Elementary chaos theory shows that all robots must inevitably run amok.

I must say that today was the first ride where I’ve felt back to my old self from before my fall. Had a few solid efforts along the way and the legs were asking for more. It’s also the first time I’ve come home and not wanted to immediately lay down on the floor and pass out. Feels good to be getting close to “normal”.

Started with a nice noodle down to Anthem Hills Park to catch anyone who wanted to join. Wait for maybe 10 minutes and then rolled on to PTs at the corner of Green Valley Pkwy and Horizon Ridge.

Amazing turnout for today’s ride. It was dual purpose. First was an August birthday and second was to honor fallen riders Tom and Erin. It was great to see everyone who came out. I’d wager there was at least 50 riders! Thankfully I arrived early enough to chit chat with a few people from all the different groups and clubs. We gathered for a quick group picture, birthday wishes, and kind words of remembrance about Erin and Tom. Then we rolled out.

With such a large group I allowed the group to pull away. I’m not a big group person off the bike and the same is true on the bike. Had a great time chatting it up with Caleb “Hoodoo Man” Sprayberry until I stopped to check on a stopped rider at the base of the climb up Horizon Ridge. Was amazed to find that the middle jockey wheel on her derailleur had come off. I doubled back to look for it and was surprised with what I found. I found not only the jockey wheel, but a large piece of the derailleur arm still attached. It was the damnedest thing. Thankfully someone in her group volunteered to double back to PTs to get a vehicle.

Knowing there was nothing more I could do I set out up the Horizon Ridge climb hoping I’d catch back up to the group. This was one of the segments where I really surprised myself. I was just cruising up the climb and putting in the work. Thankfully the group had stopped to regroup at Paradise Hills before continuing east.

Back with the group we made quick progress through the Paradise Hills and Mission Hills neighborhoods. Was having a good time when we had another rider (Eddie?) off to the side with a flat. Thankfully he said he had it handled and I scrambled again to catch back up. Was able to pick up the tail again right as we made the loop onto UPRR.

Immediately on joining the UPRR I spotted two more riders (Tony and Burns) off the trail dealing with issues. Both of them already had someone with them so I assumed they had it handled and pressed on. Made it to the I-11 frontage and started the descent to Goodfellow. Before I could get there I spotted my favorite Red Madone (402man) working a flat solo. I came to a stop to hold the bike while he worked his magic swapping the tube. As he finished we spied down the way another rider stopped working a flat with a pair of riders offering their support.

From there on to the top Bootleg round-a-bout everything went smoothly. We stayed together until the top. Gave me a great chance to visit and chat with Mark since we haven’t had a chance to ride together in a few weeks.

All the riders gathered around the Bootleg Bike Statue to hang out and wait for the rest of the group. During the chat found that different groups had taken different routes to end up at the same spot. Sounded like a couple riders ventured onto I-11 before turning north onto old US-95. Another group had gone across Railroad Pass Rd to join Boulder City Pkwy east to Veterans Memorial before turning north onto Canyon Rd. Thankfully everyone arrived in one piece.

We all gathered around for another picture before heading back. With everyone knowing the RMT was clear we rode down Canyon to Industrial and finally across to the Veterans Home to join the RMT.

Seeing the riders in front of me making a left onto the UPRR was a relief. I was looking forward to a nice downhill cruise to Acacia Park. Was surprised when we jumped off around the Mission Hills neighborhood at the same spot we’d joined the trail going out. We worked our way to Mission Dr to ride west to Horizon Ridge. I was doing my best to keep with the lead pack, but once we started climbing to Horizon Ridge I started to fade back. I was still feeling strong just not strong enough to keep up with the big guns.

We made the turn onto Horizon Ridge and I was happy to relax and allow my legs to recharge as we made the descent. Sadly we hit the red at Horizon which was a bummer. Otherwise the remainder of the ride along Horizon Ridge went off without a hitch.

Rolled in to PTs and asked around to see who still had some miles to do and where they were heading. My typical go-tos, Mark and Joy, had ridden over to Mountains Edge Park to meet a group of westsiders who’d started from there. They’d also decided to stay and hang out some. Did hear from Caleb and David that they needed to head back, but weren’t too terribly familiar with the area. David even wanted to go down to Pebble to ride it was. Seeing an opportunity for extra miles and to help my boys I said I’d get them across to Cactus.

Leaving PTs we had to ride against traffic on Green Valley Pkwy to catch an opening in the median to make a u-turn to go south. It was either that or go north to Horizon Ridge and do a u-turn there. Thankfully it was still early enough in the morning that there wasn’t much traffic to contend with. We just cruised along Sunridge Heights until Seven Hills/Spencer and then rode over to Cactus. In hindsight, and if I were to do it again, I should have gone all the way to Maryland Pkwy. Would have had lighter traffic and probably been safer. Live and learn.

With the boys safely on Cactus and feeling comfortable on how to get back to Mountains Edge Park, I turned onto Maryland Pkwy to start my ride home. Was still feeling a little fresh and frisky so I opted for a Seven Hills loop. After that loop I just worked my way through various neighborhoods just taking it super easy. Transitioning down to a nice recovery pace. Heart rate never really came down, but the power was super low. It was fun to tack on all those extra miles on new roads for some Wandrer points. As I was getting close to the house I saw that I was just shy of both 70 miles and 4000 ft of climbing so I took a small detour in order to nail both achievements.

Overall, today was great. I’m super excited to feel like my fitness is continuing to recover. I said it to many people, “It sucks when your fitness was an 8, your mind still thinks it’s an 8, but in reality your fitness is a 3.” As mentioned at the start, it was nice to roll up to the house and feel desperate to get the bike stowed and rush inside to start recovering.

Probably roll out and do another recovery ride through Inspirada similar to last Sunday before breakfast with the little darling.

Completely unrelated, and a fun way to see if you’ve read this far, my legs were just COVERED in dirt and grime when I got home. This happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

Give your activities the names they deserve. – by Bandok.com
14.48 new miles — Wandrer.earth
Partly sunny-Cloudy, 79°F-86°F, Feels like 82°F-90°F, Humidity 71%-56%, Wind E 3mph-NE 3mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: -9.2%
Headwind: 50% @ 2.9-5.1mph
Longest Headwind: 37m 10s
Air Speed: 15.1mph
Temp: 75.5-82.8°F
Precip: 4% @ 0.01 Inch/hr
— END —