The ride

I haven't ridden with the Peloton for quite awhile, maybe a month now. My last showing was...pitiful, I was dropped on the first lap, was able to rejoin, but only for a short time.
I guess I have avoided riding there since, instead opting to ride the Angeles Crest where I could climb alone and not feel bad because the guys who do this ride with me have no chance of dropping me. Although this will change soon, Yasser today was w/i 15 minutes of me to Clear Creek...he's getting his old racing legs back.
Anyways, today I decided it was time to face my nemesis, the Peloton. I still wanted to climb so Yasser and I headed up to Clear Creek before we returned to the Rose Bowl. I felt strong on the way up, averaging a mile an hour faster than the last time I did this climb (still slower than Eric's pace to Mt Wilson ,10 miles farther, which he could do in his early season training).
On the descent I planned on taking the pull all the way down, keeping the pace mellow to allow myself energy for the Peloton. Yasser had different plans and quickly passed me picking the pace up. I had to follow suit so like usual when I ride with him, it was much tougher descending than going up.
We got to the Rose Bowl at the NW corner just as the pack was coming around that turn. I looked at Yasser, he looked at me...and we said lets go. We had a bit of chasing to do to get onto the pack but with a nice downhill entrance we were able to attach to the Peloton as it reached the backside. I spent a lot of energy catching them and was afraid that I would just get dropped immediately, but from somewhere I found the legs to stay on.
I used Yasser to position myself, although I am stronger than him, he has the pack skills which I lack. I made sure to stick on his wheel as he maneuvered his way into the middle, a safe spot to be.
I rode here for awhile than realized I had plenty of strength to move up. It seemed easy to do this which blew my mind. Eventually I found myself chasing down a lil breakaway off the front on the uphill side. I blew up and took it easy but it took awhile for the main field to get to me...and I was able to jump back in with no problem.
On the next uphill section I found myself at the front again! I wasn't at some ridiculous pace or anything but compared to in the past barely hanging on to the back, it was a big change!
Anyways, there was no great riding shown by me in the eyes of others. There was however a great feeling of accomplishment for myself. A month ago I couldn't even think of being at the front of the Peloton. Tonight I was there. My training has paid off. I'm only going to get faster, maybe in a month I'll be able to initiate a break and keep it away for awhile....who knows.
In conclusion, tonight was a very gratifying ride. I actually saw a lot of improvement in myself...and I'm more motivated to get faster.
Also, which I learned tonight, Chet Bearclaw has given us permission to win races, not to just take second or worse. If only he had allowed that this last weekend!

San Luis Rey Classic

One more race to add to history this last weekend. It was my debut to SoCal racing, my first glimpse at the riders whom I will be competing against this season and possibly many more seasons to come. It was the largest field I have ridden in since my entrance to the sport not so long ago, 44 riders I think. The week building up to the race I'll admit I was nervous, not knowing what to expect...I mean Californians are better at everything, so obviously, I would be facing much tougher competition than I did in Utah and Arizona. The plan was to stay at Rob's house the night prior (the race being near Oceanside), get a good nights sleep, then drive down on Sunday morning well rested. Well, I forgot the X factor. I was staying at Rob's. I didn't end up going to sleep until about 1:00 and then had his drunk brother come home, who realized I was there. Fortunately Rob explained to him it wasn't ok to just wake people up in the middle of the night because he wanted to say hi.

I did however get in about 6 hrs of sleep so all and all I was good. with a good breakfast at some place near Newport w/ hot waitresses and a pleasant drive down the PCH, Rob and I made it to the race. There were tons of people there. More than any other race I had been in, or gone to watch. This added to the intimidation factor just a bit. As I'm rolling through the endless line of cars, people checking out what bike I got on my roof..."look at that cheap thing, what a joke...he's going to race that?...Scattante? and so forth" Obviously just a figment of my imagination, but still.

Anyways, as I got dressed and emerged from the car in the Bearclaw kit, my attitude changed. I forgot the trainer so I warmed up through the parking lot as others got ready. Now (in my mind) people weren't looking at the bike, but instead the Team Bearclaw kit I was wearing. The confidence suddenly escalated. I was ready to kick some ass.

As I sat at the start, a guy w/o a team kit pulled up next to me. I laughed to myself, who is this guy? After all, I ride for someone now...I earned the right to be pretentious. I ignored his futile attempts at conversation and successfully made myself out to be pretentious. As we rolled to the start line after the A group left I heard a call from the side, "Hey! Performance!" Taking a second to realize that was me, I looked to see a rider who occasionally comes to the store. We struck up a conversation across the whole peloton, him saying he thought I was just a mtn biker and me telling him I'm just starting but I don't expect much. This of course was to throw off everyone at the start who was sitting there nervously themselves just before the race started. Psychological warfare, that's the name of the game. I listened to some other riders making jokes to everyone, speaking loud so all could here. But as my experience in Utah told me, these were the guys who would be as easy to drop as a match above a fire pit full of gas.

For those still reading, I'll finish quickly. The race started. I moved my way to the front of the pack but spent little time on the front for the first third of the race. After the first lap on the second half of the climb I moved to the front, picked up the pace hoping to separate the field a bit. It worked and by the top of the climb we were 4. For the next 22 miles we held off the pack and the chase group, dropping one rider at the end of the final climb. I didn't push as hard as I could on the final climb thinking that since I felt so fresh still I'd have a chance to out sprint the other two who were left. I was wrong and they took me in the final 500 meters. I still placed third though, so a good race.

When I first joined up w/ Bearclaw, one of them told me that it was guaranteed that w/i 3 weeks, hot girls would be knocking at my door. Well, not exactly. But a pretty hot photographer who was there told me she had been cheering for me because I was with Bearclaw. Good enough for me!