Jun-15: Denny's Store Sortie

For a course map, click-here (link will open a new tab).
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Ricochet Robert and I sortied forth on time at 0700.
It was about 60F, low humidity, almost no breeze.
I later remarked that it felt more like NW Illinois than central North Carolina.

At 0844, on Range Rd, just north of Hampton Rd, approx. 25.5-miles into the course,
The sunlight and shadows from the many tree-leaves were dappling the road and roadside ditches.
Peering deeply into the woods on each side of the road,
Enjoying the quiet, the low humidity, the nearly perfect temperature, the dappled sunlight,
I said to Ricochet, "I can't imagine that any other place could be as nice as this right now."
Robert replied, "I was just thinking the same thing."

Mt. Harmony Ch, Johnnie Jones and Molly Moon / Old Allensville roads
Were each near idyllic.

I recall that the first time I rode across Denny's Store Rd,
I perceived that it was mostly flat.
It's not.
But neither is it Triple-L hilly.

Ricochet @ Denny's Store.  [Photo by me, using Robert's phone /camera.] 

We stopped for a lunch in Berea, splitting a sub sandwich, 
At my preferred place (which is not the "recommendation" on the control card --
My preferred place is not open on Sundays, so it seems better to list
The other place on the control card).

Speaking of that sub sandwich:  the tomatoes were EXCELLENT,
And made the whole sandwich a delight.

Ricochet and I left Berea with stomachs a bit too full,
And needing to re-warm the stiffened legs.
The climb back up from the Tar River crossing helped with the re-warming.
(No evidence of bridge destruction that was scheduled to begin in May.) 

Culbreth Rd has been recently resurfaced -- smooth with a tailwind:  nice!
Old-75 was resurfaced last year -- smooth still with a quartering tailwind:  nice. 
We were in the middle of Stem 30-minutes after having left Berea.
Not bad considering the stiff legs, over-full stomachs, and crawl back up from the Tar River.

Brogden Rd from Stem to Creedmoor was also resurfaced last year.
Smooth, mostly down-slope, with a tailwind:  very nice.
I was refilling water bottles at the Southern States in Creedmoor only 24-minutes
After having been in the middle of Stem.

It seemed as if we were "flying" all the way from just before Culbreth into Creedmoor,
But looking at the distances and the times to cover them,
The reality is that we were just traveling at a pace that we should have been.

The battery in my sensor has died, so my confuser is good for the time of day, only.
I could wonder what might have been the case if I had known the actual speed(s).

Near the end of the ride, Ricochet checked the average speed indicated on his confuser:
15.0 mph.
"I always end up with 15-mph," I said.
Robert fibbed, "I always end up with an in-motion average less than that."

It was a great day to have been on a bike!
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Jun-15: 

--> Denny's Store Sortie 138-km Perm-Pop -->; 106.3 m.; 7h04 in-motion; 15.0 mph; DSS elapsed time:  6h39. 

Q-1 tot: _11 rides; __940.3 m; _64h42; 14.5 mph; _1275 RUSA kms.
A-M tot: _13 rides; _1499.1 m; 104h13; 14.4 mph; _2061 RUSA kms.
Jun tot: __3 rides; __533.0 m; _36h37; 14.6 mph; __738 RUSA kms.
YTD tot: _27 rides; _2972.4 m; 205h32; 14.5 mph; _4074 RUSA kms.