Jul-15: Test and Adjust 104

My previous ride saw the demise, at least temporarily,
Of the only road bike I've ever owned.
[Well, full disclosure, I did purchase a Pilot 1.2 in early December 2016. 
Rode that bike four times totaling 112.8-miles Dec 6th thru 15th. 
But traded that bike in the afternoon of the 15th, for the Pilot 5.0. 

First ride on the Pilot 5.0 was 56.4-miles on the 16th. 
I recall that ride, approx 50-53 degrees F all ride, NO wind. 
A little chilly when in motion, 
But when stopped in the sunshine, very nice.]  

Anyway, while I consider whether to fix the Pilot 5.0 or acquire a new (probably used) bike, 
IvaHawk has loaned me his old aluminum Raleigh R600
That was just hanging around in his garage going unused.

We met for a ride to test out the potential of the loaner bike.
Doing the easiest / flattest perm-pop in the north Raleigh stable,
The "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" 104-km.

The first several miles were definitely not pleasant.
I was using "rat-cage" pedals instead of clipless,
Which resulted in the feeling that I was pedaling with my toes
Instead of the middle (or forefront) of my feet.

The seat-post was at the wrong height,
And it took until mile ten to get that sorted out.

All-in-all, I came to fully realize the travails that a newbie adult cyclist faces.
I've been riding a bike that fits me,
With handlebars that I like and were set to a proper height.
With handlebar tape that I like, and
With brake-shifters located where I like them, and
Shift dynamics with which I was familiar.

All of that on the loaner bike was "wrong", or
At least not to my liking.

It was easy to understand why so many give up after just a couple or a few rides.


Finally, as noted above, at about the 10-mile mark,
I got the saddle to the right position, or
At least an acceptable one.

The biggest issues I had after that were:

Whenever I would come to a stop, I would try to twist my foot to unclip.
That works for clipless pedals, useless for "rat-cages".
The first time I properly pulled my foot backward out of the cage was at the turn-around.

My right heal has always come close to scraping the right crank.
In fact, if you look at that crank arm, you'll see that some material is obviously missing.
Sixty-two thousand miles, perhaps 17 to 20 million pedal-strokes,
Many, or maybe only a couple million,
Just barely brushing the side of the heal of the shoe against the crank arm.
Not enough to ever notice, but enough to create the indentation.

Wearing former running shoes with wide heal bottoms,
The shoes kept banging into the crank.
Annoying.  Irritating. 
I finally was able to modify my position or my stroke to stop that, but
That may have contributed to my discomforts. 

Despite the difficulties and many pauses to make saddle adjustments outbound,
At some point on the homeward bound leg,
I realized that I had gotten things adjusted to the point where
I was comfortable and enjoying the ride.

Enjoying the ride sufficiently enough to decide to
Transfer the components from my Pilot 5.0 onto Iva's machine, and
To use said machine while I figure out and acquire a "permanent" solution.

========================================
Official rando results: 

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf / 2259	104	2017/07/15	2	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T73538	7702	A__, Iva C	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:52
RUSA-T73539	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:52

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Jul-12: Epic Does Not Mean Long Nor Hard

This early Wednesday morning epic started on Tuesday afternoon,
When I washed and inspected the bike.
 

The rear tyre had had a flat profile for quite some time.
After all, that tyre had 5310-miles on it, all on the rear.
Carefully rolling the tyre around revealed three or four small places
Where the "rubber" had been worn down and casing was just beginning to show.

I thought about using one of second-hand tyres I had on hand, but
I [usually] use those as spare tyres.
Besides, I rather like the 25-cc tyres and all the second-hand ones were 23's. 
[I sometimes get second-hand tyres that clearly have 
A couple thousand miles or more of use still available. 
An advantage of having taught my bike wrench all the roads to ride, 
When he moved here from Dallas a decade or so ago. 
Also, in his early days here, I touted Gary's services and that brought him many customers / clients. 
My references aren't needed so much these days, as his business has grown mightily.]

So, late in the day, I acquired a brand new 25-cc Vittoria Zaffiro Pro.
[You certainly realize that I looked to get that name, 
Because I certainly don't know it off the top of my head, or should that be, end of my fingers.]
However, I was too lazy to replace the old one before going to bed.
Not to worry, the ride isn't starting until 0630, instead of the usual 0600 for this time of year,
And I'd easily be able to swap out the tyres in the morning.

I arrived, via vehicle, at the start at 0612.
Twelve minutes later than I should have.
Iva was already there putting himself and bike together, having driven the 5-kms from his home.
I commented, "Iva, I'm later than I wanted to be, and you are earlier than I expected."

I'm not great at changing tyres, but I'm not BAD, either.
Old tyre came off easily; new one went on easily.
Paperwork exchanged. 
We were ready to roll with a couple minutes to spare.
I was feeling rather smug about the relative efficiency of the tyre swap. 

Out of the parking lot and eastbound on Norwood Rd,
And within 50 or 100 yards,
"Iva, let's return to the cars.  Something is not right.  There's a bump-bump-bump from the rear."
U-turn, half-way back to the parking lot entrance,
BANG!
Rear tyre blow out.

Back at the car (where my floor pump was  conveniently located),
Checking the tyre, I saw that it had blown off the rim in one particular location.
"Hmmn," thought I, "I must have not made sure the tyre was properly seated."

So, new tube, rather quick change again,
Making absolutely sure of proper seating.

Back on the road, just a little bump.
Thinking that maybe that was just me imagining things.

However, by the turn onto Mt. Vernon Church Rd, 0.7-miles into the course,
The bump-bump was again worrying.
"Iva, lets pull in at PUE so I can check this tyre again."
BANG!
Rear tyre blow out. 

I walked one or two hundred yards to the PUE parking lot.
Same blowout at the same location.

I mentioned to Iva that I now wondered if there was something wrong with the new tyre.
Borrowing a tube from Iva,and still finding nothing otherwise wrong,
I swapped the tubes, telling Iva I was going to partially inflate,
And see what happened.

Inflated to about half the desired tyre pressure, using the short pump I carry on the bike,
The tyre was clearly bulging at what was now clearly a weak point in the tyre's "wire".
At least we knew it wasn't me.

Tube deflated, new, but crappy, tyre removed, spare tyre installed.
On the road again at approx 0740.
In other words, 2-kms progress made in 1h10.

Iva wondered if we should abandon the planned Bahama Beach (reversed), and
Just do a short trip around Falls Lake instead.
"Nah; we have plenty of time.
"We'll finish a little after 1pm instead of around noon.
"It will likely be a record slow passage, but each of us has time, and it will be enjoyable."

And the ride was settling in enjoyably.
I had restarted my confuser at the second start,
And we reached NC-98 only 22 or 23 minutes-in-motion (compared to the usual 19 or).

Across Falls Lake and riding nicely northbound on New Light Rd.
Approaching Old Weaver Trail, Iva mentioned that my rear derailleur was not straight.
We pulled in at Northshore Drive on the righthand side of the road.
Forgetting something important, I tried to nudge / bend the derailleur back to being straight.
POP!!
The hanger threads had slowly been stripped over the past 10+ years.
I immediately recalled what I had forgotten. 

Iva was flabbergasted.
I was annoyed with myself.
I had let the hanger situation deteriorate to the point of failure without a backup plan.

Okay, over that annoyance in a few seconds.
I don't recall who suggested it, but we agreed the correct action to take now
Was for Iva to ride back to his car, and then come collect me.

I looked at my watch:  0810.
I told Iva that it was usually a long half-hour from where we were to the CVS, but
It might take a bit longer if NC-98 was crowded with morning rush hour traffic.
Adding time for Iva to put his bike up and the return drive,
I told Iva I would see him in about an hour.

I texted several people while waiting for Iva's return.
Easy for those with "smart-phones," not quite as easy on a flip-phone.
Cancelling the coming Sunday Triple-L,
And some other stuff, too.

[I included Lynn on the text to Byron regarding the L-L-L cancellation. 
Her return text? 
"I'd be jumping for joy if I didn't have to do LLL on Sun.  Hooray!" 
I'll let locals and non-locals draw their own conclusions from Lynn's response.]

I was safe from New Light traffic, but
Stood close enough that the repeated winds from passing traffic kept the mosquitoes away.

I also noticed that about one-quarter of the drivers were holding their phones to their ears,
Or looking at their phone instead of at the road.
[Personally, I think all phones ought to automatically shut off when moving faster than 5-mph.] 

Iva returned to my location after about 65 minutes.
We loaded my bike into his vehicle and returned to the start.

DNF on the Bahama Beach (total ride:  7.9-miles, ~40-min in-motion incl. walking time).
Only second and third riders to DNF in the five-plus years of the route's existence.

Jul-09: Bahama Beach 106 for 103 for 61

6 am solo start.
Early on, perhaps on Patterson Rd, enjoying my ride much,
I wondered WHY have I not been doing more of this?

Enjoying the ride, I found myself recalling my Carolina Godiva running friend Tom Fowler.
I haven't been a "runner" since the mid or late 1990's, but
I recall one defining comment that Tom made while we were running along one day.
Tom wondered when those that only did training runs actually enjoyed one of their runs,
'Cuz as he noted, all his most fun and enjoyable runs were just runs, not training, not races.

For me, cycling is much the same.
I don't do training rides,
Although I suppose I do have training moments from time to time.
"Hot intervals" that might last 20 miles.
Spin up some climbs; pound my way up others in too big a gear.
Mostly, I just ride.

Easy gear(s) with relatively high cadence felt fast most of the ride.
I backed off the effort on most climbs.

I don't recall any special efforts on Victory Ch / Kemp Rd with its five climbs.
I don't recall any of the usually hard part of Stagville Rd up to Bahama.
I do recall a slight feeling of anxiety on the decline from Bahama to Michie Lake.
I don't recall feeling anxious on that descent since the first time I rode it, probably in 2007.

Seemingly no effort on Bahama Rd climbing the "Michie Wall."
I think I popped the several climbs on Ellis Chapel Rd, and
Recall only glimpsing the bird-house-gourds but no other scenes on that road.

I recall preparing myself to make a couple special efforts on Roberts Chapel Rd,
But the climbs caused no struggling.

The winding climb on Sam Moss Hayes Rd, which often knocks me back,
I was at the top before I realized I had been climbing.

Lawrence Rd, Ghoston Rd, Peed Rd, Mt Vernon Church Rd, all with seemingly no effort.

The only climb on the day that was a bit difficult was the short, steep one on Moss Hayes Rd.
I can sorta' pop that if I make a concerted effort.
I put in the effort, but I was in the wrong gear(s),
So I ended up spinning / grinding the top half, but
Even so, the effort did not empty me.


Three photos:

LARGE turtle rescued on Red Mill Rd.  Too big / contentious to pick up; I herded it out of the busy traffic lane.  It appeared to be moving QUICKLY away from the road when I rode away.

Firehouse in Bahama just before the decline to Lake Michie.  Poor quality photo; oh, well, it was an idea.

Zipping along with an apparent light tailwind on New Light Rd, I had another firehouse photo idea.  Most every central NC rando, and some from out-of-state, ought to recognize this station.  As Deaner once said, "in those days, all we had was Kerr Lake Loop."

 

The in-motion pace was not all that special,
65.9-miles in 4h31 resulting in 14.6-mph while in-motion, but
That does qualify as my sixth fastest in-motion ride this year.
AND made at least the sixth consecutive enjoyable ride.
Amazing what doing more than just two or three rides a month can do.

One last "line":
The official RUSA elapsed time of 4h45 was the quickest circuit of Bahama Beach, 
Regardless the variant of the 'free-route' ridden, 
Since September 2014.

Not bad for my birthday present to myself.
[106 kms for 103 credit for 61st birthday.] 

Jul-04: Up a Deep Creek 138

How to start, how to start?
That is the problem.
Perhaps just jump in without an introduction.
But first, an embed of the RWGPS map:   

Photo sucks, but I followed through on my previous "promise".  [Photo by me.] 

