Aug-06: Bahama Beach 103

My plan was to ride the Denny's Store Sortie 138-km perm-pop starting at 0500.
I decided to put out a last minute advertisement.
 
BradW responded that he had taken his PBP machine in to have a cable replaced;
That he couldn't pick up the bike until 8 am;
Would I be willing to delay my start until 0900?

No, I didn't want to still be riding until 4 pm (or nearly so)
In the likely 90 degree heat.
But I would agree to do Bahama Beach, starting a 9.

Somehow, Brad managed to collect his repaired machine on Monday afternoon, and
And Monday night, the plan was again morphed.
We would do Bahama Beach, in the clockwise direction, starting at 0700.

Brad had indicated that he had missed out on several "PBP training" rides, and
That he needed some climbing practice.
He also mentioned that Bahama Beach had always been a nemesis.

In looking at his previous BB rides:
The first had been when he was a near neophyte and had few 100k rides under his belt.
The second was when he decided to do the route on a fixed-gear bike.
And the third was when he was out of shape, but looking to maintain his P-streak
As for the fourth, it was a Jan-14-2014 ride he did with Ricochet (but I was not along). 

On the other hand, I knew that Brad has been riding with some of the fast-crew,
Including on some rather long and arduous routes.
I therefore knew that I would likely have a harder time doing BB than would Brad.


After an initial delay getting started, we got underway.
Part of the initial delay was Brad discovering that he had forgotten to bring any water bottles,

We stopped at the gas station at the corner of Cheek and Burton, 13-miles into the ride,
So that Brad could acquire some water in suitable bottles to carry with him on the ride.
He also purchased some Coco water, which he completely drank before we resumed riding.

At 20.9-miles into the course, one turns off Old-75 onto Stagville Rd.
There is a bit of a flat and then a three-quarter-mile 5% climb on Stagville;
Almost everyone goes up that faster than I do -- even when I'm in great cycling shape.
After that initial climb, there is a little descent, and
Then a 1.1-mile shallow one percent climb.
I went up that shallow incline at 15, then 16, then 17, then 18-mph.
No effort.
And I caught back up to Brad.

That was almost certainly the fastest I had ridden up that shallow incline in several years.
It made me feel good. 

There is an Info Control in Bahama -- after checking the answer there,
Brad asked if I thought he could use the rest room at the church.
I said, "use the fire station."
Brad replied that he couldn't wait that long.
"It's only a quarter mile," said I.
So we rode to the fire station, where luckily, Brad was able to immediately get to the commode.

I don't know what happened, but Brad's emergency took at least 15 minutes,
Probably closer to 20 minutes to resolve.

Starting late, 10 unplanned minutes for water acquisition, 20 minutes for Brad's emergency, 
Cloud cover dissipating -- it was certainly going to hot before we finished.
[Skipping ahead:  it did get hotter than I wanted to experience.]

We paused at the turn off Range Rd onto Robert's Chapel Rd,
To reproduce a photo from several years prior.
That is, Brad standing on the self-propelled artillery gun, lifting his bike overhead.
He did pose for that photo, I did take it, but Brad must not have liked the result,
Because he did not make it available.

Photo from this 2019 ride.  [photo credit?  Brad's smartphone, snapped by me.]

This is the photo for which I was trying to get an update.  This dates from 2013 Memorial Day weekend (if I recall correctly) -- either from a pause during a Bahama Beach ride, or perhaps the following day when doing the Denny's Store Sortie -- my recollection is that this is from the Bahama ride, but I could be wrong.  [photo credit?  Brad's smartphone, almost certainly snapped by me.]

 
 
There is a "wing-it" variant one can take out of Stem,
Starting on Tally Ho Rd, then Saunders and then turning onto E. Thollie Green Rd.
Pre-rando, I used to ride that somewhat often, but
Since going rando, well, it may have been 9 years since I'd ridden that routing.

I had promised Brad that I'd include a couple variants to increase the climbing to be ridden.
I recalled that Tally Ho - E. Thollie Green variant would provide some significant climbs.
Turned out my memory was a bit off.

On the other hand, going forward, I think I'll be using this "E. Thollie Green" variant,
Instead of the "3-Hayes" variant I've been using most times I do the Bahama Beach route.

We stopped at the Grissom store to replenish cold liquids,
Before tackling the "Mangum Dairy" variant.

While at Grissom, adjusting our bottles, perhaps one of us sitting at one of the picnic tables,
Another rider came in to the store.
When he reappeared, he walked over and mentioned that the clerk
Had told him that we were riding 67-miles.

Looking into the face of the new rider, I knew that I recognized that face, but
Did not know the name to go with the face.
Almost embarrassing because he recognized me and knew my name.
Turned out it was "Dr. Phil" -- we knew each other from Irregular rides.

Checking the time, knowing that his wife would appreciate him getting home sooner, and
Recognizing that we had done a bit of climbing already, and
There was the Ghoston - Peed - Mt. Vernon finishing climbs ahead of us,
[Phil chuckled when he heard the G - P - MV routing, quipping, "of course."] 
We decided to skip the "Mangum Dairy" variant and head straight to the finish.

I asked Phil if he would like to ride back with us.  He did ride back with us.

Brad led the way for a mile or so, then
I decided to try to do an old-fashioned "Bruce Garner - New Light" time trial.
So I passed Brad and picked up the pace, or at least I tried to pick up the pace.

Brad and Phil settled in behind me.
Clearly not working very hard to keep up.
They were riding side-by-side conversating.

They did pass me after two or three miles, on one of the bump-ups, but
As soon as the incline was crested, I re-took the lead, and
Stayed in the lead to the bottom of Ghoston, where the other two passed me.
That had been my plan -- try to force some pace / gettiing in shape
On my traditional Bruce Garner - New Light time trial to more-or-less finish the ride.

Phil split off from us when Brad and I turned on Norwood toward the CVS.
I wonder when, or if ever, I will again see Dr. Phil.


Brad rescued four turtles on the day.
He took a photo of each.
 
The first was on Robert's Chapel Rd -- I got him to text the photo to Lynn.
The second was only about 100 yard further along on Robert's Chapel Rd.
He tried to text that one to Lynn, too, but he had no cell signal. 

The third was on Little Mountain Rd, just after the turn off Range Rd.
The fourth, well, I don't recall the road for sure, maybe it was on Tally Ho Rd.

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bahama Beach / 1404	103	2019/08/06	2	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T91770	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:42
RUSA-T91771	8218	W__, Bradley J.	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	05:42

This was Brad's fifth time doing the Bahama Beach perm-pop.
I hope he got enough climbing to be of training use for his upcoming PBP ride. 
  
This was my 74th completed ride on the Bahama Beach route.
Some clockwise.
Some counter-clockwise.
Some using the standard route.
Most, in recent years, making use of one or more variants.