Anna’s Last Hurrah

This ride was hatched after having a chat with Joy about hosting a final ride for Anna before she heads back to New York. After some back and forth I drew up a route and made the event on the Adobo Velo Facebook page. Decided on some Villa Ridge, mini-Villa Ridge, and Red Rock Flyby action with some extra credit thrown in to boot. Set the official start as Pedal & Pour at 7:00 a.m. which would give us plenty of time to ride over. I also extended an invitation for others to join in along the way if they wanted some extra credit as well.

Had my regular pre-ride breakfast of overnight oats. I absolutely love the stuff. I was feeling a little lazy this morning and skipped the coffee for a caffeine pill. I left the house at 5:20 which was perfect to get to Joy’s place by 5:30. This would give us plenty of time to get to the start at Pedal & Pour. At some point I got a text message from Josh that he’d be joining us from M Casino, and Jennifer had said the same on the event page on Facebook.

The ride over to the M Casino went great. It was cold, but nothing that proper clothing couldn’t handle. Right as we rolled up I received a message from Kant that him and Josh were dealing with Josh’s flat. Not the ideal way to start a ride. While Kant and Josh dealt with the flat and Joy and Anna ran inside to keep warm, I hung out in the parking lot waiting for Jennifer to roll up.

Once Jennifer arrived we started chatting and she wasn’t certain on what clothes she should bring along. After looking over her options we settled for her lighter gloves and jacket. I worried going with the heavier jacket would be too much and she’d end up cooking by the time the sun came up. We continued to chit chat for a few minutes more, and then I had to cut it short so we could get rolling.

Rolling over to a side entrance of the casino we found Josh and Kant just wrapping up and waved to Anna and Joy to come out and join us. Since I hadn’t posted a route map for this pre-ride, I told the group that we’d roll down to Cactus via Las Vegas Blvd and then just go due west from there. We did end up leaving a little later than I had originally hoped. If it weren’t for Josh and Jennifer I’m sure we would have been right on time.

The six of us made decent time over to Pedal & Pour. We even picked up Moose along the way. We made a quick pass through Mountains Edge Park to make sure no one was starting from there and send a couple messages. Mostly it was me sending Robert a text to let him know where we were and that we were running a little behind.

We rolled into Pedal & Pour to find everyone hanging out enjoying the warmth of the cafe. I stopped, looked at Robert, and with a huge smile on my face tapped my wrist as if I were tapping a watch. Pretty sure he either didn’t see me or flat out ignored me. We all hung out and took a few minutes to allow Josh to have the Pedal & Pour gang take a quick look at his tire before we set off. It seems that it wasn’t sitting on the wheel right and this isn’t a new thing either. Thankfully they were able to get everything squared away and we were off, a little later than originally scheduled but better late than never.

Change the route up Hualapai just a little. Instead of making a left onto Tropicana we continued north to Flamingo instead. The road surface was marginally better than Tropicana and we got to enjoy the fresh asphalt of Hualapai for just a little while longer.

The ride was solid and there isn’t much to report. Decent effort up both Villa Ridge and mini-Village Ridge. There was some minor confusion getting everyone to the second climb, but we were able to get it all sorted out. Along the way we lost two riders who were cutting back early (Stuart and Jack). After the climb up to the top of Sky Vista and back down to Charleston we lost one more (Jimmy).

Our Red Rock Flyby went great. I was too busy saying goodbye to Jimmy and ended up getting dusted by the lead dogs, but it ended up being worth it.

While out solo I passed up a group of three tourists on e-bikes. One of them yelled that it wasn’t fair that I was passing them up on a standard bike to which I replied it was because of the tail wind. This ended up sparking a conversation between the two of us. We went back and forth about their trip to Vegas to see U2 at the sphere and their ride out to Red Rock. They pulled off thinking they needed to ride out to Calico Basin. I tried to holler to them that they were wanting to go straight and I guess they either heard me or saw from their map to continue straight because they caught up a short time later.

We picked up our conversation where we let off, and I asked if they had a park pass. They shared that they didn’t and knew they were going to pay when they got there. Being that I was already way behind I offered to get them through the gate with my park pass. I explained how it worked and how many of the cyclists in the area already have one. They were a little hesitant at first, but I insisted and they relented and accepted the invitation. We rolled up to the gate, I flashed my pass, and we were in like Flynn. I explained that the visitor center is the only stop for water and to be safe and enjoy their ride. I made the left to return to 159.

Right as I rejoined 159 I spotted Ferdie. I started chatting with him when we passed a rider stopped on the side of the road. I asked if they were ok, they indicated they were, and Ferdie and I continued on while chit chatting along the way. A short time later the rider who we passed came rolling up and I dropped back to allow him to pass me to the right and then come across me to pass Ferdie on the left. Instead of passing the guy, Ryan, started chatting me up. It seems that he’s new to the area from SoCal and is still acclimating to the higher altitude. As we talked he dropped, “Yeah I’m Filipino and I’m hoping to eventually get hooked up with this group Adobo Velo.”

I laughed out loud and then while waving my hand in front of my jersey asked, “Do you mean this Adobo Velo?”

He laughed in reply and continued chatting all the way to the Overlook. Once we were there I took the time to introduce him to the rest of the gang who had stopped for a quick bathroom break and regroup. We weren’t there long before we started off toward Blue Diamond. Ryan decided to join us for a bit, but I learned later that he’d turned back a short time after the Overlook.

Just like earlier I got behind and failed to get onto the wheel of the lead group. Had a nice ride all the way to the 159/160 intersection where Kant and I rolled up and were surprised that the lead group had already rode on. The two of us pulled in expecting to wait for a bit for the rest of our group to show up but were pleasantly surprised when they rolled in not too long after we did.

Ride over to Pedal & Pour from Terrible’s went really well. Had some nice drivers show some patience to allow us to move over to make left turns at a couple places. Was pleasantly surprised.

Once to Pedal & Pour I was excited to get me some coffee and something to eat. While I was standing in line I offered to pick up Anna’s coffee and snack. She was hesitant because she wanted both a coffee and oatmeal. I was hearing nothing of it and insisted on picking up her order. Similarly to the tourists from earlier she eventually relented and allowed me to pick up her tab.

We hung out at Pedal & Pour for about an hour before Anna, Henry, Jennifer, Josh, and I gathered up our things and set out for home. We lost Henry at Fort Apache and Warm Springs, and then I stopped to grab some new bike money.

When we made the right onto Las Vegas Blvd from St Rose we checked in with Jennifer to see where she was at. She was at 87 miles and confessed to wanting to get a century. We accepted the challenge and set off to make a loop to Raiders Way out to Speed Vegas and back. It would be close, but if we needed more, which we would, we’d do another loop but only go as far as Bermuda. The loops went well and we lost Josh at Via Inspirada and Volunteer. He had just ticked over a century and was ready to head home. We even made Jennifer do a little dance and give a yell when she crossed 100, and she did shortly after turning onto Bermuda.

We came up to Bermuda and Volunteer and decided that Jennifer would head back to the M and Anna, Joy, and I would head for home. After saying our goodbyes we rolled out for home.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the turn off for Anna and Joy to return to Joy’s place. Anna and I said our goodbyes and I made sure to let her know that she’s welcome to roll out with us anytime.

And, pretty much, that is that. From there it was a quick trip up to Democracy and home. Overall today was a great climbing ish ride. I feel guilty having not done any extra loops at the top of Villa Ridge, but with mini-Villa Ridge coming up I needed to make sure the legs would cooperate. Looking forward to a great salmon dinner and some rest before riding again tomorrow for the TEAMG honor ride.

New bike fund: $34.57 (+$0.54)
0.47 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
825 vehicles @ 6.9 per mile, 1.8 per minute, Speeds: 38.6 mph (avg), 77.6 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Clear-Sunny, 42°F-54°F, Feels like 41°F-54°F, Humidity 23%-16%, Wind N 4mph-NNE 9mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 5.6%
Headwind: 45% @ 2.5-23mph
Longest Headwind: 25m 35s
Air Speed: 16.7mph
Temp: 38.9-53.8°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —