Aug-07: Attempt at Mid-Ride Meet-Up

Never did REALLY meet-up with AND ride-with the crew I was attempting to meet-up with.

I wasn't sure when they were starting.
I'm not sure those I was attempting to meet up with knew when they were starting.
Or when they figured to be riding past PUE.
I'm not sure those I was attempting to meet up with knew when they'd be going by PUE.
I rode thru PUE just before 0800.

No one was there.
I concluded I was early.
And went to check out Olive Branch Rd.
It has just been re-surfaced.
Still no fog lines (every non-dirt/gravel road in North Carolina always has fog lines).
Still with clumps of mud on the road surface in some places from the new (dirt/mud) shoulder.

I expect that after a few freeze / thaw cycles this winter
That the valley bottom just north of the corner with Doc Nichols Rd will have new, large potholes.
After all, the road has been re-surfaced ... the underlying problems have not been dealt with.

But, in the meantime, I think some Irregulars rides will need to include
Olive Branch Rd from NC-98 to Carpenter Pond Rd in the finishing 10 or 12 miles.

I noted that Virgil Rd appears to have been re-surfaced for its entire length.
I may have to figure out when I can get in a "TT" on the "TT" course.
A smooth Virgil Rd ought to be worth a minute or two.

I called Gary to find out where they were.
I never should have trusted his report.
After all, once last year, when he and Wendy were running a few minutes late,
We told him, via phone, to ride Pleasant Union Ch Rd from PUE once they got there.
The rest of us would ride the 2 miles on that same road, and then U-turn to meet them.

We did not encounter Gary + Wendy on PUChRd.
Gary swore they had ridden the entire length of the road and were
"Now near Peed Rd."

They were on Mt. Vernon Church Rd.
PUChRd is flat.
MVC is not.

Anyway, given Gary's reported position,
I rode a mile-and-a-quarter down Coley, then back up to Kemp Rd.

Then Gary called to tell me he was near the intersection of Creedmoor and Old Creedmoor roads.
I ignored that ... because I doubt Gary has ever ridden his bike to that corner,
And it made no sense.

Then he said they were on Melvin Arnold Rd.
Okay, it is 4 miles from Melvin Arnold near Creedmoor Rd to the Kemp / Coley corner.
I rode a mile up Coley and back to Kemp.

Later, I learned that they were at the other end of Melvin Arnold Rd when Gary called.
That is still 3 miles from Kemp / Coley.
I suspect that they were somewhat beyond Melvin Arnold when Gary called.
Maybe already on Old Creedmoor Rd.

Why do I suspect that?
Because they never should have been able to cycle 3 miles while I was cycling 2 miles!

Since the Gary-led crew was still not in sight,
I started riding "loops" between Coley and Southview on Kemp Rd.
0.87 miles down Kemp to Southview.
0.87 miles, with a 100-foot climb back up to Coley.
To make it more interesting, I stayed in the 50 x 17, and
Stood out-of-the-saddle for most of the climb.

Three times I did that loop.

Then I called Gary.
To learn that they had gotten past me.
It had to have been while I took the second side-trip on Coley.

It was 3.4 miles from where I was to where they were.
NO WAY I could catch them ... unless they were slow and took some "long-cuts"
While I hammered and took the short-ways.

Patterson, Cheek, and straight up Old Weaver
Instead of turning just after crossing Falls Lake.
That cut more than a mile off my usual route.

Straight past Stool Tree Rd.
That cut another more-than-a-mile off my usual route.

I went thru / past the Old Weaver / Creedmoor Rd intersection
Without seeing any cyclists hiding in the shade.
And they apparently didn't see me, or realize I was me.

I knew I would never see the Gary-led group.
I was no longer thinking about them.
I was just riding.  Hopefully rather quickly.  But I didn't really know.
My confuser was telling me nothing other than the time of day.

I decided to take a real break at the corner of Old Weaver and New Light.
A minute or two later,
Here comes the entire Gary-led group.

Turned out that most had been taking breaks,
While Gary and Ken had been taking my usual route "around the lake".
That's how I had gotten ahead.

I put my helmet and gloves back on,
And followed behind Gary's well strung-out crew.

They stopped at the Peed Store.
So I did, too.
And partook of their welcome ice.

The Gary-led crew started breaking up at the end of Peed Rd,
As various people headed for their homes.

I headed to Bay Leaf Fire Station #2.
To see if LT was there.
And find out what his fire crew calls him, now that he is a Captain.

Answer:  "Captain LT."
As Steve said, "I've been calling him 'LT' too long to ever call him anything else."
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Aug-07: 

--> PUE:  MUCH modified Falls Lake Loop --> fire station -->; 62.6 m.; est. 3h,59m in-motion; 15.7 mph.  

(I determined the distance via use of "TrimbleOutdoors".  The time-in-motion is a guess, really; I used my algorithm that estimates time-in-motion given the distance ridden {and previously set-up based on historic averages}.  I may have been faster than indicated; I may have been slower.) 
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