A Fortunate Day

Attention randonneurs:  this is the first post I've written in a LONG time that is mostly, maybe entirely, FOR the Irregulars.  As such, I won't explain certain things in detail.  However, if you know what happened in the rando world in Johnston County, North Carolina on Feb-20-2016, then you might appreciate the following, too. 

  

Looking back in my Excel logs, the first ride of what I would eventually come to call the Irregulars was Jul-22-2006.  Just Frank and me.
 

We met at PUE, and I truly mean MET, as in that was the first time we had met each other.  Frank had recently acquired a used road bike, but didn't know anyone to ride with or where to ride.  He had decided to ask a "superwoman" and the instructor in the Spin Class that he had been attending.  The "superwoman" was Lynn; the instructor was Lynn's friend Larissa.  As I recall the story, Larissa is the one that suggested Frank ride with me.  (Lynn and Larissa had been trying to hook me up with an existing group because they were concerned about me riding solo.  However, all the suggested groups had a at least one characteristic in common:  their rides didn't start until 8, or more probably 9 am, and I liked to be finishing by then.) 
 

Anyway, Frank and I met at PUE, probably at about 7 am, or maybe 6 -- Frank had a couple young children, so he wanted to finish his ride in time to get home and be a father.  We rode across Carpenter Pond to Olive Branch Rd (in those days, Doc Nichols Rd was in bad shape), then took NC-98 across to Kemp Rd so that we could ride up Virgil Rd.  And if I understand the cryptic notes in my Excel log, we also rode down Coley Rd to 98 and U-turned to ride back up to Carpenter Pond, from whence we returned to PUE completing our 31.0-mile ride.  (At an avg 15.6-mph while in-motion, it was the fastest ride I had ever done.)
 

You may be thinking that what was fortunate about the day Frank asked Lynn and Larissa regarding ride partners is that I got a ride partner out of it.  That is not what I am mean. 
 

The fortunate thing came from a long string of subsequent meetings, that is:

• Frank soon brought his neighbor Sean,
• who brought his co-worker Harvey, aka "Snapper," aka "Cheeta." 
• who brought another co-worker Big-Wave-Dave, 
• who brought his lifelong friend Bob, the "Duke," 
• who brought Lt. Dave and IvaHawk and some others.

There were others that eventually came to Irregulars rides, but this is as far as I need go to explain "a fortunate day."

 

Fast forward nearly 10 years, and I received a call from Lynn last Friday night, about 7 pm.

Skipping the background details, could I help get a ramp built at her house by Tuesday? 

Skipping some hand wringing, I wracked my brain, who did I know that would know people that might be able to help.

The answer I came up with was Lt. Dave. 

I drove to Lynn's house so I would know first-hand the exact situation.

Then I drove to Dave's house.
 

Laurie, Dave, and Dave's dad, Lew, welcomed me into the house.

I came straight to the point:  did Dave have any ideas on how to get a ramp built by Tuesday.

I think Lew was the first to suggest "Bay Leaf Builders,"

A group of retirees at Dave and Laurie and Lew's church that build a ramp every Wednesday.

Skipping some more details, by 8:45 pm, Bay Leaf Builders had agreed to build Lynn's ramp on Wednesday, i.e., today.

The ramp was completed by about 2 pm earlier today, Mar-30.

The day Frank asked Lynn and Larissa for advice regarding whom to ride with,

That was definitely a Fortunate Day for me.
And for Lynn.

The ramp.

Ramp nearly invisible behind the bushes.

Jul-03: IvaHawk 104

Another early morning on the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" perm-pop.
This time with my friend Iva "IvaHawk" A.

Prompt 0600 start.
Sun trying to peak over the horizon of trees and between the clouds.

We timed our arrival at the stop-light for NC-98 poorly.
We had to wait at least a minute-and-a-half.
The entire time there was a slow-motion tennis-volley of vehicles on 98.
Luckily, a southbound vehicle pulled up to the light and that tripped the induction loop.

Only 2 or 3 northbound vehicles between 98 and Old Weaver Trail.
Southbound traffic, headed into Raleigh for a day of work, etc., was the usual heavy load.

Iva and I were chatting about all the important things of our worlds,
And my cycling brain, the course knowledge part, rolled over to automatic.
Iva and I were chatting away, having a grand time,
When I suddenly realized that we were descending toward Falls Lake, again!
The "Oxford" route does not descend to Falls Lake a second time outbound.
Uh-oh, on non-thinking auto-pilot, I had made the turn onto Old Weaver
As if doing the "Denny's Store Sortie."

"Iva," I yelled, "we're on the wrong course!"
A couple bonus miles for us on the day.
One might expect a little better from the route-owner.

Back on course and cruising along, we made nice time.
There was intermittent weak sunshine between mostly dominant clouds.
The advantage of that being that the temperature would be retarded in its daily climb.
And that would allow us to stay cooler.
Silver lining.

We, by which I mean Iva, needed a nature break outbound.
[I can't recall what we used to call those on "Irregulars" rides.]

According to the note I made on my control card,
[Surprised I bothered to look, aren't you]
We arrived at the turn-around control just east of Oxford at 0816,
[The receipt is time-stamped "08:19:39"].
Given the pause at NC-98, the ~ 2.1 bonus miles, and the nature break,
That seemed a pretty good outbound result.
Especially as we had chatted the whole way.


We left the control at 0830, rode the kilometer on US-158, and
Turned southbound on Antioch Rd into a surprise.
Apparently, we had been feeling really, really good on the outbound / northbound trip,
Because we were now confronted with a significant southerly headwind.
[Significant by central North Carolina standards, that is.] 
Dang!

There was no chatting on the homebound leg;
The person behind could hear words spoken from the person in front,
But the wind carried the responses of the one behind away toward Virginia.

