Jun-06 & 22: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf Pop, x 2

Jun-06

Bob, IvaHawk and me.
My 104k Perm-Pop Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf.

Bob, training for a PAC Tour Northern Tour starting in mid-July.
May have been looking for an easy pace, sorta' recovery ride.
Or maybe just riding with a couple friends.

IvaHawk, training for the upcoming Blood, Sweat and Gears, the "50-mile" version.
Iva, and our friend Tito, have apparently gotten their fill of difficult 100-mile mountain rides.
Iva is in excellent shape, but hasn't been on his bicycle as much this year as usual.
(E.g., last year, I think it was last year, he did a couple Denny's Store Sorties to prep for the BSG.)

[Ha!  Turns out the double-DSS was in 2013; last year was a double Bahama Beach program. 
BB isn't as long as DSS, but there is more climbing per mile.]

Me, training for nothing, and no announced goals.
Just happy to ride with a couple friends.

I recall none of the conversation on the outbound leg, but I know it wasn't a completely silent ride.

As we dismounted outside the turn-around control,
Bob remarked, "I guess we're riding for Lynn."
[Lynn completed the "Oxford" route 60 times prior to the events of Feb-20-2016.]

Upon entering the store, the clerk asked, "how are you?"
I responded, "I gather you're actually asking about Lynn and 'Skipwith'?"
"Yes," she replied.
 
It was reminiscent of the March 3rd control experience on this course. 
So I filled her in on Lynn's status / recent progress.
But I had to beg off regarding "Skipwith" 'cuz I didn't know anything.

After completing our control paperwork and enjoying a short respite,
We headed out for the return leg.
I know there was conversation, but I can't remember 17 days back to report on it.

Oh, yeah -- Bob and Iva dropped me on the last climb of the day:

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf / 2259	104	2016/06/06	3	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T62854	7702	A__, Iva C	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:49
RUSA-T62855	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:48
RUSA-T62856	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	04:50

 
Jun-22

Just Bob and me.
(Though IvaHawk did serendipitously intersect and ride with us for some of the route.)

Bob had ridden 150-miles the day before.
His last big-miles ride before heading to the west coast for his PAC Tour.
[200k rides don't really count as big-miles as he has done so many of them. 
At least that's my story, and I'll be sticking to it.]

That 150-miles the day before helped me stay with Bob during the ride.
At least for the first 15 or so miles -- as Bob reported later, that's about when his legs loosened up.
After that, after a few miles where he repeatedly pulled ahead of me,
Bob backed off his effort so that we could stick together.

I didn't recognize the clerk at the turn-around control.
Which was rather strange, since he knew the card and receipt protocol.

He didn't ask about Lynn or "Skipwith."

We nibbled some snacks, refilled bottles with cold fluids, chatted a bit,
And then headed out on the return leg.

Outbound, we had chatted about fitting in a couple rides together before Bob heads west.
Inbound, there was less conversation, at least partially because I decided to
"Train" a bit -- mostly a long "hot interval."

There was also the slight headwind on the return.
That always makes convivial conversation more difficult.

Bob did not drop me on the final three climbs.
I'm sure he could have, but ... he chose not to.

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf / 2259	104	2016/06/22	2	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T63270	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:06
RUSA-T63271	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:06

[Sometimes, the stop-light at NC-98, approx 4.4-miles into the ride, 
Is green when we get there. 
Sometimes it is red, or turns red just before we get there. 
On this ride, it turned red just before we got to it, 
And, I swear, the light stayed red for at least five minutes. 
Clearly, a record wait at that light. 
At least a record at the start of the ride. 
There's been some seriously long waits at that light at the end of some rides.]