Nov-19 + 20: Choices Made and Unmade

Saturday, Nov-19, was the NC Randonneur year-end party.  This year it was here in Raleigh, at Natty Green's, instead of in Greensboro at Natty Green's (as per the previous two years).

Choices to ride Saturday:

1. 200k Carolina Crossroads Permanent -- part of the rando party extravaganza (many attending the party would be there, and at least one person had e-mailed to ask if would be doing the ride); 
2. 105k Benson Mule Pull Permanent-Populaire -- part of the rando party extravaganza (a dozen or so chose the friendlier start time and the lesser time commitment, and at least one, maybe two or three inquired as to whether I would be doing the ride); 
3. Irregulars 45-mile "Shadow Ride" at 0830 -- no takers :-( 
4. Ricochet decided he and Ags needed at least a 60-miler, so they would need to start at 0730 because Ags had a hard back-end time limit (in order to make it the NC State vs Clemson football game).  I reluctantly signed on for the 0730 ride -- and people think I dictate the rides and times -- but then had a bit of a coughing fit, so 
5. I wrangled a breakfast invite with Capt. LT and then we'd ride something -- probably about 4 hours worth, probably starting around 0930. 

When I figured to ride with Ricochet and Ags, I'd suggested an easy-ish 60-miler:  NC US BR #1 out to US-158, turn-around without stopping at a particular KLL control, and ride NC US BR #1 straight back to the start.  We used to do that a couple times a year.  Not too hilly, simple and straightforward.  But with quite a few options to mix-it-up / add distance (with climbs, of course).  Ricochet and Ags were game.

After I dropped out of riding at 0730, Ricochet sent me an e-mail:  "what is the hilliest approx 60-miler we have?"  Meaning what Irregular's route.  Immediate response:  "Bahama Beach (+ a Little Mtn Rd)" for 103k.  A few minutes after sending that response, I followed up with "Long Assault on Flat Rock" for 55 miles.  (The LAFR has more climbing per mile according to Trimble (a whole 0.1 foot per mile more climbing).)  Ricochet chose Bahama Beach, and dragged Ags along with him.

Dave and I started our ride at 0930 +/-.  MUCH warmer than it was at 0730.  My throat was thankful.  Not a single cough during the ride -- I wasn't expecting any.  And quick application of large mugs of hot tea at the finish led to no coughing fit after the ride, nor any time later during the day or evening.  Dave and I covered 65.2 hilly miles in 4h04 in-motion, 4h20 total elapsed time.  (Dave had wanted to take a long break at the corner of Range and Robert's Chapel roads, but I knew that if we did, I would have a coughing fit; we only took long enough for Dave to maintain his 12 miles per pee average.  Funny thing:  after that point, Dave didn't need another pee break.  Guess he finally got the contents of the pre-ride pot of coffee discharged.)

The "Shadow Ride" that Dave and I did wasn't quite as hilly as the Bahama Beach route, but as we shared several of the same roads, you can guess that our route was not flat.  Saturday evening, at the NC rando party, I learned that Ricochet and Ags had shorted the Bahama Beach route -- Robert informed that they needed the 16 or so minutes thus saved to ensure they stayed within John's time-limit.

I dunno' though.  I'm not sure that it is quite kosher for the guy that was to be named "2011-NC-rando-rookie-of-the-year" a few hours later to be short-cutting a route. 

------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Choices to ride Sunday: 

1. Get 'er Dunn Permanent Populaire to be on-hand for the second year running when Dean would pass his 10k RUSA kilometer mark, or 
2. Shadow Ride with IvaHawk. 

I told Dean that I'd already agreed to ride with Iva on Sunday morning.  I do not like backing out of such commitments.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, er, to the ride with Iva:  (1) I was late and (2) Iva waited at the wrong rendezvous point.  That is my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Iva went on to do a 40-miler around Falls Lake.  I wasn't feeling much if any love for the bike, so after trying to ride past Iva's (I'm not actually sure where he lives, but I can get close), I decided to just ride back "home" and call it a day.  I must have started to enjoy my ride though, because I went out of my way to ride the "Carrington Wall" in the 39/15 gear in which I had done the entire ride.  That seems to be the perfect gear with which to loosen the legs early a the ride, and I was bound and determined to get up that short, but steep road in that gear.  Standing on the pedals, pulling up as well as letting gravity pull my weight down on the pedals, I am confident that I was NOT doing a "Jerry impersonation".  But I got up it, and enjoyed the next half-mile upslope on Whitestone Rd, too.

Just as I was putting things up (at about 0930), the clouds disappeared and warm sunshine became the order of the day for hours and hours.  I could have remounted, but I had made the choice to stop. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After Nov-20:

Q-1 tot: _23 rides; 1822.2 m.; 123 h, 05 m; 14.8 mph.

Q-2 tot: _30 rides; 2604.9 m.; 174 h, 22 m; 14.9 mph.
Q-3 tot: _29 rides; 2479.2 m.; 161 h, 05 m; 15.2 mph. 
Oct tot: _10 rides; _924.0 m.; _61 h, 54 m; 14.9 mph. 

Nov tot: __5 rides; _328.3 m.; _21 h, 57 m; 15.0 mph. 

YTD tot: _97 rides; 8158.6 m.; 544 h, 25 m; 15.0 mph. 

Q:  So why did I bother to pseudo-blog these rides at all? 

A:  So I would be able remember them some day in future.