Capitols of the Confederacy: Destination NAHBS

This weekend's ride sounded like a good idea, way back in the fall, when Branson first proposed it. Ride my permanent, Capitols of the Confederacy, from Raleigh to Richmond, and attend the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Hey, bike to see bikes. I'm in.

The devil was in the details, as always. Branson and I both had busy work weeks. That meant leaving after work, in the dark, for a 195-mile ride in temperatures that started in the mid-30s and would surely get colder during the night. The whole plan sound nutty as the start date drew near, and I fretted over it all week. Would I be able to stay warm enough? What about the wind? How about the traffic on the two urban ends of our route?

All that worrying, all that wasted energy. The night was cold, but we weren't, except for the feet every once in a while. The wind was very light and occasionally helpful as it swept across from our left shoulders. Roads were quiet, drivers were polite, the moon was nearly full, and low clouds moved in, trapping heat from the day. In short, it was a fine night for a bike ride. In fact, it was incredibly pleasant. Virginia's rural lanes make for some of the best bike riding in the country. Yeah, it could have been a bit warmer, but rides can always be a bit more or less of something, can't they? A bit less hilly, windy, hot, humid. But when there's good company, like Branson or a host of other riding buddies, those things ultimately don't matter all that much. They're just your shared hardships, ripe for embellishment and exaggeration at a later date.

Capitols follows the Lake Loop up to Kerr Dam, so no cue sheet was needed for the first 73 miles, until we dropped off to the right after the dam and continued north on Bike Route 1. We did have to walk across the bridge at Nutbush; it was blocked by debris from high water in the lake.

Here's Branson on the dam for the obligatory photo op. First time I've gotten one in the dark.



We passed the spot where Branson tossed several bags of cookies in 2008, when we did the inaugural ride of this permanent. Last time, Branson was forced to abandon at the Huddle House in Blackstone. This time, we sat down for an hour long breakfast feast from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m., Sadie, our waitress dished up eggs and dished out free advice. We were both sleepy coming into Blackstone, but the breakfast revived us, and we didn't feel too cold, even after that long break, when we got moving again.

Here, Branson practices his 1,000-yard stare in a 900-yard building.



The sun came up near the "Share The Road" sign that has a tractor on it. I took a picture of the sunrise, since I got a picture of that sign on the last ride.



The run into Richmond was largely uneventful. The sun was up now, and it felt like an early morning spin. Our route deviated from Bike Route 1 at Plank Road in Oral Oaks. I believe we picked it back up on Genito Road, at about mile 150, before we crossed the Appomatax River. The route was designed by Lynn K from DC-Rand, and it was a terrific path into Virginia's capital. We crossed the James River on the Huguenot Bridge, a narrow two-laner that was finished in 1950. A fellow I talked to from the Virginia Bicycle Federation was aghast when I told him we'd crossed that bridge, but the Saturday traffic was not too heavy and cars had no trouble getting around us.

We rolled into downtown Richmond at 11 a.m. Branson, who had developed a powerful hunger, suggested we stop at a restaurant on Cary Street. He chose Coppola's Deli (Slogan should be: "we'll make you a sandwich you can't refuse") where we had a proper sit down lunch and lots of cold drink. When we came out of the deli, Branson had a flat tire, and he rode it that way for three miles to the Convention Center. Done with one adventure and on to the next, as met up with lots of our pals at the Handmade Bike Show and made several new ones. More on that later....

Another NC Frame Builder

Joe Miller, a former N&O outdoors reporter who was cut loose and now has his own health / sports blog, has a very good interview with Curt Dobbins, who may soon be launching a handmade frame business. By my count that would increase the number of NC frame builders by 100 percent. Chuck at Coho set up shop several years ago in Franklinville.

Curt has a connection to McLean Fonvielle and talks about him briefly in the interview.

We look forward to visiting Curt in his shop in the very near future.

For more on handmade bikes, be sure to pop up to Richmond this weekend for the Handmade Bike Show. We'll see you there....

Another RAAM-Qualified Woman From the Tar Heel State

We NC Rando boys are being left in the dust by the NC Rando girls.

Yes, we now have three RAAM qualified women.

