Jul-09: 64+ for 64

Once a year, July 9th rolls around. 

I usually try to get in a ride on the 9th, but 

I don't always succeed. 

 

My "cycling lifetime" is rather short, 

The "lifetime" for which I have records is a bit shorter, as it dates back to only 2004. 

With luck, the following chart extracted from my Excel records will be readable. 

The chart shows what I've recorded for each July 9th beginning in 2004. 

 

2020	Jul	9	-> H'cutt-Norwood-BJP-"old'TT'course+2xColey-BJP-N'wd-Durant-H'cutt	1105, solo  --  80-90 F  --   5h28	64.9
2019
2018	Jul	9	Raleigh - Berea - Raleigh (RBR) 109	0500, solo    --     4h54    --    temp 60F@ start, chilly	67.8
2017	Jul	9	Bahama Beach 103 (3-Hayes, 65.9-m)    --    61st birthday ride	0600, solo    --     4h45	65.9
2016	Jul	9	PUE:  Irregulars Falls Lake Loop	w/ Ags, Iva, BobH    --    elapsed  2h44	38.4
2015	Jul	9	--> Oxford 104 -->	w/ LL (until Lawrence Rd inbound)    --    Oxford  4h21	77.0
2014	Jul	9	--> Oxford 104 -->	6 am start, Oxford   4h14	77.0
2013
2012
2011	Jul	9	--> PUE:  Long AFR --> Char Grill -->	w/  Smitty, Mallet    +    G + W, Doug + Karen, Kim	71.2
2010	Jul	9	BJP:  Coley-(DocN-Bap-view-Virgil)-(DocN-Kemp-Virgil)- 2/3 of Coley		54.1
2009	Jul	9	BJP:  Coley-DocN-Kemp-Virgil	northish breeze	37.1
2008
2007
2006	Jul	9	home:  Crdmr, Stem, Hester Rd, Wilton, Old Frnk, Evans, Pokomoke	coxis pain from < 30 m to 48 m	68.3
2005	Jul	9	PUE:  Falls Lake Loop		41.2
2004

 

[Okay, the above chart was readable when drafting / typing this post, but 

is decidedly not readable once published.]  

 

If I blogged a ride in the above chart, there is a link to that blog report. 

Note that the blog was begun in 2009. 

[There was a time when I blogged every ride -- within hours or days of the ride. 

But then "Serendipity" indicated strongly "leave me out of your blog." 

And another indicated that they were afraid to say anything lest that make into the blog. 

On that immediately above, I can keep a secret. 

Regardless, I've typically not blogged certain rides because of "them peoples."]

[Blogger has certainly made some/many of the edit functions more difficult.  And these are supposedly improvements.] 

=================================  

 

This July 9th, I didn't get around to riding until 11:05 am. 

Was I waiting for the heat to set in? 

That would have been stupid. 

So there must have been some other reason for the late start. 

A reason that is not being revealed here. 

 

The plan was to ride the downslope on Honeycutt Rd and turn left on Durant Rd. 

Then take Durant to Brassfield Rd and then use Coachman's Way, etc. thru the neighborhood. 

However, when I got to the Durant intersection, 

there were a couple cars behind me that were signalling that they were turning onto Durant, and 

there were two or three cars on Durant at the stop-sign ready to proceed my direction on Durant, and 

there was another brace of cars on Durant heading the opposite direction. 

But there was only one car on Honeycutt facing me. 

So, I decided to continue straight on Honeycutt with apparently less traffic. 

 

Durant is smoother and wider than Honeycutt, and has the 1.4-mile long incline 

Whereas Honeycutt has two or three climbs, each shorter than the one on Durant, but significantly steeper. 

But the thing that threw the balance to riding Honeycutt was the prospect of less car traffic. 

In case you're curious:  there was only a couple cars that passed me on the 3 addtnl miles of Honeycutt. 

 

Honeycutt T's into Possum Track Rd a half-mile from where the neighborhood route 

Crosses Six Forks Rd to get onto Norwood Rd proper. 

And making that left onto Possum Track, a straight quarter mile later, one is on Six Forks Rd. 

Distance until getting onto Norwood Rd proper is the same for the two options. 

 

Down and up on Norwood to Mt Vernon Church Rd to (near) Pleasant Union Elementary (PUE), 

Then straight onto the "flat" couple miles of Pleasant Union Ch Rd to Blue Jay Point County Park. 

 

Blue Jay Point County Park is the traditional start/finish of my old "TT/cadence" route. 

I snapped a pic of the water fountain at BJP to provide proof that the fountain was operating. 

 
It was 10.5-miles from my start to the water fountain. 

That allowed me to confirm my pre-ride calculations: 

• 10.5-miles to BJP, plus 
• 29.6-miles of the "TT/cadence" course, plus 
• 7.3-miles, twice down and up Coley Rd -- once outbound, once inbound, plus 
• 10.5 miles from BJP back to the start/finish location. 
• That would give me just over 65-miles for the entire ride, and that would suffice. 

I noted that I covered the 10.5-miles to the water fountain in 45-minutes in-motion. 

Four climbs in that 10.5-miles had reduced my avg pace to only 13.8-mph. 

[Well ... the first mile had been on sidewalks, where the avg pace had only been ~ 11-mph. 

So, I had likely avg'd approx 14.2-mph after that "sidewalk mile."]

 

Following the "TT" course, I retraced the 2.5-miles to get back to PUE and Mt Vernon Ch Rd. 

MVC is a short mile down, followed by some steep up and then a more gentle(?) incline to NC-50. 

[My friend "Snapper" used to complain about that when Irregulars rides started from PUE.] 

 

After crossing NC-50, the "TT/cadence" route is flat-tish for 8-miles until Doc Nichols Rd. 

["Flat-tish" -- ha!  I grew up in a true FLAT-land, would have thought it wasn't flat-tish back then.] 

 

However, that 8-miles was interrupted after 5+ miles for the side-trip down and up on Coley. 

On this ride, that meant turning onto Coley Rd after riding 20.2-total-miles in 1h27 in-motion: 

Avg pace to that point therefore 13.9-mph (and the 9.7-miles from BJP avg'ing that pace). 

 

It took half-an-hour for me to ride the 7.3-mile round-trip on Coley. 

That suggests and avg pace of 14.6-mph for that segment, and 

The avg pace for the total 27.5-miles to that point was 14.1-mph. 

 

[You might be thinking that this report is all about the distances and avg pace of the ride. 

Well, that is the case. 

Because that is what I was paying attention to during the ride. 

That is, I was trying to push my pace a bit to get in better habit of going a little harder/faster.] 

 

On the "TT/cadence" course, it is right at 10-miles from Coley to get back to Coley Rd. 

That 10-miles includes: 

• The false-flat slight decline on Leesville Rd, then 
• The fun downslope 1.9-miles on Doc Nichols (in 6-minutes or slightly less), then 
• A one-mile gentle incline on Olive Branch Rd -- gentle(?) -- sometimes not so gentle, then 
• Half-a-mile flat section on NC-98, followed by 
• 1.3-miles of Kemp down and UP (the UP being 100 ft in one-half mile), then 
• 2.3-miles on the incline which is Virgil Rd, and finally 
• The flat half-mile to get back to Coley Rd. 
•  
• Hmmn, I think of that 10-miles as having only 3 or 4 turns, but 
• It is actually 6 turns. 
  

Depending on one's abilities and in-shapeness, 

That 10-miles can be an opportunity to improve one's avg pace, or

To lose it completely. 

 

When I got back to Coley Rd, my cycle confuser indicated 37.6-miles with 2h40 in-motion. 

I.e., it had taken 43-minutes to cover those 10.1-miles -- an avg pace of 13.9-mph. 

 

The second time down Coley was as enjoyable as the first time. 

However, on the return, at about 42-total-miles into the ride, 

I realized that the heat, etc. had gotten to me, and 

The last 22 or 23 miles were going to be a slog. 

 

I didn't keep track of any further intermediate mileages / time in-motion. 

I did complete the "TT" course, returning to the water fountain at BJP. 

 

Knowing I could refill my 2 bottles at the fountain, I consumed most of my remaining water, but 

I did pour the last few ounces onto my head and neck once I got to the fountain. 

 

I refilled both bottles, but only after pouring some additional water on my head, neck, and shoulders. 

The water from the fountain wasn't the best tasting water I have ever experienced. 

It wasn't very chilly water, either. 

But it was cooler than the air temperature, which was roughly 90F by then, and 

The water was wet. 

