Shannon's Tuesday Portola OAB Ride Report

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6914206

We had a good showing today, there must have been ten of us.  Ideal conditions for a ride, way better than for working.

The route was a Portola OAB, regroup at Barranca and Portola.  That worked well, we tried to keep rotations short.  But, Galen got hung out a few times.  Didn't seem to phase him much.

Heading up to Portola Galen took the first sprint, Adrian and I followed.  We were only down one at the turnaround (and stayed together thereafter).

Right off there was a gap on the route back, I tried to pull Hiroshi in.   Which paid off, he took the lead a couple of times after.

Jaffe was working hard and closed a couple of gaps, Vin was also firing on all cylinders.  I should say Mitch was strong today too.

Once on the bike trail to the backbay, Galen kept the pace high, and nobody wanted any part of relieving him.  Eventually I gave him a break.  However, that was somewhat conditional, he was now part of a leadout...

Going into CA Mitch was leading, and Galen came around to pull Adrian and I to the endpoint.  I had a helluva hard time getting out of the saddle to do my part, but finally launched Adrian only about 300yds short of the finish.  LOL.  Nice job making it Adrian.  (Will do better)

Thanks for the ride.

Mt. Baldy Pre-L'Etape Trainer

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6828686#127617571

Having missed the Devil Dog race yesterday, it was nice to have an alternative trainer for the weekend.  However, this was not just your ordinary trainer, it's one that is probably the most epic nearby hill trainer around...Mt. Baldy.  Craig invited us out, and one by one, Shannon, Todd, Gary and I all decided to come out and join him.

It was a cold morning to start out with and all of us were in full warmers except Craig (unbelievable).  It was even colder at the top fo Baldy given that there was plenty of fresh fallen snow.  It was unbelievably cold on the way down.  However, after we got down from GRR on the way back, the weather actually warmed up and it became almost perfect weather conditions for the ride down GMR.

When we started up GMR, LTJ was on a mission to just kill it to the top, so he left followed by Gary.  I was just with Craig and Shannon, and when I was standing and climbing while they spun behind me chatting up a storm, I knew it was going to be a long day.

Shannon and Craig caught and rode with Gary up ahead of me, while I had fallen back and they just stayed in sight up until the last climb before dropping down toward East Fork.  I thought I made up some ground on them at some points, but they just blew me out the back eventually where I brought up the rear all the way to the top.  Gary with his new seating position is legit, and Craig has come a long way since I last rode with him also quite legit.  We already know Todd and Shannon and legit, so....

When I got to the top, I didn't want to stop long so I took off ahead of everyone.  It wasn't long before Todd, Craig and Shannon passed me on GRR.  I just couldn't hold their wheel, and at this point, I was really getting nervous about the climb up to the ski lifts.    I was even more nervous seeing snow on the side of the road and water running off where I was worried about possible ice.

When I got to Baldy Village, I just saw Todd who had his chain drop while Shannon came out from behind the tourist station to grab something to eat.  Very shortly after, Gary rolled up behind me.   I didn't want to wait too long since my pace just isn't on par with these guys, so I took off and got a head start up to the lift.  The roads were filled with even more ice and water, and all i could think was how scary it would be for the guys riding on carbon wheels.  I wanted to turn around, but I pressed on at a slow pace just to make sure I finished and got to the top.  Just before the final climb, Todd and Shannon made their way past me and charged up the hill.  My objective was just not to paperboy, so I was able to do that but barely.   Turning around before making the turn into the parking lot, I saw Craig charging up as well.  At the top, I was only there for a little bit when Gary showed up as well.  Animals...the lot of them.

As I looked around at the snow and the people preparing to ski/snow board for the day, I just wanted to get back down.  My legs were tightening up, I was cold, and I just wanted to get past all the ice and water on he switchbacks on the way down.  I left ahead of the guys, and even in aluminum wheels, the trek down to the village was scary.  I actually was on the brakes most of the way down just because I didn't want to lose control, so by the time I got to the village, both hands were cramping up from squeezing on the brakes so hard.

Craig came out of nowhere before climbing up GRR, and we started to ascend together.  At the top, he started to pull away on the descent, but I kept him in my sights.  I was ultimately able to catch up to him again and we started trading pulls as we made our way up and down GRR to GMR.  We all were to regroup at the top of GMR so I could GoPro the footage down this fun hill.  Todd rolled up first, and Shannon and Gary rolled up together.

