgot to leave a door unlocked.  I texted him a means to get in, but I wasn't sure if he'd have any luck with it, so I then decided I better get back before he arrives.  While I REALLY wanted to enjoy the ride back with the crew as a whole, it was more important that we all had food, drinks, and a place to chill all ready to go upon everyone's arrival.

Men in tights

Hiroshi, what were you thinking?

Big guy getting hydrated

Vin looking lovingly at Vince

The cool table

When we got going, I started to let others know of my intent to get back and at first recruited Galen to help me get home.  Galen, as always, was willing despite not having ridden awhile.  However, after we let Todd know, he wanted to help get me back and instead came with me in lieu of Galen.  I would have asked Todd originally given I think he and I have a more flatter power curve, which would have made for a better combined effort than with others, but I also thought Todd's ability to manage the group pace would be an equal contribution.  Given he was interested to go, I couldn't pass it up and we were off just at the top of the first climb.  We asked the rest of the group to stay together getting back, and for the most part they did.

Todd and I had a pretty good pace going through the base, but at some point I noticed there were two people in our draft.  I never looked back long enough to know for sure who but I figured two strangers somehow caught up and decided to get a free tow back being they didn't push up to help in the rotation initially.  When we realized it was Vince and Mitchell as we neared the guard gate, I was kind of glad given that it gave us more of a chance to get back in time for PV.  We had a great pace throughout and although we lost Mitchell at the state beach, the 3 of us worked together with great synergy and made it back JUST a few minutes before PV arrived with the food.  Perfect!  Surprisingly enough, it didn't take the rest of the group to roll up behind us too long.  Adrian was a little bummed we didn't get to sprint near the finish as we planned, but I'll just have have to beat him another time.

The post ride festivities ended up going off without a hitch and many thanks to PV for coming, coordinating and bringing over the food.  He was also great company and someone we missed, so I was glad he was able to make it.  Tim also came out to join us and brought us some excellent beers from Noble Ale Works, even leaving me a bomber for myself (thanks!).  It was great to have him as well.  Beer pong, ping pong, tossing back different types of beers including my favorite Belgians, eating pizzas, eating Mexican food and the great company made for a perfect way to honor the big guy.  I hope he and the others thought so too.

The aftermath

Now, in order to know the significance of this ride, you need to know about the man being honored.  Gary (aka S-Gary and SG), Eddie and I started riding together several years ago some time after the first Bench, Bike and Run event in 2008.  Wow, that was over 7 years ago!  We would ride on the weekend and during lunch with a very small crew and definitely far less organized.  The weekend rides were the best because we would sit and have coffee after and just get to know one another.  It wasn't long after when other people started to see us riding together and joined us ultimately forming the OG team that also included Todd, Vince, Adrian, PV, Tim, Noah, Verm, Mitchell and Andy.

Although Eddie had participated in century rides in the past, Gary really did a lot to promote this with the group and ultimately had us going out together seeking to make a name for ourselves beyond just our weekend adventures.  It all started out with our first Stagecoach ride....

Black and white because it's been THAT long

This ride was the springboard to other rides that followed including Tour de Palm Springs (which Gary hosted from his place on our first outing), San Diego Gran Fondo, Ride around the Bear, the Alpine Challenge and more.  Gary was really big on the hilly rides, so he definitely did a lot to steer us toward them.  We all learned a lot from one another sharing tips about nutrition and techniques mostly based on lessons learned from the rides, We also spent a lot of time together before and after the rides, where the 'bromance' was definitely in full effect.  The before moments at the hotels were memorable, but it was hanging out after that made them epic...especially given how we traded in coffee for a much more flavorful amber colored frosty beverage.

