2-man TTT Trainer - Longer, Higher, Faster, Stronger

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/91475222

Dictionary.com defines progress as a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage.  Considering that we rode further and had more elevation gain than last week's long ride, I'd say increasing our pace from 21.2 mph to 21.5 definitely falls under that definition.  Plus, if you consider that this ride exceeded the elevation gain for Stagecoach and that this was only two of us, I'm thinking its fair to say we're on target for breaking our record there, which was a 21.5 mph pace with 4 guys.  Wouldn't you?

It was definitely a great day for a ride given the temperature never got too hot.  There was overcast for most of the ride, so that kept us from draining our hydration packs as fast as last week's ride.  It was a little cool in the beginning (I wore arm warmers), but once we got going it was pretty much perfect temperature-wise.  The winds were mild, and didn't really play a factor (either as headwind or tailwind) throughout.  The only part that was a problem was the fog we hit after we got out of the canyons and as we headed down toward Back Bay.  

Todd led us out at the start, and this was a part of our strategy for the ride.  Todd for one is a strong starter and is also stronger on the climbs than I am.  Surprise.  Leaving his house is an immediate hill and pretty much a series of hills as we head toward and up the top of the hill past Cook's, so Todd lead me up all the way setting the perfect pace.  The good thing about Todd is that he doesn't mind letting us capitalize on his strength, and this worked to our advantage for sure.  Once we got to the top, I'd take over and give him a break until he was ready to take the front again.  We would alternate like this every time we'd get to a significant hill (Dump and Cook's), and it worked out perfectly as we made our 1.5 full passes through the canyon ending with an average of ~21 mph.  

When we headed toward Portola to get onto the bike trail, we took turns and kept the rotations pretty smooth where it never felt like I had to accelerate too much whenever he passed.  I believe Todd mentioned the same thing about my transitions to the front, so both of us were doing what we could to manage the pace AND the power output throughout.  This, in my opinion, is what will be key to how successful we'll be in January.   I can't wait to get this perfected with the 4 of us.

When we get on the bike trail and as we made our way down through Back Bay, there was a lot of traffic (bikes, people, dogs, etc.) where we had to tone down our pace for safety.  The fog didn't help either.  In some way, this may have actually helped our overall pace in that we didn't go too crazy where we may have ended up feeling that later on in the ride.  We got to eat during that section too,  so we took advantage of the controlled pace for sure.  Curiously, Todd got a KOM that led us from the bike trail before Harvard all the way down to the end of Back Bay, so I guess our controlled pace was still pretty fast.  We did pick up one rider on Back Bay for a little bit, but he turned off at San Joaquin or dropped.  He would be the only rider that would latch on for the length of the ride.

When we got to 133, Todd once again led us up and was holding an excellent pace as we made our way to the 73 underpass.  I took over after to help keep the pace up, and through our rotations we averaged 24.7 mph from the 73 to Quail Hill...22.6 mph from the base of the 133 to Laguna Canyon.  Excellent.

We had originally planned to go through Quail Hill to get to Sand Canyon but opted to go up to Barranca and then Sand Canyon after.  This change had us check up a little until we can coordinate the route between us, but we ended up realizing that if we were going to make a route change, it probably should have been to avoid Sand Canyon.  The construction on the road made it difficult to navigate through, and the lights were not very friendly either.  We were at a 22 mph average by the time we got to Laguna Canyon but that dropped after we went through Sand Canyon up to the 5 underpass.  

We were able to start making it up once we got on Irvine Blvd, but the climb up Alton knocked it back down some.  Todd led us up Alton, and we were holding a great pace up as we passed rider after rider, but it is a long steady grind where an ~18 mph pace was all we could do...especially 80 miles into our ride.

Once we got to the top, we were both feeling good and wanted to open it up to the finish but it was just more lights that kept slowing us down.  We still gave it what we had and pushed on even on the hills that lead back to Todd's place, and at the end finished up with a ~21.5 mph pace for the ride.  If we had a comparable final 7 miles left to the Stagecoach route, which would have been mostly downhill, we definitely believe we would have had enough to finish that up and be close to a 22 mph average.   Sure it's only speculation, but neither of us had any problems cramping or lacking in fluids at all.  

