Commute Loop – 2023.09.12

Great day for a commute. The temperature riding in was awesome. The ride home was a little warm, but with the cloud cover I ditched the sun sleeves. A nice change from the usual.

Along the ride in, near the Las Vegas Premium Outlets, I found a handful of nickels in the road. At first I’d spotted a single which prompted me to turn around. When I rolled back to pick it up I spotted two more near the gutter and a final one out in the middle travel lane of Las Vegas Blvd. With no traffic around I rolled out into the road and picked it up. Combined with the quarter I’d found earlier I made a decent addition to the new bike fund today.

I’ve been toying with the idea of lengthening my commutes and looking at ways to do so. One idea is to ride over through Southern Highlands and then go north along Rainbow until, essentially, Harmon and then east. Before I commit to that I want to drive it first.

Another idea, which I tested today, is to continue east on Harmon until Sandhill before going south to Patrick and on to Green Valley Pkwy. While the route is totally doable, I don’t think I’ll be using it for a while. Harmon has some construction east of Pecos and the worst of it is at the intersection with Sandhill. Then riding south along Sandhill the road is just awful. There are sections which are ok, but overall it isn’t nearly as good as Pecos. Patrick/Green Valley is about just as bad until you pass Sunset. Ultimately, not a good alternative to the usual Harmon to Pecos I’ve been using the past couple months.

Ride home was tough. Felt like the wind came from three different directions. When I left campus it felt like a solid cross from the south as I rode along Harmon. Then along Sandhill had once again had a solid cross feel almost like the winds were out of the west. Finally climbing Green Valley Pkwy I felt like I was taking it right in the face.

Awesome day for a ride. The weather held out and the rains stayed south of town only sending outflow winds into the valley. Already looking forward to my commute on Thursday.

New bike fund: $27.54 (+$0.45)
412 vehicles @ 10.8 per mile, 2.9 per minute, Speeds: 35.0 mph (avg), 59.2 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Mostly cloudy-Mostly sunny, 79°F-90°F, Feels like 79°F-89°F, Humidity 45%-27%, Wind W 3mph-SSE 7mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 7.8%
Headwind: 84% @ 6.5-15.4mph
Longest Headwind: 56m 51s
Air Speed: 18.4mph
Temp: 79.8-89°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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