Lunch Ride - The Hot and Muggy Puke Route in the Wind

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/64314049

With the upcoming holiday weekend, I wasn't figuring on seeing a big crew for today's lunch ride.  To add to it, Vince had called for the Puke route, so I thought that may discourage those not wanting to do a ton of climbing on such a hot, muggy day like today.  However, we actually had a pretty decent sized crew consisting of Todd, Vince, Jeremy, Vin, Adrian Andy and Mr. Funny Guy himself, Marc Rabin.  It's probably been over a year since Marc has ridden with us, so welcome back!

One of the conditions Vince set for the ride is that if you're in the front group, you must do extra credit unless you're more than 15 feet behind the lead guy, who we expected would be Todd.  For me, the plan was to just stay behind Todd as much as possible and see how that goes.  I think everyone was thinking the same thing at the start, so no one wanted to leave until he did.  However, he wasn't interested in leading right away, so Jeremy and Vince took off and ended up pulling away from the rest of us.  Of course, everyone else lined up behind Todd as part of the chase group.  HA HA

While Vince and Jeremy worked together to keep ahead of us, we let Todd lead us out all the way to Anteater.  While Vin would have been complacent to continue to hold Todd out even longer, I finally decided to take a turn up front and offer him some relief as well as help try to close in on the two guys ahead.  Adrian took a turn as well on Bonita Canyon, but we were not able to close in on Vince and Jeremy before they made the left on NPC.

When the rest of us got to the left turn lane to start the climb, the anxiety was too much resulting in some giving chase to the two guys ahead.  I ended up going through the intersection last while Todd and Adrian gave chase with the rest between us.  I knew Todd was going to find the right pace to do so, especially given the horrible wind conditions (headwind on the climb), so I made my way past the others and latched onto Adrian's wheel as he was latched on to Todd's.

Todd was holding a good pace on the climb as we started to pull away from those behind us, and to my surprise I couldn't believe Adrian was hanging on for as long as he did.  He stayed with Todd until the 73 underpass, and then I saw him start to pop off.  I made my way around him to latch onto Todd's wheel as he made his way to reeling Jeremy in.  Once we passed, Jeremy latched on and it seemed we were getting close to having Vince meet the same fate.  However, Vince continued to be a slippery fish who got the jump ahead of us on Park, so I was going to just try and hang on to Todd's wheel some more as we climbed up that beast of a hill.

For a while, I was doing okay and stayed with Todd up through and around the bend.  Jeremy had fallen a little off, but I kept thinking he's probably just playing possum.  As Todd started ascending on the last part before the stop sign, he started to pull away from me.  Wouldn't you know it, once he crossed Vista, I was just far back enough to where I was not required to do the extra credit according to Vince's pre-ride clause (wink wink).  Oh darn!

As Todd went straight giving chase to Vince, who had also done the extra credit given he was in the lead, I made the right turn on Vista accordingly. I figured I'd give them someone to chase and hoped that someone else would roll up on me so that I'd be able to work with them to keep ahead.

When I got stopped at the left to NPC, I kept looking back and no one.  I got stopped at the first Pelican light and looked back...no one.  After climbing Pelican and getting stopped at that light on NPC I looked back.  You got it...no one.  I pulled back just a notch as I started climbing Vista and still didn't see anyone behind me upon reaching the false flat.  I could have just chilled at that point, but there's always this nagging suspicion that someone's going to blow past me where I kept my power level just a little under threshold as I finished the rest of the climb up Vista.

I contemplated on doing extra credit knowing I was up front, but I'd rather not get separated from the group and ended up waiting across the street to regroup just after the stop sign.  Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.  When I saw someone cresting Vista, I thought it was Todd and was certain he would pull over with me and wait for the rest.  When I looked up again and realized it was Vince, all I saw after was him going by me as he started the descent.  HA HA...nice.

I couldn't resist and gave chase once I realized what happened, but chasing Vince on a descent is not really productive...especially with a compact crank.  I know the guy can descend, so my strategy was just to not let him pull away and just hold the distance until he gets caught at a light or if not, try and reel him in on Bonita Canyon if possible.  That strategy spit on my face as Vince slipped through the green light after the 73 underpass and having it turn yellow and red to catch me behind it.

Maybe there was still a chance to catch him at an intersection, but after hitting the next 2-3 lights consecutively, I figured I was on my own.  It really sucked to be on my own on Bonita Canyon too.  The wind on that section just blew (literally and figuratively).  I did keep looking back, half expecting someone to roll up on me, but ended up finishing the rest of the ride like a Heart song...Alone.  Vince was already at the gym upon my arrival, and the rest of the guys trickled in just behind me.  From what I heard, traffic lights were not good to them either.  I guess we all met that fate today.

