Mesquite Gran Fondo
I rode alone until a group of 5 caught me just before Gunlock. One of the riders said he recognized me
from the Las Vegas Century a year ago. He said he recognized the bike. I said, “Is that because it has
never been washed?” He replied that was one of the reasons and the other is because I was strong as
sh… I took that as a compliment. We stopped in Veyo where we were treated to wonderful chocolate
chip “cookies”. They were about 1 inch thick and heavenly.
Two of use departed Veyo while the others were still searching for restrooms—only a one-holer at the
stop. We road smoothly to the next rest stop in Ivins. There were still a couple riders lingering there
and another group rolled by while we were stopped. We rolled out as a group of 4. Not long after the
start of the second ascent of Utah Hill it became a group of two and we were passing singles from the
group that skipped the Ivins stop. By the top we had passed all but one of that group. After a long hard
chase downhill we finally caught the “bunny” with about 17 miles remaining.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was the weakest of the three, but they made sure that I knew it.
They dropped me on the rollers north of Mesquite with about 5 miles to go.
Although the winds were never very strong it was always a head wind. Thankfully there was not a
roaring head wind in the final stretch into Mesquite.
For a Planet Ultra event the rest stops were very well stocked. They even had sodas and sport drinks at
some of the stops. There was a nice lunch waiting for us at the finish.
Riders: Bruce Beattie
Miles: 112
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