You can’t turn the sink on when someone’s in the shower, this isn’t some fancy hotel!

Getting out in the morning when it’s this cold is so damned hard, but having people depending on you to show up certainly helps things.

Before hitting the sack early last night, I’d heard from Boots that Jennifer wanted to hook up with us for some pre-ride miles. After checking the map and ride history I figured we could meet up with her at Maryland Parkway and Pebble before making our way to the start at Mountains Edge Park. Unfortunately, first thing this morning there was a text message waiting for me from Boots which said that Jennifer had worked late last night and wouldn’t be joining us after all. Since I had shared our route plans with Moose as well, instead of coming up with a new plan and times and sharing all that with two different people I decided we’d stick with the original plan.

Going down the hill to get Boots this morning, I spotted her cruising down Democracy just beyond Via Contessa. Instead of making the right onto Via Contessa to go to where I had originally planned on meeting Boots, I continued straight to grab her before we started our trek north.

We made decent time to Maryland Pkwy and Pebble, but still arrived five minutes later than I had hoped. I think this is largely due to Boots and I chit chatting when on the first leg between Via Firenze and Democracy until after we passed through the Bicentennial dog bone. If I had shut my trap and made us focus we could have made it on time. I knew we didn’t have Jennifer waiting for us, but I wanted to have an accurate idea of how long it would take us in the event that Jennifer wants to join us again in the future.

Along the way to Mountains Edge, we met up with Moose at Cactus and I-15. I’d seen him coming north along LVB well before that, but as we made the right onto Cactus I looked ahead and I swear I saw another cyclist, and honestly thought it was Moose, out ahead of us. Thankfully Boots mentioned seeing a flashing red light at Cactus and I-15 or I would have stopped to send him a text asking him to come back, lol!

The three of us had a nice little chat along Cactus until about Decatur/Southern Highlands when Boots and I started to gap Moose. Boots and I hung together on Cactus until Durango. I wanted to go beyond the park and double back for a little extra versus going straight to the park. As we rolled up I was surprised to see how many had come out on this chilly day.

Rolling out of Mountains Edge Park we set our sights for the Green Valley Grocery on the corner of LVB and Volunteer. The goal was to get there by 8:00 as advertised on the Facebook event. The ride through Southern Highlands was great. I was pleasantly surprised to see Starr Hills had recently been repaved. Boots and I have been avoiding that road since construction had left a nasty 3-5 foot wide asphalt patch from Patores St to Olympia Sports Park. The patch was so poor that I would ride down the middle of Starr Hills until I passed the park and only then move back into the bike lane. Now it’s all brand new so it’s back on the route rotation!

Pulling into Green Valley Grocery I was surprised at how many more riders had come out. Looking back at Robert’s pictures we had a total of 25 riders ready to rock as we left. Again, I’m surprised at how many came out in the cold temperatures.

Rolling down to Jean was a tough one. Things started kinda chill while we waited for everyone to get organized. Once that happened, we all lined up and started motoring. Dave and Josh were out in front and after they’d taken their turns up front rotated off leaving me to pull. I took my pull and after a half mile or so Dave came back around bringing the group with him. As they went by I looked back and was surprised to see that I was the last rider in rotation! Overall it ended up being Dave, Henry, Josh, Rick, and I in our group. At one point Dave came up with the idea of taking half mile pulls and then rotating off. Once that message was relayed through the group we really started making progress. We pretty much stuck to that plan all the way to the Jean post office. Naturally we had a little fun sprint action at the very end.

After a regroup and snack break at the Terrible’s it was time for the climb to Goodsprings and the Pioneer Saloon. We did say goodbye to a few riders who decided to pass on the extra climbing. Once more Dave, Henry, Josh, Rick, and I lined up for the climb to Goodsprings. We had let much of the group get out ahead of us knowing we would catch them along the way. At one point I did tell the guys to not wait up for me figuring that with their weight advantage they’d just roll away. I guess Josh was having none of it as he called out as he went by, “Come on man get on.” and I did. I’m not entirely sure how but I was able to keep with those lightweights all the way to the top. At which point I promptly threw them under the bus as we arrived at the t-intersection. I called out, “Come on we’ve got to put the cherry on top!” I’m fairly certain they all thought I was out of my mind. I came around and egged them on to follow me as we made the Columbia Mill Loop.

As we came back toward the Pioneer Saloon, Josh and Dave decided to have it out for the final sprint to the finish. I tried to jump on, but my legs weren’t having it. A little too much fatigue and too little pop to answer them. We passed the Pioneer and dialed back all gathering our collective breath. A few minutes later, after their climbing victory beer, Robert and Ferdi were ready to roll out. I was surprised when they wanted to do the Columbia Mill Loop. I joked that we’d already done it, and Robert rebutted that it’s always beers first and loop later. After waiting for no longer than a minute for Boots, who had gone off to do a loop of her own, Josh and I joined her to catch the rest of the gang.

Approaching Sandy Valley Rd, I saw off in the distance I spotted our previous crew out in front getting away. I certainly didn’t want them to roll off the front without me. So I started rolling past some of the others and worked my way out in front. By the time I made the right onto Goodsprings Road they were just ahead of me. I really put the hammer down and after a small riser I was nearly there. I think Dave saw me coming and delayed just enough for me to catch on. It was nearly perfect timing too. It was the same gang of four from earlier, but I know that Matt was also along for the ride. I think there may have been others, but I missed out on who all was there. Either way we made really good time on the descent back to Jean. As we approached the Terrible’s we went straight on by figuring we really didn’t need another stop for snacks. We did, however, pull up and wait for a regroup at the Sheriff’s Station.

Setting off for Green Valley Grocery, Josh and I were out in front and we discussed taking it easy on the way back. I shared that I was just waiting for everyone to get organized before we started motoring again so those who wanted to join in on the action could before we were too far gone. That didn’t last long as Moose came out of nowhere with Henry in tow. I couldn’t just let that go so I jumped on to that wheel. He put in a solid pull before jumping off.

We had a slightly different group on the return, we’d picked up Dennis and Boots. After Moose’s pull, things settled down a little, but the winds also started to kick up. It felt like they didn’t really start en force until after the railroad bridge, but it certainly could have been earlier. Despite having a solid group of riders, the winds were just off axis enough that unless you had a decent chevron going you had no protection. I was doing pretty good holding on, but eventually I noticed that we’d lost Boots and Dennis. Instead of keeping up with the gang I decided to drop back to scoop up those two.

After slow rolling for a spell I realized that neither of the two riders behind me were going to catch me anytime soon. With the winds now at a steady 8-10 MPH with some decent gusts to boot I just turned around and went back. The three of us made decent progress all the way back to Green Valley Grocery. Once there, I decided to flip around and go back to help out any stragglers with a friendly wheel in the wind. It didn’t take long before I saw a few groups going by, but eventually I caught up with Robert and he mentioned that Mike was bringing up the rear with a case of nasty cramps. I let Robert go on up the road and fell back to get Mike a friendly wheel for the remainder of the ride to Green Valley Grocery.

As I pulled up it looked like everyone had gone on. Thankfully as I was checking Boots’ location on my Garmin, she called and said they were all inside Pkwy Tavern enjoying some lunch. I shared that with our small group and we made our way over to join the rest of the gang.

40 minutes later it was time to gather the troops and make for Mountains Edge Park. The ride over was pretty uneventful other than the time Boots, Matt, and I all stopped on Cactus just west of Jones waiting on Robert, Ferdi, and Derek. Come to find out they had continued straight onto Levi and on to Torrey Pines and Cactus versus the right onto Jones to join Cactus at the light. The three of us only discovered this after I checked Robert’s location on the Garmin and saw that they were out ahead of us. As we started west we could see Robert and the gang starting up the Cactus nipple. Eventually the three of us met the gang at the park.

Boots, Dave, Josh, and I said our goodbyes to everyone and rolled out. Dave and Josh had a long slog north to get home while Boots and I would join them as far as Fort Apache before making our way south to Cactus for our return.

After saying our goodbyes at the corner of Fort Apache and Mountains Edge Pkwy, I couldn’t help but laugh as I hear Josh call out, “Oh shit” right as he rounded the corner and was greeted with a face full of wind. I also felt kinda bad as Boots and I made our left and were able to nearly stop pedaling as the wind pushed us towards Cactus.

Boots and I made a brief stop at the corner of Fort Apache and Cactus in order for her to swap out her thermal skull cap for a cooler cap. Once that was squared away we made our way east. With the winds being erratic from the left I really didn’t want to be buzzed by big SUVs and risk either being blown into a curb or sucked under a tire so Boots and I made the right onto Jones to continue our way east. After making our turn onto Southern Highlands Pkwy, I asked Boots if she was up for a Starr into Raiders Way/Via Inspirada run. My thought was with the winds out of the north it would be more enjoyable than going all the way out LVB to loop back on Via Inspirada or Via Nobila. This way the winds would largely be at our back with a short stretch of crosswinds with some protection from the neighborhood houses.

I think the call for Raiders Way/Via Inspirada was the right one. The trip up to our post-ride haunt, the Bicentennial dog bone Starbucks, went great. That climb is so much more enjoyable when you have a nice breeze pushing you along. The construction going on to replace the dog bone with a traditional two light intersection could have been much much worse. Thankfully the traffic was very patient and understanding of two cyclists trying to navigate the area.

With a 40 minute coffee break behind us it was time to set off for home. We said our goodbyes at Via Firenze and Via Contessa leaving me the long trudge up Democracy alone. Thankfully, the 40 minute break was just long enough to breathe fresh life into the legs and I was able to put in a solid effort up Democracy. I was rewarded with my second best 5-minute power output for my troubles to boot. It certainly isn’t easy, especially after 100 miles, but it’s nice to get that drudgery done and over with relatively quickly.

Now for a nice chill evening relaxing and watching some YouTube while I wait for the kiddo to land later tonight. I just finished making my salmon and rice dinner and it’s staring at me begging to be eaten. So with that I bid you all adieu and I’m looking forward to the next one.

New bike fund: $80.53 (+$0.02), €0.52 (+€0.00), ₱10.00 (+₱0.00), ֏10.00 (+֏0.00)
531 vehicles @ 4.6 per mile, 1.3 per minute, Speeds: 38.2 mph (avg), 73.2 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Clear-Sunny, 36°F-61°F, Feels like 38°F-59°F, Humidity 34%-10%, Wind SW 2mph-N 12mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact™: 8%
Headwind: 60% @ 5 – 20.4 mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 4m 37s
Air Speed: 18.2 mph
Temp: 32.6-60.3 °F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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