Thursday, September 23, 2021

Apr-17: Raleigh Region 200 Pre-Ride

But I didn't ride anything the next day??? 
[That may have been because during the ride on the 10th, 
My hands hurt, my butt bothered me, and I got hot-foot / feet for the the first time in ... a long time.] 
 
Most every day between the 10th and the 17th would have been 
A good day for a short (25 - 30 miles) ride, but
The only rides I did were a couple errand rides
[But at least I did those 8.3-miles in 39/13 gearing and standing the entire distance]
 
Part of the reason for not doing any rides AFTER the afternoons of the 13th + 14th 
Was that my friend Bob contacted me to ask if I would be interested in doing a pre-ride 
Of the upcoming brevet (because Bob was going to be out of town on the 24th). 
 
So ... change of plans. 
No additional "worthy" training rides. 
It would be straight into the frying pan. 
 

Commute to the Ride  

 
As usual when I cycle-commute to the brevets that start in Morrisville, 
The plan was to take it easy, expending "no energy" on the commute. 
"Recently," several of the commutes have turned into adventures themselves: 
From the first pedal-stroke of the commute, approx 5:15 am (maybe 5:20 am ?), 
I was perplexed and disappointed by the amount of light coming from my headlamp. 
I was concerned the lamp had gone into a failure mode. 
I knew it was fully charged (rechargeable battery via USB connection). 
 
Luckily, my usual commute to Morrisville from north Raleigh 
Is primarily (exclusively) on city streets / roads with decent street lighting. 
However, about 7-miles into the commute, just after I had crossed Glenwood Ave, 
I realized why the lighting from the headlamp appeared to be sooo dim. 
I HAD MY CYCLING GOGGLES / SUNGLASSES ON !!! 
As soon as I took them off, everything became much more visible. 
 
I completed the 19.6-mile commute in 1:24 in-motion equating to an avg of 13.9-mph. 
Bob was at Alan's putting the finishing touches on prepping his bike (and himself). 
Alan appeared and (under pandemic protocol) accepted the waivers that we had printed. 
[We had also printed our own cue sheets and brevet control cards to limit interaction with Alan.] 
 
Bob and I may have left on time (at 0700), but I think we were actually a few minutes late. 
Bob and at least one of the bikes at the start.

 

The Brevet 

  
 

Outbound 

 
In the prelude, I mentioned "straight into the frying pan" -- but that is a misplaced metaphor. 
I had "The Weather Channel" on the TV while I was getting ready to ride. 
TWC indicated that the temp in Raleigh was 47 or 48 F. 
I chose my old, old knit cotton long-fingered running gloves under my short-fingered cycling gloves. 
During the commute, my hands and fingers had gotten chillier than I preferred. 
THAT got worse early in the brevet ride. 
 
My hands were cold and hurting and I was changing my hand position every few seconds. 
Luckily, just as we reached Falls Lake, I needed a natural break. 
Bob held my bike as I found a discrete place to do my task. 
And when I returned to my steed, put on the two pairs of gloves, 
And started riding again, my hands were warm!  
 
I commented on the phenomenon to Bob -- he indicated that he was having the same experiences. 
[I later learned that the actual low temp that morning in Raleigh was 42F -- 
I reckon that there is a big difference between 47 / 48 versus 42. 
IF the Weather Channel had indicated 42, I would have chosen a different pair of long-fingers. 
Here is a kicker -- comparing TWC to the local TV stations, 
TWC always reported a low temp this past Spring and Summer 2 to 5 degrees higher than the TV!] 
 
Eventually, somewhere on the outbound, I don't recall where, 
Bob and removed some of our chilly-weather kit. 
Snow Camp outbound control.

 
Nothing much happened on the outbound leg until: 
  • about 4 miles before reaching the Siler City control / turn-around, me leading, an unseen bug or piece of dirt zipped under / around the bottom the of the cycling goggles / sunglasses, and zoomed up between my left eyelid and eye. 
  • I immediately uttered one work.  Either "dang" or "darn" -- Bob might know for sure.  But one thing I do know about myself:  when something actually bad happens, I don't use any cuss words (but I acknowledge that I sometimes let out a few when the "bad" thing isn't actually serious -- what kind of personality flaw is that?) 
  • I pulled over onto a convenient side-road; Bob followed and inquired as to what had happened.  I'm pretty sure that I wasn't all that responsive. 
  • I tried to flush my left eye with water from one of my water bottles.  You might know what happens when your right hand tries to surprise the left eye with a sudden squirt of water.  The left eye knows and reacts by closing before the water reaches the open eye.  I was not able to flush the eye. 
  • OR, if I did manage to flush the eye, the eyeball was already scratched (and painful). 
  • I rode most of the remaining way to Siler City with my left eye closed.  I did manage to open that eye the last mile or so -- I figured things were improving / would improve. 
  • At the Siler City control, I again tried to flush my left eye.  Not successful. 
Siler City.  Bob in the background.  My steed making an appearance in the lower right corner.  --  Also, given what Bob is still wearing, maybe we did NOT remove any clothing on the outbound leg.

Inbound 

I choose to finish this blog post by copying in the pre-ride report that I sent to the NC-rando-list-serve: 
 
The following may seem long, but it should be a quick read, and the contents of the post scripts have been noted previously either here on the list-serve or on Facebook, and Alan may repeat similar instructions in the next day or two, but I think it is worth repeating the information. 


BobB has a LIFE conflict re the 24th, so he inquired if I would be interested in joining him for a pre-ride on the 17th.  I said yes, and then we contacted Alan who agreed to same. 


One amusing item before the ride-proper and the associated report.  I pushed off from my sleep quarters at about 5:25 am for the approx 20-mile cycle-commute to the ride start.  You'll understand that it was quite dark.  I was disappointed with the lack of illumination coming from my headlight, but even on the low setting, which is what I have always used in non-mountain situations, I could see the road / street surfaces well enough to avoid debris, etc..  I'm riding along, just over 30-minutes into my soft-pedal commute, when it suddenly dawned on me that the reason the headlight appeared to be so dim was that I had my tinted cycling goggles on!  I took them off and suddenly everything was much clearer and better lit! 


On to the report, which will be entirely about road conditions, with just one exception: 

1.  Bob and I encountered no free-range dawgs anywhere along the route!  (I did, however, notice there was a warning about Free Range Eggs at one spot -- no eggs came out to chase us.) 

2.  The first thing to be aware of / prepared for, you will notice even before you arrive at the start location (see Alan's website if you don't know where that is -- either the page with the directions or the RWGPS map should ID said place), is the road construction and hazard barrels just outside Morrisville Square.  Bob and I started our ride at 7 am and found it easy enough to ride through as there was no car traffic that I can recall -- although I'm confident there was likely more than zero vehicles. 

3.  Castle Rock Farm Rd, the chip-seal section is as it has been since the beginning of time -- the last eleven years , anyway.  Instant drop of ~ 2 mph in pace for the same effort.  There were two notable inadequately filled-in potholes along the first "half" of that chip-seal -- they were easy to skirt around, and I do suggest that you do the same. 

4.  Still on Castle Rock Farm Rd, there is one 20 or 30 foot section of the westbound (outbound) lane that is a patch-work quilt of pot-holes.  I don't recall how I got around them -- probably by sliding over to the double-yellow -- Bob apparently followed my line. 

5.  Old Switchboard Rd -- Veteran riders will recall that the surface of the road as one approaches the stop-sign at and turn onto Lindley Mill Rd has been sliding down the slope, leaving annoying holes in the surface. GOOD NEWS!!  There has been significant well-done patching on that downslope and the surface down to the stop-sign is smooth! 

6.  Lindley Mill Rd.  Immediately after the turn onto Lindley Mill, one encounters the first of the two bridges on that road.  That first bridge has (what I deemed) some significant gaps at the abutments -- I got out of the saddle to help my steed and its wheels better deal with gaps. 

7.  LONG-time veterans will recall that in 2010 (and prior), Siler City - Snow Camp Rd was rather rough -- I recall that it was infested with Tar Snakes.  Then, unexpectedly for 2011, the road was re-surfaced and we had many seasons of smooth riding.  However, the Tar Snakes have now returned.  As double-L might say: "Ugh." 

About 5 miles before reaching the Siler City control / turn-around, some tiny thing came in under / around my now appropriately in-place goggle and zipped straight into my left eye, under the eyelid.  I ended up riding the last 70-miles of the route with my left eye closed.  After that incident, I did not look around at any scenery, and I was likely not the best of company.  I concentrated on the road and pedaling -- our avg pace for the entire ride slowly crept up all during the return leg. 

8.  Lindley Mill Rd (on the return).  These are the only things I noticed on the return leg.  First, immediately after passing the large, blue grain silos at Lindley Mill Farm (?), the bridge is worthy of attention and careful choosing of your line.  There were chunks of surface missing next to the abutments.  I do not recall noticing a similar situation outbound -- perhaps only the southbound lane is affected?  Second, I don't really recall the second inbound bridge just before the turn onto Old Swithboro Rd, but I'm rather sure that I stood to cross that bridge just as I had done when outbound. 

9.  Castle Rock Farm Rd -- the aforementioned patchwork quilt area.  I recall noticing the outbound quilt while riding a smooth surface in the inbound lane -- well, what passes for smooth on that road. 

Finally, there were many small potholes scattered along the route.  Each was dry and had no debris surrounding it (on our journey).  Most of those potholes seemed to be in-line with where a cyclist would likely be riding their steed.  Keep your eyes open and stay aware and you should have no problems with those small potholes, nor with any other less than perfect road conditions. 

Yes, although I rode 70 miles with one eye closed -- my stronger eye, btw -- I did just type "keep your eyes open." 
 
To the above, I add two photos 
Snow Camp inbound.

Back at the finish.  Bob, parts of both steeds, and "someone's" front door captured.  Alan appeared a minute or so later to collect our signed cards.
 
I also note that the ride back, with the eye closed, and me not letting Bob lead for even one minute, was faster, both in-motion and elapsed time, than the outbound ride.  I guess that I was concentrating on the riding / pedaling to help block the pain in my left eye and that led to keeping the cadence, etc. effort at a higher level. 
 
The above is my story for this ride, and I reckon I'll be sticking to it. 
 

Monday, September 20, 2021

Apr-10: Pseudo Bahama Beach 4 Training

Two weeks until the Raleigh Region 200 brevet, 
It seemed a good idea to do some "serious" training. 
 
I left my abode, not sure what I wanted to ride:  to Oxford, a modified Denny's Store route, or Bahama Beach. 
My Excel log indicates that I started my ride via: 
  • Honeycutt Rd to 
  • Durant Rd (to Six Forks Rd) to
  • Mt Vernon Church Rd. 
That I turned onto Durant and then onto MVC indicates to me that although I might not have been sure, 
I had decided by the time I got 2.1-miles into the "start" that I had decided upon Bahama Beach. 
 
The standard Bahama Beach route (previously a 103-km Perm-pop) has the most climbing per mile. 
The Raleigh Region 200 is rather hilly -- or maybe I should type "filled with rollers", but
Some of those rollers can take a toll. 
So ... the Bahama route was probably my "back of the mind" choice even before I made my first pedal stroke. 
 
Since the route was not yet re-submitted, and I was therefore not riding the route for RUSA credit, 
It was not incumbent upon me to start and finish at the START / FINISH. 
I decided to use the corner of MVC and Norwood Rd as my start & finish for the day. 
 
I noted the time-in-motion and the time of day when I got to the aforementioned corner. 
But I did not record those times anywhere, and esp. not in my Excel log. 
[Sometimes I do record intermediate times and distances in the Excel log.] 
 
Once on the BB route, riding in the standard clockwise direction, 
All I did was pedal, 
Trying to keep a decent cadence, 
But perhaps I was careful to not overdo it on the climbs (?). 
 
Not sure when I made the second decision on the day, 
But I decided to ride the standard route rather than one of the many variants.  
I'm not sure what the driver(s) behind that decision was. 
 
[I'm typing this late on Sep-20-2021, five-and-a-half months after the ride.] 
I recall that the riding was not-too-hard, but not-too-easy, either. 
I paused somewhere en route to take a pee. 
And when I got back to the MVC / Norwood Rd corner, 
I checked the total in-motion time and also checked the actual time of day. 
Result? 
4h35 elapsed with 4:34 in-motion. 
[The in-motion time equates to an average 14.1-mph while in-motion.] 
 
My conclusion(s) at the time: 
  • I was pleased with the ride, and 
  • Doing another training ride, perhaps the 138-km Denny's Store route, the next weekend would be sufficient to be ready to produce a decent 200 brevet ride. 
Happy days ahead? OR 
Happy days ahead ! 
 

Monday, May 24, 2021

Apr-09: Two Errands -- One Ride -- Again

Apr-09 
  • -> ATM -> friend's -> E.MineCrTrail -> 
  • purposes: 
    • get some $$$ 
    • probably helped friend do some simple yardwork 
  • 8.7 total miles in 42-min in-motion    12.2-mph avg pace in-motion 
  • standing the whole way, of course 
  • (probably) 39/13 gearing 

My Excel log notes this:  "pollen today    --    POLLEN yesterday"

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Apr-08: Tour de Wood Valley (and More)

The plan was to meet IvaHawk at 1:30 pm at the Bay Leaf CVS. 
But I was a bit behind schedule, and receiving multiple texts, 
Which I thought were from an impatient Hawk,
So instead of the intended Honeycutt - Durant - Coachman's neighborhood - Norwood routing 
To get the CVS, I took Durant to Six Forks to Mt. Vernon Ch to Norwood to the CVS. 
That cut a mile or more from my commute.   
Even so, it was nearly 1:40 as I approached the CVS and discovered the Hawk riding toward me. 
He had concluded that I might have mistakenly gone to PUE instead of the CVS, 
Had sent me one text indicating that he was heading to PUE, and had just started that short trip. 
 
Seeing Iva, I call out, "let's go west on Norwood." 
Iva reversed his course; we got through the stop-light at Creedmoor Rd, and started our ride. 
 
I asked if Iva if he would be interested in riding past his former home. 
That became the initial plan. 
Turn onto Macon Rd and then the east end of Wood Valley Dr and onto Blossom Hill Ct.  
 
Drifting along on Blossom Hill Ct., Iva pointed to the wrong house. 
I remarked, "that doesn't seem right, Iva.  I thought your driveway was opposite that other road." 
"Oh," exclaimed Iva, "I pointed out the neighbor's house." 
[That's not exactly how that moment transpired, but reflects the actual event.] 
 
We took Evergreen Chase Way, the road opposite the aforementioned driveway, 
Back to Wood Valley Drive, where we made a right turn to complete the "Tour de Wood Valley." 
The first was more interesting than the ride this post is about. 
However, much of the interesting stuff from that 2009 ride is NOT in the blog post.] 
 
After completing the "Tour," we "wiggled" from Wood Valley Dr.onto Victory Church Rd. 
 
Local randonneurs that have ridden the old "Leesville-Leasburg-Leesville" perm 
Might recognize that "wiggle," which outbound, comes just after Boxelder Dr, or 
Conversely, inbound, the reverse "wiggle" comes just before Boxelder with its steepest bit of L-L-L. 
After 123-miles, it certainly seems like it is the steepest bit of Triple-L, and 
Boxelder is the ONLY part of Triple-L that I have ever walked up! 
If one zooms in on Boxelder Dr, RWGPS does indicate a 5.3% incline at mile 123.05.] 
 
Victory Church Rd becomes Kemp Rd at the county line. 
The climb on Kemp to get up to Carpenter Pond Rd, 
Which traverses the crest of a ridge at that point, is a non-trivial climb, and 
I was concentrating on pedaling when Iva exclaimed, "look at that pollen cloud at the stop-sign!" 
 
As I coasted into the stop-sign amidst the pollen cloud, 
I looked to the left (since we would be turning that direction on Carpenter Pond Rd), and 
It was my turn to exclaim, "Iva, LOOK at that cloud which we are about to ride into!!" 
 
That turned out to be the last heavy cloud of pollen on the day. 
But there was always yellow pine pollen floating or blowing about. 
Eventually, the pollen got to Iva (and perhaps a little to me, too). 
 
Gonna' short-cut this post by copying in some text from an email I sent to the "Irregulars": 
A little over 9 years ago, I wrote this: ( https://irregularveloadventures.blogspot.com/2012/03/yellow.html ). 
And 13 months later, I posted that to Facebook (on April 8, 2013). 

I had completely forgotten about the original post until FB popped up the "memory from 8 years before". 

Yesterday, April 8th, 2021, Iva and I did a early/mid-afternoon ride, starting from the Bay Leaf CVS, and riding Norwood, Vct Ch/Kemp Rd, Carpenter Pond and Leesville roads to Panoramic, where we turned around and reversed the route back to the CVS. Iva wanted a few more miles, so we took Norwood to Mt Vernon Ch Rd, which we took down and up to turn around at Peed Rd, where we again reversed to go back to the CVS.

Early in the ride, on Kemp Rd approaching Carpenter Pond, Iva remarked, "do you see that pollen cloud ahead?" 
It was palpable. 

Upon reaching the stop-sign and looking left in anticipation of our turn, I said, "Iva, LOOK at that cloud we are about to ride into!" 

It was an enjoyable ride -- IF one could ignore the pollen, which did get to Iva's eyes and to a lesser degree, mine, too. 


Actually, what I wrote 9 years ago is an apt description of our ride yesterday: 

"YELLOW 


EVERYTHING in central North Carolina is YELLOW, now. 

The cars, the buildings, the trees, the grass, the air, the roads. All YELLOW. 
The surfaces of quiet ponds and ... of the backwaters of the lakes. All YELLOW. 
The surfaces of the water reservoirs. YELLOW. 

As one rides their bicycle down the road, 
The center-line of the tyres become YELLOW. 
White skull-caps become YELLOW. 
Black ones, too. 

YELLOW because of the pine pollen. 

All food has only one taste right now. 
You got it -- YELLOW. 
Yellow pine pollen. 

Come back from a bike ride, 
All one can taste is the yellow pollen. 
All one can smell -- if not "stopped up" -- is the yellow pollen."
 
 
Some ride stats (mine): 
  • -> Honey-Durant-MVC -> CVS:  Norwd-Kemp-CP-Panoramic-CVS -> Coachman's -> 
  • ride w/ IvaHawk @~1340, CVS to Panoramic & MVC to/Peed and back to the CVS 
  • 40.5-miles  --   3:04 in-motion  --  13.2-mph avg pace 

Fin. 


Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Apr-04: Baptist Rd + Panoramic Drive

My intent was to do the same ride I did in late November.  
Except that in November, I used only one gear, the 39/14, and
For this ride, I purposefully intended to use as many different gears as felt appropriate. 
 
All was going well until when climbing the shallow incline of Virgil Rd, 
I suddenly had the thought, "why / how am I on Virgil Rd?  For this route, I should only be on Virgil once." 
 
Giving the matter some deep thought, I realized that at the 36.7-mile-mark of the "pseudo route" map 
Linked to from within the November blog post, I had turned right instead of left. 
 
More deep reflection and I realized why I had turned right when I intended to go left. 
On March 27th, I had ridden with the TLC group on a route that began similarly, but 
After breaking off from that group, I had turned right onto Kemp to get immediately to Virgil. 
So, when just clipping along, my mind apparently reverted to the most recent Southview to Kemp experience. 
 
So ... riding up Virgil, thinking I had messed up the potential to get in a 100k ride, I cooked up a new plan: 
  • ride up Virgil, 
  • turn right on Carpenter Pond to Leesville Rd, 
  • take Leesville all the way to Panoramic Drive, 
  • U-turn at Panoramic, then retrace Leesville to Carpenter Pond to Mt Vernon Ch Rd, then 
  • Norwood to Six Forks Rd (the flatter way, but with significantly more traffic), to 
  • Strickland Rd and back to my abode. 
That routing from Panoramic back to my abode would reduce the total climbing, but 
I would press the pace (as a "pretend training exercise"). 
 
The result would be my longest ride of the year so far:  59.8-miles. 
[Obviously, I could have easily gotten to 100-kms or more, but ... .] 
 
The ride would also become my fastest in-motion ride of the year so far:  15.0-mph. 
[ 3:59 in-motion over 4h03 elapse -- so you understand there was no stopping for photos, 
Nor for anything else EXCEPT the stop-lights on Six Forks Rd.] 
 
All in all, an excellent ride, that I started at 1149, and rode in 70+ F temperatures. 
Fast, for me, 
Long, for now, 
Warm. 
How much better a solo ride can one expect?

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Apr-03: Possum Track + Deer Trail

I waited until the afternoon to ride.  Actually didn't get around to riding until later than I intended, but hey, at least it was 57 degrees, or supposedly so, when I rode. 

Turned out 57 degrees felt chillier than I expected.  I was wearing a long-sleeved jersey the origin of which I don’t know.  Anyway, wherever the black jersey with the full length zip came from, it seemed like it would be plenty warm, so I dispensed with any other arm coverings.  I did wear a short-sleeved jersey from a circa 2008 MS-150 ride over the black long-sleeved jersey.  To get to the point, my arms and shoulders were chilly from the get-go, and never felt as if they were warming up.  

IF I had been doing a 100k perm-pop, I probably would have finished the 100k.  IF I were doing a 200, again I probably would have completed that ride.  But I was only intending to do a 30 mile ride with a lot of repeat climbing near the south side of Falls Lake.  After about 7 or 8 miles, I decided that I would short the ride, but would "work" the shortened ride harder than if I were doing a 200k, or a 100k, or even a 30-miler. 

