randonneurextra

Right hook

2010-10-28T22:50:00.004-04:00

Well it finally happened -- I was hit a week or so ago (Sunday, Oct. 17). After 10's of thousands of miles over the last decade or so, the odds were no longer in my favor.

To set the scene, I was riding the first part of my L-L-L Permanent out to the store in Gorman and back. Heading back home on the short, sub 1-mile stretch of Hwy 98. Noon. Traffic was light and visibility was excellent. Wearing my red, white, and blue RUSA wool jersey.

Just before I made the turn onto Kemp Rd., I heard a car approaching from behind. I caught a quick glance of her front bumper for a split second then she made a right turn directly on top of me. Hit my left thigh with the front quarter panel of her car, leaving a black mark between the wheel well and front door. Sent me into the ditch, landing on my elbow and rolling off the bike.

I swear to god, the first words out of her mouth: "I didn't see you". Clearly.

Maybe she was trying to figure out a way to set her DVR to record Wheel of Fortune from her JitterBug phone. Maybe she was daydreaming about lunch -- trying to remember how long the potato salad had been in the fridge -- was it one week or two… Who knows. The end result was, she simply wasn't paying attention and hit me.

I called 911 as soon as I could dig my phone out of my bag -- the sheriff & EMT guys showed up in about 5 minutes. The EMT declared nothing was obviously broken, but I should see my doctor first thing on Monday. For a few minutes, there was enough adrenaline going through me that I didn't notice the pain, but it didn't take long for my left hip and right elbow didn't take long to start hurting.

After talking with the sheriff deputy, I decided to try riding home. Only made it about a mile or two before I had to call my wife to come get me -- my elbow was already starting to swell and I couldn't support my weight with my right arm. By Sunday evening, it looked like I had a golf ball under the skin on my elbow and I couldn't bend my arm -- had to eat left handed. Ice and ibuprofen seemed to help, but it was hurting like pure hell.

Went to my doctor on Monday -- he took one look at my elbow and asked if I'd had it x-rayed. Since I didn't go to the ER, he ordered a round of x-rays. Great. I was hoping it wasn't fractured.

Doc called the next day to let me know it wasn't fractured, but to keep going with the ice/ibuprofen/elevation for a while longer. I was sore all over for several days from the violence of being knocked to the ground. It took a little over a week for my elbow to start to feel OK.

The worst thing about my injuries was not being able to pick up my son, Finn. I've only recently been able to hold him without my elbow speaking up.

In the grand scheme of things, I was lucky. I can think of a 1000+ ways it could have been worse -- much worse. Yeah, I had to deal with some inconvenience, and there will be more to come as the insurance claim comes together, but I'll be fine -- I'll live to ride another day.

Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing, my bike survived without a scratch -- I cushioned it with my body.

Scenes from the Commute -- Sunset at Lake Crabtree

2010-10-28T20:41:00.005-04:00

Greensboro 600k - Better Times A-Coming

2010-10-20T23:20:00.000-04:00

Ever get a song stuck in your head on a ride -- can't shake it no matter what you do?

Well, on the Greensboro 600k last month, I had Jim and Jesse McReynolds' rendition of "Better Times A-Coming" stuck in my head -- for nearly 36 hours. As frustrating as that seems, it actually turned out to be a good thing.

That's the thing about doing brevets, especially longer ones, you can sometimes reach a really dark point -- even thinking about abandoning -- but if you can just hang in there, there's always better times a-coming.

Shortly after leaving the control at Chuck's house on the way out, I started to feel less than good. I'd ridden the first 200k a little too hard and not eaten enough throughout the day, and it was starting to catch up with me. By the time I'd reached the control in Carthage, I was feeling green. I ordered some food at McDonalds, knowing I needed to eat, but feeling like I couldn't. While waiting for the food, I popped a Tums -- and within seconds knew I was going to be sick. A mad sprint for the bathroom for several minutes of dry heaves, and that was that. I still really couldn't eat, but at least I felt somewhat better -- just got to keep the pedals turning.

From Carthage to the turn around in Fayetteville, it was touch-and-go with my stomach. With the encouragement and the offer to share his room from new riding pal, Steve, I was able to make it through a pretty rough night. I knew if I could make it to the turn around and get a bit of sleep, better times would be a-coming.

And after couple hours of good sleep and a hearty breakfast at the Waffle House, Steve and I rolled out for the final 200k back to Greensboro. Better times had arrived.

Harrisonburg 300k - Foggy Mountain Ramble

2010-08-15T17:26:00.011-04:00

Deja vu?! Did I wake up in France? Let's see, it's the middle of August - check. The sweltering heat was replaced by a cool misty morning - check. I'm about to go on a long, tough ride - check. And I have a cold - check.

After a summer of blazing hot temps, we were treated to cool misty weather for Matt's Harrisonburg, VA 300k. With temps forecast to barely make it into the mid 80's and a slight chance of showers, this was shaping up to be a great day in the saddle. Except for the cold thing.

After missing the whole brevet season this year with pneumonia, I decided work in a late season series and Matt's 300k sounded like a good challenge. On the drive up on Friday, I started getting an annoying post-nasal drip. When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was a full on runny nose and sore throat. Awesome.

Pal Bob O. had come in from the coast for the ride and we split a room at the Super 8. I wasn't the only one with morning ailments, Bob was suffering from acid reflux -- bad enough he was considering not starting. He tried breakfast at the diner, but things weren't looking settled.

So the ride, how did the ride go? Well, we had a very small turnout of only 5 riders: Matt, Bob O., Allan (sp), Aji (sp) and myself. We split up right before we ever started, rolling out while Aji was still in the bathroom. Within a couple miles, Matt had to double back and get his water bottles. Bob was suffering the stomach blues so Allan and I were in the lead and thanks to my superb leadership, we made a wrong turn and were off course within the first ten miles. Patsy had seen us go off course so she chased us down to tell us -- ended up with 5~10 bonus miles.

Back on course, we caught up with Matt about the time we saw Bob on the side of the road -- he didn't look good and would end up pulling out before his stomach got him into big trouble. Alan was putting down a good pace and we shed Matt after a couple miles then Alan started opening a big gap on me up Hankey Mtn. highway.

I managed to catch up with Alan and Aji at the first control, but we all rolled out separately. That'd basically be the theme for the day -- 4 solo riders on course. I managed to catch Alan at each control, but he was running a steady 15 minutes ahead of me. Alan and I did finally regroup in the last 25 miles and finish together at 7:40pm -- 13:40 hours on course (my computer showed 15.7mph rolling average). I'm pretty sure this is the fastest 300k I've ever done and certainly one of the most difficult -- if not THE most difficult.

Rawrrr! Rando Habanero takes a break at an Exxon near Natural Bridge.

My, what big teeth you have.

If you haven't ridden Matt's Harrisonburg 300k, I highly recommend it. It's a challenging but beautiful route -- lots of winding back roads and beautiful vistas. If you have any designs on PBP '11, I'd suggest checking out this route -- I felt the terrain was very similar to northern France. Lots of rolling hills -- nothing too tough. Ridewithgps.com confirms a little over 11,000 feet of climbing:

This brevet also marked a couple of firsts for me. I've done 50+ brevets/permanents -- gotten my card signed hundreds of times. For the first time ever, a store refused to sign my card -- sited it was "against corporate policy". So to the management at the Stop-In Exxon in Buena Vista, I'd like to cordially invite you to go fuck yourselves.

Another, slightly more positive first, I stopped at a house along the route to beg for water. The 70 mile leg from the first control to the second was very remote -- I'd only seen one open store and didn't know if I'd find another before the control. With around 25 miles to go, I was out of water and getting desperate. I'd stopped at a church but the faucet was dry -- I tried two houses but no one answered the door. The nice lady at the third house kindly obliged to fill my bottle from the sink and even brought me a cold bottle of water from the fridge. Coulda hugged her. And here's the kicker -- there was a store not even a mile down the road.

Post ride -- all things considered, I feel really darn good -- except for the cold thing. It's quickly moving into faucet-like runny nose and a hacking cough. Super Awesome!

Scenes from the Commute -- Tournesol

2010-07-29T21:47:00.004-04:00

A lone sunflower blooms next to the Black Creek Greenway in Cary. Wonder how it came to be there....

Also spotted this 'spidery' Cleome Hasslerana flower near the sunflower.

A beautiful day in the saddle

2010-07-03T21:53:00.012-04:00

Days like this don't come around all that often in July where the temp and humidity are typically racing each other to 100. We were treated to start temps around 60 degrees (almost wanted a light jacket!) eventually only warming to the mid 80's with light winds and low humidity. It was an absolutely perfect day to spin some miles with friends.

I found myself with a "bachelor's" weekend so decided I'd ride my L-L-L route and squeak my July Permanent in early. Mike D., Lynn, Alan and Branson signed on to join me.

Well, I should have taken a group shot before we took off -- within a couple miles, Mike D. and Lynn had broken off the front. We saw them briefly at the first control and again as they passed us on the way back in.

I spent the rest of the day riding with Branson and our local RBA, Alan -- a fella couldn't ask for better riding companions. Branson and I have both been busy with our new families and hadn't ridden together since last fall -- we spent the day catching up on how our little boys are doing.

Branson attacks on the Moore's Mill "wall".

The "Hard Man" of the day award goes to Branson who showed up for this rather hilly ride on a fixed gear. And here I was waffling between riding my bike with the compact double or triple crank -- silly me.

We had a great ride out to the turn-aroud control, arriving right at noon. I'm a big fan of olde-time country stores and the Leasburg Grocery is one of those places. Despite being a rather small store, they seem to do a brisk business (they're really the only thing out there) -- a steady stream of people hauling boats made their way through the store while we were there.

Alan and Branson relax and refuel at Leasburg.

The iconic Leasburg store.

We only had one mechanical mishap for the day. While descending Moore's Mill road on the return, my right pedal fell off! Fortunately, I was just starting to pedal again after coasting down the hill, or the outcome could have been much worse.

