Like Barry White eating wasps.

Today was pretty brutal. While I can certainly say that anecdotally it’s nice to review the data and see it there as well.

With Saturday’s rides being canceled I got with the little darling and arranged breakfast with her so I’d have Sunday free for a group ride. Thankfully, Robert came through and posted a ride out to Goodsprings. I did get a text yesterday from Joy asking about some extra credit. I told her I’d meet her at Democracy and Via Firenze at 6:15. Then of course I was a moron and didn’t go to bed nearly early enough.

The feet hit the ground running around 4:15 in the morning after waking up at 4. I downed my power oatmeal with some toast and a glass of milk. Hit the door at 6:00 and rolled down to pick up Joy. I made it to the corner early and decided to ride down Via Firenze to meet her. Funny thing is I spotted her come around the corner on Savella Ave and go north. At this point I thought she was adding some extra miles by doing loops around the park before meeting up with me. I put down a little power to catch up but found that she’d made a right heading back toward her house. I pulled up to her place and asked, “Hey are you ready to go yet?”. That got a nice scare out of her. I guess she’d forgotten her HRM strap and had doubled back to get it. Unfortunately she never found it. We rolled out a little behind where I’d expected us to be, but I figured Robert and everyone wouldn’t mind waiting a few minutes for us to roll up. Or, worst come to worst, we’d just chase them down.

The two of us made our way over to LVB and then north to Pebble. I was pleasantly surprised how many lights we caught green before turning onto Pebble. This streak of luck continued for a decent amount of Pebble as well. Just before Green Valley Pkwy we spotted the Green Valley Cyclists gang going the opposite direction. I looked up their ride later and they were heading up to Potosi for the day. We made our turn onto a quiet Green Valley Pkwy and made for the climb up to PTs. Overall we did a great job of timing and made it to the start with about 10 minutes to spare.

We had a nice time hanging out waiting for the start of the ride and more people to show up. Come to find out there were several who had decided to ride over to the start including Dave and Kevin from over on the west side. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people showed up to ride considering it was a Sunday morning when we typically ride on Saturdays.

As we get started I’m out in front leading some of the gang around as we make our way south through Anthem and Inspirada. This entire time I’m following behind Moose and Kevin. And, upon reviewing the data, we made the entire trip without a significant stop. We either hit all the greens, made the left turns without traffic, or cleared stop signs with no traffic. Just short of a 26 mile run without a break. I’m fairly confident that this segment of the ride is what did me in for the remainder. I was either out front or trying to hold on to Moose’s and Kevin’s wheels. The two of them were super fast and it took alot for me to hang on.

Once we got to Terrible’s in Jean I felt like I was done for. I was super happy to be able to get off the bike and sit down for a rest. My left foot had gone numb either from cold or my shoe being strapped on too tight. I took the opportunity to take the shoe off, massage my foot some, and then put it back on. We all hung out as we watched more from the group roll in. All in all we would hang out for about 45 minutes waiting for Robert and the rest of the crew. When Robert rolled in we found out that he had done an extra climb up Olivia Heights that none of the rest of us had done. I guess it was his intention to have it on the course, but it never made it to print. No big deal these things happen. I think we were all just relieved to have him roll up after having waited.

Feeling a little better we started off for Goodsprings. It took a few miles for the blood to really get flowing and my legs to warm back up, but for some reason they came back to life. I was feeling better, but not nearly as good as I would have liked. Carrying all my extra weight it wasn’t long before the billy goats passed me up and left me in the dust. As I came into Goodsprings they had just made their u-turn and were starting back down. I hollered for them to not wait up as I was going to do the loop back around to Sandy Valley Rd.

As I came back to Goodsprings Rd to start my descent I stopped and figured I’d wait for the lead group to start down. Once they did I’d hook on to them and follow them down. After exchanging a couple messages with Moose I learned that they were already well off down the hill! It was about this time that I spotted Robert and a few others coming down Sandy Valley Rd having done the same loop that I’d done. I mounted up and joined in with them for the descent leading them for most of the way down.

Back at the bottom we regrouped with the lead pack. Robert had mentioned he wanted to go out to the Sierra Quarry, and of course I was more than happy to add on extra miles. As we were leaving Terrible’s, for the second time, I was still not quite feeling up to snuff. I did end up way in the back and just focused on riding to finish out the day at this point. Riding alone kinda sucks, but it also gave me the chance to ride at my own pace and get a little more recovery in. When I rolled up to the literal end of the road most of the hammers were already there. We snapped a couple pictures and then rolled out to head back.