My notes on the control card indicate that we arrived at the finish at 1039,
[Surprised, again, aren't you -- that I actually looked at and referenced the card]
Adjusting for the couple minutes of pauseage due to waiting for traffic at stop-signs,
2h07 in-motion on the homeward bound leg.
[Oh, that's much better than I thought.  
We must have hammered it pretty hard coming back. 
Hammered for us, that is.  
These things are all relative, you know.] 
==================================================== 
Jul-03:  

--> Oxford 104-km perm-pop; 72.4 m.;  4h41 in-motion; 15.4 mph. 
 - pre-ride commute:  5.6 m.;  0h23 in-motion; 14.5 mph.
 - - Oxford:  66.8 m.;  4h18 in-motion; 15.5 mph; elapsed time:  4h39. 

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: __1 rides; __72.4 m; __4h41; 15.4 mph; _104 RUSA kms.  
YTD tot: _46 rides; 2995.2 m; 205h35; 14.6 mph; 3818 RUSA kms. 

==================================================== 
10-years ago:  

On Jul-04-2004 [pre-blog, and certainly pre-rando], I made my one and only appearance at a prominent local charity ride, the "Firecracker."  The ride doesn't start until 8 am -- well, by the time all the announcements, etc. are completed, more like 8:10 am.  It was HOT.  It seems it is always HOT for the Firecracker.  I rode a 29-lb. (that includes saddle-pack) mountain bike with slicks and "cages" for the pedals (i.e., clips).  I completed the 31.7-mile "50k" ride in 2h22 in-motion, 13.3 mph avg. 

A certain person named Lynn did the "100k."  Even she noted that it was HOT.  I think she did the Firecracker one more time, but then swore off the event as too crowded and too hot.  

Ha!  I just recalled -- we were supposed to go to a party given by one of Lynn's cycling friends, but the directions were so atrocious, and despite assurances from the host that she would leave her cell phone on in case anyone had trouble finding the party in the wasteland that is Cary, NC (my description, not the host's), we were unable to contact the host, and we never made it to the party. 

==================================================== 
5-years ago:  

On Jul-03-2009 [which was before I took up the rando thing], I rode my first ever "Kerr Lake Loop."  Back then, MikeD had a mini-map of the rando Kerr Lake Loop permanent on his blog, and I painstakingly ripped off the route using that mini-map (except I missed one turn, but the result was just as good, or nearly so).  Here follows a link to the blog post / report I made back then -- one thing, that ride was the first time I and the Irregulars rode over "Stovall Mtn" -- I knew what to expect because I had driven Mountain Rd previously -- the others kept wondering where the "mountain" was, until they saw it.  Oh, and the report made at the time skips over the mountain-passage -- because I thought it unwise to scare Irregulars who were not on the ride that day from giving Mountain Rd a try some time in the future.  [2009 was before many of the Irregulars had ridden a century, and certainly BEFORE most of them went on to do one or more of the audaciously named North Carolina mountain centuries.]  

Jul-03-2009 blog report:  ("Irregulars" Kerr Lake Loop)  


Interestingly enough, not quite six months later, I introduced MikeD to Mountain Rd, and he promptly modified the rando Kerr Lake Loop.  (Pizza in Stovall, and a mountain)

My First 100-Miler

Six years ago, on Sep-29-2007, I rode my first ever 100-miler.
It was a modified version of the "Virginia Border Raid."
109-miles.
Solo.

31-miles farther than I had ever ridden previously.
That 78-mile ride was on Sep-22-2007, i.e., seven days earlier.
(I'd had company for the first 23-miles of that Sep-22nd ride.) 

Year	Month	Date	start / course	Miles	H.mm	mph
2007	Sep	22	PUE:  Shoofly Don't Bother Me	78.3	5.00	15.6
2007	Sep	28	BJP:  DocN-Kemp-Virgil	29.7	1.51	16.0
2007	Sep	29	PUE:  VA border ride  --  7h55 elapsed	109.0	7.01	15.5

 

One might think, that if I could ride 109-miles, solo, 7h01 in-motion, in 7h55 elapsed time,
That I ought to be able to ride 200k rando rides in 9 hours relatively frequently.

However, as best I can recall, I have only two 9-hour or less 200's.

316246

ACPB

200

2010/10/02

NC: Raleigh

route 227 (unnamed)

09:01

326879

ACPB

200

2011/04/02

NC: Raleigh

route 227 (unnamed)

08:31

[And clearly, one of the "9-hour" 200's, was a minute over 9-hours.]  

My Only Non-Trivial Bicycle Crash

Four Years and Eight Days Ago ...

I went boom!

I had looked down to check what gears I had left,
As we were ZOOMING across Lynnbank Rd at a faster speed than I can usually maintain,
I may have heard some strange noises from the two guys immediately ahead of me,
They were exclaiming over the sudden drop in speed at the front of the five-man line.

I looked up, and immediately thought,
"Oh, this is going to hurt!"

Luckily, I was not directly behind the bicycle ahead of me, and
I sorta' slid up his left side,
Hooking my right side brifter (ergo-shifter for some of you) on Lee's jersey.
That took most of the momentum out of my fall, and
Flung Lee from the white fog line to the center double-yellow.
More luck -- Lee did not go down.

I recall sliding across the "asphalt" on my left shoulder.
I recall calmly thinking, "great, my jersey has been pulled off my shoulder, and
"Now my skin is in direct contact with this rough road surface.
"I hope this doesn't last very long.
"Because if it does, my shoulder is going to be hamburger."

The shoulder slide probably only lasted 2 or 3 seconds.
The road-rash looked more like rug-burn.

I never knew that the photos loaded onto the blog were also stored in a Picassa web album.  I wonder what opportunities that knowledge will open?

After 15 or so minutes, I got back on the bike.
The guys thought I would call someone to come pick me up. 
However, I had a ride to finish, and ... there was no one to call.

Next morning, with my left arm in a sling,
I had to unstick Lynn's chain from between the chainstay and something,
So that she could get in her last ride before heading to the Texas Time Trials,
To ride the Tejas 500-miler.
She won, by the way.

