What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta.

Sitting here staring at a blank page and not really sure where to start.

I was pleasantly surprised with the number of people who joined in on the ride over to Pedal & Pour from Anthem Hills Park. Good ole Joe Ruggles drove over to the PT’s location on Green Valley Pkwy and Horizon and rode over from there. John and Anna drove to the park from home. Lastly, Joy rode over from home like I did. In addition there were a few others that were riding over from the area but they were taking a more southerly route over to the M Casino and through Southern Highlands.

The five of us; Anna, Joe, John, Joy, and I, left right on time to make Pedal & Pour with some time to spare. As we came up on Eastern from Summit Grove, Joy mentioned how much traffic there was. The roads did seem a bit busier than usual, but then I remembered we were starting an hour later. Normally we’d be passing through this intersection at 5:00 versus 6:00 and what a difference an hour makes. I wish I had thought of it before because I would have sent us down Sandy Ridge to Sunridge Heights instead. Thankfully the traffic was manageable on the short stretch of Eastern we needed to use.

Along the way I called an audible and decided to take Levi/Erie across to Las Vegas Blvd and Cactus instead of taking Cactus. Last weekend the stretch of Cactus near Maryland Pkwy was a ground down disaster. If I were alone I wouldn’t have had an issue. Sure it would have been annoying, but it was just me. I didn’t feel like subjecting anyone else’s bikes to that kind of road surface, or lack thereof.

The ride over to Mountain’s Edge Park went really quick. We even spotted the group that left from M Casino at the corner of Cactus and Southern Highlands. Sadly they got caught at the light as we passed by. Then we caught up with another group just west of Rainbow on Cactus. We had quite the turnout of riders for the pre-ride festivities.

We rolled out of Pedal & Pour with a decent sized group. I’d estimate maybe 30 riders in total. We started northbound aiming for Villa Ridge via Alta and Cimarron. We made pretty decent progress and had a nice group out front leading the way. One of the highlights was a lady on a bike yelling at us as we started up the pedestrian bridge to cross over Summerlin Pkwy. We were coming around the first corner to start up the ramp and there was a woman on a bike and she started yelling, “Watch out, slow down, watch out!!” I mean she’s borderline losing her mind. Of course, nevermind the fact that she is on the “wrong” side of the trail, and, relatively speaking, we were all riding slowly and taking care to avoid pedestrians. As we pulled up to the restrooms on the east side of the park we all couldn’t help but have a laugh as we reflected on the situation.

After the regroup at the restroom we set out and continued north along Cimarron, worked our way through the Lakes, and across Rampart. The ride up Villa Ridge went really well. At the top I made it through four loops before calling it quits. The fourth loop was the worst, but then again it was my own fault. I came to a near complete stop at the Clear Meadows corner asking the group if everyone had made it to the regroup yet. Without a lot of momentum to get me started, I ended up grinding my way up. I made it about half way before my legs had had enough and I downshifted to give my legs a break and finish the loop.

After the short climb up Lake Mead to Desert Foothills, the ride was mostly downhill all the way back to Pedal & pour. We had a decent group up front cruising down through west Summerlin. Had a good time taking a couple pulls and following a few wheels. Rolled into Pedal & Pour ready for a break and some refreshments. I decided to spoil myself with an iced cold brew, a bottle of Coke (real sugar FTW), and a strawberry danish.

Pretty soon John was itching to go so we grouped up and rolled out heading back north to take in a Red Rock Flyby. Our rag tag band consisted of Anna, Caleb, John, Joy, Kant, and I. As we set off I was feeling pretty good. I even got out front and pulled everyone around for a while. Once we got to Charleston, Kant decided to cut his losses and continued straight and on to home versus continuing with us on the flyby.

As we started westward my legs started getting sleepy. Soon enough everyone went around me except John. I continued to ride my best, but my legs were pretty much done. I didn’t have much left in the way of climbing legs and the power was dramatically reduced. I suspect I did a poor job of keeping up with my nutrition earlier in the day, or the new gym routine, which included a session the day before, was taking its toll. Regardless I just kept riding my ride despite everyone being off the front. Soon enough John came up and thanked me for hanging behind with him and that it wasn’t necessary. I couldn’t help but laugh and shared that I was just doing my thing and was tired myself.

John and I rolled into the Terrible Herbst at NV-159 and NV-160 right behind Anna who’d caught the light red. I couldn’t get inside, grab snacks, and pull up some concrete fast enough. I had this discussion with Joy later, but I feel there is a difference between a “true bonk” and just “physically done/exhausted”. At this point I certainly felt the later versus the former. I mean I’ve had true bonks before and they aren’t pretty. Physically collapsing in the middle of a parking lot because I was so exhausted. I certainly wasn’t there yet. My legs were certainly tired, but I wasn’t feeling overly sick or otherwise “bonking”. Regardless, I nabbed a couple of Gatorades, a package of Zingers, and pulled up some sidewalk to enjoy for a few minutes.

After our nice 30 minute break we set out for the return to the park. Before leaving Terrible’s we talked about what we wanted to do for a route in order to get Anna and John an even century. I mapped out a quick route on RideWithGPS on the phone and we decided to give it a go.

I felt relatively good for the remainder of the ride home. I certainly wasn’t my strongest, but I wasn’t falling apart either. Joy and I said our goodbyes to John and Anna at the corner of Pine Prairie and Hampton. The two of them would go north via Williamsport, work their way to Fieldbrook and eventually Reunion to get back to the park. Joy and I continued east through the neighborhood to connect with Sun City Anthem before turning south. The two of us would part ways at Somersworth.

Overall great day on the bike and happy to bring home another century ride. I’m really starting to get back into the swing of the longer rides, but I need to be more diligent with my on bike nutrition. Sure they’re group rides, but it isn’t uncommon for me to be putting in some serious efforts and it doesn’t take much to get behind. I have a timer setup on my Garmin head unit, but I’m either missing them or they aren’t working properly. Something for me to keep in mind in the future.

New bike fund: $29.90 (+$0.50)
0.36 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
545 vehicles @ 5.5 per mile, 1.5 per minute, Speeds: 40.5 mph (avg), 108.6 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Clear-Sunny, 64°F-91°F, Feels like 64°F-97°F, Humidity 35%-15%, Wind WNW 3mph-NNE 3mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 0.4%
Headwind: 58% @ 2.3-11.4mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 32m 49s
Air Speed: 17.4mph
Temp: 63.1-89.1°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —