This was an odd ride today. Nice, but odd. First, the weatherman bamboozled all of us causing actions ranging from cancellations to route alterations.
Tito, Ags, BobH, IvaHawk met at PUE at 7:00 AM. We set out all the while thinking we must not stray far from home. Bob assured us the rain wouldn’t start until noon. It felt like it would start anytime. It turns out that I’m writing this at 3:00 PM and it still hasn’t rained.
We decided to ride around the lake via Doc Nichols, Patterson to the town of Creedmoor. From the beginning, BobH dropped the hammer. The rest of us were taking it easy. Bob got so far ahead we had no idea where he was. Eventually, on Patterson, Tito got tired of the slower pace, and he took off. Ags and I soldiered on. Later we learned that Tito did catch Bob. We saw neither of them again until Peed Rd.
They went on to Creedmoor as planned. I neglected to turn off Old Weaver and kept going. When we got to hwy 50, we ran into the Beaver Dam triathlon bikers. (I bet the swim was fun - NOT). Ags and I turned left on Beaver Dam / Rock Springs Ch Rd to Bruce Garner and then headed "home." Bob and Tito caught us going up Peed. It turned out that we all had about the same mileage – 42 approximately. We got back to PUE a little after 10:00 AM.
One funny thing: Ags and I passed an old deserted house on Patterson. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a goat peering at me from the second floor window. We decided to turn around and sure enough by this time, he was standing on the roof. I snapped his picture.But, alas, my memory was full and I failed to capture the moment. Not realizing I was out of memory,I tried to get a closer picture. But, when I advanced, he jumped back through the window. We heard him kicking and rattling around inside.
Embiggen to see the goat in front of that open window.
_
Funny thing two: While in Creedmoor at the BP station, where Tito and Bob were waiting for the two of us that never arrived, the mayor of Creedmoor approached them. He told them they “looked like trouble” and gave them his card. Maybe Tito will take a pic of it and send it to us.
I’m sorry the forecast was overly pessimistic. You guys could have done your brevet after all. And, we could have done our century.
IvaHawk
In his report, IvaHawk noted that, as of 3:00 pm, it had not rained (on the north side / edge of Raleigh). However, by 3:00 pm, that huge storm, with tornados and hail and just plain strong winds, had done quite a bit of damage southwest of Raleigh in Lee and Chatham counties.
ReplyDeleteBy 4:30 pm, some of the towns on the southwest edge of Raleigh had taken a beating and downtown Raleigh had come off worse for the experience. Apparently, a couple of the new downtown skyscrapers also took a fair bit of damage.
By 6:15 pm, the sun was shining brightly in north Raleigh.
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The 100-miler that several of "the Irregulars" intended was east-northeast of Raleigh. It is quite likely that they could have completed their ride without getting wet. They would, however, have had to battle some pretty strong SW winds for the last 45 miles of their ride.
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The brevet, on the other hand, goes west and then southwest out of the south-southwest side / edge of Raleigh. Randonneurs would have ridden straight into that mess. Every single randonneur, from the fastest to the slowest, would have been in harm's way.
I am thankful that Raleigh RBA Alan, with advice from wherever he got it, decided to postpone one day. I'll wager that almost everyone else registered for the brevet is of similar mind ... even those that traveled from out of town ... even those that may not be able to do the brevet tomorrow.
...Martin
Martin, after I made my naive comments about the weatherman and hit send, the storms arrived. I still had no idea how bad it was till watching the news last night. Kudos to the decision makers on the brevets. Yesterday was not a day to mess around with the weather. I'm glad we went short. I feel sorry for all the weather victims. Iva
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the IRs have become increasingly well known to political bosses in the Deep South. First, there developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the mayor of Stem.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we are part of the economic and political fabric of Creedmoor. The mayor not only invited all IRs to make his town our home away from home; he also extended to us the ultimate key to the city, one that might be useful to more than a few IRs. What, you might ask, would such a gift be?
It turns out that, when he (Mayor Moss) extended his card, he added these auspicious words: "you can use this as a get-out-jail card,
if and when you are locked up."
He said that we did not have the criminal look and that a free night in jail might not be in the cards. However, just in case ...
Tito
well done. the IRs are becoming a force for change. However, I think Tito's relationship with the mayor of Stem goes beyond politics.
ReplyDeleteIva
Martin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the evidence that Ags and I actually saw the goat. Some skeptics were questioning whether there was ever a goat sighting as described in my write up. Iva