For further reading on the crash and my thoughts at the time,
See the above link (which purports to document the ride), and
See also this blog post, in which I addressed a comment from a buddy that wasn't on the ride.
The link in the above line is the more important.
=============================================

Exactly Four Years Ago Today ...

Lt. Dave did me the biggest favor he ever did for me.

A few comments regarding the post linked to immediately above:

1. We didn't do the referenced 92-miler.  Turned out I was in no mental or physical condition to ride that far. 
2. Thirteen days after Dave got me back on the bike (and tricked me into a longer ride than I anticipated), three of us did an informal 200-km ride.  Well, Dave and Smitty did the ride -- I experienced Sridharesque cramps after 116-miles and needed to be rescued.
3. Seven days later, four of us did a repeat of that 200-km route.  Well, on Oct-17th, it was Smitty that needed to be rescued (because of a flat tyre and using all the tubes but one in the crew).  The Mallet had a great ride -- pulling most of the day.  Snapper extended himself to where he'd never before been on a bike -- he had to shift out of his 53-tooth chain ring on Little Mtn Creek Rd -- which Snapper claimed was the first time he'd shifted from the 53 to the 39 all year -- and dropped his chain when he did.  As for me ... I'll just note that the next April, when I did my first ever 200k rando brevet, I knew I could finish / would finish. 
4. Looking at the route that Dave and I rode on Sep-27-2009 -- with only three tiny tweaks, that route eventually became the 103-km Bahama Beach perm-pop.  

Ha!  Looking elsewhere in September-2009, I see that on the 13th, I did a solo ride on the route that would eventually become the 138-km Denny's Store Sortie.

Ah, heck!  My memory must be going.  Because that informal Irregulars Hurdle Mills 200k course we did, that became much of the basis for the 205-km 'Road to Hicksboro' perm. 

It is almost as if everything is wrapped up (almost) neatly in one tight ball.

Memories -- Three Years Ago

Three Years Ago on this date (Apr-17), a group of ten had some fun:
 _ _ http://irregularveloadventures.blogspot.com/2010/04/apr-17-mayo-lake-100.html

This came to mind because Iva and I were hoping to sneak in a ride together, today.
Stuff got in the way.
Oh, well.

Happy 66th, Iva.

====================================================

BTW, calling Ricochet -- this past Saturday, after I "mentioned" that I was worse off this year than three years ago when I first started randonneuring, you asked what I had done on the weekend between the 200 and 300 brevets "back then."  The answer, of course, is I did the ride linked to above.

Further, you asked what I did on the weekend between the 300 and the 400.  The answer, you may recall, was that I met you  :-O   [One Went Bonus Miles]

I think you've learned a thing or two since then, my RUSA Cup holding friend.

Long Ago and Far Away

Two years ago today, I rescued my R-series.
That was R-8.
The low and high temps (at RDU) that day were 28F and 62F.
No wind at RDU.  (click here for RDU almanac)
A better almanac entry would be from Wilson, NC.
But I can't figure out how to get one (right now, that is - I've done so previously).

Four days after the R-series rescue, I rode my fastest (elapsed time) 200k ever (to-date).
That was R-9.
The low and high temps (at RDU) that day were 37F and 65F.
The wind information for RDU is MUCH more interesting.  (almanac)


I seem to have become a definite weather weenie the last 3 or 4 months.
It is 36F as I type this - and that seems COLD.
The sun is shining brightly, though.
Third straight day for that.  Nice!


I also used to do back-to-back 200's.
Double-double, as Jayjay refers to such endeavors.

I even did a triple-double once.
Rode all three north Raleigh perms on consecutive days. 
Jul-02, Jul-03, Jul-04. 2011.

Last year, I seldom did any back-to-back days, let alone 3 or 4 days in a row.

I'd like to do a triple-double, again.
We have three on-the-board north Raleigh perms.

No Longer part of My "Eddington Cycling Number"

One's "Eddington Cycling Number" is most easily defined as that largest integer E which makes the following statement true:  "I have at least E rides that were at least E miles long."

(Here is the link to the Wikiweb for Arthur Eddington; the cycling number is at the very bottom of the article, and mathematically speaking, the definition of one's Eddington Cycling Number is so poorly worded as to be ... wrong; however, Wiki powers continue to insist on being wrong.  Wiki may be useful, but I wouldn't rely on it for anything of value.)


My Saturday, Feb-18 rando-adventure raised my Eddington Cycling Number to 83.  The following are links to several rides, epic at the time in terms of distance and/or other reasons, that recently fell off the "contributors to my Eddington Cycling Number list":

July 25, 2009:  79.8-mile "recon" ride to check out part of the planned Irregulars 200k later in 2009.

May 31, 2009:  A short, short report on mostly solo wandering about for 81.1-miles.

August 22, 2009:  82.3-mile modified "Shoofly Don't Bother Me".


I only have one ride on my resume that is at least 83-miles, but less than 84-miles:
August 29, 2009:  Some repeating climbing, but avoided the usual G-P-MVC finish.


Chart indicating the history of my Eddington Cycling Number:

Career statistics through:
year	rides	miles	m / r	long	E
2004	38	1,176.2	31.0	53.4	26
2005	75	2,441.7	32.6	75.6	33
2006	133	4,926.6	37.0	75.6	42
2007	212	8,457.1	39.9	109.0	49
2008	294	12,222.4	41.6	109.0	54
2009	420	18,439.1	43.9	126.3	63
2010	532	25,998.6	48.9	300.3	71
2011	645	35,203.4	54.6	377.2	81
current	655	36,035.1	55.0	377.2	83

Some Favorite Moments From the Past

While I'm trying to figure what and how to write whatever it is that I will ultimately type regarding the excellent rando adventure that I had with JohnA yesterday, some non-RUSA, serendipitous rides came to mind.  Maybe others will also enjoy the write-up(s).

Sunday rides are not pre-planned.

DNS of the "Showdown in Black Creek" results in a series of serendipitous moments.

Tired, and a front wheel with a mind of its own, leads to another series of serendipitous moments.


But, I have to admit that what put the burr in my saddle about recalling serendipitous or JRA rides was this:  (click here).


Ten rides so far this calendar year:
Nine RUSA rides,
One "errand ride" ... to effectuate the paperwork exchange for one of the RUSA rides.

Maybe it is time for a non-rando, non-credit, no-clock ride.

Oct-30: Irregular, Indeed - Addendum

Early in the Oct-30 ride, Snapper + I were discussing, among other things, his first "irregulars" ride. 
I mentioned that I was pretty sure I could figure out when it was ... 
By looking at my Excel ride-log. 
Harvey was incredulous. 

I'm pretty sure I hadn't even thought of "irregular" at the time. 
I'm pretty sure I first used "irregular" when talking to MikeR 
Who leads the Bike Marshals at the New Bern MS-150 
When he asked with whom I usually rode;  
Probably late in 2007. 

My recollection is that I answered: 
"Just a few guys that show up occasionally; maybe one could say they are 'irregular'." 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Anyway ... Harvey's first "irregulars" ride: 

2007-Apr-14   PUE: Creedmoor-Dove Rd lake loop   w/ Frank, Sean, Harvey   42.3-m   2h36  16.2 mph 

I recall that we were intending the same route we did on this Oct-30, but Sean or Harvey had a mechanical and someone had a firm back-end time limit ... so we shorted the route by taking Dove Rd..  

Harvey is the only one, other than me, still riding "Irregularly". 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never doubt a man with an Excel ride log.

riding this into the ground

Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 9:34 am

The Scarecrow wanted brains, and the Wizard stuck pins in him to make him "sharp".

The Lion wanted courage, and the Wizard gave him a medal.

The Tin Woodman wanted a heart, and the Wizard gave him a velvet placebo heart-shaped velvet cloth.

Of course, in the original book and in the movie, too, I guess, the Lion was already the most courageous of the lot, the Tin Woodman clearly had the most caring heart of the lot, and, to finish the trifecta, the Scarecrow would have been the cleverest.

and more to "Who"

Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:11 am

If I had been thinking more cleverly (?) yesterday, the first two sentences of the third paragraph would have read as follows:

"Get to training, old friend.  The Tinman never did find a heart."

(After all, in the book(s), he got "only ... a placebo heart made of velvet and filled with sawdust".  And in the 1939 movie, he got essentially the same thing: a velvet heart (if I recall correctly).)

However, if one looks to the original books, then my original phraseology is absolutely spot on.  In the books, the "Tin Woodman" started out as a human woodsman, who keeps chopping off parts of himself which get replaced with tin.  However, when the tinsmith had to replace the portion of the body where the heart lies, the tinsmith forgot to include a heart.  So, in the books, "Nick Chopper" does have "less heart than he used to".  On the other hand, "Tin Man", "Tinman", "Tin Woodsman" were never used in the original Oz books; it was always "Tin Woodman".  The other three "names" come from movie, play, or comic strip / cartoon adaptations.  Sometimes Wikipedia is interesting.

To be consistent with the original e-mail,
I must sign off as,

Ebeneezer

A longer reply to "Who"

Sent: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 6:58 pm

I had forgotten that you had mentioned you were getting a new paint scheme on your bike.

Will it be faster now that it is off-white instead of black? 

Get to training, old friend.  The Tinman has less heart than he used to.  ;-)  BigWaveDave and Snapper accused me of giving no quarter a few weeks ago (and all I did was slowly ride through where they had stopped at the top of a short climb waiting for me).  (Actually, the didn't use "no quarter"; they used a different phrase that means the same thing, but my failing memory is unable to recall the correct phrase.)


Ebeneezer


[I pointed out to BigWaveDave and Snapper that Ebeneezer was too hard to type. Couldn't they shorten it to Eb or Zeb. Then it would be sort-of similar to one of the Cockney rhyming slang words -- those that knew the rhyme knew the meaning, and those that didn't, didn't. And it is a lot easier for my old fingers to type.]

Barry replies to "Irregular" Story Vignette

Sent: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 1:56 pm 

Greetings from Barry the Who in Who-ville. 

I have been going though a bout of withdrawals lately, the doctor said that it was caused by cruel and unusual treatment, so accept my absence as doctors orders. 

Anyway, I have taken my bike apart, and painted it.  I am waiting for the last coat to dry before applying the clear coat.  Then if the doctor gives me the ok for more cruel and totally unacceptable treatment, I will return with a new looking bike.  I have painted the bike off white, and I am flirting with the idea of putting a sticker like the P-40 aircraft, you remember the one's that you guys had in WWII, Martin, it had the tiger's mouth and eyes on front.  That way I can pick off the other unfortunate riders that fall behind Martin the Hun. 

What did you finally decide to use as your call sign?  I see that you have assigned everyone one but yourself.

My vote is for Mart-Hun.  What do you think?  Or Boxerman, Mart the wet sprocket??

Mar-tinman, Tin-man, I like that. 

What did the tin man want anyway, brains, heart, no, that was the lion.  No the scarecrow wanted brains, what did the Tin man want?  It will come to me, I am 58 now, and the brain doesn't work very well anymore either. 

So if the doctor thinks that I can take the abuse, I will see you guys around All Fools Day.  Fitting don't you think? 

I am doing the Tri in Wrightsville Beach this September, hope that you guys will again. 

And I hope that you all have been doing well,
Barry the Who 


A quick reply from me: 

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 6:15 pm 

I don't believe in assigning one's own nick.  That is for others.  BigWaveDave had a list of 4 for me when I claimed none. 

Story of the Irregulars, Chpt 2, Vignettes - addendum - part ii

When last we left the story, Barry and I had been dropped by L&L & co. on the slightest upslope. This episode covers what happened the next time we encountered L&L & co.. (By the way, the chronology could be backward, but this way makes for a better story.)

A few weeks before the ride in question, I had suggested to Barry that he try raising his saddle just a tad. Barry had a stroke where his right knee flayed way out to the side and maybe the adjustment would make it easier for him to transfer more power to the wheels. (At the time of the suggestion, I was unaware of certain rather serious tendon, etc. issues in Barry's right leg.)

Within the first five miles of our ride, Barry commented that he thought he was going to need to adjust his saddle and "push it back" further from the handlebar. In response to my inquiry as to why he thought that, Barry told me that he was finding that he was constantly sliding back on the saddle to get to the correct correlation between sit bones and saddle. "Ah", said I, "that is an indication that you need to move the saddle forward; the sliding backward is because you are recognizing that you're sitting on the horn instead of the wide part of the saddle; and you have keep repeating doing that because, after every conscience adjustment, your body is sliding forward to get to a more comfortable position without you being aware of it."

We stopped at the corner of Carpenter Pond and Coley while Barry made the adjustment. While fiddling with the saddle, L&L & co. (this time with another female and two male riders) zipped past, followed quickly by another group consisting of Margo, John, and a third rider quickly loosing contact.

Barry asks "should we catch them?"

"Okay", I respond, "they are going to be on the flat of Carpenter Pond and Leesville and then the downhill of Doc Nichols, so we can use our gravity advantage on Doc Nichols to catch them, so there is no need to expend too much energy on the flat."

We did catch the combined group on Doc Nichols, just before / as they reached Olive Branch.

Zoom down Olive Branch to the bridge and then, despite the fact that I'm going faster up that little hill than I ever have (about 15 mph), Barry goes around me and stays on the "wheels" of the four women like there was a bungee cord connecting him. (I should point out here, solely for purposes of understanding the story, that usually, if I climbed that little slope up to NC-98 @ 12 mph, I would be dropping Barry like a hot potato.)

Reach the highway, then zip across to Patterson. Turn and start down the first slope. Margo and John realize they are missing their third member, and I mention that I last saw him back at the corner of DN / OB; Margo and John peel off to go find the lost rider. (As an aside, they did not find him. He had stopped at the fire station near Patterson / NC-98, thinking he was having a heart attack from trying to keep up at a pace beyond that which he was in shape to handle. The end diagnosis was: panic attack. So, in the end, that side-story turned out okay.)

The L&L & co. and Barry & I continued on down the first downslope of Patterson. Gravity advantage keeping us in good position. First upslope on Patterson, and again Barry drops me like I'm going backward as he stays close on the "wheels" of the three women. I manage to re-close on the flat and second downslope of Patterson. This pattern replicated itself on the second upslope and third downslope.

Then, the third and last upslope on Patterson. I am working that slope for all I am worth, climbing it faster than I ever had, Barry slightly ahead of me, trying to still hold the "wheels" of the women. Then it happened.

Barry suddenly "went backward". He had used up his entire supply of natural testosterone, and was now toast. L&L & co. went on ahead. They were still only 150 yards or so ahead of me when they got to Cheek Rd. I have been told that Larisa asked Lynn if they should wait for us. Lynn told Larisa "Martin says Barry can't climb a hill to save his soul, let's go on."

Barry was at least 100 yards behind me when L&L & co. made the turn onto Patterson. I thought about stopping at the church there to let Barry catch up, but I decided to drive the lesson home a bit deeper. I kept going and left Barry suffering 100 to 200 yards behind me all the way across Cheek and most of the way up that side-road hill we always climb instead of going straight up Old Weaver. I finally decided that I'd had enough revenge on him for following the women's "wheels", and waited.

We did learn that day that I had been wrong about Barry not being able to climb. He can. With the right incentive. But, even then, only until his testosterone gives out.

So, now when I accuse someone of "pulling a Barry", you will know what I mean.

Snapper's e-mail comment:

Damn Barry - you going to let him embellish like that without any rebuttal?

My e-mail response:

But, Harv, here's the thing: every word of this story is TRUE, perhaps the only "vignette" of the whole bunch with NO embellishment. Truth is stranger and more rivetting than fiction, you know.

PaulS's e-mail comment, made prior to me response above:

You mean to say you doubt that was a fully accurate description of the events! I’m shocked at the suggestion.

Story of the Irregulars, Chpt 2, Vignettes - addendum - part i

I can hardly believe that I forgot to include the following in the initial chpt 2 vignettes.

There were a couple times, when the "irregulars" group consisted of only Barry & me, that we were overtaken by the group of Lynn & Larisa (the progenitors of the "irregulars").  I don't' recall which came first, but I'll relate them in the following order.

As we reached Six Forks / NC-98 at the beginning of our ride, a group was catching us.  Because of the color(s) of one of the jerseys, I thought the group was Lynn, Larisa, et al.  After crossing NC-98, I started soft-pedalling waiting for the L&L group to catch up while Barry rode ahead at a usual pace.  That group we had seen never did catch us; it turned out they were not the L&L group and had apparently turned to follow NC Bike Route #2 onto NC-98.

However, as we climbed from the Neuse River / Falls Lake on New Light Rd, Barry still ahead but with me slowly closing the gap, a different group began passing us.  This time it was the L&L group: Lynn, Larisa, Blay, and a second male rider.  The L&L's turned onto Old Weaver, Barry followed, and then I followed.  Barry & I were able to use the downslopes on Old Weaver to catch onto the wheels of the L&L's by the time we all reached the lake.

How long did we think we'd be able to hold on to the pedestrian pace being set by L&L (Blay & the other guy were following)?  (I should mention that the pace was "pedestrian" for L&L, but not for us.) I don't know what Barry thought or hoped, I don't recall what I thought or hoped. but what I should have expected to occur, did in fact happen:  As soon as Old Weaver tilted upslope toward Whitt Rd, Barry & I went backwards as if we were dragging anchors.  We waved "good-bye" to L&L & co.

