Sep-28: Brad Maintains P-series

27-y-o rookie rando Brad, a 4th year veterinary med student at NC State, needed a populiare.
He hadn't been on his bike since the Aug-17 NCBC Picnic Populaire.
Ricochet and I signed on to ride with Brad.
Encourage him, cajole him, whatever.

He needed some serious cajoling on climbs late in the ride.
When I type "climbs," that includes things such as a 5 or 10 foot elevation change,
Spread over 100 yards or so.

He either had very little left in the tank, OR
He was saving it for the finishing climbs of Ghoston, Peed, and Mt. Vernon Ch roads.
[Despite what rando fracquaintance Pamela wrote back in February, 
I do not think that G, P or MVC are the hardest climbs of the route. 
I'd give those nods to Stagville Rd, the "Michie Wall," and ... 
Okay, Ghoston.]

To help Brad get this ride, what would be his P-8 if successful,
We took advantage of the 'free-route' status of the route,
Trading a few extra miles for less climbing (and less intensive climbing), 
"Winging-it" on the "Flat Start," "Hall Rd" and "Hester Rd" variants.
(The variations are shown in green.)

On Hall Rd.  Ricochet nearest the camera; that's me a few yards further up the road.  [Photo by Brad.]

Despite the reduced climbing,
Brad voiced relatively early his concern about the G-P-MVC finish.

The weather was almost ideal.
It did get a bit overly cloudy in the middle of the ride,
But the sunshine was working hard to break the cloud-cast by the finish. 
It would have been nicer if the northerly breeze had been a bit less early on,
But then we might not have had a following breeze late in the ride.

We shared stories and jokes, especially early on.
We each had at least one 'possum story (some of which were rando related).
Brad and Ricochet had frog and other reptile and amphibian stories. 
I think they helped us cover most of the distance of the ride with little mental energy expenditure.

There were some nice vistas, and at least one moment to warm the cockles of Brad's heart: 
Several box turtles warming themselves on a log in the middle of a pond alongside Robert's Chpl Rd.

All in all, and although I haven't written much,
And certainly have written nothing with any "insight,"
It was a great day to have been on a bike.
And Brad snagged his P-8:
 

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bahama Beach / 1404	103	2013/09/28	3	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T35649	6628	B__, Robert D	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:57
RUSA-T35650	6218	S__, J Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:57
RUSA-T35651	8218	W__, Bradley J.	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:57

====================================================
Sep-28: 

--> Bahama Beach 103k 'ree-route' Perm-Pop -->; 90.1 m.;  6h33 in-motion; 13.7 mph.
 - pre-ride commute:  9.0 m.;  0h33 in-motion; 16.3 mph.
 - - BB w/ variants:  69.2 m.;  5h11 in-motion; 13.3 mph; BB elapsed time:  5h57.
 - - - post-ride commute:  11.9 m.;  0h49 in-motion; 14.5 mph.

Q-1 tot: _11 rides; _940.3 m; _64h42; 14.5 mph; 1275 RUSA kms.
Q-2 tot: _18 rides; 2293.9 m; 158h18; 14.5 mph; 3142 RUSA kms.
J-A tot: _12 rides; 1274.3 m; _84h50; 15.0 mph; 1450 RUSA kms.
Sep tot: __7 rides; _753.5 m; _49h44; 15.2 mph; _933 RUSA kms. 
YTD tot: _48 rides; 5262.0 m; 357h36; 14.7 mph; 6800 RUSA kms. 
 
xxx, yyy, zzz.