Cool Matt !
That's some serious milage for the young guys. Looking at the guy in blue sweats on the ride pics, that would be me!
That's some serious milage for the young guys. Looking at the guy in blue sweats on the ride pics, that would be me!
Saturday 50 Mile Epic
Okay, you guys consider yourselves lucky. My little Blue Diamond Epic was only 30 miles of riding on a beautiful fall day. Today, on the other hand was 50+ miles with a steady 13 mph wind. My scouts that I've been working with on the Cycling Merit Badge finally gathered for our 50 final ride.
First I'll start off with the fact that these guys 12 to 17 years old really kicked some butt. We started in April with workshops in bike maintenance, safety and equipment. Then we started riding -- (2) ten milers, (2) fifteen milers, and (2) twenty five milers before we could tackle the big 50.
Unfortunately, our ride schedule was interupted by:
1. Summer Heat
2. Summer Vacations
3. Summer HEAT
4. High School Sports -- mainly Cross Country
5. School
Well today we finally were able to hit the road again after a 5 month break. And hit the road did we ever. We started at 9:00am in Bootleg Canyon and rode (okay, the scouts walked) out Mother to POW where we only had three of the four scouts crash heavily. One was trying his dad's sweet new Specialized Epic with clipless pedals. Well, it's not a sparkling new Epic anymore -- he tore the front break lever off before we even hit the single track. The Second saw how steep the hillside that Mother cuts across and decided to see how far he could fall down it. And the third lost it near the bottom of POW and did at least 2 barrel rolls before he got himself stopped. Okay, maybe riding out Mother was a bad idea -- these kids haven't ridden in 5 months. But no serious injuries -- or even any injuries at all. But it did take us an hour and a half to cover the first 3.5 miles.
We then followed the dirt roads to Railroad Pass where we hopped on to the newly paved River Mountain Trail. We cruised out close to Lake Las Vegas and turned back into town. This is where that 13mph wind really payed off. T-A-I-L-W-I-N-D!!!!!! We had a tailwind all the way back to Green Valley, Up the hill to Southern Highlands and back up the hill to my house -- but, I'm getting ahead of myself.
After being a hour late to the park where my wife WAS going to meet us (she left about 20 minutes before we got there) we cruised into Green Valley for a quick lunch at Subway. The Jamba Juice break I planned wasn't going to hack it. The scouts were starting to look pretty haggered. On we went after the lunch break over to my house where we filled our Camelbacks, grabbed another handfull of Gels and I changed my shin guards for knee warmers and my mtb gloves for insulated fleece gloves and we were off again for the last 20 mile loop out to Southern Highlands and back.
We rode up to, and out on St. Rose Pkwy with that wonderful tailwind. Really not much happened on the last leg. The boys did decide that if the ride came up short on mileage -- they would ride around the block until they got the 50 miles in. That was really neat since I told them in the beginning that I would count the ride if we only came out at the 47 miles my Delorme software calculated.
We got back to my house at 4:03pm with 50.1 miles on my GPS -- without any extra tooling around the 'hood. I don't think I've ever seen such thankful young men in my life. They kinda collapsed on my front grass while I got the BBQ fired up for cheeseburgers. They did figure out that it was warmer in the house watching Star Wars Episode III with my daughters though.
What a fun day. I'm amazed how much these guys can push themselves beyond what they may be used to. But I bet they will be walking funny tomorrow though!
Some Photos:
1. At the Bootleg Canyon Trailhead
2. Rest Stop near the Automall
3. After lunch with 25 miles to go
4. Watching StarWars before chowing down on burgers.
5. The Route
First I'll start off with the fact that these guys 12 to 17 years old really kicked some butt. We started in April with workshops in bike maintenance, safety and equipment. Then we started riding -- (2) ten milers, (2) fifteen milers, and (2) twenty five milers before we could tackle the big 50.
Unfortunately, our ride schedule was interupted by:
1. Summer Heat
2. Summer Vacations
3. Summer HEAT
4. High School Sports -- mainly Cross Country
5. School
Well today we finally were able to hit the road again after a 5 month break. And hit the road did we ever. We started at 9:00am in Bootleg Canyon and rode (okay, the scouts walked) out Mother to POW where we only had three of the four scouts crash heavily. One was trying his dad's sweet new Specialized Epic with clipless pedals. Well, it's not a sparkling new Epic anymore -- he tore the front break lever off before we even hit the single track. The Second saw how steep the hillside that Mother cuts across and decided to see how far he could fall down it. And the third lost it near the bottom of POW and did at least 2 barrel rolls before he got himself stopped. Okay, maybe riding out Mother was a bad idea -- these kids haven't ridden in 5 months. But no serious injuries -- or even any injuries at all. But it did take us an hour and a half to cover the first 3.5 miles.
We then followed the dirt roads to Railroad Pass where we hopped on to the newly paved River Mountain Trail. We cruised out close to Lake Las Vegas and turned back into town. This is where that 13mph wind really payed off. T-A-I-L-W-I-N-D!!!!!! We had a tailwind all the way back to Green Valley, Up the hill to Southern Highlands and back up the hill to my house -- but, I'm getting ahead of myself.
After being a hour late to the park where my wife WAS going to meet us (she left about 20 minutes before we got there) we cruised into Green Valley for a quick lunch at Subway. The Jamba Juice break I planned wasn't going to hack it. The scouts were starting to look pretty haggered. On we went after the lunch break over to my house where we filled our Camelbacks, grabbed another handfull of Gels and I changed my shin guards for knee warmers and my mtb gloves for insulated fleece gloves and we were off again for the last 20 mile loop out to Southern Highlands and back.
We rode up to, and out on St. Rose Pkwy with that wonderful tailwind. Really not much happened on the last leg. The boys did decide that if the ride came up short on mileage -- they would ride around the block until they got the 50 miles in. That was really neat since I told them in the beginning that I would count the ride if we only came out at the 47 miles my Delorme software calculated.
We got back to my house at 4:03pm with 50.1 miles on my GPS -- without any extra tooling around the 'hood. I don't think I've ever seen such thankful young men in my life. They kinda collapsed on my front grass while I got the BBQ fired up for cheeseburgers. They did figure out that it was warmer in the house watching Star Wars Episode III with my daughters though.
What a fun day. I'm amazed how much these guys can push themselves beyond what they may be used to. But I bet they will be walking funny tomorrow though!
Some Photos:
1. At the Bootleg Canyon Trailhead
2. Rest Stop near the Automall
3. After lunch with 25 miles to go
4. Watching StarWars before chowing down on burgers.
5. The Route
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