They’re heeeere!

Another absolutely gorgeous day for a ride. Had a great time albeit nearly spoiled in the last mile.

Adobo Velo birthday ride starting from Pedal & Pour and this was the first Adobo Velo ride I’ve felt like riding over to the start. Only took a few weeks of commuting and a pair of centuries over three days to get the legs back to where I’m accustomed to them being.

Earlier in the week I posted on the ride that I’d be leaving from Anthem Hills Park early and inviting anyone to join me for the ride over. Going into last night I knew Mark would be joining and Joy was a maybe. Joe had initially planned on joining but he was having issues with his new tubeless setup and said he’d drive over and meet us there. Sadly Joe would have something come up in the early morning which prevented him from joining the Adobo Velo ride at all.

Woke up bright and early at 3:30 and started getting ready straight away. Earlier in the week I had started my overnight oats and they had the chance to soak for two days. I also added in about a third of an apple chopped to the mix and it really turned out great. I did forgo the fresh berries and if I’m being honest they were much better without them. The berries just over power everything and it’s all I end up tasting. Also no toast today as I was out of bread, but there is no way I was missing out on coffee.

Left the house just after 4:30 which I was thrilled about, perfect timing. I made my way to the park and rolled up with 10 minutes to spare and waited. As it started getting closer to 5:00 I started getting nervous about Mark. He is rarely late, and if he is he always sends a message letting me know beforehand. About 4:58 I see a pair of lights come barreling through the parking lot and it’s both Mark and Joy. They pull up and ask where I’ve been and I explain that I went behind Del Webb MS like I always do and cut over through the upper portion of the park. Mark shares he’d done the same thing but never saw me, but he’d met up with Joy while riding along Reunion. I went back and checked the Strava flyby and be damned right as I was working my way through the baseball fields on the east side of the park, Mark was riding by the lower restrooms and we just barely missed one another.

We rolled out and as we approached St. Rose we decided it was early enough in the morning to continue down to Cactus and take it across. At the intersection of Southern Highlands and Cactus we picked up Roger. The four of us kept a decent pace all the way to Mountains Edge Park where we made a brief restroom stop. Unfortunately, they were all closed up so we rolled on to Pedal & Pour. As we were pulling out of the park, Moose and Josh were cruising down Mountains Edge Pkwy so we joined them. Made for a nice group of six to roll together all the way to Pedal & Pour.

With the entire group together, felt like 30+ strong, we all rolled out for mini Villa Ridge and Villa Ridge climbs. We did a relatively good job of sticking together, but once we were on the Beltway trail a small group of us ended up out front. Then with some poor light timing we got separated from a large portion of the pack and ended up on our own.

We made our way up to Alta and over to Mini Villa Ridge without issue. Had a good climb with our small group and, thankfully, they all stopped to regroup near the corner of Lake Mead and Thomas Ryan. At this point I gave Robert a call and he was already on his way back to Pedal & Pour to get the BBQ started. I decided that I would hang around and wait for the rest of the group before riding on. I gave Jon the route info and cut them loose to ride on. Josh decided to bite the bullet and hang out with me while we waited.

I kept checking my computer to see where everyone else was and soon enough I spotted Caleb and Stuart already riding up Villa Ridge! I don’t know how but they, and I assumed the rest of the group, had worked their way in front of us on another road. The two of us rolled out to go tackle Villa Ridge ourselves.

As Josh and I were climbing I received a nice compliment from him about “being back” and I will admit that I am starting to feel more like the me before my tour. Legs have more endurance in them even after solid efforts. The two of us hung together for much of the climb until it started to flatten out and Josh pulled out and left me behind. Along the way we also passed Kant and a pair of new guys, Tony and Will, out on their first Adobo Velo group ride. I did my usual loop at the top and then made my way to the shady spot just down the hill. It didn’t take long before the rest of our new small group rolled up and we were ready to start heading back to Pedal & Pour.

From here on back to Pedal & Pour we had a solid group and a solid ride. Really had a good time. We maintained a decent pace and were back to Pedal & Pour pretty quickly.

Once at Pedal & Pour we found that the remainder of the group had already been back and had already started on the food. I parked Shadow and got started on a burger and a pair of sodas (Coke and Sprite) myself. Had an absolute blast hanging out with everyone. Especially had a good time visiting with Isabel before she heads off to the Bahamas for her new job. She’ll be missed for sure, but it is only for a few months and then she’ll be back to ride with us again.

Soon enough I had Mark chewing my ear that it was time to roll out. I gathered up Joy and then we sat and debated. Caleb, Kant, and Josh had rode off north to do a Red Rock Flyby and we were debating either joining them or heading home. Eventually we settled on heading home and would ride out towards Jean for extra miles to take us to centuries.

We made our way through Mountains Edge and decided to take advantage of some closed roads. It was super nice to have both lanes traveling eastbound to ourselves from Durango to Buffalo. We also added on, what I learned were called, the North and South Loops of Mountains Edge. Continuing to work our way home, we rode through Southern Highlands and as we crossed the 15 I suggested a stop at the Green Valley Grocery at the corner of Volunteer and Las Vegas Blvd for a quick stop before rolling on towards Jean.

