Lunch Ride - The 133 Loop with the Gang

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/318421274

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

Highlights:

• Another good sized crew for today's ride.  Always merrier when there's more.
• Although it looked like it was going to rain, it didn't.  Thank goodness as the last time on this route was ridiculous.
• Todd led us out again today and thankfully was not as crazed as the pace on Tuesday.  Others rotated in and t looked like it was going to get crazy before Bonita, but we all arrived together. 
• Todd led us up toward Shady initially, but I rotated in followed by Jaffe.   Once again, Jaffe seems to be making a habit of stepping up sooner than some of the others...kudos!
• Shannon, on the steel Eddie Mercx, was supposed to hold back in preparation for the Ride Around the Bear this weekend and dropped on the way up to Shady, but he was with us again on Quail Hill and for the rest of the ride.  
• We held a good pace with everyone working together up to and over the 133, and admittedly, it hurt here and there.  My confidence level was fairly low, especially after feeling a little twinge on my right thigh going over the hill, that I was not too eager to make my way to the front.  I did what I could as did everyone else.  
• We kept the pace up on PCH and had to take the left lane at some points just to be safe.  
• Hiroshi was charging up some of the hills making sure he kept the rest of us honest.  
• I was a little worked as we were nearing NPC, so I was a little off the back just before making the turn.  It's hard keeping up with these guys!
• As we ascended, Shannon got separated from us after the first light, so the rest of us had to make our way up separately.  
• It took some effort to get up to Hiroshi, who was in the #2 spot, and with Todd still not 100%, I had to rely on Hiroshi to drag my big ol' booty up the hill.  While this sounds like it was a "partnership," there were moments where you see him spin up and seemingly try to drop me.  Those hurt every single time he did.  Near the top though, I pulled up ahead and he got on my wheel.  As we neared the light, I decided to serve him some of his own samurai warrior soup and broke ahead.   He wasn't far behind though, so I'm sure he's probably racing tonight and just saving it for that.  (Editor's note:  I still remember when Hiroshi couldn't keep up over a speed bump before, so mass kudos to him for helping to dish out pain on the rides)
• We regrouped at the top and met up with Shannon before San Joaquin, and had a good charge down NPC.  One of the pitfalls of a compact crank is that it's really hard to keep up with these guys on the downhill.   Too fast!
• We just made the left turn onto Bonita Canyon after the downhill rush, and it was just more pedal pounding after.  
• There was a breakaway at one of the lights before McArthur, so we were definitely in chase mode as we made our way down and around to Bison.  
• As we neared the break and approached the 73 overpass, Mitchell sped up where it's really difficult to know whether he's being helpful to serve as a lead out or if he just likes sprinting sitting down.  In any case, he doesn't call out when he does this, so you just see him go by and think "oh great...here we go." 
• I wasn't too sure if there was going to be a sprint at the end, but I gave it a shot after Shannon started up.  Not a good plan, but it was enough to definitely finish me for the ride and have me lying down trying to recover in the gym for several minutes.  I honestly thought I was going to die!

If we think about the Kenyans who win marathons based on training under the most heinous conditions and probably run as a way of life, I consider riding with my BRCM buddies along the same lines.  The conditions are definitely brutal and everyone is obviously absorbed in the cycling lifestyle that in the end, I can only benefit from these training rides.  Thank you, guys, for pushing me beyond my limits every time!