The newest member of that elite group is Mary Florian, who qualified at the 2010 Sebring 24-Hour Bicycle Race, held February 13-14 in Sebring, Fla. Mary rode 370.4 miles in the alloted time. You can see the results here.

Mary joins Lynn and JoAnn in the RAAM's Club.

Mary's husband Tom didn't do too shabby either. He also rode 370 miles and finished 9th overall in the Men's category.

A big congrats to Team Florian!

A weekend with Lynn & Lin

A full weekend of riding. A break in the cold snap this weekend brought me out in the sun and the fleeting warmth. Up first was Tony's 300K on Saturday, a rolling route from Harrisburg, near Charlotte, to Laurinburg and back. Highlight of the ride -- a beautifully mottled dog that kept pace with us at 22 mph for more than a mile just before the town of Mount Gilead. I did most of the ride with Lynn, except for a few hilly portions where I dropped her off the front. We faced headwinds on the return but they died down at dusk and we had very pleasant riding to the finish in the cool evening hours. Here's the only picture I took because it gave me an excuse to stop pedaling. I'll not be entering this shot in any "best of" collections.



On Sunday, I rode The Mule, Dean's surprisingly hilly 100K from Garner to Benson (N.C.'s undisputed mule capital) and back. Gary and Sara and a new rider, John, were at the start, as was Lin O, who is now riding a recumbent but has yet to grow the obligatory beard. Our fivesome rolled out of town together before Lin and I crept off the front at a slightly richer pace, and we enjoyed a perfect day of cycling under perfect blue skies.

Lin at lunch...



Lin's bike at lunch....



And my camera doing its thing and bending the streets of Muleville....



Two fun days on the bike.

Tar Heel 200 . . . Well, Blue Devils Too, February 20, 2010

When Jack informed me two weeks ago that he and a couple of his riding buddies wished to ride the Tar Heel 200 today, how did he know amid the streak of poor riding weather we’ve been experiencing of late that today would be a perfect weather day for riding? As it turned out, I just couldn’t resist riding along.

Even these cowgirls whom I’d just passed couldn’t resist hitching up for a ride today along Stedman-Cedar Creek Rd.

Nine enthusiastic randonneurs turned out for the Tar Heel 200 Permanent and would experience a thirty-degree temperature warm-up under mostly sunny skies.

The route was new to four riders and it would mark the longest-ever ride for one: congratulations, Steve!

Also, quietly taking care of business,

Janis records her R-11 today! Congratulations! We’ll celebrate next month when you bag number 12!

It was too cold to pull off the gloves to take pictures until we reached the first control. But it was just in time to catch the smack talk which began in earnest. Apparently, the fact that the name of the route included “Tar Heel” provided just enough spark and the fact that we are fast approaching March . . . All North Carolinians know what that means . . .

Wayne drew first blood,

exhibiting his UNC cycling jersey. It escalated from there with Steve showing off his Duke jersey.

Order was finally restored when Alan jumped in . . .

. . . with his official NC Randonneurs jersey. Alan won the jersey contest as determined by the highly partisan judge. Thanks to all the contestants for their show of team spirit and good sportsmanship.

After collecting their prize money, all of the contestants made nice and rode together for the next 111 miles without incident. No one got sprayed with HALT!

Wayne and Steve are even seen hanging out together dining on scrumptious convenience-store gourmet in downtown Stedman over a gallon of vodka.

Speaking of jerseys, here’s Bob with the original wool jersey that will never go out of style. If it weren't for this jersey, there would be no retro!

Bryan shows his wool as well, including wool cycling cap. Until just now, I didn't know that Mt Dew was Italian.
Now something for our loyal RTP readers: a little quiz about randonneuring. The reader is asked to pick the statement from the following pair which truly characterizes randonneurs. For true randonneuring aficionados, this will be easy. For others, we’ve provided helpful hints in the form of pictures. We’ve also phrased the questions in such a way that novices can respond correctly.

Statement one: Randonneurs prefer to ride in pelotons.

Hint: Is this a true peloton or merely a double paceline?

Statement two: “Preternaturally calm and lushly-bearded randonneur types” has been used to describe our species.

Hint: This is a picture of preternaturally calm and lushly-bearded randonneur types.

