Bandok Must Be Busted!

Another great day for a ride considering it’s the end of December. I started the morning with leg warmers and arm warmers under my thermal jersey. Ended the day missing both. Yeah it was that nice.

Picked up Boots at the usual spot and made for Pebble Marketplace. As we crossed St. Rose we made a brief stop to check on where Moose was. It seems that he’d mixed things up and was riding out Starr to meet us versus coming up St. Rose. The stop went a little long because Boots was messing with her HRM which refused to talk to her new computer. Eventually she gave up on it and we rolled on.

The two of us made pretty good time catching several lights along LVB green. I could see Moose’s blinking rear light out ahead of us and I thought we’d never catch him. I think we finally caught him just east of Maryland Pkwy.

With the gang all together we made for the start. We slowed for the light at Spencer and then once Boots and I came to a stop at Eastern we looked around and there was no sign of Moose. We waited a few minutes and I finally sent him a text asking if he was ok. He replied a short time later with a picture of him fixing a flat. I told Boots to continue on to Pebble Marketplace without me and I doubled back to check on Moose and see if there was anything I could do to help.

As I rolled up, Moose was already well into trying to use a plug to seal his tire. He did eventually get it fixed well enough to get him home. I rode with him back to Eastern and he made the right onto Eastern to go home while I continued east on Pebble.

I was rolling along pretty well and made it to Pebble Marketplace at 7:01. As I passed through the parking lot all I saw was empty bike racks. I thought to myself, “How is it that the one time I am only one minute late is the same time that the Adobo Velo ride starts on time?”. I blew through the lot and jumped back onto Pebble to try to catch back up to the gang.

Making my way across Wigwam it was only after crossing Stephanie that I knew there was no way that they were that far ahead of me. I’d been checking on Robert via LiveTrack on my computer and it kept saying he was at 0.00 MPH and a short distance away. When I saw this I figured there was some delay in his information being updated and it must be wrong. So it was after Stephanie that I finally decided to stop and fire a couple text messages at Boots to find out where they were. It was less than five minutes later that Dave Burns would call asking if I was close. I laughed and replied, “Nah man I’m no where near close. I’m already down past Stephanie on Wigwam! I thought I was trying to catch you!” He said they were going to roll out and hung up. Thankfully it didn’t take long for the gang to catch up to me.

With the gang all together we started making strides to get to the trailhead just outside the guard shack at Lake Mead. I made sure to wave the flag and tell everyone good morning, and, eventually, I was out front with Dave as we rolled down Gibson. A short time after crossing Boulder Hwy, Dave said, “Well we’re going to need to take this up a notch so I can get warmed up.” He certainly took it up a notch or two or ten. Him and I would take turns up front along with Henry and his buddy Paul. We reached the trailhead in no time.

After our regroup at the trailhead and picking up a few last minute additions, we rolled out for Callville. I really strove to keep up with Dave not just on the way out but for the entire ride. Again Dave, Henry, Paul, one other (I don’t think I ever got his name), and I all made haste for Callville. The five of us would all take turns out front taking pulls, but honestly I think Dave was on a mission taking the lead more than anyone else.

Down at Callville, Tony Prager was waiting for us with Dunkin’ donuts and coffee! Heaven sent! Several of us took part in the refreshments while waiting for a regroup. Before we rolled out Henry, Paul, and the one other guy all decided they wanted even more miles and were going to catch another group going out to Redstone and Mt. Doom. Soon enough it was time to roll out.

I kinda got the jump on everyone and ended up out in front for the climb. I figured I’d be a slower climber so might as well get a head start. I was kinda surprised when the rider with no name, lol, showed up coming down. He shared that Henry and Paul were going gang busters and he felt he didn’t have the legs and would slow them down so he doubled back. He would hang with me along the climb and Dave would eventually catch up as well. I was surprised that I stayed in front of Dave all up until the last few yards of the climb when he came around. Seeing the summit I dug to stay on his wheel and as we crested the top I let out a holler in relief and excitement. I was pleasantly surprised to see I topped my previous best time on that climb by two minutes!

After a regroup at the top we rolled out again and once more Dave was driving this train. Again our new group of Dave, Boots, Dennis, and the no named rider would all take turns out front. We made amazing time and did a solid job of sticking together until the final climb to the Lake Mead entrance station. It was after the bridge that we started falling apart. Dave and no name rider ended up leaving Boots, Dennis, and I in the dust. I would come up on Boots and start yelling at her to dig deep and hang on.

Rolling back to Pebble Marketplace, after another regroup at the trailhead, I jumped on Dave’s wheel and the two of us just shot off like a rocket. Dave certainly wasn’t joking when he said he hadn’t been on a ride in a week. The man was possessed! We were simply flying all the way back. At one point we checked our average speed and we were both just shy of 20 MPH! Insane!

Back at Pebble Marketplace, Dave had to quickly pack up and hit the road in order to lessen the scorn from his wife. Shortly after he left Joe and Boots rolled in, and the rest of the gang a short time later. Boots and I said our goodbyes and collected up Memo to ride over to LVB via Pebble. Memo wanted some extra miles to log a century and figured he’d make a trip to the famous Las Vegas sign. Boots and I had other plans and we parted ways at LVB and Pebble.

With Boots and I to our own devices we made our way over to Southern Highlands and despite our best efforts we were still running short of miles. Despite the fact that I despise doubling back on a route, we did it anyway in order to have enough extra to put us over 100 before our coffee stop at the Bicentennial dog bone Starbucks.

Our stop at Starbucks was cut short on account of me getting a case of the chills. I was in shorts and a thermal jersey with a wool base layer, but I was still a little damp. Boots and I said our goodbyes at Via Firenze and Via Contessa. Thankfully a solid effort up Democracy warmed me up quite nicely before ultimately making it home.

As mentioned at the start, today was another great day for a ride considering the end of the year is just a few days away. Not sure if we’ll be cursing cooler or warmer weather first come the new year. In the meantime, I’m going to continue enjoying what we’ve got!

New bike fund: $79.49 (+$0.50), €0.52 (+€0.00), ₱10.00 (+₱)0.00, ֏10.00 (+֏0.00)
1.15 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
499 vehicles @ 4.7 per mile, 1.4 per minute, Speeds: 37.9 mph (avg), 65.1 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok
Mostly cloudy-Mostly cloudy, 39°F-59°F, Feels like 41°F-65°F, Humidity 61%-34%, Wind W 3mph-NE 2mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact™: 2.5%
Headwind: 37% @ 0.7 – 6.7 mph
Longest Headwind: 27m 5s
Air Speed: 18.7 mph
Temp: 40.4-58.3 °F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END –‍