I seldom get excited, either.
However, this time I got excited anticipating riding the "Egypt Mtn" 210-km perm .
I hadn't done EM since February, so it might have almost seemed almost new.
Or maybe each section would seem an old friend.
This would be my first solo 200 since Oct-29-2013, which was on the Egypt Mtn course.
I very much doubted I'd finish anywhere nearly as quickly as did then (9h59).
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Ricochet Robert and SteveG were doing the Bahama Beach 103k populaire,
Starting at the same time I was starting Egypt Mtn.
I arrived at the start.
No one there.
I checked all 3 of possible start controls (Open Control).
Robert arrived and after a few minutes,
Asked what I thought of his new rando bike.
I reminded him "you know I never notice people's bikes."
And then I looked:
- Titanium frame (lightly used - purchased from Byron, which explain the "light" part).
- Dyno hub.
- Borrowed fenders (from Byron).
- Borrowed bags (from Byron).
- Robert indicated it was built up by Rando Byron.
Oh, and one important thing:
The frame and all looked to be the correct SIZE for Robert.
[He's been riding a 56-cm bike since his career began in 2010.
He's needed a 54, or even better, a 53 frame.]
I'm looking forward to seeing how Robert sits upon this new bike.
Well, I'll look forward to seeing Robert ... IF he will slow down to my speed.
Steve arrived less than 4-minutes before the start time.
As I had a long ride ahead of me, with an expected afternoon southerly wind,
And ... , I decided to leave on time.
[I still have not properly met SteveG.]
Turned out that THE bridge on the "connecting pipe-stem" in the middle of the course,
At mile 40.2 and again at 79.2, is under destruction.
- Outbound detour onto new road(s) for me: Weldon Mill Rd -- rough chip seal instead of the smooth asphalt of Southerland Mill Rd.
- While riding outbound, I planned my inbound detour to stay on Tower Rd all the way to Cokesbury Rd, and then retrace outbound detour. That turned out to be a better than anticipated plan because Jones Chapel Rd (the standard turn off Tower Rd) was also under destruction & covered with LOOSE gravel.
Oh, yeah -- 3rd year for this course -- 3rd different bridge closure / destruction -- one a year.
As a fellow North Carolina rando recently wrote: "... if you ride North Carolina backroads in the summertime, you know what that means. A bridge being replaced, oh, you betcha."
However, whereas Mike apparently gave thought about what to do when he met his detour,
I took not even one second to make up my mind:
I was NOT going to ride the mile or more DOWN to the bridge to check it out,
Just to ride back UP to where I was.
Nope, not me.
I immediately took the detour.
[Full disclosure: Locals at the control a mile before had told me the bridge was OUT.]
As I was making what seemed to be good time,
I wondered if the faster cadence riding on the "Oxford" pop was paying dividends.
I convinced myself that it was.
I arrived at the Hardee's in Warrenton after 4h28.
I have not kept track of the intermediate control times on my rides,
But I'm pretty sure that is the earliest I've ever arrived at that control.
[66.2 miles; est. 4h09 in-motion; 15.9-mph; 4h28 elapsed. :-) :-D ]
Amazingly, in the absence of the usual slow service, I was back on the bike by 4h50,
Thinking that a sub-9h30 was likely.
Then, I turned south ... ... headwind ... ... the entire way back.
Oh, well. Make peace with the weather and just keep pedaling.
The second half of the route is slightly longer than the first half.
I could break the second half into four sub-sections, but I'll just summarize:
68.9 miles; est. 5h19 in-motion; 13.0 mph; 6h11 elapsed. :-|
[I took 3 or so quick breaks to deal with developing hot-foot and facia-itis issues;
I took a 21-minute break at Grissom -- as long as the lunch break had been! ]
Turns out the route I rode was 135.1-miles (std is 130.9).
I.e, 217-kms instead of the std 210.
Overall, I cannot be disappointed with my time.
It works out to less than 10h00 for 200k.
10 hours is a good time for me.
The above is pretty boring report, but
It is my story and I think I'll be sticking with it.
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Jul-06:
--> Egypt Mtn 210-km perm -->; 147.4 m.; 10h20 in-motion; 14.3 mph.
- pre-ride commute: 5.6 m.; 0h23 in-motion; 14.5 mph.
- - Egypt Mtn: 135.1 m.; 9h28 in-motion; 14.3 mph; elapsed time: 10h39
- - - post-ride commute: 6.7 m.; 0h29 in-motion; 13.5 mph.
Q-1 tot: _21 rides; _967.6 m; _65h57; 14.7 mph; 1136 RUSA kms.
Q-2 tot: _24 rides; 1954.2 m; 134h57; 14.5 mph; 2573 RUSA kms.
Jul tot: __2 rides; _219.8 m; _14h01; 14.6 mph; _314 RUSA kms.
YTD tot: _47 rides; 3141.6 m; 215h56; 14.5 mph; 4023 RUSA kms.
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Eddington Cycling Number:
After this ride: 113.
Meaning that I have completed at least 113 different rides that were at least 113 miles long.
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