Have fun with empowerment. It seems to make everyone that gets it really happy.

A ride not starting from my driveway!? What in the world?! Since the ride was scheduled to start at West Tech at 6:00 a.m. In order for me to get over there from the house would require leaving at 4:00 a.m. Oof that is a very tough ask. Instead I sent a text message over to Joy yesterday afternoon about carpooling over to the start. We figured we’d start with the group and then add on some miles afterwards to take us to a century. I picked up Joy just before 5:00 and we made a quick stop at Starbucks before driving over to West Tech.

When we pulled into the West Tech parking lot I was surprised by how many riders had turned out. I knew this ride was shared with GVC, but I didn’t realize it had also been shared with Colavita. I guess word must have gone out well beyond that because there were easily a hundred riders.

Things started out very chill. I ran into Merri in the parking lot and we started chit chatting. This was the first time that I’d seen her riding an Adobo Velo ride since her shoulder surgery a few months back. It was nice to catch up and hear how her recovery was going. By the time we’d finished I looked up and the lead group was already gone up the road. So I put my head down and just focused on riding my ride.

Rolling up to Red Rock’s entrance, I checked in to make sure everyone was getting in without issue. I grabbed Caleb and a few others to get in on my park pass. Then, after helping Caleb with his seat post, I started the climb up to the Overlook. I felt pretty good for the entire thing. Plenty of go in the legs and lungs. I did come up on Merri again. The two of us rode together until we finally reached the Overlook.

The rest of the ride through Red Rock was great. Was cruising down and watched as Moose and Remko just blew past me like I was standing still. Then at some point I picked up Joe. Had a nice cruise up to the exit where everyone was hanging out at the first of three SAG stops. It was a great chance to hang out for a bit and visit. I hung out until everyone cleared Red Rock, and it was at this point I figured I might as well act as the sweeper for the day making sure everyone was clear. Joe, Caleb and I were just about to roll out when Henry pulled in. Sleeping Beauty had slept through his alarm, but he was also fighting a tire which was going flat. While he went over to the SAG wagon to get that squared away, Joe, Caleb and I rolled out.

The ride over to Terrible’s was solid. The three of us stayed together for the most part. Shortly after the Blue Diamond turn-off Caleb got a phone call and had to peel off. That left Joe and I to go it alone the rest of the way. When we pulled in there were several other riders hanging out and visiting John’s SAG wagon. Joe and I both made a quick bathroom stop and then rolled over to see what was going on. A few riders choose to start back by continuing east on Blue Diamond. A few others were going to continue west up to the Late Night Trailhead. And a few more, myself included, were going to go all the way up and over Potosi. By this time Henry rolled up and his rear tire was still fighting him. He worked with Tony and John to get a plug put in and his tire aired back up. Finally we were all set and ready to go.

As I started up the climb, I said goodbye to those who I knew weren’t going over the top and continued on. The climb up I felt really good. I just kept spinning a consistent pace and power. It was a long slog, but once I got to the top I was thrilled to have finished.

The descent to the turnaround was another story. I got down into the drops to pick up some speed and enjoy some fast coasting to the SAG stop. I was cruising just under 40 MPH when a pickup went by and Shadow didn’t like it. The dirty air coming off that truck was just enough to start some dreaded high speed wobbles, and they got BAD. Immediately I started putting on the rear brakes and I honestly didn’t feel like it was getting any better. Then to make matters worse I was starting to drift to the right which would take me off the roadway. Thankfully I was able to get slowed enough for them to stop and was able to ride on, but damn if I seriously didn’t start having visions of going down. I would battle winds and high-speed vehicle aero wash for the rest of the day.

I arrived at the turnaround/SAG stop to find Robert and Kant manning stations while Ferdie and Anna were hanging out. We visited for a while before Ferdie and Anna decided to head back. I decided to hang back and wait for Caleb. Then I figured we’d just roll back to the start together. I don’t know how long I waited, but eventually we spotted Caleb coming down the road. Had more time to hang out with the gang, and while we were this Lambo rolls up and turns around in the little drive that we’d set up shop at. At first we’d joked there was no way the guy was taking it off road, and I laughed “Well maybe, I’m sure it’s a rental.” They in fact did not take it off road, but left heading back east towards Vegas. A few minutes later, Caleb and I rolled out doing the same.

The climb back to Mountain Springs was much easier than up Potosi, as advertised by Robert and Kant. I was finally able to clear the nearly two mile stretch of highway that I’d never ridden before. The last time I’d been on this stretch I’d blown up in the heat, got picked up by Brian as he just happened to be passing by in his Subaru, and was taken back to the Terrible’s at the bottom. Thankfully there wasn’t a repeat performance of that disaster.

The descent down Potosi to Terrible’s was a white knuckling nail bitter. I was on and off the brakes the entire way down never really getting up over 40 MPH. The previous scare had me pretty nervous and the winds started picking up from out of the north which made things even worse. I nursed myself all the way down to Terrible’s. By the time I pulled in the flag there was at full attention with the winds out of the north. I hung out with John and Anna while waiting for Caleb to roll in which didn’t take long.

After refueling, Caleb and I rolled out for West Tech. The entire way back the winds were gnarly. From Terrible’s to the overlook was all headwind. It seriously sucked. I did pull into the overlook to make sure Caleb was still with me and he rolled in shortly after I did. He made a quick trip to the ladies and then we rolled out. This time he got out in front of me and before long I lost track of him while I was busy battling the winds again. As I started the descent to West Tech the winds were pushing me all over the place and the traffic flying by certainly didn’t help matters any. Thankfully I made it back without any additional issues.

I hung out in the parking lot for a few minutes to chat up John, Anna, and Caleb. I was also surprised to see Stan and a couple other folks who were on a separate ride but had decided to come over to wave the flag. I checked in with Joy and told her I was calling it a ride. I’d had enough excitement with the wind for the day. Seems the gang was over at John Cutter having lunch, so I got Shadow all stowed away, got changed, said my goodbyes, and rolled over.

And that’s pretty much all she wrote. Hung out with the guys for a bit which was nice after not seeing them during the ride. Eventually Joy decided she wanted to ride home in order to get her century in, and we all left not too long thereafter.

New bike fund: $59.46 (+$0.00)
1.46 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
570 vehicles @ 8 per mile, 2.1 per minute, Speeds: 54.6 mph (avg), 97.4 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Sunny-Mostly sunny, 64°F-78°F, Feels like 62°F-81°F, Humidity 33%-20%, Wind NNW 8mph-NW 16mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact: 1.3%
Headwind: 56% @ 5.2-14.6mph
Longest Headwind: 34m 9s
Air Speed: 16.9mph
Temp: 63.2-79.4°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —