Alarm at 5:30. Shut off. Close eyes for a "second". Wake up at 6:24. Panic.
No way to get to Benson and ready to ride by 7:00. Panic.
Could just start late. Still panic'd.
Hold on a minute. You were tired from yesterday's ride anyway. Just call Dean and let him know you'll not make it. Calm.
Dean's cell phone went straight to "this phone number has not been set up to accept messages."
Try Alan. His number is at the bottom of these hard-copy brevet cue sheets.
Five or six rings. No answer. No rollover to "answering machine mode". Hang up.
6:51. Phone rings.
I didn't understand what the guy said, but that soft-spoken voice had to be Alan.
"Is this Alan?"
"Yes."
"Alan, this is Martin. Would you let Dean know that I won't make it today."
"Okay."
"Thanks, Alan".
I went much shorter. Okay ride. At least it was BEAUTIFUL.
Hope the Tarheel 200 crew had a great ride.
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Act 1 -- "Tourist" Ride. 36.6 miles, 2hrs, 22 min in-motion.
Went to BJP to do a shorter solo ride.
The "other" MikeD was there. I decided to join his Sunday morning "Tourist" ride.
("Tourists" -- a mix of near-beginners and folks who just want a 35-ish mile ride at 14 to 16 mph.)
Eight of us, total. Did the "Marina" route.
I was reminded again how much I enjoy our "Irregular" rides.
The Tourist ride stayed in a single paceline all ride. Not much conversation.
Echo-ing Tito's comment regarding the Gyro-A-fragment from early in yesterday's IR ride.
Was some conversation. Just not up to "IR standards".
One young guy, who has four metric centuries under his belt, and is hoping to do some Cat-5 racing next year, actually knew what randonneuring was. Knew about P-B-P and "the great book".
I hadn't mentioned randonneuring, just (when asked how far I had ridden in a single ride) that I had planned to ride 200 km, but overslept. "Small" Dave then asked if had done any randonneuring. I responded that the ride I missed was a randonneuring ride.
One incredibly ego-centric comment: it was nice being able to out-ride everyone in the group (except Mike) for once. Just once.
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Act 2. Chile cook-off in the BJP parking lot.
Apparently Mike and some of his Tourist regulars are in the midst of a "chile cook-off". Mike presented his entry last week. Vote of the group was that his entry was disallowed for being Brunswick Stew instead of chile. I asked Mike if intended to make a second entry -- one that was actually "chile". His response: I AM the LEADER of this ride.
Seems to me I've heard comments similar to that before.
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Act 3. "Time-Trial" course. Too slow to count as a "TT", or even as cadence practice.
Just saddle time.
The breeze had picked up significantly during the "lunch hour".
Luckily, it was BEAUTIFUL!!
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Nov-14:
Act 1: BJP: "Tourists" "Marina" Route; 36.6 m.; 2 hrs, 22 min in-motion; 15.4 mph.
_ Act 2: It's Chile Cook-off Time.
_ _ Act 3: BJP: "TT" route; 29.6 m.; 1 hr, 56 min in motion; 15.2 mph.
_ _ _ Total: 66.2 m.; 4 hrs, 18 min. in-motion; 15.4 mph.
Q-1 tot: _16 rides; __938.2 m.; _60 hrs, 39 min; 15.5 mph.
Q-2 tot: _31 rides; 2,263.3 m.; 151 hrs, 29 min; 14.9 mph.
Q-3 tot: _37 rides; 2,293.2 m.; 156 hrs, 31 min; 14.7 mph.
Oct tot: _13 rides; 1,050.6 m.; _58 hrs, 44 min; 15.3 mph.
Nov tot: __4 rides; __272.7 m.; _17 hrs, 43 min; 15.4 mph.
YTD tot: 101 rides; 6,818.0 m.; 454 hrs, 09 min; 15.0 mph.
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