600K -- May 27, 2007 (Pre-ride of June 2 Ride)

Route: Morrisville to Wilmington & back, via White Lake

Miles: 375

Time: 32 hours, 45 minutes.

Riders: 2 -- Me and Branson Kimball.

Ride time average: 15.5 mph

Sleep time: One hour total of catnapping.

Weather: highs in the low 90s, sunny to partly cloudy during the day, a moonlit night. We had a light headwind for the 188-mile outbound leg.

Wildlife sightings: 2 foxes, 1 baby copperhead snake (think twice before sleeping in that ditch!)

Route description: The 600K is largely flat. About 60 miles in, the course crosses I-95 near Wade. The bridge over the interstate is about the last coasting you’ll do for 200 miles. The majority of the route is on quiet rural roads, but the approaches into Wilmington and Morrisville are now urban/suburban areas. Pavement is good on the two ends of the route; the middle portion has lots of chip-and-seal.

Ride notes: Branson, a first-year Randonneur, apparently has a fondness for extra miles. As I waited at the start of our 600K trek, I was surprised to see him ride up on his bike with 15 miles already under his belt.

Branson would put in another 15 or so bonus miles over the next 32 hours. First, he forgot to get his card signed in White Lake and had to back track about six miles. Then he apparently got confused about one direction on the cue sheet. He doubled back for five miles on Hwy 210 to make sure he hadn’t missed a turn.

Branson proved his mettle on this ride. Just before White Lake, he developed severe pain in his left thigh. Our pace slowed to about 10 miles an hour. When we reached the White Lake control, he signaled his intention to abandon. That bad news sank my morale. It meant I’d be riding the next 400K by myself. I said a quick goodbye and pushed on, trying to wrap my mind around the prospect of so many solo miles.


The highlight of the ride came about 20 miles outside of White Lake when my cellphone rang. It was Branson. He’d gotten his legs back and was on the road again. We pushed on separately for the 75 miles to Wilmington, then reunited for a moonlight jaunt back to White Lake, rolling in around 4:30 a.m.

We decided not to stop for sleep, but took a catnap on the steps of a church outside White Lake. I got another 10 minutes of shuteye at the McDonalds in Angier.

We rolled into Al’s at 2:45 Monday, tired but in a celebratory mood. The successful 600K meant we were both qualified for PBP.

History Lesson: When you’re on a randonnée that passes through the killing fields of the Civil War, it helps to have a history buff like Branson along for the ride.

Branson can regale you with facts about that dark corner of U.S. history. For instance, I learned Arlington National Cemetery is on an estate once owned by Robert E. Lee. The property was seized by the federal government, ostensibly to cover a small tax debt, after Lee defected from the Union to lead the Confederate Army. Before the war ended, more than 16,000 Union soldiers would be interred there. Here's more from the Arlington National Cemetery Web site:

Arlington National Cemetery was established by Brig. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, who commanded the garrison at Arlington House, appropriated the grounds June 15, 1864, for use as a military cemetery. His intention was to render the house uninhabitable should the [Robert E.] Lee family ever attempt to return. A stone and masonry burial vault in the rose garden, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and containing the remains of 1,800 Bull Run casualties, was among the first monuments to Union dead erected under Meigs' orders. Meigs himself was later buried within 100 yards of Arlington House with his wife, father and son; the final statement to his original order.

Branson and I talked history as we rode through Averasborough on Memorial Day. I find that stretch of road humbling. A dozen highway markers line the road, chronicling the Battle of Averasborough that raged there on March 15-16, 1865. An estimated 1,400 soldiers were killed in two days of fighting.

The conflict marked the first formal resistance of Gen. Sherman’s troops faced as they headed north from Atlanta. A column of Sherman’s army under the command of Gen. Henry W. Slocum made a move to the west -- a feint to fool the Confederates into thinking the Union soldiers were headed toward Raleigh. In fact, their true destination was Goldsboro. The Confederate forces made a tactical decision to attack Slocum’s wing while it was separated from the rest of the Union army. About 6,000 Confederate troops led by Lt. Gen. William Hardee dug in along the old Raleigh Plank Road, now known as Highway 82, which is part of the brevet route.

