Finally the highly anticipated Giant 3 Shops ride is done and dusted. Started the day with a trip down to Inspirada to pick up Joy for some extra credit before the start of the official ride. The quick ride out to LVB and down St. Rose went pretty well. The tailwind along St. Rose was particularly nice. The start of the official ride was relatively chill. The ride from the Henderson store to Pebble and LVB seemed like a warm up for everyone. Once we made the turn onto LVB I felt like I was home rolling along the route I ride multiple times a week on the way to work. I pulled up in front and led the group all the way to Mandalay Bay/Hacienda. Stretching my legs along that stretch with a huge train behind me reminded me of why I love riding LVB to work so much, especially now that the construction seems to be done with. Riding along LVB must have got the blood flowing in everyone's legs because everyone seemed to be in a fast mood afterwards. The ride to the Summerlin store remained pretty quick. The northbound run along Torrey Pines got especially fast largely due to the more tailwinds. I did end up falling behind, I think, because I hit a couple red lights. It worked out for the best because there were a few others who had fallen behind and weren't certain about the route. They were able to follow me long enough to get into the Summerlin store without issue. I was pleasantly surprised with the full spread and red carpet that the Summerlin Giant folks rolled out for us. Tons of goodies for all types of cyclists. It was awesome. I was more than happy to partake in a little of this, that, and the other. Was surprised they had GU Roctane ready to go. I'd already burned through one of my bottles so I mixed up another expecting more hard riding when we did the Red Rock N>S flyby. However, an audible was called by the organizers to skip the flyby due to the high winds. Honestly, I'm kinda mixed on it. I would have loved the opportunity to have everyone go out and struggle against the wind and come together as a group to rotate, share the load, and get through it together. Then again combining headwinds AND elevation gain isn't the most fun thing either. It was probably for the best that the leads routed us down Hualapai to Maule. Despite the rerouting I'd say we still struggled against the winds. Was pretty happy to roll into the Blue Diamond Giant to find a similar spread to what we'd found at the Summerlin store. Enjoyed another nice break off my feet while sipping an ice cold Coke. At this point the legs were getting kinda tired. All the efforts up front and trying to keep up were starting to take their toll. Rolling out we set our sights for Cactus and the Henderson store. We had a nice group get up front. We were rolling pretty good and kept a pretty decent pace. Thankfully Maryland Pkwy had been reopened south of St Rose, where MP eventually becomes Sunridge Heights, and we were able to take that route versus making a left onto St. Rose to make a short sprint to Alper Center. As we rounded the corner onto Sunridge Heights we were so excited to finally be able to enjoy a significant tailwind. We were riding at 15-20 MPH with absolutely no effort. It was awesome. Nearly "home" we had disaster strike. Just past Eastern, but before Sandy Ridge, our group was chit chatting and taking it relatively easy chit chatting it up when we all heard a very loud "Pop". With my experience from the Solvang DC I recognized the sound of a tire letting go. I looked ahead and saw something bouncing along the road into the gutter while Rick came to a stop. When I caught up to him, his rear tire was completely destroyed. It had a gash nearly from sidewall to sidewall clean through. There was certainly no booting it, and he was tubeless anyway. I went back to check the debris I'd seen bouncing into the gutter to find a piece of an oscillating tool saw blade. I picked it up to share with the gang and everyone was kinda amazed at how much damage had been done. Rick insisted we continue on and Ivan said that he would double back to pick him up in his truck. Back at Giant Henderson, we all got to sit back, relax, and visit. Unfortunately, we'd all learn a short time later that a few people had gone down back at the intersection of Buffalo and Cactus. It seems that during the road construction in the area the lane to make a left turn onto Cactus from Buffalo had been dug up and repaved but with a decent sized lip. Apparently, a few people had their front tires grab that lip and then they went down. All in all Deryck, Robert, and one other person went down. Robert ended up taking the worst of it. We'd come to find out later that he had completely torn a ligament in his left thumb, requiring him to be off the bike for the next 10-12 weeks. Hopefully he'll be back at it in time for the Carmel Valley DC. After hanging out for way too long it was time to roll on. Joy and I decided to ride back over to the west side with Kevin and Caleb. It was a great way to tack on some extra miles. Unfortunately, it was just past Durango along Mountains Edge Pkwy that I got a decent cramp in a hamstring. Caleb and I pulled up to Joy and Kevin sitting at the corner of Fort Apache and Mountains Edge Pkwy waiting for us. Joy and I said our goodbyes and rolled out for home. From those goodbyes all the way home I was battling cramps. I did my best to keep my power steady while not going too hard. Anytime I'd put in too much power I'd get a cramp. If I stopped for too long, again, cramp. The absolute worst of it came as Joy and I were riding dang nearly directly into the wind south along Via Centro. As we went to cross Volunteer we had to make a jog through a turn lane with some curbing. Pulling into the turn out, with Joy already waiting, we had to stop to wait for oncoming traffic. As I stopped, BOTH of my hamstrings started to cramp. It was awful. I had to have Joy give me just a minute for them to pass before we continued on. Joy and I eventually parted ways leaving me to ride up Democracy to get home. Honestly, I was crawling at this point. I was completely dead tired and couldn't get home quickly enough. Thankfully Democracy was over quickly enough and I made it home to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. New bike fund: $57.44 (+$0.03) 13.52 new miles -- From Wandrer.earth 804 vehicles @ 8.7 per mile, 2.2 per minute, Speeds: 34.8 mph (avg), 61.4 mph (max) -- https://www.mybiketraffic.com/rides/view/125164 Give your activities the names they deserve. -- by Bandok.com Sunny-Sunny, 65°F-82°F, Feels like 63°F-81°F, Humidity 24%-9%, Wind SSE 8mph-SSE 13mph -- by Klimat.app -- myWindsock.com Report -- Weather Impact: 6.5% Headwind: 59% @ 6.9-23.2mph Longest Headwind: 01h 15m 38s Air Speed: 18.3mph Temp: 62.3-79.1°F Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr -- END --