Nov-03: Last Daylight Savings Ride of 2012

Egypt Mtn 210-km Permanent

I arrived about 4 minutes before the scheduled start.
Ricochet was there.  Anxious, excited, a bit bouncy.
Bob was there.  Completely calm.
R-squared was not there.

While doing cards and waivers in the dark, Rick arrived.
Funny thing:  there were no lights on in the CVS parking lot.
I hadn't noticed that the week before.
Robert assured me it had been the case.

We started at least five minutes late, maybe more.

It was daylight by 7:20 or 7:25.
It was also cold.
The thermometer in my confuser indicated 33F when an hour or more into the ride.
The low creek valleys off Sims Bridge Rd just north of the Tar River
Were bathed in frosted grass.
It was almost as riding past snow-banks,
As one felt the lower temps passing each frosted section.

My fingers and feet were cold.
I recalled that I had two bread-bags in the breast pocket of my shell.
Bread bags over jersey work gloves worked great.
The wind was immediately blocked and my fingers quickly warmed.
My feet were a different matter.
Robert mentioned that he had a couple more bread bags with him.
Nope.  I'm not stopping until I get to Epsom.

Even before Epsom, my feet were warming.
In Edwards Grocery, I took my shoes off and put my stockinged feet on the floor.
Feet and shoes were reasonably warm when we left Epsom.

During the above time-frame, R^2 remarked once or twice that he wished
That he had remembered his ear covers.

Ricochet seemed warmly encapsuled.
I later noted complete neoprine shoes covers.

I recall no remarks from Bob regarding the chill.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The 10 miles from Drewry to Warrenton is my favorite section of the ride.
Several creeks to cross.
Nice foot-hill type valleys on either side of the ridge road.
Horses, cattle, sheep in the fields.
Some very nice color on the trees, too.

Nice vistas also on Tower Rd and Jones Chapel Rd.
Also Sims Bridge Rd and Gillburg-Bobbitt Rd are nice.
Not much scenery on Dick Smith Rd, nor Egypt Mtn Rd.
Each is essentially a tree-tunnel.

The llamas at "the llama house" had been well distributed about their allotted area in the morning.
However, fewer of them were visible in the afternoon.

R^2 had legs all day, of course.
He also remembered to bring his camera with him from Wilmington.
But forgot to turn it off, and since getting run over by a car, the auto-shut-off no longer works.
Rick also admitted, late in the ride, that he forgot which ride we were doing,
Or where this one started.
He first went to the start for Byron's Leesville-Leasburg-Leesville route.
Then realized he was at the wrong place.
That explained his late arrival in the morning.
There was no explanation for my being later than planned.

Ricochet had better legs today than a week ago.
He and Rick left me well behind on Egypt Mtn and Olivet Church roads.

My legs did come around late in the ride.
I covered the last 16.2 miles in 54 minutes.
That includes the three non-trivial inclines of Ghoston, Peed + Mt. Vernon Ch Rd.
[Some think those are trivial inclines.  Foo on them.  ;-)  ]

Bob's ride can best be explained by his two comments at the end of the ride:
Even before dismounting, he said in a rather tired by determined voice, "R-35."
As he signed his card, he commented, "this route has a lot more climbs than I remembered."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nov-03:  

--> Egypt Mtn 210-km perm -->; 140.3 m.; est. 9h34 in-motion; 14.7 mph; EM elapsed time:  10h36.  

 
Q-1 tot: _22 rides; 1,610.3 m; 108h42; 14.8 mph; _1947 RUSA kms. 

Q-2 tot: _29 rides; 2,711.5 m; 182h48; 14.8 mph; _2700 RUSA kms. 

Q-3 tot: _32 rides; 2,958.9 m; 197h17; 15.0 mph; _2983 RUSA kms. 

Oct tot: _10 rides; __868.8 m; _58h45; 14.8 mph; _1089 RUSA kms. 

Nov tot: __1 rides; __105.8 m; __9h34; 14.7 mph; __210 RUSA kms.

YTD tot: _94 rides; 8,289.8 m; 557h07; 14.9 mph; _8929 RUSA kms. 

• After this ride, Ricochet Robert has 9089 RUSA credit kms this year.
• Bob has R-35.  He continues to lead the NC-2010-rookie-class on that stat.
• I have R-28. 
• Ricochet Robert has R-14.  I don't know if he leads the NC-2011-rookie-class on that. 
• Rick has R-9, which he started on Egypt Mtn in March.  Nine is enough to start counting. Also, he has plans to do a perm while in Florida for the entire month of January, so ... he's counting. 

Eddington Cycling Number: 

After this ride:  98. 
Meaning that I have completed at least 98 different rides that were at least 98 miles long.