BRCM Lunch - How Can I Not Write About Today?

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/384281855

Attendees:  Shannon, Vince, Jaffe, Hiroshi, Vin, Steve N., Adrian, Jeremy and me

MIA:  Todd, Galen, Mitchell, Noah and Verm

Retired:  Eddie

Considering that the weather was almost perfect today (albeit windy at some spots) and there were NINE of us that made it out, I just had to write about it.

It all started with an invite this morning that had me asking the following questions:

• Will Adrian wait another six months before riding again?
• Who’s interested in betting on what part of Jaffe’s bike falls off next?
• Has Jeremy bought another bike already since Tuesday’s ride?
• Do Vince and Shannon need to take a remedial class on social cycling skills?
• Is Todd retired?  (someone actually asked me this)
• Does Mitchell think we’re too amateurish to ride with?
• Should we say we’re leaving at 11:35 so Vin can be out in time?
• If there was a segment leading from campus to Anthill Pub and Grill, who would win?  PV, Shawn or Tim?
• Will Steve N. (the new guy) continue to allow guys twice his age to drop him on hills?
• Is Noah waiting for Eddie to ride again before making another appearance so he can get another new bike?
• Did Rich bring his cheater bike today or his regular road bike?

• How long will Steven N. take to get used to my sarcasm?

• When will Nicole let go of Galen’s nuts, so he can ride again?

• How much more training can Hiroshi do before he can stand sideways to hide behind a flag pole?

Here are the answers in order:

• No
• No one...too many possibilities.
• Nope but he should have bought new tires
• They were nice enough to wait at the top of NPC, so we'll give them a pass.  They still intentionally tried to hurt everyone (my calf, for example), and Vince STILL likes to shoot past me while I'm front.   Aaargghh!!!
• He said not fully with a promise to ride next week.  
• Probably
• Next time
• Shawn (no one else actually tracked it)
• Yes
• Probably
• He's only at phase 1 of relation with me (confused).  Phase 2 (hate) and 3 (tolerate) to follow.
• She's holding on pretty tight, but I ran into her a few weeks back where she indicated she may let them go soon
• Not sure, but he and I are both thinking about joining an Asian bobblehead gang.

Oh, so you wanted to hear about the ride?

I must say I haven't had that feeling of "excitement" riding in a big pack of BRCM'ers for a while until today.  To roll out with that many fellas is purdy cool.  I have to call out the obligatory non-kit conformance though with Jeremy wearing white and Adrian wearing I don't know what (Steve N. gets a bye given he's new and doesn't have our kit).  However, riding with the others donning black was reminiscent of our rides back in the day.

On E. Peltason, Jeremy suffered a flat and had our local McGyver help him replace the tube.  This led to a slight delay but also allowed for Vince to catch up to us since we left him at the gym to get ready knowing he'd catch us anyway.  

We rolled out together and unlike recent rides, I actually opted to take the front fearing that painful early breakaway if we didn't conform and try to help.  The funny thing is "the fast guys" didn't even get up front to help at the time, so I guess my e-mail worked.  

Going up NPC, Vin and Hiroshi took off from the light and I opted to jump on Hiroshi's wheel given he holds a great pace.  We got passed by the racers as expected, but we stayed and worked together on the climb with the others not too far behind (except Adrian...ha). 

After regrouping on San Joaquin, Vince started up the horseshoe already gapping the rest of us, but we managed to pull him in midway.  As I was up front for the last little rise before San Joaquin, Vince sprinted by and just kept going keeping the rest of us on our toes as we chased after him down the hill.  Adrian opted to fly by me showing his downhill speed as I chased Vince down, so that was pretty cool.  Now I just have find a route that's all downhill.

Unfortunately, Jeremy's tire started to bulge at the horseshoe and didn't get to stay with the rest of us opting to make it back to BRCM safely.   Keep coming out, and if you need new tires, we can all sign a petition for you to take to your fiancee to let you buy some.

It was nice to see some rotations going on today, but it was not in any organized fashion as usual.  Some where even breakaway-ish, but it wouldn't be a BRCM ride if it wasn't.  The only thing I wished was if people would rotate during the chases.  During a couple of the breakaways today, most would just sit back and hold out the person trying to close the gap...me!  I managed to do so a couple times, but that led to some disastrous results for me during the first and second pass through back bay.  I was literally left to die on the first pass where everyone passed me up leaving me for dead as they made their way to Jamboree.  

Fortunately, I was able to catch up to others due to lights and had planned to try and just stay with Shannon and Vin on the last pass.  However, they slowed down a little, and I decided to keep going to see if I can chase a guy down that I saw ahead of me on Back Bay.  It's how we roll, right?  I passed him.  

It didn't take long, however, for Shannon and Steve N. in tow to pass me (right after San Joaquin), and although I managed to latch on, trying to stay on was another story.  My right calf hinted of cramping even before the first pass, but then went into full lock mode where I couldn't even pedal.  This was when everyone passed me again leaving me for dead, including the guy I passed initially.  I caught and passed that guy again eventually, but there was no sign of any other BRCM'ers after him.  

It was definitely a good day of riding today despite my apparent lack of electrolytes, conditioning, and most notably, intelligence.  The guys are all such different riders now, and the new kid fits right in showing his "legit-ness."  I'm thinking once we take him through the hill training I was put through, he'll be able to do equally well there.  

Thanks for coming out, gents!  Sorry for the long blog, but you better enjoy it as this won't happen al that often.  

Peace!