Here’s how the battle is described by the American Battlefield Protection Program on a National Park Service Web site:

On the afternoon of March 15, Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry came up against Lt. Gen. William Hardee’s corps—consisting of Taliaferro’s and McLaw’s infantry divisions and Wheeler’s dismounted cavalry—deployed across the Raleigh Road near Smithville. After feeling out the Confederate defenses, Kilpatrick withdrew and called for infantry support. During the night, four divisions of the XX Corps arrived to confront the Confederates. At dawn, March 16, the Federals advanced on a division front, driving back skirmishers, but they were stopped by the main Confederate line and a counterattack. Mid-morning, the Federals renewed their advance with strong reinforcements and drove the Confederates from two lines of works, but were repulsed at a third line. Late afternoon, the Union XIV Corps began to arrive on the field but was unable to deploy before dark due to the swampy ground. Hardee retreated during the night after holding up the Union advance for nearly two days.

I found these maps online at David Rumsey’s site. His site shows a scanned page from the “Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865.”


Today, the route is lined by expansive wheat fields but at the time of the battle the area was swampland.

One Web site describes soldiers sinking down in the mud to sleep. The site also recounts this incident from one soldier’s journal:

While plodding through the muck on the road to the front on the night of the 16th, Capt. Daniel Oakey noticed Sgt. [Thomas?] Johnson stooped over with one arm buried in the mud up to his elbow. "He explained that he was trying to find his shoe."

River Crossings The 600K crosses several scenic waterways. My favorite is the Black River. I took one shot standing on the bridge, then walked back and got a photo of the sign warning of mercury in the fish. That kinda killed the urge for a fish sandwich.

400K / Morrisville, NC / May 5, 2007

Start time: 7 a.m. Finish time: 12:30 a.m., 17.5 hours total.

Note to self: perhaps it’s time for a pre-ride checklist.

Two weeks ago at the Spartanburg 300K, I forgot to put the computer magnet on my front wheel.

And this week? I packed about a dozen gels in a fanny pack -- and promptly left them in the car.

Thanks to…

A special thanks to Tony G. for sharing a couple gels with me. He somehow got wind of my dilemma and passed me two at Seagrove.

We have Jerry and his lovely better half, Beth, to thank for chips and water at Andrews Store. Their generosity was touching and much appreciated, as the store was closed when we got there a little after 11 p.m.

Thanks to Al for hosting another terrific event. He was out there with a video camera shooting some NSFW footage.





Thanks to Sridhar, for being the designated lanterne rouge on the 400K. He was having bike troubles. I hope he made it through the Uwharries okay. It always makes my day to see him on the course.

The Ride

We saw about 15 minutes of hard rain, and about five hours of a spitting rain. The weather turned out to be much better than the doom and gloom forecast.

I rode the majority of the ride with Wes and Capn Ende (left). I highly recommend their company. You can count on a good time and good memories. Wes had the best legs in the group and pulled us home over the last 30 miles or so. Thanks, Wes.

Is it just me, or does that Uwharries section get harder every year?

And whoever be breeding all dem dogs best stop....

We had a two-burger ride, one on the way out, one on the way back. The second one was better. We washed em down with milkshakes.

Equipment Notes

A word to the Schmidt hub users: Be sure to carry a spare bulb. My light burned out about 35 miles from the finish. I had a spare, and it only took a couple minutes to switch it out and get under way again. Otherwise, I would have been stranded. This is the second time I’ve had a bulb die like that.

What to get when it gets wet: As Capn Ende noted, the O2 Rainwear jacket is the best $30 you’ll ever spend. It folds into a small sack, weighs nearly nothing and was just what the doctor ordered when a cold rain began to fall.

Mind Games

I sat in with the front bunch for about 25 miles but when I stopped for a nature break they slipped off into the future. I resigned myself to a solo trek for the next 30 miles. I might see them at the control, but there would be no catching them on the road.

A solo ride gives me a chance to hold court with the voices in my head. Hand me a brevet card, any distance, and my brain spins a web of self-doubt and worry. It may be two hours, three hours, 100 miles before the broom of the open road sweeps away that negative energy.

Kelly called as Ende and I rolled down Siler City-Snow Camp Road, a straight 10-mile shot to the first control of the day.

How was I doing, she wanted to know.

My head’s not in it yet, I said.

Your head doesn’t have to be in it, she said. Just make sure your legs are. And remember why you’re doing this. Paris.

Ah, yes. Paris Brest Paris. I needed this qualifying ride. And so I kept the legs in the game, even when the head was picking up static.

Two hours later, I was having the ride of my life. Again. The weather had moved in but the mind had cleared.

Meantime, up in the hills…


Riding buddy JoeRay skipped the 400K to do the Asheville Town Mountain time trial. He won the masters division. That’s no surprise to anyone who has seen him in the mountains. He is truly amazing. Here’s a link to the results.



Morrisville 300K riders
I haven't figured out an easy way to fit these in, but here is a slideshow of riders on the May 5 300K in Morrisville. I was ill that day so rather than riding, I worked as a volunteer and took pictures at the start and the turnaround.

5 Essential Things About PBP

The upcoming issue of American Randonneur has a feature that is sure to interest all randonneurs who are heading to this year’s Paris Brest Paris. A dozen or more anciens and anciennes each supplied their “Five Essential Things About PBP.” The suggestions are as varied as the riders, with some offering tips on eating, some giving valuable equipment advice and others reminding us that we’re guests in the host country of France.

Look for the list soon. The May issue is in the mail.

Meantime, here’s my list:

1. Wear a RUSA PBP jersey. One thing that amazed me during PBP 03 was the number of riders proudly displaying their nation’s colors. I regretted not ordering a jersey through RUSA as a way of identifying myself with the contingent of American riders. I won’t make that mistake again. I’ll order the official RUSA jersey when I submit my PBP application, and I’ll wear it at least one day during the event.

2. Lantiseptic: Don’t Leave Home without It. Being relatively green on PBP 03 -- it was my second year of randonneuring and my first 1200K-- I had yet to learn how to take care of the derriere. I wound up with two sizable saddle sores, making the last 35 miles to the finish intensely painful. I’ve since discovered the magic of Lantiseptic and use it on all rides longer than 200K.

3. “No heroics, no theatrics.” No heroics, no theatrics was my mantra in PBP 03. No heroics meant no insanely long pulls at the front, and no hanging onto a wheel that was outside my comfort zone. No theatrics meant no showboating over hills when I was feeling good. I struck to my game plan for three days, then forgot myself when I hooked up with RUSA member Thomas Gee, a five-time PBP finisher. We were both feeling fantastic and for a couple hours pushed each other along at speeds in excess of 20 mph. We paid the price when we hit the steep hills on the far side of Mortagne au Perche. But it was fun while it lasted.

4. A token of your appreciation. Hundreds of children line the PBP course, offering food, water and encouragement to the riders. When I stopped for a water bottle refill in 2003, I wished I’d had something to hand out as a thank you. RUSA now has a solution: the RUSA pin, available through the RUSA store for about $2. They’re small enough to carry along on the ride and they make neat souvenirs.

5. Small essentials. 1) I carry a small tube of toothpaste and a folding toothbrush on every ride. After eating sugars all day long, there's nothing more satisfying than brushing the old choppers. 2) I save those small newspaper bags that the carrier uses on rainy days. They're perfect for sliding over your socks on rainy days. They don't necessarily keep your feet dry but they at least cut down on some of the wind chill. 3) An 02 Rainwear jacket costs next to nothing (about $30) and weighs even less. It's small, it folds into a tiny sack, and nothing beats it in the rain or cold.


6. Bonus Tip: Celebrate good times! For me, PBP 03 was a four-day celebration of the sport I love. Yes, the event was long and grueling, but I was trained and ready for it. I earned it. You have, too. Relax and enjoy the ride with 4,000 of your closest friends.

Lantiseptic

With two long rides coming up, it's no time to run out of the magic cream that has saved the butt of many a randonneur.

It's called Lantiseptic. An article I wrote about the product is here.

I just ordered two four-ounce tubes online from Bruce Medical. Those tubes are the way to go, in my opinion, because they're small enough to carry with you and make application fairly simple.

Lantiseptic can also be ordered by your local pharmacist.