Dec-21: Egypt Mtn -- R-48 for BobB

R-48 -- that was Bob's goal on the day.
Did he get it?

You better believe he did -- otherwise Bob would not have affixed the R-48-continuous "sticker" that had been previously provided by "sag."  (Although he/we didn't break the 10-hour barrier, the northeasterly sky, that makes up part of the background of this photo, is of a hue that shows that he/we did beat the Dark Monster on the shortest day of the year.)  [Hmmn -- as of when I'm typing this, Bob has not yet applied for his fourth R-12 recognition -- hmmn.]   

 

An official 0700 start by four of us for Egypt Mtn:  Bob, Ricochet, TomD, me.
An official 0700 start by one doing a reversed Bahama Beach:  Byron.
We all started together, about 5 or 6 minutes late.
Byron doing BB reversed so that he could ride 20-kms with all of us.

Byron admitted he would need the cue sheet to do the route reversed.
[I think he could have done the std route, std direction, sans cue sheet.] 
2-kms from the start, Byron exclaimed, "hey, I thought the route turned left there!"
I explained that since BB is now a 'free-route,'
It was perfectly acceptable for him doing BB to start the way we were going.

I recall that everyone got in at least a few words with Byron before he turned his solo way.
Tom and Byron talked about the late November 'Old Liberty' perm each had done.
A ride during which Byron came out the short end of an encounter with a dog.
However, should you be curious, AFTER calling 911 and getting attention from EMS personnel,
And interacting with animal control / policing authorities (?),
Byron rode the last 70-miles of that 200+ km route to maintain his R-series-continuous.
Byron's R-series must be about R-44, now.

I don't know what subject(s) Bob and Ricochet discussed with Byron in those first 20 kms.
I am absolutely sure I chatted a bit with Byron, but I have no recollection of what we discussed.

We apparently enjoyed a tailwind for the first 54-miles to Drewry.
And a quartering side/tailwind the next 10 miles to Warrenton.

I type "apparently" because I didn't really notice the little push from behind,
But I certainly noticed the headwind upon leaving Warrenton.

Ricochet paid a lot of attention to his smart-phone while in Epsom for the "PM-control."
I asked if he was "doing Facebook."
His response?  "No."

Turned out he was likely texting and checking text messages,
Because just a couple miles after leaving Epsom,
Ricochet wanted to up the pace,
Claiming he needed to make it back for a date.

I had no intention of picking up my pace.
My legs were making it clear that to do so would be a very bad idea.
So ... on Gooch Rd, Bob and I dropped Ricochet and Tom off our front wheels,
And we made our way back as two small groups of two.

The various climbs, combined with headwind, took a toll on each of Bob and me.
I thought surely Ricochet and Tom would have finished 40 or more minutes before we did.
Turned out it was only 21 official minutes.
And if Bob and I had not had to wait 3 or 5 minutes,
When inside 4-kms from finishing,
For a long-truck carrying a large piece of construction equipment,
To back-in off the road,
We would have been closer.

Still, Ricochet and Tom put 15 to 20 seconds per mile into Bob and me.
But although I wanted to get in under 10-hours,
Neither Bob nor I had the legs to do that on this day.
However, as noted above, we did beat the Dark Monster (barely),
And Bob became the first of the NC-2010-rando-rookies to snag R-48.
[I recorded R-41.]  
 
2011-NC-Rookie-of-the-Year Ricochet had recorded R-27 earlier in the month.
Also, 2013-NC-Rookie-of-the-Year TomD had recorded R-12 earlier in the month.
(Tom has applied for his R-12.  Congratulations on a great year, Tom.) 

I'll forgo the usual personal stats and end with the following chart:

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Warrenton & Egypt Mountain / 1444	210	2013/12/21	4	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T37629	6628	B__, Robert D	Randonneurs USA / 933095	09:57
RUSA-T37630	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	10:18
RUSA-T37631	7794	D__, Thomas Lee	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	09:57
RUSA-T37632	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	10:18

One more chart:

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bahama Beach / 1404	103	2013/12/21	1	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T37628	621	M__, Byron E	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	04:40

Okay, one personal stat:
Eddington Cycling Number:
After this ride:  109.
Meaning that I have completed at least 109 different rides that were at least 109 miles long.
[It is going to get much harder to increase that number starting quite soon.]