Cooler than the air temp and wet -- those were all I needed to complete the ride. 

 

Retracing, again, across Pleasant Union Ch Rd to Norwood Rd, then 

Down and up to get to the intersection with Six Forks Rd. 

The eastbound climb on Norwood is longer but not as steep as the westbound climb. 

 

My plan on reaching the stop-sign at Six Forks Rd was to cross over and 

Ride through the Coachman's Way neighborhood, which would be nicely shaded all the way. 

 

However, the traffic on 6-Forks was ping-ponging me. 

Car from the left -- car from the right -- car(s) from the left -- car(s) from the right. 

Rinse, repeat. 

 

Finally, although there was traffic coming from the right, there were no vehicles coming from the left, 

So I modified my planned route and turned right onto Six Forks Rd. 

That would give me a long mile-and-half on Six Forks to get to Durant Rd. 

Then Durant would be about 2 miles of gentle decline to the stop-sign at Honeycutt. 

[Sometimes, to keep to the "one-line" per sentence or clause, 

To maintain the "verbose Haiku," I have to replace words or phrase with less elegant choices.]

Honeycutt would be one-mile of non-trivial upslope mostly without shade, then flat, and 

Then the mile on the sidewalks. 

 

Somewhere during the last few miles, I decided to stop by TLC-for-Bikes

To tell Gary that I expected him to get in his 64-mile ride ten days after I got in mine. 

I did manage to do that although the shop was CROWDED with customers and bikes. 

 

As I left the bike shop, I ended up in conversation with someone a couple years older than me. 

He was originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, but had lived in the U.S. for 20 or more years. 

We chatted about bikes and riding them and also about soccer. 

I mentioned that I had had no interest at all in soccer until the amazing result from the 

Leicester City club when it won the 2015-16 Premier League title after 5000-1 odds. 

I forget the gentleman's name (maybe we never exchanged names), but 

I was surprised when he indicated that his club was Liverpool. 

I was expecting either Celtic or Rangers. 

Maybe Liverpool is his English PL club, and he also supports a Scotland PL club? 

 

My cycle confuser indicated 63.97-miles when I got the bike shop. 

So when the above-mentioned fellow asked about my prospects of getting to 64-miles on the day, 

I told him that I only had a flat one-mile on mostly sidewalks to ride, and 

I was already at 63.97-miles, so I figured I would easily make at least 64-miles. 

The fellow agreed. 

 

Upon reaching the end of my ride, my cycle confuser showed 64.9-miles, with 

A total in-motion time of 4h49. 

That means I covered the 27.3-miles since the beginning of the second Coley loop 

(the final 22 or so miles which were a slog) 

In 2h09, for and avg pace of 12.6-mph. 

 

Final / total stats on the day:  64.9miles, 4:49 in-motion, 13.5-mph avg pace. 

 

A very lame story, but one that I'll be sticking with. 

Jul-09: Bahama Beach 106 for 103 for 61

6 am solo start.
Early on, perhaps on Patterson Rd, enjoying my ride much,
I wondered WHY have I not been doing more of this?

Enjoying the ride, I found myself recalling my Carolina Godiva running friend Tom Fowler.
I haven't been a "runner" since the mid or late 1990's, but
I recall one defining comment that Tom made while we were running along one day.
Tom wondered when those that only did training runs actually enjoyed one of their runs,
'Cuz as he noted, all his most fun and enjoyable runs were just runs, not training, not races.

For me, cycling is much the same.
I don't do training rides,
Although I suppose I do have training moments from time to time.
"Hot intervals" that might last 20 miles.
Spin up some climbs; pound my way up others in too big a gear.
Mostly, I just ride.

Easy gear(s) with relatively high cadence felt fast most of the ride.
I backed off the effort on most climbs.

I don't recall any special efforts on Victory Ch / Kemp Rd with its five climbs.
I don't recall any of the usually hard part of Stagville Rd up to Bahama.
I do recall a slight feeling of anxiety on the decline from Bahama to Michie Lake.
I don't recall feeling anxious on that descent since the first time I rode it, probably in 2007.

Seemingly no effort on Bahama Rd climbing the "Michie Wall."
I think I popped the several climbs on Ellis Chapel Rd, and
Recall only glimpsing the bird-house-gourds but no other scenes on that road.

