Aug-11: Benson Mule Pull 105

My recollection is that I enjoyed this route the 3 previous times I did it.
To review my thoughts on those rides, click here.

Hmmn, that's a bit silly:  when someone clicks on that above "click here," they will get this blog post and the previous three.  LOL at myself.

I recall that each of the previous three times I did the Mule Pull, I was tired from the previous day.
And, re-reading what I wrote back in 2011 and 2012 -- yikes! -- SEVEN years since I last did this route!
Anyway, re-reading the previous posts absolutely confirms that I was tired each of those times.
But somehow I always thought I should enjoy the route.


This ride.  Cycle commute to the start.

According to my Excel log, it was about 16.3-miles from my hovel, through downtown Raleigh, past Shaw University, or more like through Shaw University -- I had never noticed that I was riding past or through Shaw on previous rides down Blount Street.  Several of those previous rides were in pitch-dark conditions, so that might help explain my lack of notice, but I dunno'.

I stopped at the Hardee's (?) about half-a-mile before reaching the meeting place that Dean had always used.  Said stop to acquire some breakfast and a receipt.

Then on to the shopping center parking lot looking for McDave.
We had failed to precisely nail-down the expected meeting place.
But not to worry, I spotted him right off.


The ride.

McDave took over ownership of Dean's routes when Dean decided to retire from rando.
However, McDave hadn't gotten around to riding any of the routes since assuming ownership.
So, this would be the "test ride" of McDave as a perm route owner.
And as a result, we would be on "best behavior" since Dave would send the cards to Crista for approval and confirmation that he has a basic understanding of what he is supposed to do.

[Interestingly, when Dave and I did a 6 am pre-ride of the Picnic 100 in September, Dave told me that Crista indicated to Dave that he had forgotten to sign the cards as route-owner.  My memory may be failing me, but my recollection from when I did my first route-owner submission is that I was NOT to sign those first ride cards, but leave that to Crista.  I would have sworn that that is what I did, what MickH did the day before on his first ever route owner experience, and what Lynn did when she and I broke in Lynn and the "Raleigh-Berea-Raleigh" route.] 

McDave is fast.
I am not.
But lucky for me, Dave had done a very hard NC mountain 100-miler the day before, and
He was a bit tired.

My first indication that Dave really was TIRED, was on the climb up to Stancil Rd:
I rode Dave off my wheel on that short but steep incline.
Wow!

But Dave being TIRED, and me perhaps being on a little tired, from our respective day-prior adventures, meant that we could ride together without Dave having to TRY to slow down and me having to TRY to pick up my pace.

Also lucky for me was that my hands did not give off as much in the discomfort front as they had the day before.  As I type this on September 26th, my thumbs are still not completely recovered from the fall I took on August 9th, but they have not been the source of agony for a couple or more weeks.  The main "thumb problem" at this time is the slowly worsening arthritis / tendonitis in each thumb.

I enjoyed the entire Mule Pull course, with one MAJOR EXCEPTION:
There is a half-mile on NC-50 just a few miles before the finish.
Seven years ago, that half-mile was not the most pleasant of places to ride,
But now, it was hair-raising!!

Dave had expressed his skepticism just after the start of the ride.
He lives and rides down that-a-way, so he has much, much more experience with what is happening to traffic, etc. just south of Raleigh and Garner than I do.  Actually, I have no knowledge / experience from down that-a-way.
Anyway, as soon as we were off NC-50 and atop the little rise immediately thereafter,
I forcefully indicated to Dave that a new way around Lake Benson was needed.

Dave may have indicated that the alternative, Old Stage Rd, is just as bad.

Dave and I may have discussed the NC-50 situation when we did the Picnic 100 pre-ride, but I'm not sure about that.  I do know that after the Picnic, which was only five days before I'm actually typing this, I looked hard at the map and concluded that the current version of the "Benson Mule Pull" has outlived its usefulness as there is no safe way from the start to get around Lake Benson.  I sent an email to Dave, apologizing for sticking my nose in too far, indicating the prior thought.

Dave responded that he agreed with me.
And that he will mothball the Mule Pull at the end of the year.

Sad.
But SAFETY first.

Dave collected my card at the finish and Crista must have approved, because I have credit for having done the Benson Mule Pull on August 8, 2019.


Post-ride cycling commute.

I still had to pedal my way back to north Raleigh.
The part that I was skeptical about was Garner Rd to get to the southeast corner of downtown Raleigh.
That was a breeze, with little traffic and no concerns.

The only "difficult" part was getting across downtown Raleigh.
All the downtown streets and stop-lights are configured for easy north-south travel.
East-west not so much.
The only "good" east-west travel road is Peace Street.
And that gets WAY too much afternoon traffic for this cyclist to venture onto.
Additionally, Peace Street is currently a hodge-podge of potholes and repairs and worse.
However, I obviously made it across downtown, and on up to my hovel on the north side.


Total ride distance and time for August 9th:

My confuser was set to the wrong tire size and was slightly over-estimating distances.
Further, since I reset the confuser after the morning commute, and again after the ride proper, it was not until I added things up, and adjusted the distance to remove the over-estimating that I discovered that I had ridden 99.7-miles on the day, with a total in-motion time of 7:14 -- the afternoon commute was SLOW, at least partially because the last half-dozen miles were on the sidewalk, and that is always a slower ride.

IF I had known that at the time, I might well have added on three-tenths of a mile to claim a century.
On the other hand, since I have ridden 100-miles or more, at least 201 times as I type this, I might just as likely not bothered with extra 0.3-miles.


Seems to me that I stopped by Lynn's on the way back.
That would be 1.6-miles from my hovel.
And as soon as I stopped at Lynn's just to see how she was doing,
She put me to work doing some yard and/or house-holdy chores that are difficult for her to do.

I could be mis-remembering.
I think I can check on Facebook and/or some emails to possibly confirm,

Regardless, the above, though pretty boring, is my story, and I'll likely be sticking to it.
Unless I confirm that my "Lynn chores" recollection is misplaced.
 

Aug-10: Discomfort 138

About 1 pm on Friday-the-9th,
On my way back from an errand at the bank,
I suffered a single-bike crash.

I was riding on the sidewalk alongside Strickland Rd (a busy east-west road in northern Raleigh),
When suddenly my bike became a bucking bronco!
As background, I should mention that I was standing while riding;
I always stand when riding for / during short errands -- one-way commutes of a couple miles or less. 

I tried to get the bronco back under control.
I was desperate to NOT go down into the street, where I could get hit or run over.
 
The rear wheel came off the ground,
Probably made easier because standing, my weight was shifted onto the front wheel.
The bike lurched to the left,
I think from the dynamics of me being in the midst of a left downward pedal stroke
When the rear wheel came off the ground.

I thought I had gotten the bike under control, but suddenly I was thrown into the roadway.
No road-rash resulted.
I must have landed with my weight on the fleshy area of the palm side just below my thumbs.

I was EXTREMELY lucky that there were no cars alongside me when I crashed.
I was also EXTREMELY lucky that there were no vehicles for a couple hundred yards.

You can guess that because I had no road-rash that I wasn't too badly off.
I looked up, down the road, and saw traffic coming.
I was standing and off the road within seconds.
More embarrassed than hurt, I thought.

I got back on the bike and continued the errand commute ride to my abode.
I took a shower, put on fresh clothes, and then rode the 1.1-miles to work.
The bike seemed undamaged.
Then I realized that the chain was skipping as I pedaled along.
It was especially prone to skipping if I stopped pedaling and coasted for a bit.

When I got to work, I called my mechanic at TLC-4-Bikes.
[He spells out the word "for," but I think using the number "4" would be better marketing.]
I arranged to go by the TLC shop at approx 7:30, to see if I could get the drive system fixed.

Turned out that 3 of the 8 or 10 teeth on one of the jockey wheels were BADLY bent.
And the teeth on each side of the three was were also bent.

My mechanic indicated that the only times he's seen bent jockey wheels is as result of a crash.
However, as I think about it, I think the jockey wheel didn't bend as a result of the crash,
Instead, I think the bending of the jockey wheel cause the crash.

The thing that makes sense to me is that a pebble from the sidewalk was "kicked up"
Into the chain, and when the pebble reached the jockey wheel,
The pebble became jammed between the chain and the jockey wheel,
With the result that the "weak link" of the plastic jockey wheel gave way, 3 teeth bending, and
The jamming resulted in the chain suddenly stopping its travel,
And since I was still trying to pedal,
And with my weight well forward,
There was nothing holding down the rear wheel, and
VIOLA!!  CRASH.

The jockey wheel was replace by 8 pm, and the bike was fine.

My hands, particularly my thumbs, were a different story.
No visible damage, such as road-rash.
But the trauma of landing heavily landing on my hands
Messed up the soft-tissue of fleshy area of the palm side just below my thumbs.
The traumatized area combined with the usual arthritis / tendonitis in my thumbs
To make considerable pain and discomfort. 
[By the next morning, bruising appeared on the aforementioned fleshy areas, and 
Within a couple or three days, the bruising had spread up to my wrists.]


So that's the condition I was in come the morning of Saturday-the-10th.
A day on which I had scheduled a ride my friend Bob on the Denny's Store Sortie,
The 138-km perm-pop that I've mentioned more than a few times is my favorite route.
 
 

Bob and I met for a start time of a quarter past the 6 am striking of the clock.

While Bob took care of some before the ride business,
I snapped a photo about which.he was unaware -- at least for a few days. 

I later arranged to forward the above photo to Susan Notorangelo, tagged with the line "Bob trying to intimidate me, again."  [For the new readers out there, Hahaha Hohoho, new readers?  Anyway, for anyone that might read this, Bob intimidating me by wearing a PacTour jersey or his PacTour cycling cap has been a running joke for at least a couple years -- perhaps since the day I was doing the "3M" perm-pop with Bob and Sridhar and realized that Sridhar was wearing his Northern Tier PacTour jersey and Bob was wearing one of his Taste of Carolina jerseys.]

Bob had recently completed the PacTour "Ridge of the Rockies" tour.  Susan responded to my photo / comment that she was glad to see that Bob was riding again.  [For those that don't know, sometimes, some riders, upon completing a multi-week PacTour, have trouble getting motivated to ride their bikes again, at least for a long enough period that they lose much of their fitness.]


23-miles into the route, just after climbing up the "Range Wall,"
Which, as I understand it, is likely one of the more noticeable places to see the "Fall Line."
Anyway, at the 23-mile mark, just as one begins to ride past Camp Butner,
There is a decommissioned self-propelled artillery gun.
Over the years, several ride companions used that gun for a photo opportunity.

• The first to do so, in my presence, was my friend Harvey, on a 2009 non-rando ride. 
• Next BradW, in late May-2013, riding either the "Bahama Beach" route or the "Denny's Store" route. 
• A long hiatus, then Aug-06, just four days before this Denny's Store ride, Brad repeated, but he must have not liked the over-the-head photo because he didn't publish it. 
• So, perhaps to give my aching hands a rest -- if you've forgotten why my hands were aching, see the long introduction to this blog post -- I suggested that Bob take a turn reproducing Harvey's pose.  [At 67 years of age, or is he only 65?, Bob was not entirely at ease as he clamored aboard the artillery gun nor was he at ease while posing, and most assuredly, he was not at ease as he eased himself off the gun and back to the ground.  I learned a lesson.]  

Resuming our ride after the Camp Butner photo session, I again searched for a comfortable hand position.

Traditionally, although I move my hands around quite frequently while I'm cycling,
I typically don't ride "in the drops" very much.
But this day, the combined impact of arthritis and injury trauma, made for a lot of hand discomfort.
I eventually found that getting into the drops, and staying there, resulted in the least discomfort.

So, I went to the drops, which also slightly modifies my position on the saddle.
Maybe it also modifies your position, but I won't assert that because I don't know "for sure."

So, I'm in the drops, perhaps effectively better transferring energy to the pedals,
Perhaps reducing the weight on my hands,
Leading Bob for the entire ride.

Now that last, "leading Bob for the entire ride," used to happen quite frequently,
But in the last few years, with Bob in great shape, and me not,
I've lead very little, or if I led a lot, it was with a tailwind.
And Bob would end up doing virtually all the leading into the headwind.

So, on this ride, to minimize the hand discomfort,
I'm in the drops for 50-miles or more of the nearly 86-mile course,
Leading,
Perhaps more effectively transferring power to the pedals,
More aerodynamically positioned on the bike,
Riding faster than I've done for quite some time.

We kept the control stoppage times (there are only two intermediate controls) somewhat short.
But we stopped at the Denny's Store crossroads to take a usual photo.