Some of the notable things about Gary during these rides included how he big ringed up Big Bear during our first century up that beast.  Mind you, this was when he had his POS "Congango," which made for even a much more challenging feat.  He also managed to finish the San Diego Gran Fondo despite having mechanical problems on top of the 'ridiculous' weather conditions of that ride.   By the way, I think my first sign of hypothermia came from helping him with a flat he had within the first 5-10 miles.   Also, he was always a "charger" at the beginning of rides where he would give it all he had without much care for what he'd have left for the rest of the ride..some thing he still hasn't learned to correct after all these years. This got a segment named after him called S-Gary Peltason, which is the beginning of one of the outbound paths to our lunch rides. This definitely epitomized BAM, but he never gave up and continued to finish the rest of the ride despite the KABOOM that would be experienced some time after.  (:

Other notable things about Gary which were not ride related was how he was the first to be "transformed" into a different cyclist shortly after getting his new Specialized S-Works (hence the nicknames), how he help Shannon during his post Strava hunt bachelor party with the drinks and ended up out for the count yet remaining a gentleman when being driven home and how he learned from that when we celebrated Vince's bachelor party by being the DD of the party van.  And do I need to mention how the boy ordered a salad the night before the Death Ride, which would only fuel a fraction of the thousands upon thousands of calories used for that event?

Gary was definitely an active member of the team who I had the pleasure to ride with during events and on the weekends, but it was unfortunate that in one of our outings Gary had a spill breaking his hip and sidetracking his cycling endeavors.  Even then, he exhibited BAM by not wanting to go to the hospital originally and just wanting to get home even offering to ride in the back of my wife's 4Runner with his bike since he couldn't get in the front seat.  If I were that hurt, the EMTs who picked me up would not only have to tend to my injury but also console me while I cried like a baby.  Not Gary though...what a rock.

Gary also setup our now infamous BAM mailing list, helped me with talking Terri Timberman into getting our 3rd BRCM supplied jersey, and was just an avid promoter and supporter of the team having attended cycling races and events, even one as far as the Stagecoach, just to take pictures and provide motivation for the finishers.

It should be obvious as I go on and on about the guy that I feel he's been a big part of our team both figuratively and literally. I know for a fact that we wouldn't be who we are today had he not been a part of it.  We're definitely at a loss with him leaving Broadcom, but his legacy will live on.  It's been a great journey, S-G, and we appreciate all the things you've done.  You'll always have an honorary spot on the team, and if we all had numbers, yours would definitely be #5.

Lunch Ride - Did You Really Expect Me to Keep Counting?

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/282315323

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

Highlights:

• Most guys wore black team jersey, but there were a couple of whites too.  Vin showed up in a non team jersey.  SMH
• Before the ride even started, found my buckle to my right shoe had fallen off.  Rather than backing out of the ride as some may do, I suggested I'd ride in the back (if I could) hoping my shoe doesn't fall off trying to do so.  Todd claimed that was just an excuse.  Boy, what a tough crowd.
• Going down California, it looked like Todd and Shannon were already breaking away from the bunch.  Thankfully, there was a light at the bottom.
• On the bike trail and out toward Back Bay, the pace was already pretty tough and even though I just stayed in the back, it was still pretty hard to keep up.   I could feel my heel coming up, so I only had the forward and down strokes available as the two velcro fasteners held my shoe on.
• The  guys were doing more rotations on Back Bay than on the bike trail, so it was good to see Vin, Mitchell and Jaffe pushing up too.  
• There was definitely some hold outs going on, but I can't really say too much given I didn't get in the rotation.
• I think the rotation wore Jaffe and Vin out a little since  htey had dropped off just before coming out of Back Bay.  
• Seon did great keeping up for most of Back Bay but I think the pace got a little too hot after San Joaquin and he fell off slightly.  He was able to rejoin by the top of Jamboree before PCH...until they turned it up again.
• Construction, construction and more construction.  There were road closures that had us navigating through the CDM neighborhood trying to find our way onto Poppy.  
• Back on PCH, Todd and  Shannon were definitely doing the work while the rest of us just tried to have something left for the climb up NPC.
• Upon going up NPC, I hear a familiar voice and it was our buddy, Craig, who called out and said don't let them drop you like that, Rich.  HA HA
• Craig spun up to talk to Shannon for a bit, so I did to hoping I can pace someone having been toward the back at the start of the climb.  Once Craig said he'd let Shannon go, I think Shannon took that literally and decided it was time to drop everyone...so he did.  He was probably tired of the towing, so he continued on whereas the rest of us regrouped at the top.
• Todd was the first up after Shannon, and Mitchell had been on his wheel for a good portion of the climb.  Todd was admittedly happy to drop  him though given Mitchell's keen ability to ride in the draft for most of the rides.
• I started the climb off the seat, but it was just too hard to keep the resistance up due to my shoe.  I was happy to spin up and ultimately pass Mitchell on the climb.  Of course, his keen drafting ability was observed subsequently. 
• Despite having worked most of the ride, Todd continued to take the lead and do a bunch of the work up front.  On the horseshoe, Mitchell definitely held him out for a while but Todd did his thing nonetheless.  When Mitchell finally passed, it was only for a bit probably because Todd didn't want all of his work to be where he's not up front at the end.  
• Seeing that I'm still with the group at this point and it's mostly downhill, I started pushing up front once back on San Joaquin.  Finally, right?  
• When we got on McArthur, Vin had taken the front and rotated with Mitchell and Todd.  It seemed a little disorganized, so I pushed up to do what I could to help out.  
• Getting onto Bison, Todd had the lead and we hit that turn at a pretty high speed.  Scary but definitely fun at the same time.
•  Vin led us out after the last light and we were able to finish with a good pace.

