Tuesday, April 23, 2019

September-2018: More Fun on Some Pops

A day or two after completing the Denny's Store ride (see previous post), Hurricane Florence made landfall in southeastern North Carolina / eastern South Carolina as a Cat 1 hurricane.  [For any cyclist that might read this and is not familiar with hurricane ratings, hurricanes are categorized according to the sustained winds of the storm.  Unlike racing cyclists, Cat 1 is the lowest ranking and Cat 5 is the highest ranking.]

Usually, once a hurricane makes landfall, or comes near the coast but remains offshore, the steering currents of the jet stream and associated weather patterns quickly accelerate the hurricane and within a couple or three days the storm is leaving Maine or even Newfoundland behind.  However, Florence made landfall and stalled out, wandering in a small circle, bringing rain, rain, RAIN and MORE RAIN to southeastern North Carolina and nearby areas.  The Cat 1 storm brought so much rain that SIGNIFICANT flooding resulted which inflicted more damage than Cat 3 storms and even some Cat 4 hurricanes.

Florence finally moved out of southeast NC on about September 17th.  Rando buddy BobB, #5843, and I undertook the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" 104-km perm-pop on the 19th.  My Excel log includes a note "check roads after hurricane."  I wonder if I actually thought that was one of the purposes of the ride.

We started the ride at 0600, and rode a passably camaraderie pace, taking 2h15 in-motion for the outbound / northbound leg.  Sorry, but neither Bob nor I use a GPS device; we do not record / keep track of our rides on RWGPS nor Strava nor anywhere other than the RUSA database and our personal logs -- actually, I'm not sure that Bob keeps any personal log records.  My personal log is an Excel workbook where I record total distance, time in-motion, perhaps a comment or two, and often note the rando elapsed time (but that last is not really necessary as the elapsed time is what RUSA keeps).  Neither Bob nor I keep our control cards as souvenirs or whatever -- the result of each of us having attained RUSA Mondial status (and K-Hound status) -- in other words, we've done so many RUSA rides that keeping the paper would be ridiculous.  So, since we do not keep our control cards, I can't be sure how much elapsed time it took to get to the outbound control (which is just east of Oxford, NC).

[Let me be clear:  although I have been the beneficiary of being allowed to use EPP (in the form of pics taken at the controls and immediately texted to the route-owner), I prefer the paper control cards to the EPP methods for proof of passage.  Using the paper, signed or initialed by store clerks, or obtaining store receipts, forces one to get off one's steed and interact with the locals -- clerks and visitors -- becoming an ambassador for all cyclists, and possibly forming a type of acquaintanceship with the clerk(s) and / or locals (click here for an example).  I just don't keep the paper after the ride -- neither does Bob.]

The return leg took 2h13 for a total in-motion time of 4h28.  The RUSA website indicates a total elapsed time of 4h57.  Most of the 29-minutes of stoppage / pausage time was almost certainly time taken at the turn-around control; the remainder of the stoppage time would have been from the several stop-lights and stop-signs en route.

Not much of a story, but it is mine, and I'll stick to it.  After all, I reckon that Bob and I had an enjoyable half-day on our respective steeds.

Permanent Route Name / #Distance Date Finishers DNF
NC: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf / 2259 104 2018/09/19 2 0
Cert# RUSA# Name Club / ACP Code Time
RUSA-T84355 5843 B, Bob Randonneurs USA / 933095 04:57
RUSA-T84356 6218 S, Martin Randonneurs USA / 933095 04:57

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

Bunn Wash Caper 108-km 'free route' on the 22nd  

Bob, IvaHawk, and I had done the "Bunn Wash Caper" earlier in the year,
July 18th to be exact.
Amazing, I thought I had written a blog post about that July ride.
But, no.

Well, then, just a few words about July 18th.
Bob, IvaHawk, and Sridhar had enjoyed riding the Bunn Wash Caper on Jun-07-2017.
So, Bob and IvaHawk and I decided to do the route again.
In 2017, we had ridden on a Wednesday morning, with an 0700 start.
We thought there had been just a bit more traffic early on that we would have preferred. 


Permanent Route Name / #Distance Date Finishers DNF
NC: Bunn Wash Caper / 2122 108 2018/07/18 3 0
Cert# RUSA# Name Club / ACP Code Time
RUSA-T82874 7702 A, Iva C Randonneurs USA / 933095 05:42
RUSA-T82875 5843 B, Bob Randonneurs USA / 933095 05:42
RUSA-T82876 6218 S, Martin Randonneurs USA / 933095 05:42
 
So, for the July-2018 ride, we started at 0600.
That earlier start led to a significant decrease in the traffic for those first half-dozen miles.
A lesson learned. 
[Btw, the traffic in 2017 -- I'm confident that those from more urban regions 
Would have thought there was next to no traffic. 
But our routes here, or most of them, are quite rural with VERY little traffic, and
That is what we like.] 

When Mick, #6109, and I created the Bunn Wash Caper route,
I recall mentioning that I had never ridden Pilot-Riley Rd, and
Looking at the map, we judged that taking Pilot-Riley would give the
Same distance as taking Johnsontown Rd,
So we routed the Bunn Wash Caper standard route on Pilot-Riley
To NC-39 to Maille Pearce Rd and thence onto Pine Ridge Rd.



However, I'm quite sure that each of the previous times that I had done the BWC,
That I had not turned onto Pilot-Riley, but had continued on to Pearces Rd,
Then onto Johnsontown Rd, then straight across NC-98, and
Then onto Pine Ridge Rd.

After doing the above referenced July-2018 ride,
I looked carefully at the standard documents, cue sheet and the RWGPS map, and
Discovered I had recalled the route incorrectly.
[I had thought that Johnsontown Rd was the standard routing, and 
I had never bothered to check the cue sheet to confirm.]

Not only was I incorrect in recalling the correct standard route,
It turned out that the Johnsontown Rd routing is shorter than the Pilot-Riley routing.

However, I get ahead of myself.
Bob and I did this ride with several purposes,
One of which was to ride Pilot-Riley Rd and see what it offered.
Another was to thus to ride NC-39 on a Saturday and see what the traffic was like.
[The immediate above because on the July-2018 ride, a Wednesday ride,
It had taken several minutes to cross NC-39 because the morning rush hour traffic 
Had "ping-ponged" us, coming first from one direction, then the other, repeatedly.]
We may also have been riding for P-12 purposes, and / or K-Hound accumulation.

The Saturday morning traffic onNC-39 was okay, but
I concluded that I'd rather just worry about crossing straight across,
Especially on a weekday.

So, I traded a flatter Pilot-Riley Rd with some quite nice homesteads
For Johnsontown Rd with a noticeable valley crossing,
Reducing the official length of the route.

Another reason for riding was to find out if the detour due to bridge re-destruction
On Seven Paths Rd just north of Spring Hope was still in effect.
It was.
So, once again, we rode the Spring Hill Rd detour around the 7-Paths bridge out.

And when checking the RWGPS maps after this September ride,
I definitely concluded that Spring Hill Rd is shorter than staying on Seven Paths.
So, I changed the routing of the standard course to use Spring Hill Rd.

The combined changes have reduced the official distance for
The Bunn Wash Caper 'free-route' from 108 to 105 kms.

However, next time I ride the BWC,
I figure I'll ride Seven Paths the entire distance, and
I'll recommend the same to others that decide to give the course a go.



Oh, just a word about the ride that Bob and I had:
It was an enjoyable ride.
I recommend the Bunn Wash Caper to everyone looking for a fun half-day on the bike.
  
Permanent Route Name / #Distance Date Finishers DNF
NC: Bunn Wash Caper / 2122 108 2018/09/22 2 0
Cert# RUSA# Name Club / ACP Code Time
RUSA-T84415 5843 B, Bob Randonneurs USA / 933095 05:07
RUSA-T84416 6218 S, Martin Randonneurs USA / 933095 05:07
  
=====================================

Sep-23rd "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" 104-km Ride. 

I was feeling good after the Bunn Wash Caper on the 22nd,
So I did a solo "Oxford" ride the next day.

Solo, except that I picked up a local serendipity rider for some of the ride.

I recall NOTHING from the ride,
Except that lights and reflective gear were needed for the 6 am start, and
That I enjoyed the ride.

Recalling NOTHING is why I need to get back to blogging my rides immediately afterward.

My Excel log indicates:
  • 2h12 in-motion time outbound, and 
  • 2h01 in-motion time on the return, and 
  • a total rando elapsed time of 4h24, 
  • Meaning only 11 minutes of control and other stoppage time. 
  
Permanent Route Name / #Distance Date Finishers DNF
NC: Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf / 2259 104 2018/09/23 1 0
Cert# RUSA# Name Club / ACP Code Time
RUSA-T84454 6218 S, Martin Randonneurs USA / 933095 04:24

I enjoyed these three late September rides.
One might expect that October would filled with more / similar rides.
 
However, I didn't do another rando ride until October 29th.
A "Raleigh-Berea-Raleigh" 109-km ride that I started at 0445.
I recall that almost the entire outbound 54.5-kms were in darkness,
Which was fine, even interesting.

And then I snuck in a reversed "Road to Hicksboro" 205-km ride on the 31st.
I just can't get comfortable with doing Hicksboro reversed.
And that is all I'm going to type about that ride.


The next ride I will blog about is the November 3rd reversed Neuse River 201-km
Ride that Bob #5843 and I did.
How long before I get around to typing that?
I dunno'.

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