 I also decided to take a photo looking to the SW into the field that is sometimes cotton, but most usually planted with tobacco.

[Hmmn, nearly cloudless sky.  Compare that to the sky seen in the photos of Bob atop the Camp Butner artillery piece.  It appears that, early-on, there had been a typical almost not noticeable thin overcast, but a few hours later, by the time we got to the Denny's Store crossroads, the thin overcast had almost disappeared.  I did not notice small things such as that on this ride; instead I was concentrating on minimizing the discomfort in my hands.]

We finished the ride in fine fashion. 
That is my story, and I'll be sticking to it.

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Denny's Store Sortie / 1795	138	2019/08/10	2	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T91844	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	06:26
RUSA-T91845	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	06:26

This was my 37th time doing the Denny's Store route.
And was Bob's 11th circuit.

Aug-06: Bahama Beach 103

My plan was to ride the Denny's Store Sortie 138-km perm-pop starting at 0500.
I decided to put out a last minute advertisement.
 
BradW responded that he had taken his PBP machine in to have a cable replaced;
That he couldn't pick up the bike until 8 am;
Would I be willing to delay my start until 0900?

No, I didn't want to still be riding until 4 pm (or nearly so)
In the likely 90 degree heat.
But I would agree to do Bahama Beach, starting a 9.

Somehow, Brad managed to collect his repaired machine on Monday afternoon, and
And Monday night, the plan was again morphed.
We would do Bahama Beach, in the clockwise direction, starting at 0700.

Brad had indicated that he had missed out on several "PBP training" rides, and
That he needed some climbing practice.
He also mentioned that Bahama Beach had always been a nemesis.

In looking at his previous BB rides:
The first had been when he was a near neophyte and had few 100k rides under his belt.
The second was when he decided to do the route on a fixed-gear bike.
And the third was when he was out of shape, but looking to maintain his P-streak
As for the fourth, it was a Jan-14-2014 ride he did with Ricochet (but I was not along). 

On the other hand, I knew that Brad has been riding with some of the fast-crew,
Including on some rather long and arduous routes.
I therefore knew that I would likely have a harder time doing BB than would Brad.


After an initial delay getting started, we got underway.
Part of the initial delay was Brad discovering that he had forgotten to bring any water bottles,

We stopped at the gas station at the corner of Cheek and Burton, 13-miles into the ride,
So that Brad could acquire some water in suitable bottles to carry with him on the ride.
He also purchased some Coco water, which he completely drank before we resumed riding.

At 20.9-miles into the course, one turns off Old-75 onto Stagville Rd.
There is a bit of a flat and then a three-quarter-mile 5% climb on Stagville;
Almost everyone goes up that faster than I do -- even when I'm in great cycling shape.
After that initial climb, there is a little descent, and
Then a 1.1-mile shallow one percent climb.
I went up that shallow incline at 15, then 16, then 17, then 18-mph.
No effort.
And I caught back up to Brad.

That was almost certainly the fastest I had ridden up that shallow incline in several years.
It made me feel good. 

There is an Info Control in Bahama -- after checking the answer there,
Brad asked if I thought he could use the rest room at the church.
I said, "use the fire station."
Brad replied that he couldn't wait that long.
"It's only a quarter mile," said I.
So we rode to the fire station, where luckily, Brad was able to immediately get to the commode.

I don't know what happened, but Brad's emergency took at least 15 minutes,
Probably closer to 20 minutes to resolve.

Starting late, 10 unplanned minutes for water acquisition, 20 minutes for Brad's emergency, 
Cloud cover dissipating -- it was certainly going to hot before we finished.
[Skipping ahead:  it did get hotter than I wanted to experience.]

We paused at the turn off Range Rd onto Robert's Chapel Rd,
To reproduce a photo from several years prior.
That is, Brad standing on the self-propelled artillery gun, lifting his bike overhead.
He did pose for that photo, I did take it, but Brad must not have liked the result,
Because he did not make it available.

Photo from this 2019 ride.  [photo credit?  Brad's smartphone, snapped by me.]

This is the photo for which I was trying to get an update.  This dates from 2013 Memorial Day weekend (if I recall correctly) -- either from a pause during a Bahama Beach ride, or perhaps the following day when doing the Denny's Store Sortie -- my recollection is that this is from the Bahama ride, but I could be wrong.  [photo credit?  Brad's smartphone, almost certainly snapped by me.]

