Jul-25: Falls Lake Loop

Three days after my previous ride, the morning temperatures were more reasonable. 

I starting riding from my abode at 0621, and 

Took the most direct route to hook up with the Irregulars Falls Lake Loop. 

[Note:  I wanted to embed the map here, but Google changes have made that almost impossible to do.] 

 

It was a calm solo ride with plenty of contemplation, etc. time as I pedaled along appreciating the day. 

In other words, it was the kind of ride, on a old, familiar friend of a course, that one wants to have every ride. 

It caught my fancy to take a couple photos. 

Same pond, from almost the same angle, as shown in the July-18 ride post.  The time-stamp on this photo is 0717, so 2 hours, 14 minutes earlier on the clock, and with solstice already passed, effectively a bit earlier "sun time" than that.  I liked the serene look of the pond, thought of the ride from a week earlier, and decided to take this photo for comparison.

Doc Nichols Rd used to have only homesteads and a couple farmsteads along it's 1.9-mile course.  In recent years, the road is becoming lined with "Del Webb" like housing developments.  This old shed/barn caught my attention on this ride.  It is opposite a housing development still under construction.  I decided to stop and take a photo before the barn and the land upon which it sits gets leveled and new houses go on it.  The time-stamp on this photo is 0730 -- only 13 minutes after the pond photo -- so, yes, the ride was developing nicely -- or would if I didn't stop every twelve or thirteen minutes to take a photo.

 
Almost always when I ride northbound on Patterson Rd, I recall that the two inclines felt as huge things to be struggled up when I started riding out that way circa 2007 or 2008.  Immediately after that thought, I always think that the inclines on Patterson became less daunting after riding the RUSA Perm "Leesville-Leasburg-Leesville" nearly 20 times and the RUSA Perm-Pop "Bahama Beach" seventy-six times and also riding the Perm "Road to Hicksboro" at least half a dozen times. 

 

While riding eastbound on Cheek Rd, my mind went back to one of the aforementioned "Bahama Beach" rides.  I had not taken the detour to check out the status of the hole in road, but I had heard that it had been decided to NOT repair the causeway.  So, I decided to go take a look.

Time-stamp 0807.  Upstream from the causeway/bridge/hole.

 

Time-stamp 0808.  My steed leaning against the barricades.

 

0808.  Real barricades behind the wooden previously shown.  Appears the hole as seen in the post linked-to above has either been filled in or is hiding behind that next section of barricades.  However, the barrels on the left of this photo suggest there is another problem,

0809.  Upstream again, from slightly further up the road.

0810.  Turned around and took a photo looking "downstream" at the lake proper.

0810.  Looking behind the barrels and over the side of the causeway at the reason the barrels are in place.  I doubt that stretch of road will be re-opening any time soon.

 
After the stop for the above photos, I continued my peaceful ride but took no further photos. 

 

My notes in my Excel file don't mention this, but in order for the total ride to come in at "only" 50-miles, I must have not turn off New Light Rd to the usual Ghoston-Peed-MVC finish to the Lake Loop, but instead continued straight on New Light, crossing NC-98 onto Six Forks Rd, and (this is noted in the Excel log) turned off to take the "Coachman's Way routing" through the neighborhood with the all the tree-shade. 
 
 

A calm, peaceful ride, with no recollections of having to deal with over-heating.  

50.0-miles, 3:42 in-motion, avg 13.5-mph, elapsed time 4h05. 

 

I do find it interesting that a calm, peaceful, no-event ride (i.e., this ride) came in with the same average pace in-motion as the previous ride (which had become a struggle and heat-induced ride leading to me being rescued).