Apr-26: Recovery 100k

Apr-26:

PUE: Stem-EatonRd-GrayRockRd-OlivetChRd-GM-NL-G-P-MVC; 63.0 m.; est 3243 ft climbed ---> effort index = 95; 4hrs, 3min; 15.5 mph avg pace.

1st Qt. tot: 20 rides; 755.3 m.; 47 hrs, 31 min; 15.9 mph.
Apr tot: 13 rides; 666.4 m.; 42 hrs, 58 min; 15.5 mph.
YTD: 33 rides; 1421.7 m.; 90 hrs, 29 min; 15.7 mph.

I must have "dillied" a bit as compared to yesterday because I didn't start riding until 7:03. And later I "dallied" instead of leaving Grissom promptly, so I didn't finish until 11:26. 23 "down-time" minutes today instead of only the 14 from yesterday.

I started out signing songs aloud to myself and trying to ignore the upslopes on New Light and Dove roads. I recall not one bit of New Light at the start, so I must have succeeded there. I do recall some "ups" on Dove Rd, but can't recall if actually tried to pedal or if I just let the bike do the pedaling. I had to stop in Creedmoor at the stop light at NC-56 / US-15; I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 8:04; I then noticed my odometer on the Cateye showed 15.4 miles. So I had ridden the first hour at 15 mph, expending no noticeable energy and still unable to recall any more than just the first two lines of the song "Seventy-Six Trombones" from "The Music Man."

I did decide to try to make an effort on Brogden Rd for the climb(s) up to Stem. Must have worked, because when I stopped in Stem to eat a banana, I saw that in 5 miles I had moved the avg mph for the entire ride from 14.9 to 15.1. It is usually the case that I lose half-a-mile mph between Creedmoor and Stem. Belltown Rd north of Stem was resurfaced last year and it was a pleasure riding on super smooth asphault with lots of shade (and what turned out to be a bit of a tail-breeze). Just zipping along having fun on the bike. I don't recall where I was when I stopped for a minute to properly stretch my right leg, but a look at the Cateye revealed 32+ miles in less than 2 hours of "in-motion" time. So I had covered 17+ "up-n-down" miles in less than an hour.

I'm not sure I had ever ridden Charlie Grissom / Green Hill and then Olivet Ch Rd from north to south before today. I had always figured it might make a decent climb training substitute if one cannot get to any proper mtns. From the creek-crossing just south / SE of the Tar River crossing to the Gordon Moore / Pokomoke Rd corner is about 8 miles. Only the first little bit after crossing the creek is steep, but the rest of it, with just a couple / few exceptions, is a shallow upslope all the time. Into a breeze, or better yet, a stiff wind, and that section would make for an excellent climbing training road.

Don't know what my previous "4-day" mileage record was, but I'm sure the 210 miles I've knocked out since Thursday are my new record. The only miles not strictly solo were Friday's miles with Barry and the several miles with ??? as discussed in Thursday's post. So, virtually the entire 210 has been solo. Aah. Satisfaction. Except for a slightly sore bottom. (I adjusted the saddle before today's ride to try to deal with a possible "mis-fit" issue that gives me sore butt if I ride too many days or too far in too short a time. We'll see how things develop over the next week or two.)

I don't know why this is entitled "Recovery 100k"; I certainly didn't need to recover from Saturday's ride. Maybe I was still recovering from Thursday? Maybe I just needed a title.

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=40704