Nov-7: Sunny, Cool, Breezy and We Lost A Rider !?

Sunny and Cool:

The kind of weather one might like for this time of the year.  Most of leaves seemed to have turned to shades of brown.  Too bad it was so wet last weekend.  Wet and/or windy some times since.  Very little color left on the trees.

But Falls Lake from Cheek Rd looked scenic.  Good light reflecting off the small chop on the surface.  Sea gulls on the sandbar. 

Breezy (or, was that "Windy"):

Out of the south-southwest.  I swear the weather bureau and WRAL always, repeat always, underestimate the speed of the wind.  After Wes Sandling, Grove Hill and Flat Rock roads knocked the avg pace down a bit, the SSW wind coming home certainly did not allow for much "recovery of the overall avg pace". 

Smitty:

Seems all his prior "irregular" rides were "epics", with most / all covering new roads each time.  Today, however, was same-old, same-old.  Except Smitty had never done "my" standard "lake loop", so did not know how far we would take Carpenter Pond Rd; nor did he know we would do Leesville and DocNichols roads.  Gotta' love it when there is no cue sheet and the fast guy in the group doesn't know where we are going and has to keep himself under "some" control. 

Smitty also had not done any part of the "Queen Section" of the Assault on Flat Rock.  I made sure to point out that at the corner of Wes Sandling / Grove Hill / John Sandling / Grove Hill that we could get onto Grove Hill Rd either by continuing straight or by turning left.  Later, just before we turned onto Flat Rock Rd, I made sure to point out the road sign so Smitty would be reminded of the name of the road we were then cycling. 

2.8 miles later, I again pointed to the little green road signs, so that he could note the name of the road we were about to turn onto.  A confused look came momentarily onto his face -- but he quickly surmised the situation. 

Thanks to Smitty for doing more than a pro-rata share of the work today.  Esp. into the wind.

Wolfie:

Wolfie, sometimes known as Karen, has been put onto the "irregulars" list.  Two guest appearances from Aug-08 and May-09, and today, she makes an appearance on the list.  I'll have to take some time and update the "rider #'s". 

Wolfie had not done 70+ miles for a couple months.  As she said, sometimes the eyes are bigger than the legs, and the legs were not that crazy about riding the 70+ miles.  Her butt was even less enthused.  I'm sure she will come around to longer rides soon.  And then, once again, there will be an "irregular" with whom I cannot keep up.  Except on the steep hills !!  I can climb steep faster than Wolfie.  Woo-hoo !!

We Lost a Rider: 

We swooped down New Light Rd to the "lake" crossing and made the hard right turn onto Ghoston.  I was in the lead.  But only for a moment because Smitty soon came around just as I knew he would.  I looked in my mirror to see how far back Karen was.  No Karen.  Since it is still a struggle to look back over my left shoulder, I did not try to turn and look and confirm her non-presence.  Instead, I just assumed she had decided to skip the torture on Ghoston-Peed-MVC and had continued straight on New Light to Six Forks and then to BJP.  That would have taken 4 miles out of the ride distance, so it seemed logical to me.

I got to the top of Ghoston -- no Smitty.  I took that as further confirmation that Karen had not turned onto Ghoston - why that should "count" as confirmation is beyond me - and continued on to Peed Rd where I found Smitty waiting in the drive of the Peed Rd Store.  That's when Smitty informed that Karen had turned onto Ghoston in front of him turning onto Ghoston.  I shared that I had looked in my mirror and had not seen her, "maybe she U-turned and took New Light / Six Forks?"  We waited.  No Karen.  We went to the corner where we could be seen from the Ghoston corner.  No Karen.

Smitty agreed to ride back down Ghoston and then finish his ride on New Light / Six Forks.  As an aside, this was a mistake on my part.  Why?  I gave Smitty the shorter finish route.

When I got to the BJP parking lot, I was at first content.  There was Smitty's jersey and . . . I don't see Karen's jersey. 

"Smitty! You didn't find Karen!?"
"Nope," said Smitty, with a worried look. 
"Crap."

We decided I would stay at BJP and Smitty would go searching in his Durango.  I think he did not quite make it to Six Forks Rd, because within a couple minutes of his leaving, in comes Karen, followed by Smitty in his Durango.  At least we were all now accounted for. 

For a different account of the ride, and the "lost" incident, see Long, Windy, Got Left By the Guys .

Wolfie # 2: 

Why is Karen "Wolfie"?  One reason might be that she roots for the same college football team as Smitty.
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Nov-7: 

BJP:  "lake loop" + Assault on Flat Rock, w/ G-P-MVC finish, of course; w/ Smitty, Wolfie; 72.5 m.; est 3263 ft climbed --> effort index = 105; 4hrs, 40min; 15.5 mph.

1st Qt. tot: 20 rides; 755.3 m.; 47 hrs, 31 min; 15.9 mph.
2nd Qt. tot: 43 rides; 2124.3 m.; 134 hrs, 59 min; 15.7 mph.
3rd Qt tot: 36 rides; 1947.2 m.; 121 hrs, 48 min; 16.0 mph.
Oct tot: 9 rides; 551.4m.; 35 hrs, 41 min; 15.4 mph.
Nov tot: 1 ride; 72.5m.; 4 hrs, 40 min; 15.5 mph.
YTD: 109 rides; 5430.9 m.; 344 hrs, 42 min; 15.8 mph.

Rolling 12-mos.: 122 rides; 6002.4 m.; 377 hrs, 52 min; 15.9 mph