With special guest, former pro and Gent-Wevelgem winner, Lauren Hall. This was sort of the broken bois edition. Jon and Rob both had broken ribs from MTB crashes from two or less weeks ago along with a wrecked shoulder for Jon and broken elbow for Rob. Half the crew only did OLH and W. OLH and then had to turn around. The cool kids, Lauren, Corby, Erik, Fred, Steve, and I did the full loop. It was colder than expected. The forecast was similar to last weekend so I dressed similarly but it didn't feel as warm. We decided to stop at Loma Mar Store instead of in Pescadero. A few seconds earlier and we wouldn't have been able to. The person opening up was literally getting out of their car and heard us talking about it being closed and called us back. Really the west side of the mountain was cold until we got to the first hump of Stage. By the second hump, I took off all the extra layers. On the way to Tunitas, I realized I should've eaten something at the Bike Hut. All I had was some banana bread from the Loma Mar store. I was a bit worried about bonking on the climb. We started off easily enough but at the start of the steeps, Corby took off. Steve chased after him and then Lauren started to slowly turn up the wick. One by one, we started to drop off. First Erik, then Fred. I thought for a little while I could catch back up but then I was dropped too. My left hamstring started to feel crampy and I had to manage it. On the flatter section towards the top, I was glad to get a tow from a guy that caught up to me. Overall, Tunitas was pretty cold. It didn't help that I didn't put on any extra layers. The descent down Kings was ripping fun. I luckily caught up to these two pickups at the perfect place to pass them - on the straights above the Huddart Park entrance. I made sure to down as much of my Skratch to avoid cramping and it seemed to help. As we crossed over 280 on Sand Hill, I came to the front and let Lauren know we had one final sprint to do up the hill to Rosewood. I led out and kicked until I came around the bend and the bushes then sat back down. A quick glance over my shoulder and Lauren was right there. I thought for sure she was going to go over the top of me. I kicked again and I heard her say something like, "There's more. I'm done." And that's how I took the finishing sprint victory! :)