Dec-15: We made it up as we went.

Not everything needs to be included in the blog write-up.

For example:  on Lawrence Rd, IvaHawk apparently told Ags "this is a good road for sprinting and/or hot-intervals."  I suspect Iva meant "sprinting for the CL."  Instead, John wound it up after we had cleared the CL, hammered past the turn at Bold Run Hill Rd, and ... .  Tito urged Iva, Robert and me to turn onto BRH Rd while he chased down John.  We three turned; Tito caught John, but apparently only after John slowed down.  ... ...  Meanwhile, I told Iva and Robert that Tito was unlikely to catch John until the bottom of the Mangum Dairy Wall, and I went on to suggest that we take a detour to connect to Mangum Dairy Rd just at the bottom of the Wall, and that way Tito and John would "get" to do ALL of Mangum Dairy.  Iva and Robert were willing co-conspirators.  And that is exactly what we did (although I'm not sure about where Tito caught John).

To reiterate, the above doesn't really need to be included on the blog.  However, ... 

 
I like the valley along the bottom of Bold Run Hill Rd.; it is best in early Spring, or in Fall when the colors are vibrant.

Funny thing:  the Mangum Dairy Wall was not nearly as steep or hard as it used to be!



After BRH and Mangum Dairy, we took Camp Kanata Rd to Woodland Church Rd to Hugh Davis Rd.  I wanted to do that section of Woodland Church Rd because I hadn't done it in that direction for at least a year, maybe two; there is a very picturesque house / grounds / farmstead on the right as one climbs back up from a creek valley in that direction.  Everyone liked it; Ags referred to it as "four-square".

On Hugh Davis Rd, I got a little confused, and tried to arrange to get Iva in the lead so that he could take the CL he should have taken almost three years ago.
 http://irregularveloadventures.blogspot.com/2010/03/mar-06-sunny-day-some-scenery-some-fun.html
I refer to the CL in the above link where Iva and Tito went the wrong way.

However, my memory was faulty.  Hugh Davis / Tom Linum Rd was not the CL that IvaHawk messed up.  That was the John Mitchell / Graham Sherron Rd CL; we did not ride that section today.

 

I enjoyed Robert realizing we were about to cross a CL on Mays Store Rd, and giving a couple extra hard pushes on the pedals to drift across before me; I enjoyed the two-man race, Robert and me, for the CL where Bruce Garner Rd becomes Pokomoke Rd, even if, as Robert suggested, everyone else was likely laughing (at us). 

I enjoyed IvaHawk drifting off the front on Suitt's Rd to get to the CL at the bottom of the creek valley.  And less than a mile later, it is too bad no one took a photo of the three-way corner where all roads are named Evans. 

After Evans Rd, we followed the course of the "Assault on Flat Rock" back to the start.  Everything was quite normal, except that Ricochet Robert attacked for the Bruce Garner / New Light Rd County Line ... and he took another green jersey point.  Something was definitely not correct on today's ride.  LOL. 

With a bit less than 7-miles to go, Tito and then Robert and then Ags attacked the peloton.  Then I decided to bridge and go with them.  Leaving a diminished peloton consisting of just IvaHawk.  I'm sure he wasn't worried, and in the event, it turned out that I could go faster last week after riding 120+ miles, than I could this week after riding only 40-miles, and I had to let the three fast-birds go and returned to the peloton (consisting of Iva and me).  My story, to which I will be sticking, is that 40-miles is just not long enough for me to get properly warmed up. 

Even though the course was made up as we went, the group returned to PUE exactly as needed for the time constraints of some. 

No one made a Garmin trace of the course, and I am not inclined to make a map.  If you NEED to try to figure out where we rode, look at the "Long Assault on Flat Rock" map, and try to adjust for the road names as referenced above.  Good luck on that. 

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Dec-15:   

--> PUE:  We made it up as we went --> ; 58.8 m.; no idea really, but I'm guessing 3h55 in-motion; 15.0 mph.  

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: __7 rides; __658.8 m; _43h07; 15.3 mph; __876 RUSA kms. 

Dec tot: __3 rides; __326.2 m; _21h18; 15.3 mph; __414 RUSA kms. 

YTD tot: 103 rides; 9,134.5 m; 611h58; 14.9 mph; 10009 RUSA kms.