Everything’s got to end sometime. Otherwise nothing would ever get started.

Oof that was a scorcher. The heat certainly came on strong in the afternoon and started taking its toll, but we’ll get to that.

The day started with a nice chill ride over to Pedal & Pour. I rendezvoused with Joy at Via Firenze and Democracy after she’d done a small loop of her own. She hates being “behind” on mileage throughout the ride. This little loop keeps here and I on par for most of the ride. Along the way over I kept things chill. I wanted to have legs for all the climbing that was due. I added the Gomer/Grand Canyon/Serene box anticipating we’d come back along Fort Apache and making it a full box, but plans changed.

I was pleasantly surprised to run into 402 along Maule. We made the left onto Maule from Fort Apache and shortly there after I spotted a quarter in the road so I flipped around to pick it up. Then that quarter grew to a quarter, dime, nickel, and penny all within a few feet of one another. While I was picking up all that cold hard cash, I spotted a rider coming my direction and be damned it was Mark! It seems that the man had rode over from his place after doing a Boulder City loop. The man is a machine!

The first half of the ride was a solid chunk of climbing. We started by doing “mini Villa Ridge” aka Mission Lake Ave. I really stretched my legs and I’m pretty happy with how it felt. After that it was all the way to the tippy top of Lake Mead. The views were amazing! The crazy part is you can see where they’re going to be building a neighborhood even further up that will back up to the Red Rock/BLM boundary. Also feels a little depressing to see all that desert being chewed up by development.

Anyway, rolling back down we then just started hitting random climbs followed by quick descents. This continued until we finally found the long rumored taco truck. Everyone was thrilled when it was within sight. I’m fairly certain everyone picked up something to eat. I grabbed a huge burrito and scarfed it all down while sitting on a curb enjoying the shade being cast by some random work van. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the shade and a snack.

With full bellies we set off for Pedal & Pour. A few folks split off and did their own thing and four of us, Joy, Dave, Josh, and I ended up back at Pedal & Pour. We were pleasantly surprised to run into Ton who had cut things short and came back early. The guy is still getting his legs back under him after being off the bike for a few months. The five of us hung out relaxing for 45 minutes before finally deciding to roll out.

Dave had thought of rolling over to Mountains Edge with Joy and I as we rode home. Unfortunately for him, Joy and I knew we would be short of a century if we went straight home so we decided to escort Josh back to his place. Back up Grand Canyon to the beltway to Town Center and eventually Alta we went. We lost Dave around Torrey Pines followed by Josh before Rancho.

This left Joy and I to work our way through downtown before turning south to get home. We’d done a similar route in the past but instead of sticking with Pecos I took us south on McLeod. I wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with the traffic along Pecos. We pretty much just followed my old commute route until Sun City Anthem. Instead of going up Williamsport and straight home, we worked our way over to the Starbucks at the Bicentennial dog bone.

The heat had just started getting to me as we worked our way through Anthem. The legs certainly started giving up the ghost as we crossed over Volunteer. Then I made the mistake of being in a hurry up the Bicentennial climb to make the turn onto VIa Contessa. Once we were in Starbucks I was thrilled to be out of the heat.

While we hung out and I started downing my coffee I started to feel worse and worse. Joy started getting cold so we migrated outside with the thought that we might just roll on. I needed a few more minutes as I was still feeling hit and miss. The legs were ok, just the stomach was doing flips. Think I’m a victim of my own stupidity to push too hard, again, and the heat. Joy offered to have me roll to her place and she’d drive me home. I only consider my ride “finished” when I ride all the way home. Anything else is a DNF. With that in mind I passed on Joy’s offer and we rolled out. I took things easy to get the legs warmed back up and thankfully the ride home went without issue.

Another great ride despite the heat. I made the mistake of going without sunscreen today and the legs are certainly showing it. Guess I’m a little ambitious to say that summer is over!

New bike fund: $72.04 (+$0.51)
5.16 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
489 vehicles @ 4.6 per mile, 1.2 per minute, Speeds: 32.3 mph (avg), 66.3 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Clear-Sunny, 76°F-105°F, Feels like 75°F-109°F, Humidity 13%-8%, Wind ESE 1mph-NE 3mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: -3.8%
Headwind: 51% @ 3.8-18.1mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 0m 57s
Air Speed: 11.1mph
Temp: 73.9-101.4°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —