Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/375148008
It's been a while since I last blogged (I know, I know), but 1) I've been really busy at work and 2) the lunch ride blogs were getting a little repetitive to me with the same things happening from ride to ride. With this being a weekend ride and one that was reminiscent of the ones we did as a group in the past, I thought there would be more interesting stuff to write about. I'll let you decide....
Gary, as he had done in the past, was the original motivator for this ride. He was interested in getting some good miles in, some good climbing, and some beer after. It didn't take much to convince me, so I was definitely in. It was a little challenging to get others to come out due to "life," so it ultimately ended up just being me, Gary and a new guy, Steve, who just joined Broadcom recently and was interested in riding with us. Good enough.
We met at the BJ's parking lot, which brought back some good memories, and were ready to roll at the designated 7:45 departure time. I almost forgot what I needed to bring in preparation for a group ride, but I managed to have everything I needed. The most important items include the big bottle of water to rinse off after, and the change of clothing and my wallet for the beer. Priorities.
There was a good amount of cloud cover but the temperature was perfect and the wind conditions were pretty mild. It was pretty ideal for a group ride if you ask me, and the number of riders we saw out on the road substantiated this. The clouds eventually dissipated midmorning, but it never got too warm even with the black kits we were wearing. Even climbing up and descending Silverado was pretty mild.
Not having ridden with Steven before, we didn't know what kind of rider he would be. He obviously was accustomed to riding in groups from what we can see, and he had the same attitude about riding making for a good fit. He wasn't familiar with the route I had chosen, but that didn't stop him from charging ahead early on. After hitting Cannon from Chapman, however, he realized he needed to pace himself a little more with the other climbs planned for the route.
It was good to be back on hills like Cannon (both the one from Chapman and the one after E. Santiago Canyon), Nohl, Dump hill, and Silverado. Did I just say that? They offered a lot of different types of climbing with Nohl probably being the roughest of the climbs. In the end, we were able to get more than 4K vert in 55 miles, which is pretty damn good hill training in my opinion. Every one of us got worked but with no one willing to give up.
Another thing reminiscent of our prior group rides is someone getting a flat. This time, it was the new guy while we were going through the canyon headed toward Silverado. Fortunately, he wasn't aware of brown guy flat repair services and was experienced enough to replace the flat himself.
Gary took off ahead of us on Silverado, so Steve and I made our way up together. As we were approaching a couple of cyclists, I turned around and noticed the Canyon Velo group ride coming up quickly behind us. Steve and I got pinned behind the couple, so we couldn't hop on until the tail end of the group. I wasn't about to pass up the tow. The pace definitely picked up as they passed, and it was cool to be able to jump on. I was able to pick off some riders in the process, which was a fundamental requirement in a BAM ride, but at the end got passed again by Tracy Tilton (based on Strava flyby and as someone I follow). I'm okay with it though since she's a pretty legit racer.
We took a break at the top not opting to continue riding with the CV group, and headed down after a lot of the riders cleared. On my way down, I was stung by a bee (happens a lot up there I guess since I know Todd and Shannon have had their shares of this as well). It was fun to take advantage of the adrenalin though.
We made our way toward Cooks after regrouping at the bottom, and we were all pretty cooked. Despite this, we still mixed it up with a couple other riders on the way back. Gary still had some fight in him at the end and took off for a sprint to the finish, with Steve and I right behind him.
It was a great ride and fun to be out in a group, albeit only 3. Hanging out with the pizza and beer topped it off perfectly. Hopefully, we can have more come out next time (late September or early October).
It's been a while since I last blogged (I know, I know), but 1) I've been really busy at work and 2) the lunch ride blogs were getting a little repetitive to me with the same things happening from ride to ride. With this being a weekend ride and one that was reminiscent of the ones we did as a group in the past, I thought there would be more interesting stuff to write about. I'll let you decide....
Gary, as he had done in the past, was the original motivator for this ride. He was interested in getting some good miles in, some good climbing, and some beer after. It didn't take much to convince me, so I was definitely in. It was a little challenging to get others to come out due to "life," so it ultimately ended up just being me, Gary and a new guy, Steve, who just joined Broadcom recently and was interested in riding with us. Good enough.
We met at the BJ's parking lot, which brought back some good memories, and were ready to roll at the designated 7:45 departure time. I almost forgot what I needed to bring in preparation for a group ride, but I managed to have everything I needed. The most important items include the big bottle of water to rinse off after, and the change of clothing and my wallet for the beer. Priorities.
There was a good amount of cloud cover but the temperature was perfect and the wind conditions were pretty mild. It was pretty ideal for a group ride if you ask me, and the number of riders we saw out on the road substantiated this. The clouds eventually dissipated midmorning, but it never got too warm even with the black kits we were wearing. Even climbing up and descending Silverado was pretty mild.
Not having ridden with Steven before, we didn't know what kind of rider he would be. He obviously was accustomed to riding in groups from what we can see, and he had the same attitude about riding making for a good fit. He wasn't familiar with the route I had chosen, but that didn't stop him from charging ahead early on. After hitting Cannon from Chapman, however, he realized he needed to pace himself a little more with the other climbs planned for the route.
It was good to be back on hills like Cannon (both the one from Chapman and the one after E. Santiago Canyon), Nohl, Dump hill, and Silverado. Did I just say that? They offered a lot of different types of climbing with Nohl probably being the roughest of the climbs. In the end, we were able to get more than 4K vert in 55 miles, which is pretty damn good hill training in my opinion. Every one of us got worked but with no one willing to give up.
Another thing reminiscent of our prior group rides is someone getting a flat. This time, it was the new guy while we were going through the canyon headed toward Silverado. Fortunately, he wasn't aware of brown guy flat repair services and was experienced enough to replace the flat himself.
Gary took off ahead of us on Silverado, so Steve and I made our way up together. As we were approaching a couple of cyclists, I turned around and noticed the Canyon Velo group ride coming up quickly behind us. Steve and I got pinned behind the couple, so we couldn't hop on until the tail end of the group. I wasn't about to pass up the tow. The pace definitely picked up as they passed, and it was cool to be able to jump on. I was able to pick off some riders in the process, which was a fundamental requirement in a BAM ride, but at the end got passed again by Tracy Tilton (based on Strava flyby and as someone I follow). I'm okay with it though since she's a pretty legit racer.
We took a break at the top not opting to continue riding with the CV group, and headed down after a lot of the riders cleared. On my way down, I was stung by a bee (happens a lot up there I guess since I know Todd and Shannon have had their shares of this as well). It was fun to take advantage of the adrenalin though.
We made our way toward Cooks after regrouping at the bottom, and we were all pretty cooked. Despite this, we still mixed it up with a couple other riders on the way back. Gary still had some fight in him at the end and took off for a sprint to the finish, with Steve and I right behind him.
It was a great ride and fun to be out in a group, albeit only 3. Hanging out with the pizza and beer topped it off perfectly. Hopefully, we can have more come out next time (late September or early October).
