No, Colonel Sanders. You’re wrong. Mama’s right. (🦢)

First Swanny’s Cycles shop ride. Knew we were going out to the dam from the shop and it would be around 50-55 miles. With that in mind I got up and rolling early in order to tack on extra miles. Unfortunately, that was after a restless night.

Made a first pass of the shop around 6:30 with a scheduled start time of 7:00. Continued on and made a quick lap around the neighborhood. This got me closer to the start time next time I rolled up to the shop. Passed the time doing a couple noodle laps of the parking lot before anyone arrived.

Ride out was great with nice weather and cool temperatures. Did a decent job of keeping up until I started falling behind where I always fall behind; climbs and technical sections. Didn’t take long to fall to the rear climbing Horizon Ridge and nearly didn’t make the turn onto Horizon. Then the decent along Nevada Way and Quartzite Road left me lagging because I don’t have the confidence to take turns at the same speeds as everyone else.

By the time I emerged on old US-93 I was really far back. Then I stupidly thought I could catch up during the downhill section. So burned a couple matches and was left with nothing to show for it. Next were the climbs before the dam which put me even further behind, but it didn’t really matter because the group was well out of sight by that point.

Rolled up to the east side lookout and store and was surprised to find I wasn’t the dead last person rolling in. Grabbed a quick snack and a couple Gatorades to put down before starting the ride back.

Ride back was more of the same. Climb up from the dam put me well behind, and by the time I passed Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino the group was well out of sight. Not knowing the route, I figured I’d climb up to Boulder City before heading across Industrial to the Veteran’s Home and the RMT.

Rolling up to Industrial I realized I hadn’t had either of the two riders whom I thought were behind me pass me up. So I stopped to see if I could spy either of them before continuing on. After a few minutes I doubled back to the RMT and shortly there after a few of the lead group started rolling up. Was surprised to learn they’d all turned on Lakeshore to catch the RMT much earlier. Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, I didn’t hear anyone hollering at me to get my attention.

Caught up with the Adobo Velo support tent at the Bootleg Canyon round-a-bout where everyone seized the chance at some refreshments.

With everyone refueled it was time to finish the return ride. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for me to fall behind again. The fast 90 degree corners along that section of the RMT I’m just awful at. Then to make matters worse I fell further behind trying to climb the I-11 frontage road. Resigned to never see the group again I just enjoyed the remainder of the ride back to Swanny’s.

Rolled up to Swanny’s and was surprised to see no one there. Even more surprised when I went inside and learned I was the first to roll up. I visited with Zubi and Chris for a few minutes, refilled my bottles, and got ready to ride out when I would see Joseph ride by on Horizon Ridge before he rolled up himself.

We rode over to Mothership for coffee and to visit with what remained of the group. Enjoyed a nice cold brew, pastry, and chat with the remnants of the group before finally calling it a day and heading home.

Overall it was a good ride and spotted a few Adobo Velo folks heading out to the dam. Will say that after hanging out at the house I can tell I definitely over did it today. Taking Sunday off to give my legs a break and hopefully have the ability to ride in to work on Monday. Only time will tell.

Give your activities the names they deserve. – by Bandok.com
Clear-Mostly sunny, 62°F-83°F, Feels like 63°F-78°F, Humidity 25%-12%, Wind SSW 2mph-NNE 3mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: -7.1%
Headwind: 35% @ 2.6-5.9mph
Longest Headwind: 41m 46s
Air Speed: 17mph
Temp: 59.6-80.3°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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