The seal or bearing in my right pedal was starting to seize up -- I was barely able to turn the pedal by hand -- it must have developed enough friction to back out of the crank arm. The crank threads were a little monkeyed up, but I was able to get the pedal threaded back in and continue on, though I was obsessively watching the pedal for the rest of the ride.

Overall, it was a great day in the saddle with some great company!

A Sunday in L-L-L

2010-06-14T06:35:00.013-04:00

Martin put out the shout for riding my L-L-L Permanent this Sunday so I decided to sign on along with Sridhar, John O., and Tim (see Martin's ride report). We all stayed together through the first two controls, but as the heat and hills piled on, we split into two groups. Tim, John O. and I spent the rest of the ride together, finishing in a little over 11 and a half hours.

You know what they say about the weather in North Carolina -- if you don't like it, stick around a bit, it'll change. And boy did it change. The day started off warm and humid and steadily got warmer throughout the day, topping out in the mid to upper 90's. By late afternoon, pop-up thunderstorms were unleashing their fury on us.

Overall, it was a tough day in the saddle with some weather extremes, but I sure enjoyed the company and the ride. Here's a few snap shots I took along the way:

Keeping it real in Red Mill.

I have a bit of a soft spot for turtles and helped several of them across the road on Sunday. I found this little fella -- barely bigger than a quarter -- on Stagville Rd. Undoubtedly the smallest turtle I've ever seen.

Go west, young man.

Martin spins a yarn while Sridhar relaxes at Hollow Ridge Grocery. This has to be one of my favorite control stores -- a nice shady area at the front as well as a big porch out back -- not to mention a good selection of munchies and sodas.

Ummmm, the bridge is still out on Charlie Long Rd. -- time to change the cue sheet, this one is going to be out for a while.

A sampling of the local fare at the turn-around control in Leasburg. This one is for you, Adrian.

The freshly re-paved section on Hester Store Rd. turned the heat up a couple of notches.

Tim and John O. relax at Hollow Ridge Grocery. By the time we got there in the afternoon, the heat and humidity were stifling -- no sign of rain in sight.

And while we were cooling down, up rolls this contraption.

Something tells me, this might be their "daily driver".

About 3~4 miles outside of Bahama, John noticed some thunder clouds starting to form behind us -- by the time we reached Bahama, the sky was angry-purple and the wind was really starting to whip up. We ended up taking refuge in a store until we though the worst of the storm had blown over. As we rolled down Stagville, Rd., the light mist turned into a torrential downpour -- it felt wonderful after baking in the sun all day. The rain followed us all the way in to the finish.

How I Roll -- The Dinglehoffer

2010-05-25T23:08:00.002-04:00

I was inspired to do this write up by a feature in the Bicycle Times magazine (great bike mag, btw) called "How we roll" where a reader and their bike are profiled.

I love to tinker, and for years, I've run Sturmey Archer hub gears for commuting. I've always wanted to try one of the vintage Cyclo conversion kits that allowed you to run two or three cogs on a S/A hub. The Cyclo cogs pop up on ebay from time to time, but they tend to go for a pretty good chunk of change.

A year or so ago, I ran across the Surly Dingle which is basically a two-speed fixed cog and I thought this is something I can use. I also happened to have a rare, threaded driver for the AW hub -- the Dingle threaded on perfectly! A bit of tinkering and sourcing for odd parts and my 3-speed commuter was now a 6-speed -- thus was born the Dinglehoffer.

The cockpit. S/A trigger on moustache bars to control the hub and a stem shifter for the derailleur. The stem is a no-name brand adjustable angle suspension stem. I didn't have great expectations for it, but the stem actually does a nice job smoothing out the rougher bits in the park and takes the edge off the spots on the greenway where tree roots have heaved the pavement.

The wiring. A Sachs double cable guide collects the housings at the front of the downtube.

Both cables run through the cable guide at the bottom bracket.

Outback, the cable for the rear derailleur utilizes the normal housing stop and the S/A cable runs straight to the hub. I used a zip-tie to hold the S/A cable in a little closer to the chain stay so my heel doesn't snag it.

The business end. I ended up using an old low-endish Shimano rear derailleur mainly because it's tough to get the limit screws far enough in on most derailleurs to limit them to just two cogs. The Shimano was no exception, but it uses standard 3mm bolts that you can get from the hardware store -- note the really long limit screw kinda hanging off the bottom of the image. I also needed to swap out the floating upper pulley in the derailleur for a non-floating pulley.

The Gear Chart. So far I really haven't been shifting the dingle too much -- I've basically been riding it as a 4-speed. I mainly stay on the 17-tooth cog and just shift the hub -- occasionally reaching for the 21-tooth cog on really steep little climbs.

I'm kinda impressed with how the whole thing turned out. There are still a couple of small kinks to work out, but the bike is a blast to ride and just about as much fun to cobble together!

Scenes from the Commute -- Baby Snake

2010-05-18T17:10:00.004-04:00

Well, kinda. I rolled into the driveway the other night to find this tiny juvenile Northern Water Snake next to my car. From tip to tail, the little fella was only about 6~7 inches long.

Seeing as how he's pretty harmless and was in a patient mood, I decided to get some close-up shots. This shot was taken in super macro mode with my little Olympus camera from about 2" away.

Zoom in a bit and... Yikes! I think I can see my reflection in his eye!

This make for the 6th species of snake that I've spotted in my yard (Northern Water Snake; Eastern Garter Snake; Brown Snake; Redbelly Snake; Black Racer; Copperhead). I've never been a big fan of snakes and used to be deathly afraid of them, but the more I encounter them and study them, the more facinating I find them. Sure, I still hold tons of respect -- and fear -- of venomous snakes, but they are beautiful creatures (in their own way) and a very important part of our world.

Build your own

2010-05-13T15:58:00.007-04:00

This spring I was fortunate to be able to attend NAHBS (North American Handmade Bicycle Show) in Richmond VA. Amongst the hordes of beautiful steel bikes I lusted over, there were a number of interesting wooden bikes. Most notably, bamboo creations from Calfee and Boo Bicycles.

The intricately laminated Sylvan frames also caught my attention. Their attention to detail in the laminated and octagon mitered tubes was really quite beautiful.

I've always been appreciative of the labor that goes into a fine piece of woodwork. My dad is a self-taught woodworker and is quite talented. As for myself, I've just never been good at it -- I guess it skips a generation.

All these wooden bikes triggered something in my memory -- somewhere around the house, I have an old magazine article from the 1940's that details how to build your own bike from wood. Apparently, steel tubing was tough to get during World War II and many bicycle companies ceased production.

The picture above is the cover page for the 4 page article. I'll applaud the plans for their simplicity. You'll have to scavenge some parts (wheels, cranks, handlebars, seat), but the rest of the materials are something any farmer or competent tinkerer would have around the shop.

You can view and download high resolution copies of the 4 page article here.

Itching to build your own wooden bike but afraid to build and ride the death-trap in the plans above (I sure am)? The current issue of Urban Velo Magazine has an interesting article on the Bamboo Bike Studio in Brooklyn -- you can read the full article on Urban Velo's site.

Scenes from the commute -- The Embrace

2010-03-18T21:30:00.007-04:00

In tough times, we could all use a little support. I ride past these two daily, locked in their slow embrace.

L-L-L -- first run

2010-03-14T21:50:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, four of us (Bryan, Maria, Mike and myself) set off for the first run of my new L-L-L RUSA Permanent. After a tough winter, we were treated to perfect weather with start temps in the 50's and high temps in the upper 60's with bright blue skies.

I wasn't certain I'd be able to do the ride this weekend -- I've been struggling with a gnarly cold for the last couple weeks. I finally got confirmation from my doctor this Friday that I have a sinus/throat infection. Armed with antibiotics, I decided to do the ride -- I hope my sporadic coughing fits didn't irritate my riding companions too much.

When I announced the route, I did have one well meaning local rider question my sanity for including so many hills in the route ;-)Well, it was my goal to create a route that was challenging. Despite being light, I'm not a great climber -- I want to work on that and what better way to do that than to spend time climbing.

Bryan's GPS showed a total of about 6800 feet of climbing which is in line with what ridewithgps.com calculated. Yeah, sure, there were some tough spots, but overall, it really didn't seem that bad.

At the first control, Mike and I decided to sample some of the local gastronomical delights -- that's the chicken biscuit in the photo album. Um, let's just say, that wasn't the greatest of choices -- it went down like a lead balloon -- at least it stayed down, though we were both worried about a possible digestive revolt.

Overall, we all had a great ride yesterday -- couldn't have asked for better weather. The cue sheet was dead on and nobody got lost. Everybody road strong and mostly stayed together through out the day -- if we got separated on the road, it was never more than a couple minutes and we regrouped at the controls.

I'm already looking forward to the next ride!

New RUSA Permanent route for North Carolina!

2010-03-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally got off my butt and decided to put together my own RUSA Permanent route. We have quite an active randonneuring community in North Carolina, and I've been inspired by Mike D., the "Godfather of NC Permanents" to build my own.

The new Leesville - Leasburg - Leesville (L-L-L) route is an out-and-back route leaving out of the north Raleigh community of Leesville and turning around in the rural community of Leasburg. I've tried to take the route out of Raleigh as quickly as possible, leaving the suburbs behind and sticking mainly to very rural back roads.

Let's ride!

Scenes from the Commute -- Winter Wonderland

2010-02-25T12:37:00.006-05:00

For the first time in years, we finally had ourselves a "real" winter in North Carolina -- complete with snow and everything! The Raleigh/Durham metro area awoke to a lovely dusting of snow this morning -- not enough to cause problems -- just enough to make the world a bit more beautiful.
Enjoy!

Lake Loop Permanent -- Frozen edition: Hardening our Character

2010-01-12T12:24:00.009-05:00

Last week as I was mulling over trying to squeeze in my R-12 ride for January, I found inspiration in the words of Stijn Devolder in a recent CyclingNews.com article. Stijn seem puzzled as to why his teammates were flocking to warmer weather in Spain -- he certainly felt there was nothing wrong with the current weather in Belgium. My favorite quote is:

"It is not so cold that you freeze on to your bike," he said. “You go from a temperature of zero (Celsius) to minus one and you're not dead; It hardens your character.”

