Commute Loop – 2023.12.19

Not much to report on today, just a bone standard commute loop. I decided last night to forgo the extra miles and “sleep in” some instead. The extra hours of sleep certainly made a difference and I was feeling much better throughout the day. I’m also enjoying the new asphalt between I-215 and Russell Rd, it is SO nice.

Naturally, once they finished that section they started tearing up another and in this case it’s the corner of Mandalay Bay Rd and Las Vegas Blvd. The last two times I’ve come into that corner I came in kinda hot and really had to get onto the brakes in order to navigate the corner. The first time I nearly blew through the intersection trying to avoid locking up a tire and dumping the bike due to the loose dirt and gravel. Then today I tried to ride to the right of the barrels only to find poorly laid steel plates and more loose gravel and dirt. It really is a total bummer way to end such a great stretch of road. I hope they complete the work soon, but I have a sinking suspicion that the surface will be the typical “dig a trench and backfill it with asphalt while making it as lumpy as possible” versus the smooth surface further south.

Before leaving campus I’d thought of adding on some Wandrer miles, but the route I’d hoped to use wasn’t loaded on my Garmin. And since you can’t load a route while a ride is in progress, I decided to just ride straight home. Honestly, it was probably the better decision considering the fatigue I’m still battling.

By and large, I felt much better riding today than I did last week. Legs weren’t as heavy and I felt like I could actually do some work if I wanted. Getting tantalizingly close to the end of the year. I’m interested to see my stats for the year while also looking forward to some fun challenges in the year to come.

New bike fund: $35.44 (+$0.27)
350 vehicles @ 9.1 per mile, 2.5 per minute, Speeds: 36.0 mph (avg), 61.6 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Cloudy-Mostly cloudy, 48°F-56°F, Feels like 50°F-57°F, Humidity 33%-32%, Wind WSW 2mph-NNW 2mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 3.3%
Headwind: 61% @ 0.5-5.8mph
Longest Headwind: 10h 23m 38s
Air Speed: 17.5mph
Temp: 47.7-56.3°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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