It was nice to finish off at Todd as he hosted a nice little post ride beerfest.  Pam wasn't there when we finished, but she arrived to join us making for good company who also made pizza to go with the beers.  It was a perfect ending to an almost perfect ride.   I can't wait until Galen and Shannon can join us for one of these outings as I'm sure it'll be even more perfect.  Thanks for the great workout and post ride replenishment, Todd and Pam.  You guys are good people!  Chalk up another excellent TTT trainer.  It should only progress from here....

Lunch Ride - Controlled Chaos At Its Finest

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/91085241

Attendees:  Shannon, Vince, Todd, Jeremy, Adrian, Mitchell, Vin, Jaffe and me

Today's lunch ride reminded me of a conversation during our stay up near Lake Tahoe for the Death Ride a couple years ago when Noah compared doing a double century to letting yourself get kicked it the nuts.  Both are doable but pretty much guaranteed not to be fun.  In my humble opinion, the punishment being doled out on today's ride definitely seemed comparable to a swift kick to the ol' frank and beans...with steel-toed army boots at that.  At least getting kicked in my junk will only have a short-lasting effect (UFC gives you five minutes to recover in these instances), but I'm thinking I'm going to be feeling today's ride through this evening and tomorrow.

There was some talk about how we shouldn't have any challenges today and just do a ride and suffer through the paceline. instead.  Well, let me clarify something here:  A paceline is intended for efficiency and is a coordinated effort where everyone works together to maintain a good pace.  Can you honestly, honestly say that this is what we do during our lunch rides?  I don't think so.  Try tortureline.  Let me break it down for you:  Our lunch rides are purely intended to abuse one another any way possible with the hope that in the end, it will improve each others conditioning.  Period. It's like that saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" but to the nth degree.

After waiting at the corner for Vin yet again, which gets old by the way, we allowed him to take the front early on as a penalty for his tardiness.  His pull lasted for all of about a block though when people started to amp it up making their way past him.  Todd wasn't a part of that though as he stayed back a little to go into chase mode like he did the other day.  As a group with notable pulls by Shannon and Jeremy, we got up to a Bonita Canyon at almost a 22 mph pace, and Todd rolled in just behind us at the light.  I was already out of breath at the time, so I definitely wasn't digging the rocket start.

Once the light turned green, Todd led us and others started rotating in, including myself, trying to keep the pace up.  I'm still a little hazy about the transitions, but at one point I remember Shannon taking the front and just crushing it where I wondered what...the...hell?  Even with Adrian having his TT bars on his bike today, I saw no sign of him trying to make a mad pass on the descent given the pace Shannon had set.  You can almost here Shannon mentally saying, take that, you little bitches.

When we got onto the trail, Shannon was still up front but Todd had gotten on the bike trail ahead of me.  Todd eventually took the front, and I was just desperately trying to recover from trying to stay on Shannon's wheel just before.  At the top of the hill that pitched up right before the driveway, I tried to take the front, but that only lasted for a few seconds.  Todd and Shannon, I believe, and Jeremy had gotten past me, and once again I was just trying desperately to hang on as we made our way to the crest.  Seriously, what the hell?

Todd and Jeremy led us over to Knollcrest where at one point during the climb, I just couldn't handle the pace (aka abuse) anymore.  Vince made his way past me at that point, and Mitchell (my wingman) started to help me work with him up the hill to Luminous.  As we were making our way up, we saw the three guys ahead of us heading down going the opposite way and I almost turn around right there just to ride with them.  However, as an ambassador for BAM, I had to keep going all the way to the top.  Mitchell came with me and continued to help maintain a good pace as we made our way back down to the light.  We did see Vin, Jaffe and Adrian heading up on our way down, but that would be the last we'd see of them for the rest of the ride.

Even as we were back on Quail Hill, Mitchell was fulfilling his wingman duties and eventually helped us get back up to Shannon and Vince at the light before the turnabout.  There was a lot of traffic to navigate through, and Mitchell had managed to grab one of their rear wheel while I tried desperately not to get ran over but make it onto the trail just behind them.  I was worried they were going to drop me, but fortunately I was  not able to get just behind them.

Shannon was pulling like a madman on the bike trail, so I also pushed up from the back to help out.  Doing so almost had me blowing up again as we made our way up toward the Strawberry Farms, but I think Mitchell helped me out there too where we were both able to arrive at the light with the others.

On Ridgeline, Shannon got to the intersection first and was able to get in front of a car making a right.  I checked up to make sure the driver saw me and Vince, and once we saw he did, Vince took off and was able to catch up to Shannon.  I was not as lucky, but I had Mitchell with me so good enough.  While Shannon and Vince gapped us pretty good, we were actually able to close the gap some on the sections where it pitched up.  It was not enough, however, and Shannon and Vince continued to keep a gap while Mitchell helped finish up Ridgeline and get us on Turtle Rock. We did catch a glimpse of Todd and Jeremy ahead of us at the onset of the climb, but that was the last time we saw them.

Mitchell and I continued to work together going up Shady and down toward Bonita Canyon.  We were fortunate enough to run into Vince and Shannon there, who had increased the gap on the climb, but got caught at the light.  They just missed the light as they saw Todd and Jeremy ahead of them going through.  What sucked is that the light took a while to change even when we got there.

When we got going on Bonita Canyon, we were all working together again and Vince could not utter a negative word about Mitchell since he, too, was still in the rotation.  Shannon and I led us up San Miguel, and that became a little race on it's own as we climbed where rather than letting me pass to take the front, he was not willing to give it up yet, so I gave up and got back in the mix.  I was able to take the front eventually though, and we both worked to get us over to San Joaquin.

On McArthur, it was another fast one and once again I found myself just doing what I could do to keep up.  Vince took the last pull before we got to the Bonita Canyon intersection and I could never get around him to take the next pull.  I did get us started after the intersection though, and led us over to Bison.  Now I'm so tired, I can't even remember if there was any sprinting to California, so you'll just have to use your imagination for that one.

Looking at Todd and Jeremy's Strava stats, it looks like they killed it.  It was still fun chasing them though, so I guess we ended up chasing two rabbits today despite the desire to have a "normal" non-challenge lunch ride.  Great work from Mitchell, Shannon and Vince today as well, and I'm sorry I couldn't do more.   Nevertheless, another great workout, so mission accomplished.  Thanks, gents!

Lunch Ride - TJ, Why Do You Treat Us So Bad?

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/90892572

Highlights from today's ride:

- Weather was ideal for a high speed run...cool, low winds, etc.

- Todd and I were on TT bikes while Galen and Jaffe were not.

- This was NOT a TTT ride unless the first T stands for Todd.

- Todd was in take-no-prisoners-mode today and passing him, even to take a pull, was sometimes not an option.  He seemed like was on breakaway mode throughout.

- As a result of the fast pace early on, Jaffinator found himself riding alone after a couple miles.  Blame Todd!

- I don't know how many times I was gapped today...the accordion effect was...wait for it...ridiculous!

- Galen kept up on his road bike and did take some pulls, but after being shut down on some rotation attempts by Todd decided best to let the aero guys do the work.

- I had so much snot on my face at one point that was not unlike a Dumb & Dumber movie scene.  I shot out what I could, so in case anyone wants my DNA sample, I left plenty on the bike trail.

- Ridgeline was all Todd, and all we could do was hang on to the top...barely.  Damn that hurt!

- I never been up the condo on my TT bike, but I gave it a go only to have Todd pass me once we reached the false flat.  I latched on though, so all good.

- I think the only one time today that Todd conceded was on the Bison landing zone.  Finally!

- Let's see what the legs have for tomorrow's madness.

Thanks, gents!

Lunch Ride - Starcrest NPC Horseshoe Spyglass McArthur Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/90699390

It was a good-sized turnout today with 9 of us out there including Galen who is just coming back after a 2-3 week hiatus and S-Gary making a cameo appearance as well.  Let's hope we get to see both more often.  The rest included me, todd, Mitchell, Jeremy, Adrian, Jaffe and Vin.

When we started, I wasn't sure what Todd was doing but he waited a little bit to take off while the rest of us started down the BAM runway.  Jeremy seemed eager to get away and gapped the group up the first hill and everyone else lined up behind Gary as part of the chase group.  Maybe that was for sentimental reasons given that the segment was named after him, but most likely it was that no one was too eager to give chase and reel Jeremy in right away.  I kept looking back making sure Todd wasn't having a mechanical, but he failed to mention that he was interested to see what it would be like to give chase.  Given that we were all held up at the light on Bonita Canyon, however, it only lasted up until that point.