Thanks for coming out, gents!  It was another great training ride at the Broadcom proving grounds.  

Lunch Ride #26 - Turtle Rock Ring Loop

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/281135846

Attendees:  Shannon, Hiroshi, Mitchell, Jaffe, Seon and me

Highlights:

• I led team out but got winded right away (age?)
• We were all together at the light on Bonita Canyon
• On the climb up Shady, Seon and I dropped off and just watched as the rest of the guys pulled away.  We lost sight of them at the base of Turtle Rock
• On the climb, Seon busted out with a sense of urgency in his climb and broke away for a bit
• He and I stayed together all the way through Shady, but he kept encouraging me to go ahead.  Umm..it's not like I was holding back (plus my left foot hurt).  :)
• Glad to see Hiroshi, Jaffe and Mitchell after cresting Shady, but they didn't really wait until we latched on.  Shannon was just gone at this point.  According to Strava, he opted to drop everyone else on Turtle Rock (got some KOM bling to go with it - those were mine by the way)
• It took getting next to the 405 on the bike trail before we were able to latch on.  Jaffe seemed like he was trying to get away at one point, but he was reeled in by Mitchell and Hiroshi.  
• On the climb up Ridgeline, Hiroshi led the way all the way to the top.  Mitchell seemed like he could go faster at some points...but didn't.  I just tried to recover.
• The rotations resumed on the way down Turtle Rock and most of the way up Culver with Jaffe leading the way initially. 
• We stayed together and fought the wind through the rest of the ride.
• We got a little held up before the Condo with an SUV waiting at the corner, but we held a good pace on the way up.  
• Despite the average, the effort seemed pretty high for me.  These guys are killing me!

Thanks to all for making it out!

Lunch Ride #25 - Definitely a BAM Sesh Today

Strava:  https://app.strava.com/activities/278120397

Attendees:  Shannon, Todd, Hiroshi, Vin, Mitchell, Jaffe, Seon and me

I really hate having to adjust the start time on the ride due to MY schedule.  To my surprise, I was happy to see a full crew come out to join me.  Vin even came out looking rushed with his jersey still unzipped, but maybe he was trying to show that we have women on our cycling team as well.  HA HA...just kidding.

We talked about the route before we left due to some confusion, but really I'm just too pressed for time to really lay it out.  In the end, everyone was on board and we were slowly off shortly after Jaffe came out of the gym a minute past 11:30 a.m. (tsk tsk).

As we rolled out, we decided we should check if Shannon was racing this evening given we knew this had implications on how the ride would be. Once he confirmed he didn't, Todd and I were already saying our goodbyes to him and/or expecting the worst case scenario.

I was thankful to have a good sized group come out earlier than normal, so I didn't mind taking the initial lead out/pull.  When I was finally relegated to the back, it didn't take long before the pace got pretty aggressive as we started making our way up Anteater.  The group got strung out a bit at that point, but we were able to regroup at the light for the most part.

Going up toward Sunnyhill was a little rough with Todd gapping the group on the initial climb.   I helped close the gap, which was work and somehow still didn't get any relief to get pushed out to the front after like a domestique worker bee.  Even after taking a pull, I was rolled back in right away toward the front and I started thinking WTF?!?

Once we started up the bike path climb up Shady, I had relieved Todd for a pull after the first rise but then had Shannon passing me where I just couldn't respond.  I asked Mitchell to close the gap, and I think he literally just laughed at me and pretty much disregarded the request.  I think I tried at one point to take the front again to hopefully not let Shannon get away too much, but after Todd passed hauling the rest of the crew behind him, I was too cooked to latch on and just hoped to be able to catch them on the following descent.  I did...barely.

Shannon was caught at the first stop light after getting on Quail Hill, so those of us in chase mode with Todd leading didn't even slow down as the light turned green upon our approach.  Now the greyhounds became the rabbits with the biggest greyhound of all doing the chasing.  

When we got on Laguna Canyon, after Todd did all the work, Vin and Hiroshi launched an attack as though they were going for a final sprint in the TDF.  Seeing the abuse Todd received after pulling and having experienced it already, I couldn't help but give chase.  I had to take advantage of Hiroshi's weakened state given his half IM last weekend.

When we got back on the bike trail, it wasn't chaotic initially as Todd lead with a solid pace with the rest of us in tow.  Mitch took a pull (cough - finally - cough) and before I could get up front again, Shannon kicked it up a notch or 5.  I was a little more ready this time, so I latched on and just did what I could to not drop.  I felt a little more confident of not dropping at one point, and pushed up to try to take the front.  I managed to get ahead of him, somewhat, but as I was scooting over to my right to roll out (given the monumental task it was to just pass), Shannon was pushing up again from the right.  When I looked back, I had hoped the others latched on to him, but instead remained behind me again.  Oh great.  I did manage to help Shannon and take the front before the end, but I was definitely more cooked than I wanted to be at that time.

After going through the first tunnel, I knew I was bordering on having my right calf blowing up, so all I could do at that point was hang on.  I think I kept letting others rotate ahead of me just so I can recover more, but it's hard to recover when the pace continues to stay high.  I think I finally recovered enough to get back in the rotation before the bridge.

It was good to see more people pushing up after the bridge and will acknowledge Vin being one of them and having done so a few times.  I have to acknowledge it similarly to if I saw a UFO, because it's not something I see all too often.  Nonetheless, here you go.

By the way, did I mention it was ridiculously windy on the way back?

When we got back on University, I wasn't about to sprint but I think the wind pretty much broke everyone else's spirit from wanting to do so too.  Guys were even slowing down as we reached California, so I had to call out how the route finishes going up Jamboree toward Bison.

While we all stayed together making our way toward the University/Jamboree intersection, the green light that just turned yellow upon our approach let the others go ahead of us splitting of Shannon, Jaffe and me.  Shannon made the wise choise to stop and not have the 2 of us behind him get pulled into the intersection against the red.

When we got going again, the other guys were pretty much up the hill already, so I took the front hoping to keep a good pace up the climb.  It wasn't long after we started, however, that Shannon passing me where I had to ask myself "am I a man or am I a mouse?"  Convinced I was a man, I was going to do whatever it took to try and stay on his wheel for the rest of the climb.  While he may not have been going full throttle, it took every ounce of energy I had just to take cover behind him and focus on his rear wheel asking myself repeatedly "got cheese?"  I managed to stay with him until I realized we weren't going to be held up at the intersection, which was still about 100 feet away from it (HA HA) so I backed off and started looking around for other mice related food.  Jaffe was off early based on Shannon's pace, but he rolled up in time to make the green light when we started to cross.

With no signs of anyone else and an aggressive pace throughout, I'm glad there wasn't any more intense pedaling for the remainder of the route.  It was probably one of the more intense BAM sessions we've had in a while.  This should be expected on the rides when I have a meeting I have to return to (both due to time constraints and due to how aggresive I become when my someone books a meeting adjacent to our training ride).

Great training, folks.  Thank you for coming out!