Lunch Ride - Hilldiculous

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/307807994

Attendees:  Shannon, Vince, Mitchell and Vin

Highlights:

• I could tell it was going to be a tough ride from the get go.  I tried to see if/what I could help keep the pace up initially, but found myself not doing too well early on.  I was fortunate to stay with the group until NPC.
• Going up the climb, Vin had taken off but I got behind a couple other guys who reeled him in and kept me in tow...until I popped.  Hard.  
• I was soon passed by the others who had been behind me (sorry for the gap), but I knew at that point I was pretty much on my own.  
• Normally, being on my own sucks but given today was a hilly ride, I actually looked forward to it.  Getting caught at the light at San Juaquin at the top ensured I would see no one else.
• Going through my first loop of Pelican, I did wonder if I had gone slow enough where I may be passed given the double loop route.  Fortunately, I didn't. 
• Going through my second loop, I took the opportunities to work on stuff...like pedaling my fat ass up a hill without falling. 
• With still no one in sight, I actually looked forward to Vista.  Although I did some stand up pedaling on Pelican, I wanted to do more up Vista given I haven't climbed that beast for a long while.  That was cool.  
• On the last hill, I took my time and wanted to stay in one gear throughout and managed to just make it to the top without losing a lung.
• To my surprise, 3 of the guys were still waiting for me at the top.  This could be perceived as a good thing (they cared enough to wait) or a bad thing (they didn't get to punish me enough).
• The downhill was a little crazy but I was trying to keep us pretty close with Vince trying to get away.  We were all surprised he didn't have to bunny hop a Bentley through one of the intersections that he plowed through.
• It was more madness on Bonita Canyon as I was trying to do my "guilt pulls," which Noah made famous from the first Stagecoach race.  Others were more interested in causing more pain rather than working together.  
• There was a sprint at the end on Bison, but I think it's dumb to split between two stopped riders (me included) while rolling and taking off for a sprint.  

Anyway, I think it's been forever that I've exceeded 2K vert on a lunch ride.  Today, I remembered why.  Thanks for the training and for waiting for me at the top of Vista!