Between Surl and Allensville, I pointed out the "Deep Creek" sign to Harvey.
Probably only the second time I've ever been able to do that.
Harvey reacted as one would hope:
"as in 'up a deep creek without a paddle'."
Some classic, old-time sayings still survive!

Between Allensville and the Allensville Convenience Store,
We crossed yet another creek, this one labeled Mayo Creek.
Harvey commented, "that last creek was labeled Christina Creek,
"this one is labeled Mayo Creek,
"but they've got to be the same creek."

Some post-ride research led to the following email from me to Harv:

If one zooms in on the road between Surl and Allensville and again between Allensville and Denny's Store, and then follow the paths of the creeks, one can learn some interesting things:

1.  Deep Creek.

Deep Creek that we crossed while on Mollie Moonie Rd feeds into the Flat River.  The Flat River and the Little River make the Neuse River; but the merge of those two rivers is flooded by the man-made Falls Lake. 

The creek we crossed on Johnnie Jones Rd just before turning onto Mt. Tirzah - Surl Rd is that same Deep Creek.  The first creek we crossed on Johnnie Jones feeds into Deep Creek.

2.  Christina (?) Creek

I recall that is the name of the last creek just before we got to Allensville.  It feeds into Mayo Creek about a quarter-mile west of where we crossed it.

3.  Mayo Creek

You'll recall mentioning that you figured Christina Creek and Mayo Creek were the same creek, but see immediately above, or zoom in on the RWGPS map.

Mayo Creek is the main water source for Mayo Lake.  Mayo Creek & Lake feed into Dan River / Kerr Lake / Roanoke River.

4.  Tar River.

The Tar River appears to originate about two-and-a-half miles north of Denny's Store Rd.  It obviously is the main river / creek of the Tar / Pamlico River watershed. 

 

That makes that area near Allensville rather interesting:  we were in three different major NC watersheds in less than seven miles of our ride.  Take out the 2-mile round trip to the store and back, and it is three different major NC river systems in less than five miles.

Harvey was impressed when the clerk at the Allensville control asked,
"How is your ex-wife doing?"

Outside, we made use of the bench for a few minutes,
While I explained that Lynn had befriended the clerks and many of the locals,
And a couple of them enjoyed teasing me when I would arrive 5 to 10 minutes after Lynn.
Most memorably, one bench-peep remarked, "here he is, only half-an-hour later."
Making local, non-cycling friends:  an irreplaceable side of using paper brevet control cards. 

Nineteen or twenty minutes after leaving the Allensville control:

Not quite the perfect angle for that shot, but close.  [Photo by me.]

The Denny's Store shot was the last intended photo of the day,
However, on Old Roxboro Rd, about half a mile before the turn onto US-158,
There was a large turtle on the road.

I called out to Harvey, who was leading, "turtle rescue time!"

Risky road position.  [Photo by me.]

Moving.  [Photo by Harvey.]

Turtle rescued.  [Photo by me.] 

On to the control in Berea.
Where we each took advantage of the 2 hotdogs for $2.
Also took advantage of the air conditioning since the overcast had burned off
And it was getting hot.

Onward to the finish.
Interrupted by stop in Stem for Harvey to get some water
Because he had gotten a Coke in Berea, but forgot to get any water.

Harvey hammered the last 8 miles.
Those 8 miles hammered me.
=================================
This was my 29th time completing the rando Denny's Store Sortie.
[There's also about 3 times I did the route pre-rando.]

Harvey probably first rode with me and the Irregulars circa 2008,
But he only joined RUSA this year.
His RUSA history is completely revealed here:
 
H__, Harvey F | Bicycle For Life Club | 933057

Cert No.	Type	Km	Date	Region	Route	Time	Medal
2017	Annual Total: 543 km
RUSA-T69494	RUSAT	205	2017/02/11		NC: Road to Hicksboro	10:32
567449	ACPB	200	2017/02/18	NC: High Point	Lumberton - Roseboro - Delway 200k	11:05
RUSA-T73185	RUSAT	138	2017/07/04		NC: Denny's Store Sortie	07:08
Grand Total	543 kms

But don't be confused:
Harvey completed the Assault on Mt. Mitchell for the 4th time earlier this year.
He messed up his rear derailleur on Bill's Hill, but
Lucky for him, someone there knew how to transform his bike into a single-speed, and
He completed Mitchell thusly.

Photo refuses to flip to the better landmark orientation.  [Photo by Harvey.]

NC Mondial Awardees

Several days after my Memorial Day rescue of my (recently restarted) R-series, I realized that the kilometers credited for that ride put me over 50-thousand credited kilometers for all RUSA events.  Although 50-thousand is 10-thousand more than the Mondial, surpassing 50K-kms got me to thinking about the entire North Carolina Mondial Awardee peloton.

I don't have much to type, except maybe a comment or two for some of the 16 North Carolina residents plus the 3 Tidewater randonneurs.  [Tidewater RBA Keith used to do almost all his brevet riding at the Raleigh Region brevets, before he created the Tidewater Region.  Ron has done a fair number of Raleigh brevets; even Jacob, too.  Additionally, as I understand it, many of the Tidewater area Permanents have more distance in North Carolina than they do in Virginia, so most of the Tidewater randonneurs are likely spending more time in North Carolina than in Virginia on many or most of their rides.]

 
First North Carolinian to Mondial?  Mike Dayton, of course, late in 2010.  Certainly every NC rando, perhaps most RUSA randos wherever they live, and many randonneurs from around the globe know Mike.  So many firsts in NC rando history.  Although I personally have not seen Mike on the bike since Feb-20-2016, I know that he has done some "get back in the saddle" rides, some rando rides (perm-pops), and that he has registered for a local, large, non-rando ride in mid-August. 

			Kms as of
Name	RUSA #	State	07/02/17		First Ride		Mondial
Mike D__	1609		82,809		4/13/2002		12/23/2010

 
Dean and Jerry attained Mondial status in 2012.  Joel and Rex in 2013.  Dean was tackled by a dog in late 2015, which resulted in the breaking of his K-Hound streak, and it appears that Dean is now mostly concentrating on a couple other hobbies that he loves, esp. chess.  Jerry seems to have backed off this year on collecting a lot of rando kms.  Joel has backed off on his rando riding -- a couple years ago he did five Super Rando series in one year -- crazy.  Rex seems to be taking a bit of a hiatus since earlier this year.

			Kms as of
Name	RUSA #	State	07/02/17		First Ride		Mondial
Dean F__	4070		76,909		2/23/2007		6/16/2012
Jerry P__	3525		77,107		4/8/2006		8/29/2012
Joel L__	692		68,346		4/3/1999		3/9/2013
Rex C__	4015		50,736		3/31/2007		8/21/2013

Mary, Tim, Mick, and Ron all attained Mondial status in 2014.  Mary and Mick each appear to have retired from rando.  Tim and Ron each appear to have recently cut back on their rando riding. 

			Kms as of
Name	RUSA #	State	07/02/17		First Ride		Mondial
Mary F__	3459		44,400		4/15/2006		3/15/2014
Tim L__	6016		66,458		2/6/2010		5/3/2014
Mick H__	6169		54,100		11/5/2010		6/1/2014
Ron M__	2916	VA	50,074		9/24/2005		9/20/2014

Lynn, Jacob, Ian, Bob, Keith and I all attained Mondial status in 2015.  Lynn is riding again, subsequent to being bashed into on Feb-20-2016; however, she says she has no plans to do any randonneuring in the future.  Jacob has been sidelined since late last year due to a multi-use path encounter; but I hear that he may be getting back into the swing of things, cycling-wise.  I don't know what to type regarding Keith.  Ian is a riddle wrapped in an enigma -- reduced rando riding with a one year old child the focal point of his life -- but I suspect that he might rip off a few 1000-k brevets any time, anywhere -- or some other silly, long ride or combinations thereof.  Bob continues to accumulate rando kms, training for PacTour tours.  As for me:  no comment, except I cannot recall whether I planned it, or if it was just serendipity, but the ride that put me beyond Mondial status occurred on my birthday. 