 
 
There is a "wing-it" variant one can take out of Stem,
Starting on Tally Ho Rd, then Saunders and then turning onto E. Thollie Green Rd.
Pre-rando, I used to ride that somewhat often, but
Since going rando, well, it may have been 9 years since I'd ridden that routing.

I had promised Brad that I'd include a couple variants to increase the climbing to be ridden.
I recalled that Tally Ho - E. Thollie Green variant would provide some significant climbs.
Turned out my memory was a bit off.

On the other hand, going forward, I think I'll be using this "E. Thollie Green" variant,
Instead of the "3-Hayes" variant I've been using most times I do the Bahama Beach route.

We stopped at the Grissom store to replenish cold liquids,
Before tackling the "Mangum Dairy" variant.

While at Grissom, adjusting our bottles, perhaps one of us sitting at one of the picnic tables,
Another rider came in to the store.
When he reappeared, he walked over and mentioned that the clerk
Had told him that we were riding 67-miles.

Looking into the face of the new rider, I knew that I recognized that face, but
Did not know the name to go with the face.
Almost embarrassing because he recognized me and knew my name.
Turned out it was "Dr. Phil" -- we knew each other from Irregular rides.

Checking the time, knowing that his wife would appreciate him getting home sooner, and
Recognizing that we had done a bit of climbing already, and
There was the Ghoston - Peed - Mt. Vernon finishing climbs ahead of us,
[Phil chuckled when he heard the G - P - MV routing, quipping, "of course."] 
We decided to skip the "Mangum Dairy" variant and head straight to the finish.

I asked Phil if he would like to ride back with us.  He did ride back with us.

Brad led the way for a mile or so, then
I decided to try to do an old-fashioned "Bruce Garner - New Light" time trial.
So I passed Brad and picked up the pace, or at least I tried to pick up the pace.

Brad and Phil settled in behind me.
Clearly not working very hard to keep up.
They were riding side-by-side conversating.

They did pass me after two or three miles, on one of the bump-ups, but
As soon as the incline was crested, I re-took the lead, and
Stayed in the lead to the bottom of Ghoston, where the other two passed me.
That had been my plan -- try to force some pace / gettiing in shape
On my traditional Bruce Garner - New Light time trial to more-or-less finish the ride.

Phil split off from us when Brad and I turned on Norwood toward the CVS.
I wonder when, or if ever, I will again see Dr. Phil.


Brad rescued four turtles on the day.
He took a photo of each.
 
The first was on Robert's Chapel Rd -- I got him to text the photo to Lynn.
The second was only about 100 yard further along on Robert's Chapel Rd.
He tried to text that one to Lynn, too, but he had no cell signal. 

The third was on Little Mountain Rd, just after the turn off Range Rd.
The fourth, well, I don't recall the road for sure, maybe it was on Tally Ho Rd.

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Bahama Beach / 1404	103	2019/08/06	2	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T91770	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	05:42
RUSA-T91771	8218	W__, Bradley J.	North Carolina Bicycle Club / 933045	05:42

This was Brad's fifth time doing the Bahama Beach perm-pop.
I hope he got enough climbing to be of training use for his upcoming PBP ride. 
  
This was my 74th completed ride on the Bahama Beach route.
Some clockwise.
Some counter-clockwise.
Some using the standard route.
Most, in recent years, making use of one or more variants.

Aug-03: there's a reason I do these rides starting at dawn, or before

Today, 0430 start -- NOT 0800 as I had done three days before.
Finished at 0922.  
I.e., 4h52 rando elapsed time.

 
Cooler, overcast, humid, foggy.
Didn't put my cycling goggles / glasses on until leaving Berea at 0657.
Had to take them off when I got to Creedmoor, approx 0752,
Because they were too fogged up because of condensation to see anything.
Also, at that time, in and around Creedmoor, it was very foggy.

Starting at a more rationale pace made most of the difference.
Of course, on Wednesday, it was SIGNIFICANTLY warmer / hotter than this morning.
And there was no breeze / wind at all today; neither outbound nor homeward bound.

Oh, my clean kit was SOAKED when I finished.
Some from sweat, but mostly, I think, from condensation.

My clothes have been dryer at the end of rides where / when I got POURED upon.
That happens.