The three of us pulled up and immediately went for the north side of the building and the nice shady spot that waited for us. Joy and I went inside while Mark waited with the bikes. Joy simply topped off her water bottle, and I did the same as well as picking up a bottle of Gatorade. As we made our way out, Mark got up and went inside for his snacks. We then all sat on the sidewalk with our legs hanging over the edge hanging out chatting. For a while I just sat and listened, enjoying the company.

Refreshed and refueled we set off towards Jean. The plan was for Joy and I to ride south to the summit, or a little more, and then turn around to head home. Mark’s plan was to ride with us as far as Via Inspirada before making the left to return home. We didn’t know it but the little devil decided to tack on a ton more miles to take him to 120+ miles. Crazy man had left his house at 1:30 in the morning to do a few miles in and around Anthem. Neither Joy nor I knew this at the time. We’d both thought we’d picked him up shortly after he’d left his house. Sneaky bastard.

The three of us had a decent tailwind all along Las Vegas Blvd. Sadly, soon enough we hit Via Inspirada and had to say goodbye to our boy Mark. This left Joy and I to continue on south. Little firecracker Joy was trying to bury me. I had joked with Mark as we’d left Green Valley Grocery that Joy always says/complains, “I’m not fast I’m slow” and here she was just crushing it. To give you an idea of how fast this girl was going, I set PRs for several segments along the way and she was still leaving me behind. Thankfully she slowed enough to ask me how far we wanted to go and I said, “Let me hit 90 miles and then we’ll flip around.” We covered that last mile in no time and flipped around to make for home.

As I always say, “If you live by the tailwind, you’ll die by the headwind” and today was no exception. Starting towards home I let Joy come around me and was able to hold on to her wheel only because of the headwind she was taking to the face. Sure I was getting some of it too, but she was certainly taking the brunt of it. I purposely hung back behind her as we made the small climb back to the summit. Once we crested the hill I came around her and we both started motoring.

We were cruising along pretty well until I passed some debris on the road, and honestly failed to call it out in time, and then heard a POP come from behind me. Joy must have hit the sharpest of the rocks that had been in the road and it had immediately killed her front tire. Thank heaven we were going slow enough, albeit still 25+ MPH, that she didn’t dump the bike. She pulled off on the shoulder and I flipped around to help her out. In what was a total shocker, this one wanted to actually set about fixing her flat herself! So I sat back and held Thelma while Joy pulled off the front wheel, swapped out and inflated a replacement tube, and put the wheel back on. All in all it took her only 15 minutes which is impressive considering it was her first swap with Thelma! So heads up everyone you have it on my authority that next time this girl gets a flat she fixes it her damned self!

After that brief 15 minute break, my legs had already started stiffening up. Took me a while before the blood got circulating and they were ready to ride. We made decent enough time considering the headwind, but that slight descent as you come into town helped tons. Making our way across Via Inspirada we opted to make a right turn into one of the new developments to take us over to Democracy. Once there we rode on and then had to say our goodbyes at Via Firenze as she turned the left to ride on home leaving me solo to climb Democracy.

From Via Firenze things went surprisingly well. Granted I wasn’t setting any PRs on any of the climbs and that was just fine with me. Felt surprisingly good as I hit the Democracy flat and was looking forward to a nice descent along Chateau Clermont to cool off before hitting the house. Then near disaster.

As I approached Canyon Retreat, with a decent head of steam, someone reversed out of their driveway and started driving west. I could clearly see the driver through the rear window of their SUV and they were more situated into oncoming traffic. Being on a small neighborhood road I didn’t think too much of it, and actually thought they’d seen me and opted to stay left and allow me to sail by. Of course that wasn’t the case. Well I guess the driver needed to check their mail and came all the way across the road in my direction. I watched in horror as the path of asphalt in front of me grew narrower and narrower. I started hollering and jumped up onto the curb and sidewalk as I passed them by. Thank heaven the curbs are the nice rounded type that don’t take anything to ride up on or I would have been boned. I was so angry, frustrated, and cursing up a storm. I turned around to see that they had decided, after I was well clear of them, to completely mount the sidewalk before checking their mail. This is the second time that I have nearly been involved in an accident less than a mile from my house. It’s one of the reasons I always worry about folks like Mark and Joy when I ride with them and tell them to “Be safe” when we part ways no matter how close to their house we may be.

Anyway, enough negative. Today was a great day for a ride. Sure it was warm, but it honestly didn’t feel as hot as the weather is reporting. Not sure if that was due to the winds or what, but I enjoyed it. I did get some grub in and had a nice nap which is always nice. Looking for a nice chill night finishing up some homework before crashing out and hitting up the GVC ride in the morning.

New bike fund: $27.58 (+$0.00)
0.57 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
309 vehicles @ 3 per mile, 0.8 per minute, Speeds: 36.2 mph (avg), 65.9 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Mostly clear-Sunny, 75°F-94°F, Feels like 74°F-99°F, Humidity 31%-17%, Wind WSW 2mph-NE 6mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: -0.7%
Headwind: 52% @ 2.8-9.5mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 51m 54s
Air Speed: 17.3mph
Temp: 68.6-88°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —