Feb-14: "The Whirligig"

Perhaps a strange way to spend Valentine's Day, but
Bob, Iva, and I spent much of the day doing "The Whirligig" 100-km Perm-Pop in
Pursuit of our respective North Carolina Populaire Explorer Challenges.

We were joined by BridgetJ #12462 on her first randonneuring adventure.
She's retired and only been cycling about for three or five years, but
She's done some serious adventures on her bicycle.
Rode x-continent.  Rode northern Florida to the Keys two or three times.
Other stuff.  And planning a Natchez Trace ride.
She comes with the right mental attitude:  cycling should be fun.

Anyway, back to the point of this post:  "The Whirligig."
When Tim #6016 created the route, the point was the visit to the Whirligig farm.
All the gigs save one have since been moved into Wilson, but
The route is still a good ride -- if you like to ride for the sake of the ride -- which I do.
However, without the gigs en route, the popularity of the route has plummeted:
We four were the first to ride the route since mid-2016.  
[The route is mostly flat, as can be discerned from checking the listing on RUSA's website.  
I'm confident that Tim has a RWGPS map, but I didn't search for it for this post.]

We took a few photos en route and Bridget's husband took one at the finish
That she posted on Facebook, but
I didn't feel in the mood to look for and "borrow" her photo for this post, and
The ones I took -- well, yuk I changed my mind.

Iva, Bob, Bridget at the Lucama control.  Per suggestion of route owner Tim, we used EPP method of taking and texting photos.  This was the Lucama control proof, timestamped 1211 -- I think we started at 0900, or was it 0800?  [photo by me]

Last (?) intermediate control?  On Sandy Cross Road?  [photo by me]  

This photo showed up in an "Iva Facebook memory" three years after the ride and since I'm not being shy about borrowing it, and it seems better than either of the photos I took ... .  [photo by unknown]

 

There was a sometimes helpful wind during the ride, but

Just as often, the wind was a hindrance -- a noticeable hindrance!

There was some street reconstruction in Lucama, but
The construction crew was apparently at lunch when we got there, so
We rode through to get to the control just a few yards beyond the construction zone. 

In general, the four of us had an enjoyable time.
And Bob, Iva, and I look forward to riding with Bridget in the future.

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: The Whirligig / 1006	100	2018/02/14	4	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T79156	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:31
RUSA-T79157	7702	A__, Iva C	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:31
RUSA-T79158	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:31
RUSA-T79159	12462	J__, Bridget Ann	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:31

Blog posts about some prior rando Whirligig rides can be seen by "clicking-here."
And one blog post about an Irregulars Summer Solstice ride to the Whirligigs is "here."