This weekend’s ride was a little different than previous weekends. When I posted the ride I deliberately posted two similar but different routes with different start times. The goal for today was to have two distinct pace groups finished at approximately the same time. While it wasn’t totally successful, I definitely learned a thing or two for future rides which is great.
During last weekend’s ride I’d shared with Robert how I didn’t envy his position within the club. It may not seem like it, but it can be difficult to decide on a route for the weekly ride. Personally, I like to mix things up, but just because we’re doing something different each weekend doesn’t mean the same routes don’t grow stale. I was kicking around doing Jean and Goodsprings and joked with Robert that I can’t do that because he had been talking up a Sandy Valley ride. He threw out Boulder City with little Italy and it was decided.
Also last weekend during the TEAMG Memorial Ride, I had a great conversation with Josh about making future Adobo Velo rides more inclusive. Robert has talked about this as well while expressing a desire to introduce “A” and “B” groups and with the influx of amazingly strong riders this year the bar at the top has been raised. This is great for the club; however, we can’t allow that growth to eclipse some of the OG members. With that in mind I came up with the two Boulder City routes with separate start times so we could have an “A” group and “B” group.
No surprise I heard from Joy the day before asking if she could get some extra miles with me. I told her of course, but let her know that I needed to be at Pebble Marketplace at 8:00 in order to lead the “B” group if needed. She was fine with that and I picked her up outside her neighborhood at 7:00. The ride over to Pebble Marketplace was uneventful and we made good time arriving a few minutes before 8:00.
Arriving at Pebble Marketplace I was surprised to see a group of Green Valley Cyclist riders. As we started chatting I learned they were also going out to Boulder City! It was a total coincidence. I had no clue they were riding out there before setting up the ride. After visiting for a bit I went over to Starbucks to chat with Anna and Joy and use the bathroom before rolling out. We had a solid group of riders show up for the “B” group ride and I let Joy and Anna know that Josh would be along by 8:30 and he could lead out the “A” group. It was a little chaotic and in the future I’ll certainly do a better job of making sure to be more organized.
Riding out to Railroad Pass we made near perfect time. David Hayden had reached out to me on Facebook last night asking what time we would be at Railroad Pass. After checking the route I guess that “B” group would show up around 9:00. Be damned if we didn’t roll up exactly at 9:00! I was super happy with that result for certain considering I was winging it. Everyone took a nice short break and we set off for Boulder City.
Honestly the remainder of the ride went really well. For the most part our group remained together with only David really falling behind. Considering he is only recently getting back on the bike and back into shape it wasn’t a surprise. I had no problem hanging back with him until the RMLT and UPRR intersection. At that point he continued north along the RMLT while I made the turn onto UPRR to return to Pebble Marketplace. We said our goodbyes and I set off to chase down the group.
After crossing the frontage road I started pushing to catch back up. I had to remind myself a couple times to not blow myself up early and run out of steam later. As I came up to Nevada State Dr I spotted Mark and Merri stopped. As I slowed and passed I joked, “What are you waiting for?” It was a nice gesture for the two of them to wait for me. I woahed up long enough for the two of them to get on my wheel and our group of three set off to catch up to the lead group. I had a great time pulling the two of them while balancing the pace to catch the lead group and not leaving them behind. Occasionally, I would check on Mark and Merri and see a gap opening up. I used that as a sign to slow up just a hair in order to not drop the two of them. I’d like to think I did a good job at pace management and we did eventually catch up at the Fiesta Henderson Blvd crossing.
Arriving at the Starbucks at Pebble Marketplace everyone went their separate ways for post-ride refreshments. I went with coffee and a snack from Starbucks while others went over to Jamba Juice for Acai bowls. We all gathered in the patio area and hung out chit chatting while waiting for the “A” group to roll up. They did eventually join us about 30 minutes later, which is longer than I’d hoped, but at least everyone was still hanging around and visiting when they arrived. We continued to visit for quite a while. Looking at the data I was there for nearly two hours before Josh, Joy, Anna, and I rolled out for extra credit and eventually home.
We rode over to Southern Highlands and eventually Mountains Edge avoiding the busier roads as much as possible. Our pace was quick, but we were all certainly tired from our respective rides. As we turned back east, we lost Josh at the usual spot as he turned for home. Chatting with Joy and Anna we agreed that we’d needed another break before tacking on even more miles. We decided to stop at Le Cafe Du Sud in the Southern Highlands Fire Station Plaza for a quick caffeine pick me up and snack. Ultimately we’d spend an hour on their patio enjoying the afternoon sun. It was insanely gorgeous for the second week of December.
Continuing east we decided to take a combination of Amigo, Chaparral and Via Centro instead of Via Inspirada. Joy and I had experimented with this route last weekend and I have to say I really like it. It is most definitely a viable alternative to Via Inspirada. The road surface is better and there is much less traffic. The only “gotcha” is crossing Volunteer. You have to make a jog to the east against oncoming traffic in order to get into a turning lane to make the turn onto Via Centro. It isn’t really that much of an issue, but something to consider should you decide to try it yourself.
Great day for a ride with beautiful weather. While I was just short of 100 miles on the day I really can’t complain. I find much more value in having a viable pair of “A” and “B” routes for the group for future rides. However, next time I’ll have both groups start at the same time which should see both groups coming together at the end. This way we all get to ride and then visit afterwards.
New bike fund: $35.17 (+$0.01)
0.3 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
440 vehicles @ 4.5 per mile, 1.2 per minute, Speeds: 35.8 mph (avg), 64.2 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Cloudy-Sunny, 39°F-65°F, Feels like 41°F-69°F, Humidity 36%-16%, Wind W 2mph-N 3mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 2.4%
Headwind: 35% @ 1.9-9.2mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 34m 30s
Air Speed: 17mph
Temp: 40.3-64°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —
Max elevation: 3091 ft
Min elevation: 1869 ft
Total climbing: 4244 ft
Total descent: -4207 ft
Total time: 09:05:42
Be First to Comment