IvaHawk and I drove over to Durham to do the Hurdlin' Hill 106k perm-pop.
The route starts in/near downtown Durham and exits town via
Duke University Rd, Cameron Blvd, and NC-751.
The only part of the course that I found disconcerting is the bridge over the RR tracks just before the north end of NC-751 and the supposed turn for a few yards on US-70-Business. There are no shoulders on that bridge, meaning no bail-out for a cyclist should it become prudent of bail-out. That same bridge bothered me back when I was a runner (no bicycle), lived just off NC-751, and did a lot of running in and around Duke Forest.
I refer to the supposed few yards on US-70-Bus because I think a wise cyclist doing the outbound leg would not bother to get onto US-70, but would instead use the wrong shoulder for those 10-or-so yards to get onto Old-NC-10. (Google-street-view) Okay, so the supposed distance is more akin to 30 yards than 10 -- I still think it wise to check the traffic and use the shoulder and "other stuff" on the south side of US-70-Bus to get to Old-NC-10.
The most notable climb outbound and inbound are on Pleasant Green Rd.
I first experienced Pleasant Green Rd when doing a Durham Habitat for Humanity 100k.
It was notable for me then, back in the 90's.
I recall LL -- this was before we were married -- reporting that fast-folk
Commented aloud at the start (in downtown Durham) when they saw that
Pleasant Green Rd was on the cue sheet for that ride.
Other than Pleasant Green Rd, the rollers / hills were more-or-less pleasant experiences.
[Hmmn -- see how I constructed that sentence?]
I recall that IvaHawk and I had a mostly pleasant ride and time.
Though Iva may have wanted to cuss me some for being faster on certain climbs;
In particular, the one on Pleasant Green Rd on the return.
Some photos from the ride (NOT all of them are from controls!!):
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| Durham co-op; both steeds + IvaHawk fiddling with his machine. A sizeable communal parking lot "around back." Timestamp 0816. |
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| At or near the apex of the Pleasant Green Rd climb. Cool in the shade on a warm and humid day -- at least I recall it was warm, and being late May, it might have been humid, but maybe not -- and I'm not going to bother to search the weather almanac sites to find out. Timestamp 0928. |
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| At or near the apex of the Pleasant Green Rd climb. This photo is better composed than the one above with most of the pic being the asphalt of the road, and as a result, this pic is much more pleasing to the eye. Timestamp 0928. |
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| A third photo from at or near the apex of the Pleasant Green Rd. This scene is just to the right of the scene immediately above -- a clever person could knit the two together to make somewhat of a panoramic presentation. Timestamp 0928. |
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| Hurdle Mills -- the turn-around control. 1055. That's my steed leaning against that pole + one can see that this is actually a mirror selfie (look at the window reflection). Also, notice that one can also see IvaHawk reflected in the window. |
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| Back at the Durham co-op for the finish. My machine holding up the building. 1358. Total difference between the first photo and the finish = 5h42 elapsed. As I type this, I wonder what I entered into the official RUSA database via the online process. |
Info from my Excel ride log:
- Hurdling Hills Perm-Pop (Durham to Hurdle Mills & return),
- w/ IvaHawk,
- 65.8-miles; 4:43 in-motion; 13.9-mph avg while in-motion.
My record from the RUSA website:
| RUSA-T106468 | RUSAT | 106 | 2022/05/29 | NC: Hurdling Hills | 05:42 |
IvaHawk's record from the RUSA website:
| RUSA-T106485 | RUSAT | 106 | 2022/05/29 | NC: Hurdling Hills | 05:44 |
And that is my report for this ride, and I'll be sticking to it.
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