A place holding post in case I actually decide to post something consistent with the above title.
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Sep-30: I decided to do something.
Irregulars at the Tour de Moore, by IvaHawk:
The [six of us] gathered at 8:00 AM in Southern Pines for the Tour de Moore century ride. They also had a 50 miler going off right after us. I think most of the riders were there for that.
Our group hung back from the start since Dave had seen start up crashes. For a good long time, the course runs down hill slightly - the perfect start but makes for a lousy finish. The easy ride lured us into thinking we were the US Postal TT team. With Tito at the front, we were easily doing 25 or more down the hill passing everyone in sight. The torrid pace continued when we hit the up slopes for awhile and then leveled out somewhat. I think. I can't remember. The early pulling was from the other four. Iva didn't pull any at all until mile 89. So thanks to my fellows for putting up with that.
As you can imagine, with Robert, Tito, Ags, and Lee, whoever was at the front wasn't too interested in taking it easy. Lt. Dave and I were only hanging in, but despite that, Dave took his turns at the front. The 1st SAG stop was too soon at 13 miles, but we stopped anyway mainly for flo-max activities. The second stop was at 31 miles in Carthage. Somewhere between there and the 3rd stop at 53 miles at Pleasant Hill Church, Lt. Dave decided he had enough of the time trialing and dropped back. All the SAG stops were well stocked and manned by friendly volunteers who seemed to enjoy what they were doing. Lt. Dave joined us at Pleasant Hill but then pushed off early while the rest of us enjoyed the food. From there, it got to be a grind to the 4th rest stop at NC 24/27 at mile 73. It was hilly and hot. Every time we stopped some expert said, well now it's gets really tough. Although, not encouraging, it was true ! It seemed they had the course divided into sections by the SAG stops such that each section was harder than the previous.
We joined Lt. Dave at the 24/27 rest stop. Tito was feeling tired and pushed off early. He had done a triathlon brick the day before. Go figure. The rest of us joined up with two other guys including "Jim" who liked us so much he has requested a guest pass for the Irregulars. He seems to fit in nicely with us on all fronts. He works at UNC in International Relations. Age about 50 I'd say.
Between Hwy 24/27 to Foxfile General Store at mile post 86, there were rollers of the cat 2 and 3 variety. Way down, way up. Way down, way up. Grind, grind, grind. Robert got caught at an intersection. He tried to pedal hard to close the gap, but couldn't and dropped back. As you may have gathered, there wasn't a large focus on the group part of the group ride.
On Ft. Bragg Road about mile 100, Ags got two quad cramps. He had to stop, and it appeared he couldn't go on. In the spirit of the ride, we wanted to leave him in the ditch, but decided that just might be too much. He quickly recovered however and continued on. Both he and I complained we had signed up for a century, not a 105 miler.
More grief awaited with a four mile slight but steady uphill climb all the way to the finish. 104.4 miles on my odometer vs 105.7 on the cue sheet. Total trip time was 7 hours (I think) maybe more. Time on my confuser was 6:18 for average speed of 16.5.
Afterwards, we all sat around and had a bite to eat talking about how tired we were. Jim joined us and enjoyed the post ride banter.
Iva
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Comments on the above:
1. 104.4 miles on my odometer vs 105.7 on the cue sheet.
_ _ _I keep telling Iva that his confuser is shorting him on miles. I think he should reset his confuser.
2. Robert got caught at an intersection ... tried to ... close the gap, but couldn't ... there wasn't a large focus on the group part of the group ride.
_ _ _This has become a recurring problem on IR rides lately. I'm out of threats.
3. Between Hwy 24/27 [and] ... mile post 86, there were rollers of the cat 2 and 3 variety. Way down, way up. Way down, way up. Grind, grind, grind.
_ _ _Local (NC) randonneurs might understand the above, and also understand why I tried to organize an IR road trip with the ride to start / end at Erect, and turn around at the half-way point of the Morrisville 400 km brevet.
4. "Jim".
_ _ _Ya'll know the protocol. Jim being from Chapel Hill, it seems he should carpool with Tito. Not to be "ugly", but I'll bet I never meet "Jim".
5. I received another report, but it was oral. Therefore, I reproduce it not.
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Some rando acquaintences did some riding over the Labor Day weekend. The following links are so that I can re-find the stories at future dates.
"Brother Rob", aka RobD, aka lots of other things (or so I'm told). I've only met Rob once - on the Jun-2010 Full Moon Kerr Lake Loop - but he seemed okay, and more importantly, his NC 1000 km ride and story are epic and enthralling: NC 1000k ride report by Brother Rob.
"Tim from Wilson". I met Tim at one of Alan's brevets -- I think he was headed home while I was still outbound. Rode with him (and Byron and John O. {from Rocky Mount}) on my first DNF on Byron's Hell-Hell-Hell Permanent, and sucked his wheel at Alan's Aug-14 Brevet and Picnic to the bottom of the climb on Jack Bennett Rd.: NC 1000k ride report by Tim L.
"MikeD". I've known of Mike for several years, "met" over the internet (probably because of his excellent "Research Trailer Park" blog), and finally met Mike in person to ride, eat pizza, and to show him "Stovall Mtn". Btw, that photo at the top of the blog [edit Aug-29-2011: I've changed the "protocol" on the photo at the top-right; now typically change it for each new month], I revell in having the "Mallet" and MikeD at the rear of the line while I'm leading for a reason. Anyway, he did his 280+ km "Blackbeard's Permanent" over Labor Day; solo: MikeD gets a close shave
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Merci for posting le Tour de Moore post ride comments. I enjoyed reading it even if I was the author. Iva
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