As far as I knew, everyone had always driven.
Except maybe "Smilin' Bryan", but I don't know if he's even done Get 'er Dunn.
(I checked ... he has ... twice.)
Mick (formerly MikeH -- I suspect I'll slip many times on that),
Anyway, Mick is looking for miles to train up for the SR.
(He thinks he should "taper" into the SR -- I keep telling him to just ride through it.)
Anyway, Mick is looking for miles to train up for the SR.
And, now knowing a way to get from downtown Raleigh to the start of
The Mule Pull (map) AND Get 'er Dunn (map),
We decided to meet as if starting a Carolina Crossroads (no map),
Then cycle to meet Dean and ride his Get 'er Dunn permanent-populaire;
Mostly just to ride with Dean.
It strikes me that if I had actually mapped out Carolina Crossroads
BEFORE last week's ride,
There probably wouldn't have been any "bonus miles".
At least not the 6-bonus-miles from missing the turn onto Massingil Farm Rd.
Mick and I arrived about 15 minutes before the start.
Plenty of time to exchange paperwork.
After taking a leisurely 75 minutes to cover the 17-miles from downtown.
A side-windy tailwind from the start to west of Erwin.
Sometimes a side-windy headwind.
Usually, I refer to those as "quartering", but I'm feeling "less technical" at the moment.
And a great tailwind on Old Stage Rd into Erwin,
And a great tailwind on Denim Rd, etc. from Erwin to Dunn.
We paid a high price for that tailwind.
But not until after we'd enjoyed the benefits of the open control in Dunn.
While in the control, either the wind or a person knocked over two of our steeds.
We were convinced it was a jerk walking by,
Because both bikes had been leaning pretty heavily (we thought) against the building.
However, based on later events, the culprit may well have been the wind.
I still haven't replaced the confuser on my steed,
So I had no idea at what speed I was "leading" Mick and Dean from Dunn
To the control in Erwin.
At the Erwin control, I asked if we had been going as slow as 6 mph (it had felt like it).
Mick responded, "I think we did not drop below 8 mph."
8 mph on a stretch usually done at 15 to 18 mph.
There was "some" wind.
Quick-stopped the Erwin control.
But when we went back outside ... Mick's steed had fallen or been knocked over again.
Seemed amazing since his front wheel had been inside my front wheel,
Each bike leaning against the building but facing different directions,
And my bike was again exactly where I left it.
Mick up-righted his steed, leaned it against the building again,
And was inspecting the less-than-6-month-old machine,
With 2-week-old Brooks saddle, for beausage,
When a completely unexpected thing occurred ...
The wind, deflecting off the building, blew the bike backward !!
Wide-eyed, the three of us were.
Maybe the wind had knocked over the two bikes back in Dunn.
We continued on into the wind on Old Stage Rd.
The turn onto the rough chip-seal of Crawford Rd,
With its false-flat upslope, was a relief!
A quartering tailwind (feeling "technical" now) for the first part,
But it became a quartering headwind as we got closer to Coats.
The map doesn't show it very well,
But the road does "bend" a bit from a NNE to N-by-NE direction,
And perhaps N-by-NW.
And there may be fewer trees closer to Coats.
However, that entire road is lined, both sides, by very OPEN cotton fields.
NOTHING to break the wind.
I could continue with a segment-by-segment, bend-by-bend description
Of the remainder of Get 'er Dunn.
But I'll summarize by typing that
ANYWHERE there was even a slight tilt to the westerly ...
HEAD WIND.
We stopped by Dean's to check over and sign our cards.
We solved the wind knocking over the bike problem by
Laying the bikes on their sides on the lawn.
It is good to be in company of friends in those conditions.
(I am thinking that, although on the other side of the continent,
And at a higher latitude, Dr. Codfish may have appreciated some friends on Saturday, too.
Can't be sure on that, though. Sometimes solo "victory" is quite sweet.
Dr. C had wind and hail and sleet and snow -- at least he wrote that;
We had mostly sunshine with our wind.
I guess we are still just wimps next to the good doctor.)
It was a pretty day, but no one brought a camera.
I'm not sure anyone would have wanted to repeated stop and take pics.
It was likely better just to keep-'em-spinning and Get 'er Dunn.
Anyway, the three of us had an excellent short-day on the bike.
Then Mick and I headed out once again to return to Raleigh.
We had some easterly roads to get around Lake Benson (Lake Garner ?),
But Raleigh is north of Garner, so most of our post-populaire ride was
Just the same as the last half of the populaire:
"Against the Wind".
As I said to Mick, "it is a good thing I've thought of this ride as ...
Cycle to meet Dean, do Get 'er Dunn, cycle back,
Else this would have been a LONG ride."
------------------------------------------------------------
Feb-25:
--> downtown Raleigh --> Get 'er Dunn 102-km Perm-Pop --> downtown Raleigh -->; est. 105.2 m.; est. 7h50 in-motion; 13.4 mph; official rando time -- 5h37 (for the populaire only).
Jan tot: __6 rides; __426.2 m.; _28 h, 52 m; 14.8 mph.
Feb tot: __6 rides; __591.0 m.; _40 h, 15 m; 14.7 mph.
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