Lunch Ride - Portola + Orchard Hills

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/300083522

Attendees:  Shannon, Mitchell, Vin and Jaffe

Highlights:

• We were to decide the route just prior to the ride, and 3 options came up:  triple Back Bay, Laguna Canyon 133 Loop, or Portola + Orchard Hills.  With Todd not being able to make it out, we opted for the latter since it's his least favorite.
• Even before the ride, Jaffe and Mitchell were already plotting to see how they were going to stay on given Shannon came out.   If it were up to Mitchell, it would be with everyone lined up behind Shannon for the entire ride.  SMH
•  When we got going, Shannon led us down California, and I began to worry how Mitchell's dreams would come true.  Thus, I had to push up once we got on the bike trail just to change the tone and make sure everyone worked.
• Surprisingly, it worked.  Everyone pushed up and we had good rotations all the way up to Harvard.
• When we got on Harvard, it seemed people were less likely to rotate.  Then again, one of Shannon's pulls on there was pretty intense, so it's somewhat understandable.  We were moving!
• When we got back on the bike trail, the rotations continued again, but you can still tell the guys were somewhat tentative.   Shannon took the last pull before Portola, and brought up the intensity enough that caused the others the drop.  I hung on for my life!
• The rest managed to regroup with us as at the light before going onto the OH loop.  
• Given Shannon had done all the work from the last part of the bike trail and leading to OH, I took the front from the light hoping to set a good pace for the guys behind me.   It was one of those things where I put a lot of pressure on myself by thinking I'm not doing enough and just expecting someone to pass me to take over too soon.  I didn't realize until after descending on the other side again that at that point, no one was behind me.  
• We regrouped on Portola, and Shannon took off for a bit for a stretch gapping the rest of us pretty good.  I didn't want to miss the Shannon train, so I sped up just hoping to ride with him.   Fortunately, he let up.  
• As we made our way back onto the bike trail, Mitchell had mentioned how we can it easier against the head winds by just drafting Shannon the whole time.  On my way down, I wondered if that strategy was actually as effective as he thought given he couldn't stay on when Shannon was pulling us up to Portola.
• Despite the winds, we did pretty good going down the bike trail people once again pushing up to the front.  Toward the end of the bike trail, however, Mitchell and Jaffe decided to hold Shannon out for a pretty good distance.  I was at the very back and I saw Vin try to push up, but it was hard to do so on the trails and against the wind...especially when Shannon was pulling.  I couldn't either just because I got winded on one of the pulls and just didn't have enough to make it to the front at the time.
• When we got off the bike trail and back onto Harvard, the head winds really picked up.  It was pretty brutal.  When I got up front, I found myself barely able to do 18-19 mph.  Vin had helped out and got the pace going again after one of the lights.  
• When we got back onto the bike trail, Shannon had missed going through the intersection (which had flashing red lights).  When we waited to regroup, he said to go ahead.   At that point, I pulled out of the rotation as well and Jaffe, Vin and Mitchell took off ahead of us.  I was between Shannon and the group, so I figured I'd go ahead and get some wind training in as well.  
• I could see the guys rotating ahead of me, and they had created a nice little gap where I thought...wouldn't it be cool to catch them.   So that's what I set out to do.
• The winds were pretty brutal, so not having anyone to rotate with was a bummer in those conditions.  Nevertheless, it was great training.  
• I could catch glimpses of Shannon not too far behind me, so I wondered if/when he would eventually pass so we can reel the guys ahead of us in together.  He never did, so I guess I was on my own.  
• I made some ground on the three, but not a lot where I wondered if I'd catch them before California.  After the bridge, however, I started to reel them in a lot more...either that or they were just no longer working together effectively.
• When we got up through the Campus underpass, I managed to get close enough to the three.  I saw Mitchell notice me and try to push the group right before the final stretch.  I took the liberty at that point to pass all 3 and get to California before them.  
• Talking to Jaffe after the ride, I let him know that if I were working with a team of 3 and a lone rider reeled us in and passed like I did them, I wouldn't be too happy about it.   We also talked about how he and Mitchell held Shannon out and that rotating up past him just to let the others behind them push up as well would be a better team thing to do.  He agreed and promised to do better next time.  Wow...he bought it.

It was a rough ride, especially on the way back, but thank for making it out and offering up another good training sesh on the BRCM proving grounds.