When we rode down GMR, Craig led us out but Gary took some turns up front as we bombed down the hill.  Shannon wanted me to get in front of him, so I got behind Todd.  We were moving pretty fast down the hill, but we got tied up by motorcycles, a car, a truck and a couple of cyclists.  I jumped up front after the last set of motorcycles passed and led the guys down.  I thought my chain dropped at one point, but I was once again able to get it back on the ring.  Cool!

As we made our way down, Craig and Gary took over and we were just going for it.  At one point, Gary wanted to see what I had left so in typical BAM fashion, he started to sprint and I chased him down.  I just had enough to get past him through attrition but he definitely was moving.  As we all made our way back to where we started, people still kept pushing the pace.  I guess there is no such thing as a cool down on our rides.  Sigh.

It was a great outing with some super strong performances out there by everyone.  I'll definitely have to see what L'Etape has in store for me, but it should be a good outing for the others who are coming out in a couple weeks.  Great trainer, gents!  Thanks for coming out.

Lunch Ride - The Turtle Rock Ring Loop

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6637508

Although not as many came out today as on Tuesday, it was still a good training ride.  Here's some highlights:

• It was a little windy here and there, but behind LTJ, I didn't notice.  
• Pace was over 20 mph when we hit Bonita Canyon intersection, so we were moving at a pretty good clip with some good pulls.
• Up Shady, the pace was a little intense but for the most part, we all made it to Sunnyhill together.
• The pace down Turtle Rock was pretty fast as well and I think everyone took pulls (whether they wanted to or not...ha ha).
• Going up the other side of Turtle Rock, I started off the pace, but LTJ got by me and it was good enough to stay on his wheel all the way to Ridgeline.  We ended up breaking away from the others at some point, so we just kept going to try and hold everyone off. 
• We stayed together up Shady alternating pulls (80% Todd 20% me), and it was more of the same on the 405 bike trail as well.
• We did hit the light at Ridgeline and just managed to get going before the chase group behind us caught up. 
• Todd took off quick up Ridgeline and I thought I had time to latch on, but that was a mistake on my part where I ended up having to do my own thing. 
• As I neared the top, I peeked back and saw I too was being pursued by the chase group. 
• I almost caught Todd at the light on Campus and Culver, but I just missed it.  The chase group rolled up behind me shortly after.  Todd was gone.
• Going up Culver, that was a grind and I thought I'd set a good pace up it.  Vin, Jaffe and Mitchell kept the pace up as well.  
• On Bonita Canyon, we had a paceline going and at a point after Vince rolled off from the front, Vin launched and started motoring up the hill.  I chased him down just enough to get on his wheel to let him drain his youthful energy.  
• When we came to McArthur, I thought the route was to go up the Condo, but apparently, I had this wrong.  Everyone else knew the route and proceeded, so the extra credit was based on ignorance if nothing else.  
• I met Gary on Bison and as expected, he torqued it up after we got over the 73 and we headed toward California head-to-head to finish out the route with nothing left.  

Good job, gents!  I hope I'll be recovered enough for this weekend's race.  

Lunch Ride - aka Critical Mass

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6538531 (no medals again...sigh)

I don't know how many people actually made it out to the corner today, but we were definitely impeding traffic...HA HA.  I guess everyone was wanting to get a ride in before the rain, so it seems easier to point out who didn't make today's ride than who did:  Shannon, PV, Verm, Marc and Mike Z.  There were actually some other people there who came out with Ron that I didn't know.  Seriously, think Critical Mass.

Anyway, I wasn't sure how I would do today, so I thought I'd play it safe and at least try not to fall off the front group.  Okay, so I was seriously leeching off of others for the most part, but I did take some guilt pulls here and there.

It was cool to see people just going for it on Spyglass too, but I knew doing so will take its toll for the following climb up San Joaquin.  Been there, done that.  Strava has this effect on rides.  Congrats to Vin for acquiring #8 spot.

On San Joaquin, LTJ took the front and I was just able to latch on Galen after he passed me with Mitchell in tow as well.  Rather than make the right turn before NPC, LTJ kept going straight so the rest of us followed.  Everyone else stuck to the route and turned right and got a good jump on us.  I did try to close the gap at NPC by taking the front, and it almost cost me from not being able to hang on subsequently.  This did reduce it down to just LTJ, Galen and me.

We were able to pick up Hiroshi on PCH, but Galen and Todd dropped the hammer and Hiroshi fell off.  I was behind Hiroshi, so when I swung around to try and catch up, it just hurt.  If it weren't for the first light going into CDM that turned red, they'd have been gone.

We also hit the light at Poppy (where we almost caught everyone else), had to ride behind an SUV, a pick up, and an Infiniti M45, going through CDM, and hit the light on Avocado.

Even on PCH, we tried to pick up the pace but then hit the first light after getting on.  Jeremy and Hiroshi were with us, but in our efforts to continue trying to catch up, they fell off and it was just down to the three of us on Back Bay.

I got beat up on Back Bay and after taking a pull just couldn't hang on anymore so I called out to Todd and he jumped on Galen's wheel.  I thought they were going to just get completely away from me, but I saw them at the top of Back Bay and Galen got stuck trying to get across.

LTJ, Galen and I met up at the top of Jamboree and thankfully, I was able to stay together with them through the end from here.  HA HA.  Bummed we didn't get to ride with everyone else, but maybe we'll have the same sized turn-out on Thursday (barring bad weather or bad road conditions).

Thanks for the workout, gents (and all the towing Todd and Galen)!

Thursday Night GP Crit with LTJ

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6271612

The Cat 4/5 group was not as big as it typically has been during the last two outings, so there didn't appear to be as much craziness as was the case last week.  It seemed more people were prepared for the first lap breakaway, and in typical LTJ fashion, there was no way he wasn't going to chase anyone down who tried.  I, on the other hand, was not willing to push early on hoping for a better outcome.

Even though there were attacks here and there, the overall pace was definitely slower.  No one broke away early and held it.  I actually had visions of launching an attack on the first prime.  When it came around though, I never moved up to get in position.  I just sprinted from about 1/3 of the way up front just to see what I had.  I didn't get passed but neither did I pass anyone else.  Sigh.

LTJ, who in typical fashion despite having chased attacks and pushing early on was solid all the way through.  I thought for sure he was going to have some problems latching on after one long chase he gave, but not Todd.  He just latched on every time and was always up there in the mix.  Unfortunately, he did get a flat on the fifth lap and the race was over for him.  You can tell he was bummed, but he'll be back with a vengeance I'm sure.

On my fifth lap, I thought I was doing okay and then all of a sudden, I started to run out of steam once again.  I thought I was well within the front of the peloton but for some reason, I started to fall back where upon looking behind me, I found myself at the back of the group.  I thought for sure I can pull up as I saw others popping as well, but curiously they recovered while I just didn't have anything left to stay on.  Looking at my HR, it looks like I was just pegged for a while and unlike before, I just can't hold it.  Ultimately, I ended up falling completely off and once again, I thought I'll just cut across to get more laps in.  This is not a good habit, and as you would expect it is not something that I'm exactly proud of. 

It just so happened that I saw LTJ with his flat tire just as I was thinking to cut across.  I did offer him my wheel as a replacement, but he was just done.  After failing to have even a better excuse not to continue, I decided to go ahead and latch on again and see if I pop off again.

This time, the pace was manageable where I did latch on once the Cat 4/5 guys passed me.  I was thinking it may be a better workout to push up and do some pulling even, but I thought finishing with the group would probably be better.

I rode another lap or two with the group, and as we rounded the bottom of the track, I thought I'd get up front and lead out anyone who wanted to sprint.  From about half way up, I started moving up toward the front but before I could get up there, some guys launched an attack on the other side of me.  I had to sprint for a bit just to latch on as everyone was trying to shake the guys off behind them.
 For the final sprint, I knew I didn't want to mess up anyone else's position, so I thought I'd just spin up and see who I can pass from the back.  Not having any pressure to do well at this point, I actually was surprised I was catching and passing some people.  Hmmm...maybe I'm onto something.

With Todd having a flat and me going flat, it wasn't one of the team's best outing.  That didn't stop us from hanging out and enjoying each other's company at the end.  If anything, at least we can say that when we are there, you can pretty much be sure we'll close the place down.  You'll get them next time, Todd.

Thanks again to Lisa and Pam for coming out.  With no crit next week, we may need to find something else to do together next Thursday.  :) 

Lunch Ride - NPC Double BB with Points (Or so we thought)

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6158791 (Garmin malfunction)

Today, we were going to do a double Back Bay run and as we had done in the past, offer points based on the first 3 of each KOM or sprint section.  I'll save the point system and rules for the bottom of the blog, but Todd, Adrian, Mitchell, Seon, Hiroshi, Vin, Jeremy and Mike Z (the woo hoo kid himself, but also referred to as Tigger) came out for the event.  I will point out that one of the conditions for the ride was to be at the corner by 11:45 or suffer a loss of 5 points off the bat.  Miraculously, everyone made it to the corner by that time...even Vin!  Game on, I guess.

Mitchell, Seon and Hiroshi led initially up E. Peltason, but Todd made his way past everyone after the 4 way intersection on Anteater.  No one responded, but Adrian was at the front of the 2nd group almost coming to crawl basically begging for someone else to give chase.  In fear of almost going backwards, I pushed up front and kept a pretty fair distance behind Todd.  Vin picked it up after we got on Bonita Canyon and we were able to catch up to Todd at the light on NPC.

While this may be contested in some people's mind, the rule was not to breakaway at a light.  Given that LTJ had waited before proceeding, whereas everyone else who was there also proceeded to do the same, there were no points deducted here.

Climbing up NPC, I can't recall the order everyone was in as we started the ascent, but at one point, Adrian did push ahead of everyone.  I used it as an opportunity to match his pace but when that pace all of a sudden fell (i.e. pop!), I passed first I believe but Todd came around shortly after where I found it the perfect opportunity to latch on (although is it ever a perfect opportunity to latch on to Todd's rear wheel on a climb?).  I guess I was doing okay today as I managed to stay on his wheel up to the first pointed section (the 73 overpass).  Others had fallen off before then, so I thought rather than try to contest it and meet the other's fate, I'd just hang on for the ride.  Todd was first, I was second, and someone will just have to let me know who got third (not that it mattered anymore...keep reading to find out why).

He kept his pace going up and I just stuck on his rear wheel for about 90 percent of the hill (hey, I ain't dumb!).  I finally came around near the top and overtook Todd, but he made sure to return the favor just before we got to San Joaquin.  If it isn't blatantly obvious, he was first, I was second, and again...I'd think either Mitchell or Vin came 3rd.

Todd and I had a pretty good breakaway, and we both pushed the pace up and over the hill.  We managed to just get through the light on Marguerite, but did get stopped at McArthur.  In my mind, I thought Marguerite was going to be the PITA to cross, but Todd and I may as well have set up camp at the McArthur intersection.  Even as Vin and Mitchell got stopped at Marguerite, they were soon with us STILL waiting for the light to change.

When we got going, we were taking turns pushing the pace toward Jamboree but the 4 of us did get stopped at that light as well where Adrian caught up here.  When we got going, Vin pulled back from the front and as sure as taxes, Adrian had Vin pull up in front of him in the paceline.  Although I was behind Adrian at the time (LOL), I did push up to the front to help Todd with the pull toward Back Bay Drive.

When we got on Back Bay, I actually made the right turn last and had to deal with some accordian action as the group started to push the pace immediately after.  Todd was even ready to close me out thinking I dropped, but I just made it up to the last bike as he was coming off from being up front.  Through some rotations, I found myself behind Adrian with Mitchell was leading and thought...perfect.  After Adrian took the front from Mitchell, I held him out (although you can see he was soft pedaling already) for a bit until I could see a straighter line to launch an attack for the first sprint point.   After sorting through gears looking for the optimal, BAM! I bolted off.  BAM! is actually also the sound SRAM makes when you get on it.

I realized I had a good snap from the group as a couple looks back and I didn't see anyone on my rear wheel.  I knew, however, I was being chased, so I held it enough to where I knew I was going to get first for the San Joaquin sprint.  Now this is where it gets interesting.  We were all pretty much focused on the sprint that when we checked up, we realized that there was a gate that had spanned across the whole rode closing the second section.  There were no signs or anything beforehand that we saw that cautioned of this section being closed, so as we approached it from our sprint, we were still moving pretty fast (at least 30 and over). As soon as I saw it and realized the situation, all I could do was call out to stop but had do everything I could to get my bike to stop just maybe an inch or two (at most) before my front tire made contact with the gate.  I kid you not.  Adrian, who was trying to make up ground on me, just grabbed a handful of brake and literally cooked his tires all the way through flatting out the rear by the end.

Vin, also game for sprints nowadays, was also moving pretty fast, but was unfortunately not able to stop in time and ended up actually hitting the gate with his front wheel and flipping him and his bike up like they were going to over the gate.  It was a steel stop plate that was on the gate that he threw his shoulder into that kept him from doing so and allowed him and his bike to fall back toward the ground with him landing on his feet.  Crazy!