If you chose the second statement which accurately describes some randonneurs, you are truly an aficionado of the sport! The actual quote comes from here:

If New York City were truly bike-friendly there would be a "freak-out tent" at least every ten blocks, and they would be staffed by preternaturally calm and lushly-bearded randonneur types who would gently talk you down after distressing encounters such as this.

For your effort and undying devotion to the sport, you win a free on-line subscription to RTP. All you have to do is log on occasionally to receive all of the updates.

Andy alerted us the fact that there have been upgrades to River Rd in Bladen County, namely, an asphalt shoulder. Could it be that there are plans to resurface this stretch to the Tar Heel Ferry Rd turnoff?

This is what it would look like if it were paved!

As compared to this . . .

Note that Mike still prefers the “old” pavement here to the newly paved shoulder. I noticed most riders did.

Returning to Benson, everyone is in a festive mood. Thanks to Jack (in yellow) for orchestrating the ride.

Thanks for the company today, guys.

Let’s ride!

AHS, ALS & FAQS

Our good friend Adrian Hands, who has ALS, wrote a remarkable FAQs about his condition. Please read it here.

In Adrian's honor, we have established the Adrian Hands Society for PBP riders who completed that event in Adrian's 2003 time of 88:55 or greater. We may soon open up a new section, "Friends of the Adrian Hands Society," to allow broader participation. Stay tuned.

A nod to Gilbert Anderson of North Road Bicycles for the picture from one of the many adventures he and Adrian had together.

Benson Mule Pull Populaire, Valentine's Day, 2010

The kernel for this route was planted a couple years back when Mike D, Bob O, and I did a 40-something-mile January training ride from my house to Benson for lunch and back. I added just enough miles to turn it into a 105km populaire, stretching the start/end points from my house into Garner at the conveniently located Forrest Hills Shopping Center just off of US 70.

Creative wordsmith Mike D is credited with providing a catchy route name based on the fact that Benson is widely known for its annual Mule Days celebration the fourth Saturday each September. Among the many festivities are mule-pulling contests and mule races.

Sridhar suggested that we do the inaugural ride of the newly approved populaire this past weekend on Valentine’s Day. The thinking was that some of our local randonneurs might enjoy the option of a “short” weekend ride to match their upcoming brevet ride schedule but also avoid the bad weather the day before. It turns out that this was the case as a half-dozen riders participated.

An occasional snow creation was spotted now and again along the route. But the road surfaces were not only dry but clear of ice even in shaded areas.

Snow runoff was evident, particularly passing the mill located on Massengill pond.

Since the populaire is billed as a “Rolling ride from near the state capital to the mule capital” of North Carolina, I thought this cute little guy hanging out with his big buddies on Massengill Pond Rd would make a nice mascot.

Never mind his indifference to the fact that a group of brightly clad cyclists just rode past.

We soon catch up to these fresh cyclists awaiting a group photo at the Willow Spring control at the edge of Wake County. After just fifteen miles into the ride they don’t look too beat down.

Picture courtesy of Bryan Rierson (l to r): Bryan, Maria, Alan, Mike, Dean, Sridhar.

Riders took turns challenging themselves and each other on the ten-mile stretch of rolling terrain just after the first control.

The lead changed hands several times on the not-too-steep but extended climbs: now Maria, now Bryan, now Sridhar. Riders regrouped on the flat section just before heading into Benson.

After some refreshing moments in the sun,

everyone left the Benson control together.

When we turned left onto Benson-Hardee Rd off of NC 50, we met the wind head-on and immediately formed a paceline with Sridhar in yellow doing the honors of pulling.

Soon we turned north and the westerly wind became inconsequential.

There always seems to be less climbing on the return on this route in spite of the elevation gain from Benson back to Raleigh. Maybe it’s because the ole horse, or mule in this case, knows he’s headed to the barn.

The horsing around wasn’t finished. Bryan leads off the front all the way to the next control. Just how far ahead is a topic that remains in dispute. Alan distances himself from the rest of us in time to win the Wake County line sprint. Just before the Willow Spring control, Maria and Sridhar point out road names which happen to have “fish” in their name for my benefit: Fishhook, Turner Fish. It was one of those days when everyone seemed to enjoy being on the bikes and the recent bad weather that had prevented us from riding was but a memory.