Yeah, nobody should be surprised when Stijn kicks a little ass in the spring classics this year.

The forecast for Sunday was calling for lows in the upper teens and highs in the mid 30's (F). Honestly, I wasn't really looking forward to spending all day on the bike in these conditions. Regardless, I put a shout out on our local rando list and pals, Geof, Rob & Mary signed on.

As we prepared to roll out from start, Geof's thermometer was reading 19 degrees (F) -- I suspect we reached the mid 30's by the afternoon, though it seemed a bit cooler up in Virginia.

Unfortunately, we didn't take too many photos throughout the day -- working a tiny digital camera with 3 pair of gloves on is an exercise in frustration.

The cold weather, clothing and frozen bottles were the talk of the day. We had some good laughs over trying to squeeze water out of frozen bottles -- Mary resorted to microwaving her bottles at the controls to soften them up!

Overall, it turned out to be a great day on the bike, sure it was cold, but the sunny blue skies helped make things feel better. I was wearing more wool than a sheep and there was only one instance where I was truly freezing and very uncomfortable. As we rolled out of the first control, I experienced extremely cold hands -- can't move the fingers kind of cold. I stopped and added a pair of nylon lobster-mitt shells. That did the trick -- only thing I can figure was my gloves were wet with perspiration and just sucked the heat away from my hands -- the shells stopped the wind and slowed the thermal transfer.

Crunching the numbers

2009-12-31T13:00:00.005-05:00

The end of the year always seems to bring with it a bit of reflection. A little over a year ago, I was inspired to start tracking my mileage. Throughout 2009, I dutifully logged all the miles I pedaled, and here's the rough breakdown:

211 total rides for a distance of about 13,000km (8075mi)
157 commutes to work (6992km ~ 4344mi)
17 Randonneuring events (4100km ~ 2545mi)
12 MTB/off-road rides (245km ~ 150mi)
25 other rides (1668km ~ 1035mi)

The neat thing about statistics like this is they're so concrete -- they certainly quantify the miles I spent my bike.

What the numbers miss though, are all the laughs shared with friends and the quiet miles alone with my thoughts. The tailwinds and the headwinds. The pain and suffering of a tough ride. The feeling of freedom, adventure and shear euphoria of simply going for a ride. The lovely sunsets and the crunch of fall leaves under my wheels. An ice cold soda on a sweltering day. A hot cup of tea after a biting cold commute to work. The frustration of chasing dogs and inattentive (or aggressive) drivers. The pleasantness of a sharing a smile and "Good Morning" with another person on the greenway trail.

All in all, I had a wonderful year on the bike -- hope you did too. Best wishes to everyone for a Happy New Year!

Time Capsule

2009-12-14T17:20:00.000-05:00

I have a bit of a collection of bike books -- dozens of books from the late 1800's to the modern day covering everything from Tour heros to repair.

A Christmas or two ago, my parents gave me a copy of Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual (5th printing, April 1974) they picked up in an antique shop. Glenn's Manual was undoubtedly one of my inspirational sources when I was first learning how to repair bikes. I poured over the pages of Glenn's Manual (as well as several other books) absorbing the technical photographs and drawings -- figuring out how everything worked and how these beautiful machines all come together.

This Glenn's Manual my folks gave me wasn't just any Glenn's Manual however -- there was something special about this copy. Inside it's covers was a treasure trove of articles patiently clipped from newspapers and magazines in the mid 1970's. Clearly, the original owner of this book was very much into bikes too and keen on collecting all the information they could find.

But there was something else special about this book -- it was originally purchased from Bike World Inc. at North Hills Shopping Center here in Raleigh on June 8th, 1974 (I was just a little over 2 years old then!). Bike World is long gone now, but I can't help but wonder what kind of treasures that shop might have held -- maybe a couple Schwinn Paramounts -- a gleaming white Peugeot PX-10 (probably a fleet of cheap Peugeot UO-8's) -- a few Campy Nuovo Record parts in the display case....

I also find myself thinking about the original owner of the book. How did they get into cycling? Are they still alive now -- do they still ride? What kind of bike did they have? Where did they ride, what adventures did they go on, what sights did they see?

Just for fun, I've scanned a couple of the "artifacts" and attached high resolution images below. Enjoy!

Scenes from the Commute -- Flora obscura

2009-12-04T12:07:00.011-05:00

Um... Hi there...

I spotted this interesting plant growing along the greenway on the way to work this morning. And yes, it's exactly what you think it is -- it's Cleome Hasslerana also known as the "Spider Plant" (or Spider Flower). At a quick glance though, it could be easily mistaken for something else...

Newest North Carolina Randonneurs

2009-11-16T22:03:00.001-05:00

Today is a big day for the NC Randonneur family as we add two new junior members!

My wife, Jeneen, and I welcomed our new son, Jack Finn Morton, into the world. At 8lbs 13oz, he's hearty lad with a healthy set of lungs to boot. He says he'll be ready for his first 200k in 6 weeks or so. Guess I need to hurry up and get him a bike built up...

Also, please join me in extending a hearty congratulations to fellow NC Randonneur, Branson and his wife Loree who are also welcoming a new addition to their family too! They'll be returning from South Korea soon with their new son, Aubrey Kimball.
He's quite the dapper chap and certainly knows how to work that suit.

Happy trails!

Terrific Tarheel 200

2009-11-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

Dean put out the call early this week for a running of his Tarheel 200 Permanent. With temperatures forecast to rise into the mid 70's in the middle of November, well that was just too hard to turn down. Since this was the last real "free" weekend around my household, I jumped at the chance.

With a 7am start, it meant we had the potential to finish before dark. 8 riders signed on for the fun: Dean, Tom, Mary, John, Janice, Andy, Geof a myself. We were greeted with temps in the low 50's for the start and thick patchy fog. We all stayed pretty closely together through the first two controls. The fog finally burned off by the time we rolled into Steadman.

Shortly after Steadman, Tom, Mary, John, Geof and I broke away for a brisk run into the turn around. On the final turn to the turn around, we lost Tom -- we weren't quite sure what happened. Mary road back to check on Tom. While hanging around the parking lot, a driver told us he'd seen a rider go down just a mile or two back. Must be Tom. Doesn't sound good

John, Geof and I had a bit to eat at the control and began the return trip. Just a little bit down the road, we saw everybody else, Tom was up and riding and yelled out he'd had a flat. Not sure if he went down or not, but we all hope he's OK.

The three of us stayed together for the rest of the afternoon, rolling in to the finish a few minutes before 5pm. Finished with sunglasses on.

Altogether, an absolutely wonderful day in the saddle. Given the weather we had on the last Lake Loop, this was like riding in heaven.

Happy trails, everyone!

Lake Loop Epic

2009-11-03T06:39:00.009-05:00

This past weekend, Geof, Brian, Branson, Mike and myself decided to ride the Kerr Lake Loop Permanent. A week or so earlier, Geof and I were talking up the Lake Loop to Brian who was interested in getting his first 200K ride in. From a distance, it looked like we'd have good weather for Sunday. As we came into the weekend, things were looking considerably less rosy.

With a near 100% chance of rain, near steady temps in the low-mid 50's and a tough headwind for most of the route, this was to be an epic day. On the way to the start, my Shuffle queued up the Pixies, "Stormy Weather" -- good theme song for the day.

Not long after the first group, we split -- Brian, Geof and I dropped back letting the fixie twins, Mike & Branson go -- the three of us stayed together for the reminder of the day. For the first 70 miles or so, I alternated between being moderately comfortable and pretty cold. Any stop for more than just a couple minutes and it was tough to get moving again.

My biggest mistake of the day was experimenting with plastic bags in my shoes. I used a couple of the newspaper bags over my socks inside my shoes. For the first little bit, it felt pretty good, but water began to work into the bags, soaking my feet. I ditched the bags and put on shoe covers at the first control, but it took a long time to get my feet feeling warm again.

A tip of the chapeau to everyone for finishing such an epic and three cheers to Brian for finishing his first 200k! After this trial, they'll all seem much easier.

Mike D. also has a good write-up of our adventures. As you may have guessed by his photo, I was a little "under enthusiastic" before the start.

Some thoughts on helmet lighting for commuting

2009-10-28T13:15:00.002-04:00

Fall is upon us and I've started racing the sun home in the evenings.

In this post, I'll cover some helmet-attached lighting options I've tried. For primary illumination, I prefer a good, generator based light mounted to the bike, however, having a light attached to your helmet can be very useful.

For me, helmet-attached lighting basically servers three purposes:

map/cue sheet reading
sign spotting
catching driver's attention

For commuting purposes, catching driver's attention is the only concern -- don't need to read a cue sheet or signs -- I know where I'm going. The sign spotting and cue sheet reading are specifically a randonneuring concern -- especially on unfamiliar routes.

Over the past couple of years, I've been experimenting with a number of different lights for commuting and randonneuring. Most of the lights that are designed to be mounted on your head seem to be geared around hiking/camping. For what they are designed to do, they work very well. However, my complaint is that many of them weigh several ounces -- having an extra 3 ounces or so hanging off the front of my helmet is less than optimal -- for me, at least.

So, what I'm basically looking for is something light weight, bright, preferably with multiple modes (flashing, high, low, etc.) -- decent run time and easily replaceable batteries are a plus too.

Here's some of the stuff I've tried with their pluses and minuses:

Princeton Tec Scout LED headlamp: ~45grams (with batteries)
I picked up one of these right before PBP in '07 for reading cue sheets. First one filled up with water and died. I got a replacement unit which has held up very well throughout a number of rainy commutes and brevets.