Anyway, here's a picture of that stop plate:

Looking at it, I'm thinking it could have been a LOT worse.  Given the series of turns we had to negotiate to come to that, it was hard to see that far out and to realize that there was a gate that spanned across the whole length of the road.  I'm just glad that despite what happened, we were all relatively still okay.  We'll have to find out tomorrow how Vin feels after that.   Vin also suffered a cut thumb and his bike along with Adrian's also had a blown tire.  Not to joke about the situation or anything, but maybe Vin should try out as a linebacker for football considering the look of that plate.  It's no Honda bumper, but....

I thought maybe it was just us who put ourselves in this position, but some time after, another cyclist was coming up to the gate at a pretty decent clip where we had to yell out to him to slow down, which he thanked us for after.

With two bikes not working, Todd and I worked our way back to work where I picked up my car with my bike on the rack.  I actually didn't know that Adrian needed a ride too, so I guess now it makes sense why everyone was looking at me strangely when I pulled up.  One genius said "Rich can just ride back" while they drive themselves to work.  After some thought and realizing there was no real other way, fine.  Haha.

As I was helping to get the bikes loaded up, Mike Z. and the rest of the crew thought it would be funny to just take off without me.   Great.  LTJ made the ride back tough, and now these guys bail on me too.  Of course, BAM kicked in and the chase of 4 rabbits was on.

I wasn't sure if I could close on them given they had numbers, but when I could see I was making ground, I wasn't going to give up until I did.  It took all the way to the top of Back Bay where I finally was able to get by Mitchell and shortly after Mike Z.  Hiroshi and Seon were just ahead of me, and I decided to play the cool customer and stay with them as I recovered.  After going under Jamboree and over the bridge, Mitchell had come around and was going to push the pace up where I took advantage of the lead out for anyone wanting to sprint to California.

Going up California, Seon and Hiroshi pushed the pace early on but had to slow for the first light as did the rest of the group.  Once it turned green, I kicked it up a notch and broke away to the top.  While the whole point system was already out, I still wanted to get a good workout.   Okay, so really that's what they get for leaving me.  LOL!  No Garmin data for this run for me, however.

It was an unfortunate day today given what happened, but we have to learn from these rather than dwell on what we could have done.  One thing we now know is not to use that as a sprint section ever again.

The point system and rules:


Points for each section:


1st – 5
2nd – 4
3rd - 3


Point Sections


-    First to 73 underpass entrance on NPC
-    NPC Crest (before San Joaquin)
-    First to San Joaquin on Back Bay
-    Top of Back Bay
-    First to Bison light atop Jamboree
-    First to San Joaquin on Back Bay (2nd loop)
-    Top of Back Bay (2nd loop)
-    To light at CA from University bike trail
-    Top of CA (before Bison)


Deductions (based on judging panels discretion)


-     Stop sign/Red light breakaway (minus 5 pts for each)
-     Rubbing on someone’s rear wheel (minus 5 pts)
-     Any other unsafe acts (5 pts)
-     Transparent or shorts with more than one visible hole (3 pts)
-    Not at the corner by 11:45 a.m. (5 pts)


Shortcuts can be taken once again (e.g San Joaquin on 2nd BB loop), but you must be within the pack to attack for pts.

Como Short and Extra Credit

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/6051584 (Como); http://app.strava.com/rides/6051580 (Post Como)

 Today's Como outing was unusual in that it didn't draw out the same number of riders as to what we've become accustomed.  The warm-up pace seemed to last longer than usual also, and really seemed like it was just going to be a touring ride rather than one racers used for training.  This pretty much went on all the way up through Santa Margarita and El Toro.  S-Gary had gotten restless early on and was trying to push the front up but no one would really follow.  There were some small breakaways early on as well, but no one seemed to care.  Seon was even up toward the front on Bryan.  Crazy.

The pace did start to pick up after Santa Margarita, and luckily  I had pushed up some to get closer to the front.  Vin, who met up with us from El Toro, had gotten behind me and followed me closer to the front.  When we all started climbing up Cook's, I tried to get closer to the front group who had started to accelerate midway up.  I think I caught a glance of Vin still with me as I made my way up, but I think he had dropped off a little just before the first crest.  I, again found myself not exactly with the front group at the crest, but heading toward the 2nd, another ride and Vin came by and were ready to work together as we started the downhill. 

What started out with 3 of us ended up growing more with a group catching up to us, and Gary had been able to latch onto that group to join us.  There was some serious aggro action going on at this point, with people yelling out to push up to keep the paceline rotations fast, but not everyone was compliant or possible aware of how that worked (including Vin).  I took some pulls, but they had Vin and Gary working the rotations probably more than they should.  Others weren't pulling into the rotation enough, so as I got behind someone who wouldn't push up, neither would I.   I wanted to save what I had, which I didn't think was a lot, for the latter part of the ride.  We even got picked up by yet another group, so the pace had gotten pretty fast and eventually, I no longer so Gary or Vin in the paceline. 

I had taken some pulls, and no one was eager to jump up and do the fast rotations when I did despite me pulling out.  Before getting to Dump though, I was able to work my way further to the back of the line to catch my breath.  At the climb up Dump, I umped out of the saddle and started to make my way past everyone in this group.  I first thought I wanted to hold their pace, but instead I found my own rhythm and started to break away.  I looked back a couple times wondering when I'd be pass, but no one did right away.  Before the crest though, a CashCall rider came sprinting by and crested ahead of me.  I tried to reel him in but the rest of the pack who were behind came racing by, so I jumped on one of the guys wheels.  We all pretty much stuck together all the way to Jamboree.

On Jamboree, we caught up to some of the guys from the front group, so when we took off from the light it didn't take long before it picked up.  When we started climbing, I tried to make my way toward the front and some of the guys ended up trying to take off where I was just able to latch on to them.   I ended up with a pull or two on the downhill, but other guys were pushing the pace most of the way down. 

We crossed Portola and people started to pick it up and try to break away.  I was just behind the last person who had taken off (while there were others who didn't respond behind me), and either after that light or the next, the group ahead of me got bunched up.  The next thing you know, I see one guy in a Simple Green kit fly off his bike in the middle of the crew and hit pavement...hard.  His bike had even tumbled where I remember seeing his front wheel up in the air.  Fortunately, no one else went down...including me. 

As I sat after stopping trying to catch my breath after having passed it, other riders were rolling up to the guy who fell and others in front started to turn around and head over to help.  I ended up also, but there were a lot of people already around him trying to manage traffic and tend to the guy.  Eventually, I didn't have anything to offer so I took off so as to not crowd the guy and make it easier for emergency crews to access him. 

I pretty much just rode back by myself at that point, and having seen the guy fall definitely took a lot of wind out of me.  When I met up with Gary and Vin back at BJ's, they were also a little less eager to do more miles.  After some resting though, we ended up sticking to our original plans to do some hills.  We were going to take it easy, however, or so I thought. 

As we made our way to Laguna Canyon via the bike trail, we weren't pushing the pace too much but we did hold a decent speed.  As we got to Laguna Canyon and neared the 133, Gary called out and wanted to do a stand-up only drill up the 133 just as I was at the front.  I agreed to do it, but I don't think Vin heard us as he did his own thing and took off up the hill.  I found a good rhythm going up the 133 off the seat, but Gary had broken away on his pace as did Vin ahead of him.  I did have to kick it up some just because they had gotten away pretty far and fortunately was able to get to the light on El Toro just behind them. 

They both still wanted to push the pace up El Toro, and I'm thinking to myself, we still have a lot of climbing to do.  The two of them actually got through 2 stop lights ahead of me, so they were pulling over just as I was coming up to Aliso Creek.  When I came by, I was going to work more on my standing climb, and I did start to get ahead of both of them.  Vin, however, midway up, found a good rhythm, and passed me where I abandoned the stand and started to spin up to his pace.  He was pushing pretty hard, so it took a lot just to be able to keep up with him.  I was jus able to pass him near the top, but it was not easy. 

We regrouped at the first light and the two of them STILL wanted to keep pushing the pace.  Animals.  I was fine trying to manage my pace in anticipation for doing more hills, but near the bottom, Gary realized we had done more miles than expected where doing the hills we intended was just not feasible time-wise. 

We ended up heading back via Alicia, Geronimo, El Toro and Trabuco/ Irvine Blvd, with Vin heading back home at Trabuco.  The winds were definitely not favorable on Irvine Blvd, but Gary and I pushed through and held a pretty decent pace despite.  We were working the whole way back, and toward the end, I thought to just keep the pace up and hopefully deter Gary from sprinting by at the end.  He did try to get by as we came closer to BJ's, but my plan worked.  :)  I was definitely in no mood to sprint after all that wind. 

It's awesome to see team members getting stronger through the canyon run and being able to work with them.  Both Vin and Gary were definitely looking strong today.  Great job, guys!