Then I had an idea: cycle from downtown Raleigh, following the Carolina Crossroads and Benson Mule Pull courses to get within a mile of the Get 'er Dunn start, do that route for credit kms getting back to the start/finish before those doing the Lookin' Out My Back Door route and surprise someone when he completed that route and congratulate him on attaining an "R-84 Continuous Streak" -- R-84 deserves at least a mini-celebration or acknowledgement regardless of the opinion of the one attaining said streak ... (and believe it when I type that me being on hand unexpectedly to congratulate someone on completing a bike ride, or 84 of them, is about as "mini" as it could get).
A phone call to Dean and the Get 'er Dunn paperwork exchange was worked out, and my ride request approved. One "problem" though: apparently the phone connection was not good enough for Dean to hear the word "surprise" when I described my intent -- aargh.
My final plan for my Saturday ride would come with some bonuses (not all of which I knew until after I'd completed G'eD):
- I'd do G'eD with newbies Brad and Greg, perhaps increasing their comfort level by riding with someone that knew the course. (If Brad and Greg's comfort levels weren't enhanced, at least Dean's was. I admit I know the G'eD course, but not nearly as well as Dean nor a couple others -- Dean has done the Get 'er Dunn over 150 times, now -- I did mention to B+G that Dean could indicate many more points of interest than I could, and he also knows every potential bad spot in the road surface without lookin'.)
- I'd be able to greet and congratulate MikeO on attaining his "R48 Continuous Streak".
- I'd be able to belatedly congratulate Dean on attaining his "R-72 Continuous Streak".
- I'd get to wish Alan a happy 70th birthday a few days ahead of time (and given the expected turn-out for the 7-C's perm-pop and birthday celebration this coming Saturday, I might not be able to get near enough to even say hello to Alan on the 16th).
- I'd learn that Brad's 27th birthday would be two days later.
- I'd learn what Robert had meant when he had told me after the Fixie Pixie Bahama Beach ride that it was not Greg that ran out of steam near the end of that ride.
- I'd pass on Crista's R-84 congratulations to JP.
- By cycling to and from Get 'er Dunn, I'd raise my "Eddington Cycling Number" to 101. (However, as will be seen, that didn't work out.)
- Before we started the G'eD route, Brad posted to Facebook that he was about to start the G'eD route with Greg and me. After we had completed our 102k rides, while sitting in and enjoying some very nice sunshine, Brad mentioned the Facebook post. I looked at him and said something similar to this: "you weren't supposed to do that, JP will certainly have seen the post and there will be no surprise." ... Brad's response? "Oops." ... [Another one of these 20-somethings that forget that Facebook posts are not-private.]
- Brad, Greg and I saw a mule when we were outbound, when near Massingil Pond Rd. -- we had just left a section of road that Get 'er Dunn shares with the Mule Pull. (I saw a different mule while inbound, about a quarter mile south of the first location. B + G may have also seen a second mule -- I vaguely recall being shown an iPhone pic of a mule or a donkey that clearly was not the first mule referenced above.)
- During the outbound ride, I had been pointing out all the intersections, overlapping, intertwining and sharing of roads involved in the five Perm routes (and also Alan's 600k brevet route) that are south of Raleigh and Garner. In response to my explanation, while zipping across Denim Drive between Erwin and Dunn, that we'd soon be on a section of road that the Tar Heel 200 also used, and shortly after that, we would again be sharing a section of road with the LOMBD route, Brad gave voice to a two word response: "sounds incestuous."
- At the turn-around control in Dunn, Brad got a lesson that all can learn from: READ the expiration date on chocolate milk BEFORE drinking.
- We intended to short-stop the Erwin c'store control (which is only approx. 6-after the turn-around) --
weI still wasn't convinced that we'd beat a fast riding JP to the finish. I purchased and got a receipt for a 50-cent Honey Bun; B + G were next in-line behind me at the cash register. We all went outside; I devoured the Honey Bun and went to use the rest-room, thinking we'd be ready to remount when I'd taken a pee. SURPRISE !! The rookies were standing in the cash register line -- again!! ... After rolling my eyes, I checked with them ... and decided to ride on alone. Brad and Greg had been paying very careful attention to the cue sheet all day, so I knew they would be fine. AND my legs were itching to GO. (Ricochet Robert might say that his legs wanted to explode -- to me, that always seems the wrong metaphor, but it works for him.) - The headwind from Erwin to the finish was a bit more than annoying. Crawling up slopes at 7 or 8 mph instead of at 10 or 11 or 12; needing to pedal down slopes where I would usually expect to coast at 25-mph or more.
- JP arrived at the finish about an hour after Brad and Greg -- who had also decided to wait -- they got a bonus of meeting Dean for the first time; Greg also met Alan and MikeO for the first time. Anyway, Jerry pulled in and was not in the least surprised to see other randonneurs there. He explained that Dean had "spilled the beans" first thing in the morning. He'd also seen Brad's Facebook post.
- Oh, well.
- MikeO arrived in another 10-minutes. Alan and Dean arrived another 10-minutes after that.
- MikeO asked where my car was. I pointed to my bike. ... "You rode out to here!?" ... "Sure; it's only a little over 20-miles." ... The O'Irishman gave the biggest eye-roll I have seen in quite some time.
- We all turned our cards and receipts in to Dean.
- Jerry asked if I'd like a ride back to Raleigh. I accepted.
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Mar-09:
--> Get 'er Dunn 202-km perm-pop; 87.6 m.; 5h37 in-motion; 15.6 mph; G'eD elapsed time: 5h13.
Jan tot: __3 rides; __288.9 m; _14h56; 14.9 mph; __313 RUSA kms.
Feb tot: __3 rides; __267.6 m; _19h15; 13.9 mph; __410 RUSA kms.
Mar tot: __2 rides; __214.6 m; _14h08; 15.2 mph; __306 RUSA kms.
YTD tot: __8 rides; __701.1 m; _48h19; 14.5 mph; _1029 RUSA kms.
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On Sunday, Mar-10, rando Sag and randonneuse Jayjay attained "R-48 Continuous Streaks" -- be sure to check out the link to the photos.
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