Jul-31: P-series Rescue

I rescued my P-series today.

Woke up at 4:57.
Three minutes before the alarm was to go off.
I needed to pee, and I had a colossal head-ache.
I turned off the alarm, took a pee, and went back to bed.
Woke up about 2 hours later -- no headache.
So, instead of doing "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" starting at 0600,
I switched to "RBR" starting at 0800.


The outbound was great, but I was too enthusiastic and rode too fast.
Outbound in 2:08 in-motion.

Then inbound starting at about 10:16 or 10:17,
Into the increasing breeze, into the increasing temps, and
I had cooked myself on the way out since
I had ridden like an adult that was going for their first bicycle ride in 30 years and
Was loving it and ... you can guess.
I was only approx four minutes slower between Berea and Creedmoor inbound than outbound,
But after that, ugh !
Riding up the inclines at 4.5 to 5 mph, wondering if I could make it back.
Ugh !

I don't know the temp when I started at 8 am, but it wasn't hot, just warm.
The temp when I finished at 1:20 pm was 90F, with a heat index of 95.
Tired from the heat and worn out.
Much, much better to start at 0430 and finish at around 0930 (before the heat gets to be too much).

There is a gas station / c-store at the corner
Where Six Forks Rd makes that 90-degree turn / intersects Possum Track Rd.
I had never stopped there before.
Today, I stopped to acquire a second en-route cold drink as I was completely out of fluids.
Here's some advice: avoid using the rest room there if at all possible !
2:48 in-motion inbound.

Total rando elapsed time: 5h20.
[On May 30, I did RBR in 4h54. 
June 19 -- Iva met me for breakfast in Berea and that elapsed time came to 5h36.] 

Six weeks since my last notable ride.
I should expect some trouble doing "even" a 100k.
Gonna' have to build back up to a 200, again, again, again.

I managed to get through work this afternoon.
Legs should feel better after a night of rest.
 

Jun-15: Badgett Sisters 234

BobB and I decided to ride the "Badgett Sisters Parkway (Bay Leaf Start)" 234-km permanent.
I advertised for other riders, not expecting any "takers."
Surprise, one rider, Chet #1015, decided to join us.
For the outbound leg, anyway.

And Gilbert, proprietor of North Road Bicycles, indicated that he would meet us en-route.
Gilbert indicated his desire to meet us at the south end of the Badgett Sisters Parkway, or
Maybe even before that.

As best I can recall, we were nearly to the Yanceyville city limits when we saw Gilbert. 

Anyway, Bob, Chet, and I got underway at 6 am (or within a couple minutes thereafter).

Nothing much interesting happened until we were on Sawmill or Carr Store Road.
Grinding noises started coming from my bike, seemingly from near the rear wheel.
I thought maybe the chain needed lubrication and the dry chain / dry gears were grinding.

I figured to stop at the next stop sign, or
Maybe wait until the first intermediate control, at Corbett, 51.9-miles into the route,
To lube the chain, etc..

But luckily, Bob dropped back from riding with Chet, and
Almost immediately after getting behind me,
Bob indicated that there was a small pebble stuck between the brake calipers and the rear wheel.

I immediately pulled over, even though I was on a slight incline,
After all, it was a shady spot, and
Saw the pebble trapped as Bob had indicated.

The pebble had worn a groove in the rear tyre!
Slightly toward the drive side of the tyre.
A groove all the way around the virtually brand-new tyre.
Well, not brand-new, but with only approx 2200 miles on it, the tyre looked quite new.

I had to get a tool out of the back-pack to dislodge the pebble.
I wondered how much damage had been done that tyre.
How many future miles I would now get out of that tyre.

[As I type this on Aug-19, there are approx 3030 miles on that tyre. 
The groove is still easily seen. 
I'm thinking the tyre will likely be good for another 2000 or more miles.]

Chet and Bob at the south end of the Badgett Sisters Pkwy.  Yanceyville is at the north end.  Badgett Sisters Pkwy is old-old NC-62.  It caresses the ups-and-downs of the terrain to get into Yanceyville; the result is a fun curving back-and-forth, up-and-down road; it almost seems as if one is in the NC mountains instead of the foothills to the foothills.  [photo by skiffrun]

  
Gilbert joined us for lunch at the same spot, just west of Yanceyville, that we used last year.
Just before arriving at said spot, Chet managed to get a flat tyre.  Rear if I recall correctly.