+ Very light -- don't even know it's there
+ 5 modes (high/med/low/fast flash/slow flash) Fast flash is excellent for catching driver's attention. You could probably limp home on high if all else failed.
+ Decent run time -- manufacturer listed run times seem pretty accurate (High: 24 -- low: 48)
+- Adjustable angle. Handy for aiming, but real easy to bump out of place.
- Uses 4 CR2032 batteries -- not always easy to find and not cheap
- Switch is damn near impossible to operate with full finger gloves
- May not always be waterproof....

Planet Bike Spok light: ~16 grams (with battery)
As light as a puff of breeze. I've been using one of these for about the last 10 months for commuting. It's ok for commuting, but not great -- better as a map/cue reading light for randonneuring.

+ 2 modes (steady & flash)
+ Extremely light
+ Best thing going for reading a cue sheet, though not a concern for commuting.
+ Mfr advertised "100 hour runtime" -- on flash, of course. Run times seem pretty accurate.
+- Single CR2032 battery. CR2032 batteries aren't cheap, but at least it only takes one.
- Output is weak. Flash is ok for catching drivers attention, but is a little weak. No way you'd have enough light to limp home on steady.
- Not sealed from the weather at all. Remarkably, mine has remained functional through some pretty rainy commutes -- could be a problem long term, though.

TANK007 TK-568 Cree LED flashlight: ~75 grams (with battery & mount)
Basically, it's a tiny flashlight. I started experimenting with one of these little "torches" a few months ago and, well, I'm still startled by how bright it is. It's also handy since it can run on multiple battery types: AA (alkaline & rechargeable) and Li-ion "14500" 3.6v rechargeable batteries. I've been running mine in strobe mode (even in daylight) and find it certainly gets attention. Problem is, the strobe is so fast, it's kind of overwhelming, therefore, I won't run mine in strobe when it's completely dark -- just daylight/dusk/dawn/overcast/etc. Once it's dark out, I switch over to one of the steady modes.

I had a chance recently to really give this light a test on a night ride. It was unbelievable. So bright on high it drowned out my Lumotec IQ Fly. Worked extremely well for picking out street signs and providing spotlighting for high speed descending -- especially on unfamiliar roads.

So, how do you mount it? With a Twofish Lockblock through the vents in your helmet. Or if you have a helmet with "channel" type vents, you can put a little velcro around the light and in the vents. Super easy to do and you can attach/detach the light very easily.

+ "HOLY CRAP" bright. Don't look directly at a reflective sign, or you'll blind yourself. Will light up street signs 100+ meters down the road.
+ 5 modes (med/low/high/strobe/SOS)
+ Versatile batteries -- can run on AA's or Li-ion "14500" 3.6v batteries
+ Easy to turn on/off and change modes (even with gloves).
+ Automatically remembers the last mode you left it in.
- Short run time -- only about an hour on high -- maybe two hours on low
- Strobe is seizure inducing.

Caveat Emptor: Have you ever read all the warning stickers inside your helmet? Yeah, me neither. Well, while reattaching my light the other day I actually read the warnings. Let me trim all the legalese fat out for you -- "if you attach anything to your helmet, you will die". Can't say you weren't warned.

Personally, I'll take my chances with a little light attached to my helmet. If the extra visibility helps keep me from crashing or one inattentive driver from mowing me down, I'll take the chance of the light piercing my skull like a can opener.

Loosing the love

2009-10-23T11:52:00.010-04:00

Crack is bad, m'kay.

I've been using Crank Bros. pedals for a little over 2 years now. For the most part, I think they're great -- they offer a variety of different pedal platforms -- the same cleats fit my Egg Beaters and Mallets. Clicking in and out is better than any other pedal I've used and their generous float keeps my knees happy.

But not all is bliss. On the way to work this morning, I broke the third spring in just over two years -- including one earlier this year. Same exact failure every time. Yeah, I can cobble together a fix to limp home, but I can't articulate just how pissed I'd be to snap a spring half way through PBP…

Guess it's time to contact the folks at Crank Bros to see what they say…

Scenes from the Commute: King of Snakes

2009-10-23T07:13:00.006-04:00

It's been unseasonably warm here for the past couple days. It was still 75 degrees when I left work last night and I though I might see a snake or two getting in a last minute hunt before the weather tuns cold.

Low and behold, I spotted this beautiful Eastern King Snake in Umstead Park. It was totally dark in the park, but his black outline stood out against the white sandy roads. This is the first King Snake I recall seeing out in the park and they are certainly an interesting species.

Did you know the King Snake is immune to the venom of pit vipers and will even eat poisonous snakes such as Copperheads?? Yikes!

Happy trails!

Oh Snap!

2009-10-12T21:44:00.012-04:00

Do you get the American Randonneur (RUSA) newsletter? Yeah, so do I -- there's some good stuff in there, don't you think? A while back, buddy Mike D. asked me if I would write a few technical articles about roadside repair. As fate would have it, the last piece I wrote was about what to do when a derailleur cable breaks (Vol. 12, Issue 3).

So, I was riding home last night, reached for a shift and.... snap. My rear derailleur cable broke. No warning whatsoever. No visibly frayed wires and no lousy shifting. It just simply failed. It's not an old cable -- only 6~8 months old.

The weather last night was perfect for a little road side repair -- mid 50's, pissing drizzle and totally dark. I jump off, quickly remove the cable and run the high limit screw in to hold the chain in the second cog (17T) on my freewheel. The rest of the ride home was uneventful -- had a couple of good chuckles when I flipped the "dead" shifter trying to change gears. Did have to get off and walk one bit in Umstead -- couldn't get enough traction on the wet, loose rocks.

Remember kids, keep an eye on your equipment and be prepared when things go pear-shaped.

Scenes from the Commute: Fall

2009-10-07T20:58:00.003-04:00

Scenes from the commute: Sunset

2009-10-01T22:23:00.008-04:00

You missed a beautiful sunset at Lake Crabtree tonight.

Watered Down Hoedown (updated)

2009-09-29T01:28:00.022-04:00

For the second year in a row, the Brighleaf Hoedown in Yanceyville, NC has been marred by wet weather.

Back in 2006 Adrian started a little tradition of getting a group of riders together and riding up to Yanceyville for the annual Brightleaf Hoedown. Sure, the Hoedown is fun in and of itself, but it's becoming a tradition. A chance to get together with old friends and new ones for some beautiful riding and camping. This year, Chloe sent out the call and a hearty group of 6 signed on.

(from left to right: Melissa, Dave, Chloe, me, Moshe, Ian & Adrian in front)

The plan was to meet at Mellow Mushroom at Brightleaf in Durham on Friday around 7pm for a 8pm roll out. Well, we didn't get out of there till nearly 9pm, but the later start worked out perfectly, providing a nearly rain-free ride into Yanceyville. On the way up, we split into two groups -- Moshe, Ian and I rolled in at exactly 1am. The rest of the group weren't far behind. By 2am, everything was sorted out, tents were pitched and it was time for a bit of shut eye. The gentle rain pattering on my tent fly sang me to sleep.

Saturday morning greeted Yanceyville, with steel-gray skies, but at least it was dry for now...

(vendors setting up under ominous skies)

The Hoedown kicked off with a musical performance by the Bartlet Yancey High School marching band and followed shortly with the mock tobacco auction.

(tobacco auction in full swing)

(sold!)

If you haven't guessed by the name of the event, the Hoedown is all about tobacco -- brightleaf tobacco to be specific.

For Yanceyville and Caswell county (as well as much of North Carolina), tobacco was once one of the most important cash crops. These days, tobacco's role in North Carolina's economics is greatly reduced. I'm not a big fan of the stuff and understand it's inherent health risks, but at the same time, I worked on a tobacco farm during my teenage years and also understand it's importance in the lives of the farmers in our state.

We all spent the day wandering around town checking out the vendors, reporting back on who had the best eats and people watching.

Chloe and I decided to go ahead and head back to Durham on Saturday night as opposed to Sunday morning. We both had plans for Sunday and just decided an earlier departure would be easier. We rolled out of Yanceyville, a little after 5pm into a gentle mist.

(getting ready to roll out of Yanceyville)

One of my favorite parts about Adrian's route up to Yanceyville is how quiet the back roads are. I think I could count all of the cars that passed us (until we reached Durham) on one hand. Temps were mild (probably in the 60's) and rain was mostly a faint drizzle -- English weather. We were both enjoying the ride and chatted for miles and miles.

Overall, it was a great trip! I wish the weather could have been better for the Hoedown -- the scale of the festival has been greatly reduced for the past couple years. Maybe the folks in Yanceyville will catch a break next year and the Hoedown will continue to prosper. I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!

For me, one of the highlights of the weekend was a little side trip to check out one of the old abandoned houses in Yanceyville. Here's a series of shots I took inside the old house:

Addendum:

Ah yes, the skunk. We had a bit of an encounter of the odoriferous kind. Not sure what road we were on, but we were pretty much all together when Moshe called out "hey, what's that in the road". I turned my helmet light on and spotlighted a cute little skunk bounding along in the left lane and called out "SKUNK!!". He had his tail up and in the "ready" position.

As we rolled past, there was a bit of confusion and touching of brakes and Melissa went down very close to where the skunk was. At first, I though she might have been sprayed, but fortunately, no. Had one of us been sprayed, it sure would have been a different weekend!

We also had "visitors" at the camp. I got up sometime in the wee hours of the morning to, um, take wee, and noticed two small critters checking out Moshe and the bikes in the gazebo. Couldn't tell what they were -- probably opossums.

Also added a pic of my bike packed for the trip and another shot from the old house. Enjoy!

Scenes from the Commute -- YAWS (Yet Another Water Snake)

2009-09-02T10:20:00.008-04:00

Hey, remember the little northern water snake I blogged about a little while back?… Yeah, well I think I've found it's Ma (or Pa).
I spotted this fat bastard on one of the bridges along the Black Creek Greenway in Cary the other afternoon. At first glance, I though it was a water moccasin -- and that's basically what the water snake wants you to think. Moccasins are bad asses and everyone knows to leave them alone.

