The only time I’m not miserable is when I’m alone.

Have to start with a huge shout out to JOY RYDE🚴🏼‍♀️ for having the patience of a saint. We made it to our weekly dog bone Starbucks break and I was feeling absolutely miserable. Even sent a text to the family to put them on notice that they may need to come get me. Joy even commented that I looked rather unwell as we sat indoors. After we hung out inside for a few minutes we migrated outside because we were, surprisingly, cold. As we sat I drifted in and out of consciousness, grabbing a couple winks of sleep. We sat there for just over an hour! The entire time Joy never said a word, never complained, nothing. When I came to, she kindly asked if I was ready or having the kiddo pick me up. I said I felt good to go so we mounted up and rolled out. That long break, and nap, was exactly what I needed to finish out the day.

Tough ride today. The group was stacked with all the heavy hitters. Things started off relatively chill. We all hung together for the most part until the big climb after entering Lake Mead. Everyone got strung out on that climb and no one regrouped at the top like we have in the past. That put me on the back foot and instead of being content to hang off the rear I though “Let’s see if we can reel those guys in.” I should have known better. I did pick up a few rides who got spat out the back, but I never did reel in Dave, Caleb, and Henry.

On the way back, I again fell back on the climb out of Callville, and I was expecting a regroup at the top. Surprisingly, again no regroup. Of course I didn’t learn my lesson the first time and kinda lit my entire book of matches on the ride back. I did pick up both Rick and Stu along the way though.

After a nice stop at the Terrible’s on Athens and Lake Mead we set off for Pebble Marketplace. Thankfully this time I was able to hang with the group. Despite having a few wheels to lock onto, the Dave Burns express wasn’t letting up. Held on to the back of the group all the way into Pebble Marketplace.

We hung out at Pebble Marketplace for shy of an hour before rolling out. This last group was made up of Dave, Caleb, Joy, and I. Dave had started at Mountains Edge Park so our goal was to take Dave as far as we dared before turning back. Naturally the feather weights proceeded to rip my legs off for a good third time. Sure I took a token pull here and there, but for the most part Dave was the star of the show.

We lost Caleb at LVB. Being new to town, relatively speaking, we told him to roll north on LVB to Hacienda in order to get home. Joy, Dave, and I proceeded south to Cactus before working our way through Southern Highlands and on to Mountains Edge.

At the end of Cactus we stopped to say our goodbyes to Dave. Now at first I thought we’d add a couple extra loops through the neighborhoods, but I eventually decided against it and Joy agreed.

Along the way back I was starting to feel the tired legs almost immediately. Yeah the ride east on Cactus was quick, but I was putting down only token power. In my mind I thought I was saving my legs for later, and perhaps I was. Ultimately, as we continued our way to Starbucks my legs got weaker and weaker and the power numbers reflected that. Poor Joy had to stop several times to wait for me to catch up. Thankfully we rolled in to Starbucks and I couldn’t be more thrilled for a nice break before heading on home.

I detailed our break at the beginning, and it was a much needed one. Rolling on home I felt so much better, it was really surprising. I was able to climb Democracy without too much trouble and even put down some decent power all things considered.

Overall a great ride and had a good time with everyone. Definitely a tough one with all the heavy hitters out. I was reflecting with Joy and she was so sweet to compliment me on how much stronger I’m getting, but damn if it isn’t hard to agree with days like today. Looking forward to a nice chill afternoon and evening at the house.

New bike fund: $70.14 (+$0.02)
567 vehicles @ 5.1 per mile, 1.5 per minute, Speeds: 37.5 mph (avg), 69.9 mph (max) — MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Clear-Sunny, 74°F-97°F, Feels like 73°F-99°F, Humidity 24%-12%, Wind WSW 2mph-SE 8mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact: -2.5%
Headwind: 51% @ 1.2-11mph
Longest Headwind: 02h 41m 32s
Air Speed: 17.8mph
Temp: 71.8-95.8°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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