Don't feel bad, today was faster than usual in the beginning. The speed later on was typical. Garmin says we in the front group went from Cook's to Jamboree in 26:29.
Wow that is quick. I don't feel bad at all. Just gives me a good goal to work for and I can't wait to do it again in 2 weeks. This time, I won't kill myself and try and jump from group to group when the grade kicks up. :lol:
If I could offer some unsolicited advice...you really could benefit from warming up with the group all the way from the Tustin Marketplace. It's good to get those miles in your legs before heading up those grades. Good luck.
I start from Coto so it is 12 miles (1,100 feet of elevation gain) for me to get to Cook's so my legs are usually warmed up by that point.
good times today. i definitely needed a better warmup for this ride. i basically started off with no warmup, riding just 4 miles from my house to Cook's and jumping in.
Anyone know if they've been starting this promptly at 8? And what time does the old man group start? Been putting this off for years, but the schedule finally aligned this weekend.
I believe there is only one group now that starts at 8. Since I never started in Tustin with them, this is only a guess, but I believe they start promptly at 8. I'll be riding it tomorrow again. I'll be in my Sho-Air kit riding a Roubaix.
Right on. I look just like my cheez-it sized avatar. Coates kit and black Felt. I'll be the one studying a map at the parking lot so I'll know where to go if I get popped. lol Not familiar with that area at all. I'll say hi if I see you. What about Pickettt, or anyone else? Gonna be there?
I believe the pace is pretty moderate for the first 15-16 miles, it is basically all flat, it is the "warm up". It basically consists of the ride down Irvine Blvd to El Toro to Cook's Corner. Once it hits Cook's there is a slight grade for the next 2-3 miles and that is where the speed picks up. I think that is the hardest section to hang on, after that it is all flat or downhill with only several small climbs until you get to the "dump" hill to get out of the canyon. Though I'm not sure, since I have never been able to hang onto the main group, always been dropped at the last little hill in the first section. But depending how many people show up, there is usually a second group and sometimes a third group that forms. I know Pickettt will be there tomorrow also.
Had a blast on the ride today. Man, I can't believe I waited so long to try this one! Montrose has been my favorite training ride, but I think this might be the new champ. Thanks again for all the help, Jon, and it was nice to finally meet you, Tim. See you guys next time!
anyone know when Rogers Cup memorial is happening?(annual ride/ race held by the Como St.) I checked my training log and I did it, first week of December last year.. Who's down?
group rides I did the food park ride once before and I am assuming this is similar. I ride road just to get in good training for mountain biking and when I did the food park ride, it was not safe. Nobody stopped at any lights, so you had to run them also if you wanted to stay in the group. People were riding 4-5 across. It was pretty bad. The cops even came in and broke up the group and threatened to give folks tickets for running red lights. Yeah, it might be fun being in a giant group like that, but it is hurting the image of cycling. When there are groups that big and oblivious to traffic laws, it makes the typical by standard think of cyclist of pretentious pricks. So, I will probably never contribute to a giant group like that. However, I have been playing with the idea with a buddy of mine of getting some smaller group rides, maybe 10-15 people max and handing out sheets with landmarks and such where we can sprint for points, or get hill climb points, that kind of thing. All points would be added together (so we would only have one winners jersey) and you would also get X amount of points for winning the ride. Then we would have a special jersey for the rider with the most points. I think it would be fun to get out and ride with a bunch of your buddies, but also be competitive. It would also be fun to strategize on which points to go for and which ones would add up for the win. I also think if we got some good people to ride, we would end up with small teams forming to try to help propel one rider to win the small "race." The benefits of this over something like the como ride or the food park ride or rides of that sort, would be that we would keep the ride smaller and we would actually be racing against each other every ride for points. The route could change each time due to the smaller number of riders and we wouldn't being creating such a giant road block for motorists.
So I'm rolling along with a back-marker group just past Irvine Lake and leading the paceline just before Dump Hill................................ SQUIRREL! scares the holy crap out of me when it darts from inside one of the drainage pipes on the side of the road...running along the gutter squeaking like it was possessed, with me praying it doesn't decide to zip left in front of my wheel. I had that happen on a mountain bike almost 20 years ago, and the result was not pretty for anything or anybody involved. Blown up front wheel, me OTB with a good dose of rock rash, and the people behind me alternately laughing and wanting to castrate me for what I did to the suicidal squirrel.
Not to go off track but last year we had a squirrell commit "death by mountain biker". Ran all the way across an intersection then tried to run in between the wheels. He didn't make it and got all twisted up into the disc brake. Weren't pretty.