After 2000 feet of climbing in ~18 miles, I'd say I'm ready for this long 4th of July weekend.  Then again, anyone want to ride tomorrow?  :)

Thanks for coming out, gents!

Lunch TT Trainer with Todd and Andy

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/64099132

After a weekend solo outing on the TT bike having fun chasing people down, which by the way is one way BAM represents, today it was my turn to get chased.  Thus, the huntER becomes the huntED.  And when you're being chased by the the current GP TT first place holder, THE Todd Jacobs, it's quite unnerving to say the least.  Even with a head start, I was convinced it would just be a matter of time when he would catch and pass me.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't make him work for it though....

Andy also came out for some TT action, but he was set on doing his own thing given he is still recovering from last week's spill.  We weren't sure what time he was going to make it out as he mentioned possibly taking off early, but he ended up coming out just after Todd left.  I figured I'd see him in front of us, but it was only as I was heading back toward Back Bay that we crossed paths.  Sorry for the disconnect, but it looks like you had a solid solo outing according to Strava.

When I took off, I was hoping to have about a 4 minute head start from Todd given it was already 11:41 and Todd was planning on taking off just at 11:45.  Of course, I hit the light on Bison and end up sitting there until 11:43.   By the time I got down to the light after University, which was red, it was already 11:45 so I knew Todd was on his way.  With no cars making a left turn, I was certain Todd would be rolling up on me soon.  Miraculously, it finally turned green and I took off.  I didn't look back since I figured doing so and seeing Todd would just spike my heart rate, so I just settled in hoping to keep him off as long as I could.

Going through Back Bay (out) was pretty windy, so I knew it would not be a record setting pace.  Looking at my speed (ranging between 21-24 mph), I was thinking should I try to go faster and risk the possibility of blowing up or just try to hold this speed to make it out of the wind.  I chose the latter, but doing so always gave me that eerie feeling that Todd was just behind me.  Still, I wouldn't look back for the same reason as earlier.

Going onto Jamboree and up to PCH, I was still just trying to stay at threshold knowing I can recover a little going down on PCH toward Bayside.  I think I did peek a little as I approached Bayside just to see if Todd was behind me, and no sign of him yet.  I was not going to slow down though as I know Todd never stops pedaling. He's a machine on his TT bike.

On my way through Back Bay (in), I was feeling a little better so I was able to crank it up a bit.  Looking at Todd's stats, he also had cranked it up as well and was reeling me in little by little as he had through other segments.  However, I was able to make it out of Back Bay alone.

When I got on Jamboree, my goal was to try to keep the power steady and hope Todd doesn't catch me on the climb.  I know it's getting a little repetitious how I keep thinking Todd's right there, but that is seriously how my ride went.  From this point on, know that the rest of the ride went pretty much like that too.

I was fortunate that I didn't have any long stops on Jamboree to PCH, but it looks like Todd did according to Strava.  He lost over a minute on that segment to me, but his move speed overall was faster where it was obvious he had caught some red lights.  I think it was due to this that he was not able to see me for the rest of the ride.  I'm sure he never stopped chasing just as much as I never stopped trying to run away.

On the final pass through Back Bay, there was more traffic and people, and Todd had gained some ground on me in that segment as well.  When I got to California and waited for the light to change, I was peering around the bush on the trail expecting to see his front tire roll up.  A girl or a cruiser bike had rolled up to that light as well and was probably wondering what the hell I was staring at behind us.

In the end, we both got 23+ mph average with Todd besting me (as expected) by .3 to .4 mph.  I think him chasing me and me being chased pushed us both resulting in some great times despite the wind.  I know I was worked by the time I got to the gym.  Thanks, beast!

June 29: Tour Begins >> You Must Ride

My re-cap of today’s ride, the unabridged version, reading it is certainly optional!

 

Today, had a lot of things going for it as far as expectations of ride quality go.  The last Saturday of the month the TwoHubs crew rides, Food Park was one, and finally the Tour De France was starting.  With all that to look forward to why bother worrying about things like the weather….

 

Around 7:15 I rolled into the TwoHubs lot figuring I was a bit early.  This wasn’t the last time I’d be thinking, “Do I have the right time?”   Anyway, by 8am I realized something was off and I had better roll for Food Park. I’d be the only one representing TwoHubstoday, which by the way, means a nice BLACK jersey.

 

During the 15miles to the Coffee Bean (where FP starts) I kept wondering, “Do they really start at 8:45?”  I must have read that wrong?  Vince was pretty amazed too, but luckily it is true.  Although, if you aren’t in the pro pelaton, starting at almost 9am means you probably aren’t itching to crush it. 

