North Carolina Bike Club Randonneurs 300K
In keeping with my 2008 cycling goals a 300K brevet was next on my schedule. ROMA had a pair of 300K brevets earlier this month but schedules just were not going to allow the first 300K and the second ROMA 300K was an extension of the insidious 200K Lost River. Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, I do enjoy conquering a mountain pass or two on a brevet. 4 passes and constant chip seal with a lot of other climbing is a bit much IMHO. On the Mason Dixon 200K I met a nice guy named Bob and he had mentioned the NCBC Randonners rides and how nice they were, after riding the 300K with NCBCR, I agree.
I loaded the bike on the car the morning before made sure everything was packed and headed to the office.
The goal was to leave the office by 3:00 and beat most of the DC afternoon rush hour traffic. I495 was backed up for a few miles up to I66, after that I95 South was great until I was South of Potomac Mills. then it was backed up and moving at less than 25 miles an hour. I cut off on to route 1 and while slow, it was moving. I95 was moving better South of Quantico but never opened up until South of Fredericksburg VA. The rest of the drive was uneventful, I got to Morrisville NC around 8:45 and checked in to the Extended Stay. Once again Priceline made the deal, $30 for the night. A burger for dinner and off to bed.
5:30AM came and I loaded the car for 5 minuted drive to the start. I didn't bother going for a second night but should have, it would have made Saturday night easier. I met up with a few of the DC Randonneurs crowd said hi and got ready. Bob was there and so were other COHO bike owners. Turns out the guy that build these great rando bikes is on the the ride. Here is his website.
...and the COHO crowd.
I was the only bent but there were three or four four tandems.
Glen and Lynn are in the background, the couple in the foreground is from Millersville MD, just a few miles down the road from home. I rode with them for a bit and got some video of them.
The route was pretty flat to easy rolling for the first 17.5 miles, then went in to the first real climb of about a mile at about an 8 percent grade. Nothing would be bigger the rest of the day, four or five more climbs like it during the rest of the ride. Many more rollers and some flat sections. Lot's of low grade climbs in the 3 percent range. A pretty bent friendly route for the most part. I was able to hang with anyone I wanted to all day. That really made for a chance to chat with and enjoy the company of the other randonneurs and randoneusses. At about 50K I stopped at this little store.
It's the "Frosty Trading Post." A nice little store, they are open until 8:00PM. Several riders mentioned visiting it before they closed on the way back. Okay, we weren't too far off of that pace. It also turns out some of the crowd was only riding a century and some were truning around at the 100K control to ride a 200K. Ah, they would for sure be back by closing time. After a quick snack and a juice, I pushed on with a another tandem couple and another guy riding solo. The four of us rode away from the store and after a little bit the rollers took effect and the bent shined. About a mile from the control I made a right turn and after about 2 miles discovered that there was an error in the cue sheet. Sadly this took me up two big hills and cost me about 15 to 20 minutes. Oh well, nothing like a few bonus miles. I caught up with the tandem couple and a few others, including Bob.
A coke, a chicken sandwich, a reload on Gatorade and the water bladder then had my brevet card signed. Then Bob and I rode together towards the second control. The tandem and other solo rider were only going 200K. I'd highly suggest this route for a first 200K. It's not flat but not insane. It is what I would consider the ideal brevet route. Not too easy, some long climbs. A few short but steep grades, some rollers and some flat areas that allow you to make up some time on the hills. Mostly excellent roads and wonderfully scenic views.
As Bob and I rolled on I got up ahead on hill and called home. I then had time to grab a picture of him from a nice shady spot.
After a brief stop we both headed off towards Seagrove. The section from Siler City to Seagrove had more hills and was more up hill than down. Still, not brutal but some good hill work. We passed a few of the faster riders heading back as we rolled into Seagrove.
There is a half mile or so climb past the pottery shops. Then into town and up to the Quick Check for the second control.
The Quick Check had a Hardees and I ordered a cheeseburger and washed it down with a coke. Bob rolled in and we both called home and shot the breeze for a bit. I refilled on Gatorade and got some water from the control. NCBC Randonneurs had a couple of folks checking on us and they ran the control at the Quick Check.
It was a lot more downhill and rolling on the way back to Siler City. When I left Seagrove I had a cushion of 1:22. When I got to Siler City my cushion was 2:45. Did I mention the great scenery?
...of course on the road was nice too...
