On Blog Stats

Those that don't have a blog probably won't understand the following.
Even many of those that do have a blogspot blog might not understand.
But ...

For several months, I have been wondering WHY anyone / someone would repeatedly view
A particular blog post from late Sep-2011.
That post says nothing, and is completely boring.

Recently, I happened to sign-in and, for kicks, check the daily blog stats ...
And was able to determine that the person that was repeatedly viewing that post ...
Is in Germany.

I left them a note (or tried to) ... wondering / asking why they had bookmarked that post ...
Rather than the blog "home" URL.

Just now, I happened to check the blog stats again ...
Germany is still coming in through that late Sep-2011 post.
At least the second time today.

It isn't harmful or anything.
Just ... I don't understand such a curious thing.
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Stranger is / was the 41 instantaneous page-views originating from the Netherlands the other day.
I happened to be signed in, trying to figure out the new blogger behind-the-scenes interface,
And suddenly, 41 page-views ... all from the Netherlands.
I assume that was some sort of troll or attempted attack on Blogger or my computer.
But I don't really know.

 _

Sep-03: IR Bearpond-Bobbitt

The name of the route is Bearpond-Bobbitt because:

• who can resist putting "Bearpond" in the name, and Bearpond, which is just south of South Henderson, is the northernmost point of the route, and 
• Bobbitt because that is the location of the old country store / gas station that could benefit from a few dollars from a few cyclists, and as such, is the planned "refueling stop".  The gas stations / convenience stores at Bearpond and Gill don't need our cyclist dollars -- they get lots of automobile customers as those locations are located on Old-US-1 and right next to new US-1.  However, Bobbitt, just 4 or 5 miles away, does NOT get auto traffic from off of US-1 and is strategically located among some very good cycling roads.  I'd like that store to still be there when I, or some other cyclist, really need it.  A few dollars periodically from a few cyclists might help make the difference. 

PUE:  Bearpond - Bobbitt:  72 m.
@	turn	go	on	comment(s)
0.0	R	2.0	Pleasant Union Church Rd.
2.0	L	13.3	Six Forks Rd	---> New Light ---> Bruce Garner ---> Pokomoke
15.3	L	3.3	Gordon Moore
18.6	R	0.3	NC-56
18.9	L	3.4	Mt. Olive Ch Rd
22.3	L	1.7	Green Hill Rd
24.0	str	5.6	(x Tar River) ---> Charlie Grissom Rd
29.6	L	6.0	Lynnbank Rd	regroup @ ChGrissom / Lynnbank
35.6	R	0.7	Raleigh Rd / US-1-Bus	@ Bearpond
36.3	L	0.1	Peter Gill Rd	@ Gill
36.4	immed R	3.3	Bobbitt Rd
39.7	RS		@ Bobbitt store	food & drink only  --  no restrooms
	str	7.5	continue South on Bobbit Rd	---> Walter Grissom Rd ---> Sims Bridge Rd
47.2	R	4.7	W. River Rd	---> Mason St in Franklinton
51.9	L	0.8	Cheatham St
52.7	str	14.8	(x US-1) ---> Pokomoke Rd	---> Bruce Garner ---> New Light
67.5	R	1.1	Ghoston Rd
68.6	R	0.2	NC-98
68.8	L	1.7	Peed Rd
70.5	L	1.7	Mt. Vernon Church Road
72.2	L	0.1	Pleasant Union Church Rd
72.3	R		Finish in parking lot

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Story ...

... ZZZZZZZZZZAPPED ...

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Due to ... circumstances, rather than the comfortable / leisurely ride I was looking forward to, BobH and I "hammered" from 18.6 miles into the ride (corner of Gordon Moore and NC-56 to the just after climbing "Charlie Grissom Mtn", and then again through the end of the Bearpond-Bobbitt route).  Bob is doing Bridge-2-Bridge in a two or three weeks, so a hard ride was good for him.  As for me ... after last Sunday's debacle, it was nice to confirm that thirty-two 200+ kilometer rides in the last 11 months has given me a good base ... a base from which I can, if I want, leave annoying people behind (I can also ride slowly enough that I can drop annoying people off my front ... and then turn on to a different road).
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Sep-03:  

---> LT's ---> PUE:  Bearpond-Bobbitt --> ; 84.0 m.; 5h,16m in-motion; 15.9 mph. 

Q-1 tot: _23 rides; _1822.2 m.; 123 hrs, 05 min; 14.8 mph. 
Q-2 tot: _30 rides; _2604.9 m.; 174 hrs, 22 min; 14.9 mph. 
J-A tot: _23 rides; _1944.0 m.; 128 hrs, 29 min; 15.1 mph. 
Sep tot: __1 rides; ___84.0 m.; __5 hrs, 15 min; 15.9 mph. 
YTD tot: _77 rides; _6455.1 m.; 431 hrs, 13 min; 15.0 mph. 
 