Once we got going up toward Sunnyhill, Jeremy, Todd, Galen and me led us to the top but on the descent, Adrian blows by us like a bat out of hell with not so much as an "on your left," "excuse me" or God forbid "thank you."  I didn't give chase right, and as history has proven time and again, I didn't need to.  We had caught back up to him by the time we made the left on Sunnyhill.  Sigh.

By the time we got to Turtle Rock, it seemed almost everyone who was still with us was pushing up to take a turn up front.  I saw Mitchell and Adrian push up, and even Vin pushed up front taking a turn for as long as he could hold his 250 RPM cadence.  I relieved him eventually in fear that he'd blow a knee out or something.

When we got past Campus and started the climb, Jeremy once again started to push ahead and create a gap, so it took time to close in on him where he probably felt like he was held out for a while.  The reality was we spend a lot of energy to catch him and I, personally, won't relieve him until I, myself, can catch my breath too.  sorry bud.

When we got on Starcrest, Todd started to push his way up, and it was just at a pace I couldn't hold with him.  I had a pretty good pace though, but broke my momentum after a crappy SRAM front derraileur misshift, and Galen made his way past me after (despite having had a shift problem too).  Jeremy made his way up just behind me, and Mitchell then Vin after.  Vin didn't see anyone else behind him, so we opted to take off believing that the others may have taken a shortcut to regroup.

We pretty much made our way back over to Shady together with "the regular people" alternating to tow the group.  We picked up one rider on the climb, and he was letting us rotate in front of him but latching on after.  The rotation made it's way back up to me, so I led the final charge down toward Bonita Canyon for anyone wanting to sprint.  Todd and Galen took off, as did the rider who latched on, and although I contemplated doing so also, I didn't given NPC was just around the corner.  I think our guys were able to fend him off....

As we got on Bonita Canyon and headed toward NPC, our passenger ended up taking Turtle Ridge and putting himself ahead of us on the climb.  We were slowed a little bit on NPC for the left turn until Vin decided to take off and get a headstart, which the group ended up doing as well.  Todd took off and had a gap on us immediately, so I took the lead on the chase group.  We passed Vin fairly early on, and made our way past the 73 watching Todd try to reel in the rider ahead of him.  Galen came around and took the next pull, then Jeremy came around and began to amp it up again toward the top.  We just barely hung on, until we regrouped with Todd just before the horseshoe.

On the horseshoe, Jeremy once again had gapped us for a little bit but Galen was able to reel him back in again with Todd, myself and Mitchell in tow.  Todd took the next pull, and I finished the loop leading us back onto San Joaquin.  On the descent, we were all together, but as soon as we made the right turn to Spyglass, boom.  Vin had taken a shortcut and was ahead of us on the climb, and Jeremy and Galen stood up and started hammering as they led us onto the road.  Todd and I did as well, and I found myself passing the other guys but holding a pace that I just couldn't sustain for the length of the climb.  Bummer.  I was closing in on Vin, but exploded just beforehand mostly because of the panic that set in hearing Todd closing in behind me.  HA HA.

We regrouped at the light to San Miguel, but Jeremy had arrived just in time to get the green and once again take off ahead of the rest of us.  It must have been something he ate or girl problems...both good reasons to make for aggressive riding...at least for me anyway.  We were able to corral him once again before we got back on San Joaquin.

I was up front when we got to San Joaquin and had prepared to lead us onto McArthur, but I heard someone call out or say something so I checked up.  The next thing you know, Todd and Galen passed with Todd grumbling about how he hates to lead out for this section since he thinks he'd get dropped.  He brought the pace up pretty fast though, and Galen and Jeremy took the subsequent pulls that led us over to the stop light on Bonita.  I had taken the front just before the intersection and threw out the sign to slow down only to have Todd mock me given we were only going about 4 mph at the time.

Once the light turned green, I brought the pace up once again and led us onto Bison where it seemed like people were eager for a sprint finish.  Todd led us onto the bridge where Galen and Jeremy ended up taking off from, so I gave chase from the #4 spot.  It took a while to get past Jeremy, and I was starting to reel in Galen but ran out of real estate to see if I could get by.  In the locker room subsequently though, he mentioned how he was just waiting for me.  I see.

Great ride today, gents, and definitely a great pace with a 21.7 mph average registering on my Garmin (21.6 on Strava).  Imagine the possibilities if we could have these types of training rides on a closed course though. This came up after, and the thought is definitely interesting.  Hmmm.

