OK, I finally rode outside my subdivision on Saturday morning and it was a great ride. Thank you Cyn for organizing a ride and remembering us newbies!
I synched up with Robin at the Equestrian access to the River Mountain Loop Trail in Henderson. I was a bit early and was amazed at all of the people up before 6:00 AM heading out to ride. We rode an out and back counterclockwise on the trail. It took us past the Railroad Pass Casino and all the way to the Veteran's home. We stopped there and used that as our landmark for later mapping to figure out how far we'd gone as neither of us had a GPS or bike computer.
I later put it into MapMyRide.com and here is what I got:
It was an great time for 3 reasons. First it was great seeing new scenery and spreading my wings beyond the confines of my neighborhood training loop. Second it was awesome riding with someone else as it helped distract you with conversation. Third it was feeling connected to a larger community through the other riders.
I enjoyed it so much, I am planning a ride in my head which goes from the same starting point at equestrian, through Boulder City and down to the visitor center at Lake Mead where it intersects the Railroad Tunnels Trail. Then turn around and head back. I haven't mapped it yet to figure out the distance, but I know it will be a challenge. One great thing will be that the climb up from the visitor's center will be part of the route for Pumpkinman in October.
Hmm... a Labor day weekend ride sounds really good! Anyone want to do it?
It was fun riding with you too. I guessed we had done about 11.5 or 12 miles, so I was close! Just let me know when you want to go at it again and I'll join you.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have a try at the other end of the lake roads this coming Friday. My challenge is to be able to take Hollywood to Lake Mead and make it over the hill to Northshore. If I can do that, then I should be able to do the RTC 110 mile ride and therefore get to ride on the new bypass bridge!
@Robin - I was looking at that 115 ride and while it would be cool to do the ride over the bridge, they say the support crews are done at 5:00 which means that you would have to finish the ride in 10.5 hours, including the climb up from Boulder Beach to the bridge. Do you think you can do it in the time?
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