When we done eating, Chet working to repair his flat, Gilbert supervising,
Gilbert may have actually laid hands on the wheel to hasten the repair,
Bob and I decided to hit the return road, knowing that Chet would soon catch us, and
He his plan all along had been to ride the outbound with us, but
To ride the homebound leg at his own, faster, pace.

Chet caught us, and passed us, while we were still on the Badgett Sisters Parkway.

Bob and I proceeded at our slower pace.
Well, we proceeded at MY slower pace.
Bob being patient enough to soft-pedal to keep the two of together.


Nothing interesting or memorable happened during the homebound leg.
Well, nothing other than dealing with the steep-ish rollers between Yanceyville and Corbett, and
The five non-trivial climbs on Kemp / Victory Church Road.

R-rides for everyone.
But only Bob is counting.
I keep missing months, and
As best I can tell, Chet has never shown an interest in an R-12.

Permanent Route Name / #	Distance	Date	Finishers	DNF
NC: Badgett Sisters Parkway (Bay Leaf Start) / 2498	234	2019/06/15	3	0

Cert#	RUSA#	Name	Club / ACP Code	Time
RUSA-T90274	5843	B__, Bob	Randonneurs USA / 933095	13:11
RUSA-T90275	6218	S__, Martin	Randonneurs USA / 933095	13:11
RUSA-T90276	1015	B__, Chet	Randonneurs USA / 933095	12:02

Jun-04: Denny's Store 138

I know that I have told some that the Denny's Store route is my favorite among my rando routes.
And I reckon that is true.

 
Except maybe in the Autumn when certain sites along the Bahama Beach route are colorful.
And maybe except when I might prefer a flatter route for "cadence practice."
Then the "Bay Leaf - Oxford - Bay Leaf" is the option.

But I reckon that the Denny's Store Sortie is my favorite among my rando routes.
I'd like to get to ride it more often than I do.

But at 138-kms, it does take me roughly an hour-and-a-half longer, or more,
Than it takes me to ride the Bahama Beach mini-hill-fest and
Maybe as much as two hours longer than it takes me to ride the mostly flat Oxford route.
So, when the available time window has a tight-ish back-end constraint,
I end up riding the Bahama route, or the Oxford route,
Or, the last couple years, the "Raleigh - Berea - Raleigh" route.

Understand that the RBR route is essentially the last 40% of the Denny's Store route.
Well, the last half of the RBR route is essentially the last 40% of the Denny's route.
The first half of RBR is the reverse of the second half.
And since RBR starts / finishes only half-a-mile from my hovel,
There is no extra commute time when I do the RBR route
Whereas there is a half-an-hour cycling commute to and from the other routes mentioned above.

What has the above got to do with the ride I did on June 4th?
Not much.
But the fingers just starting typing away, and the above resulted.


I did the 5.6-mile commute from my hovel to the Denny's start in 25-minutes.
It usually takes me 21 to 24 minutes, in-motion, for that pre-ride commute.
So, I obviously was "taking it easy" on the way to the route's start.

Starting more-or-less on time at 6 am,
I got to the first intermediate control, at the Allensville Store, 42.3 miles into the route,
After roughly 3 hours.
That's usual.

The clerk that always asks about Lynn #5519, asked her usual question:
"How's your ex-wife?"
I told her, "okay."

Then, I got into a conversation with the clerk and a vendor that was delivering something.
Topic was the "vagaries" of cycling and careless drivers.
Conversation must have lasted 10 or so minutes.


That was the only interesting thing regarding this rando rodeo.

I didn't even take a photo at the Denny's Store crossroad.

I did finish the route in 6h35 elapsed, 5h54 in-motion.

Surprisingly, according to my Excel log,
Instead of taking the usual 6.7-mile afternoon post-ride commute route,
I rode back to my place via the 5.6-mile morning pre-ride commute route.
The 5.6-mile route is safe enough in the morning, when there is no traffic.
But the usual 6.7-mile afternoon route is safer, the road being wider and smoother.
According the Excel log, I did the afternoon 5.6-mile post-ride commute in 22-minutes.
I must have been motivated.

That's my story for this ride.
And since I have no other memories of this, my 36th Denny's Store ride,
I'll be sticking to the above story.