The inaugural ride of perm #5196 Tbird Vistancia, that I created. How cool. I was joined by fellow west side cyclist Alex. He actually started the ride 40 minutes ahead of me as he entered the route near his house and road to meet me at the official start. It was warm here in Litchfield Park even at 4am! Cloe to 90F. Yet we set off. I hadn't ridden on Glendale or New River Trail in sometime so it was awesome to see how clean they both were. No people on the New River Trail. It was a bit more challenging to navigate the trail in the dark. Just as we were exiting Skunk Creek at 51st Ave, mile 18.9, I felt something bit me in the stomach, so I reached my left hand to brush the area. As me left hand returned to the handlebar, I experienced an even more intense jab of pain in my lower thumb just outside of my cycling glove. I looked down to see a bee. I knocked it away and could see the stinger sitting in my hand, Got out my Uncle Ben's tweezers and pulled the stinger out. By now my thumb was throbbing and swollen. Back on the bike. Even now, at 2:30pm my thumb can barely move and is swollen and sore. Ouch. Rest of the ride was uneventful and low traffic. We had a bit more traffic on Happy Valley Rd than usual for that time since it was a detour for I-17 construction. Alex and I parted ways just north of Safeway on Cotton and I rode back to the finish. Great ride. Yahoo. I now have 2 different 100k routes.