As a defensive posture, water snakes will flatten their body and head to make themselves look bigger and their head will take on a triangular shape mimicking a venomous snake. However, sometimes mimicry can get you in trouble.

Problem is, most people see the water snake and think "yikes, it's a moccasin" and the next thing you know, they've grabbed a shovel and it's "off with ye' head". It's kind of a shame.

I'm not sure whether this fella had just finished a large meal or the eaten' is good in his neighborhood, but I was impressed with just how "hefty" this snake was. Overall, it was probably a good 2.5 feet long and 3" across at the widest point -- which is about as big as these snakes normally get.
I love the coloration and detail in it's keeled scales.
OK. I think this'll be the last "Scenes from the Commute" for a while… unless I see a unicorn, of course.

Scenes from the commute -- Hey, who you callin' a stinkpot!?

2009-08-25T20:30:00.014-04:00

Why, that'd roughly be you, Mr. Turtle.

Say hello to Sternotherus odoratus better know as the Common Musk Turtle -- aka: The Stinkpot.

Much like myself, the common musk turtle will secrete a foul smelling musk from their anal gland when threatened (hence the name). Perhaps this little fella went easy on me, seeing how it's a Tuesday and all and even though I picked him up, he didn't feel threatened enough to share any of his 'secret sauce'.

I caught up with Mr. Turtle on the dam at Lake Crabtree this morning. We hung out and chatted about the weather for a bit, then each went our own way.
Vaya con Dios, Mr. Turtle.

Scenes from the commute -- ongoing herpetology studies

2009-08-20T12:50:00.004-04:00

Grrrr. Of all days to forget my camera... While rolling through Umstead Park this morning, I noticed a small black squiggle on the trail. Being curious, I turned around to take a look -- it was the smallest snake I've ever seen. A tiny little ringneck snake, probably only a couple days old -- if that. Barely 4" from nose to tail.

He didn't seem too keen on me picking him up (don't blame him) but once in my hand, he must of liked my body heat and tightly wound himself around and between my fingers. Had to force him off my hand and back into the safety of the underbrush.

I found this photo of a ringneck snake on the web -- it's pretty close to the same size as the one I saw this morning.

Not a mile further down the trail, I saw the perfect track of a side-winder snake in the sandy trail. Wonder if it was a rattlesnake -- or a copperhead -- or...?

Rainy Ride

2009-08-02T14:33:00.007-04:00

It's pretty much a tradition: Geof & I ride on Sundays. If it's warm enough, it's a 'weather be damned' ride -- today was one of those days. The radar was showing lots of green just to the west of the Triangle this morning so I grabbed a fendered bike for the occasion.

We rode a great little route including an assault on the Col du Lystra. Geof was riding 'strong like bull' today and I spent most of the morning trying to hang on to his wheel. I just didn't have the power today -- I felt like a shadow.

Being able to map out the route is kinda fun. Sure, we've ridden the same roads a hundred times, but there's just something neat about seeing the day's efforts drawn out for you. I used my little GPS to record the route and I've posted a copy to MapMyRide:

sundae ride
Find more Bike Rides in Raleigh, North Carolina

One could say we had a good ride in spite of the rain, but I'd say we had a good ride because of the rain.

Commute Route

2009-07-29T10:23:00.010-04:00

About 4~5 years ago, my folks gave me a little Garmin eTrex GPS unit. It's pretty basic -- can't load maps, etc. -- so I really didn't use it much.

Recently, I've been working on mapping out some new routes so I broke it back out and began playing with it. At first, I didn't think there was much I could do with it -- Garmin doesn't offer much in the way of software to work with it.

After digging around online, I found a couple GPS utilities that would allow me to pull a GPX file from the eTrex that I can upload to Bikely, etc.

I set it up this morning to record my commute then used a nifty little app called LoadMyTracks (Mac) to pull a GPX file off of it when I got to work. A quick upload to Bikely and there you have it -- a nicely mapped out route:

commute to work

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

The elevation profile info seems really off -- there were times on the ride where the speed seemed to be really off -- possibly because of dense tree cover in Umstead park, etc.

Overall, it looks like it'll be pretty handy tool for mapping out routes. Ain't technology grand?!

Scenes from the commute -- Sea Monster!!!

2009-07-21T22:23:00.010-04:00

Well... not quite. Actually, it's a juvenile Northern Water Snake.

I spied this little fella' sunning himself on a rock in the shallows of Lake Crabtree in Cary, NC.

Scenes from the commute -- something scary, something cute

2009-07-10T20:33:00.011-04:00

I see more copperheads than any other snake when I'm out on the bike -- probably 8~10 so far this summer. I nearly ran over this juvenile copperhead (note the green tipped tail) tonight on the way home.

When I turned around to take his picture, this little fellow was in the strike position and clearly agitated. Given his agitated state, I didn't feel like getting 6 inches a way from a venomous snake for a close-up shot -- hope you readers don't mind.

And for something cute. I saw this little cotton tail bunny munching on wildflowers near Lake Crabtree. He didn't seem to mind me taking his picture one bit!

Back in the saddle

2009-07-04T15:40:00.009-04:00

A "surprise" day off presented a chance to get in an early Permanent for July. Dean put out the call for a run at the Kerr Lake Loop -- I happily signed on with buddies, Mike O'Connor and our local RBA, Alan Johnson.

We were treated to a beautiful rollout from New light. The morning weather was almost cool with low humidity -- at least for July. A cooling wind from the northwest proved to be a surprisingly persistent headwind/crosswind all day, though the breeze helped keep things from feeling overly hot.

Al and Mike O. were fresh off of Bike Virginia and were both riding strong. Al was riding his first 200k ride in nearly 3 years and is quickly rebuilding his randonneuring form -- he also mentioned he's thinking about PBP in 2011...

Rolling out of the Oxford control on the return, Al took the pull. When Al drops into his aero bars, watch out! He put in a pull so strong for several miles that, to quote one of my favorite Liggettisms, I had to "dig into my suitcase of courage" to hold his wheel! As the saying goes, you're only as old as you feel and at 66 years young, Al is certainly riding like a much younger man.

Dean and I are both "veterans" of the RUSA R-12 award and I believe we've found a couple new recruits in Mike O. and Al. We're both looking forward to many more rides with you guys!

Enjoy some shots from the road:

Hay bales and maillot janue... could this be Le Tour?!?

The Spoon of Oxford. Caught my attention for some odd reason...

I've also posted a couple more images from Dean and myself on Picassa.

Bon Route!

Scenes from the commute

2009-07-01T20:26:00.007-04:00

A brown snake makes his way along the Black Creek Greenway in Cary, NC:

Are you ready for your close-up Mr. Brown Snake?

Brown snakes seem to be extremely common in North Carolina -- I regularly find them around the house in the spring and summer. This particular brown snake had a very reddish color whereas the brown snakes I typically see are a bit more grayish in color.

Heron

2009-06-26T06:49:00.007-04:00

Mr. Blue Heron fishes for breakfast at Lake Crabtree.

So.... what's up with all the wildlife shots? Well, I have a great commute route into work -- about 2/3rds of which is on greenways and park roads. I see tons of wildlife, so I decided to start carrying my digital camera and shooting some of it.

Bon Route!

No Regrets -- A great day to not ride a bike

2009-06-23T10:19:00.016-04:00

I drove to work on Monday. I prefer to ride to work as much as possible -- anytime I drive, I tend to regret not riding.

Monday started out no differently. I wasn't thrilled about driving -- I needed my truck for errands, but damn, it was a beautiful day and I'd rather been on my bike.

As I left work yesterday evening, I witnessed a highly impaired driver round the turn onto S. Harrison Ave. from Dry Ave. too wide and hit another car at the intersection. The driver then overcorrected and drove up into several yards, running over a small block retaining wall, flatting the right rear tire on their car. Of course, when you're shit-faced, small things like that don't stop you so the driver continued on his merry way.

I got a call into 911 -- I hope they managed to pick this idiot up and get him off the road. No telling how much other damage he'd already done.

So, why was this a great day to not ride a bike? Well, if I was riding, I could very well have been in front of this idiot, pedaling away down the road.

I'm glad I wasn't on my bike on S. Harrison Ave. yesterday evening. Be careful out there.

Guess Who?

2009-06-23T10:19:00.015-04:00

Guess who I saw on my commute yesterday morning? Why Mr. Turtle, of course!

On my way home last night, I saw his buddy, Mr. Bunny -- actually I saw three rabbits -- but this was the only one I was able to get a decent photo of.

Happy trails.

Small things -- Part I

2009-06-07T20:37:00.006-04:00

Randonneuring is about big things -- long distances, long hours in the saddle, epic climbs, and epic weather. But sometimes small things can make a big difference.

I got hip to electrolyte tablets several years ago and they've made a big difference in my riding. Initially I carried my stash of tablets in a film canister -- it's compact, waterproof and carried all I needed for a 200~300k ride. Problem with the film canister is that it's tough to open & close while in the saddle.

A season or two ago, my buddy Lin turned me on to a better solution: M&M minis -- actually the tube they come packaged in. The little tubes have a hinged lid with a lip that makes it real easy to pop the top open and close it with one hand while riding. And as a bonus, you get to eat the M&M's too.

Of course, you can also get the tubes from Hammer Nutrition, but you won't get any M&M's that way.

So, next time you find yourself wandering the candy isle, grab a tube of minis and refill the tube with electrolyte tablets (or your performance enhancing drug of choice) for your next ride. Oh, and by the way, the tubes work great for carrying M&M's too.

Sundae treat

2009-05-28T21:55:00.021-04:00

There's no better way to spend the day than out riding bikes with a good friend and this past Sunday was a perfect day for it.

Geof and I decided to ride Mike D.'s Kerr Lake Loop Permanent -- one of my favorite routes. Lots of quiet gently rolling back roads -- I especially enjoy the section between Boydton and Clarksville.

We had some good laughs -- namely at Woody (see below) and Geof told an absolutely hilarious story about a bizarre encounter our buddy Todd had on the Morrisville 600k a few years ago.