 

We got rolling on time.  The pace picked up nicely.  And, it was just nice to be in the peloton moving at near 30mph, my how the bikes were whistling J

 

The course went to Sand Canyon then towards Quail Hill, which means a round-about.  We collided with another crew there but got through, as they circled and circled.  At the first light the lead group got broke away and the rest of us could do nothing but watch.  Vince looked back for me, from the front row, and I knew what that meant. 

 

It seemed like we could regroup by the crest of the incline, but after another light we were not closing.  Vince and I were trying though, and it was getting pretty painful.  I believe Jaffe wasn’t too far back, he was with us by the time we got back to Alton.

 

Somewhere about this time Vince and I got separated, he was up front and made a turn, I was mid pack and not in position to go with. The lead group somewhere ahead.

 

After the turn onto Irvine Center quite a bit of yelling ensued do to some of the guys running the lights due to the intersections being vacant.  Yeah, I suppose that is a bit of a problem.  As I watched the lead group disappear into the horizon and the vocal folks turning into conversationalists I knew I had a bit of a problem, particularly with Vince out of sight also.

 

Jaffe and I were working the front with some of the strong guys I recognized from the Coffee Crew, particularly the Ferrari guys, who really move.  On the climb from Lake Forest to El Toro we tried to regroup with the front runners via a bike path short cut. Unfortunately, as I found out later, Jaffe had dropped his water and so we got separated. But, my move nearly worked, they were in sight, but then, another light, Doh!

 

Luckily, another rider started working with me on the Laguna Cyn.  If the heat wasn’t a complete punch in the face, it was blatantly obvious by the cars backed up to El Toro en route to the beach.

 

I didn’t know where Vince came from but we regrouped just past NPC and started rotating with some others through CDM.  Near Jamboree I was Vince harnessed his inner Galen and took the lead.   Nice!  The group dissipated at SART, Vince led Jaffe and us to a detour entrance, near his house, and the two of us headed for the hills.

 

On the entire 22 miles of SART we worked together with exactly zero people.  At the usual Circle K we refueled and then made our way to the Imperial climb.  The temps were really rising by this point, my garminseemed inflated, but was showing about 100.

 

So it started to get a bit more interesting when we rolled up on the Jamboree/Santiago Chevron.  I wanted to get more water in case we had any trouble in the Canyon, which was looking likely given the traffic going into it was backed up to nearly where we were standing.  The gas station was reminding me of a Laughlin River Run, I’ve never seen a photo shoot for Low Rider magazine, but they may have been happening?  What was definitely happening was folks icing down six packs in their saddle bags and gearing up for what appeared to be the rest of the day.

 

The climb up Dump Hill started out nicely, we were making our way past the parked cars. Eventually, people started jumping out their cars.  By this point it was HOT and refreshments or something was in order.  I may have been hallucinating, there appeared to be a guy with a full set of drums playing there in the gravel. 

 

Soon enough Jaffe and I had an entire line of Harley Davidsons following us in the bike lane.  I thought they wanted to go by, but when the leader was yelling, “No, it’s cool, come on!”  I guessed he was okay with my pace.  It was getting hairy though due to broken down cars, and cars now following in the bike lane.  Finally, past Irvine lake the Born Free contingent made their exit.

 

Jaffe and I got past Silverado and came up on another rider.  Any Christians please pardon me, but the guy was wearing a pink sweatshirt that proudly said he got his power from Jesus Christ, and full gloves, or mittens. When we went around he proudly stated he would ride beside us.  That was fine, but kind of strange.  Once it started seeming really strange I upshifted and tried to get away.  I don’t get beaten down in the canyon that often, but I was side by side with this guy for about three miles.  I didn’t know if I should back off so he didn’t stroke out or what, but after a while I had no choice as it was 106 degrees and this guy wasn’t even breathing hard.  There was something divine going on out there, the dude was possibly 70 years old, full beard, and certainly holding his own. If only Jaffe hadn’t seen it I could have written it off as a delusion.

 

Somehow Jaffe persevered and I see he made it home, I turned off just past Glen Ranch.  Nice work Jaffe!

 

Shannon

Lunch Ride - Hot, Windy, and Just Downright Painful

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/63271069

Given Velominati rule #5, it's pretty much considered taboo to suggest that one is tired when coming out for our lunch training rides.  Additionally, most of the guys on the team are training night and day in some form or another as well, so it's hard to justify this as an excuse for poor performance...even when it's HOT and windy.  Oh well...I was tired coming out, was hot as all hell, got beat up by the wind, and just plain sucked on the ride today.  So sue me.

In all seriousness, Andy came out and joined us (Vince, Jeremy, Jaffe and Vin) for today's ride despite having crashed on a mountain bike race on Tuesday.  I really need to shut the hell up about being tired.  He was going to make the best of it despite what he described as feeling like his shoulder was dislocated.  Adrian also crashed mountain biking not too long ago, or so he said, but I didn't mention his injury on the blog because it was likely that his wife just beat him up again for not calling her after riding with us.

As far as today's ride's concerned (because I'm sure that's why you read these silly blogs),  it was the Vince and Jeremy show.  They were putting on the hurt as much as possible despite the heat while the rest of us tried to keep up.  

What's funny is that people thought I hung back on Back Bay to tow Andy back into the group.  Uh...no.  I just couldn't keep up and opted to ride with someone willing to keep a reasonable pace on such a hot day.

We were fortunate to be able to regroup at the Jamboree and PCH intersection, but I think I fell off 2-3 more times during the ride.  I did take some pulls when I could, but mostly to prevent Vince from giving me crap in the locker room.  And he would too.

Speaking of Vince, he decided to play rabbit starting from Ocean and did whatever it took to keep us chasing him.  Since he was on his own, he was only responsible for his own safety and thus should be commended for giving us a target.  Perspective.

Jeremy, on the other hand, while leading the rest of us was very safety oriented and obeyed all the traffic signals.  Kudos!  Despite this, he was still able to help reel in those who didn't.  And even then, I'd pop off the back.

When we got to El Moro, we were getting close to Vince who had to endure the wind by himself, but a light held us back from being able to do so.  Jeremy and I were making some ground on him on NPC, but just couldn't close enough where regrouping at the top with the others seemed more fun (less painful).  That was the last we saw of Vince on the road. One thing worth noting was that as Jeremy and I waited for the others at the top, we see Andy and Jaffe riding up together in what was obviously a conversational pace given that they were chatting it up. They're lucky Todd wasn't there (he left and did his own thing due to a meeting) or the truth would have set them free.

Jeremy led us at the top of Bonita Canyon onto McArthur and Bison, and I saw Vin looming around looking like he was setting up a sprint.  I took off just before the 2nd light on the 73, and still no response from the kid.  Sigh.

Thanks for coming out even on this hot windy day, gents.  Sorry I sucked, and if you've read this far, sorry I wrote about sucking.  

Lunch Ride - Dodged A Bullet So Time to Ride

Strava:  I hit start on replacement Garmin and nada.  (BOO!)

On Wednesday last week, I secured a different position at BRCM and as a result, I get to stay on the team!  I'll spare the details, but I sure am glad the drama is over and we can resume team activities as usual.  Go Team BRCM!!!

For today, we had a pretty good-sized outing with Vince, Todd, Shannon, Vin, Jaffe, Jeremy and Noah coming out and joining me for the Dodged a bullet ride.  The route was through Anteater, up san Miguel, Spyglass, San Joaquin, down NPC, Pelican, hit PCH, go through CDM via Ocean, and back toward BB and Jamboree.  There were two predetermined regroup points (top of NPC and on Poppy) to help keep everyone together, so it was a "team" ride in this regard.  Almost everyone represented BRCM colors but given Tiff is pregnant (who else will do the laundry, right? - just kidding), we'll give Vince the pass for today.

Jeremy led us out again (I already gave him kudos previously), and in typical fashion, broke away from the bunch of us by the time we started going up E. Peltason.  I tried to pick up the group to latch them on but it didn't seem like anyone was interested right away.  Thus, I was going to hold Jeremy out until they caught up.  Yeah...that's it.  That's the ticket.

After the group caught up, I tried to take the front only to have Todd pass me right away so....  Then, Shannon started to spin up and all I could do was latch on and stay on his wheel all the way up to Bonita Canyon.  I took the front after but was relieved by Vince, Jaffe and Vin subsequently followed by a Noah sprint to the light.  Nice.

Going up San Miguel, Todd led initially but Shannon pulled the rest of the way up to and onto Spyglass.  Todd tried to take the front, but I jumped ahead to see what kind of pace I can hold.  I almost got to the very top ahead of everyone, but once Todd and shannon passed just before the crest, I was already going into recovery mode in preparation for the San Joaquin climb.  I know...weak, right?  Vince and Jeremy came by also, but we were all caught at the light to make the left.