Btw, instead of staying only in the 39/14 gearing, while on a false-flat downslope at about the 5.5-mile mark. I decided I would use multiple gears on the ride.  Ha!  I ended up only using two gears during the ride:  (1) the 39/14 for the first and last mile of the ride and for all the inclines, and (2) 50/14 for downslopes and the few flat-tish portions of the route. 

Net result?  19.0-miles in 1:19 in-motion.  That works out to 14.3-mph average, which is the fastest ride I have done so far this year.  

Assuming 5m00sec for the first mile and last mile (almost all of which were on sidewalks), the 17.0 miles that made up the core of the ride was done at an average of approximately 14.7-mph -- I reckon that is pretty good given the climbing I did -- and I should acknowledge that there was 1.5-miles on the flat Brassfield Rd followed by 1.2-miles of gentle downslope on Durant Rd near the end of the ride -- those two sections obviously contributed to a significant increase in the avg pace of the ride, but hey ... fastest avg pace so far this year. 

My legs were a bit stiff a couple hours later, and that lasted until after I took a "nap" starting just after 8 pm Saturday night.  I am typing this at [now 12:50 am Easter morning -- yes, just after midnight] because I woke up a few minutes after twelve midnight needing to pee -- what does one expect when one retired for the night hours earlier than usual without one's evening discharge of bodily fluids?

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Mar-27: 55.6-miles today

Longest ride so far this calendar year. 
Also the fastest in-motion avg pace -- marginally, and I mean MARGINALLY, faster than last Sunday's ride. 

Rode approx 28 miles with Gary & Wendy's TLC group ride, at an avg pace clearly less than 13.4-mph.  I know that because after zooming up Virgil Rd at a delightful fast-feeling (unknown avg) pace in the 39/14 gearing, but certainly I avg'd more than 13.4-mph on the 2.1 or 2.3 miles of Virgil Rd -- I checked the distance and avg pace to that point -- 13.4-mph for 30.4-miles -- hmmn, both ending in point-4 seems rather coincidental.  It was at that point, heading slightly downslope on Leesville Rd that I decided I would be more comfortable and faster if I finally-finally shifted out of the 39/14 gear -- [I had not shifted FROM the 39/14 since the middle of November].  Into the 50/14 I went, and kept it there across the remainder of Leesville and all of the downslope Doc Nichols Rd -- I did the 1.9-miles of Doc Nichols in 5m52ec -- I'm confident that I did faster than that years ago, but I'll take that roughly 19.4-mph on DocN.  When I completed DocN, I was avg'ing 13.9-mph since the beginning of the ride.  

Pushed it on the decline and then the incline on Olive Branch Rd to get to NC-98 -- pushed it across NC-98 -- pushed the decline on Kemp Rd and then labored up the Kemp climb to Virgil Rd (with gearing dropping as low as 39/19) -- then zoomed up Virgil again (but not as free-flowing as the first time) -- then pushed across Carpenter Pond and Mt. Vernon Ch Rd to the stop-light and NC-50.  At that point, I had ridden approx 45-miles and the avg pace since the beginning of the ride was 14.2-mph.  

Down and up on MVC to Norwood -- the up slowing me, likely in 39/19 gearing. 
Down and up on Norwood to Six Forks Rd -- the up slowing me, again in the 39/19 gearing. 
Avg pace since the beginning to that point was 14.1-mph.  Distance to that point ~ 50.3 miles. 

I cut through the "Coachman's neighborhood," thus avoiding traffic, but with climbing on short bits through the neighborhood (but a LOT less climbing than if I had taken Honeycutt the whole way).  The climb on Honeycutt from Durant to the overpass atop I-540 was quite hard.  I had pushed the previous ~ 1.3-mile downslope on Durant, but didn't push nearly as hard as I had earlier as described above -- my legs were quite tired -- the "hot interval" having "done them in."  Somehow, even with the last mile on mostly sidewalks, I managed to hold onto 14.1-mph avg pace for the whole ride. 

I won't push nearly so hard in four weeks on Alan's brevet, and with a few more rides, increasing the distance, I reckon I'll be in decent shape to ride slowly and minimize the stoppage time and still get a decent elapsed time.  

Enjoy the ride, 
...Martin