Joy got a wild bug and tore out of there leading us all out. I enjoyed the quick downhill and then Kevin came around me and his wheel was too good to pass up. And honestly that was the way things went for nearly the entire way back to town with the addition of Dave to the mix. The four of us would ride all the way back to Via Inspirada and Bicentennial Pkwy. During the stretch along Las Vegas Blvd, Dave, Kevin, and I would rotate through, but honestly I think I was up front maybe a total of three times. The lion’s share of the work was done by Kevin and Dave. I was just happy to have been able to hold on.

At Bicentennial and Via Inspirada I said goodbye to Kevin. He wasn’t up for hanging out at PTs and I told him that if he wanted to head home from that point his best bet was to continue north on Via Inspirada until it becomes Cactus and he can continue west from there. It was also at this point that Dave and Joy ended up out ahead and doing a couple loops through the dog bone before spitting themselves out onto northbound Via Inspirada while I’d made the right onto Bicentennial. I rolled to a stop just in time for Joy to ring me to find out where I was. After figuring they’d gone the wrong direction I told them to meet me at Sebring Hills and Volunteer.

Then of course I proceeded to hit all the lights between me and that corner red. It seemed like it took me forever to get caught up with Joy and Dave. Thankfully when I did we talked about how we wanted to get back to PTs. Robert had wanted us to continue north on Sun City Anthem and back to Fieldbrook for an out-and-back ride. Being it was just the three of us, I had no desire to fight traffic and opted to make a quick trip south before continuing east on Hampton. This would get most of the remaining climbing out of the way before the nice descent back.

Of course Dave and Joy smoked me up Hampton, but once there we rolled out pretty quick. As we rounded Reunion approaching Del Webb MS, there was an orange Subaru going the opposite direction and flashing their lights. I was pleasantly surprised to see the kiddo waving, hollering, and cheering us on out her window as we rode on by. I would learn later that she had been on her way home along Anthem Pkwy when she spotted us. She decided to turn around and come back to give us a wave. It absolutely made my ride and made me completely forget all the pain suffering that I’d been through up to that point.

The three of us rolled into PTs to find that there was a celebration of life happening on the patio where we usually hang out. As we wandered aimlessly out front, imagine our surprise when Tony came walking out and ushered us inside. Apparently, he had called his wife up for SAG and had decided to come back and meet us after getting cleaned up. We pulled into a booth and sat down ready for a nice relaxing visit. Dave and I ordered an omelet to match Tony’s, while Joy ordered the breakfast sandwich. I guzzled down my Dr. Peppers and breakfast to boot. When it was time to go, some two hours later, I grudgingly got up and rolled out with Joy and Mark.

The ride home from PTs went well. It took maybe a mile or so before my legs got warmed back up. The clear skies and sunshine certainly helped in that regard. Joy and I said goodbye to Mark when he turned off to head home. Then Joy and I said our goodbyes a short time later. I felt surprisingly good on the Williamsport and Atchley/Somersworth climbs, and once I was home I didn’t feel all that worse for wear. At least I wasn’t begging to get off the bike like I have felt in the past after a tough day in the saddle.

Looking back through the data I’m surprised how elevated my heart rate was. Even the pre-ride extra credit with Joy my heart rate was solidly in zone 3. Then the first stretch out to Terrible’s it was consistently in zone 3 or higher with plenty of time spent in zones 4 and 5. My heart rate was so elevated that Intervals.icu suggested I bump my Threshold HR to 170 BPM due to having done a 20 minute stretch at 173 while climbing to Goodsprings. Going to leave it be for the time being and chalk it up to not being well rested. I should have gone to bed much earlier last night than I did and got up earlier than usual to boot. Not a great combination to start the day with period, let alone when you’re going to try to follow the likes of Moose, Kevin, and Dave.

Despite feeling like garbage for most of the second half of the ride, the day was a good one. It was a little cool at first, but the day warmed up nicely. Post-ride breakfast at PTs was a treat considering the day I’d had up to that point. Now to rest and relax for the remainder of the evening before the short work week leading up to another DC this weekend!

New bike fund: $55.22 (+$0.00)
296 vehicles @ 2.7 per mile, 0.8 per minute, Speeds: 37.2 mph (avg), 80.7 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Clear-Mostly cloudy, 49°F-65°F, Feels like 50°F-71°F, Humidity 67%-40%, Wind W 3mph-NNE 4mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 6.5%
Headwind: 67% @ 4.3-8.8mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 49m 29s
Air Speed: 18.6mph
Temp: 41.5-62°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —