Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/8652349
What a perfect morning for a hammerfest. The wind was low, and the temperature was cool but comfortable. Galen and Gary made it out and as planned, we were rolling by 6:15 a.m.
Now the ride started out a little differently today from the last time we were out. Typically, Gary would lead us out through Peltason and Anteater (rightfully naming that segment after him), but today I think he realized pulling back a little would be a better idea. With Galen loving to hammer up Shady and through the canyons, I couldn't agree more.
We all stayed together and kept a good pace going up through Shady and heading over to the 133. Once we got on the 133, Galen dropped the hammer as he indicated he would so it was just enough to stay with him as he climbed up 2 miles to the top with an almost ~22 mph average pace! I stayed on his rear wheel the whole time just hanging on...barely. Gary, however, was not as fortunate, but that's because I probably don't give him enough wind protection...picture a giraffe trying to draft behind a squirrel, right?
I was able to come around near the top and start trading pulls with Galen as we made our way down, but Galen loves to work, so my pulls were definitely not as long (or fast for that matter) as his were. I did what I could though, so if anything I managed to give him the breaks he needed to resume his made pace.
When we got to the bottom at Laguna Beach, we contemplated waiting for Gary but Galen had to go back, so we rolled on. Galen was still keeping the pace up on PCH, so I held him out for as long as he was willing to hold it and relieved him only when he slowed...which was not often.
As we were making our way to NPC, Galen offered the idea of going the Back Bay route as an alternative. Now some may think this is easier than NPC, but to those who do you obviously haven't ridden with Galen on Back Bay. I was open to the idea of a Back Bay charge since I think he dropped me the last couple times I went through there with him. So off we went.
We went the typical Poppy Ocean Avocado route, but the funny thing is we were both thinking how it would have been better just to cut through downtown CDM after we decided to do so. It wasn't long though before we were back on PCH.
Once on PCH, Galen decided to open it up and go for top Strava honors all the way to Jamboree. When he took off, I wasn't as close to his rear wheel as what would have been ideal so my draft behind him was not optimal where I could swing around to help. Thus, just staying on for his ~30 mph average pace for the mile to Jamboree was ridiculously painful. We both PR'd that segment as a result, but just missed the top 10. With more people and/or me helping out next time, we can do better next time.
once on Back Bay drive, I gave Galen a break and led us out for the initial pull. We were both worked, however, so this was not going to be a record breaking run. We took turns a little more evenly through here, and I charged to the top at the end.
We kept the effort up (I'd say pace, but we were cooked) all the way to California. After we crossed, we hit the first light and had some others who had come up behind us. I stood up and decided breaking them off would be fun, so that's what we did. BAM!
S-Gary stuck to the original plans and went up NPC getting PRs in the segments including that hill. Good work!
Great morning workout, gents. I hope more can join us next time.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Lunch Ride - Loaded Pack and My Hidden Agenda
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/8599709
You know that feeling you get when you ride a roller coaster climbing up a long track to prepare you for fast steep drop with a lot of twists and turns? Yeah, that pretty much sums up how I felt when I saw who came out for today's ride. We had a good sized group with Shannon, Todd, Galen, Gary, Adrian, Vin, Hiroshi, Jaffe, and Mitchell making it out for the ride. If Vince, PV and Noah came out, I think I would have had to change my shorts before pedaling out. To boot, it was pretty warm and fairly windy to make my anxiety even worse. The funny thing is you can see and for some, hear the worry they felt seeing how loaded the ride was.
S-Gary started us off in his true form and led us out at a less than ideal (too fast) warm-up pace with everyone managing their anxiety behind him. Others started to make their way up front to help eventually, and even on Anteater, there were some who I had to get around just to get up to the next guy to draft behind. HA HA.
Once we crossed the light on Bonita Canyon, the pace picked up pretty fast with Galen starting to gap the others as we ascended up the first hill. When I saw the gap, I figured I may as well actually start working now and closed the gap and subsequently took a pull near the top. A few had held on up and over the hill, but by the time we got on Sunnyhill, it was just Galen, Shannon, Todd, Mitchell, Adrian and me.
The rotations on Turtle Rock was your typical organized chaos where people just pulled randomly while some didn't. HA HA. I took some pulls when I could, but near the bottom, Adrian started to break off causing Galen to give chase. Now I'm not sure what Adrian was thinking at this point given that the last time he did something like this (sprinting with Galen on Culver to Campus just before we head up to Turtle Rock), it didn't really work out too well for him where he dropped pretty early on. Wouldn't you know it, the same thing happened again today. I guess history really does repeat itself.
Once we got past Campus and started going up, Shannon and I made our way past them and had a pretty good pace heading over to Starcrest. Rather than sitting in Shannon's draft, I did something even less intelligent and tried to ride abreast and hold his pace. Dumb. Eventually, I ended up dropping a little bit behind him as we made our way onto Starcrest.
Now as we got on Starcrest, Shannon kept ahead of me but I maintained a good pace behind him. At one point, Todd started to make his way past me, but I was able to spin up a little bit more and stay ahead of him. This increased pace also allowed me to get by Shannon, so what these guys didn't know was that I was trying to do my best on Starcrest with a hidden motive: I wanted to PR this hill for Eddie's (one of the guys on our team) dad who passed away last Saturday. Eddie's dad had a work ethic like no other, and this ethic definitely carried on to Eddie, so in my mind I was not going to stop pushing until the hill was done. It's funny how something like this can motivate me, but it worked: I beat my best time by 4 seconds. This was for you, Mr. Manny Narvaez. RIP.
Back to our scheduled program: of course, Todd got by me at the very end but like I told him in the locker room, I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't "let him." HA HA...just kidding!