Thanks for coming out!

Lunch Ride - Closing in on the 25 mph average lunch ride

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/90516055

Todd and I brought our TT bikes as usual for a Monday, but Mitchell and Jaffe came out for the triple bypass route to see how long they can hang on for the E-ticket ride.  We did see Vince on his bike as we were getting ready to roll out, but Vince was more interested in vertical speed vs. land speed.

The weather was pretty nice with only mild winds here and there, so it was definitely a good setting for a fast one.  The only thing that would have been more ideal was if there was no traffic (both people and cars), no stop lights, and hot cheerleaders cheering us on throughout the route.

It was essentially a condensed amped up version of Saturday's ride where Todd and I exchanged pulls as we made our way through the course.  We didn't really set out to kill any one segment but just kept the pace steady but high throughout.

Mitchell and Jaffe did a great job hanging on for the first pass and almost half way through the 2nd pass.  We were already averaging in the high 24s, so it was no easy task for sure.  Mitchell managed to stay on just a little longer than Jaffe (Jaffe didn't cut a turn tight enough and got blown out the back), so maybe it had something to do with his new Shimano setup.

On the climb up Jamboree, Todd was killing it, but we managed to get up and over the hill together.  We ended up hitting the light at San Joaquin for a bit, but got going again after full speed ahead.

Our 3rd pass was hindered by a slow moving truck that didn't really want to move out of the way, but my Garmin showed we were at 24.9 mph at the base of California.  Todd had to pass the base only because there was a slow moving cyclist that got in the way there too.

On the climb up California, Todd led initially but I started to hammer it out and try to get to the top and not lose to much on our speed.  Todd passed me just before we got to Bison and we both managed to cross the green light together where in the end, we ended with a 24.8 mph average just shy of the elusive 25.

As always, great work, Todd!  Same goes to Mitchell and Jaffe since it's not easy drafting us given we don't provide too much wind protection.  Plus, with all the snots I'm blowing out, it's a wonder they weren't slipping all over the place.   Thanks, gents!

Let the Long BRCM TTT Training Rides Begin!

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/90054200

A ton of lights on PCH, a few climbs on the route, a flat tire on Bonita Canyon, running out of fluids 10-15 miles away from the finish, and the temperature reaching the 90s (according to our Garmin)  all occurred on today's ride.  These sure would be reasons enough to justify a less than ideal pace.  Yet, Todd and I managed to finish all 91+ miles with a 21.2 mph average (Strava knocked it down a tick again).  That's pretty fast for just two guys, right?  Imagine the possibilities with four....

We started out from my house this morning, and boy was it chilly.  I wasn't sure if Todd was going to ride down or not, so I kept looking out for him to arrive on his bike half-frozen.  He ended up driving over, so we both got to start in the cold weather together.  Todd had donned an additional long sleeve base layer (making for 3 including the one with the hydration pack), and I threw on some arm warmers just before Todd arrived.  It was enough and never proved to be too uncomfortable later on in the ride when the temps maxed out. 

We left on time and started heading over to the bike trail that leads down to Doheny.  I was cold, so I may have started off a little faster than normal just to get some warmth in my body. When we got on the bike trail after the bridge, Todd took the lead and brought the pace up to about 29 mph.  I was thinking uh oh...here we go.  We did have to check up as we came closer to the ocean since they had a detour that required cutting through a rec center parking lot that would lead you to Del Obispo.  From there, it took us down to PCH where we made a right to start heading north.

Todd led the climb as we made our way up to Dana Point downtown, and all I could do at that point was just hang on.  We kept hitting light after light during the climb, so the stopping and starting was also no bueno.  Todd continued to lead us up to the top, and even on the following descent for a while until I felt warmed up enough to take the front again.  Even then, Todd would take the front more than I would and definitely kept our pace up as we headed to Laguna. 