It would probably be better if I didn't continue with the second part of the story from that day, but before we reached NC-50, Barry & I were swept up by another group from Finley Y (actually two groups, intermingled).  The "second" of the intermingled group consisted of the famous Margo and one or two guys she often rode with.  The "main" part of the intermingled group consisted of a group that Lynn had begun to refer to as "the inconsistent group".  "Inconsistent" because of surging when in line, braking when in line, not holding a straight line.

Many of the now three intermingled groups were stopped at the stop sign on Old weaver at NC-50, waiting for the car traffic to clear (L&L & co were long-gone - almost certainly out of sight on the other side of NC-50 rapidly descending to the lake once again).  Suddenly, one guy on a bike (I refuse to refer to him as a cyclist) reaches the stopped riders and immediately makes a move to jump past all of us.  He did seem to have good acceleration.  Luckily, he also had good braking ability.  As he began to rush past the stopped riders, several were able to yell at him things such as "STOP!" and/or "CARS!".

He got stopped.  Barely.

I took my time re-starting from the stop sign because I wanted nothing to do those "inconsistent", apparently suicidal, riders.  After crossing NC-50, the last of the "inconsistents" passed us and Barry asked if we should grab their wheels.  I had been watching during the 1/4 or 1/2 mile since NC-50 and advised that we should just let the group go.  I had already witnessed at least 2 riders pull out of line, in front of overtaking cars, in order to pass other riders.  I saw no advantage to getting into the middle of such a muddle.

I don't know if Barry thought I was being foolish or not, but he acquiesced, and we let the "inconsistent" group go on their way and we went on ours.

Interestingly, we later were intermingled once again with L&L & co.  They had ridden a different, slightly (?) longer course than we had.  Of course, Barry & I were once again dropped on the first noticeable upslope.

Story of the Irregulars, Chpt 2, vignettes

Have you ever noticed in novels or non-fiction historical works that the initial steps are described in almost painstaking detail, but later events go by as in a whirlwind? Part of the reason for that is the author is establishing the foundations early on; a second reason may well be that memories after the first all-important ones become fuzzy and begin to merge.

Have you noticed that sometimes this "story" is in first person and sometimes in third? Have you noticed that sometimes it is written in present tense and sometimes in past, sometimes in the same sentence? Have you noticed that some of this is written quite informally and that some is not quite so informal? Have you noticed that sometimes the intended audience appears to be the "irregulars", sometimes it seems to be an unknown undefined amorphous general audience, and sometimes it seems to written with the author as the intended audience?

I'm writing as I'm thinking; sometimes I am "in the moment" in my memory, and sometimes not. I am not going to worry about tense agreement or a consistent voice -- as long I smile when I proof/re-read it, it goes.

Moments I recall (mostly with pleasure or humor) from season two:


First ride of the season, I wake in plenty of time, but fall prey to "just let me put my head back on the pillow for a moment", and re-awaken an hour or more later, only 3 minutes before the ride is supposed to start. I call Frank, apologize, tell him I'm on my way, and suggest he and Doug ride from PUE across Pleasant Union Ch Rd to BJP and back to help fill the time until I get there. "Wrong-way" Frank takes the suggestion about riding to fill the time, but rides Mt Vernon Ch Rd instead. What's the difference between the two roads? One is flat; one is not. Leave it to the Columbian mtn goat to fill time by riding the one that is not flat.

I finally arrived and we started only 30 or 35 minutes late. We decided to shorten the ride due to the late start. We ride MVC Rd (again for Frank & Doug) and then take Old Creedmoor / Carpenter Pond heading for Kemp Rd. The mtn goat in the lead. As we approach Kemp Rd, I realize that "Wrong-Way" Frank is not turning, point out the turn to Doug and suggest he ride "easy" until we catch back up, and then I tear out after Wrong-Way. Luckily, I can yell loudly even if I can't ride as fast as "WW". Frank hears me, turns around, and then we go to catch Doug. Doug has gotten worried because he doesn't know where he is (just moved to the Triangle from Dallas) and decides to wait for us -- at the bottom of the valley on Kemp between Coley and Virgil roads.


Weeks later, there are five or six of us in the group including WrongWay(?), Harvey, BigWaveDave,the Duke(?), Barry, and me. As we approach NC-98 on Olive Branch Rd, I was leading and Harvey was at the rear. There is traffic coming from both directions, so I stopped, put my foot/feet on the ground and am taking a good drink; Harvey apparently did not realize we were stopped for traffic, started to make a move to pass all of us at the stop sign and the next thing we know -- viola -- Snapper is on his back still clipped in with the bike now above him and all the liquid in his tri drinky thing all over him. Thus was Harvey christened "Snapper" by Barry and baptised as such by his own drink.


Some weeks later, again about five of us in the group (BWD(?), the Duke, Snapper(?), Barry, me), and Barry is struggling. After we cross the lake on Cheek Rd and make the turn for the little "loop" we do, Barry gets confused where he is, tells the Duke to go on without him, and heads straight down to the lake and marina on Olive Grove Ch Rd instead of turning onto Boyce Rd. The Duke arrives at the corner of Boyce and Old Weaver Trail where the rest of are waiting and informs us that Barry went straight because he was bailing out early / short and that the road going straight would take him back to New Light Rd more directly. "Well", I said, "Barry will be along shortly as that road is a dead end once it gets down to the lake / marina. He must have been confused as to where he was."

We waited for several minutes, and just as we decided to go looking for him, Barry comes riding up to us, admitting that he was confused and when he went straight he thought he was Old Weaver Trail. Even Barry likely thinks it is funny. Now.