Shannon was just behind me, so the three of us kept going and made our way down Ridgeline back onto Turtle Rock together. Todd was just a little bit ahead of us, but Shannon closed in on him eventually with me in tow. We all worked together as we made our way back to Sunnyhill and the North side of Shady heading to Bonita Canyon. The pace was harsh throughout, so there was no sprint to the bike trail as would be the norm. Thank God! We got stopped at the light on Bonita canyon and were followed shortly by Galen and Mitchell. Oh great...NPC was going to hurt too.
The 5 of us made our way to NPC and fortunately got the green light just as we were coming up on it. Galen started up the hill first followed by Todd, Shannon and Mitchell, but as he started to gap a little, I found my way up to his wheel and was pretty content to just ride behind him for the rest of the hill. What? I ain't dumb. Now you can say I was blocking, but anyone else could have gotten up front as well and no one did. HA HA. When it flattened out a little, I decided to go ahead and get up front but this was probably not the best idea. Once everyone started to pass me, I didn't latch on right away. I also crossed the street separately from them, but found myself waaaaay off the back after rendering it futile to even try...especially with Shannon up front by that point.
I was pretty much on my own at that point, but I did see Mitchell drop off where I thought I could catch him for some company. However, he ended up skipping the horseshoe, and I almost skipped but decided I'd go on it on my own. At this point, both my calves started going into seizure mode so I struggled just to make it around that damn thing (17 mph average pretty much sums it up).
Even on San Joaquin going down the hill, my calves were still locking up but I pressed on. I did end up skipping Spyglass though as I figured I'd just rest, regroup with the others and try to blow myself up on McArthur again...which is exactly what I did. Todd and Shannon got by at the end but I tried to hang on for a good run on Bison. I took off at one point for a sprint, but Shannon reeled me in before California. Todd jokingly wanted to sprint some more on California, but my calves were done.
Great ride today, gents! Tomorrow morning should be equally painful. I hope you can make it.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Team Morning Ride - Shady 133 PCH NPC Jamboree Loop
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/8305091
After a less than stellar outing at last night's crit, I was really eager to get out with the guys this morning to give myself a solid beating. Galen, Gary and Jeremy made it out for the ride, and with the weather being ideal (in my opinion anyway), I knew it would be a good one.
Gary led us out in the beginning in typical S-Gary fashion, but rather than waiting until Bonita Canyon, I did opt to relieve him just before we got to Anteater. Galen came around for a pull as well in his typical fashion also. I took over after we crossed Bonita Canyon but he came back around and brought the pace up as we made our way up the first rise to the top. I hung on for dear life, but unfortunately S-G and Jeremy were not up for such a pace.
I did come around after we got to the crest and the two of us made our way toward the gate and the bike trail up Shady. Galen was again up front once on the bike trail, but I came around during the steep rise just after the first bridge. I stayed up front for a bit but Galen said we should keep the pace moderate until we get to the 133 where we can mix it up. Fine by me. HA HA
We regrouped with Gary and Jeremy just at the top of Quail Hill and made our way together toward the 133. I had a pretty good pace as I led us out to there, and when Galen took over on the 133, it was just Jeremy and I with him. Jeremy stayed on Galen's wheel as he took the lead, so I got on Jeremy's. At some point, Galen thought Jeremy said "go," so he kicked it up a notch as we climbed to the top. Jeremy tried to hang on, but Galen was moving so he waved me on to pass. Galen was already moving though, so even as I stood up to try and sprint to his rear wheel, that proved to be an effort in futility. Fortunately, Galen slowed up for me after we got over the top, and we made our way down toward PCH together taking turns pulling.
We regrouped again just before PCH and then made our way to NPC. Jeremy took a pull on PCH but eventually Galen and I were alone again on NPC.
I was already worked by the time we got on NPC, but I wanted to work on my off the seat climb. I found a decent rhythm going up where at first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold it but my heart/lungs settled down and I was able to stay off the seat for a decent amount of time. Galen stayed with me throwing out words of encouragement that helped, but passed just after the 2nd Pelican light at the top. Fortunately, I had enough left just to barely be able to stay with him.
We made our way down the other side and got the light to go on Bonita Canyon. I know Galen's strong on this section, so I stayed behind him all the way until after the 73 underpass. As we started going up the rise, I finally got up to the front and helped get us to McArthur. Here, Galen was saying he didn't think he had it in him to attack the condo, so I told him I'll see how I feel when I get there.
I led us up Ford initially, but Galen jumped to the front just before the top. There were a lot of cars on Ford, so we had to ride to the right of them as we made our way onto Jamboree. The light was green, however, so we knew it would be clear once we got on there. Galen picked up speed and went out wide and started mashing where he gapped me immediately. His pace, however, slowed once he sat down where my steady higher cadence pace let me get by him about 3/4 of the way up. Despite doing so, I knew my pace wasn't fast enough to challenge the KOM so I did slow down just before the intersection.
When we got on Bison, Galen and I were talking about the condo and he'll be trying a different strategy next time around. Oh great. He did indicate his sprint could use some work (in his words, he said his sprint sucked), so I thought I'd challenge that after we got over the 73. I took off and started to donkey kick for a sprint to use my hamstrings more than my quads, but when I sat down and looked at my speed, I knew it wouldn't be long before he passed. Sure enough...Galen did. Sandbagger. HA HA
It was good to get a morning workout in like this, so I hope we set this up more regularly. Thanks for the workout, gents!
After a less than stellar outing at last night's crit, I was really eager to get out with the guys this morning to give myself a solid beating. Galen, Gary and Jeremy made it out for the ride, and with the weather being ideal (in my opinion anyway), I knew it would be a good one.
Gary led us out in the beginning in typical S-Gary fashion, but rather than waiting until Bonita Canyon, I did opt to relieve him just before we got to Anteater. Galen came around for a pull as well in his typical fashion also. I took over after we crossed Bonita Canyon but he came back around and brought the pace up as we made our way up the first rise to the top. I hung on for dear life, but unfortunately S-G and Jeremy were not up for such a pace.
I did come around after we got to the crest and the two of us made our way toward the gate and the bike trail up Shady. Galen was again up front once on the bike trail, but I came around during the steep rise just after the first bridge. I stayed up front for a bit but Galen said we should keep the pace moderate until we get to the 133 where we can mix it up. Fine by me. HA HA
We regrouped with Gary and Jeremy just at the top of Quail Hill and made our way together toward the 133. I had a pretty good pace as I led us out to there, and when Galen took over on the 133, it was just Jeremy and I with him. Jeremy stayed on Galen's wheel as he took the lead, so I got on Jeremy's. At some point, Galen thought Jeremy said "go," so he kicked it up a notch as we climbed to the top. Jeremy tried to hang on, but Galen was moving so he waved me on to pass. Galen was already moving though, so even as I stood up to try and sprint to his rear wheel, that proved to be an effort in futility. Fortunately, Galen slowed up for me after we got over the top, and we made our way down toward PCH together taking turns pulling.
We regrouped again just before PCH and then made our way to NPC. Jeremy took a pull on PCH but eventually Galen and I were alone again on NPC.
I was already worked by the time we got on NPC, but I wanted to work on my off the seat climb. I found a decent rhythm going up where at first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold it but my heart/lungs settled down and I was able to stay off the seat for a decent amount of time. Galen stayed with me throwing out words of encouragement that helped, but passed just after the 2nd Pelican light at the top. Fortunately, I had enough left just to barely be able to stay with him.
We made our way down the other side and got the light to go on Bonita Canyon. I know Galen's strong on this section, so I stayed behind him all the way until after the 73 underpass. As we started going up the rise, I finally got up to the front and helped get us to McArthur. Here, Galen was saying he didn't think he had it in him to attack the condo, so I told him I'll see how I feel when I get there.
I led us up Ford initially, but Galen jumped to the front just before the top. There were a lot of cars on Ford, so we had to ride to the right of them as we made our way onto Jamboree. The light was green, however, so we knew it would be clear once we got on there. Galen picked up speed and went out wide and started mashing where he gapped me immediately. His pace, however, slowed once he sat down where my steady higher cadence pace let me get by him about 3/4 of the way up. Despite doing so, I knew my pace wasn't fast enough to challenge the KOM so I did slow down just before the intersection.
When we got on Bison, Galen and I were talking about the condo and he'll be trying a different strategy next time around. Oh great. He did indicate his sprint could use some work (in his words, he said his sprint sucked), so I thought I'd challenge that after we got over the 73. I took off and started to donkey kick for a sprint to use my hamstrings more than my quads, but when I sat down and looked at my speed, I knew it wouldn't be long before he passed. Sure enough...Galen did. Sandbagger. HA HA
It was good to get a morning workout in like this, so I hope we set this up more regularly. Thanks for the workout, gents!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
GP Crit - Masters (My Ride Report)
Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/8285801
I knew it was going to be a long day given the wind conditions when I walked out of work today. Have I mentioned I hate wind? Nevertheless, I made my way to the GP crit to test out the Masters class with my newly acquired racing license on their shorter 1.8 mile course.
When I got out to do some warm up laps, my first one was a sighting lap just to see where the dangerous sections of the track are. Overall, the track wasn't bad but upon heading south east on the track, the head wind was ridiculous. Even at a moderate pace, the power outage for that section was upwards of 300 watts. Yikes! I did 12 miles for a warm-up, and felt decent when it was time to line up.
When the race started, I was really interested in getting in as much of the draft as possible given the solo warm-up. However, for the most part, I didn't realize it was best at the outside part of the group during the windy sections until a few laps in. When I would try and move out to them, it would be hard to do so but I got in a couple laps this way.
Overall, I didn't do too bad and stayed in the pack for most of the ride. Since I would somehow fall back toward the end of the pack on some segments, there was a lot of accordion effect going on making for some serious sprints to close the gap. At some points, I was thinking if they sprinted again I would be done but I think us old guys had the same rest cycles where I was able to recover adequately. I did have to close a few gaps watching people pop off in the process, but then I know there must have been a few people cutting the track since they'd be back in front of me where I had to get around them.
On the last lap I did, trying to close on the windy section was just too much where I fell off with a few guys. I was able to chase and pass some of the guys who had popped ahead of me, so I wasn't ready to cut the track yet to jump back in the peleton. I wanted the workout, so I pushed on. However, as I was approaching the front stretch just ahead of the start/finish, I could see a large group of guys stopped where it obviously was a crash with someone down. You could see people coming off the track after where it looked like they canceled the race just after this. Thank God! My left calf was on the verge of going anyway, so this worked out for me.
It was nice to be able to do more laps in the Masters class with the peleton, so if no one joins me, I'll continue to run in this class. It's still a tough race and definitely with some strong guys out there, but I'm actually starting to enjoy the punishment. I'll be back for more.
I knew it was going to be a long day given the wind conditions when I walked out of work today. Have I mentioned I hate wind? Nevertheless, I made my way to the GP crit to test out the Masters class with my newly acquired racing license on their shorter 1.8 mile course.
When I got out to do some warm up laps, my first one was a sighting lap just to see where the dangerous sections of the track are. Overall, the track wasn't bad but upon heading south east on the track, the head wind was ridiculous. Even at a moderate pace, the power outage for that section was upwards of 300 watts. Yikes! I did 12 miles for a warm-up, and felt decent when it was time to line up.
When the race started, I was really interested in getting in as much of the draft as possible given the solo warm-up. However, for the most part, I didn't realize it was best at the outside part of the group during the windy sections until a few laps in. When I would try and move out to them, it would be hard to do so but I got in a couple laps this way.
Overall, I didn't do too bad and stayed in the pack for most of the ride. Since I would somehow fall back toward the end of the pack on some segments, there was a lot of accordion effect going on making for some serious sprints to close the gap. At some points, I was thinking if they sprinted again I would be done but I think us old guys had the same rest cycles where I was able to recover adequately. I did have to close a few gaps watching people pop off in the process, but then I know there must have been a few people cutting the track since they'd be back in front of me where I had to get around them.
