Whip, whip Run me like a racehorse.

A spur of the moment ride concocted late Saturday afternoon over coffee after having ridden 100 miles. Joy and I both certainly wanted to ride on Monday, but we weren’t certain of a route. I threw out that we hadn’t been to the dam in a while and the idea stuck.

Picked up Joy at our usual corner and took the usual route over to Pebble Marketplace. There were only two others signed up for the ride on the Facebook event page and only one of them, Matt, showed up to the party. As 8:00 rolled around, and no one else rolling up, the three of us set off.

The ride started out great. As we climbed the UPRR we started to come upon three riders riding three abreast. I’ll be totally honest, at first glance I thought they were just three randos out for a lazy ride. As we got closer and meant to get by I called out that we were coming around their left. Then as we went by I got a look at them and recognized Merri straight away! Then realized it wasn’t only Merri, but the two Jenns as well. Of course the three of us dialed back our pace to hang out with the three ladies.

As we rode we learned the three ladies were on their way to do a BC Airport Loop before heading home. So naturally we just all started chit chatting and visiting while we rode up the UPRR. A short time later we would get buzzed by a huge beast of a man flying by. Then I realized it was only Moose. Talking with him I guess he’d tried to follow my progress on LiveTrack, but my computer had glitched out early and was no longer providing updates. I guess he thought it was going to be a typical AV ride and leave 15 or more minutes later than advertised. Unfortunately for him that wasn’t the case and he had played a long game of catchup.

For the most part the seven of us stuck together until Adams and Utah. Joy, Matt, Moose, and I would all make the left to ride up Utah and on to the dam while Merri and the Jenns continued up and around Adams before heading back into town. Very cool to have run into them in the wild.

The ride out to the dam and Arizona side went without issue. I had planned on stopping at Hoover Dam Gas, but no one wanted to stop so we just rode straight through to Arizona. As we were hanging out chatting at the lookout helipad, we spotted another cyclist approaching and straight away we knew it was another Adobo. I mean the first generation kit stands out that much. Much to our surprise it was David Hayden! We hung out and visited for a bit, took a couple pictures, and then finally set off to return to Pebble Marketplace.

Joy and I stopped across the highway from Hoover Dam Gas to wait for Matt. I’m sure he wouldn’t have had a problem with us continuing on and not regrouping until later, but I like making sure everyone gets clear of the round-a-bout area before setting off. It didn’t take long for Matt to reach us and he just rolled on through. Joy and I set off after him and when we caught up he was running low on water. After a chat he felt he could make it to Railroad Pass so I told him we’d regroup at the top of Industrial and set off to catch Joy.

But, before I did that, I spotted a little rubber ducky on the shoulder. After performing a shoulder check, I turned around to go back for it. It’s funny because Matt had just passed it as well and as I went by him he asked, “You going back for that rubber duck?”

Of course I replied, “Yup!” The little fella was easy to spy so I scooped him up and stuffed him into a jersey pocket. What is funny is this was the second time that Matt watched me spin around to go back for a road find. The first time came earlier in the ride along Wigwam just before Gibson. I’d spotted a bright shiny quarter against the dark black asphalt and had turned around to go back for it. Matt was confused, but thankfully Joy was there to explain my insanity. I was also lucky to catch the light at Gibson.

Somewhere along the Boulder City climb I caught up to and passed Boots. Then as I climbed Industrial I spotted Moose off to the side doing lord knows what. He had left the Arizona side of the dam maybe 15 minutes before the rest of us. I was surprised because I’d figured we wouldn’t see him the rest of the day. Not too long later Boots rolled up and the three of us hung out waiting for Matt. Thankfully Moose had him on his Garmin and saw that Matt had stopped at the Terribles at the half way mark. A short time later Matt rolled up and we continued on for Railroad Pass.

We made our one refuel stop at the Eldorado Pass station. We all took a few minutes to use the bathroom again and grab a bite to eat and something to drink. Matt mentioned that he was about at the end of his rope considering how long of a ride this was compared to what he’d been riding lately. Luckily for him there was only one real significant climb for the remainder of the ride.

The climb up the I-11 frontage was extra tough with the steady headwind, but once we made the top the descent back to Pebble Marketplace was great. We rode at a nice steady even pace which kept the group together. Soon enough we pulled into Pebble Marketplace. Joy, Moose, and I said our goodbyes to Matt and then set off for home.

Joy and I could have found a few ways to tack on some extra miles to log another century, but I think we were more than satisfied with the day’s work. We made a strong push south along Bermuda having fun with green lights and strong efforts. As we continued across St Rose, Moose broke off and made for home. Joy and I continued south along Bermuda until it ended, and then made our way over to our favorite post-ride hangout Starbucks.

Unfortunately, our post-ride chat had to be cut short because Joy had an appointment in a few hours. We made quick work of our coffees and set off for home. After saying our goodbyes, I continued up Democracy to home, but not before dropping my chain just past the round-a-bout. A total bummer considering how good I was feeling just smashing it up to that point.

The start and finish of the ride look wonky on the map. For some reason my computer lost satellite signal and failed to record my location despite recording all other data. The speed sensor in the wheel was accurate enough to measure the distance and all the other sensors recorded correctly. It just appears I started at Via Firenze and Democracy when I did in fact start at home. Thankfully I caught it early enough. I was only apparent because the time on the computer was off. If the entire ride had gone that way it would have sucked.

New bike fund: $120.80 ($+0.26), €1.52, ₱10.00, ֏10.00, CA$0.01
571 total shifts, 45 front, 526 rear. 79.3% of the ride in the big ring, 20.7% in the small ring. Most time spent in 52×21, 20.4% — by di2stats
363 vehicles @ 4 per mile, 1.2 per minute, Speeds: 36.8 mph (avg), 70.1 mph (max) — by MyBikeTraffic
Give your activities the names they deserve. — by Bandok
Mostly sunny-Mostly sunny, 41°F-68°F, Feels like 42°F-70°F, Humidity 55%-19%, Wind W 3mph-NNE 6mph — by Klimat
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact™: 1.7%
Headwind: 35% @ 0 – 0 mph
Longest Headwind: 40m 17s
Air Speed: 12.7 mph
Temp: 40.6-62.8°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
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