I recall preparing myself to make a couple special efforts on Roberts Chapel Rd,
But the climbs caused no struggling.

The winding climb on Sam Moss Hayes Rd, which often knocks me back,
I was at the top before I realized I had been climbing.

Lawrence Rd, Ghoston Rd, Peed Rd, Mt Vernon Church Rd, all with seemingly no effort.

The only climb on the day that was a bit difficult was the short, steep one on Moss Hayes Rd.
I can sorta' pop that if I make a concerted effort.
I put in the effort, but I was in the wrong gear(s),
So I ended up spinning / grinding the top half, but
Even so, the effort did not empty me.


Three photos:

LARGE turtle rescued on Red Mill Rd.  Too big / contentious to pick up; I herded it out of the busy traffic lane.  It appeared to be moving QUICKLY away from the road when I rode away.

Firehouse in Bahama just before the decline to Lake Michie.  Poor quality photo; oh, well, it was an idea.

Zipping along with an apparent light tailwind on New Light Rd, I had another firehouse photo idea.  Most every central NC rando, and some from out-of-state, ought to recognize this station.  As Deaner once said, "in those days, all we had was Kerr Lake Loop."

 

The in-motion pace was not all that special,
65.9-miles in 4h31 resulting in 14.6-mph while in-motion, but
That does qualify as my sixth fastest in-motion ride this year.
AND made at least the sixth consecutive enjoyable ride.
Amazing what doing more than just two or three rides a month can do.

One last "line":
The official RUSA elapsed time of 4h45 was the quickest circuit of Bahama Beach, 
Regardless the variant of the 'free-route' ridden, 
Since September 2014.

Not bad for my birthday present to myself.
[106 kms for 103 credit for 61st birthday.] 

Jul-09: 104 for 58

Once a year, July 9th rolls around.
I usually try to get in a ride on the 9th, but
I don't always succeed.

This year, however, I did get to ride my bike, and
It was a good day on the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" perm-pop.

0600 start time -- I was perfectly on time.
Despite the heavy overcast, it was still easy to suspect that the solstice has passed.

I timed the light at NC-98 perfectly. 
[Since that light is 4.7-miles from the start, and is long red for Six Forks / New Light traffic, 
You of course understand that it is impossible to "time" that light on a bike.] 

Less traffic on Six Forks / New Light Rd than expected;
I only recall about 3 or 4 vehicles for those 7+ miles.
Maybe another one or two on Bruce Garner Rd.
[Make no mistake, though, there was the usual several parades of southbound traffic; 
Southbound is heading into Raleigh.]

I timed the light in Wilton, at the intersection of NC-56 and NC-96 perfectly, and
Rolled through Wilton 70 minutes after starting the ride.
[Wilton is 18.7 miles from the start -- there's no "timing" that light on a bike.]

After crossing the Tar River (bridge at 22.9-miles from the start), and
Climbing back up to the plain,
The route is essentially flat to the Oxford control and back to the Tar River.
[Essentially flat.  Ha.  Rather humorous when I think of my youth. 
Those little bumps would have been hills back then.  
It was quite flat where I grew up. 
"How flat," you ask? 
Here's a link to a RWGPS map; 
I grew up at the 6.1-mile mark of that course. 
If you zoom in on the on the profile between 5.6 and 6.4 miles, 
You'll see at BIG hill -- all of 17 feet high. 
THAT was a big hill when I was a kid.] 

Nothing of interest or worth noting happened the entire outbound leg.
I "arrived" at the control at 0805, with approx 2h04 in-motion. 
I've gotten there faster; I've gotten there slower; I was happy.
 
I got a 99-cent Powerade and the appropriate receipt,
Chatted a half-minute with the clerk / store-owner, and
Left the control at 0811.

I was pretty sure there would be a bit of a breeze in my face on the inbound / southbound leg.
I was correct.

I settled in to enjoy the still mostly overcast for the last half of the ride.
The only semi-interesting thing that happened on the ride back was that
The sun made an attempt to break through and dissipate the cloud cover.

I was rather glad to see that the clouds thickened up again before I got to Grissom.
[Grissom is approx 12.7-miles before the finish.]

My confuser wasn't working -- I've got to return it to Performance and get something else,
And I wasn't paying attention to my watch.
I was quite surprised when I arrived at the CVS finish control at 1014.

