Apr-27: Bahama Beach 103-km Perm-Pop

On April 27th, BobB, SteveS, Ricochet Robert, MikeD and I did the Bahama Beach 103-km perm-pop.  I had not previously met Steve.  Anyone that peruses this blog even occasionally knows that Bob and Robert are frequent ride partners.  On the other hand, Mike is an infrequent ride partner -- and even when we do the same route / ride, Mike invariably drifts off my front since he is much faster than me (esp. on climbs).  I can think of only one ride when Mike and I finished a ride together (click-here if curious).

• We caught a near-perfect day at the Beach.
• MikeD did a great pull on Burton and Red Mill roads, keeping everyone together but at a pace all could handle, so we zipped through those miles faster than might have otherwise been the case.
• A couple miles later, we separated into two groups on the climb up Stagville Rd to Bahama.
•  
• However, the slow crew got to Stem while MikeD & Steve were still there -- at the "wrong" store.
• (Stem is an open control, but I think the BP there usually smells funny and the commode is awful (just ask Brad).  My preferred store has 2 indoor booths, which is nice in winter cold and summer heat; and the commode not-quite-as-awful -- plus the clerks there have been rando-trained.)
• Robert, who as practice for Flint Hill Rd on the upcoming NCBC 400k brevet, had turned around, after getting to the top of the Michie Wall more-or-less with MikeD and Steve, so that he could climb the Lake Michie Wall a second time.  Crazy!  Anyway, that meant that Ricochet ended up with the slow-crew of Bob and me.  Upon arriving in Stem, Ricochet went to the other / wrong store to hang-out with Mike and Steve.
• I anticipated a 3-to-5-minutes at my preferred store, and then Bob and I would cycle over to the other store and we could all start the "second half" together.
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• I was back outside, Honey Bun and receipt in hand, in 3-minutes ... to find Bob taking a bit more time.
• So ... I let the 5-minute idea go ... and ate the banana I had in addition to the Honey Bun.
• We were just ready to leave (after ~ 10-minutes) when 2 non-rando cycling buddies (Lt. Dave and Red Rocket Lee) pulled into the store ... so we chatted for another 5-minutes, turning the hoped for 5-minute control stop into 15-minutes.
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• I had legs and intended to use them and find out how much legs I actually had.  There is a pretty good descent from Stem toward Creedmoor, and I re-warmed into a good rhythm, Bob sticking with me and pulled even or slightly ahead on one of the bump-ups (Bob can usually climb faster than I can). 
• Bob was with me into and through and leaving Creedmoor.
• He was with me all the way from Creedmoor to Grissom.
• Upon getting to Grissom and turning onto Bruce Garner Rd, Bob was still with me. 
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• When I have legs, I can often get a good-pace going on Bruce Garner / New Light Rd ... and that is what I concentrated on.
• I next checked for Bob when I was about half-a-mile into Wake County -- that is, about 3-miles from Grissom -- no Bob.
• I kept going.
• Bob later told me that I just drifted away from him on Bruce Garner as he could no longer hold my wheel.
• Not my intent, but even us slow guys do that sometimes. 
• Esp. if a I'm-on-a-mission face comes over me, instead of a happy-smiley face.
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• After the ride was over, Steve indicated that he had apparently started to wear-out some near the end.  A likely result given that this was only Steve's fifth ride since a well-known car / bicycle interaction this past January.  Despite the well-known nature of the "interaction" -- I refuse to refer to it as an "accident" -- I had not heard of the incident until April 25th -- two days before this ride.
• I don't think I closed the distance as much as the official elapsed times suggest.  I think Mike, Robert and Steve dallied between finishing and getting their cards signed.  I was probably still at least 5-minutes behind them, but ...

RUSA-T31891	6628	B___, Robert D	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:13
RUSA-T31892	5843	B___, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:21
RUSA-T31893	1609	D___, Michael J	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	04:13
RUSA-T31894	5657	S___, Steve	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:13
RUSA-T31895	6218	S___, J Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:15

It is nice thinking that I may have some gitty-up back in my legs after the slog-fest(s) the first half of the month.  
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Apr-27:   

--> Bahama Beach 103-km perm-pop --> ; 87.7 m.; 5h36 in-motion; 15.6 mph; BB elapsed time:  4h15.
 
Q-1 tot: _11 rides; __940.3 m; _64h42; 14.5 mph; _1275 RUSA kms. 
Apr tot: __5 rides; __651.5 m; _45h02; 14.5 mph; __911 RUSA kms.
YTD tot: _16 rides; _1591.8 m; 109h45; 14.5 mph; _2186 RUSA kms.