When we got to the 133, we saw a legit looking female rider wearing a back pack make a turn in front of us.  By legit, I mean she looked like she was a good rider since she was in a kit, had a BMC bike, and looked built to ride.  It wasn't long before we caught her at one of the lights where we all were stopped.  Once the light turned green, she took off but Todd and I made our way past her shortly after.  Now, I thought it was just Todd and me making the climb up that road, but at some point, Todd passes me after a short pull like he wanted to bring the pace up again.  At the time, I thought to myself "I guess this will just be a long lunch ride vs. one where we manage our power with consideration to the length of the ride."  It was only after looking back and realizing the female rider was in our draft that I realized why.  Todd shared with me after how he didn't want her to pass us.  I'm not sure that was her plan, but if it was, then Todd definitely did the right thing.  LOL.  Thankfully, she turned right on El Toro and we continued on to Laguna Canyon. 

At the intersection to Laguna Canyon, we decided we'd make our way toward Back Bay via the 405 bike trail and Ridgeline.  While we were trading off, Todd was still doing the majority of the work.  On Ridgeline, Todd led the whole way up since he's so much better than me at managing a good pace on the climbs.  That's not to say it was easy given I was gasping for air at the top, but we managed to hit the left turn to Turtle Rock together. 

After some good team work on Shady, we got on Bonita Canyon and it was after the 73 underpass when Todd got a flat on his rear tire.  On my Garmin, it showed it was exactly 30 miles from when I started it.  Todd got it changed fast enough, and thankfully, never presented a problem again for the remainder of the ride. 

As we made our way to Back Bay, I thought we may pick up some riders along the way, but I guess we were either going too fast or no one wanted to follow two guys on TT bikes with the same kit wearing TT helmets and hydration packs.  You gotta admit...that could probably look a little intimidating.  Maybe it was both. 

We made our way onto PCH after cutting through the mobile home park,  and we did see more riders out there but still none willing to join us.  Thus, Todd and I kept up the 2-man show all the way to SART totally uncontested. 

To get on SART, you have to hit the south entrance since the north entrance was still closed.  There was some construction that you have to navigate through as well, and plenty of people to present obstacles also.  It was hard to get any real tempo going as a result, but after crossing the metal bridge, things got a little more clear and Todd and I picked up the pace once more.  We did slow a little bit to eat, but even going slow we're pulling up on people (in groups even) and passing them.  We did pick up some riders who opted to ride our draft finally, but we kept the pace nice and steady since there was still plenty of riding to do.  It turns out we picked up one rider who is a friend of Shannon's (Marcus) since he posted on one of Shannon's ride how he was one of the ones in our draft.  Small world. 

I'm not sure how long we had company, but when I looked back after coming off the front at one point, I saw that we were alone again.  After we crossed the wooden bridge near the park, I was feeling pretty good and found a good tempo to be in that helped lead us over to the Honda Center.   We slowed a little as we crossed the bridge that led to the restrooms on the other side, but not for long.  As we headed to Taft, Todd got up front and got us going again. 

Taft was much of the same thing with Todd and I taking turns all the way to Canon.  I may have jumped out to the front a bit more both as payback for Todd's earlier pulls and pre-payback for having Todd lead us up through the canyon climbs.   Todd did finish us off the last stretch on E. Santiago as we got on Jamboree, and I was a little worried he was feeling pretty good at the time since he was moving at a pretty good clip.  Feeling pretty good for him just means more pain for me. 

Todd once again led the pace going up the Jamboree side of Dump and once again set the perfect (yet painful) pace.  I took over just after we started descending and led for a bit until we got to the point where I've had problems staying on his wheel in the past.  It may be a mental thing, but once Todd took the front again, I wasn't about to pass until we were out of the "drop" zone.  I had visions of wanting to drop off, but talked myself out of doing so.  Yeah, maybe it is mental.

I took the front again and led us toward the Modjeska where Todd took the front before we got to the climb.  I wasn't sure how the climb was going to go, so my plan originally was to again let Todd lead us up.  I got into a certain rhythm though where I started to get up beside Todd and believed he would get on my wheel just after I passed.  I was surprised when I looked back and saw that he didn't though, so his sinuses and the birthday celebrating must have gotten to him.  The 106 miles he had for the week BEFORE this ride probably didn't help either.   What a stud!

He had caught up with me as I started to descend towards Cooks, and he was hauling ass down the hill like the trooper that he is.  I wasn't sure he still wanted to go to Live Oak, but once he checked up before the left turn, I knew we had more climbing to do. 

The climb up Live Oak had us making our way past some other riders, and I once again found a good rhythm to climb up.  When I got to the top though, I could feel my right hip flexor start to feel like it was going to cramp up, so I just kept going hoping to loosen it up on the descent.  I was definitely drinking more on the way down just to avoid cramping.  Todd had come up just behind me as I arrived at the opening of the camp ground down below, and led us over to and up the switch back.  My hip flexor was still hinting of cramping, so all I could do was hold Todd's wheel as we made our way to the top.  

Todd had mentioned wanting to get some fluids, so I was thinking we were going to stop just before getting on Santa Margarita and checked up some.  When I saw Todd turn right on Santa Margarita, I thought we were just going to head down Antonio to make our way home.  However, he indicated he's been out of fluids and wanted to stop at Oso.  Originally, I thought just going home even though I had just drained my hydration pack was a better idea.  However, I was glad I opted to stop at Oso since my legs continued to hint of cramping as we descended toward it.

After a quick Coke break (thanks, Todd!), we were back on our way and we pretty much drained the tank on the descent and on Ortega just before my house.  In fact, both my legs were hinting of cramping along with my hip flexor where I ended up finishing the ride off the seat just to change up my position and prevent any muscles from going to a full cramp.  I think if we had gone a couple blocks more though, that would likely have happened since I was definitely on the brink when we rolled up to my driveway.  That's about as drained as my tank could get, so...perfect.

Some coconut water followed with some beers definitely did the trick after the ride.  The coconut water was just the appetizer though, so the real magic was definitely the beers.  Todd and I both agreed that beers after the ride are a must.   Although I'm not necessarily looking forward to the next TTT session, I am looking forward to the post ride beers already.  Cheers and thanks for coming out, Todd!  Great work out there. 

Lunch Rides - Vince's Challenge, Todd's Birthday and Yesterday's Highlights

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/89668275

Attendees:  Vince, Todd, Shannon, Jeremy, Adrian, Mitchell, Vin and Jaffe.

It was a good turnout today and almost everyone came out representing BRCM Black.  Only two failed to answer the call with one protesting the jersey for whatever reason and the other likely not having priority over getting his baby's clothes washed.  Additionally, everyone was sporting a black or blackish bike, so we definitely looked like badasses out there.  Something about black on black....

The plan was to do the Turtle Rock ring route, but upon arriving at the corner, Vince decided to throw out an additional challenge to those of us doing the TTT race in January.  He proposed that Shannon, Todd and I take a detour and go up Starcrest instead of going straight on Turtle Rock and give chase to the rest after.   While none of us agreed to do the challenge at the time, we did indicate we would decide on the spot upon arriving there and see how it goes.  In my own mind though I thought "not likely given Todd was on his new 14.5 lbs. bike while Shannon may be in his self-proclaimed "back to the drawing board" mode, which just means bad news for everyone."

We take off from the corner, and Jeremy and Vince started to gap everyone right away.  Todd was at the front of the chase group, so I humbly rode behind him as he slowly started to close the gap.  Shannon was coming around after we made the right to Anteater as though he was going to hammer up it, and Todd started to accelerate too, but we all got caught at the light, including Vince and Jeremy.  When we got going again, I don't think there was any more separation among us as we all headed toward the Bonita Canyon intersection. 

When we started  up Shady, Todd took the front again but Vince, Jeremy and I rotated in taking us over to Sunnyhill.  On Turtle Rock, I believe Adrian, Mitchell and maybe even Vin got in the rotation as well.  As we approached the bottom of the hill at the Campus intersection, the Jaffinator decided to make his move.  He takes off and starts charging up the hill followed by Vince while the rest of us look on wondering what the hell that's all about.  I stood up and started to give chase and although we ended up reeling the two ahead of us, it definitely took longer and used more effort than I expected.  Vince expressed later on in the locker room how we must have been coming up on Jaffe's house where he asked his wife to look outside at the time he expected us to pass just so she can see him leading the rest of us.  Personally, I think Jaffe subscribes to Adrian's detonation theory and acted accordingly.   Nice charge though.

As we were approaching Starcrest, Todd and Shannon were up front and I couldn't really tell whether they planned to go straight or hit the hill.  Just as we came up on the intersection, the two suddenly turned and I found myself following Vince and Jeremy going straight.  This, in my opinion, was definitely the "smarter" decision given that if I had followed Todd and Shannon, I would likely have found myself riding alone for the rest of the ride once they broke me off.  And they would have broke me off for sure given their Strava stats for their climb.  It would have been Tour De Poway all over again....

As we neared the top of Turtle Rock before Ridgeline, Jeremy started to power up past Vince to the top, so I did too.  It was a nice burst at the top for us, and Vince was just behind us as we got through the intersection.  Mitchell was right there too holding the back and serving his wingman duties.

Jeremy, Vince and I continued to work together through Shady, on the bike trail, and up Ridgeline to ensure that we kept a gap on a chasing Shannon and Todd.  Jeremy had led up Ridgeline at a great pace, and I took over just before the last rise, making for a good climb.  We had gapped Vince and Mitchell a little on the climb, but they were back with us by the time we got down to Campus preparing for the right on Culver.

Jeremy and I continued to lead us up Bonita Canyon, and Vince got back into the rotation immediately after we crested and took a good strong pull leading us toward the 73.  I think at one point, Mitchell had gotten in between us and had slowed requiring Jeremy to come around and close the gap.  This got both Vince and Jeremy a little riled given their competitiveness, so upon reaching the McArthur intersection (or the one prior), they started giving Mitchell a hard time about being in the draft the whole time.  I tried to defend my wingman, but he ended up letting them know that he was having trouble keeping up because of how inefficient our rotations are...or something like that.  Too funny.  Leave the guy alone, I say.  There are those who are born to lead while others master the art of following.  :)

When we got going on Ford, Jeremy and Vince led originally, but I tried to amp it up a little bit before the condo.  When we got to the condo, I started to get on it since we caught the green light upon our approach.  I wasn't sure I had a good pace going up, so I kept looking back to see Jeremy looming behind me.  Once I got back down on my seat, Jeremy charged past me and I just focused on trying to keep close by as he brought us up to the false flat.  I was able to pick it up on the false flat and pass him, so he latched on as we made our way onto Bison.   Super strong effort on his part though. 

When we got close to the intersection on McArthur, Vince was approaching and we were all able to get through that intersection together.  There were a couple cars and lights that slowed us as we made our way toward and over the 73.  Vince had timed the last light over perfectly and took off gapping us, and my attempt to reel him in only left me just behind him as we got to California.  Nice work, Vince!

Todd and Shannon had come in not too long after us, and managed to have the same average as us (~22 mph) despite riding a little further and with an additional 200 feet of elevation.  Yep...I wouldn't have been able to keep up for sure.  It was nice to at least help keep ahead of them and serve as "prey" with Vince and Jeremy.  Adrian threw in after the ride how I didn't step up with the other two and inferred how I was comparable to a female reproductive organ.  Curiously, I wonder where he dropped off on the ride.  

Great day of riding with the guys today, and through all of it, Todd never mentions today was his birthday.  We definitely would have made special plans to celebrate it the BAM way for a ride.  Then again, now I can see why he never mentioned anything.

Now about yesterday's ride, here are the highlights:

Attendees:  Vin, Hirsohi, Jaffe and me

• I was on my TT bike and planned to train with others only to be the only one who brought one. 
• Jaffe, Vin, Mitchell and Hiroshi were going to go out on their own as they wanted a more "social" ride but they opted to ride with me and let me hold the front the whole time instead.  Thanks?  HAHA
• I led at a fairly moderate pace, or so I thought, as we made our way to BB, but by the time we arrived at the drop, only Mitchell and Jaffe were with me.  
• We held a pretty good pace through BB, PCH, Ocean and up toward NPC.  Mitchell indicated on NPC, however, that it was no fun drafting behind me since I don't offer much wind protection.  Sorry.
• Up NPC, I led the front, but Jaffe kept launching attacks.  However, he wasn't as successful as he was last week in being able to hold it after he passed me. We still stayed together all the way to the top though. 
• Once we got on San Joaquin, I decided to kick it up some and was already at top gear as we were riding through the rollers before the descent.  We got some Strava honors to this effect as a result.
• I kept pushing the pace on the descent and all the way to Jamboree, and I was impressed that despite doing so, Jaffe and Mitchell were still behind me.  
• When we got on BB, however, I thought I'd give them a gut check and picked it up even more and finally broke them off about 100 feet before the climb (based on Jaffe's estimates).  
• While waiting at CA to cross, Jaffe came up not too long after and ended up taking off at the green.  You gotta give him credit for trying. 
• Thanks for riding with me, gents!  Always more fun with company than without.