Okay, I do know something to type concerning Keith.  If one carefully looks at his history, one can see that he arranged his rides such that when he completed the ride that got him to Mondial status, his Lifetime RUSA kms came to exacly 40-thousand. 

			Kms as of
Name	RUSA #	State	07/02/17		First Ride		Mondial
Lynn L__	5519		52,789		4/4/2009		5/23/2015
Jacob A__	7199	VA	48,295		12/4/2011		5/30/2015
Ian H__	6176		54,677		4/10/2010		6/6/2015
Bob B__	5843		64,133		1/2/2010		6/19/2015
Martin S__	6218		50,999		4/10/2010		7/9/2015
Keith S__	3721	VA	49,301		3/15/2008		9/5/2015

Robert, Byron, and Bryan all attained Mondial status in 2016.  Bryan arranged Perm rides in order to get to exactly 40-thousand kms, and then go on hiatus as he spends time as a father for his one year old child.  Byron has been doing this rando thing longer than any of the others mentioned in this post, but he has always had a rational approach to time spent randonneuring.  Byron is also the second youngest mentioned in this post.  Ricochet Robert, along with Byron, is planning to do the Land's End - John O'Groats ride in Britain this summer.

			Kms as of
Name	RUSA #	State	07/02/17		First Ride		Mondial
Robert B__	6628		46,097		1/15/2011		3/6/2016
Byron M__	621		43,642		2/6/1999		7/9/2016
Bryan R__	5746		40,000		11/1/2009		12/3/2016

Geof is the only North Carolinian so far in 2017 to attain Mondial status.  Geof seems to have been hibernating of late, but appears to have recently gotten back on a rando bike at least once or twice.

			Kms as of
Name	RUSA #	State	07/02/17		First Ride		Mondial
Geof S__	5350		40,259		5/24/2009		5/7/2017

Of note is that six of the above mentioned randonneurs are members of the NC-2010-rookie-class.  However, only four of us are currently active.

I don't know who might be the next North Carolinian(s) to Mondial.

Jul-01: 3M (Morrisville - Moncure - Merry Oaks) 107

Bob lost mental track of what Populaire(s) he had ridden in March and April, and
Rode only his Ala Orange perm-pop in each of those months,
Requiring him to restart his NC-P-12-Explorer-Challenge from April.
[In contrast, I was paying attention to my situation, but just wasn't motivated to ride a Pop in April, 
So my regular P-12 and NC-Explorer-Challenge restart from May.]

Since then, with Bob providing the impetus,
We've been picking a Populaire that we might not typically ride, and
Arranging to ride it rather earlier in the month than later.

So far:

• May-10, Dean's Get 'er Dunn (hmmn -- no story for that ride -- a previous G'eD story), 
• Jun-07, my (adopted) Bunn Wash Caper (story), 
• Jul-01, i.e., today, MikeO's 3M (Morrisville - Moncure - Merry Oaks). 

Post-ride discussion, we'll be targeting the Raleigh Region Picnic Populaire, August 19th.


To today's ride.

A bit of car trouble, I decided to cycle the 20-miles to the start.
I've done that before.
For a chase on Clyde's Curious Critters Chatham County Cycling Circuit, and
A few 200 and 300 Morrisville brevets come to mind.

I figured I should get underway by 5:15 am.
Actually got on the road about 5:25, well before Civil Twilight, esp. if one factors in the overcast.

Sandy Forks Rd has recently been rebuilt and resurfaced.
The landmarks didn't look as I remembered them to be.
I turned at the wrong intersection, onto westbound Spring Forest Rd
(Instead of continuing another quarter-mile as I should have).
I thought I had turned onto southbound Six Forks Rd;
My first thought was that I didn't recall the curve and decline,
But I figured I was just mis-remembering.

Next stop-light, I again turned left, sure that I was NOW on southbound Six Forks Rd.
Straight and no (or very little) elevation change was consistent with what I knew.
Then I saw a "Moe's" on the left side of the road; I did not recall that.
Then I saw the sign for Newton Rd ahead.
WHAT???

My senses returned, I recognized the buildings on the left-side, the west-side, of the road.
I checked traffic and made an immediate U-turn.
I checked the odometer.
It showed approx 5 1/2 miles, and I knew I was only 1 1/2 miles from where I started.
I had made a 4-mile "circle" and had been rapidly riding the wrong direction.

Fully aware now, I made some quick estimates.
If I could average 15-mph, I would arrive at the start a few minutes late, maybe on time.
I'm not in shape to average better than 15-mph on the course I needed to ride.
And the climb on St. Mary's Rd would knock my average pace considerably.
There would be only one or two other climbs that would knock me back.

Another issue that I hadn't count on was the slightly increased amount of traffic 
The 18-minute delay would entail.
The traffic wasn't a problem, except that it affected the stop-lights and navigation through them.
Unplanned minutes were lost waiting for signals to change / intermittent traffic at lights to clear.  

Transiting Cary, I noticed the dark clouds ahead of me (west).
And also the even darker clouds to the north.

Just after that, my phone beeped indicating I had received a text, but I did not look.
Turned out it was a text from Bob, worried about the drizzle at the start and the dark clouds.

After crossing Weston Parkway, but before the big decline down to Morrisville,
I got out my phone and called Bob, telling him I would be a few minutes late.
And then I promptly hung up and put the phone in my back pocket,
Just before rocketing down to Morrisville-Carpenter Rd,
Where I turned left for the final mile-and-a-half to the start.

My watch indicated 7:02 am as I rolled to a stop next to Bob's truck.
Turned out how I had covered 24.5-miles in 1h37 in-motion.  A 15.1-mph average pace.
 
Sridhar was there, ready to roll.
Yeah, I was only three minutes late, but Sridhar was already there and read to ride.
Route-owner MikeO was there with the waiver to be signed and control cards and cue sheets.
Mike gave an over-view of the route, where to expect climbs,
And, more importantly, where to expect a dawg or two.
Thanks, Mike.  (The info about the dawg(s) proved useful.)

 
Okay, to the ride proper.

Not much to indicate about the ride proper. 
Entire route on roads frequented by riders that live on that side of Raleigh.
Sridar, who lives not far from the start, indicated that he had ridden on every road of the route,
Except for Lower River Rd.
Interestingly, although I've only ridden down that direction four or five times, 
I knew of Lower River Rd (and had ridden many, but not all, the roads of the route).
Bob, who lives 50-miles away, knew of some of the roads, too, from charity rides.

Anyway, the route contained no hard climbs that I can recall,
Although I recall that in the past, the climb on NC-42 up into Corinth had seemed tough.
Gentle rollers were the order of the day,
Allowing maintenance of a reasonable pace (at least most of the time).

Keeping a reasonable pace was made easier by the overcast that lasted most of the ride,
Bringing with it lower temperatures and some occasional mist / drizzle.
Never got up to a sprinkle, let alone an actual rain.

Many groups of other riders on the roads today.
Varying in size from one to three to about a dozen or more.
Some hammering away in fast-fast pacelines,
Some dawdling along enjoying themselves,
And most every kind of pace in between.  

The only interesting thing all ride was the dawg that Mike had warned about.
Bob used his magic air-horn to stop it in its tracks, but
Instead of then running away, said dawg held its ground.
Bob dismounted.  I dismounted.
I was figuring to just walk a hundred yards or so, until the dawg lost interest and turned back.

Bob had a different plan.
He moved sharply toward the dawg, in response to which the dawg backed off a little.
Bob then picked up a rock from the gravel driveway and tossed it toward the dawg.
In response to that, the dawg skedaddled back up into its yard.

One photo on the day -- the Methodist Church in Corinth.

==================================
Rando results:
 

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: 3M (Morrisville - Moncure - Merry Oaks) / 3019	107	2017/07/01	3	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T73080	1582	S__, Sridhar	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	05:15
RUSA-T73081	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:15
RUSA-T73082	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:15

 
Saving space for personal stats.