It started three years ago with a simple premise: ride 100 or more miles on the 100th day of the year. It’s funny how much has changed since then. At that time riding a century for me was a big deal and didn’t happen very often. Now I’m cranking one out nearly every weekend and doing double centuries to boot.
Despite that, this ride hits a little different. We take things a little slower. The conversation is a little more free flowing. The goal isn’t to beat one another up mercilessly, but to have a nice steady ride that everyone enjoys and has a good time doing. I like to think we accomplish that, for the most part, but why does it seem this always falls on the “hottest day of the year to date”?
It was fun to be bringing up the rear of the back as we climbed Owens to see Boots and Chanel just keep rolling up the steepest part east of Los Feliz as everyone else made the left. Not to be outdone by a pair of girls I set off after them to make my first attempt at this jaw dropping climb. It was certainly as brutal as it looks, but I like to think I was rewarded with an outstanding picture of Boots and Chanel at the top enjoying the Las Vegas view.
Arriving at Lakeshore we stopped to regroup. Tony was bringing up the rear and when he arrived he insisted we continue on the original route without him. He would continue directly towards Henderson and meet us back at Pebble Marketplace.
As the rest of us made our way along Lakeshore we had to make a brief stop for Boots having a slow leak in her front tire. By the time Matt and Rick caught up to the gang they had already got Boots squared away.
Continuing on both Matt and Rick started to falter each getting slower and slower. Matt let me know that he was low on water and had been rationing his last bottle. I escorted him to the Lakeshore visitor center, and once he was taken care of I went back for Rick who was nowhere to be seen. As I descended down towards the guard shack I finally spotted him just before the shack itself. I was floored to see him walking his bike! Coming up alongside him he says, “Man I’m just cramping. I’m good to walk to the visitor center you go on ahead.” I was having nothing of it. I shared he was a few miles away, and that I’d just ride with him while he walked. Rick decided to try his bike again and was actually able to get on and push the pedals without cramping. We took our time and eventually made it to the center with only a single case of cramping.
The three of us would end up hanging out for 40 minutes while the two of them recovered. During that time the rest of the group had made it to the Chevron on Ville Drive near Bighorn and Hemenway Valley Parks. Near the end of the 40 minutes I got a call from Mark that Boots was still having trouble with her tire and it had gone completely flat. In addition, Jack and Jennifer had arrived to hang out and ride back with us. I told him to go ahead and go on and that we would be along when we could. Boots called asking about what was going on and I told her that we would be there when we could and we’d make sure she was taken care of.
I suspect Matt had overheard the conversation and he was up and moving around and getting squared away to get moving again. I recognized that he was clearly suffering from the heat and told him that he just needed to make it the small handful of miles to the Chevron. Once there we would get him some ice to really help revitalize him. Rick had also recovered enough to feel like he could actually finish this thing up.
I sent the boys packing straight across the landscaping to get onto Boulder City Pkwy while I went back out to Lakeshore to finish up the little climb. When I joined Boulder City Pkwy I looked up and saw that Rick had turned around and was coming back towards me. He told me he was cramping up again and would give his wife a call for a pickup. Looking up the road I spotted Matt trucking along making his way towards the Chevron. Eventually I would pass him by and then wait at the corner of Ville Dr to make sure he didn’t pass the turn.
Pulling up to the Chevron we found Boots hanging out enjoying the bench they had. I got started on stripping the front tire, but stopped short. I gave Matt one of the sun sleeves I’d brought and told him to go stuff it with ice and to put it on his back. Then I went inside and grabbed myself a Coke and a snack. With all that taken care of I went back to working on the tire. Well as luck would have it Boots had gone through it with a fine toothed comb and found the smallest of wires. With it removed we put the tube back and with hopes that it would hold long enough for us to get home. All in another 40 minute break. While we waited I was surprised to see Rick climbing towards us. He rolled into the Chevron and said he was actually feeling better. Unfortunately, he’d already called his wife for a pickup despite now feeling he could probably make it to the finish.
Leaving Chevron it was obvious that Matt was feeling much better. He got out in front and powered up the rest of the climb without issue. He would say later, “Man that ice was like magic.” Matt recovered nicely and the three of us made it back to Pebble Marketplace without any issue. We found Tony in Lovelady enjoying a cold beer. Boots and I filled up our water bottles and made a break for it. It was getting late and rush hour was rapidly approaching.
Boots and I would make our way over to Starbucks for a very late coffee, but I wanted my fix. We hung out for an abbreviated 20 minutes before packing it in for the day.
Great day for a ride despite it being the hottest day of the year to date. That does seem to be a trend with this ride. Boots went back and found a similar comment on the previous Century Day rides. Regardless this is going to keep happening, and I’m certainly looking forward to going again next year.
New bike fund: $94.94 ($0.97), €1.52 (+€0.00), ₱10.00 (+₱0.00), ֏10.00 (+֏0.00)
0.46 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
1016 total shifts, 109 front, 907 rear. 62.7% of the ride in the big ring, 37.7% in the small ring. Most time spent in 52×21, 11.9% — by di2stats.com
856 vehicles @ 6.5 per mile, 1.6 per minute, Speeds: 37.9 mph (avg), 72.6 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic.com
Clear-Sunny, 64°F-94°F, Feels like 65°F-94°F, Humidity 21%-5%, Wind WNW 2mph-E 4mph — by Klimat.app
— myWindsock.com Report —
Weather Impact™: -0.8%
Headwind: 54% @ 8.3 – 14.7 mph
Longest Headwind: 01h 44m 0s
Air Speed: 11 mph
Temp: 62.6-92.3 °F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —
Max elevation: 3772 ft
Min elevation: 1310 ft
Total climbing: 7259 ft
Total descent: -7259 ft
Total time: 12:59:41
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