On the last lap I did, trying to close on the windy section was just too much where I fell off with a few guys. I was able to chase and pass some of the guys who had popped ahead of me, so I wasn't ready to cut the track yet to jump back in the peleton. I wanted the workout, so I pushed on. However, as I was approaching the front stretch just ahead of the start/finish, I could see a large group of guys stopped where it obviously was a crash with someone down. You could see people coming off the track after where it looked like they canceled the race just after this. Thank God! My left calf was on the verge of going anyway, so this worked out for me.
It was nice to be able to do more laps in the Masters class with the peleton, so if no one joins me, I'll continue to run in this class. It's still a tough race and definitely with some strong guys out there, but I'm actually starting to enjoy the punishment. I'll be back for more.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Lunch Ride - Anteater Spyglass San Joaquin NPC Pelican PCH CDM BB Jamboree
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/8137214
What a good turnout for today's ride: Galen, Gary, Vince, Todd, Vin, Jeremy, Mitchell, Hiroshi, Jaffe, Marc and Eric.
When we were all ready to go, I looked back to see if anyone would start off, but everyone seemed to be waiting for me. Sigh. Fortunately, S-Gary came around immediately after and led us out with me sitting in #2 all the way to Bonita Canyon maintaining a 20 mph average. I would drop from his wheel on occasion wondering if someone else would jump ahead, but no one seemed too interested in pushing the pace early on.
I swung around on Bonita Canyon as did Galen, but S-Gary was still staying in the mix taking rotations. What a guy.
We were all together when we got to San Miguel and eventually started onto Spyglass. I found a pace that was decent going up but as I made my way to Galen, he indicated he wasn't going to hammer the hill (there goes the lure). I didn't bite, but Todd came by and the two of them broke away from me as we separated from everyone else.
I was able to roll up on Todd and Galen at the red light to San Joaquin, but the light turned green perfectly as Vince, Mitchell and Vin approached where they had momentum. Galen and Todd gave chase and the 4 of them rode up the hill together where I had fallen back and rode on my own after passing Vin. I was thinking it would be cool to be in the rabbit group and take Ridgeline, but the 4 guys got the lights and were able to stay ahead on NPC.
Vin and Jeremy had caught me after I got on Ridgeline and caught their breath while I pulled for a little on NPC trying to close in on the others. They both relieved me and helped to close the gap on Todd and Mitchell by the time we were on Pelican.
Mitchell led us down the hill before the first rise, but I jumped to the front just before and had a little gap on the others who were trailing close by. By the time I rounded to NPC and PCH, they were all on again as we made our way toward CDM.
There was some police activity with a tow truck on PCH, so we had to slow for that but we could see Galen, Vince and Gary just ahead of us. After we got past the police activity, Vin and Mitchell helped me close in on the others who we caught by the light to go on Poppy.
CDM was a little busy, so everyone stayed together through Avocado and back on PCH. S-Gary was leading a charge on PCH and he and Galen eventually started to gap. I came around from near the back and with Vince's help closed in on Galen and Gary.
On Jamboree, Vince had momentum and took off on Back Bay drive. I sat behind the closer (Galen) and let him reel Vince back in but I swung around for the first pull just before the gate. It felt like we had a tail wind at that point, so I stayed up front for a little bit keeping the pace up as we made our way toward San Joaquin.
Once everyone passed, I had a little trouble latching on but was just able to get on Jeremy's rear wheel. Vince, Galen, and Todd were keeping the pace up, so it wasn't easy. Eventually, Galen had been up front with Mitchell and Jeremy still in front of me where I was patiently waiting my turn. When Galen started to gap, I knew it was time to go, so I came around and first latched onto Galen's wheel, then took a pull along with Vince.
When we got to the end of Back Bay, Galen was saying something but I couldn't hear him. He was probably telling my biyaach ass to go, and I eventually did. My calves were on the brink of blowing up earlier, but I went ahead and pushed up to the top.
Once we were up top, Vince was the first to cross the street but I was able to just after. I'm not sure how everyone else fared, but I know Galen wasn't too far behind.
Vince got on Jamboree first and started to make his way up. I was finding my stride once I got on when it wasn't long before Galen got beside me and we rode abreast for a bit as we made our way toward Vince. Galen eventually got ahead but I decided to ride his rear wheel to see how long I could stay with Vince right behind me.
Galen was working hard throughout the ride, and eventually slowed up where I got past with Vince in tow. I'd look back and seeing Vince latched on, I knew it was just a matter of time before he'd pass...and pass he did near the top. Vince is back!
When we got on Bison, I wasn't sure if Vince and Galen were wanting to sprint, but I was ready in case they did. When I took off from behind them after the last light over the 73, neither reacted, so I checked up and enjoyed the rest of the way back. Yes...we get to cool down!
Super riding out there today, gents! Excellent efforts throughout. Thanks!
What a good turnout for today's ride: Galen, Gary, Vince, Todd, Vin, Jeremy, Mitchell, Hiroshi, Jaffe, Marc and Eric.
When we were all ready to go, I looked back to see if anyone would start off, but everyone seemed to be waiting for me. Sigh. Fortunately, S-Gary came around immediately after and led us out with me sitting in #2 all the way to Bonita Canyon maintaining a 20 mph average. I would drop from his wheel on occasion wondering if someone else would jump ahead, but no one seemed too interested in pushing the pace early on.
I swung around on Bonita Canyon as did Galen, but S-Gary was still staying in the mix taking rotations. What a guy.
We were all together when we got to San Miguel and eventually started onto Spyglass. I found a pace that was decent going up but as I made my way to Galen, he indicated he wasn't going to hammer the hill (there goes the lure). I didn't bite, but Todd came by and the two of them broke away from me as we separated from everyone else.
