May-07: Kerr Lake Loop 208

Seven-and-a-half years since last I did Kerr Lake Loop.

[I just checked out the first part of the report re:  my last KLL -- 
I vividly recall a COLD start to that ride ! ]

Bob and I did KLL on Tuesday, May 7th.
We used photo-texted Electronic Proof of Passage.
Mike indicated that it would be his first encounter with EPP.

Bob took the photo at the fire house start.
No longer Stony Hill Fire Dept -- now part of North Wake Fire Dept.
I don't currently have access to Bob's photo.
 

"Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" perm-pop routing is the same as KLL to the first KLL control.
I've done that "Oxford" route 60 times or more during the intervening years,
So there was nothing new (to me) on that opening 23-miles to the first control.

[However, during the intervening years, the closing times for controls in the first 60-kms has changed.  We had a few more minutes to successfully get to the KLL Oxford control than when last I rode KLL,  We didn't need those few extra minutes, but it is nice to have them available.]  

I took the EPP photo at the KLL Oxford control:

Bob in front of both steeds in front of the Oxford control.  [photo by me]

 
 
There's an old convenience store en-route between the Oxford and Boydton controls.
I had stopped there only once -- on my last KLL, because Mary and Bryan insisted.
The fast-crew always seemed to stop there.
I never had because it was always in the midst of when I would be rolling along quite nicely, and
I never wanted to unnecessarily break my slow-guy momentum.

On this ride, Bob and I decided to stop and check out the state of that old store.
We ended up stopping for about 20 minutes of faff-time while drinking selected beverages.


We had crossed over the Kerr Lake Dam (we did not stop to take a photo), and
Were on Mays Chapel Rd when my phone rang.
It was High Point Region RBA TonyG,
Looking for a bit of extra help on the Carolina Spring 1200 which started in just a couple days.

I had to work every day of the CS-1200, so I was of no help to Tony.
Bob, on the other hand, was able to help out on the first day, the second day?
One of those.

Tony's call was not the most interesting thing we encountered on Mays Chapel Rd.
The most interesting was that the road was being re-surfaced.
Chip and seal style.

It was an interesting process.
The vehicles to oil the existing surface,
Spread the pea-gravel-chip, and
Press the pea-gravel into the oil
Were all in a line,
Re-doing OUR lane.

To add to your impression:
They were chip-sealing the northbound lane of Mays Chapel Rd,
But the vehicles were southbound. 

One minute, the old surface;
The next, the new surface.

We rode most of Mays Chapel Rd in the wrong lane;
It had not yet been re-surfaced.
[My guess is that when the vehicles got to the end of the road, 
They turned around and did the other lane.] 

The chip-sealing process had started at the corner with Phillis Rd,
So once we got to that corner, we no longer had to deal with fresh oil and pea gravel chip-seal.


The ride on Phillis Rd was, as always, one of my favorite parts of the KLL.
Rollers of a size to my liking.
And just enough wiggling back-and-forth to keep ir interesting.

The area around the courthouse statue looked more-or-less the same as 7 years before.
I'm confident that some of the local businesses may have changed, but we didn't look.
I took the Boydton Info Control photo:

Bob, and a hint of his bicycle, in front of the Boydton Info Control statue.  [photo credit to me]

After snapping the Boydton photo, we made the left turn on to Madison St / US-158-Business.
Only to find more road / street re-surfacing.
Madison St was closed to traffic (but you gotta' know that two randos were NOT stopped).

The entire length of Madison St had been scraped and cleaned and
It appeared the crew(s) would soon begin putting down fresh asphalt.
We caromed around the gaps between the concrete surfaces and the crew, and
We were on the "Road to Skipwith" without delay.

Oh, one thing more about Madison St.:
The convenience store on the south side of the street, a couple blocks from the statue:
It appeared to be closed / out-of-business.  Permanently.


The road to Skipwith includes what I used to refer to as the "___ Wall."
[And, of course, at the moment when I need to, 
I cannot recall the name of that dang Japanese ground cover that takes over everything.
Aargh!!]

