I advertised for other riders, not expecting any "takers."
Surprise, one rider, Chet #1015, decided to join us.
For the outbound leg, anyway.
And Gilbert, proprietor of North Road Bicycles, indicated that he would meet us en-route.
Gilbert indicated his desire to meet us at the south end of the Badgett Sisters Parkway, or
Maybe even before that.
As best I can recall, we were nearly to the Yanceyville city limits when we saw Gilbert.Anyway, Bob, Chet, and I got underway at 6 am (or within a couple minutes thereafter).
Nothing much interesting happened until we were on Sawmill or Carr Store Road.
Grinding noises started coming from my bike, seemingly from near the rear wheel.
I thought maybe the chain needed lubrication and the dry chain / dry gears were grinding.
I figured to stop at the next stop sign, or
Maybe wait until the first intermediate control, at Corbett, 51.9-miles into the route,
To lube the chain, etc..
But luckily, Bob dropped back from riding with Chet, and
Almost immediately after getting behind me,
Bob indicated that there was a small pebble stuck between the brake calipers and the rear wheel.
I immediately pulled over, even though I was on a slight incline,
After all, it was a shady spot, and
Saw the pebble trapped as Bob had indicated.
The pebble had worn a groove in the rear tyre!
Slightly toward the drive side of the tyre.
A groove all the way around the virtually brand-new tyre.
Well, not brand-new, but with only approx 2200 miles on it, the tyre looked quite new.
I had to get a tool out of the back-pack to dislodge the pebble.
I wondered how much damage had been done that tyre.
How many future miles I would now get out of that tyre.
[As I type this on Aug-19, there are approx 3030 miles on that tyre.
The groove is still easily seen.
I'm thinking the tyre will likely be good for another 2000 or more miles.]
 |
| Chet and Bob at the south end of the Badgett Sisters Pkwy. Yanceyville is at the north end. Badgett Sisters Pkwy is old-old NC-62. It caresses the ups-and-downs of the terrain to get into Yanceyville; the result is a fun curving back-and-forth, up-and-down road; it almost seems as if one is in the NC mountains instead of the foothills to the foothills. [photo by skiffrun] |
Gilbert joined us for lunch at the same spot, just west of Yanceyville, that we used last year.
Just before arriving at said spot, Chet managed to get a flat tyre. Rear if I recall correctly.
When we done eating, Chet working to repair his flat, Gilbert supervising,
Gilbert may have actually laid hands on the wheel to hasten the repair,
Bob and I decided to hit the return road, knowing that Chet would soon catch us, and
He his plan all along had been to ride the outbound with us, but
To ride the homebound leg at his own, faster, pace.
Chet caught us, and passed us, while we were still on the Badgett Sisters Parkway.
Bob and I proceeded at our slower pace.
Well, we proceeded at MY slower pace.
Bob being patient enough to soft-pedal to keep the two of together.
Nothing interesting or memorable happened during the homebound leg.
Well, nothing other than dealing with the steep-ish rollers between Yanceyville and Corbett, and
The five non-trivial climbs on Kemp / Victory Church Road.
R-rides for everyone.
But only Bob is counting.
I keep missing months, and
As best I can tell, Chet has never shown an interest in an R-12.
| Permanent Route Name / # | Distance | Date | Finishers | DNF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC: Badgett Sisters Parkway (Bay Leaf Start) / 2498 | 234 | 2019/06/15 | 3 | 0 |
| Cert# | RUSA# | Name | Club / ACP Code | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUSA-T90274 | 5843 | B__, Bob | Randonneurs USA / 933095 | 13:11 |
| RUSA-T90275 | 6218 | S__, Martin | Randonneurs USA / 933095 | 13:11 |
| RUSA-T90276 | 1015 | B__, Chet | Randonneurs USA / 933095 | 12:02 |
This comment was originally made on Facebook (by me). The comment should have been incorporated into the body of the report, but ... I forgot. However, upon re-discovering today, I'm copying the FB comment here -- after all, it is easy to re-find blog posts and comments, but darn near impossible to re-find old FB posts and comments.
ReplyDeleteGilbert did meet us for lunch.
Waaayyy too much food for me to eat in one sitting.
Gonna' have to modify my plan, or at least what I order.
Great conditions outbound.
Mostly headwinds on the return.
On Kemp / Victory Church Rd, near the end, I commented to Bob that I was recalling some Triple-L slogs on those roads.
Bob mentioned his first Triple-L, in 2010, the week before his first ever 600 (on Alan's NCBC route), which was also the week after Bob's first ever 400 (on Alan's NCBC route -- yes, in 2010, Alan put on the series with a ride every other weekend !). Bob recalled that it was HOT during that Triple-L, had he recalled thinking, "I can barely finish this; how can I possibly complete a 600?"
Well, Bob has completed at least ten 600's.
Me? Not so much.
Waiting for the light to change so we could cross NC-50 and get back to the CVS at Bay Leaf, Bob asked if I thought the Badgett Sisters route was harder than Triple-L.
I replied that Tim and Geof and I had discussed that same question last year, but I'm not sure what I think.
- The middle ~ 42 miles of the Badgett Sisters routes are quite tough, with more concentrated climbing than Triple-L, but
- Triple-L is relentless in the down-and-up, up-and-down, whereas the Badgett Sisters routes seem to have more "flattish" places.