I was able to roll up on Todd and Galen at the red light to San Joaquin, but the light turned green perfectly as Vince, Mitchell and Vin approached where they had momentum. Galen and Todd gave chase and the 4 of them rode up the hill together where I had fallen back and rode on my own after passing Vin. I was thinking it would be cool to be in the rabbit group and take Ridgeline, but the 4 guys got the lights and were able to stay ahead on NPC.
Vin and Jeremy had caught me after I got on Ridgeline and caught their breath while I pulled for a little on NPC trying to close in on the others. They both relieved me and helped to close the gap on Todd and Mitchell by the time we were on Pelican.
Mitchell led us down the hill before the first rise, but I jumped to the front just before and had a little gap on the others who were trailing close by. By the time I rounded to NPC and PCH, they were all on again as we made our way toward CDM.
There was some police activity with a tow truck on PCH, so we had to slow for that but we could see Galen, Vince and Gary just ahead of us. After we got past the police activity, Vin and Mitchell helped me close in on the others who we caught by the light to go on Poppy.
CDM was a little busy, so everyone stayed together through Avocado and back on PCH. S-Gary was leading a charge on PCH and he and Galen eventually started to gap. I came around from near the back and with Vince's help closed in on Galen and Gary.
On Jamboree, Vince had momentum and took off on Back Bay drive. I sat behind the closer (Galen) and let him reel Vince back in but I swung around for the first pull just before the gate. It felt like we had a tail wind at that point, so I stayed up front for a little bit keeping the pace up as we made our way toward San Joaquin.
Once everyone passed, I had a little trouble latching on but was just able to get on Jeremy's rear wheel. Vince, Galen, and Todd were keeping the pace up, so it wasn't easy. Eventually, Galen had been up front with Mitchell and Jeremy still in front of me where I was patiently waiting my turn. When Galen started to gap, I knew it was time to go, so I came around and first latched onto Galen's wheel, then took a pull along with Vince.
When we got to the end of Back Bay, Galen was saying something but I couldn't hear him. He was probably telling my biyaach ass to go, and I eventually did. My calves were on the brink of blowing up earlier, but I went ahead and pushed up to the top.
Once we were up top, Vince was the first to cross the street but I was able to just after. I'm not sure how everyone else fared, but I know Galen wasn't too far behind.
Vince got on Jamboree first and started to make his way up. I was finding my stride once I got on when it wasn't long before Galen got beside me and we rode abreast for a bit as we made our way toward Vince. Galen eventually got ahead but I decided to ride his rear wheel to see how long I could stay with Vince right behind me.
Galen was working hard throughout the ride, and eventually slowed up where I got past with Vince in tow. I'd look back and seeing Vince latched on, I knew it was just a matter of time before he'd pass...and pass he did near the top. Vince is back!
When we got on Bison, I wasn't sure if Vince and Galen were wanting to sprint, but I was ready in case they did. When I took off from behind them after the last light over the 73, neither reacted, so I checked up and enjoyed the rest of the way back. Yes...we get to cool down!
Super riding out there today, gents! Excellent efforts throughout. Thanks!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Alpine Challenge 2012
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/8001334#
The weather for this ride was a lot better than last week's outing with the temperature ranging only between 55 to 77 degrees. Even with the black jersey, it never really got too warm. The winds did pick up on the way back, but overall I think it was the best weather over the prior 2 outings at this event.
Vin and I arrived at the event about a quarter before 7, and Shannon was already there getting ready. We saw some Descenders there, but no one we really recognized. After picking up our packets, registering, taking last minute bio breaks, we were ready to go just a quarter after 7. We hadn't seen any masses grouping up, and it was no different when we rolled to the start point. We tried waiting for others to gather with us, but upon departing, we were already rolling away from them, even with a mild warm-up pace.
We kept the pace fairly mild in the beginning but we were passing people on the course nonetheless. I was thinking there may be a group that would roll up on us to mix it up and push the pace, but that never happened. As we were going through some of the rolling hills, I decided I didn't want to try and maintain Shannon's pace (which we all know is not a good idea), so he and Vin pushed ahead and had a decent gap on me. They were always within my sight though, so I was going to find my own pace and see what happens.
At some point, Shannon must have been setting up a Strava segment as he started to slow a little and Vin pushed ahead and broke away. Nice. When I had rolled up to Shannon, we both wondered what Vin's plan was being up on his own ahead. As Shannon was still saving up, I passed him and slowly started to work my way toward Vin. Every time I thought I was getting close, he would keep pushing it so it did take some time before I was finally able to catch him. Once I passed, Vin showed he was still able to maintain my pace and latched on to my rear wheel.
As expected, Shannon eventually made his way past us and at a pace that was just not very inviting. Neither Vin nor I were willing to jump on as he did, so we just watched him pass and eventually disappear ahead of us.
Vin would come around and take some turns up front, and after we passed the 2nd or 3rd SAG, we picked up another rider with a World Cycles kit. He had jumped on our line and after a couple of our pulls, he came around on one of the ascents and was almost going to get away from us. However, I was able to pull us back up to him to where he complimented us for doing so.
We did some more rotations, but after going under the 8 freeway, I dropped off the pace as I grabbed a gel to eat and something to drink in preparation for the hill that goes up Descanso. I figured I'd try and work my way back up to them on the hill. After getting some nourishment, I picked my pace back up and up ahead saw Vin had stopped to wait for me. It was a nice gesture, but I had hoped he would keep going because I knew that the Descanso hill would be an equalizer.
Vin jumped on and we were on our way up the hill. I had a pretty decent pace going, but then a guy in the red jersey passed where I jumped on his rear wheel and we eventually started pulling away from Vin. I stayed with the guy in red for a bit then pushed ahead toward the end of one of the ascents, but then he came around and eventually broke away in a pace I wasn't willing to do. I also got by World Cycles again and a couple other riders and was on my own for the long descent on the other side.
As I arrived at the Pine Valley turnoff, I stopped to make sure Vin wouldn't miss the turns like we did last year. After the riders I passed went by, Vin came up and we rode on through Pine Valley to the residential SAG to stop and replenish our water. This is the same SAG we stop at every year that's run by one guy from his house. Super nice guy. Shannon was there waiting for us thankfully.
After getting our bottles refilled and having a little to eat, the three of us were on our way again. Once we got back on Old Hwy 80, we got back on the long hill and I started to climb it at my own pace again where I started to pull away from Shannon and Vin. I was on my own for a bit and passed a rider or two on my way up, but 3/4 of the way up the top, Shannon came by. This time, I wasn't ready for him to break away, so I jumped on his wheel and rode up the rest of the hill with him. As we got to the flat and descents, Shannon and I started trading pulls (70/30 ha ha).
We continued to stay together through the additional side course through Descanso where Shannon kept the pace up to help us pick off riders one by one. I did what I could to help, and at one point, I thought he gestured for me to pull. I tried to pass him, but was having a difficult time since his pace was still pretty high. I let him know if he wanted me to pull he's going to have to slow down a little, but it turned out he was just stretching or something else where it wasn't the pass and pull gesture I thought it was. Thank God!
We kept the pace up as we got back on Japatul Road, and we picked up one guy who jumped on our draft. However, we decided to wait for Vin underneath the 8 underpass, so we can all do the descent together. Our passenger and a few other riders passed but Vin rolled up shortly after, and we were off. Shannon and I were taking turns up front as we rolled down the descents and kept the pace up fairly high where we started picking off everyone who passed us on the underpass. The pace got a little too hot for Vin as he started cramping up, so Shannon and I were alone working past several riders.
At about 8 miles out from the end of the ride, I tried to shift my rear gears but found that chain dropped to my small ring up front instead. This somewhat broke our tempo and momentum, so I apologized to Shannon for my misshift. After getting the chain back on the big ring, I tried to shift my rear gears again and realized that the shifter cable must have snapped. I was stuck on the 26T for the rest of the ride.
I tried to encourage Shannon to go ahead while I made my way back in a 50/26T gear, but he stayed with me instead. His energy level, according to him, dropped after we broke our momentum, but honestly I think it's just Shannon being the nice guy that he was that had him ride with me for the rest for the ride. We still had some climbs to do, but I did not want to shift to the 34 ring up front just in case I couldn't get it back up for whatever reason. Thus, I was on fixie mode. There was one hill that was pretty steep, but I just worked it as best as I could in the 50/26 and even picked off another couple riders. The flats and downhills sucked in this short gear, and I thought we would be passed at some point because of it. However, no one ever passed us and we made our way back to the end in this config still managing to finish under 4 hours even besting last year's time on the same course. After we picked up our finisher medals, Vin rolled up after obviously having passed some of the other guys we passed as well. Good job!
Some Italian brews at the car followed by some nice hot food and even more brew in the beer garden was tops. We didn't see too much talent under the tents though, and come to find that some of the people we were hoping to ride with went out and did Breathless Agony instead. It was a bummer since I'm sure the additional competition would have made it more interesting. Nonetheless, I thought it was a good outing and team Broadcom represented in typical BAM fashion. Good job, gents.
The weather for this ride was a lot better than last week's outing with the temperature ranging only between 55 to 77 degrees. Even with the black jersey, it never really got too warm. The winds did pick up on the way back, but overall I think it was the best weather over the prior 2 outings at this event.
Vin and I arrived at the event about a quarter before 7, and Shannon was already there getting ready. We saw some Descenders there, but no one we really recognized. After picking up our packets, registering, taking last minute bio breaks, we were ready to go just a quarter after 7. We hadn't seen any masses grouping up, and it was no different when we rolled to the start point. We tried waiting for others to gather with us, but upon departing, we were already rolling away from them, even with a mild warm-up pace.
We kept the pace fairly mild in the beginning but we were passing people on the course nonetheless. I was thinking there may be a group that would roll up on us to mix it up and push the pace, but that never happened. As we were going through some of the rolling hills, I decided I didn't want to try and maintain Shannon's pace (which we all know is not a good idea), so he and Vin pushed ahead and had a decent gap on me. They were always within my sight though, so I was going to find my own pace and see what happens.
At some point, Shannon must have been setting up a Strava segment as he started to slow a little and Vin pushed ahead and broke away. Nice. When I had rolled up to Shannon, we both wondered what Vin's plan was being up on his own ahead. As Shannon was still saving up, I passed him and slowly started to work my way toward Vin. Every time I thought I was getting close, he would keep pushing it so it did take some time before I was finally able to catch him. Once I passed, Vin showed he was still able to maintain my pace and latched on to my rear wheel.
As expected, Shannon eventually made his way past us and at a pace that was just not very inviting. Neither Vin nor I were willing to jump on as he did, so we just watched him pass and eventually disappear ahead of us.
Vin would come around and take some turns up front, and after we passed the 2nd or 3rd SAG, we picked up another rider with a World Cycles kit. He had jumped on our line and after a couple of our pulls, he came around on one of the ascents and was almost going to get away from us. However, I was able to pull us back up to him to where he complimented us for doing so.
We did some more rotations, but after going under the 8 freeway, I dropped off the pace as I grabbed a gel to eat and something to drink in preparation for the hill that goes up Descanso. I figured I'd try and work my way back up to them on the hill. After getting some nourishment, I picked my pace back up and up ahead saw Vin had stopped to wait for me. It was a nice gesture, but I had hoped he would keep going because I knew that the Descanso hill would be an equalizer.
Vin jumped on and we were on our way up the hill. I had a pretty decent pace going, but then a guy in the red jersey passed where I jumped on his rear wheel and we eventually started pulling away from Vin. I stayed with the guy in red for a bit then pushed ahead toward the end of one of the ascents, but then he came around and eventually broke away in a pace I wasn't willing to do. I also got by World Cycles again and a couple other riders and was on my own for the long descent on the other side.
As I arrived at the Pine Valley turnoff, I stopped to make sure Vin wouldn't miss the turns like we did last year. After the riders I passed went by, Vin came up and we rode on through Pine Valley to the residential SAG to stop and replenish our water. This is the same SAG we stop at every year that's run by one guy from his house. Super nice guy. Shannon was there waiting for us thankfully.
After getting our bottles refilled and having a little to eat, the three of us were on our way again. Once we got back on Old Hwy 80, we got back on the long hill and I started to climb it at my own pace again where I started to pull away from Shannon and Vin. I was on my own for a bit and passed a rider or two on my way up, but 3/4 of the way up the top, Shannon came by. This time, I wasn't ready for him to break away, so I jumped on his wheel and rode up the rest of the hill with him. As we got to the flat and descents, Shannon and I started trading pulls (70/30 ha ha).
We continued to stay together through the additional side course through Descanso where Shannon kept the pace up to help us pick off riders one by one. I did what I could to help, and at one point, I thought he gestured for me to pull. I tried to pass him, but was having a difficult time since his pace was still pretty high. I let him know if he wanted me to pull he's going to have to slow down a little, but it turned out he was just stretching or something else where it wasn't the pass and pull gesture I thought it was. Thank God!
We kept the pace up as we got back on Japatul Road, and we picked up one guy who jumped on our draft. However, we decided to wait for Vin underneath the 8 underpass, so we can all do the descent together. Our passenger and a few other riders passed but Vin rolled up shortly after, and we were off. Shannon and I were taking turns up front as we rolled down the descents and kept the pace up fairly high where we started picking off everyone who passed us on the underpass. The pace got a little too hot for Vin as he started cramping up, so Shannon and I were alone working past several riders.
At about 8 miles out from the end of the ride, I tried to shift my rear gears but found that chain dropped to my small ring up front instead. This somewhat broke our tempo and momentum, so I apologized to Shannon for my misshift. After getting the chain back on the big ring, I tried to shift my rear gears again and realized that the shifter cable must have snapped. I was stuck on the 26T for the rest of the ride.
I tried to encourage Shannon to go ahead while I made my way back in a 50/26T gear, but he stayed with me instead. His energy level, according to him, dropped after we broke our momentum, but honestly I think it's just Shannon being the nice guy that he was that had him ride with me for the rest for the ride. We still had some climbs to do, but I did not want to shift to the 34 ring up front just in case I couldn't get it back up for whatever reason. Thus, I was on fixie mode. There was one hill that was pretty steep, but I just worked it as best as I could in the 50/26 and even picked off another couple riders. The flats and downhills sucked in this short gear, and I thought we would be passed at some point because of it. However, no one ever passed us and we made our way back to the end in this config still managing to finish under 4 hours even besting last year's time on the same course. After we picked up our finisher medals, Vin rolled up after obviously having passed some of the other guys we passed as well. Good job!
Some Italian brews at the car followed by some nice hot food and even more brew in the beer garden was tops. We didn't see too much talent under the tents though, and come to find that some of the people we were hoping to ride with went out and did Breathless Agony instead. It was a bummer since I'm sure the additional competition would have made it more interesting. Nonetheless, I thought it was a good outing and team Broadcom represented in typical BAM fashion. Good job, gents.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Lunch Ride - Turtle Ring Route with Strava Incentive
Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/7761293
Okay, so I missed yesterday's ride and needed to find a way to give people the incentive to come out today given Wednesday rides are not the norm. The sell was if we can attack certain Strava segments and get KOMs, one may be entitled to receive a tasty 6 pack beverage for the "worthiest" KOM. Well, I got some people to come out (Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell, Jaffe, Hiroshi and Mike Z. - they all probabloy would have come out regardless) but none of us were successful in achieving a KOM. HA HA.
My plan was to attack two segments in today's route: "Shady Start" and "Ridgeline." However, after stepping out of the gym and feeling the wind, I knew it would not be a good day to try them. Despite this, I did so anyways. HA HA.
Going out was really slow, and the pack let me lead them out to Bonita Canyon at my pace. We tried to get a little organized for a run up Shady Start and even attempted to be rolling once the light turned green, but it didn't really work out too well. Jeremy broke away early on, so I was in chase mode (almost sprint) to get up on his wheel. However, by the time I caught up to him, I already had momentum where I opted to just pass him and try to hold onto my pace. Vin came out of nowhere and passed me for a little bit, but he was tired from his effort to catch up so I was around him shortly after. Now the funny thing is (which i probably shouldn't admit) is that I never really studied the segment. It was over a mile long! Again, I was in almost sprint mode from the very beginning, so at some point I popped like an old balloon and was barely going 17 mph...not exactly the right speed when I'm trying to achieve over a 25 mph average. Looking at the comparison tab in Strava though, I was ahead of my PR run on it for the first half mile, but the wind beat me down pretty good after that making for almost a laughable attempt. So it goes.
Jeremy, Vin and the others caught or passed me before we got on Sunnyhill, and the guys helped shield the wind on Turtle Rock subsequently...well, almost. I was a little off the back still trying to recover. When we went up the other side, Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell and Hiroshi had broken away, so although I wanted to save some for Ridgeline, I figured I'd have enough to pick it up a little here and passed Hiroshi with Jaffe in tow. We didn't catch the 3 ahead of us until they were headed back onto Sunnyhill.
Going up Shady, Vin led the initial charge, but Jeremy had broken away where it got steep right after the first bridge. Mitchell didn't seem interested in closing the gap, so I went ahead and did so just to keep my legs warm. I tried to shake Mitchell off at the top to keep him honest, but he flipped that script and stuck to my rear the whole time.
When we made our way down, the guys regrouped and allowed me to sit in the back and prepare for the climb up Ridgeline. Jeremy kept looking back to make sure I was okay...either that or he was thinking WTF? Get up here and help. HA HA.
