May-04: Carthage Coffee Run 201-km Perm

JP had told warned me that Branson's route was not easy.
I wasn't worried.
I figured it couldn't be as tough as Byron's Triple-L route.
I should have been a bit more worried.

Outbound was great.
Well ... the first 34-miles were great:
Net downslope with a tailwind.
After that, there was still a 13-to-18-mph tailwind,
But the rollers got bigger and seemingly steeper.
But it was still good.
All the way to Carthage.

Short-stop the turn-around control,
And bomb back down from the hill
Upon which downtown Carthage is built.

Steep rollers into the teeth of that 13-to-18-mph headwind
Were tougher than those steep rollers with that tailwind.
At least the rolling terrain gave some protection from the wind.
And some places were protected by tree-tunnels,
Or half-tunnels (when the trees were on the windward side of the road).

Unfortunately, about half the time, the half-tree-tunnel was on the leeward side.

Lower Moncure Rd, heading mostly due north, was somewhat of a respite from the ENE wind.
Old US-1, heading nearly directly into the teeth of that wind,
On a shallow climb giving no protection from that wind,
Was definitely NOT a respite.
That section beat me up pretty good.

At least the 18-finishing-miles were again mostly due north,
And that provided somewhat of a respite, again.
But I was worn out,
And stopped attempting to push the last 5-miles.
Truth be told, I had probably stopped trying to push the pace
On any steepish incline for the previous 25-miles.

I did the route since I'd never done it,
And I did the ride, pushing the pace, as "training."
I usually don't "train," I just ride.
But, this ride, I admit, was "training."
Mother nature's wind dished out more training-effect than I had bargained for.

All is good.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
============================================ 
May-04:   

Carthage Coffee Run 201-km perm; 128.2 m.; 8h42 in-motion; 14.7 mph; elapsed time:  10h02.
 
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. 
May tot: __1 rides; __128.2 m; __8h42; 14.7 mph; __201 RUSA kms. 
YTD tot: _17 rides; _1720.0 m; 118h27; 14.5 mph; _2387 RUSA kms. 
  
BTW, it didn't fit in the flow of the above text, but this was the first rando ride in quite a while where I actually needed to use the cue sheet, which I typically consulted every 2 or 3 turns.  Despite that, I managed to miss one turn, and gathered approximately 3-bonus-miles.  

One thing that might not be obvious from the text:  this was a solo effort.  My second solo 200 this year.  I like solo 200's, I've done a solo 300, I know I could do a solo 400, but I hope I don't have to do the 400 brevet next weekend as a solo effort.

R-34 (assuming the ride result gets approved). 

Also: 

Eddington Cycling Number: 

After this ride:  103. 
Meaning that I have completed at least 103 different rides that were at least 103 miles long.