Fantabulous day to ride a bike on lightly traveled, rolling roads north of Raleigh and Durham.
Sunny. Almost 50F at the 0900 start.
And about 70F for most of the day (according to the thermometer in my cycle confuser).
Early-ish in the ride, I don't recall where,
We spotted 2 blue herons -- the second in flight.
Okay, Brad spotted both of them, and pointed them out to me.
He also spotted a large turtle sunning itself on a log just above the surface of a pond.
Brad trailed behind from the start.
I was expecting that; but he did seem to be awfully careful for a 27-year-old.
I managed to slip behind him just before the turn onto Range Road.
Out-of-shape, young Brad climbs more slowly than I do.
I wanted to hear his reaction when he saw the climb on Range Road.
I wasn't disappointed.
The climb is not as steep as Lystra.
I'm not sure which is longer.
But Lystra "hides" itself with curves and trees.
None of that the "Range Wall".
It shows all of itself from the moment you first see it.
We took a photo of Brad atop some equipment just after the top of the "wall".
But said photo is on Brad's phone.
If I get access, I'll post it here.
Slight NNW breeze off the port bow from approx. mile 25 to the Allensville control.
We made in impromptu pause on Mt. Harmony Ch Rd in honor of someone we recently met.
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| Fixie Pixie indicated (via Facebook -- oh, the horror!) that she liked the look of the gravel road. Unfortunately for her, it's only someone's driveway. There are other, nastier-looking gravel roads sprinkled alongside the route. Real gravel roads that may or may not go somewhere. Nasty looking gravel. [Photo credit: BradW.] |
Stopped at the Allensville Convenience Mart just long enough to get receipts and
Check out the benches in the nice sunshine -- the benches will certainly do.
Left Allensville headed for Berea and some lunch.
Expecting a tailwind.
However, as the wind built during the day,
It also backed around to come from the SSW.
Headwind all the way home.
Never experienced double-headwind on that course before.
Although this was first rando ride on the course, I've done it previously, non-rando.
And the wind this day was nothing compared to a couple previous rides on this route.
Between Allensville and Berea, we passed thru / by / whatever "Denny's Store."
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| A year or two ago, "Fearless Leader" Alan told me that there used to be a store at Denny's Store x-roads. NO evidence of that now (except for the sign). [Photo credit: BradW.] |
Nice enough simple, quick lunch in Berea, with tables inside and out.
My preferred lunch place (which we used) is not open on Sundays.
So the suggested c'store for the Open Control is the place across the corner.
The only somewhat hard climb after the lunch stop was immediately after crossing the Tar River.
The Tar River crossing on Denny's Store Rd is not even labeled,
And almost qualifies as flat.
The Tar River crossing on Culbreth Rd in not-flat.
And the bridge is labeled.
I recall absolutely nothing of Culbreth Rd between Culbreth and Stem.
That is kinda' weird, because I once did that section, barely able to ride a straight line.
(I've also done that section on other rides, struggling to hang on to the Irregulars.)
I think I did most of that section riding with (short bungee-cord def'n) Brad.
Maybe I didn't notice the rollers because of the conversation?
We rode through Stem, but did not stop.
Brad made a disparaging comment about the location
Where he had dropped his glove in the commode about 7-weeks earlier.
Beautiful day, but non-descript ride from Stem to the bottom of Ghoston Rd.
Then ... Brad's pace up Ghoston and Peed and MVC revealed that
He had been sand-bagging all day.
He claims he was "pacing" himself for "those three Bahama Beach climbs" at the end.
(Brad's phrases in air-quotes.)
Ghoston, Peed and MVC aren't so bad.
Except on the days when they are.
All-in-all, a very nice ride on a great day, on a pretty dang nice course.
Even if I do say so, myself.
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Mar-30:
--> Denny's Store Sortie 138-km Perm-Pop -->; 95.6 m.; 6h44 in-motion; 14.2 mph; DSS in 7h49 elapsed.
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: __5 rides; __453.8 m; _30h31; 14.9 mph; __552 RUSA kms.
YTD tot: _11 rides; __940.3 m; _64h42; 14.5 mph; _1275 RUSA kms.
Three RUSA perm-pops in March. But not a single Bahama Beach perm-pop among them. First time since the creation (Jan-2012) of the BB perm-pop route that I haven't completed it at least once in the month.
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