Going up Ridgeline, Hiroshi broke away pretty early, as did Jeremy but Jeremy was looking back waiting for me to latch on. Since there was a good sized gap, I was not about to blow myself up too early, but I had to work just to be able to catch both of them. As on Shady, once I did, I didn't really spend any time behind them and went around to try to keep the pace up as I ascended. Mitchell, my wingman, stayed behind me the whole time going up. In this run, I was again ahead for a little bit early on, but fell off the pace after 2/5 of the way up. That's a long hill too!
Mitchell came around and helped going down Turtle Rock, and after everyone caught us to go on Culver, everyone was doing their fair share of work going through Bonita Canyon.
When we got on Ford, I started to pull back a little while Mitchell, Jaffe and Hiroshi went ahead. Vin and Jeremy stayed back with me and asked if I was going to try the Condo. I told them I'd give it a run. After rounding the corner, I took off and got past the three guys ahead of me in the first quarter of the hill. I didn't have enough to contest the prior record because...well...I'm old and I'm slow.
After regrouping at the McArthur light, I stayed in the back to see what the plan was for a final sprint. Hiroshi ended up breaking away early and Jaffe was in the chase group with Vin and I behind him. Vin came around and reeled Hiroshi in and I stayed on his rear wheel as we passed him. I wanted to sprint off the seat, but I had nothing left and I was just able to get beside Vin as we neared the corner to California. Good enough.
That wind was pretty tough today, so this was actually a lot tougher than I expected. Although not immediately visible, I did break some power records today holding 8.6 W/kg for a minute, 6.7 W/kg for 2, and 5.4 for 3 minutes. It went south fast after that though. Now if only someone would explain to me what that means.
Thanks for the training, gents!
Okay, so I missed yesterday's ride and needed to find a way to give people the incentive to come out today given Wednesday rides are not the norm. The sell was if we can attack certain Strava segments and get KOMs, one may be entitled to receive a tasty 6 pack beverage for the "worthiest" KOM. Well, I got some people to come out (Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell, Jaffe, Hiroshi and Mike Z. - they all probabloy would have come out regardless) but none of us were successful in achieving a KOM. HA HA.
My plan was to attack two segments in today's route: "Shady Start" and "Ridgeline." However, after stepping out of the gym and feeling the wind, I knew it would not be a good day to try them. Despite this, I did so anyways. HA HA.
Going out was really slow, and the pack let me lead them out to Bonita Canyon at my pace. We tried to get a little organized for a run up Shady Start and even attempted to be rolling once the light turned green, but it didn't really work out too well. Jeremy broke away early on, so I was in chase mode (almost sprint) to get up on his wheel. However, by the time I caught up to him, I already had momentum where I opted to just pass him and try to hold onto my pace. Vin came out of nowhere and passed me for a little bit, but he was tired from his effort to catch up so I was around him shortly after. Now the funny thing is (which i probably shouldn't admit) is that I never really studied the segment. It was over a mile long! Again, I was in almost sprint mode from the very beginning, so at some point I popped like an old balloon and was barely going 17 mph...not exactly the right speed when I'm trying to achieve over a 25 mph average. Looking at the comparison tab in Strava though, I was ahead of my PR run on it for the first half mile, but the wind beat me down pretty good after that making for almost a laughable attempt. So it goes.
Jeremy, Vin and the others caught or passed me before we got on Sunnyhill, and the guys helped shield the wind on Turtle Rock subsequently...well, almost. I was a little off the back still trying to recover. When we went up the other side, Jeremy, Vin, Mitchell and Hiroshi had broken away, so although I wanted to save some for Ridgeline, I figured I'd have enough to pick it up a little here and passed Hiroshi with Jaffe in tow. We didn't catch the 3 ahead of us until they were headed back onto Sunnyhill.
Going up Shady, Vin led the initial charge, but Jeremy had broken away where it got steep right after the first bridge. Mitchell didn't seem interested in closing the gap, so I went ahead and did so just to keep my legs warm. I tried to shake Mitchell off at the top to keep him honest, but he flipped that script and stuck to my rear the whole time.
When we made our way down, the guys regrouped and allowed me to sit in the back and prepare for the climb up Ridgeline. Jeremy kept looking back to make sure I was okay...either that or he was thinking WTF? Get up here and help. HA HA.
Going up Ridgeline, Hiroshi broke away pretty early, as did Jeremy but Jeremy was looking back waiting for me to latch on. Since there was a good sized gap, I was not about to blow myself up too early, but I had to work just to be able to catch both of them. As on Shady, once I did, I didn't really spend any time behind them and went around to try to keep the pace up as I ascended. Mitchell, my wingman, stayed behind me the whole time going up. In this run, I was again ahead for a little bit early on, but fell off the pace after 2/5 of the way up. That's a long hill too!
Mitchell came around and helped going down Turtle Rock, and after everyone caught us to go on Culver, everyone was doing their fair share of work going through Bonita Canyon.
When we got on Ford, I started to pull back a little while Mitchell, Jaffe and Hiroshi went ahead. Vin and Jeremy stayed back with me and asked if I was going to try the Condo. I told them I'd give it a run. After rounding the corner, I took off and got past the three guys ahead of me in the first quarter of the hill. I didn't have enough to contest the prior record because...well...I'm old and I'm slow.
After regrouping at the McArthur light, I stayed in the back to see what the plan was for a final sprint. Hiroshi ended up breaking away early and Jaffe was in the chase group with Vin and I behind him. Vin came around and reeled Hiroshi in and I stayed on his rear wheel as we passed him. I wanted to sprint off the seat, but I had nothing left and I was just able to get beside Vin as we neared the corner to California. Good enough.
That wind was pretty tough today, so this was actually a lot tougher than I expected. Although not immediately visible, I did break some power records today holding 8.6 W/kg for a minute, 6.7 W/kg for 2, and 5.4 for 3 minutes. It went south fast after that though. Now if only someone would explain to me what that means.
Thanks for the training, gents!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)