This weekend I participated in the St. Patrick’s Day Poker Ride organized by Global Bikes. It turned out to be a fantastic community event and a great early-season challenge. The ride covered about 43 miles across the East Valley, stopping at each of the four other Global Bikes locations along the way. At every shop we received a stamp representing a poker card, and at the end of the ride we turned in our hands to see who had the best one. The top prize was a $250 Global Bikes gift card, second place received $100, and the remaining prizes were given away through a drawing. I didn’t win the poker hand, but I did get selected during the drawing and picked up a new headlight and tail light, which was perfect timing since mine were starting to fade. For a $25 entry fee, the value was actually excellent. Along the route they provided: Water, Gatorade and Snacks at each location, support vehicles with parts and tools if needed and a finish line breakfast burrito and beverages.
What Happened?
This was a 43 mile bike ride across much of the East Valley of Phoenix. We started and finished at the South Chandler Global Bikes location making stops at North Chandler, Ahwatukee, Mesa and Gilbert Global Bike stores as well. This was broken into 4 groups, A, B and C groups which each ride at their own paces, there was also a shorter 32 mile route that skipped the Ahwatukee store. I chose the C group which typically means speeds 14-16 mph while B is more like 18-20 mph and A is more like 22-24 mph.
The first leg was fairly straight forward 5 miles on relatively flat streets. This was simple, but also a good opportunity to get into a rhythm and shake out any mechanical issues. The second leg brought us to the Ahwatukee store, a bit further at 7 miles and the start of some hills as Ahwatukee is located on the edge of South Mountain Park. The third stretch was the toughest around 14 miles and included more hills as we worked our way out of Ahwatukee. It was really fun coming down Guadalupe Road into the flatter valley but this part was a bit of a slog. It sounds like a good thing, but I was actually pretty disappointed, we hardly hit any red lights where we could stop and take a break and have a drink. The 4th leg was 6 miles, mostly flat and uneventful. The 5th and final leg was nearly 10 miles, still pretty flat, but it was getting hotter. At some point, myself and 2 others were split off from the group and we were cruising. Most of this leg was done at 18-19 miles per hour, there were spots we ended up going 20-22 mph or even touching 23 miles per hour, on the flat. It was a challenge, but for the most part, I kept up, lagging a bit behind at times, but never getting too far off their wheels.
At each stop there was water and gatorade to top off our water bottles. Along with various snacks to replenish our stores of carbohydrates. Of course each location is a bike shop so if anything was off, they could take a quick look. Being a poker ride, they dealt each of us a card that was stamped on our sheet.
At the end of the ride we returned to the South Chandler location where we were given our final card and turned our sheets in for prizes. The high card ace didn’t get me anywhere (3 of a kinds took 1st and 2nd place for $250 and $100 Global Bikes gift cards) however I was drawn for another prize. I selected a new headlight and taillight since mine were dying all day. At our last stop they also fed us breakfast burritos, soda and other libations.
What Worked?
Being in the C group was the right level of difficulty for me, at times it felt a bit too easy, but for the most part, it was a good challenge, especially on a couple of the legs, I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be pushed any harder.
The event overall was a great time, I really enjoyed the rides, the refreshments and the company. I look forward to participating in more events like this in the future.
What Didn’t?
The spacing between the shops was a bit off, it worked out well considering and this isn’t something they can easily control. I do think an extra stop may have been beneficial during the longest segment(s). It wouldn’t have to be much, just someone with some gatorade canteens in their vehicle parked along the side of a small road in a quiet business park.
Getting people in and out for stamps and refreshments didn’t always flow smoothly, especially if multiple groups ended up at the same stop at the same time, as happened after the first stretch. Maybe slightly different routes for the groups would help that.
Our group did get tangled up with the short route and some of us almost took the wrong turn. Again, slightly different routes for the groups may have helped prevent that, though this could have just been unlucky timing.
What am I going to do about it?
What I’m Taking Into My Own Training
The cycling community is great. There’s a lot of different experiences, but people are always willing to help and give pointers. While the C group (and the BEST rides) had their leader, what really made the difference was a few of the support people. The ones that would cover the front and the back so the leader could be more flexible with less to worry about. These support people also offered cyclists recommendations to shift up or down where needed and gave them the opportunity to draft to help them ride faster when they were getting tired.
I’m looking forward to keeping up with more community events. The Global Bikes locations are all a ways from my home, but I will make the trip out there on occasion. I’d also like to get to know the groups on my side of town along with any groups doing special events that sound interesting to me.
The weather is starting to heat up, we should see triple digits later this week. While I feel a lot better about cycling, it’ll be harder to keep up in the summer, though I intend to stay active, trying to get in some hill climbs, especially early in the morning.
What do the numbers say?
Garmin recognized this as my longest ride, the longest prior was 32 miles the week before. Before that, I had a few around 30 miles previously. Garmin measured this as 43.32 miles with an elevation gain of 502 feet. The total time was 3:52:45 while the moving time was 2:57:21 (I haven’t been pausing my watch during rides since it’s too easy to forget to unpause). This worked out to an average moving speed of 14.7 mph, with a maximum of 24.6 mph (down the hill coming into Guadalupe, followed closely by the death march on the last leg).
Summary
I really enjoyed doing this Global Bikes St. Patrick’s Day themed Poker Ride. I will absolutely keep an eye on Meetup and plan to do it again in the future. This worked especially well following the BEST training rides. They pushed us hard to get better every week, but it was a great challenge. Even when I thought I was ready, he’d find new challenges i.e. hills in Ahwatukee to make us feel a bit off.