Viva Bike Vegas 2010 and the Big Surprise

Friday morning we loaded up our van and headed for Las Vegas! Not for a weekend of drinking or gambling... we went for a weekend of bicycling!

Saturday morning Honey Daddy and I participated in Viva Bike Vegas. My parents and sister-in-law also rode while my father-in-law entertained the boys in his camper. The boys had a great time, and so did we!

This year the big draw for this bike ride was the chance to be one of the first to ride across the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge, which is not even open for traffic yet. Apparently only 800 people registered for Viva Bike Vegas last year, and this year there were well over 1500 registered! I admit that riding across the dam was one of the main reasons we decided to ride this year.

The course turned out to be a bit more challenging than I expected. The beginning of the ride was great! We rode out of Las Vegas with police stopping traffic and it was downhill, fast and fun. Then the hill climbing began. It seemed that there were very few level parts of the course. You were either going up a hill or down one.  There was some beautiful scenery though!

Since Honey Daddy is faster than I am, he got to ride by himself while I rode with his sister. The funny thing is that before the ride she was talking herself down, saying she didn't know if she could keep up with me. Then she totally kicked my trash going up the hills and ended up in front of me for quite a while!

Of course that may have something to do with the fact that I am four months pregnant. Wait! You didn't know that? Well, now you do! I am due in March, so this will definitely be my last ride this year.

The only part of the ride that was anticlimactic for me was actually riding across the bridge. As you can see from the above picture, we couldn't really see Hoover Dam or much at all while we were riding across the bridge because of the concrete barriers. Plus we didn't actually get to ride across the bridge. Only to the halfway point because we couldn't cross to the Arizona side. Kind of silly if you ask me!

So I managed to do the 42 miles I planned on. Honey Daddy did a great job, especially considering the fact that we didn't have much time to really train this year, what with the re-roofing of our house and his new job. He managed to complete about 84 miles before the heat and knee pain got to him.

It was a fun ride, but I think next year we will stick to the Tour de St. George and some of our other favorites. After I have the baby I hope to get riding again and complete my fifth century (100 miles) before the end of next year.


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