Jun-29: Sunny and Mild 138

Completely sunny day.
But, surprisingly, low humidity.  :-)

Just me and Lynn.
Lynn agreed to ride mostly-with me until the Berea control (at approx the 55-mile mark).

We each noted that it was definitely cooler than it had been the day before.
Lynn indicated that she had gone back in her house to change to a jersey with sleeves.

Range Rd was much prettier in the dappled early morning sun.
(However, I think that section would have looked better if the sun were lower in the sky.)

In the deep shade on Range Rd,
After I had backed off my effort and Lynn had disappeared up the road,
I was able to check the temperature on the mostly useless new cycle confuser.
62 degrees Fahrenheit at approx 7:45 am.
That's rather cool for central North Carolina this time of year.
(It had been about 10 degrees warmer the day before.)

This route is definitely a much nicer visual experience on a sunny day than on an overcast one.

The forecast was for a NE wind 5 to 10 mph.
Bull.
E to E/SE seemed more like it.
Given the direction of the route, and the resulting impact on apparent wind while riding,
I'm thinking it was probably an East wind.
Rather than a tailwind, or at least a quartering tailwind,
It was a quartering headwind all the way home.

By agreement, Lynn left the Berea control some 5 or 6 minutes before I did.
She finished the ride 29-minutes before me.
Meaning she put about 23-minutes into me in the final 30-miles of the course.
I'm confident that many local fast-crew randonneurs understand.
Also many local non-randonneurs.

At the corner of Old Weaver Trail and New Light Rd (8-miles before the finish),
I came upon a group that looked to be led by G + W of TLC-4-Bikes.
Turned out it was a subgroup being led by W.
G was off riding longer.

Anyway, W introduced me to the group as "Uncle Martin."
I thought that a bit strange.
But, as W indicated, I did teach G + W the roads when the first moved here from Dallas.
She pointed out that I "knew all the roads."
Maybe "Uncle Martin" makes some sense.

Then Wendy mentioned that I did long rides.
One woman (unknown to me) asked how far.
I told her it was going to be either 92 or 98 miles, today.
She gasped.
Then I told her that I had ridden 98 miles the day before,
And 77 the day before that.
I thought the woman might faint.
[I suspect that 30 or 35 miles is a long ride for said woman.]  

Wendy asked me to lead the way, so I did.
Managed a short conversation with Reid while climbing Ghoston.
Chatting while riding up Ghoston was certainly better than trying to WORK it. 
I hadn't seen Reid in at least a year, maybe two.
=====================================
As paltry as these last three posts are, they are my stories,
And I guess I'll be sticking with them.

Jun-28: Grey 138

Heavy overcast and high humidity on the playground.

Originally expected an easy solo ride, but that gave way to a nearly all-out effort,
Trying to whip myself into shape.

Fastest I've ever gotten to the first control,
Allensville Store at 42.3-miles in 2h46 (virtually no pauseage time).
6-minutes at the control.
I rode hard for the 12.8-miles to the Berea control.
Thinking I might catch the 3-fast-crew,
Or even jump past them if I short-stopped the "inside" control,
While they long-stopped the "outside" control.
No luck at that -- they'd gone on before I got there.

Pushed on to Culbreth, Stem and Creedmoor.
Slowed for a minute or two in Creedmoor,
And I think I lost cadence somewhere between Creedmoor and New Light Rd.

I WORKED the Ghoston and Peed Rd climbs, but
Eased up the the final climb on Mt. Vernon Ch Rd.
Still managed a PR on the course by 4-minutes.

Oh, the fast-crew finished 20-minutes before me.
-------------------------------------------------------
Fun day.
But I certainly was tired after riding hard two mornings in a row.

Jun-27: Oxford 104

Thought of TammieN and BobB this morning while outbound on the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" 104-km pop.

I thought I was moving quickly (for me), but couldn't really tell since the bleeping new confuser wasn't working. Was thinking that this newish "Oxford" route was my new "cadence / time-trial" route (since I can't fit my old 30-miler "cadence / time-trial" route into the schedule), and that led me to thinking about what it takes to make the bike go faster.

Obviously, being in shape helps.
But mostly I think it might be attitude.
I settled on "calm intensity" as a mental approach / attitude.