The picture above is pretty much what the road was like returning from Seagrove. At this time I had passed the last two riders and Bob had dropped behind. I rolled into Siler city feeling a little hungry but very fresh.
I did a repeat of my stop in Siler City earlier and rolled out of the control with over 9 hours to finish the last 100K. I was very excited. Barring a bad mechanical or very bad weather I would finish with time to spare. There were a few quick and light passing showers and stopped a couple of times during the lightning as I made my way back towards the Frosty Trading Post. I missed the closing by 9 minutes. 8:09. At this point I put on my vest, fired up the lights, put on the head light and rolled on towards the finish.
Here is the bike ready to roll into the darkness.
There was another store about 12 miles down the road. This stretch probably had the most continuous climbing. Again nothing brutal but a lot of up and down, no rollers. I was able to hold about 14 for an average and got to the store by 9:00. I was now about 18 miles out with one big downhill, a few small climbs and flat. I stopped at this store for a quick break, an ice cream and orange juice. Here I met Tim, a fellow randonneur from Florida. We decided to ride together and we worked as a team with me reading the cue sheet and his verifying off of his gps. We had a fast descent and then crossed the lake from the video ealier. We did the last climb of about a mile and rolled on some flat. We stopped at a "T" and when we restarted, disaster struck. My right seat stay had cracked. A quick 10 minute repair with electrical tape and the two of us rode back nice an easy at about 10 or 11 miles an hour over the last miles.
Here is the seat stay.
Living proof that some basic repair items pay off. The one advantage at this time was it was 10:00. Even if I had to walk the last 11 miles, I would finish in time.
Here are the basic stats from motionbased;
It was a great ride. No doubt I would go back down and ride with these folks again. The brevet was well run like every other brevet I have been on, but the route was by far the best I have seen. It was nice not having to finish the last three miles on a 10 percent grade climb. Instead it was easy rolling and allowed for some cool down time. The cars and everyone along the road was beyond nice. Almost every car waited to be waived by when passing. The biggest issue was some dogs. I need to find a way to deal with them, maybe the airzound. For what it's worth, I also had some very friendly dogs that came up to me for attention.
I decided to spend the night at the Microtel instead of driving home 6 hours. It was nice to have a late dinner and then just sleep. Now to get ready for the 400K!
In keeping with my 2008 cycling goals a 300K brevet was next on my schedule. ROMA had a pair of 300K brevets earlier this month but schedules just were not going to allow the first 300K and the second ROMA 300K was an extension of the insidious 200K Lost River. Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, I do enjoy conquering a mountain pass or two on a brevet. 4 passes and constant chip seal with a lot of other climbing is a bit much IMHO. On the Mason Dixon 200K I met a nice guy named Bob and he had mentioned the NCBC Randonners rides and how nice they were, after riding the 300K with NCBCR, I agree.
I loaded the bike on the car the morning before made sure everything was packed and headed to the office.
The goal was to leave the office by 3:00 and beat most of the DC afternoon rush hour traffic. I495 was backed up for a few miles up to I66, after that I95 South was great until I was South of Potomac Mills. then it was backed up and moving at less than 25 miles an hour. I cut off on to route 1 and while slow, it was moving. I95 was moving better South of Quantico but never opened up until South of Fredericksburg VA. The rest of the drive was uneventful, I got to Morrisville NC around 8:45 and checked in to the Extended Stay. Once again Priceline made the deal, $30 for the night. A burger for dinner and off to bed.
5:30AM came and I loaded the car for 5 minuted drive to the start. I didn't bother going for a second night but should have, it would have made Saturday night easier. I met up with a few of the DC Randonneurs crowd said hi and got ready. Bob was there and so were other COHO bike owners. Turns out the guy that build these great rando bikes is on the the ride. Here is his website.
...and the COHO crowd.
I was the only bent but there were three or four four tandems.
Glen and Lynn are in the background, the couple in the foreground is from Millersville MD, just a few miles down the road from home. I rode with them for a bit and got some video of them.
The route was pretty flat to easy rolling for the first 17.5 miles, then went in to the first real climb of about a mile at about an 8 percent grade. Nothing would be bigger the rest of the day, four or five more climbs like it during the rest of the ride. Many more rollers and some flat sections. Lot's of low grade climbs in the 3 percent range. A pretty bent friendly route for the most part. I was able to hang with anyone I wanted to all day. That really made for a chance to chat with and enjoy the company of the other randonneurs and randoneusses. At about 50K I stopped at this little store.
