It was awesome, but also.. it wasn’t?

Bandok couldn’t me wrong wrong with title choice on this one. This ride was 100% awesome.

Got up super early to make it down to Pebble Marketplace by the 5:30 start time. Thankfully I was early enough to fix the flat I found when I went to grab the bike. Did a quick tube swap, rolled out, and made it with 5 minutes to spare.

The cruise over to Las Vegas Blvd along Pebble was nice and relaxed. Turning south onto LVB is when the fun started. The group was slapped in the face with a pretty stiff headwind. We lined up and ground it out until Green Valley Grocery at LVB and Volunteer. Once there we picked up a couple more riders, topped up water bottles, and rolled out for Jean.

This is when the wind really started getting tricky. Once we rounded the slight curve at Larson, we were riding directly into the wind. We formed up again into a solid pace line and started cycling through taking pulls at the front. Felt really good and strong the entire time. Took some solid pulls at the front and fell back when I started feeling a little burnt.

The pace line continued until we passed under the rail line. From there it was downhill all the way to Jean. The group started to have a blast taking little jabs and making small attacks on the front jockeying for position all while just flying. I finally decided to get in on the action with a 5 second 1,000 watt burst leading into Jean. Absolute blast. We stopped at the large Chevron on the west side of the freeway for a brief breather, refuel, and regroup before heading back.

The ride back was insanely fast. Honestly I was glad I was able to hold on to the tail of the group. There were a few times that I was close to spinning out as we were hovering around 35-40 MPH for 7 miles before M.

Just past Volunteer we stopped for another regroup and to say some goodbyes. I had planned on riding up Via Inspirada to return home, but, after chatting with Mike and Mark, decided to take Volunteer over to Hampton instead. The three of us had a nice cool down ride along Volunteer. Once Mike peeled off at Via Firenze, Mark and I shared the pain climbing up Hampton. Mark and I parted ways once we made it to Anthem Pkwy with him going left and me going right.

Went ahead and did the Atchley/Somersworth climb instead of staying with Anthem Pkwy. Made it home without issue, but was disappointed to find that the rails on my saddle were busted! I have no idea when it happened and I’m lucky to have made it home without it really being an issue. Already have a replacement ordered and it’ll be here, hopefully, in a couple days. Until then I get a couple days off the bike to recharge the legs.

Partly cloudy-Partly sunny, 93°F-96°F, Feels like 87°F-90°F, Humidity 10%-12%, Wind SSW 5mph-E 3mph – by Klimat.app
Give your activities the names they deserve. – by Bandok.com