Oct-05-2019: Bahama Beach w/ "E. Thollie Green + 3-Hayes" Variant

It took me years to get around to finally riding this 'free-route' variant,
Which I finally did on Sep-22nd with John + Ann J (their first ever Permanent!).

I always knew I'd like doing that variant, but had never gotten around to riding it.
But once ridden, I was determined to ride it again.
The opportunity to do so came on October 5th,
With my friend Iva, #7702, and Wilmington Rick, #6985.

I'm not sure if Iva and Rick-squared had ridden together recently.
I do know that Iva and I had first met Rick on June 11, 2011.
On that day, I rode MikeD's Kerr Lake Loop with Ricochet Robert, and
Iva and Rick rode with several Irregulars to Stovall and returned via "Stoval Mtn."

 Typical scene near Wilmington, NC that Rick encounters while cycling about.  [photo by Rick]

Iva had some back trouble the prior couple months, and was worried about being able to do the route.
Rick had severely broken his leg in the spring, and this was his rando come-back ride.
We therefore decided that we would ride an easy pace, but limit the stoppage time.

Side-road on the way to Stem.  [photo credit to R^squared]

Wilmington Rick had to wait for Iva and me on several occasions.
It was as if his cycling had not been interrupted by the break.
It turned out to be a good ride.

 Group selfie by Rick, taken in Stem, in front of the control.  L to R:  me, IvaHawk, Rick.

This isn't much of a story,
But as this turned out to be the last Bahama Beach ride before the demise of the Perms Program,
I wanted to type something.

===========================================
 
The first time Bahama Beach was ridden for RUSA credit was January 29, 2012.
MickH, #6169, and I completed the route in 5h24 and 5h22 elapsed, respectively.
[A couple years later, I'm confident that I would have given us the same time.] 

I rode the Bahama Beach perm-pop 76 times for RUSA credit.
That includes clockwise and reversed, the standard route and several 'free-route' variants.
My average rando elapsed time was 5h04. 

28 others completed Bahama Beach 220 times for RUSA credit.
The total average elapsed time of all riders was 5h00.

Those 296 credit completed rides were done in 170 start groups.
An average of 1.7 completed rides per start group.

 
There were 3 DNFs on the route, in 2 start-groups.
Those DNFs are not included in the 296 mentioned above,
But those DNFs are included in the 170 start-groups.

I recall both DNFs:
 
The first occurred in January-2014 when
A "newbie" tried to complete a near NC-P-12-Explorer by finishing on the route where he started.
He didn't complete BB that day because he tried to overpower the climbs despite TIRED legs.
He did complete his generic P-12 (on another course), but I think he then hung up his rando shoes.

I was one of the other two riders to DNF.
For that story, click here.


I was / am delighted that Bahama Beach was the first ever Permanent for three well-known randos:
PamelaB, #12, on February 2, 2013.
JohnJ + AnnJ, #2190 + 10504, on September 22, 2019.

I am also proud that so many local randonneurs enjoyed the route.


With the demise of the RUSA Permanents Program,
I think it unlikely that I will ride the Bahama Beach route as constituted for RUSA.
However, I am very confident that I will ride key parts of the route -- hopefully often.