This may have been the same ride that I mentioned in the vignettes for Chpt 1 -- the one where I could not keep up on Bruce Garner / New Light roads. I was so far behind when I got to Ghoston Rd, I decided to take the easier way back to PUE -- i.e., New Light / Six Forks instead of Ghoston-Peed-MVC. It never dawned on me that the rest of the group would wait for me at the Peed Store. Maybe everyone else laughs at that, now. Since then, I always finish G-P-MVC. It builds character.


One ride I was expecting Barry to show, but no one else. That was typical of season two. However, Barry did not show, so I rode solo. After I had completed my ride and wiped down my bike and changed my clothes and shoes all that, I got into the car to drive off. Then I notice that some jerk had stuck a candy bar wrapper under my driver's side windshield wiper. What the heck? I remove the wrapper and go on my way.

Next week, Barry asks "did you get my calling card?"
"What" I asked?
"I left a wrapper under your windshield wiper" he responded.
"Oh", I replied, "I thought someone was being a jerk and leaving their trash for me to deal with."
"Didn't you realize it was a wrapper from the type of energy bars I use", asked Barry.
"Barry", I replied, "I'm lucky if I notice the color of somebody's bike, let alone the food they eat."

Story of the Irregulars, Chapter 3, part a

Unlike the previous winter, over the winter of 2007/8, Martin did very little riding: 3 rides spread over 4 1/2 months is not enough to stay in shape, esp. if you aren't doing any other strenous acitivty. The omens were not good.


The "irregulars" rode once in March. Barry & I struggled to hold onto BobH & Norris, both of whom were in excellent shape. Funny thing, Barry & I each thought that Bob & Norris had been breaking the wind for us during the first 10+ miles of the ride; we learned just how mistaken we were when we headed northeast on Carpenter Pond Rd back towards PUE. The five or so miles on CP from Virgil to MVC Rd were not fun. It was bad.


I had ridden only once more in March and twice in April before sending out the "invite" for the "irregulars" to restart the season with a virgin start location and many virgin roads. So virgin were the roads that I snuck in a pre-ride of the course on Thursday; working as hard as I could I avg'd 14.1 mph on the 37 1/2 mile course; but at least I had verified the view from the side road was worth the little detour; however, things did not bode well for Saturday.

The group consisted of Snapper, BigWaveDave, the "Iceman" PaulN, and me. Snapper had to change his flat rear tire before the ride could start. About 10 miles into the ride, we had to stop and pump up Snapper's rear tire again. And when we stopped to appreciate the view from the side road, part of one of Snapper's pedals came off; what is it BigWaveDave says about Snapper -- "there's always a drama with Harvey". After that there were no more problems except my lagging further and further behind and the strong headwind on the long homestretch was still blowing. With a mile to go, I had to stop for a break; thankfully, the Iceman stuck with me, I finished the ride avg'ing 14.9 mph. Things were still looking bleak.


In late April or early May, Snapper asked for Mt Rushmore to be added to the list and the Duke asked for Iva to be added to the group list. And it was getting better.

During May, there were a few "irregular" group rides. The theme of each was pretty much the same. BobH puts up with the slow pace from the author and drags the two of through a 55 mile slow ride -- but at least we explored some new roads. Frank and BobH put up with the slow pace of the author. The Iceman and Mt Rushmore put up with the slow pace of the author; but at least I was able to sneak in one quick assault on a steep climb on the Mount. Some of those memories must be from June instead of May. But maybe things were still trending towards being good.


In mid-May, the author met two "lost" souls, preparing for their first "north Raleigh" ride, in the BJP parking lot. Jess & Mel started their ride before I had completed kitting myself out and prepping the bike. However, I was back from my slow, 30-mile ride well before J & M completed their much faster-paced 32-mile ride; I even had had time to get out of the swamp-butt clothes and write a note for them. As I was leaving the note on the windshield of one of their cars, J & M returned -- quite wide-eyed and shaken and with "white knuckles". They had naively chosen a route by chance from the NCBC web site cue sheets, and had just ridden Purnell Rd during "rush hour". I suggested they strike that route off their potential list and e-mail me for some better options. A day or so later, Jess e-mailed me, and to shorten the story somewhat, the first females were added to the list, and a "behave yourselves - control your testosterone" rule was added.

A former co-worker once told me something he learned from his 19 years as a navigator on B-47's and B-52's with the Strategic Air Command (SAC): "all men are ugly, all women are beautiful". In that vein, things were definitely looking good.

Story of the Irregulars, Chpt 1, vignettes, part b

A few weeks later, Frank brings Sean. And Sean's signature phrase "how far on this road" surfaces almost instantly. Along with a propensity to zip ahead of the other two of us. I never realized until the moment of typing this, but Sean's "protege", Snapper, suffered the same affliction when he surfaced the following year (Snapper claims that he is afraid he still suffers from the affliction, and prefers to avoid leading the "irregulars" line; his concern over leading out too fast is perhaps a contributing cause of his "Cheeta" penalty problem in triathlons; hmmn).

Anyway, Sean informed that he had never done more than 30 or 35 miles in a single ride; we cured him of that on his first ride with Frank and me, as we did the Creedmoor-Grissom loop (but cut across on Olive Chapel or perhaps Kemp Rd rather than going across to Doc Nichols Rd as we do now, so the ride was 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 miles shorter then). By that time, the Columbian mtn goat, aka, Frank, had found his climbing legs, and Sean was fast, and the two of them beat the crap out of me. I recall telling Sean as we trudged up Lawrence Rd toward Grissom that "I used to think Frank ran out of gas on this climb and that was why I could reel him by the end; now I know that he slows down to wait".

As I noted, they had ridden me into the ground instead of the other way round. I had ridden from home to the meeting place at PUE, and as we headed to Peed Rd from Ghoston Rd, I begged a ride home from PUE. Ugh.


The next week, I figured that if I couldn't keep up speed-wise, maybe I could make them climb so many hills they would be the ones coming home hurting. Katrina had hit, and gas prices had gone above $3 a gallon for the first time. I suggested we start the ride from my place just south of Ravenscroft as a money-saving device. But I knew I how tough the climbs on Honeycutt, Six Forks, Raven Ridge and Norwood were -- oh, maybe not so tough at the start of a ride, but at the end of ride, when one is tired and hot and sweaty and HOT. Oh, yeah!