Before we knew it, 200k passed beneath our wheels without ever feeling like work.

I remembered to bring my camera this time and to actually use it. Here's a couple shots from the ride...

We found Woody hanging out on the side of the road...

...it would appear he's Chad's bitch now.

Obligatory photo on the dam.

Geof shooting fish from the dam.

Um. Say those clouds are looking a little menacing. It's time to get rolling!

Quick stop to mail a post card from Skipwith.

Yanceyville Ramble Permanent

2009-03-11T06:45:00.012-04:00

7 March, 2009

Saturday was an absolutely stunning day to be out on a bike! All week, the weather forecast for the weekend kept getting better and better. Absolutely perfect weather for a ride, so I though I'd do a local route that I hadn't done before. Start temps were around 50 with a high in the upper 70's forecast. 4 of the usual suspects (Dean, JoeRay, Mike D. and myself) rolled out with smiles on our faces.

Mike D. already has a great write-up of the day so I'll make mine brief. 15 miles in, we took a quick stop for wardrobe adjustments and a greasy biscuit. Yeah, that IS the breakfast of champions:

Dean rocks the NC Randonneurs jersey:

Gunn-Poole Rd featured the first real hills of the day -- Mike D. affectionately named them the "triplets of Bellevile". The middle sister was the meanest. It's hard to get a good shot while rolling, but you may be able to make out the climb from this shot:

Two words of advice: BRING HALT. There are a couple of nasty dogs on the route -- especially on Carr Store Rd. Overall, John's Yanceyville Ramble is a great route with plenty of good climbs and quiet back roads. Looking forward to riding it again.

Making life easier: VAR tire lever

2009-02-12T07:42:00.013-05:00

Gotta tire that is really tough to get on the rim? I mean, really tough. Blood, sweat, tears, and cursing, tough. Well, the VAR tire lever can come to your rescue.

The VAR tire lever (aka: bead jack) is one of those tools that isn't truly necessary, but it can help make life a bit easier. The VAR lever helps you pry that last stubborn bit of tire on while reducing the likelihood that you'll pinch the tube. It works by placing the forked end of the lever on the rim opposite of the remaining bit of tire that you need to pry on, then the hooked end of the lever under the stubborn edge of the tire. Pull the lever back to lift the bead up onto the rim -- that's all there is to it. It's the easiest way to mount a stubborn tire.

It's also small and light enough (about 60g) to be easily carried on the road in your tool kit.

So how do you get one? Um. Yeah, it's getting a bit tough to find the VAR tire lever these days. The only shop I'm aware of that keeps them in stock is North Road Bicycle in Yanceyville, NC. Give 'em a call at (800) 321-5511

Bike Tools Etc. also lists the VAR tool(Item #VR-425C) in their catalog, and it looks like they have them back in stock.

Salisbury 200k

2009-02-08T16:38:00.005-05:00

Days like this don't come around in February all that often. As the week progressed, the weather forecast for Saturday kept improving. By Saturday morning, the wake up temp was hovering around freezing with a high of about 70 forecast and clear, sunny skies.

It was great to see many of the usual suspects at the ride start along with a crop of new faces. It was a wonderful day in the saddle. Great weather and great company.

RBA Tony put together a challenging, yet scenic route!

About 10 miles in, I missed a shift on the first steep hill and *POW* my chain broke.
This is the second weekend ride in a row where I've had a mechanical failure -- hope this doesn't become a trend. Buddies, Mike D., Wes, and Joe Ray, stopped with me and we were back on the road and in hot pursuit of the lead group.

After the first control, I decided to ease up and wait for the next group to come along. We had a hearty little group consisting of Jay, Dean, Vance, and Glenn. We stayed together for the rest of the day, finishing up just after dark.

I thoroughly enjoyed the route. It was certainly challenging, with plenty of climbing, but I felt great at the finish. I'm already looking forward to next month's Brevet!

Tout en pédalant

2009-02-03T07:18:00.012-05:00

This past Sunday was a glorious day to ride in central North Carolina. Buddies Geof, Dave and I rolled out around 9:30 to temps in the upper 30's and it was warming up quickly from there with temps topping out in the low 60's!

We hit a brief snag at the start when Dave realized he had the wrong shoes for pedals on his bike. No worries, Geof has at least one set of every clipless pedal system made in the last 30 years. A quick pedal swap and we were on the road.

Maybe 5 miles into the ride, we rolled away from a stop light and I couldn't clip into my left pedal. The spring in my left Egg Beater broke -- this is the second time I've had this happen. The first time I was 10 miles from the finish of a 200k Permanent. On that ride, I was riding a pair of Mallets so I just limped on back home, which worked out OK since they have a large platform. Little different story with the Egg Beaters.

I'd thought about this type of failure after the first spring broke. The "fix" was easy. I took off my left shoe and placed it on top of the pedal. Then pinched the bottom wings of the Egg Beater together and secured with a couple of zip ties. For the remainder of the ride (40 miles) I had to remember to unclip on the right and if I wanted to dismount, I needed to take my left shoe off. Inconvenient, but it beats having to cut the ride short or walk back home. Here's a couple shots of the "fix":

I really like Crank Bros. pedals, however, the failure rate isn't winning my heart over. At least I know I can rig them up good enough to get home. The zip ties held up good enough for some reasonably hard climbing out of the saddle and at least 40 miles of riding. I even managed to unclip and clip in several times without snapping the zip ties!

I unclip on the left most frequently since I always put my left foot down at stops -- which is why I guess the left spring fails more frequently.

Granted, I've been riding this set of Egg Beaters for about 18+ months and probably 4000+ miles -- not to mention they are the cheapest set of pedals Crank Bros. makes. According to the specs on their website, it looks like the higher end pedals use a stainless steel spring -- hopefully this is significantly better than the spring in the el-cheapo pedals...

Pour un Maillot Jaune

2009-01-18T18:00:00.007-05:00

Pour un Maillot Jaune is a cycling documentary of the 1965 Tour de France by director Claude Lelouch, known for it's unconventional narrative style.

I first saw Pour un Maillot Janue about a decade or so ago. I'd seen other classic cycling films such as A Sunday in Hell and Stars and Water Carriers, but there was just something different about this film.

It wasn't simply that it was a historic look at what the Tour de France was like in the mid 1960's -- that in itself was very interesting -- but it was the way the film was structured that captivated me. No dialog. No narration -- the pictures and sounds simply tell the story.

There's just something about Mr. Lelouch's simple, if somewhat disjointed, montage of shots and audio that just pulls me into the film. I feel like I'm taking a whirlwind trip through the tour, catching glimpses of life -- memories -- as the tour develops over it's course. You're with the riders as they enjoy light hearted moments as Tommy Simpson mugs for the camera in a plaid hat and the serious moments of suffering climbs and crashes. It's all part of their days work. You can sense the excitement and the drama. The suffering and the overwhelming ecstasy of victory.

I recently found my old VHS copy and I've watched it several times this week -- every time I watch the film, I notice something different. It's seems exceptionally difficult to find a copy anywhere in the US -- DVD or VHS. If you ever come across a copy and you're the least bit interested in a historical look at Le Tour or film technique -- do yourself a favor and pickup a copy!

R-12

2008-12-26T11:16:00.006-05:00

I recently received my first (of many more, hopefully) R-12 medal. I didn't start out with the goal in mind to achieve an R12. I started the 2007 brevet season as I always had -- which means starting cold with the Morrisville, NC 200k and riding myself into shape from there.

After completing the full series, I still felt like I needed many more miles under my belt before PBP. Mike D. Had put together several nice Permanent routes in the area so I began working some of these rides in on a regular basis. Something just clicked for me -- brevets shouldn't just be a "spring-only" thing -- I should be doing this all year 'round. Mike D. and several other riders were working on their R-12 and really encouraged me to pursue my own.

PBP was a bust for me and a major let down. I felt like I needed to achieve some goal for 2007 and... well... I was already a good 6-months into a R-12... And well, the rest is history.

I'm very happy with my R-12. I've really enjoyed doing the Permanents all year around. I've always commuted year-round, but longer, 200k+ rides haven't factored in before. Coming into the first brevets of the season was so much easier this year -- I didn't have to suffer and claw my way through the first 200k.

However I think the best benefit of the regular monthly permanents is being able to connect with all your great cycling pals all year 'round.

It's sing-along time!

2008-12-19T11:03:00.002-05:00

On last weekend's Danbury 205, we were all joking how it'd be kinda funny if you had a puncture from one of the candy cane shards that littered the streets of Mayodan after their Christmas parade. Well, that's been rolling around in my head all week and this morning as I rode to work, the chorus of Margaritaville also popped into my head and this is what I came up with. So sing along in the the tune of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.... (sorry, Mr. Buffett)

I blew out my Michelin
Ran over a candy cane
Now I'm gonna have to stop and fix this flat tire
But I'm well prepared
I have my spare tool kit
And I'll be back on the road in a few

Wasting away again in Mayodan
Searching for my spare inner tube
Some people say there's a candy cane to blame
But I know it's my own damn fault

I hope this horrible little tune gets stuck in your head today too. It's about to drive me crazy!!

The Danbury 205

2008-12-17T07:28:00.004-05:00

13, December 2008

It was about time to start thinking about the December permanent when Mike D. posted a message to the NC Randon list about riding John B's new Danbury 205 route this weekend. I was in. As fate would have it, Mike unfortunately wasn't able to make the ride.

Several of the usual suspects rounded themselves up for the ride. Branson, Jerry and I rolled out together into a rather cool morning.... somewhere in the upper 20's. True to John's description, it seemed like only a minute or two and we were clear of the strip-mall and out on the back roads of the Piedmont.

John also went on to say, "The route is pretty hilly, but the first leg of the route eases you into it gradually with a few nice rollers to get you warmed up. Most of the climbing is concentrated between Mayodan and Danbury, starting with a nice climb right after leaving the first control in Mayodan....". Truer words could not have been spoken.

While refueling at the Mayodan control, we met a really nice fellow who was clearly an avid cyclist & regular commuter. He'd recently had some sort of heart trouble and off the bike due to doctor's orders. He's hoping to get clearance from his doctor soon to start riding again. I sincerely hope the news is good.

The climb out of Mayodan was quickly confirmed... literally as we left the control. From there out to the turn around was a suffer-fest. Beautiful, scenic suffer-fest, but a suffer-fest none the less -- at least for me. Branson seemed to be sporting the wings of an eagle as he made the climbs look effortless.

Note to self: work on getting better at climbing.

Overall, the route was wonderful. Mostly quiet roads, great scenery and challenging terrain. We did have a bit of navigational confusion, but very easily straightened everything out.

One turn in particular at Hwy 158 wasn't well marked, but it's right where you'd expect it. There's also a flashing signal light at the intersection for confirmation.

Cajun man did make a appearance near the end of the ride for a bit of comic relief! We were all in good spirits and getting just a bit punchy.

After finishing up at John's house, we adjourned to the shopping center where we'd started. The talk of the evening had been dinner and Wholly guacamole had been crowned the winner. And a winner it was! After downing 47 baskets of chips and a 2 gallons of salsa (each), we waddled out to our cars for the journey home.

My adventure was over yet, however. About 20 miles from home my car starting acting funny -- with 10 miles to go the problem became obvious as my lights dimmed to a quaint orange glow. Dead alternator. Almost made it home, but the Sammy finally ran out of juice about 2~3 miles from the house.

2000

2008-11-12T06:53:00.003-05:00

In early August this year, I installed a cycling computer on my commute bike. I've been commuting regularly for the last decade or so, though I've never kept track of mileage. I've never really bothered tracking mileage in any capacity -- I've never really cared much, plus, I'm lazy. Though, there's something about watching the numbers add up that is sort of addictive -- like winning at a game -- you just want to keep playing to see how high you can run the score up.

Over the past 3 months, I've logged 2000 kilometers (1200 miles) going back and forth to work. I'm quite shocked how fast it adds up. In this time, I've also done three 200k Permanents, a 600k brevet as well as numerous MTB rides and Sunday rides with pal, Geof. Probably somewhere in the range of 3500+ kilometers total -- or about 2000 miles.

So I'm embarking on an early new years resolution: I plan to track the number of miles I ride in a year. The goal isn't to see if I can set a personal record, but just to figure out how many miles I am riding -- or better yet, how many miles I'm not driving. Stay tuned.

DIY: Tyvek Toe Warmers

2008-10-24T22:26:00.012-04:00

Winter is just around the corner so I though I'd share a little trick I've found for helping keep my toes warm in the cold: tyvek toe warmers.

Materials needed:
tyvek envelope
scissors
packing tape

Years ago, a cycling buddy told me to use plastic baggies on my feet to help keep my toes warm in cold weather. It actually worked pretty well, but the bags were pretty much destroyed after a ride or two, necessitating frequent replacement -- plus the bags tended to make my feet feel clammy.

While messing about with an old tyvek envelope last winter, the idea to use tyvek hit me. Tyvek seemed like a perfect fit -- it's waterproof, tough, breathable (somewhat) and basically free.

I prefer used mailing envelopes since they are already softened up, but for this demo, all I had was a new envelope.

Cut the envelope in half -- about 5~6" from the closed end, then cut the closed end in half again.

Now you have a piece of tyvek that is closed on two ends -- slip your foot in to the pouch then fold the open end down under the inside of your foot -- secure with tape.

Well, that's pretty much all there is to it. Feel free to reinforce the bottom with a bit more tape and tape down the pointy bits, though I don't find it's really necessary.

If you started with a new envelope, they'll soften up nicely and mold to the shape of your foot after only a couple of uses -- they should hold up for several months of heavy use.

So now you have some leftover tyvek lying around -- what to do with it? Cut a strip and wrap your spare innertube. The tyvek will help keep the tube puncture free as it rattles around in your tool kit and you can use the tyvek to boot a tire if you get a nasty gash!

En Attendant Le Trace

2008-10-19T10:32:00.006-04:00

13-14 September 2008

Viva Nashvegas!
Nashville, TN was my home for about 7 years and the Trace was a regular part of my cycling life. If you're a cyclist in Nashville, there's no way to avoid it. During my time there, I rode the northern stretches of the Trace so many times, it nearly became monotonous. One of my favorite routes was to ride down to Jack's Branch and back which made for a nearly perfect 200k route from my house. I always dreamed of going further on the Trace -- something epic! Well, when I heard about the Natchez Trace 600k, it sounded like exactly what I was looking for!

After finding out about the ride, I spent a month or two waffling. Nashville is a nearly 10 hour ride from Raleigh. Common sense would dictate that driving this sort of distance for a ride is a bit out there. I mentioned the ride to a few friends and posted a message to our NC Randonneur board. No responses. No worries, the idea of the trip was wearing a bit foolish anyway. Then Branson decided to throw his hat into the ring. Damnit. After a bit of coordinating, we were loaded up in his car and heading west.

The drive went smoothly and we arrived in Nashville late in the afternoon. A trip to a couple bike shops proved an un-fruitfull attempt to find a spare tire for Branson. The stop at Gran Fondo was like a religious pilgrimage requiring us to pick up a few trinkets.

Dem' der hills
This was Branson's first trip to Nashville and I could tell he was starting to get a bit nervous. Figuring that Nashville was at a similar latitude to Raleigh and basically in the middle of the state, I don't think he was really expecting it to be as lumpy as it is. I reassured him that while the Trace wasn't flat, it really wasn't all that bad.

It's go time
4am comes early, so we checked into our hotel and prepared to get a bit of sleep. I opted for a shower and Branson tended to replacing his front inner tube. As I was finishing my shower, I heard the unmistakable report of an exploding tube. Apparently the tire decided to unseat itself. A new tube and it was bed time. We were up in the wee hours of the morning and on the way to the start.

Overnight temps were rather warm and muggy at the start. About 20 hardy souls were in attendance. It was nice to meet Jeff Bauer -- I'm in awe of his RAAM accomplishment. In minutes, we were rolling down HWY 100 heading for the trace. The start of the Trace isn't an easy one -- it basically starts with about a mile worth of climbing. Branson later remarked that if the rest of the Trace was like the start, he would have turned back right then.

Le Pew!
In the pre-dawn hours, Branson was admiring a lovely split rail fence off to the right side of the trace when I yelled SKUNK!! The little bugger was about 10 feet to our right and about 10 feet ahead of us heading in the same direction, bounding along in the ditch with his tail at half-mast. We very quickly moved to the left and accelerated to get around him. I don't think either one of us were very keen on smelling like a skunk for the next 590km.

We reached the Gordon House site just as the sun was coming up, stopping for a quick nature break and water bottle refill. The initial climb on the Trace had pretty well split the pack and we were somewhere in the middle. At the secret control at about 50mi in, we met up with a coupe of folks and rode with them for a bit.

Omen part 2
If Branson's exploding tube the night before was omen part 1, then omen part 2 reared its' ugly head about the time we arrived at the Gordon House site. Branson's freehub suddenly decided it didn't want to freewheel! Not good. As long as he kept pedaling, fixie style, he was OK, but this would be a tough way to knock out the remaining 300+ miles. Fortunately after about another 30 miles or so, his freehub decided to quit throwing a tantrum and remained cooperative for the remainder of the ride.

Come hell...
Saturday was warming up nicely and honestly, it was getting rather hot. The northern end of the trace is blessed with a good number of rest areas where water is available, but once you make it south past the first control in Collinwood, TN, pickings are slim. Another stop at Colbert's Ferry was required in order to top up our bottles. The stop ended up being a bit longer than usual and I managed to catch a quick 10-minute nap on one of the park benches. Feeling better from the nap and with full bottles, we rolled out for the next 10mi leg to the Cherokee, AL control.

By this point in the ride, I'm starting to feel pretty dang rough. The temps have been in the low/mid 90's with a fierce head wind -- easily 10-15mph with 25+ gusts. Not much shade on this part of the trace either. From here to the turn around, we'd make a number of stops in the shade on the side of the road to rest and recuperate. Perhaps 40 miles from Tupelo, we ran into a group 5-riders, including one 'bent. Our merry band of 7 rolled into the Tupelo control together before bum rushing the Pizza Inn down the road.

With bellies full of pizza, we all headed back north on the Trace under the cover of darkness. The temps were still high and wind was still howling out of the southwest giving us a nice push down the road as we tried to take it easy with our full bellies. We made back to Pharr Mounds in Mississippi and stopped for a bathroom/water break. Jeff Sammons, Branson and I were all getting really sleepy so we decided to let the rest of the group go and take a quick 20-min nap.

It wasn't much, but the nap helped out immensely. The night seemed a bit surreal. The wind seemed to be getting stronger as the night went on and you could see the trees whipping around on the sides of the road. I'm very happy it's a tail wind. The skies were clear and the moon was almost full -- casting a soft glow over everything -- almost enough to read the queue sheet by.

The convenience store we stopped at in Cherokee was closed by the time we passed through, so Jeff Bauer had setup a little road-side control for us. He had tons of cold water and was making turkey sandwiches for us! It hit the spot. Jeff Sammons asked for a beer and Jeff B. fished him one out of the cooler. Before we new it, Jeff S. had managed to knock back 3 beers -- honestly, if I drank three beers at that point in the ride, I wouldn't be able to stay awake. And speaking of sleep, we grabbed another 20-min nap. Jeff B. gave us a weather forecast for Sunday of 50% chance of showers and sent us off with well wishes.

Due to construction on the Trace, we had to exit for a couple of detours. The first detour on the way back was in Alabama -- I remember it seemed like it took forever on the way down and it didn't seem to be going any faster at night. We were all nodding in the saddle so we stopped under the front porch of a church for another 20 min nap. I didn't get much sleep this time -- a muscle spasm in my right shoulder kept me awake.

I knew once we hit the next detour, we would be getting back near Collinwood, TN -- the only TN control on the way back. By the time we reached Collinwood, the sun was starting to rise and I was feeling really rough. Literally ready to pack it in. Branson asked me how I was feeling -- I think "nasty" was my answer. Leading into Collinwood, I was counting the mile markers -- I seriously couldn't fathom counting 90 more mile markers back to Nashville. I was NOT looking forward to the final leg.

Clean up on isle 3
I had a list of things to accomplish at Collinwood. Top priority -- get card signed -- done. I grabbed my drop bag and fished out a fresh change of clothes along with some baby wipes -- off to the bathroom. It's amazing what a bit of tidying up will do. After a good wipe down and some clean clothes, I was already starting to feel better.

Back at the bike, I began sorting through the gear I'd need for the rest of the ride. I was traveling with a small Carradice saddle bag (Junior) and an Ortleib handle bar bag -- both mostly empty. I decided to drop the bar bag and some of the extra gear I was carrying. Everything fit in the Carradice with plenty of room to spare. I made sure I had a bit of extra food packed for the return trip since there wouldn't be many more options available.

Time for some breakfast. Thankfully, the store at the control was open so I grabbed a greasy sausage & egg biscuit along with a V8 and other assorted sweets. Not only are greasy biscuits great for hangovers, they seem to work pretty well to refresh the randonneur's soul. With a full belly, I was starting to feel a bit better -- let get this show back on the road!

By now the sun was up, not that you could see it because of the swirling cloud cover. By this point, the wind coming out of the Southwest was absolutely howling. Must have been 30+ steady and the low clouds were streaking by.

Branson, Jeff Sammons and I all resumed our northerly course. On the ramp back to the Trace, we ran into Jeff Bauer who informed us his weather forecast from the control in Cherokee was wrong and we weren't expected to see any rain. Sounded good to me, though given the current weather conditions, I think he might have been trying to make us fell a bit better. Jeff Sammons inquired if there was any beer left and Jeff Bauer handed him a cold one for the road!

...or high water
If Saturday was hell, then Sunday was high water. Within moments of getting back on the Trace, we were greeted by a cold shower. I started to get pretty cold and contemplated stopping to don my vest. We powered on making pretty decent time -- everybody in good spirits.

The sound of one leg pedaling -- omen part 3
Maybe 50~60 miles to go, we made a quick 'nature' stop and I decided to slip on my vest. As we remounted, Branson was having trouble clicking in to his right pedal. After a bit of futzing and mild 'adult language' he was clipped in. Or so it seemed. He couldn't keep his foot in the pedal, but we couldn't quite figure out why. After a couple of frustrating stops, Branson noticed that part of the pedal body was cracked making it difficult for the cleat to lock in. He soldiered on basically pedaling with one leg for the remainder of the miles -- not that he really had much of a choice!

At Gordon House on the way back, we took a quick break and enjoyed some sandwiches and drinks provided by volunteer, Kent. We schemed about a way to keep Branson's foot on his pedal and experimented with zip tying his foot to the pedal. It actually turned out to work pretty well, but the zip tie was to tight causing his foot to go numb after a while. Well, it was worth a shot.

Finale
We three tired but happy campers rolled in to the finish in Nashville around 4:00pm. Jeff Bauer and a couple other riders were there to greet us with sub sandwiches -- the best sandwich I've ever had. Period.

Not an easy ride -- though for me, 600k is never easy. Will I go back? Maybe. The jury is still out. The Trace is a beautiful stretch of road, but is is also very isolated. You really don't pass through any towns and if you want anything, you have to exit the trace. The further south you go, the more isolated it gets. There are rumors of a 1000k or 1200k brevet on the Trace next year. We'll just have to see about that one........

Out and back
For the trip to Nashville, I packed a couple of CD's that always get me psyched up for a ride. "En Attendant Le Tour" is a musical tour de force. The title (and the music) loosely translate into "waiting for the tour" and it basically contains traditional French music from the 30's & 40's. Music you would likely have heard in some small French town while waiting for le Tour to pass by. It's incredibly infectious and upbeat -- when you hear it, you can't help to be happy! If you can find a copy of the CD, I highly recommend picking it up.

Full Moon Lake Loop -- Nighthawk Postcards

2008-09-30T18:11:00.003-04:00

19 June, 2008

A day late and a dollar short. I'm just getting this blog thing fired up so I though I'd start off with a ride report from a Permanent I'd done earlier in the year. As you may (or may not) have guessed from the name of this blog, randonneuring is my sport and what I'll primarily be rambling on about here. Enjoy.
****
June was shaping up to be a real scorcher. Several of us were needing to get in a permanent for the month. Mike Ross tossed the idea of a night time permanent out on the NC Randon list. The weekend of the 19th was calling for a full moon, and night time temperatures would be a nice break from the mid-90's we'd been seeing during the daytime. I signed on along with Sridhar -- the three of us rendezvoused at 7pm and rolled off into the darkening (and threatening) evening.

Well, there was a bit of trauma and drama on the Full Moon Lake Loop. I don't think we made it a mile before the first mechanical -- one of Sridhar's head lights fell off. He retrieved the light -- no damage done so we rolled on. Twice before we made the first control, Sridhar's tail light popped off. The light was clipped to his bag in a way that made it rest against his rack -- when he hit a big bump, the light bounced on the rack, popping off the cover sending bits and batteries everywhere. At the first control, Mike applied a bit of duct tape and I repositioned the light so it wouldn't hit the rack anymore.

I wanted to use the restroom at the control before we rolled out, but there appeared to be some sort of "incident" with one of the customers in the restroom. The manager was having a "discussion" with the customer and I decided not to involve myself in the matter.

As we prepared to roll out of the control, I told Mike & Sridhar I was going to roll up the road a bit for a "natural break" and they'd catch me in a bit. Well, I soft pedaled along for a couple of miles, but didn't see them, so I just decided to ride my own pace.

No matter how many times you've ridden a course in the daytime, it's a completely different beast at night. I spent a lot of time squinting at my cue sheet & computer to make sure I didn't miss a turn. I felt pretty safe on the road alone, however, in hind sight, I don't think it was the greatest idea to strike out solo.

Traffic is usually pretty scarce on the Lake Loop and was nearly non-existant at night. I did have a couple of carloads of people yelling out of their windows -- I presume it was words of encouragement.

At around mile 61 (23:15), my phone started ringing, It was Mike Ross. The connection wasn't good and there was a lot of background noise -- sounded like he'd stopped off at a party. As he was telling me that Sridhar was down with terrible cramps, it dawned on me that the background noise was Sridhar screaming in pain!

Mike and I discussed options for getting Sridhar back home and he said he'd turn back and retrieve Sridhar with his car. I rolled on. Sridhar called back while I was in Boydton and I was very happy to hear his legs were starting to unknot.

Food and water on the Lake Loop can be tough on Sundays and was no better at night. I took advantage of "Dean's Fountain" in Boydton -- It's on the right between the last two buildings just before you make the left. The water was clear and tasted fine -- and so far, no ill gastrointestinal effects.

I know it's tough to believe, but Skipwith was a virtual ghost town when I arrived. I think the spiders and I were the only ones awake in Skipwith at 00:23. The vending machines were a godsend, but make sure you have some change with you. I must have spent 10 minutes trying to get the machine to take my crumpled dollar bills. I finally got two of them in the machine so I could get a bottle of water ($1.35) and a Mtn. Dew ($.55) with the change. When I went to retrieve my change and beverages, I was shocked by the number of spiders working the vending machine -- it was almost like something out of a horror movie!

Just an FYI for the information control at Skipwith, I don't think they are selling gas there anymore. They have the old pumps that only go to $3.99, and they don't have a price posted. I wasn't in the mood for gasoline when I stopped, so I didn't try buying any.

Besides fidgeting with the vending machine, my stop was pretty short -- wasn't much reason to linger.

The Mega-Uppy's on Hwy 15/49 at the right turn into Clarksville, appears to be a 24-hr place. I was OK provision wise, so I didn't stop, but it's good to know about for future rides.

It looks like the street fair in Clarksville was this past Saturday -- there was still a bit of flotsam and jetsam in the streets and bags of trash on the curb. I could hear a band playing in some club as I passed through Clarksville.
http://ncrandonneur.blogspot.com/2007/07/lake-loop-july-21-2007.html

The postcard thing worked out very well and was fun too -- hope you enjoy the postcards, Mike. All of the post offices were right on course and I was able to find the office in Clarksville after only a couple of minutes of wandering around. Here's a look at the post cards I mailed in:
http://ncrandonneur.blogspot.com/2008/07/postcards-part-2-all-safely-home.html

The rest of the ride through Stovall and to the final control was pretty much uneventful. The Hwy 158 Exxon was closed at 3:00, but no worries, we'd stashed a gallon of water in one of the U-Haul trailers. Topped up the bottles and finished the final leg.

For the most part, the moon was mostly obscured by clouds, but every now and again, you'd get a good, clear view. When I made the left at Kerr lake, I was treated to a beautiful view of the full moon with it's reflection across the water like a golden brick road. By 3:00, the clouds were really beginning to thin out and the moon was casting a ghostly blueish shadow over everything.

I made back to the fire station at 4:32 feeling pretty good. I called Sridhar, he was doing OK and was waiting at the Amaco near the state line. I loaded up and went out to retrieve him. On the way back as Sridhar and I neared the fire station, we caught Mike, he only had a couple miles to go and was looking good!

Humid was certainly the word of the evening. Even though it wasn't hot, I probably drank the same amount as I would on a sunny day. My glasses were fogging on a pretty regular basis. We maybe had 30~ miles of rain. Nothing too intense and it actually felt pretty good. The cool rain on the hot pavement, sent steam rising from the road giving an otherworldly feel to the ride. Kinda spooky!

Overall, a beautiful course by day, became a magical ride by night. All night long I was treated to a chorus of frogs and insects that beckoned me to take a nice nap.... Which is what I spent all day Sunday doing. 6hrs of TDF coverage and a comfy couch -- it doesn't get much better than that!