Well, anyway, I recall that both sides of the road on that little wall are still covered
With that same obnoxious weed.

Downtown Skipwith looks the same.
One main difference is that the old gentleman that used to man the store all the time,
He is still alive and kicking,
But does not spend his days manning the store.
That job has been taken over by a younger female relation.
She, however, seemed to be mostly doing outside chores,
Which she would interrupt to provide service to the few customers.

We took more time sitting on the steps of the Skipwith store,
Drinking and / or eating than was strictly necessary.
But we were enjoying ourselves, so the time did not matter.
 
Bob took the Skipwith photo, and I do not currently have access to it.


The Road to Clarksville (mostly Wilbourne Rd) was mostly pleasant.
I did feel it appropriate to ramp up the pace for the 1.5-miles on US-15 / VA-49.
Luckily that section is mostly downslope.

Crossed the old US-15 causeway / bridge into Clarksville.
Rode passed the McD's and some other potential food stops,
In order to ride across the big parking lot at mile-81.2 to the hidden Subway sandwich shop.

The Subway shop had double its size in the intervening 7 years.
It was much easier to find a table -- not that it ever was difficult.

Bob and spent much more time over lunch and chatting than was strictly necessary.
Btw, don't ask what we chatted about.
I do not recall.
And I'm confident that I wouldn't have remembered by the time we finished the ride.

Clarksville is NOT a control, so we took no photo.


The Road to Stovall, actually several roads, are both interesting and boring.
The roads in Virginia is interesting.
Grassy Creek Rd in North Carolina can be interesting or boring.
I have always found that on a HOT day, Grassy Creek Rd seems to become interminable.
And interminable becomes almost synonymous with boring.

We stopped in Stovall, not a control, for additional cold liquids.
I'm pretty sure we rested our behinds in the gazebo there.
Almost certainly for more than was necessary.


After Stovall, one makes one's way to Mountain Rd,
To ride to and summit "Stovall Mtn," actual name is "Peace Mtn."
On this ride, I seemed not to notice even the steep part of the climb to the summit.
I do recall looking for and spotting one or two of the scenic vistas on Mtn Rd before the mtn.
Either I've put the work needed to summit out of my mind,
Or I geared down sufficiently, and simply spun my way up,
So that the climb did not make an indelible impression on me.

After the mountain, the roads to get to the final intermediate control,
Which is the same gas station / convenience store as the very first intermediate control,
Are more-or-less flat-ish.

Surprise!  I recall that Bob and I may have been relatively quick at that control.
I took the photo.

Bob and at least one of our steeds in front of the Oxford Express Mart.  I decided to get "clever" about the framing of the photo.  [photo by me]

The last 23 miles of the route are a reverse of the first.
And as mentioned above, I've done that stretch or roads umpteen times.

The main interesting parts are:
(1) the climb back up after crossing the Tar River, and
(2) the climb on Lawrence Rd.

However, as I mentioned to the Irregulars many years ago,
The climb on Lawrence Rd is a lot easier if one
Does not also face Ghoston - Peed - Mt Vernon Ch roads to complete one's ride.

I took the end-of-ride control photo:

Bob was faffing about with his bike.  I got tired of waiting and snapped this candid shot.  [photo by me]

After the ride was completed, I mentioned to Bob that the KLL route had seemed pretty easy.
That may be because the routes created and ridden in the intervening years have more climbing, or
It could be that since we took at least an hour of unnecessary sitting around chatting time,
We didn't get as tired as we might have otherwise.
I dunno'.

I do know that I sent Mike a note that we had enjoyed the ride, and
That the KLL route is an excellent one.

================================
This made my 14th successful completion of the Kerr Lake Loop.
This was Bob's 5th successful completion of the route.

I have one DNF on KLL.
I can recall a ride from years ago that Bob may have preferred to be somewhere else.
=================================
Permanent route: NC: Kerr Lake Loop / 143

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club	Time
2019/05/07 finishers=2 DNF=0
RUSA-T89376	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	11:32
RUSA-T89377	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	11:32