I think that’s a right load of old codswallop

I was hanging around the house early Thursday morning and got to chatting with Mark Hyken via text. During that conversation he mentioned he was riding on Friday with John and Anna and asked if I wanted to come along. Thankfully I’d taken both Thursday and Friday off and could go. Also staring down the barrel of another zero mile week gave me even more motivation to go.

I left that house early to ride down to Scrambled for my usual Friday breakfast. I had a nice chat with a couple who are regulars like I am. After that I chat I got nervous that I was going to run late so I started horking down my breakfast. I hate rushing a good meal, especially breakfast, but I hate being late meeting up with someone even more.

Before leaving Scrambled I’d sent Mark a text message letting him know I was on the way. He’d replied he was riding up in Anthem. The plan was to meet Mark at the corner of Sandy Ridge and Sunridge Heights. Was kinda frustrated at myself for being SO early. Instead of waiting around, and getting cold, I started riding up Sandy Ridge towards Anthem Hills Park in hopes of crossing paths with Mark. Funny thing is we passed each other at the park where we had originally talked about meeting up the day before.

Mark and I got to chit chatting while heading towards east Horizon Ridge. The plan was to keep going east until we spotted John and Anna going in the opposite direction. Had a nice chance to visit with him while we rode. We rode all the way to just beyond Gibson before we spotted the two coming the opposite direction. We flipped around and we were on the way.

Ride over to the west side was pretty chill. I did put in a decent effort over top of the railroad tracks along Cactus. After a quick stop at Mountains Edge, we set off for a Red Rock flyby. I was crusing along up Blue Diamond feeling pretty good. Made the turn onto NV-159 and realized I’d gapped the other three. I soft pedaled for a bit and when they came up along side me I started pushing again. For the most part I was up front all the way to the Dunkin on DFH. We did stop to have a nice coffee break at Dunkin before setting off for Villa Ridge.

While riding over to Villa Ridge I kept it in the back of my mind that I really wanted to smash it. I’d wanted to do something similar on the climb up to Goodsprings the week before, but that segment of the ride was cancelled because of the weather. So along the ride over from Dunkin I took it really easy trying to prep myself. As we turned off Del Webb I grabbed a couple healthy drinks and opened up my jersey for the climb. Villa Ridge went really well and I’m happy to have found out later that I did beat my previous best time. Once at the top I did a few loops while waiting for everyone else to finish up. The last time I came around I spotted John and Anna take the left and head down toward Thomas Ryan.

We made out way over to the Terrible’s at DFH for rest and refuel. I snagged a Gatorade, some Zingers, and a nice seat to plop down on to relax some before another Red Rock flyby on the way back home.

Ride back to Henderson was pretty much the same as the ride over. Took the lead for the flyby and pulled everyone along. Was feeling absolutely great. Made one final quick stop at Mountains Edge. Rode with everyone as far as Sunridge Heighs and Sandy Ridge. At that point John and Anna continued on towards home while Mark and I turned towards Anthem. Mark wanted some extra miles so he rode with me up to the top of Fieldbook. Once at the top he went left to return home via Anthem Pkwy and I went right.

Worked my way over to Volunteer to loop out to Las Vegas Blvd and return on Via Inspirada and Democracy. Had that feeling that I hadn’t quite put in enough work for the day so I also made the water tanke and Sloan climbs to boot.

Finished up feeling really good and refreshed despite also feeling tired.

0.94 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
Give your activities the names they deserve. – by Bandok.com
Mostly sunny-Sunny, 39°F-60°F, Feels like 41°F-65°F, Humidity 59%-21%, Wind SSW 2mph-ENE 4mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 4.5%
Headwind: 44% @ 1.8-11.4mph
Longest Headwind: 41m 44s
Air Speed: 17.3mph
Temp: 35.5-55.7°F
Precip: 1% @ 0.02 Inch/hr
— END —