Nov-2018: "Irregular" Thanksgiving Ride(s)

Some years, but apparently not in the last five or so,
We've done a Thanksgiving morning ride around Falls Lake.

Sometimes clockwise, but the preferred Thanksgiving morning ride
Would be in the counter-clockwise direction.
Because, if it is a sunny day, and there are still leaves on the trees,
One can get a very nice view of colorful trees across the lake.

"Usual" Thanksgiving morning route.
Or, at least the core route from which some small deviations might be made.

  

Thanksgiving Morning, Nov-22 

I expected to have to work the afternoon or evening hours of Thanksgiving Day.
So I put out a call for a possible Irregulars Thanksgiving morning ride.
Sadly, there wasn't a lot of interest except for Lt. Dave and his friend Rich.

[As far as I can recall, I had never met Rich. 
However, if I recall LT's "story" correctly, 
LT and Rich kept meeting each other on their individual solo rides near Falls Lake. 
Finally, they decided to ride together, and have been doing so for a few years.]

A further unexpected development:
I was asked to work the night before Thanksgiving Day,
From 10 pm the night before until 7 am Thanksgiving morning.
The trade-off?  I would get all Thanksgiving Day off!

So, to get to the point(s):
I worked from 10 pm until 7 am, and then cycled the 1.1-mile commute to my place,
Ate some food, changed into cycling kit, and
Cycled the 5.6-miles from my housing to PUE - the usual Irregular ride gathering spot  --

[For more information on "PUE" -- see the abbreviations page.]  

To meet LT and Rich for a counter-clockwise ride around Falls Lake beginning at 9 am.

Although I rode over 4500 miles in 2018 (over 6500 RUSA kms),
I never really got into what I would refer to as "decent cycling shape."

And not being in "decent cycling shape,"
Combined with having just spent 9 hours on my feet, doing physical work,
I was significantly slower than LT and Rich.

Although they were clearly riding slower than they would have done without me along,
Early in the ride, I had to ask them to slow down "half-a-mile-an-hour."
And later, on Patterson Road, which used to have serious climbs,
But since taking up randonneuring (in 2010), the climbs have seemed less serious,
But on Thanksgiving morning, I had to soft-pedal / spin my way up the climbs in a small gear.
I'm pretty sure that I had to use the same technique on Cheek Rd, climbing away from Falls Lake,
But the moments I can still see in my mind are from the two biggest inclines on Patterson Rd.

I don't recall the exact route we took after we got south of NC-98,
But I'm embedding the standard Irregulars lake loop (clockwise -- U can reverse in your mind).
I do imagine that I must have been pretty slow on Kemp Rd and Mt Vernon Church Rd.
Because Rich INSISTED that I let him give me a lift back to my place.
(I had intended to cycle the 5.6-miles back on my own.)

Anyway, three Irregulars completed a Thanksgiving morning ride around Falls Lake.
But I don't recall if there was much in the way of sunshine.
I doubt I even noticed during the ride -- let's face it, I was rather tired from the overnight shift.
I do recall that there was not-much in the way of colorful leaves still on the trees.


Thanksgiving Sunday, Nov-25

Harvey couldn't join the Thanksgiving morning ride.
But he was planning to qualify for, and go to, PBP, in 2019,
As such, he was interested in starting to get back into cycling shape for some Jan + Feb brevets.
So, the two of us agreed to a re-do of the Thanksgiving morning ride.

One thing though:
The weather, especially the wind, was different than the ride three days before.
So, being somewhat intelligent, we decide to ride clockwise
In order to minimize the souring effects of the headwind.
[If you look at the embedded map regarding this Sunday ride, 
You won't have to reverse the course in your mind.  LOL.]

Other than that, the only thing I can recall from that Sunday ride is this:
Harvey had driven the incredibly long three-and-a-half miles from his house to PUE,
So, when we finished the ride, he had to collect his car, etc.,
While I started my post-ride cycle-commute back to my place.

Usually, I take the longer, but safer, 6.7-mile route after a ride,
Instead of using the more direct 5.6-mile routing I usually use before a ride.
[The 5.6-miles is safe early in the day, but becomes less so after people start driving around.]

But this day, I decided to see how far I would get on the 5.6-mile route
Before Harvey caught me.
Answer:  almost all the way to Six Forks Rd.
[Meaningless to non-locals, but "Irregulars" and other locals will understand.]