[I missed not having the monthly, quarterly, YTD summary.  I'm not blogging all the rides any more, I might not show the summary all the time, but I missed not seeing it.  After all, the info on the course, pace, and the summary was the reason I started this blog -- and I just don't want to give that up.] 
 _  

Aug-28: Kerr Lake Loop 208 km Permanent

From HelpER to HelpEE on KLL in only 8 days.  

Rick R, coming off bronchitis, and hoping to save his R-series, rode with me. 

He figured he'd be slowing me down. 

I figured I would ride with some gusto, again, and pull / help Rick. 

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

On a "severe clear" day that should have been great for checking the scenery and taking photos, 

But with my shoulder and elbow still aching some (but not as bad as they were), 

I looked around barely at all. 

Partially no-look because of the shoulder and the associated aches in the neck, 

But mostly because ... I was too tired to do anything but keep the bike on the road. 

I was lucky enough to have Alan's "no-go" on upslopes, 

And MikeH's legs attempting to cramp (beginning in Clarksville, maybe before). 

Took a lot of small (or not so small) breaks.  

We finished in 12h,06m. 

Yep ... slower than 8 days previously. 

At least, assuming it gets approved, Rick got his R-ride in.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Aug-21:  

---> Kerr Lake Loop 209 km Permanent; 141.8 (10.6 miles to the start).; 9h,38m in-motion (36m.42s to the start); 14.7 mph; rando-route elapsed clock time:  12h,06m.   
 _ 

Final Word on Ricochet Robert on P-B-P

Here is the final P-B-P rider progress report on Robert:

Contrôle

Heure

Cumul

Intermédiaire

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES	21-08 20:01	0h00	0 km/h	0h00	0.1 km/h
VILLAINES-LA-JUHEL	22-08 05:54	9h53	22.4 km/h	9h53	22.4 km/h
FOUGERES	22-08 10:40	14h39	21.2 km/h	4h46	18.7 km/h
TINTENIAC	22-08 13:44	17h43	20.5 km/h	3h04	17.6 km/h
LOUDEAC	22-08 21:02	25h01	17.9 km/h	7h17	11.6 km/h
CARHAIX-PLOUGUER	23-08 03:48	31h47	16.5 km/h	6h45	11.2 km/h
BREST	23-08 11:05	39h04	15.8 km/h	7h17	12.8 km/h
CARHAIX-PLOUGUER	23-08 19:06	47h05	14.9 km/h	8h01	10.6 km/h
LOUDEAC	24-08 02:16	54h15	14.4 km/h	7h09	11 km/h
TINTENIAC	24-08 08:46	60h45	14.3 km/h	6h29	13.1 km/h
FOUGERES	24-08 12:12	64h11	14.3 km/h	3h26	15.7 km/h
VILLAINES-LA-JUHEL	24-08 20:31	72h30	13.9 km/h	8h18	10.6 km/h

Heure estimée d'arrivée au prochain controle entre 25-08 02:20 et 25-08 04:10

Kilomètres parcourus: 1009 
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I received this message from Angi, Robert's wife: 

Had a message from Robert. He didn't make it. Hmmmm. Bummer.

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NOT what I expected to be posting, but ...

Congratulations, Robert !!
1000 kilometers !! 
Your longest ride ever by 400 kms.

Probably on strange food on a stomach that doesn't "do" strange food. 
We know it was in an unfamiliar language.

I look forward to hearing about the good stuff.
And the bad.
 _ 

Aug-21: Showdown in Black Creek 204 km Perm

UGH !!!

That's the note that LynnL left in the zip-lock bag with her control card.
That about sums up her ride.
And mine.

Lynn finished 1h,20m before me. All of it, except 10m, on the homeward leg.
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Aug-21:  

Showdown in Black Creek 204 km Permanent; 127.0.; 8h,29m in-motion; 15.0 mph; rando elapsed clock time:  10h,31m.  

Career "Eddiington cycling number", E = 78. 
 _ I.e., I have at least 78 rides that were at least 78 miles long.  

Aug-20: Kerr Lake Loop 208 km Perm

It is good to be the HELPER. 
Because, next time you might be the HELPEE.

Route owner MikeD was headed to France for P-B-P.
I tried to contact him far enough in advance to NOT add to any stress he may have been having.
I probably should have contacted him even sooner.
How do I know?
It is obvious to those of us that did the ride.
When Mike is back from France, and nicely relaxed, we'll share with him.
Hopeful that he will laugh.

Ended up with a "Party of Six".
Could have been "Eight is Enough", but
One cancelled early the in week before claiming bronchitis.
And one over-slept on Saturday morning.

I had planned to cycle 10 or more miles to get to the start of the ride,
But when I decided to put a little more air in the tyres,
The seal between the valve and "rubber" of the tube in the rear failed.
Great.  Not.  I needed a "wayback machine", or 20 minutes, anyway.
I put bike in car and drove to the start.
I had to get to the start on time ... I had the group waiver signatures to collect.

Fixed the flat at the start, before the start.
Interesting thing about that tube:
It had a patch.  I had forgotten it was a patched tube.
The patch was still good when I tossed the tube.
The permanent style patch had lasted for at least two thousand miles.

A little confusion at the start, but nothing really worth mentioning.

At the first control, ~ 23 miles in to the ride,
I informed Irregular and newbie-this-year rando JohnA that he would be the lucky one
To ride with LynnL when she rode away from us.
6 or 8 miles later (I'm not going to consult the cue sheet),
I saw Lynn drifting off the front, and called out to John that his ride partner was making her move.
[John had never ridden with Lynn.  Only heard about her.]
John asked, "is that her moving away for the day?"
I responded, "yep, we won't see her again."
We didn't.

Also at the first control, or maybe it was at the store in Boydton,
I pointed out to RBA Alan that since MikeO had over-slept,
No one was on the ride that knew his tell-tale signs of ... bad things.
If he noticed he was over-heating, please tell us.
[I'm sure Alan later informed MikeO that he is not allowed to oversleep again
As I make a tougher "nanny" than Mike does.
Not really:  I saw Mike "frog-march" Alan into the air conditioning on a Jul-02 ride.] 

Alan had spent the early part of the month walking around San Francisco,
Fulfilling life commitments, and being a tourist.
He had ridden all of 27 miles in August before this ride.
All 27 miles were the day before.
I've been on rides with Alan when I couldn't keep up with him.
I've been on rides with Alan when he's had a bad day.

This ride, Alan struggled with his conditioning ... not so much the heat.
Just after the crest of Peace Mountain (aka, "Stovall Mountain"),
I pulled over to wait, BikerBob pulled over to wait, Alan pulled over announcing he needed a REST.
Next minute I look behind Bob, and saw
Alan's bike lying in the ditch,
His shoes and camelback neatly beside the bike, and
Alan lying flat on his back along the roadside.
Classic randonneur sleeping in the ditch kind of thing.

Neither Bob nor I had a camera.
If we had had a camera, this post would consist of ... that photo and nothing else.

Alan's lie-down and everything else only took 11 minutes of time,
From when he pulled over until we started again.

We soon caught up to MikeH, who had kept riding
As the best way to hold off cramps his legs had been trying to inflict since Clarksville.
MikeH had also had limited recent cycle time,
Completing the renovations to his house.
Those are done, now.
I expect I'll soon have trouble keeping up with him, again.

Our lantern rouge foursome split into two twosomes the last 18 miles or so.
Alan could "go" on the flat and downslopes,
MikeH's legs wanted to hold him back, regardless of the terrain.

We all finished.
Hopefully, when MikeD returns, we'll all get credit.

R-rides for Alan, MikeH and JohnA.
Kilometers towards goals for BikerBob and me.
I'm not sure what Lynn is thinking these days.

One more thing:  that flat I had before attempting to cycle to the ride ...
I'm thinking it may have been a Godsend ...
Otherwise, I would have either had to ride "home" in the failing light,
Or, I might not have wanted to be as much of a HELPER as the day called for.
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Aug-20:  

Kerr Lake Loop 208 km Permanent; 131.1.; 8h,46m in-motion; 14.9 mph; rando elapsed clock time:  12h,00m. 
 _ 

Where to Find the Time

It is hard, right now, to find the time to blog my two weekend rides.
Because the time I could have used to do that ...
Has been used checking on friends and acquaintances currently in France or Alaska.
(Although I've only checked on Alaska once.)

Irregular and rando buddy Ricochet Robert appears to be riding with plenty of Ricochet.
Randos Jerry and Ian appear to be leap-frogging and near Robert.
Branson is a BEAST !!
MikeD appears to be near Jerry and Ian and Robert.
That probably means Cap'n Ende, also.

However, some of our "North Carolina" contingent have "Abandoned".
As I type this, I know that RonM and Chloe have abandoned.
I'm concerned about Thai and Denis and Sara and Gary.

Sara and Gary have a special place in my rando-heart.
They got me to the finish of my first 400 last year.
Without them ... I'm not sure I would have kept trying rando.
I hope the reports on them have simply been delayed and that
They continue to make their way across northern France,
Sara with her signature smile, and
Gary with his "cat that swallowed the canary" grin that he always has when he rides with Sara.

If, however, any of them have had to abandon, or have to abandon in the next couple days,
Perhaps they will follow the advice of Sridhar:
"How often do you expect to be cycling across France?  Take a nap, and finish the ride, anyway."
 _