Once the light turned green, I went ahead and took the front again on the climb to keep things interesting, but of course, I didn't have enough to latch on when Shannon and Todd made their way past me.  Jeremy also made his way past me toward the 2nd section that pitched up.  Vince made his way past when it flattened out at the top.  Thankfully, there was that regroup point on NPC.  Then again, maybe that was the plan.  Muahaha.

After we ALL regrouped where I got verbally abused...even threatened for doing so (damned if we do, damned if we don't), we were off.  Gotta love this team, I tell ya.  Shannon and Todd were again on the attack and set up for a breakaway once we got on Pelican.  The rest of us were in chase mode up the hill, but I was hanging back a little trying to setup the climb after hitting the bottom.  Vince and Jeremy were just ahead of me at that point, so I used them to slingshot my way up to Todd and Shannon on the climb.  Once we reached the top, I saw someone passing to my left half expecting it to be either Shannon or Todd, but lo and behold...it was the Jaffe-nator (who Todd also refers to as the "gapper").  Nice, Steve.

The breakaway attempts continued on PCH with Vince being the primary instigator, but he and Noah got caught at the light just before we got into CDM.  When we got onto Poppy, there was no need to regroup as we were all together at that point.  Noah opted to go straight and be the rabbit to chase on BB, but the rest of us went through CDM.

On the left turn to Poppy, Jeremy was expressing how he was glad I was back on the ride since he enjoys a little sprinkle of Rich on his glasses.  Better that than on his chin I guess (wink wink).

CDM was pretty incident free, but Shannon once again broke away through the neighborhood seemingly having taken notes from Vince's cycling rule book.  Fortunately, we were all together again for the left turn back onto PCH.

We missed Galen not being out with us for the final stretch of PCH leading up to Jamboree, but when Vince pointed this out, what he didn't realize was he basically was saying my pull during that section pretty much sucked.  HAHAHAHA...damn.

When we got on Back Bay drive after using the crosswalk, I guess the guys were a little tentative so Jaffe manned up and took the lead initially.  It's rare he gets kudos, so....  Shannon took over eventually bringing the pace up just before we passed the gate, and the rotations resumed.  I was originally ahead of Vin, but even he stepped up and jumped ahead of me in the rotation.  This is either a testament to the ongoing improvements with the team, or I should expect pigs to fly in the very near future.

Toward the tail end of Back Bay, there was still no sign of Noah, and Shannon did the final pull leading up to the hill at the end.  Vince broke away for a sprint to the top with Jeremy and Todd not far behind, then Jeremy broke away on Eastbluff with Todd giving chase up Jamboree.  Noah was just ahead of the two as they crested at the top, but Jeremy and Todd opted to keep their breakaway and made the left turn at the light.  I tried to give chase on the Jamboree climb, but my legs and lungs lost interest half-way up.

I was hoping to make the light on McArthur after we were heading down Bison, but the stupid light before it had everyone at the intersection stopped (including us) with no on going through.  This was where we watched Todd and Jeremy take off at the green on McArthur, and understandbly so.  After all, climbers don't sprint, right?

When we finally got to McArthur, I was wondering if Vin (who keeps calling me out offline to sprint on Bison) was going to get some.  Noah had gotten ahead of us right away, but I setup the sprint just before the 2nd light over the 73.  Once I saw it turned green, I took off probably startling Noah in the process.  The young guy didn't pass me for that sprint, so I guess we'll just have to wait another day for him to make good on his promise.

Good right today, folks.  I'm definitely glad to be a part of it as there's no better way to turn myself inside out during lunch than riding with this crew. Thanks! 

Lunch Ride - NPC Pelican PCH CDM Bayside BB CA Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/61528067

Much like the theme to many M. Night Shyamalan movies, most things in life seem to happen for one reason or another.  Take today's lunch ride for example.  If I weren't leaving my position in the Controller QA group, maybe Noah would have never come out for another lunch ride again...especially through Back Bay.  Maybe Jeremy would have coaxed people once again to do the Puke route today rather than what Vince had prefaced as being "nice and easy" (I'll come back to this).  Maybe Jaffe wouldn't ever see his name in a blog again despite whether he rode or not.   Who knows?  The possibilities are endless!  Fortunately, my fate was sealed and tomorrow is my last day in that group so let's just focus on the "what is" vs. the "what may have been,"  shall we?

I missed the regular Tuesday ride, so I announced late yesterday my plans to get one in at lunch today.  Unfortunately, my late notice prevented some from being able to make it out (sorry) but Adrian, Vince, Jaffe, Jeremy and Noah came out for the rather impromptu ride.  Yes...Noah.  The last minute route choice for Vince's "nice and easy" ride was to go up NPC, down Pelican, PCH, CDM, BB and CA loop.  Easy enough, right?

