Felt really good Friday, moving took no effort. But then, it was my recovery day. In any event, I decided to try the long route on Saturday (3/2). With Tour of Murrieta coming up, I needed to simulate hard back-to-back days. Long route on Saturday plus the Surf City Cyclery crit on Sunday would fit the bill nicely.
Parked at the Rose Bowl & rode up to the Gardens. I forgot and left my knee- & arm-warmers on. Got to the top, said a few "Hi, how are you?"'s, then left about 4-minutes before everyone else. Rode back to the Bowl, put the extra clothing in the car. Glad I did: it was the first warm day in a long while.
The pace has not been impressing me lately. I figure it's kinda an "off-season" thing, but we're pretty much in-season now. Maybe the big guns haven't been showing up? If I can put humility aside, in the end, I think I've just gotten better at cruising along in a big gear/high speed. I still suck pretty good on the hills.
Gladstone (the ramp up to the first climb on the long route: Hell's Kitchen) was somewhat easy, too. A couple accelerations, but nothing that gapped me off. We approached The Kitchen a little too slowly for my tastes. I like to go in to the bottom of any hill with a good deal of momentum. Then I don't have to work as hard: my momentum carries me up halfway before gravity pulls me back.
But, we started off slow. I actually felt good, came around a couple other riders, then started to blow about 100-yards from the top. The riders I passed before now started passing me. But I managed to stay on, not even in last place.
I recovered as quick as I could. We quickly made our way to Hammer Alley, the next test. I moved up front of the pack (3rd wheel). We slowed as we approached: the group had been stopped by police a couple weeks ago right here. They didn't want a repeat. As we started ascending the Alley, the pace was very nice. A couple guys then accelerated out of my comfort zone. I let them go, but a couple riders from behind decided to follow. Then more and more. Pretty soon, I was going backwards. I rode on the right so as not to impede anyone. Again, though, I managed to crest the top at the tail end of the group. (Just barely.)
Down Foothill toward The Wall, the 2nd to last appointment. This one, we managed to get a green light at the bottom, so we started with a good head o' steam. It turned out to not be overly needed, as we took our time going up. I was still at the back, but not dying as before. Through the round-abouts and we bore down on Encanto Park.
This would be the straw that broke this camels back: Bradbury Hill. I tried to move up before getting there, but the pack was moving at a good clip through Sheriff's Alley (behind Encanto). I moved up a little, but not enough. We began Bradbury and I could tell right away that I didn't have it. I managed to get over the top still in contact, but had to rest on the way down. A gap opened up, and I never covered it. I was cooked.
I made my way to Sierra Madre, accompanied by AJ who was having some back issues. All-in all, it was fun, and somewhat successful for my first time this year. But, I still have a little more work to do yet.
Strava link.
03-03-2013, 08:38 PM
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