The ride today was supposed to be an 80+ mile out and back to San Clemente with an optional 20 mile addition. Instead, it was decided to just do the San Clemente ride and keep the SAG stops quick and easy. Heading up the coast, the tempo was pretty steady, but not too fast. At least until we hit Camp Pendleton, then Bryon Black dropped the hammer and off we went, or at least most of us. I was unlucky enough to not notice the surge and it was too late by the time a few of us discovered we were out of luck.
Mike and Lisa Jennings, Agit, Deb, Deeanna, I and a few others put our heads down and started a pace line to try and catch up with Bryon's train. Just when we thought we could catch them after a steep but short hill, it looked like the main group was even farther ahead. That was some serious pace line we did, but it wasn't enough to catch up. Later I discovered that Bryon has two time trial races next week at Fiesta Island and is in training for it. I would say that he is ready.
The first SAG stop was at the end of Camp Pendleton and I saw the familiar face of Tina Perez. Tina had the peanut butter sandwiches already made and it was great not to have to wipe peanut butter off of my gloves from trying to spread it on the bread with a knife. Thanks Tina.
We then proceeded through the beach parking lot and maintained a pretty moderate pace all the way up to the start of San Clemente. The last few miles are through a residential neighborhood with lots of turns and stop signs. The half-way point was 7-11 where we all rehydrated and refueled. Mike H. took a snapshot of me after polishing off my banana. I felt pretty good at this point and assumed the way back would be just as pleasant. Boy was I wrong.
After getting back through the neighborhood's turns and stop signs, we found ourselves back on the Old Pacific Highway bike path. It was here that Bryon dropped the hammer again and off we went, well some of that it is. I tried to keep up but just couldn't and soon found myself halfway between Bryon's group of riders and the rest of the pack. It was windy, I was alone, and man did my legs feel tired. I managed to regroup with the other riders and we caught up to Bryon's group just past the entrance to the beach campground.
The only reason we managed to catch up was because one of the riders, Deeanna, went down in a patch of sand. Fortunately, she was unscathed except for her tire which had a large hole in it. Luckily, one of the other riders had a tire boot and we were soon on our way again. Bryon dropped another hammer all the way down Old Pacific Highway where we stopped at the SAG wagon again. This time, the stop was even shorter and we soon found ourselves in Camp Pendleton. Bryon promised that we wasn't going to pull anymore and was done. Yeah, right.
Bryon must have had one more in him because this time he decimated the pack and I soon found myself in familiar territory all alone with just the wind in my face. It was about this time Andrew pulled up beside me and we pace lined each other to the end of Pendleton. We caught up with Bryon who had let the others go ahead of him so he could make sure everyone stayed together and got through Camp Pendleton ok, which we did.
Everyone was cooked by this time and the last 15 miles or so back to the parking lot seemed like an eternity. Luckily, no more hammers were dropped and we all made it back in as one group. Today was a tough ride, but we all needed to be pushed a little. In a few weeks we have two long rides back to back and after today, I know we will all be ready for it.
It's coming together!
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