It started off easy enough with Jeremy leading out the group (something he's been stepping up to do a lot lately - kudos).  Jaffe was comfortable enough to pull to the front on Anteater, which wouldn't normally be the case under faster starts.  I took the front after and tried to lead the group to a slightly livelier pace but nothing too crazy, but doing so always seems to get others in a frenzy.  Once we got on NPC, you could pretty much chuck "nice and easy" out the window. 

Jeremy and Vince broke away early, and the rest of us followed together for a while but eventually broke into two chase groups.  Noah and I weren't too far behind, and Adrian and Jaffe were just behind us where we were fortunately able to regroup at the intersection of Ridge Park and NPC. 

We started off together again but continuing on the livelier pace all the way to Pelican.  Once we made the right turn to Pelican, Vince and Adrian started to break away with Jeremy leading the chase group behind them.  We never lost sight of Vince and Adrian, but they definitely weren't out ahead of us being "nice."  As karma would have it, they ended up having to slow for a car who pulled out from a side street not yielding them the right of way.  This gave me the opportunity to close in on them some after a charge up the hill after at the bottom.  However, they weren't interested in the company so they kept going.  According to Vince, Adrian had coaxed him into wanting to break away from me for what he believed would be his last chance, so they were working to do so both on the rest of the NPC downhill and on PCH.  Nice.

Fortunately for me, I was able to latch onto Adrian's rear wheel on PCH, which upon doing so got him to give me kudos.  I still helped pull on the way to Poppy only to have Vince tell me once we got there how I only caught them because of that car on Pelican.  I did remind him of his "nice and easy" disclaimer before the ride, and we both chuckled accordingly after. 

We regrouped and rode through CDM and did adhere to taking it easy there just so we can soak up some scenery (ahem).   That only lasted up until we got back on PCH and then the intensity/madness ensued.  Everyone was still together though as Adrian and Jaffe led us through Bayside and the bike trail beside the trailer park.

Once we got on Back Bay, we started as a group with Noah leading us out initially despite his resistance to turning.  We kept going from there with others taking the front and taking turns despite cars being in the way.  Toward the end of Back Bay, I knew taking the front was going to get me setup and sure enough, I started up the hill only to be passed by both Vince and Adrian to the sidewalk.

The three of us broke away from the others at this point and Vince led us originally to be followed by Adrian subsequently.  I didn't take the front this time since I knew I'd meet the same fate, so we held Adrian out enough for Vince to start his sprint but inadvertently lead me out past him just before California.  Thus, the setup-er becomes the setup-ee.

Going up California, we hoped to regroup but Noah mistook this as an opportunity to break away.  BAM lives within him as well.  I was able to catch and work with him on the up, but that was only because he felt bad about my work situation; something he clarified after the ride.  Thanks, bud!

If these guys didn't make it out today, I wouldn't have gotten an excellent workout once again.  Things do happen for a reason, and all I can say is riding with this team is truly why I'm passionate about the sport and even more so the people with whom I ride.  Thanks, guy!

 

Team Double Canyon Pass Ride - The Finale

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/60628893

With my separation date of 6-20-13 fast approaching, I had setup this finale ride weeks back in order to get one last ride in with the team while I still work at Broadcom.  I wasn't sure who'll be able to make it, but Shannon, Todd, Noah, Mitchell, Vin, Galen, Adrian, Andy, Jeremy, Verm and Hiroshi showed up in BRCM white to represent on the bike.  Eddie and James came by after to hang out at Noah's and Sarah's, who graciously offered to host the post-ride festivities.  Pam, Heather and Nicole showed up after as well making for another memorable event for the books.

The objectives for this ride were simple:  1) go out as a team, 2) no one drops, 3) enjoy the company and 4) represent.  Of course, in true fashion it wouldn't be a team ride absent of a little BAM here and there.  

Todd offered to have Pam give me a ride home, but this entailed riding to his house in the morning and riding to Noah's picking up Vin on the way.  This 22 mile commute was easy enough despite some climbs here and there, and we still were able to drop some guy on a TT bike who tried to pass us on Irvine Blvd.  

Upon arriving at Noah's, almost everyone was there already with the rest arriving shortly after.  I must say I was a little overwhelmed to see such a great turnout, but sorry there's just no crying in cycling.  Rule #5 strikes again.  I also saw Shanon had his tubulars on, so I knew he'd be doing his share and more of the work out there as usual.   It's how he rolls.