And "calm intensity" made me think of Tammie & Bob at last year's Taste of Carolina 1200 AND Tammie's "positive negativity."
==================================================
Oh, yeah, for Fixie Pixie:  I finished my ride by 10 am, showered, dressed and checked email and other internet / computer stuff by 11:30 -- with the entire day yet to come! Yippee! (No more riding today. 138k, likely solo, tomorrow.) 
================================================== 
(1) commute to ride:  5.6-m., 0h22 in-motion, 15.2-mph; 
(2) outbound:  32.35-m. (52-kms), 2h06 in-motion, 15.4-mph; I thought I had been riding faster than that; 
(3) inbound:  32.35-m. (52-kms), 1h54 in-motion, 17.0-mph; very happy with that; 
(4) commute home:  6.7-m., 0h28 in-motion, 14.3-mph.

Jun-24: Two Turtle Rescue 104

Two turtles rescued on the ride, 

Just as the (northbound) climb from the Tar River begins to level off. 

I suspect it was the same turtle as the location was the same.

One rescue outbound.  One rescue inbound, about 70 minutes later.

I'm wondering if it might have been one of the turtles Lynn rescued outbound last Tuesday.

==========================================

Started at 0545 officially, 0547 actually.

Got to Oxford control at 0748/9.

Left Oxford control at 0758; 

Then promptly had to wait a minute for traffic so I could get on US-158.

Had to wait nearly 2 minutes to make the "turn" onto Peed Rd.

Finished at 1001 for a 4h16 time.

About 1:59:30 in-motion outbound.

About 2:00:00 in-motion inbound.

I like that.

Lost my cadence on Lawrence Rd, and had to regather myself after the steep part of that was over. 

Lost my cadence because I was getting a bit tired.

Worked Ghoston.  Somewhat worked Peed.  Took it easy on MVC.

Putzed on the 6.7-mile commute back to the house, taking 28+ minutes in-motion.

I have taken as many as 33 minutes in-motion for that commute home.

Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf Pop Stats

As previously indicated, the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" Permanent-Populaire was created so that Ricochet Robert would have a flat north Raleigh pop option upon which to maintain his P-series as he recovered from hernia surgery (The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected).

However, there is an excellent mostly-flat perm-pop route that has been waiting
For someone to bite the bullet and ... submit it.
Given Robert's surgery and "flat needs,"
It was time to effectuate the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" 102k perm-pop.

Robert was concerned that no one else would do the route.
I told him not to worry... .

It is true that the route has been ridden mostly, er, almost exclusively by north Raleigh randonneurs, but recently, a local geographic "barrier" was broken.

Permanent route: NC: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf / 2259

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club	Time
2014/03/02 finishers=1 DNF=0
RUSA-T39385	6218	S__, Martin	RUSA / 933095	04:37
2014/03/11 finishers=2 DNF=0
RUSA-T39550	6169	H__, Michael A	NCBC / 933045	05:14
RUSA-T39551	6218	S__, Martin	RUSA / 933095	05:14
2014/03/22 finishers=1 DNF=0
RUSA-T40064	6628	B__, Robert D	RUSA / 933095	04:23
2014/04/09 finishers=2 DNF=0
RUSA-T40174	5519	L__, Lynn	RUSA / 933095	04:36
RUSA-T40175	6218	S__, Martin	RUSA / 933095	04:49
2014/05/14 finishers=1 DNF=0
RUSA-T41061	6218	S__, Martin	RUSA / 933095	06:24
2014/06/17 finishers=2 DNF=0
RUSA-T41949	5519	L__, Lynn	RUSA / 933095	04:15
RUSA-T41950	6218	S__, Martin	RUSA / 933095	04:22
2014/06/18 finishers=3 DNF=0
RUSA-T41988	6628	B__, Robert D	RUSA / 933095	04:18
RUSA-T41989	5519	L__, Lynn	RUSA / 933095	04:18
RUSA-T41990	6218	S__, Martin	RUSA / 933095	04:26
2014/06/22 finishers=4 DNF=0
RUSA-T42134	1609	D__, Michael J	NCBC / 933045	04:37
RUSA-T42135	4070	F__, Dean	NCBC / 933045	04:52
RUSA-T42136	6169	H__, Michael A	NCBC / 933045	04:48
RUSA-T42137	5519	L__, Lynn	RUSA / 933095	04:37