Hey, why is the distance on my Garmin stuck at 33 miles?

After being a slacker this past week I was itching for some mileage, and since the Saturday Adobo Velo was replaced with an Adopt-A-Highway, that left me searching for a ride. I decided I’d ride over to the Pedal & Pour coffee Ride and then tack on more mileage afterwards. I fired a text message over to Boots to see if she was interested, and, after a few hours, she replied she was in for a 6:30 rendezvous before riding over.

After waking up this morning, I really struggled to get my feet on the floor. I’m not sure if I was tired from a lack of sleep, or just feeling lazy. Knowing that Boots was counting on me showing up, and having received an early morning text from Moose asking if I was meeting Boots at 6:30, I eventually rolled out of bed, got some breakfast, and hit the road.

The ride over to Pedal & Pour went really well. The three of us maintained the perfect pace. Not too hard and not too soft. I had given us an hour and a half to get there expecting it taking us closer to 1:15. That should have given us plenty of time for a flat or for Boots to use the ladies before the roll out. Thankfully we didn’t have the former, but definitely needed the latter.

While hanging out before the ride, I was pleasantly surprised to see Henry Hermano, David Burns, and a few others show up. I also spotted Shannon Weldon unloading as we rolled out. Finally, I spotted Westerman almost immediately after hitting Maule.

Almost straight away I set up shop near the front. The Pedal & Pour portion of today’s ride was pretty fun. There were a few spicy parts, here and there, but it was good overall. I’m certainly not the fastest, and I’m just happy to have been able to stick with the big guns for as long as I could.

Once back to Pedal & Pour, it was a mad house. I’m fairly certain everyone was grabbing a coffee and pastry, myself included. It was great to hang out and chat with so many folks. Had a nice conversation with Shannon, Deryck, Derrick, and a few others all while enjoying a Peppermint Mocha and Strawberry Danish. Good times indeed.

Of course Boots and I set off to log some more miles. I’d say this time I’m the one who was itching for a century more than Boots. As we were leaving she mentioned that she was at 35 miles. I replied, “What!?! I’m already at 50+!” We rode west on Maule and just past the round-a-bout Boots mentioned her mileage wasn’t changing. Giving it a quick once over, it looked like she had stopped her ride at some point and never restarted it! Argh! The next few hours were a search for miles to get her over the 100 mark. We all know that if it ain’t on Strava it didn’t happen. Despite her only being a few miles behind me, her computer, aka Strava, was showing something very different.

When we left Pedal & Pour, I threw out the idea of a fly-by and Boots was up for it. As we approached Charleston, I threw out the idea of actually doing the loop instead. After confirming I had my park pass, Boots agreed and we made it happen. Along the way I saw we were maybe a half- to quarter-mile behind Caleb Sprayberry. I’d hoped we’d spot him before entering Red Rock, but I also knew there was little to no chance of catching that monster.

The loop climb went really well and I was feeling amazing and actually dropped Boots. I attribute that to her lugging some extra fatigue from this past week, including some runs and strength training. I’m certain if she was fresh she would have put me in the hurt locker. At one point I checked my computer again and saw that Caleb was maybe three miles away. I was thrilled while Boots and I sat at the loop exit, and we spotted Sprayberry go flying by on his TT bike. I hollered out as he flew by.

Continuing our hunt for miles we set off for Blue Diamond. Along the way we spotted who I thought was Bailey and Derrick, but after reviewing Strava I think it was Joseph. Hard to say because they were both wearing similar kit today. Regardless, I gave a holler as they went by. I called back to Boots to see how she was doing and what her mileage was. She was still feeling good but lacking miles. I called an audible and we made the turn onto Avery and set off for Late Night.

Once more the legs sprung to life and I left Boots behind. I’m not entirely certain where these legs were coming from other than a lack of activity over the past four days. Along the way I spotted a bikepacker going the opposite direction. My people! I gave a holler and pressed on. Eventually, I would make it to Late Night and after putting the cherry on top, as per David Burns, Joy would join me a short time later. After a brief rest we pulled out and made off towards home.

We had a nice cruise down Blue Diamond. As we came upon the Terrible’s I gave the parking lot a thorough inspection hoping to see the bikepacker I’d seen earlier. Imagine my surprise when I spotted the chap stopped just up ahead. I apologized to Boots and told her I have to stop and chat with the guy.

We learned that Justin was from Boston. He’d flown in with all his gear, rode over to Death Valley, camped for at least a night, and was on his way back to a hotel for the night. I’m not entirely sure how long he was in Death Valley or how long he will be in Las Vegas, but it was his first bikepacking trip. I gave him kudos for lugging his fully loaded bike up and over Potosi! We talked for a little bit longer before finally saying our goodbyes.

Continuing on our way through Mountains Edge, Boots got a flat along Buffalo near Erie. We stopped in a daycare parking lot and went to work getting her fixed up. Honestly, the timing was pretty spot on as we’d been riding since leaving Pedal & Pour without a big break. Sure we’d had a few minutes here and there, like at the Red Rock Summit, loop exit, Late Night, etc., but nothing like the extended break we’d had at Pedal & Pour. It was nice to sit down on a curb and get her tub swapped out. Thankfully it didn’t take too long.

Making our way east along Cactus I checked in on Boots’ mileage. It seemed like she was still going to be short so we made an interesting loop in Southern Highlands and once done we agreed she was probably good to go. With that out of the way we b-lined it for our post-ride haunt of Starbucks at Bicentennial and Via Inspirada.

Once more, overall, today was a great day for a ride. The weather started cool, but warmed up nicely. I started with a plastic bag under my jersey, thanks Mark Hyken, for an extra layer which I dumped before we left Pedal & Pour. The arm warmers came off at the Red Rock Summit, and I’d considered dumping the leg warmers while fixing Boots’ flat but opted not to.

Now I’m sitting here on the laptop tapping away while waiting for the oven to come up to temp. Looking forward to a nice chunk of salmon and rice for dinner. A well deserved dinner for sure.

New bike fund: $80.20 (+$0.11), €0.52 (+€0.00), ₱10.00 (+₱0.00), ֏10.00 (+֏0.00)
684 vehicles @ 5.5 per mile, 1.6 per minute, Speeds: 42.0 mph (avg), 90.5 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Partly cloudy-Partly sunny, 43°F-61°F, Feels like 44°F-65°F, Humidity 35%-19%, Wind W 3mph-N 3mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact™: 4.3%
Headwind: 48% @ 1 – 8.1 mph
Longest Headwind: 33m 53s
Air Speed: 17.8 mph
Temp: 37.5-59.6 °F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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