A three day weekend means an extra day of riding, right? I'm pretty proud of myself for getting up and out of bed this morning to do this ride. I hadn't committed to it in any way other than to myself. After Friday's tough Lifetime ride and feeling awful for half of Saturday's beach ride, I didn't have high hopes for today's ride to Jean. Despite all that saying I should stay home I went out anyway and I'm glad I did. Rewinding to a few weeks back, when I dropped Caleb off after the Davis DC he gifted me one of his bags of Infinit Nutrition to try. I should have seen it coming considering we were talking on-bike nutrition for a good part of the drive home after my second near bonk. Fast forwarding back to today, I decided I'd give two bottles a spin to see how I felt. If I never try them on a regular ride I can never try them on an event right? Riding down to the start I had to take things easy because I'd replaced my brake pads the day before and I still hadn't bedded them in yet. So there were a few near stops along the way to try to get that done. By the time I arrived, I was feeling better than when I had rolled out of bed, but still wasn't sure how this ride was going to go. As we got started I chatted with Mark a little bit before I pulled away to join the other "fast kids", as Grever would phrase it. We had a nice decently paced ride out Pebble to LVB. It was obvious that we had a solid group of 5-6 who would be up front for most of the day while the others hung back. Starting south along LVB I actually started feeling pretty good. I was up front on and off with Dave all the way until the Green Valley Grocery next to the M Casino where we stopped for a quick bathroom break and a regroup. As we got ready to leave GVG, Grever again name-dropped Dave and I as the leaders of the "fast kids". With that I laughed and started off for Jean. I was up in front, but kept it slow making sure we had all the "fast kids" in line before starting off. I know I hate it when the front group just shoots off like a rocket and I never even get a chance to hope on before they're gone. There was I think only 4-5 of us in the lead group really hammering it on the way down. Our little group was well behaved for the ride. Everyone took turns on the front and cycled through as needed. We made really good time and I only really spiced things up at the very end when I shot around Dave in the final few hundred meters before the first gas station. I just couldn't help myself. We hung out at the Chevron for close to 20 minutes before our little group started back for Pebble Marketplace. The other group had mostly arrived and we let Grever know we were leaving before just up and going. He did clear us to go straight back and said we didn't need to wait at the M Casino to regroup. The ride back was more of the same and we all worked really well together. Once we got back to Pebble Marketplace, Rick and Dennis hung around for a few minutes before taking off for home. I hung out for a few minutes longer with George and Dave before rolling out myself. As I left Pebble Marketplace I really didn't feel like riding up Green Valley Pkwy so I went east over to Valle Verde instead. I was surprised to find new asphalt along Wigwam and it looks like once the stripping is done it'll have a nice bike lane. Turning south onto Valle Verde I remembered I was completely out of water so I made a quick stop at Paseo Verde Park to fill them both up. While I was there I spotted a lemonade stand that had been setup by some neighborhood kids and decided to have a cup for myself, and a cookie, and a sucker, and a painted rock. Yes you read that right I bought all that off these kids. What can I say I'm a sucker, but that was some of the best lemonade I've ever had! I decided to ride all the way across Horizon Ridge to add some Seven Hills climbing. I briefly thought of doing part of the Lifetime Friday route, but decided to cut things a little short to get home early enough to take the wife out to brunch instead. So no century for me today and I was bummed to learn that I'm just shy of 1,000 miles for the month. I don't plan on any commutes or rides for the rest of the week to allow for some recovery before Eastern Sierra this weekend, but I'll probably do a shake out right with Caleb, and whoever else wants to join, on Friday in Bishop before the DC. Great ride today with great weather and company to match. I have to say that the Infinit mix that Caleb gave me is like rocket fuel. I'm really surprised how well I felt after I started hitting the bottles after leaving Pebble Marketplace. Could it all be just mental? Sure, but I highly doubt it. New bike fund: $60.88 (+$0.00) 200 vehicles @ 2.5 per mile, 0.8 per minute, Speeds: 38.2 mph (avg), 63.2 mph (max) -- https://www.mybiketraffic.com/rides/view/150728 Give your activities the names they deserve. -- by Bandok.com Sunny-Sunny, 71°F-88°F, Feels like 69°F-97°F, Humidity 21%-11%, Wind W 2mph-ENE 2mph -- by Klimat.app -- myWindsock.com Report -- Weather Impact: -2.5% Headwind: 34% @ 1.3-10.3mph Longest Headwind: 36m 47s Air Speed: 19.5mph Temp: 67.8-87.7°F Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr -- END --