This century route incorporates 50 miles of Moon Valley’s “Transfer Station” loop, (which itself is so named due to route going by one of the town dumps transfer stations up in the Sonoran Foothills north of town), and an extra loop out to Thompson Peak Parkway. A fairly flat route, with 1,800 feet of climbing.
No Desire to Ride
If you had told me when I woke up this morning that I’d be doing a century ride today, I would have thought you crazy. Very tired from playing a gig last night, when the alarm went of at 5:00 am I had no desire whatsoever to get up and go riding. But with the Death Valley Double breathing down my neck (okay, so it’s still seven weeks away), I dragged myself out of bed and prepared for the day, figuring I’d ride over to Moon Valley Park and either do the 40-50 mile Moon Valley Group ride, or simply turn around and head back home, calling it a day after 10 or 15 miles. Hey, it’s better than nothing!
Behind a rock-steady rider
I yawned a lot while waiting at the park for the Moon Valley ride to begin. This particular ride always starts out nice and casual, which helped entice me along. In our midst was a randonneur rider who had just completed a 1200K ride a week ago, apparently out for a recovery today. After a few miles he was up front pulling the group, and for a while I was right behind him. What a great person to draft behind! His pace was rock steady – and at an effort easily maintainable.
The weather hardly sucked at all
We continued this steady, aerobic pace throughout the morning, on a mostly flat route. There was a bit of cloud cover, and we even got sprinkled on, which felt real nice. The wind was cool on our jerseys, probably for the first time since the spring.
Might as well do a century
By 50 miles my legs were feeling pretty good. Though a bit windy, it really wasn’t all that hot. I decided then to try and do another 50 miles — to get in a century. Need to take advantage of the nice weather whenever I can!
After finishing the Moon Valley ride I made my way over to the Thompson Peak Parkway area, but not before rambling around for a while, unsure if I really wanted to do all those miles. A nap sounded more appealing.
The wind had picked up considerably, and my shoulder was not a happy camper. But it will most likely be windy in Death Valley, so I might as well get used to it. And I need to see what happens if I keep riding with a sore shoulder. What if it gets sore in the middle of the Death Valley Double? How will it respond?
Decision made to get serious and finish a century, I quit rambling around and cruised east and then north, fighting the wind. At 80 miles I stopped at a Fry’s (grocery superstore) for a rest and snack.
Downhill, a tail wind, and a bonus: cooler temps!
While I was in the store, a storm front moved in from the east and cooled things off considerably – not that it was all that bad to start with.
Now, I had chosen the ride east out to Thompson Peak Parkway because the wind was coming from the east / north. If I rode east first, I had surmised, I’d have a tailwind on the way back, and it would be mostly downhill at that. I hadn’t counted on it being cooler too, with cloud cover. So this made for some mighty sweet riding!
Alas, at 96 miles I got a flat, and managed to ruin the spare too. So I had to get rescued, cutting my day short. Had I not flatted, I would have finished 102 miles, like shown on the map and profile above.
Long distance chops coming back
I could have ridden more today, as my legs felt really good at the end. The saddle was super comfortable, and my shoulder was not feeling all that bad. I think my long distance chops are coming back.
The funny thing about today? I was more tired when I got up this morning than after riding 96 miles. Ha!