It's the "Frosty Trading Post." A nice little store, they are open until 8:00PM. Several riders mentioned visiting it before they closed on the way back. Okay, we weren't too far off of that pace. It also turns out some of the crowd was only riding a century and some were truning around at the 100K control to ride a 200K. Ah, they would for sure be back by closing time. After a quick snack and a juice, I pushed on with a another tandem couple and another guy riding solo. The four of us rode away from the store and after a little bit the rollers took effect and the bent shined. About a mile from the control I made a right turn and after about 2 miles discovered that there was an error in the cue sheet. Sadly this took me up two big hills and cost me about 15 to 20 minutes. Oh well, nothing like a few bonus miles. I caught up with the tandem couple and a few others, including Bob.
A coke, a chicken sandwich, a reload on Gatorade and the water bladder then had my brevet card signed. Then Bob and I rode together towards the second control. The tandem and other solo rider were only going 200K. I'd highly suggest this route for a first 200K. It's not flat but not insane. It is what I would consider the ideal brevet route. Not too easy, some long climbs. A few short but steep grades, some rollers and some flat areas that allow you to make up some time on the hills. Mostly excellent roads and wonderfully scenic views.
As Bob and I rolled on I got up ahead on hill and called home. I then had time to grab a picture of him from a nice shady spot.
After a brief stop we both headed off towards Seagrove. The section from Siler City to Seagrove had more hills and was more up hill than down. Still, not brutal but some good hill work. We passed a few of the faster riders heading back as we rolled into Seagrove.
There is a half mile or so climb past the pottery shops. Then into town and up to the Quick Check for the second control.
The Quick Check had a Hardees and I ordered a cheeseburger and washed it down with a coke. Bob rolled in and we both called home and shot the breeze for a bit. I refilled on Gatorade and got some water from the control. NCBC Randonneurs had a couple of folks checking on us and they ran the control at the Quick Check.
It was a lot more downhill and rolling on the way back to Siler City. When I left Seagrove I had a cushion of 1:22. When I got to Siler City my cushion was 2:45. Did I mention the great scenery?
...of course on the road was nice too...
The picture above is pretty much what the road was like returning from Seagrove. At this time I had passed the last two riders and Bob had dropped behind. I rolled into Siler city feeling a little hungry but very fresh.
I did a repeat of my stop in Siler City earlier and rolled out of the control with over 9 hours to finish the last 100K. I was very excited. Barring a bad mechanical or very bad weather I would finish with time to spare. There were a few quick and light passing showers and stopped a couple of times during the lightning as I made my way back towards the Frosty Trading Post. I missed the closing by 9 minutes. 8:09. At this point I put on my vest, fired up the lights, put on the head light and rolled on towards the finish.
Here is the bike ready to roll into the darkness.
There was another store about 12 miles down the road. This stretch probably had the most continuous climbing. Again nothing brutal but a lot of up and down, no rollers. I was able to hold about 14 for an average and got to the store by 9:00. I was now about 18 miles out with one big downhill, a few small climbs and flat. I stopped at this store for a quick break, an ice cream and orange juice. Here I met Tim, a fellow randonneur from Florida. We decided to ride together and we worked as a team with me reading the cue sheet and his verifying off of his gps. We had a fast descent and then crossed the lake from the video ealier. We did the last climb of about a mile and rolled on some flat. We stopped at a "T" and when we restarted, disaster struck. My right seat stay had cracked. A quick 10 minute repair with electrical tape and the two of us rode back nice an easy at about 10 or 11 miles an hour over the last miles.
Here is the seat stay.
Living proof that some basic repair items pay off. The one advantage at this time was it was 10:00. Even if I had to walk the last 11 miles, I would finish in time.
Here are the basic stats from motionbased;
It was a great ride. No doubt I would go back down and ride with these folks again. The brevet was well run like every other brevet I have been on, but the route was by far the best I have seen. It was nice not having to finish the last three miles on a 10 percent grade climb. Instead it was easy rolling and allowed for some cool down time. The cars and everyone along the road was beyond nice. Almost every car waited to be waived by when passing. The biggest issue was some dogs. I need to find a way to deal with them, maybe the airzound. For what it's worth, I also had some very friendly dogs that came up to me for attention.
I decided to spend the night at the Microtel instead of driving home 6 hours. It was nice to have a late dinner and then just sleep. Now to get ready for the 400K!