Reaching Garner in the early afternoon meant that there was still time in the day for other things like valentines!

Thanks guys for the great training ride!

John Morris Finishes the Kiwi Brevet

At 1:15pm Saturday local time (7:15pm Friday ET in the US), John successfully finished the Kiwi Brevet, a rugged off-road adventure of 1100KM on the South Island of New Zealand. Here's his last call-in from the Blenheim town square. Congratulations, John! Can't wait to hear your stories.

Lumberton 200/300km Brevets, February 6, 2010

Owing to the weather this past week, we wondered whether there would even be any North Carolina brevets this weekend. Not only had training been affected, but so too was the ability to formulate a ride-day game plan ahead of time. On such short notice, if it went off, we’d be riding on and by the seat of our pants.

Further north our friends in the DC area have had it much worse, however. In reference to the heavy snow this weekend and the lousy riding weather so far this year, one DC Randonneur shared this bit of humor:

Chuck and I have accepted Punxsutawny Phil's gracious invitation to share his private suite in the climate-controlled Punxsutawny Library. See you after the thaw.

Closer to home, my home, which is located just an hour and a half from the start, I was pleasingly surprised upon rising and poking my head outside early Saturday morning and seeing that it wasn’t raining! Just cloudy skies that would last all day.

Weather wise, Tony has had good luck with his eastern North Carolina flatland experiment: the flèche two years ago, culminating at Ocean Isle Beach, and now with the Lumberton brevets this weekend, with riders having a choice of 200km or 300km, the latter with an even bigger helping of wind. Simply put, if this weekend’s brevets had been scheduled anywhere else, there may not have been any brevets. In fact, by the time Tony was ready to make his escape from the western Piedmont, it had already begun sleeting there.

It was an enthusiastic group that turned out for both rides. Among them was the band, “Beach Boys and Girl” (Mike D, Joel, Ed, and Lynn, was there anyone else?), riding 300km down to Sunset Beach and back.

There is Joel in blue, one of the Beach Boys. You know his group (with Mike D) was going to have fun. I wonder if they took a quick dip in the ocean?

Among the 200km aspirants was fast guy Steve (on the right) to whom we waved as he whizzed past us in the opposite direction having already cleared the first contrôle. Among several others, two new people completed their first 200km brevet: Lee Ann and Tim. A hearty congratulations to both! The winter months are not the easiest time of year to get this brevet-thing figured out.

After pre-ride instructions from RBA Tony, locals Tom and Mary were kind enough to escort us 21 miles out of town all the way to the Gum Springs Rd intersection before bidding us farewell and turning back. They’d have ridden with us all day were they not tapering for their upcoming race in Sebring.

Tom and Mary led us through Tar Heel over the Cape Fear River, where we turned right onto River Rd past Harmony Hall Plantation, which was barely visible on the right. You’d miss it if you didn’t know it was there. The only thing really noticeable from the road is the old general store, which doubles as a museum.

Besides a few interesting buildings, the site is home to one interesting tidbit of colonial North Carolina history. Check out this sign.

At Ammon (mile 31.3), everyone met for a brief time. The Beach Boys and Girl get high marks on contrôle efficiency. Although arriving behind us due to having to stop to make clothing adjustments, they were out of the contrôle ahead of us. With more miles to go before they could sleep, it was best to make good use of a great tailwind.

I spotted a Willie Nelson look-alike in Ammon. I was also able to study some randonneuring eating habits in the wild. Here’s Scott posing with a delicacy. Or, should I say, the reason he’s smiling is that he’s already consumed the delicacy?

No, that’s not SRAM the component maker.

A group of seven of us left Ammon for the southernmost tip of the route located 46 miles away, almost due south. We would leave Bike Route 5 and head into Elizabethtown (mile 43) where we would cross the Cape Fear River again and for the last time.

Now to take advantage of a tailwind for the next 34 miles (77 mile mark) before it would turn on us the last 50 miles homebound. But let’s not dwell on that right now.

At the far-end contrôle, I had another chance to observe the eating habits of randonneurs in the wild. Here, for example, is Lee Ann lustily consuming . . . I don’t know what.

All gone.

Knowing what lay ahead, none of us was eager to leave the contrôle. We took our time making sure that we had consumed enough calories and had properly hydrated.

