Windy Day In Paradise!

Imagine that. Wind in Las Vegas this time of the year. Since I have been back it has been windy more than I care to remember and I am not just talking about a slight little breeze where the dust blows, I mean down right steady wind at 20+mph or higher and with gusts up to 35+! It sucks for training on those given days.

Well today I had my long bike of 75 miles scheduled and all mapped out so after taking care of business in the early AM I was about to get out the door by 11:30am which I knew I was in for some increased winds buy Geez!

I headed out towards Mt. Charleston and last time I went there I only made it about 3 or miles miles up the road from the highway b/c its a complete steady gradual Climb the whole way to the top! I caught up with another rider and although he wasn't heading to the top he did break the silence for a while but then I was left all alone on the road to the top. Now one thing about this road, there is NO Shoulder, or very little so your basically riding in the road and luckily there was not a lot of traffic on a Thursday afternoon but the wind had showed up from the left side and even Head on at times so it made it difficult to hold your line.

As I continued to just grind it out I passed the first elevation sign: #3000 Ft. I started about 2300 Ft. and when I passed the 3000 feet sign I was like, Humm.. that's cool. Well as the wind continued so did I at a steady effort and even stopping to take in gels or nutrition just b/c it was so windy that I didn't want to get blown over and possibly get run over. Now the road continues to gradually incline, not really sharp but STEADY! Next thing I know I was at the 4000 Ft. Sign and I had to stop and take a picture.

Then I was back on the road with more uphill and Even More Wind! When I got to the 5000 Ft. Sign the wind was actually getting a little scary blowing me around at times farther into the lane and 2 times cars where close by. As I approached the Spring Mountains Sign I looked at it and thought to stop on the way back down as I was really thinking about turning around at this point b/c the wind was really bad, so bad I looked down at my garmin and I was going 2.7 MPH! Is that possible?!!! An oncoming Motorcycle, who passed me earlier, honked at me and gave me the Thumbs up sign as I grinding away, in place as what it felt like. I thought Hey that's Awesome as I tried to way back at him but almost fell over. I ended up going to 5350 ft on the garmin and made the turn to come back. I did stop at the Mountain Forest Signs.. See Pics..

and what took me like over an hour to go up.. took me 25 mins to get down!! Although it was windy and blowing all over I did manage to clock out a 43.7 mph and pretty much tried to enjoy the ride down while covering the breaks. I will look to ride this road again but on a No Wind Day!

So I had a great bike although by the time I got back to the house area it was really crazy wind and just not safe so I stopped at 47 and I was looking to get 75, Not Even Close, Freggn' Wind. So this only means that come Sunday I have to ride longer, UGH! No worries, I guess. :)

Now I am looking to head down to Oceanside with Formualic for his California 70.3!!! So I will take lots of pics and give you the details on Sunday..

rockon`