Sep-04-2021: Centenary 200 Pre-ride

I had committed to RBA Alan that I would help him on the 11th, the scheduled day of the Centenary 200. 

My help would mostly consist of making Alan's garage suitable for gathering inside. 

I may have also been committed to assisting in going to the grocery for "burger burning" supplies. 

 

BobB may have had a conflict early on the 11th, 

So he rode with me as a ride-along-partner. 

 

We had a pretty good ride. 

Here immediately follows the info from my Excel log, 

And that will be followed by the photos I took that day. 

Boring photos, mostly taken at the controls, instead of possibly interesting stuff along the route. 

 

• commute to the start in Morrisville: 
• 0535 start, 19.4-miles, 1:18 in-motion, (U figure out the avg pace). 
• bike confuser must have dropped some distance 
• as it should have recorded 19.6-miles.  Hmmn. 
• Morrisville - Snow Camp - Siler City and retrace to return: 
• Alan modified the starting few miles of the route as compared to earlier in the year because of significant road re-construction on Morrisville-Carpenter Rd (the historic start routing).  And interesting thing:  people so much preferred the new start location and routing because it reduced the traffic on the start / finish that the modified start location, start routing, and finish routing were adopted as the new standard. 
• The modified routing added a couple kms and that proved useful as other new roads would have otherwise meant the brevet route would have been short.   
• start approx 0712, actual elapsed ~ 10h45 
• 125.4-miles,  8:51 in-motion, (U figure out the avg pace) 
• bike confuser appears to have dropped some distance; 
• RWGPS shows 125.7-miles. 
• total ride on the day: 
• 144.8-miles,  10:09 in-motion, and that works out to be 14.3-mph avg pace. 

 

Photo essay: 

Bob + RBA Alan at the start -- I don't know what they were looking at -- obviously not me.  Timestamp 0707. 

Photo control only two or three miles into the course -- required because the new routing definitely had a an obvious U-shape with the potential for short-cutting.  Timestamp 0724. 

Boring photo of the front of the Snow Camp control, approx 50-miles into the route.  Timestamp 1108. 

Siler City "Park n shoP" control -- the turn-around.  Bob walking toward the store's door and my steed leaning against the front wall.  Timestamp 1216.  Hmmn, over an hour since we had arrived at Snow Camp.  That suggest a headwind from Snow Camp to Siler City.  Also, it had gotten quite warm by the time we arrived at this control. 

"Artistic" view of Snow Camp for the afternoon control.  Timestamp 1333.  

I insisted that Bob "model" his PacTour kit that he wore for this ride.  I have been teasing him ever since he did his first PacTour whenever he wears some PacTour kit.  The tease is "there you go again, trying to intimidate me!"  Bob always guffaws.  Timestamp 1335 (i.e., photo taken at Snow Camp). 

 

Gotta' prove we rode the U-shaped finish routing.  Harris Teeter PM control.  Bob with his steed and mine hiding in the shade of the building.  Timestamp 1739. 

At the finish.  Timestamp 1757. 

 

This seems a reasonable place to record all the finishers of this pre-ride and the results on the scheduled day of the event: 

Region	Club	Type	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Raleigh	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	ACPB	200	2021/09/11	11	1

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time	Medal
797166	6628	B__, Robert D	Randonneurs USA / 933095	12:09
797167	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 940095	10:57	Y
797168	1015	B__, Chet	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	08:31
797169	3095	J__, Wes	Randonneurs USA / 933095	06:53
797170	10866	L__, Jon Brady	Carolina Tarwheels / 933047	07:42
797171	xxxxx	ID redacted	rider to not be referenced	hh:mm
797172	621	M__, Byron	Randonneurs USA / 933095	12:09
797173	12981	N__, Marshall J	Randonneurs USA / 940095	07:42
797174	6218	S__, Martin	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	10:57
797175	608	VDW, Cynthia F	Randonneurs USA / 910095	08:31	Y
797176	5392	W__, Jack	Randonneurs USA / 933095	09:43

 
Robert and Byron times are the result of deciding to stick with a particular well-known local randonneur that had a VERY difficult day (and ultimately decided to DNF).  The entire crew listed above in the official results waited in Alan's garage at the finish for those last three and were disappointed that the DNF rider had to DNF. 

 

I recall that everyone waited for Robert and Byron to retrieve said rider from several miles before the finish-line.  That rider may have been a bit embarrassed but he needn't have been; he had a lung infection and his breathing was quite labored that day.  Besides, that rider had led all of us locals, and all RUSA randos, on many aspects of randonneuring. 

 

That's my lame story for this ride.  I will be sticking to it.