After everyone was set to go and after some pictures, which I hope the others will forward to me, we were off.  It wasn't long before we were on Irvine Blvd where initially I stayed toward the back just taking it all in how cool we looked going out representing in such good numbers.  When we saw Noah pedaling away from the group in a frantic pace, however, I thought it would help alleviate some of the emotions brewing inside by giving chase.  Todd accompanied me for the chase only to find out upon getting to Noah that he had pedaled away hoping to resync his PowerTap.  It didn't help that Todd and I both had PowerTaps too.  Haha.  We backed off and joined the group, but then Jeremy did what we had just done.  With Jeremy having a standard rear hub though, he didn't receive the same disapproving look upon getting to Noah as we did. 

Eventually, we were all rolling together again and despite it being a no drop ride, the guys were still rolling toward El Toro at a respectable pace.  We reeled in a pretty decent sized group who cheered us on as we passed.  My excitement got the best of me and I actually joined them in the cheering.  "Woo hoo...Team Broadcom!"  Seriously a dork moment there, folks.

The pace going up El Toro was moderate (compared to the manic pace I've experienced on the Como Street ride), but as we neared Cook's, it definitely seemed Como-esque.  I took to the back to play sweeper thinking that the charge up to the top would result in guys popping off early on.  I even backed off the group a bit to still get some good hill training in thinking I would be able to pass a couple guys before the 2nd crest (first designated regroup point).  When I saw them pulling away in a pretty tight pack, however, I literally thought to myself "Oh shit!"  Fortunately, I was just able to get to the 2nd crest behind a couple of the guys, but I knew at that point there'll be no more underestimating during the rest of the ride.  These guys are legit!

On the descent, BAM was still in full effect and the guys were hauling.  Todd somehow had gotten behind me on the descent early on, and he was calling me Jaffe since I had left a gap between myself and the rest.  We still managed to close the gap, so I waved Todd on to resume my sweeper duties.  

The guys were all rotating in a fairly orderly fashion with some getting back in the paceline right away rather than rolling all the way to the back.  For those who would roll all the way to the back, they did so willingly just in front of me after I called to them.    Needless to say, this kept the pace up through the canyon.  There were some moments when I thought someone wasn't going to be able to latch on, but latch on they did.  Again...legit.

The pace was relentless as we made our way by the lake, so it did eventually take its toll.  After Hiroshi rolled out from the front, he just wasn't able to latch on and started to drop off.  I jumped in front of him and pointed at my rear wheel, so he latched on as we tried to get him back to the group.  We actually closed a little, but  he needed to recover just a little more where I checked up again to give him some wind protection to the base of Dump Hill.  There was suppose to be a regroup point at the top, so I took off once we got there.

I had rolled up to Shannon at the top where he heeded the next designated regroup point while the others got into mixing it up with someone who tried to challenge them on the climb up Dump.  Hiroshi wasn't far behind, so we regrouped and rode down to the rest at Jamboree.  Except for Noah, those waiting at the bottom had turned around already expecting to go through the canyon again.  However, that would have taken away a significant number of miles from the actual route planned where we were going to turn around somewhere on Irvine Blvd.  Thus, we got everyone straightened out and were headed up Jamboree subsequently.

Just to spice up the ride a little bit, I thought I'd lay down an attack on the Jamboree climb and see when (not if) it would take the rest to catch back up to me.  It seemed I did catch those up front sleeping, so I was able to get a gap immediately after sprinting by.  Upon reach the top, I was hoping the descent would allow me to hold the gap even more but it wasn't too long before I looked back and saw Galen leading the group coming fast behind me.  I tried a final sprint effort as they closed on me, but that probably only gave me an extra second, if that, before they closed and began to pass. We still mixed it up some as we headed to Portola, with Noah even getting in the mix.  On a downhill?  Wha?

Shannon opted to take a bio break somewhere at the Portola intersection, so I looked for more opportunities to take another attack or two.  Noah was still game and was also launching attacks, so the trading back and forth was reminiscent of a Como ride for sure.  Fun times!

Rather than turning around at Culver on Irvine Blvd, it seemed best to just make a u-turn and head back up Jamboree toward the canyons for the 2nd pass.  We passed Irvine Regional Park and apparently, Madison saw us in our BRCM kits during her Saturday run. See that?  People notice.

After Shannon jumped back on, we started up the Jamboree climb toward Santiago, and as always it became another contest to the top.  Nice.  Andy seemed to have dropped off a little, so I was trying to work to bring him back to the group albeit we were only going to stop at the Chevron for a refueling.  He was telling me he was thinking about turning back around at some point during the canyon should he fall off again and just head back home to get ready for the afternoon festivities.  Despite my attempt to help, he was still pulling past me at some points, then ended up leading the group up Dump for the most part, and actually ended up finishing out the ride staying in the group for the rest of the ride.  That's some OG BAM right there.

When we were heading up Dump, we started passing a lot of riders who apparently had come out for the Big Ring Century, which goes through the canyon the same direction.  It was pretty cool to pass all sorts of people with the size of our group, so truly Team Broadcom was out and in effect representing.  There were some who chose to get in our line, including a rider from Veloviet, but there weren't too many who stayed on for too long.  The pace was actually getting a little too hot for a couple of our own riders as we neared Modjeska, but I jumped ahead of them and we were successfully able to re-attach back to the group before the final climb up towards Cooks. 

As we were climbing up, we were bunched up originally and some other riders, including one in a Rockform kit, had gotten behind us.  I started to push up to see if I could shake him off, but once we got close to the first crest, he started spinning up by me.  Of course, I returned the favor and beat him to the crest.  I had gotten by the others at this point except for Todd, who had broken away on the climb.  I prepared for the 2nd crest by charging after Todd to make sure I can avoid any other attacks, and was able to keep the other guy at bay for the final crest too.  Todd was a little startled upon our approach, but I'm sure would have participated in the fun had he known sooner.

Once we regrouped again at the top, Verm had rolled up indicating he had a problem with his chain and told us to go ahead.  I didn't realize he hadn't come with us on the descent, but looking at his stats saw that he opted to go up Glenn Ranch instead and held a very respectable average for the rest of his way back solo.  Kudos!

Adrian was trying to recruit for a breakaway on the descent to Cooks, but that would have been contradictory to the ride objectives...so I didn't go with him.  As we headed toward Trabuco, some ladies tried to ride with us but our pace was just a little too hot.  Vin ended up popping off the line after a pull and didn't seem to want anymore, but after I convinced him to jump on my rear wheel, we were back with the rest again.

There was a little separation at one of the lights on Irvine Blvd, but we were all regrouped by Alton.  The pace was fast but everyone stayed tight where it looked like everyone was set for the rest of the ride to stay together.  When Jeremy decided to ride to the right of some pylons passing the rest of us in a line seemingly in a TT position, I pulled to the front and collected everyone behind me to have us all jump behind Jeremy.  I thought I'd help us finish the ride strong and did more pulls toward the end, although with some others STILL willing to take a turn.  In the end, we made good time on Irvine Blvd all the way to Culver.  Vin sprinted by once on Culver, but no one cared since we were all in cool down mode being so close to Noah's.  HA HA.

All in all, this was probably one of the best team outings we've ever had in terms of riding and staying as a group for the entire time.  I tried to explain the chaos theory and the butterfly effect to the others afterwards indicating how one small change to the dynamics of our ride could have had a substantial impact to the outcome.  I think I failed miserably in this attempt.  In any case, I'm glad everything worked out as planned and everyone had a great ride. 

As for the post ride festivities, Mitchell and Noah had skipped the 2nd loop so that they could have everything ready for us once we arrived.  How awesome was that?  Mitchell had brought some food to barbecue, so he and Eddie were finishing up the grilling upon our arrival.  Thanks, guys.  The food was excellent and accompanied the libations perfectly.  The antics were nutty as always, maybe even over the top at times, but all-in-all just some good natured alcohol induced fun.

At one point, the guys presented me with a poster that contained pictures of several past events Vince and Noah put together for the guys to sign, and I was just speechless.  That's right...I said I was speechless.  I'm not sure I'm worthy of such an honor and in all honesty, I feel I should be giving them something for all the things they've done for me.  However, I'm truly grateful for it and all the sentiments as well.  It was the perfect touch to accompany a perfect day of riding, laughing, working together and building life-long relationships.  Thanks again to everyone who came and/or contributed to the the post ride festivities, especially to Noah and Sarah for putting up with us for more than 8 hours, Mitchell for the barbecue, and Todd and Pam for getting me home safe and sound.

Seriously, I love you all of you guys, and I hope at a minimum we can still continue to ride together on the weekends.  We'll just have to see what the future holds.  

Pics courtesy of Hiroshi and Sarah/Noah:

Pre-ride sans Noah and Todd (who were probably taking dumps at the time)

Two ominous figures in the background (insert Jaws music here)

So Mitch, is it amateur to carry juice in a carton on the ride?

Picture was candid.  We were all just siting this way.

Looking down at the crazy bunch

Note Andy's position originally....

Note Andy's new position.  HA HA

Noah doing the honors

Mitchell beyond messed up.  Someone get him a burger.

The only lines on Jeremy's stomach are from his tattoo.

More pictures can be found here (parental guidance is suggested):  http://www.flickr.com/photos/90709873@N02/sets/72157634206797418/