Finally we left with the assurance that the next control was only 14 miles away. Scott literally pulled us through somehow managing a pace of 16 mph against the wind. Lee Ann also pulled. The only thing I can say is thanks and that I’m sorry that I posted the above pictures of your eating habits. I promise to take them down as soon as everyone has had a chance to see them.

This leg of the route took us up to downtown Whiteville where the contrôle was located just off the traffic circle with the court house plopped right down in the middle of the circle. We got our cards signed, flipped our cue sheets, and quickly calculated how many miles before the next store.

Now it was my turn to lead, primarily because I had studied the on-line map of this section of the route on how to get out of town. Next came Old Lumberton Rd, which seemed to go on forever, pedal stroke after pedal stroke. . .

The wind rushing past my ears sounded like I was listening to sea shells. It was almost impossible to have a conversation with Sridhar. We took turns pulling, our speed in the low teens.

Sridhar is not one to complain, but his wish was granted as soon as we entered Robeson County. The road became as smooth as glass, trees popped up on both sides of the road, and the road itself had a few interesting turns for a change. We hoped we could ride it all the way to Lumberton. But it was not to be.

We found our store at the corner of Old Allenton Rd where we were supposed to turn, now just 13 miles from the end. Lee Ann and Scott had arrived ahead of us and would leave ahead of us. Tom and Mary arrived offering encouragement.

The last part of the ride was broken up into several small turns keeping our minds occupied. Had the wind abated? The last couple of miles was like riding a victory lap.

The 200km is a nice route, flatter than advertised. The start/end staging area in Lumberton is conveniently located just off the interstate and surrounded by several eateries and motels. The course is beautiful, traversing a designated Scenic Byway in one section and through a couple of forests.

Congratulations to everyone. Thanks to RBA Tony for designing such a nice route and sponsoring the ride. Thanks to Tom and Mary for pre-riding the route and for being on hand to host the event and check on riders. The companionship of Scott, Lee Ann, and Sridhar more than offset the headwind. Thanks, guys!

Let’s ride!

Note from Mike D: Here's a picture of one-half of the 300K crew -- Joel and Lynn -- at the turnaround at Sunset Beach. They're still smiling, but from there, it was 80 miles back uphill and into the wind.

Wes' New Bike

Riding buddy Wes has come home to steel with a Coho from Chuck. Check out the great color!



I borrowed the picture from Chuck's Handmade Bike Show listing. Click through here to see several of Chuck's bikes, including the Coho I did LEL on. You can also greet and meet Chuck and his very fine bikes in Richmond, Va. later this month.

New Zealand Brevet

As Branson noted yesterday in a post, NC randonnneur John Morris and his family just moved to New Zealand for a year of adventure. On the cycling front, things start in earnest today when John begins a brevet on South Island of New Zealand. He'll encounter lots of unpaved roads, but it looks like he's ready for it. Here's his bike, which he describes as "loaded for bear."



Follow all the fun -- and see lots of great New Zealand pix -- on his blog, Eno Kiwis. Here's to tailwinds and sealed roads.

NC > NZ

In 2009, NC Randonneur of the Year John Morris completed two Super Randonneur series, two ACP 1200K grand randonnées, and earned our state's first "Can-Am Challenge" award. How was he going to top that for 2010?

He left town.

And he really left town. John and his family packed up and moved to New Zealand on New Year's Day, eager to live abroad for a year on the opposite end of the Earth. While some NC brevets are in danger of being canceled due to winter weather, John and his family are soaking up the sun in summertime. They are blogging about their adventures, so bookmark their site, and check out their amazing pictures and stories often.

As far as riding, typical of John, he's not saying much about his looming adventure called the "Kiwi Brevet 2010." Calling this ride a brevet is selling it short- it's more like an adventure race. A mountainous 1100K, much of it on dirt roads! One neat feature is the riders will be issued SPOT transponders for safety, which means we can track them online. Here's the link to John's SPOT.

Wish John and the other 64 riders luck as they gather at 10:00A local time on Saturday, February 6. With the 18-hour difference from EST in the States, that means we'll see them off close to 4:00P Friday afternoon. We're pulling for you, Dr. John. Ride well and blog often.