So, I tricked Frank and Sean into their first ever 100k rides. The Columbian mtn goat had his climbing down pat by then, and on that ride Sean learned to seduce the climbs instead of trying to overpower them. And all three of us came out on the short end of the stick from the "Revenge Ride". Sean may have come out the shortest, though, as I think I got him in trouble with his better half. Uh, oh.


A couple weeks later, I went to be "spousal support" at the MS-150. Frank and Sean rode from Finley Y with a cue sheet I had provided. If you want a chuckle, get Frank to describe and re-enact their actions at each turn. If Sean ever makes another appearance, maybe he can recall the ride and add his own take to the story.

Story of the Irregulars, Chpt 1, vignettes, part a

Since our first ride together had proved that Frank was quite strong, I made the second ride tougher.  We went up into Creedmoor and then took Stem Rd to Hester Rd to the "three Hayes roads" and then over to Grissom via Horseshoe and Lawrence Rds.  Not an easy course.

As we left Creedmoor, Frank asked "HOW MANY HILLS ARE THERE ON THIS RIDE?"  I replied that I only recognized about 7 1/2 "hills" worthy of noting.  Frank sputtered that he thought we'd already done 30 hills.  I acknowledged that a year earlier I would have "noted" a lot more "hills" including the one we had just ridden up, but that I could no longer treat that first little climb out of Creedmoor as a hill since I had just done it my big crank / small cog combination.  (Remember, I was on the "purple beast" at the time, so I was using mtn bike gearing.)  But I think the main thing that allowed me to go up that little climb in the biggest gear I had was that I was engaged in conversation and failed to recognize where I was / what I was doing.

Our next ride together was a week or two later.  Frank had figured out how to ride the rolling climbs which make up most of the terrain north of Raleigh, and I found it impossible to keep close to the Colombian mtn goat going upslope.  Also, with those powerful pistons, I could not and cannot match his acceleration on the flat, or upslope, or anywhere.  However, I knew how to use my downslope gravity advantage (bike and body weight combining for the advantage) to good effect.  We did the Creedmoor-Grissom loop and as we neared Grissom, Frank realized his time window was tight.  Since (I admit it, I still hoped to be able to keep up speedwise when Frank was tired) I wanted to try to tire Frank, er, give him a work-free leadout on Bruce Garner / New Light so he would be fresh when we got to Ghoston, I turned the leg from Grissom to Ghoston Rd into a 6.6 mile "time-trial", asking no quarter and giving none as I tried to keep him from overtaking me.  I wasn't entirely successful as the mtn goat passed me on one of the bumps -- I don't remember which one, it could be the last one before Purnell or more likely one of the two between Old Weaver and Holly Point -- but I immediately hit the pedals hard and re-took the lead going over the crest.  When we turned onto Ghoston, Frank slid effortlessly past and disappeared up the hill.  He was in his car and leaving PUE when I turned into the parking lot, exhausted.

That "time-trial" started a tradition.  That ride, on that heavy mtn bike, remained the fastest I had ever done that stretch until nearly two years later.  I had tried, but never could match the determined effort of that day.

A year later, the group included "the Duke", Wave, Frank, me, and someone else (maybe the Duke's nephew).  I tried to keep up, initially surrendering to just hoping to keep Frank in my sights, and then letting go of that forlorn hope.  Meanwhile, Frank was struggling to do the same relative to Wave and the Duke.  Crushed, we were.

Story of the Irregulars, Chapter 2

Over the winter of 2006/7, Martin acquired a slightly better bike:  a Trek Pilot 5.0 weighing only 22.4 pounds.  He managed to ride through most of the winter, solo, and was in decent riding shape when Frank and Sean returned with the warm weather.  Second ride of the year, Sean invited along his co-worker, the yet to be christened "Snapper".  Now there were four, and it was good.

During the next week, Snapper asked if he could invite BigWaveDave.  Rules of character and SAFEty were developed, but Snapper never answered them regarding BigWaveDave.  Next day, BigWaveDave asked if he could invite his friend "the Duke".  An interesting thing occurred:  BWD actually responded to the character and SAFEty questionaire -- the only time anyone has actually responded.

So that next Saturday, (I think) we were five:  Frank, Snapper, BigWaveDave, Duke, me.  We haven't seen Sean on an Irregulars ride since.  That ride was a seminal ride in the story of the irregulars for two reasons:

1. it was the first time the ride split into "short" and "long" groups as all but Frank & me turned back upon reaching Stem, whereas Frank & I went on to explore several roads including Eaton Rd.  Unfortunately, I think that was also the last time I rode the Eaton Rd circuit -- that needs to be changed [ed.  the previous sentence is no longer true];
2. Snapper apparently rode so hard on the downslope from Stem to Creedmoor that he hurt himself, and it took more than a year to get him ride that hard again.

The week following the above ride, Duke invited Barry, and four of us (Frank, Duke, Barry, me) explored Gordon Moore, Wes Sandling, and Grove Hill roads.  Once again the group split into "short" and "long" as the Duke accompanied Barry back when we reached Philo White Rd, while Frank & I rode up to US-158 on Bike Route #1 before turning around.  Now there were seven, but the average number of riders joining the author on any given Saturday was less than 1.0.  So the author determined that the only way he could continue to have fun was to plan rides for himself, and not care if anyone else showed. And it was good.

As that summer of 2007 came to a close, the author met PaulN ["Iceman"] at the MS-150 in New Bern.  Paul was in charge of delivering ice to the rest stops; the author was a late volunteering recruit to assist with the ice delivery.  And PaulN was invited to join, making eight, and it was good.

About the same time, the author met Norris and BobH while riding.  And they were added to the list, making ten.  And it was good.