Come and see the next generation in action. You can be depressed along with me.

These sub-40 degree temperatures continue to make hitting the road in the early mornings difficult. I shouldn’t complain too much though, soon enough I’ll be complaining that it’s 90+ at the same hour come June.

In typical fashion for a Pebble Marketplace start, Boots and I met up along Democracy before riding out to Las Vegas Blvd and north to Pebble. Funny thing is Boots, in her quest to finish with nearly the same amount of mileage as I do, was in the middle of some Via Contessa > Democracy > Via Firenze loops when she came across me coming down Democracy. So the two of us met up a little earlier than usual and I didn’t get to have a little loop on the end of my ride map. I can’t recall exactly where, but we did pick up Moose along LVB, and the three of us rolled on to Pebble Marketplace without incident.

The three of us arrived at the Pebble Marketplace Starbucks with plenty of time to spare. It allowed Boots to warm up with a quick coffee while we waited for everyone else to show up. Thankfully it didn’t take long before we were out the door, snapping a group photo, and hitting the road albeit five minutes late.

I was pleasantly surprised by the new ramp at the end of Hollywood which makes joining and exiting the Wetlands trail much much easier. We kept a solid pace through most of Wetlands, but we did dial things back once or twice as we came across pedestrians or pedestrians and cyclists simultaneously. Thankfully the group was very well behaved and we didn’t have any issues while navigating the trails through Wetlands Park.

Once we joined Hollywood to the north of the Wetlands we made a brief stop to allow Rick to call his wife. From there we lined up and just motored along doing our thing. I can’t recall exactly where, but we did end up meeting up with Dave Burns and Josh Westerman before the planned turn onto Owens. Dave had started from his house and rode to Josh’s. Then the two of them made their way through downtown and, after a stop for breakfast at a downtown cafe, then made their way to the east side. Josh had originally planned on meeting us at the Green Valley Grocery, but from the sounds of it they had arrived so early that they chose to backtrack to meet up with us instead. Having sent a link to my LiveTrack before the group left Pebble Marketplace certainly helped with that decision.

After a nice stop at Green Valley Grocery it was time to roll out. As we made our way through the lot Westerman offered up a challenge, “Hey Elvis get out there and set your best 5-minute power PR up this climb!” Not wanting to disappoint, I changed to an interval activity profile on my computer and sent it up Lake Mead. Comparing this segment to the Democracy climb, this one is tougher. For me it is more difficult because the gradient isn’t nearly as even and steady as Democracy is. Lake Mead felt like it had more than a few undulations where you would go from 3% to 6% then back to 4%. It made keeping a steady power output tough. Ultimately, I failed in setting a 5-minute power PR by 14 watts, but I did manage to set an 8-minute power PR which was a surprise.

Now at Sunrise Summit alone and on the verge of death I was thrilled to dial things back and enjoy the descent to the guard shack. Eventually, Dave and Rick Marine would come by and as they did so I heard Dave holler, “Last!”. Never one to turn down a solid wheel, I jumped on and the three of us made our way to the Lake Mead NRA entrance. Once at the gate we sat back while several cars went through and we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. When everyone showed up we got in line. Dave took the opportunity to pick up his forever senior pass as well. I hung back to make sure everyone cleared the gate ok and took the opportunity to change out my gloves.

The ride through Lake Mead was another solid stretch of riding. Nothing too spicy, but certainly no Sunday cruise. Along the stretch of Northshore between Lake Mead and Lakeshore we were greeted with another surprise in Shannon Weldon pulled over on the side of the road snapping pictures of the group as we passed her by. Her and I had been texting back and forth before and during the ride. She had originally planned on joining us at Wetlands, but as she set out to meet us her shifting issues started up again. At one point I received a text and it sounded like she was calling it a day which was disappointing, especially considering she’d just got this bike out of the shop and this shifting issue was supposed to be fixed. Ultimately, it’s very cool to still have a chance to see her.

Shortly after the Las Vegas Wash descent and its bridge, I saw a message pop up on my computer from one of my student employees. Instead of trying to fight to read it while starting the climb up to Lakeshore, I pulled off to the side of the road to figure out what was going on. It seems the student needed to permanently give up their scheduled mid-Saturday shift and couldn’t make it in for today’s shift either. I told them to send out a coverage request ASAP and figured that was all I could do about it until the ride was done with. While I was stopped I took the opportunity to take off my vest and get a few other things stowed away before continuing on.

After a stop at the Terrible’s on Olsen and Lake Mead we set out for Racetrack, the RMT, and ultimately back to Pebble Marketplace. I ended up in front of the gang as we rode south along Racetrack. Making the turn onto Burkholder I decided to have another go at the climb with a big effort to the top. Along the way I became fully aware that I wasn’t putting in nearly the same power as I had early in the ride, but I didn’t let that stop me from putting in a solid effort to the top. Cresting the top I let out a holler of excitement as we started down the other side. After passing by the Equestrian Trailhead, I was surprised when Henry shared that it was just him and I and that we had left the rest of the group behind.

Henry and I stopped at the bus stop at the top of the UPRR trail to wait for the remainder of the group. It wasn’t long before Dave and a few others rolled in. Eventually everyone came in except Moose; however, we had seen him over on the RMT making his way to the I-11 overpass. Ultimately, we rolled out for Lovelady and Pebble Marketplace, but not before Josh let us know that he was going to double back to pick up Moose and try for a KOM on a segment. Our ride back to Pebble Marketplace was great, and there were a couple spots where we were absolutely humming.

Back at Pebble Marketplace, Robert, Dave, Josh, and a few others hung out and enjoyed a brew at Lovelady. Ultimately, Josh decided to double back on the original route to pick up a buddy of his that we’d met up with at the Lake Mead Green Valley Grocery. This left Boots, Dave, and I for some post-ride extra credit. Since Dave was with us and he needed to get home the only logical choice was to go west. Along the way Dave threatened us with coffee at Pedal & Pour if we joined him that far and that’s exactly what we did.

After a nice coffee and a shared cookie, between Dave and I, it was time for Boots and I to head home. We tacked on a couple of the Mountains Edge boxes I love to add to the map. Ultimately we made our way back to our side of town. Unfortunately we both needed to skip our usual post-ride Starbucks stop. I can’t recall why Boots needed to, but I had a dinner date with the wife and kiddo to celebrate the wife’s birthday. Lord knows I can’t be late for that one!

I was surprised by how much money came up off the road today. Dave and I had spotted a coin at Wigwam and Stephanie. We debated if it was a dime or penny. I let the group go by and picked up the penny. On the other side of the same intersection I spied another penny and when I went for it found a nickel to boot. Later in the ride as we approached Warm Springs I told Dave I was stopping for a quarter which I’ve seen the last three weekends near the Fort Apache intersection. Making the stop I was floored to find a total of three quarters and a dime waiting for me. The last big haul of the day came at Fort Apache and Blue Diamond. I spotted a quarter near the median and after telling Boots to cross Blue Diamond I turned around onto the closed section of Fort Apache to go back for it. I was blown away when I spotted another quarter on the closed side of the road directly opposite the first quarter I’d seen. I can’t remember the last time I came home with nearly two dollars in coins from a ride.

All in all it was a decent day for a ride. The sky was overcast for most of the day and it never really warmed up that much. When the sun did have a chance to break through the clouds it was absolutely wonderful. Overall it was a great ride with a good balance of hard and easy bits, including my little segments.

New bike fund: $83.09 (+$1.76), €0.52 (+€0.00), ₱10.00 (+₱0.00), ֏10.00 (+֏0.00)
576 vehicles @ 4.8 per mile, 1.4 per minute, Speeds: 37.7 mph (avg), 71.1 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok.com
Cloudy-Cloudy, 38°F-56°F, Feels like 41°F-54°F, Humidity 13%-8%, Wind WNW 1mph-SSE 8mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact™: 5%
Headwind: 55% @ 2.7 – 8.4 mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 6m 55s
Air Speed: 18.6 mph
Temp: 35-53.9 °F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —