All we need is an escape-goat.

Today was certainly a tough one, but that’s what happens when you have a dedicated and separate A Group, all the hammers come out and smash your head in.

The day started easily enough with a nice cruise down the hill to Joy’s neighborhood. The two of us had a nice easy cruise to the start at Pebble Marketplace. I arranged for us to leave her place 10 minutes earlier than usual in hopes of seeing the B Group ride out and to be just a little earlier than usual. We were successful in the later, not in the former. We wouldn’t really see much of the B Group until the end of the ride back at Pebble Marketplace.

Joy and I rolled up to find Dave hanging out in his ride waiting patiently for the start. He joked that the B Group riders were giving him a “What are you doing here!” kinda look. Certainly not in a bad way, but a more like “Oh crap we’re dead” kinda look. It was funny to hear him describe it. The three of us had a nice visit while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

Soon enough everyone else started rolling in and it was looking like we were going to have a solid group. We rounded everyone up and got lined up to take the pre-ride group picture. As we were standing there another car rolled up and it was Jose. He rolled in at exactly 8:00 on the dot. We all made sure to give him a ribbing about it and made sure that if anyone asked why we were late it was certainly his fault.

The ride started pretty chill. We had a nice leisurely ride over to UPRR trailhead near Gibson and Wigwam. Once we got onto the trail things started to pick up. After a brief pause to clear Acacia park we started really making good speed towards Railroad Pass. I had a good time leading while also sharing the duties with Henry and Jose. Somewhere after the Arrowhead Trail crossing we spotted Mark Hyken heading back towards the start. I made sure to yell “402!” as loud as possible to make sure he heard me as we passed one another. It wasn’t too long after that that we pulled into the Railroad Pass convenience store for our first break.

We hung out at Railroad Pass for maybe 15 minutes before continuing on to Lake Mead. Our little group stuck together pretty well only losing Anthony and Michole by the time we reached Business-93/Boulder City Pkwy. We jumped on the RMT at the Historic Railroad Hiking Trail trailhead in order to bypass the toll booth. It was at this point that we lined up and started really rolling again. For the next 7.5 miles we averaged around 22 MPH until we spotted Robert parked on the side of the road at 33 Hole Rd. We kept going until we came to the top of the next rise when we stopped to call Robert to see what was going on.

On the phone with Robert I learned that he’d stopped to wait up for one of the B Group riders. Robert wanted to know if we’d passed the person along the way. We confessed that we hadn’t seen anyone riding our way at all let alone since we got onto Lakeshore. Resigned that they must have either stayed on the RMT trail or turned back, Robert mounted up and came to join us.

Rolling on, Henry and Jose were certainly in top form as the two of them were just crushing it. It was a struggle to keep on their wheels. The couple of climbs before reaching Northshore were pretty difficult. They’d pull away, and, if I was lucky, I could reel them back on a descent. Unfortunately, once we started climbing Lake Mead after Lorin C Williams Pkwy things went from bad to worse. I was up front and then these two jokers rode over top of me. I tried to jump onto Henry’s wheel, but I looked down at my computer and saw I was pushing 300 watts simply trying to hold on. I said, “To hell with that” and let the two of them keep going. Soon after Dave and Joy went on past to catch the two of them leaving me solo trailing behind. Certainly disheartening, but then again I need to quit expecting to get better, faster, and stronger when I’m only getting started with weights and doing zero structured workouts. Maybe something to change in 2024.

Before getting smoked by the group and before the summit, we did end up seeing the missing B Group rider off to the right riding on the RMT. We all hollered and waved as we rode on by. We briefly thought of stopping, but decided to carry on and regroup at the Terrible’s ahead.

I finally caught up with everyone at the Terrible’s at the intersection of Athens and Lake Mead for our final rest stop before returning to Pebble Marketplace. We all hung out chit chatting while waiting for Robert and the other rider to roll up. It took a while, but they both eventually rolled in and were ready to go straight away. As we continued visiting for a few more minutes while waiting for others to finish in the bathroom, we spotted two more riders coming down Lake Mead. We all chuckled thinking, “Is that Anthony and Michole?” A few of us thought yes and others no. We were all surprised when it actually was the pair. They rolled up and were also ready to continue on. We allowed everyone to finish getting themselves ready before rolling out.

The final leg back to Pebble Marketplace went well. I was able to stick with everyone pretty well, but did get dropped, again, along Wigwam after Valle Verde. I don’t know what it is about that section that always seems to do me in. Regardless, I rolled into Pebble Marketplace and found a good number of the B Group riders hanging around. I went and grabbed some Starbucks and a Jamba bowl before finding a nice seat on the patio. We hung out chatting for probably an hour before saying our goodbyes.

Just before leaving, I learned that Jennifer decided she wanted to join Joy and I for another round of extra credit. Knowing the more the merrier we were happy to have her along. I didn’t really have a route in mind and just set off west for Southern Highlands and Mountains Edge. I mixed it up a little by taking us north to Gower before continuing west. I actually enjoyed this little extra loop and the additional miles we earned. As we started back east we just couldn’t believe how much further we needed to go to get Jennifer to 100. I also was contending with generally getting her back to her neighborhood while starting to fall apart. It seems those mega efforts to keep up with Henry and Jose were starting to take their toll.

We made a little 20 minute stop at the corner of Jones and Cactus to refill water bottles and have a little rest. From there we continued east hunting miles. As we started down St. Rose at the last minute I made a right turn to take Bruner over to Bermuda, and while we were on Bermuda I drummed up a little loop we could make. After that loop we kept with Bermuda going back north to get Jennifer back near her house. We parted ways along Pebble and Joy and I continued on back to Pebble Marketplace, for the third time.

After a short break at Starbucks Joy and I set off for home. At this point I was pretty well dead. I had just enough to get me up into the neighborhoods behind the Anthem Von’s, but after that it was mostly token efforts. I met up with Joy at Fieldbrook and Sun City Anthem where we said our goodbyes. She turned right to go west on Sun City Anthem to get into Inspirada while I continued south for more climbing to get home. At this point I really didn’t care and was just going through the motions. I was super thrilled when I finally rolled into my driveway.

Another solid day of wonderful riding and beautiful weather. I can’t believe how mild things have been the past two months. I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It is really nice to finish up a ride and sit out on a patio, visit, and enjoy the outdoors. That’s nearly impossible during the hot summer months.

New bike fund: $36.35 (+$0.28)
0.63 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
564 vehicles @ 4.7 per mile, 1.3 per minute, Speeds: 36.2 mph (avg), 69.6 mph (max) — MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Mostly cloudy-Mostly cloudy, 43°F-60°F, Feels like 45°F-61°F, Humidity 44%-26%, Wind WSW 2mph-N 5mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 5.2%
Headwind: 57% @ 0.8-7.5mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 25m 50s
Air Speed: 17.8mph
Temp: 39.9-62.9°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —