2013 Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo Pinarello Part 2

If you missed part 1 it is here.

Ride Day

When we picked up our packets, we were given our assigned start times and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. Where last yer I was able to ride the strip while it was still dark since our wave started at 6:00 am, this year we weren't starting until 8:20. The sun was well up by then and that was a bit of a disappointment.

With an 8:20 start it wasn't necessary to get there too early since we would be sitting around and waiting. We agreed that we would start loading up the bikes, etc. at 6:30 with an eye to a 7:00 departure for the 15 minute ride to Town Square for the start. Well I was up early as was my dad and we got the new bike rack sorted out and installed, the bikes loaded and were ready to go by 6:35. We didn't see a need to hang around at home so we headed over to Town Square with a stop for some gum and powerade on the way.

We got to town Square about 7:00 for our 8:20 start time. We unloaded the bikes, checked tire pressure, put our race numbers on our bikes, helmets and my jersey. Then we put our timing chips on and were ready to go with well over an hour to kill.

We decided to ride around a bit to warm up and check out the area.  We saw many riders on many different bikes.  As some of the longer waves hadn't left yet, there were many riders in full kit on expensive bikes.  There were also many others on hybrids, single speeds, hybrids, beach cruisers and even a pennyfarthing!  The rider was decked out in old fashioned dress, complete with knee socks and handlebar moustache.

Stock pennyfarthing photo

Since we had so much time on our hands we decided to find a bench and relax until it was time to line up so we found a bench and relaxed for a bit.  While we were sitting there we talked with a woman who was also riding the 17 mile route.  She was doing this as her first group ride.  She said that she rides just about every day and it wasn't the distance that had her worried, but riding with other riders.  I assured her it would be fine as this group would be very relaxed and tended to give each other lots of room.  She was suitably impressed that my dad had driven all the way from Michigan to do the ride.

The bench we had found was strategically placed near the open restrooms. As we were talking there I realized I had left my cycling gloves on top of the car so took a quick ride back to get them.  Fortunately they were right where I left them.  By 7:45 we both decided on one last trip was needed to be ready for the ride.

At 8:00 or so we rolled into the starting coral and I was surprised at how few riders were actually there.  I thought that maybe they had already let a wave of 17 mile riders go.  As we were there we noticed the gentleman on the pennyfarthing lining up near us towards the back of the group.  Also there was a tandem and a husband and wife with the husband pulling a trailer with their daughter.

Music was playing, the MC was talking to the crowd and the excitement was building.  Finally it was time to count it down - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 GO!!! everyone was starting out, some a little less sure than others, but it was a clean start as we headed out onto Las Vegas Blvd and made the left headed north towards the heart of the famous Las Vegas Strip.

We started off slowly but the main group quickly started moving away.  We knew we would be among the slowest riders on the day.  We actually were maintaining a faster average than my dad was normally used to.  Looking at the record from my garmin, we were running 15 to 18 mph down the strip.  We found ourselves with a group of cyclists including the tandem and the pennyfarthing we had been close to at the start.

They had warned us at the start that we would be detoured into the Southbound lanes near the Venetian as the police were investigating an earlier accident. Fortunately for the cyclists it appeared the crash involved 2 cars and no cyclists.  It certainly felt interesting riding along the strip while the police held up traffic for us.  As we passed each of the officers my dad and I thanked them.  We certainly wouldn't have had the experience without their work.

Farther down the strip we passed Gold and Silver Pawn of the TV show Pawn Stars fame.  Unbelievably there were probably 20 or 30 people already lined up to get into the store before 9:00 AM. Once past them, we were nearing Downtown Las Vegas.  This is where the old casinos are and it is experiencing a rebirth.

As we made the turn off Las Vegas Blvd, the officers near us were warning us to sty to the right as there was soon going to be traffic around us as we had left the closed road part of the ride.  Looking around we were astonished to see the pennyfarthing was still with us. Up until this point it was just a matter of turning the cranks for him, but now it was going to get interesting as we would be dealing with the stops and starts of traffic lights.  Pennyfarthings don't have brakes.

Having left Las Vegas Blvd, we realized the easy part of the ride was over and now we needed to do a bit more work.  We had enjoyed a relatively flat ride so far with a 1/2 - 1 % downgrade the length of the strip.  Now we had to deal with regaining the 200+ feet of elevation we had lost. Certainly not  lot of climbing, but it added a degree of difficulty to the ride.

Once back out of downtown we headed through much less picturesque parts of the city.  Along the way we crossed under the Sahara overpass and we decided to stop in the shade for a drink.  Pennyfarthing had kept going and we honestly never saw him again.  After a quick drink we got back at it. 

Further along we passed under the I-15 expressway and hit one of the steepest sections of the course as we climbed back up from the underpass.  I was super impressed with how well my dad did, pulling away from me on the uphill.  He had far less trouble on the climbs than I and I had more gear choices.  A bit farther along after  couple of more steep sections we hit Valley View and it was time for another drink.  We pulled over into a lot and had a nice drink.

We then took off to tackle the last 3 miles or so of the ride.  We rode down Valley View to Sunset road and made the left towards Town Square.  That's when the last obstacle came into view - the overpass back across the I-15.  It seemed a bit cruel to put the toughest climb of the day at the end of the ride. There was a slight downhill run up to the overpass and I took full advantage of it.  I made it up and over and was enjoying the wonderful downhill, but had to make a u-turn back to the service road under Sunset Road.   It wasn't fair that we had to slow down and stop for the light to make the turn.

Once under Sunset we were in the final stretch with a turn into the finishing chute.  There was the finish line.  We had done it!  We hit the dismount line and walked our bikes towards the volunteers. 

 

We were given our finisher medals and offered water bottles and Gatorade right at the finish.

 

Here are our official finishing times:

The official time was 1:45:11 but according to my Garmin it was over 12 minutes less than that.  The reason for this is the starting timing mat was well before the start and we crossed it heading up to wait for the start of the ride.

I have to say it was great fun and I totally enjoyed the ride with my dad.  At this point I'm not sure if he will do it again, but I just might.  Thank you Dad for doing this ride with me!

2013 Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo Pinarello Part 1

This year I was fortunate enough to ride this event with my father.  Here is the tale in 2 parts.

Background

Last year I rode the 2012 Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo Pinarello and I had a lot of fun.  You can read the report here.  I decided then that I would ride this event again this year.  It was a great ride and I loved starting in the dark and seeing the strip all lit up as we rode down it.

My father had done numerous bike rides with us as we were growing up in Michigan in support of the March of Dimes.  We had ridden several 50 mile rides and even done a 100 mile ride from Detroit, MI to Flint Michigan and back.  The thing was the last of these was over 30 years ago.

Back in May as I was talking about the upcoming rides I had planned, I knew that my dad had started riding a bit again and I threw out the idea of him riding in this event this September.  At first there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm for the idea.  It must have stuck, though as there was more discussion and eventually my dad said he might be interested in doing it, but he wasn't sure if he could do the distance.

My wife and I decided that as a bit of incentive, we would gift him with a registration as a combination Father's day and birthday gift.  My thinking was that it might keep him motivated to ride knowing that we had gotten his registration for him.  It seemed to do the trick.

He started riding almost every day throughout the summer in Michigan.  Personally I think it was a good thing this summer in Michigan was a bit cooler than normal as it kept him out there riding.

As August rolled around both he and my mom decided to take me up on my August Challenge.  My dad rode every day and my mom walked on the treadmill every day in the month of August.  In fact in terms of total miles, my dad actually rode 2 miles farther than I did for the month.  His longest ride of the year was only 12.8  miles, though.  He was still was leery of the 17.3 mile distance.

Finally on September 12, he got in a 17 mile ride. and was satisfied that he could make it the distance.

The Journey

Now Mom and dad had to get from Michigan to Las Vegas in order to ride in the event.  They don't like to fly, so they loaded up the motorhome and started a leisurely 6 day trip across the country.  They left on on Friday, September 13.  Unfortunately this would prove to have been an unlucky choice as there were several challenges on the way.

The first challenge was a leaking air line.  Fortunately, my dad being a mechanic and always prepared was able to make the repair and keep on going.

The second challenge happened on Tuesday, September 17and was a blown tire near Winslow Arizona.  It was the left front tire and not only was it blown, but as it blew it tore apart some of the wiring.  They stopped for the night in Winslow after the courtesy patrol helped him change the tire, putting on the spare.

On Wednesday, after a stop at an auto part store, they made it to Williams Arizona where they had planned on staying for 2 days to possibly do a side trip to the Grand Canyon. Then they were planning on rolling into Las Vegas Thursday evening.  Well, that day after they got set-up in the campground my dad set to repairing the wiring and making sure the motorhome would make it the rest of the way here.  He got it taken care of in a couple of hours.

Unfortunately Wednesday evening my mother started having severe abdominal pains which continued to get worse.  So my dad called the emergency numbers at the campground.  No answer.  He went back to the unit and started packing things up and getting ready to move.  Then he called 911.  The closest emergency room was 30 miles away in Flagstaff so rather than wait for them to come to him, that's where he went.

11:00 Wednesday evening I heard from him that they were there and getting her checked in but had no idea what was wrong as yet.  Eventually after an examination and a cat scan it was determined that she had a kidney stone.  The plan at 2:00 am was to fill her with fluids and hope that it would pass.

There was concern since my mom is 74 years old, has asthma and is diabetic.

By 9:00 am, it hadn't passed. So the day attending brought in the urologist who was concerned that there might be infection behind the stone.  He determined that the best course was to put in a stent and use a laser to break up the stone so that it would pass.  He said he would get her in as soon as he could.  Surgery was just after lunch and everything went well.

With her medical history, they decided to play it cautious and kept her overnight to make sure there weren't any complications from the anesthetic nor the medications.

Friday morning they determined she could, in fact, leave.  With the need for release signatures, etc.  they didn't get out of the hospital until after 11:00 and headed towards Las Vegas.

Now there was a bit of a time deadline as packet pickup was only open until 7:00 pm and the ride was Saturday morning.  The original plan had been to arrive Thursday evening and then we would have had time on Friday for a tune up ride to check the bikes and then take our time heading over to packet pick-up.  Obviously that didn't happen.

Getting away when they did, and with the need to stop for gas and lunch, we figured they would be showing up between 4:00 and 5:00 with plenty of time to do what we needed to.  At 2:40 I got a text that they were near Kingman, AZ and still on schedule.

Unfortunately Tom Tom led them a bit astray and at 4:52 my mom called for directions to get beck on track.  For some reason instead of coming all the way across the 215, Tom Tom had sent them on the 15 north.  They got turned back around and I had them come the most direct route via Blue Diamond Road.

At 5:11 I got another call, this time from my dad that they were off the side of the road near Blue Diamond and Buffalo (less than 2 miles from the house) and that they had blown a transmission line.  The motorhome was out of traffic so we decided that Michele and I would pick them up, get to packet pick up, drop off my mom's prescription at CVS, and then have dinner before attending to the motorhome.

We got to packet pick up and as usual things went smoothly.  I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and on of the volunteers suggested I wear it for the ride hte next day.  I told her I had last year and will again this year.( you can see it in my photo here).

We then dropped off the prescription to be filled and had a great dinner at Montana Meat Company where our daughter met us.  The girls then left to pick up the prescription while my dad and I went to the motorhome for what was hoped to be a 5 minute fix.  Unfortunately it took a bit longer as the line had to be replaced and then the engine cover had to be removed to put enough transmission fluid in to get moving.  It took about 45 minutes, but the repairs were successful and the motorhome finally made it to the house.

More on this tomorrow.

September challenge

This September I've challenged myself to ride at least 240 miles.  That would be my highest mileage month by 20 miles or so.  That will be quite an achievement.  Along the way I'm going to be riding the 17 mile Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo Pinarello on September 21st with my father.

Now, I have to give him big props.  He also met my August challenge, riding every day during the month and beat my total miles by completing 222.6 miles for the month!  Outstanding job!  The important point here is that he turned 71 last week.  I can't say how proud I am of him for doing that.

He is worried about the distance for the coming Viva Bike Vegas ride, but I keep reminding him that he can do it and that its not a race.  We can stop and rest as much as we need to along the way.  I think he would like to take on my September challenge as well, but he will be driving out here to Vegas from Michigan and then driving back so for 8 to 10 days he won't be on a bike.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that my mom took my August challenge and met it but in her own way.  She doesn't ride, but she committed to walking at least 20 minutes each day on the treadmill and she did it!  Way to go Ma! I won't mention her age, but she might be 2 or 3 years older than my dad. :)

She is also not taking on my September challenge due to the trip out here this month.  I do know she will be walking every chance she gets, though.

So, anyone else want to commit to a mileage total for September?

Regardless, please get on your bikes and ride!

Registration complete...

Well, now its official.  Both myself and my dad are registered for Viva Bike Vegas on September 21st.



I am so happy and proud of my dad who hasn't ridden more than a couple of miles in the last 30 years, until he thought he might try riding more this summer.  It will be so cool to ride the strip with him that day.  I'm glad its not a race and we can take our time and enjoy the sites.

Anyone else going to be here in September for the ride????

BTW here is the route:

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