May-14-2022: Morrisville 400 ACP Brevet

Determined was I to complete a Super Series in 2022. 

Something that I've more often not completed than I've been successful. 

Though I had struggled mightily the first 50-miles, the 200 was in the bag. 

The 300 had become a disappointment -- it was an adventure, but clearly disappointing. 

Time for the 400 was upon us. 

 

Doug was also intending to complete the a Series. 

Doug's purpose behind doing the Series was to get a good position 

In the queue for 2023 PBP registration. 

 

On the other hand, I wanted to complete a Series as a goal in and of itself, and 

Luckily for me, RBA Alan had scheduled a second 300 one week after the 600, 

So I had hope for completing a Series despite the disappointment of the April 300.  

 

I'm confident that Doug and I had pre-arranged to ride together. 

After all, neither of us could keep up with the fast-folk.  

  

  

Due to the "fish-hook" start, there was a control about 2.5-miles into the route. 

Click here for the RWGPS map of the 2022 version of the 300. 

The following is one photo from that photo control. 

RBA Alan had released us for the start at 0600.  The timestamp on this photo is:  0617. 

 

 

After that first intermediate control at the corner of McCormick Pkwy and Davis Drive, 

Doug and I continued at a reasonable pace, but I recall nothing from the ride. 

 

I don't have any photo for the second intermediate control at Snow Camp. 

I also do not have the brevet card or notes from which I might determine 

When we got to Snow Camp. 

 

[The only "brevet cards" that I have kept are the 2023 Raleigh 600, 

Which was Alan's last event as RBA (his tenure covered 1997 - 2023), and

The card for the Raleigh June-2023 Dart-Pop, 

Which was my first event as RBA.] 

 

I don't have any recollection of stuff between Snow Camp and Siler City.  

I don't have any photos or notes for the Siler City control at approx 100k. 

I have no recollection of any happenings at the Siler City control. 

 

 

We left Siler City headed for Coleridge Rd, Erect, and Seagrove. 

Coleridge Rd:  everyone's favorite road on Alan's brevets. 

Esp. in Spring with everything green and pastures covered in flowers, and 

Higher ridges visible off to the north and to south.   

 

In addition to Coleridge Rd, between Siler City and Snow Camp, 

The route starts to get rather lumpy / hilly. 

I have always found the 1-mile climb up to get into Seagrove 

To never be a pleasant experience. 
That climb is not the steepest (or longest ?) on the 400 route, but

I think it is the most unpleasant. 

 

I didn't take any photos of the scenic sites between Siler City and Seagrove. 

Never have. 

My excuse would be that being rather slow, I'd rather use the time to pedal. 

Outbound Seagrove control with mirror selfie.  Timestamp 1346 -- meaning we had covered approx 150-kms at an elapsed pace of just 5-hours for each 100-kms.  Since I don't ride 100-km populaires much more quickly than 5-hours, and sometimes am slower than that, I should have been happy with 7h46 elapsed to cover those approx 150-kms.  
 
However, one should keep in mind that the Seagrove control would be the lunch stop, meaning significant time NOT making progress on the road. 
 
Also, the hard climbs are between Seagrove and the turn-around.  And in particular, the hardest stuff is between Seagrove and the village of Uwharrie.  To help make that point, I prepared the chart immediately below (based on the 2023 version of these same routes). 

 
 

Alan's traditional brevets	Miles	Kms	feet climbing	climb / mile
Alan's "Siler City" 200 (2023)	124.5	200.4	6138	49.3
Alan's "Seagrove" 300 (2023)	188.3	303.0	9770	51.9
Alan's "Uwharries" 400 (2023)	248.8	400.4	13855	55.7
Alan's "Wimington" 600 (2023)	373.5	601.1	6064	16.2
Alan's "Pittsboro" 110 (2023)	71.0	114.3	3325	46.8
diff:  300 - 200	63.8	102.7	3632	56.9
diff:  400 - 300	60.5	97.4	4085	67.5
400:  Seagrove-Uwharrie & return	42.6	68.6	3106	72.9
400:  River Rd out & back	17.9	28.8	979	54.7

 

When people first encounter River Rd between the village of Uwharrie and the turn-around control, they are likely to express surprise at how much climbing there is on River Rd.  Before RWGPS, etc., people expected River Rd to be more-or-less flat.  (Since the advent of RWGPS, etc., people can, if they desire, study the route before the event -- that removes some of the "surprise." 

 

 

Plenty of steep climbs between Seagrove and the turn-around. 

Most notably Flint Hill Rd and Ophir Rd. 

Flint Hill is tougher on the return than on the outbound. 

 

I forget which road / climb had recently been chip-sealed, 

Making the climb more difficult. 

Not to mention the extra care I took on that descent on the return. 

 

The other "interesting" thing(s) between Seagrove and the turn-around 

I will not type about because they fit in the "leave it on the road / in the brevet" category. 

 

No photo from the turn-around. 

And thinking about it, most controls if I got a receipt, I didn't take a photo. 

Or maybe the quality was so bad that I deleted the photo(s)? 

 

I'll finish off this post by noting that we took some extra "ditch breaks" on the return. 

We took a lot of time in Siler City to rest. 

Doug got some sleep in Snow Camp whereas I got none. 

There was some rain making the roads and ditches damp. 

We took another "ditch break" at the turn off Hamlet Chp Rd onto ____ Rd. 

I know the name of the road, but of course in the moment of typing, the name escapes. 

Doug sat on the very wet grass in the ditch, but I just stood on the side of the road. 

I pulled ahead on the decline on Jack Bennett Rd and 

Pulled into the picnic tables at Farrington Point. 

When Doug arrived a couple minutes later, I encouraged him to go on solo. 

He was hesitant because he thought we should stick together, 

He didn't KNOW the course and his Wahoo GPS unit had repeatedly failed all ride. 

However, I hadn't gotten in a nap in Snow Camp and 

I was determined to take one, or at least attempt to take one, at Farrington Point. 

 

Here a the additional photos that I have from the ride: 

Siler City control was closed on our return.  This location used to be 24/7, but stopped doing that several years earlier.  Timestamp 2314.  That means it had taken us 11 1/2 hours to cover the approx 150-kms from Seagrove outbound to Siler City inbound.  HOW could we have frittered away that much time?! 
 
To refresh our liquids and/or grab a snack, we went to the gas station / c-store on the south side of US-64.  We spent a lot of time there, sitting, resting. 

Doug taking advantage of the bench(es) at Snow Camp.  Timestamp 0101 on the 15th -- i.e., 19-hours after the start.  As mentioned above, Doug managed a nap at Snow Camp.  I was not so lucky. 

The penultimate control on McCormick Pkwy.  I had taken a nap, or had tried to, at Farrington Point, so I was alone by this point.  Timestamp 0702. 

My stead at the Finish.  Timestamp 0715/. 

 
After a short rest, I rode the 21-mile northwest route to return to north Raleigh. 
Of note on that post event commute was that approx 4-miles north of the finish, 

I crossed paths with MikeO, #215, out for an early morning ride from his place to Alan's. 

My recollection is that Mike thought I looked a bit worse for wear. 

 

I'm going to skip including a copy of the official brevet results. 

Anyone interested can look them up on the RUSA website ("RUSA.org"). 

 

I'm also going to skip including the information from my Excel ride log, 

Except for this:   289.5-total-miles including both commute rides, in  22h33 in-motion.