Since I had had to wait for the light in Wilton to change,
I had ridden the return leg, into a slight breeze, with the harder climbs,
In approx 2:02:30 in-motion.

That is, I was a minute-and-a-half faster into the breeze, with harder climbing,
Than I had been going outbound.

Explanation?
It takes me a long time to completely warm up.
[My friend JohnA might suggest that it takes me 80 or 90 miles to fully warm up.] 
====================================================   
Jul-09:  

--> Oxford 104-km perm-pop -->; 77.0 m.;  4h56 in-motion; 15.6 mph. 
 - pre-ride commute:  5.6 m.;  0h23 in-motion; 14.5 mph.
 - - Oxford:  64.7 m.;  4h06:30 in-motion; 15.7 mph; elapsed time:   4h14
 - - - post-ride commute:  6.7 m.;  0h27 in-motion; 14.8 mph.  

Q-1 tot: _21 rides; _967.6 m; _65h57; 14.7 mph; 1136 RUSA kms.
Q-2 tot: _24 rides; 1954.2 m; 134h57; 14.5 mph; 2573 RUSA kms.
Jul tot: __2 rides; _219.8 m; _14h01; 14.6 mph; _314 RUSA kms.  
YTD tot: _47 rides; 3141.6 m; 215h56; 14.5 mph; 4023 RUSA kms. 
 
Hmmn -- I must have been feeling pretty good:  the commute back was record fast, and I certainly wasn't trying to be fast.

Jul-09: Long Assault on Flat Rock

The Mallet and the Smitty
Rode on a mile or so,
And then they rested by a rock
Conveniently high:
And the Skiffrun stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Mallet said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and chocolate-bars--
Of 20-pound-dumbbells--and beds-of-gravel--
And why the bag is quite so heavy--
And whether pigs have wings."

They flew down the hill
And caught the Turtles
And their escort.
Skiffrun saying to the escort,
"The Mallet wants to test lift your bike,
And I think you should lift the Mallet's."

So upon the next crest,
The escort removed bottles from his cages
So that Mallet, a fair 16-pound test would get.
But when the Mallet let go his own saddle,
Leaving poor escort holding only stem,
The pig-bike, over did it fall.

The struggle to upright the wheels,
Confused the escort much.
For he did not know of the special training tools
Concealed in the Mallet bag.
A 20-pound dumbbell on a bed of gravel.

Now we know the secret training tool
Of Mallet and his like.
Ride a heavy pig-bike,
And fill with weights and rocks.
The question still remains:
Will he, his brother's wheel hold,
When up the Alps they glide?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above, with apologies to Lewis Carroll, Alice and the jabberwocky.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jul-09:

 --> PUE:  Long AFR --> lunch --> ; 71.2 m.; 4h,29m in-motion; 15.9 mph. 
 _ 
  

Jul-09: 54 was the Goal

54, FAST, was the actual goal.
But heat and a wimpy rider led to the revised goal:
54, and enjoy it.

Mostly, I did.  Enjoy it, that is.
Significant cloud cover during much of the afternoon ride helped.

At the 39-mile mark, on Virgil, approaching Carpenter Pond for the second time,
I lost cadence, and it seemed I had lost my energy.
I decided I'd head straight for barn and settle for 49.5.

But once on Carpenter Pond, it was easier going,
and I only needed a 4.5-mile side trip on Coley.
So I rode down Coley until I got to the 42-mile mark;
then I turned around, and headed for the barn. 

Typical slow start -- 14.7 mph avg pace after 9.3 miles.
I didn't keep careful track, but the avg pace slowly climbed upward the entire ride.

Enjoyable ride, at a reasonable "almost spinning them out" mental pace.
The IR ride tomorrow may be tough. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jul-09: 

BJP:  Coley-(DocN-Bapview-Virgil)-(DocN-Kemp-Virgil)- 2/3 of Coley; 54.1 m.; 3 hrs, 24 min; 15.9 mph. 

Q-1 tot: 16 rides; __938.2 m.; _60 hrs, 39 min; 15.5 mph.
Q-2 tot: 31 rides; 2,263.3 m.; 151 hrs, 29 min; 14.9 mph.
Ju1 tot: _6 rides; __333.8 m.; _21 hrs, 04 min; 15.8 mph.
YTD tot: 53 rides; 3,535.3 m.; 233 hrs, 11 min; 15.2 mph.