North Carolina Bicycle Club Randonneurs RUSA Anniversary Ride, 2009

Anniversaries mark important historical events. But they are also celebratory occasions. So, too, was the second consecutive locally celebrated RUSA Anniversary Brevet on Saturday, August 15, marking the 11th year of Randonneurs USA, or RUSA for short.

It was great seeing a number of newbies, but also the oldbies who’ve become a great support structure for NC randonneuring! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet all of you. So you’ll have to come back again!

A special thanks to RBA, Alan Johnson, for organizing and hosting this NCBC event. By all accounts it was another successful anniversary brevet. Although Mike O quipped that Alan was losing his touch with the weather, since there was no rain!

Aside from the lack of rain, everything else was clicking today: the cool morning temperatures; the midmorning overcast skies; the great job done by the volunteers; the relaxing post-ride celebratory picnic at Morrisville Community Park; the upbeat enthusiastic riders . . . Just back from L-E-L, Mike D looked relaxed sporting a cool T-shirt with the L-E-L logo. RBA Tony Goodnight was there as well.

We can’t say enough about volunteerism and its importance to RUSA events. A number of volunteers pre-rode this event last Saturday on a sweltering day. Others took time out to help with the picnic and other duties. The water at the corner of Chicken Bridge and NC 87 in the white Styrofoam coolers, still cold on the return in the afternoon sun, was a nice touch, Jerry and company! Thanks to all the selfless volunteers for making this another successful anniversary ride.

Riders filing out on the 200km ride before sunrise at 6 AM.

It was nice to see a number of newbies tackling their first 200km brevet today. I’m disappointed that I didn’t have a chance to meet them all. But congratulations are in order, anyway!

Three riders at Snow Camp tackling their first 200km event, from left to right, Lynn, Scott, and John.

Although I finished with a time of 9:33, I got off to a sluggish start, probably due to the fact that I hadn’t ridden in a week. At any rate, I liked the pre-dawn start. Due to overcast morning skies, I wore reflective gear and burned my flashing taillight all the way to Snow Camp.

I teamed up with Mike O just past Snow Camp and we took turns pushing the pace to Siler City. We rode pretty much together for the remainder of the ride. His company made the miles go faster in more ways than one. Mike has ridden most of this area and can tell you where each road goes that we pass. He’s also good at spotting hawks, deer, and interesting items along the road.

Here is one interesting item we saw. Ever wished you’d had your camera when you saw that UFO no one believed you saw? Well today, I was prepared.

Here’s the picture that I’m forwarding to NASA and more importantly to Mulder and Scully.

Since I’m not an engineer or a physicist, I can’t offer an educated opinion about the technical sophistication of this contraption. But as a biologist, I’m thinking there may be the possibility that the Clampett gene pool may be “out there” somewhere.

Mike O on the return.

Watch out, Mike! My tandem riding buddy, Mt. Fuji, is about to pounce!

Note my bike listing to the left? Toting Mt. Fuji all across creation is no easy task. Maybe the reason for my slow start and struggle up Jack Bennett hill today. That’s my story, at any rate.

Congratulations to all for yet another successful anniversary ride! We hope to see you and everyone else sometime soon! Let’s ride!

RUSA 10th Anniversary Ride Picnic

Post-ride photos.

200K Morrisville NC Pre-Ride

Next Saturday is RUSA's 10th anniversary, and Fearless Leader Al has two rides planned -- a 200K brevet and a 110K populaire -- as well as a picnic at the finish. Three of us, myself, Branson and Chuck, have agreed to help out on the Big Day, so we took advantage of RUSA's pre-ride rule to complete the 200K last Saturday.

The weather was tailor-made, especially for August -- low humidity and high temperatures in the mid 80s made it feel more like late September, and cloud cover kept us relatively cool for most of day. By the afternoon, however, it felt like summertime.

Steel was the ride of choice with two Cohos and Branson's Serotta. We picked up a hitchhiker about 25 miles in. A rider named Greg saw us passing by as he rolled out of his driveway on Mann's Chapel and hung with us until the turnaround at Siler City, where he took a shortcut home by following Hwy 64E back to Pittsboro.

The company and pace were both exceedingly pleasant. At times we flat out lollygagged. I made the boys offer up opinions on the John Edwards story, as that titillating scandal was still fresh news.

After a fairly slack schedule this spring, I finally got good miles in during July, and on Saturday's ride I felt just about back to normal and pushed the pace a few times toward the end of the day. We finished in just over 8 hours, not bad for a ride without any focus other than fun and friendship. At the finish we got a sneak preview of some freshly minted 10th anniversary medals that RUSA made for next weekend's events. Very nice!

Chuck headed back to Randolph County for a church social featuring homemade ice cream while Branson and I ducked into Salsa Fresh for tacos.

Next Saturday, we'll trade the helmets for chef hats and play short order cooks as riders return from the two scheduled rides. At least 20 riders have already signed on. Should be fun. Come on out for the celebration.

Sweet Virginia: Lin Osborne and the Shenandoah 1200K

There’s nothing like a goal to motivate you. This season, Lin Osborne has his first 1200K in his sights – the Shenandoah 1200K – and he has been riding with real purpose. I’m one of the many riders who can attest to his fitness – he kindly towed me home on April’s 300K. Lin has been getting in lots of weekday riding with a daily commute of more than 30 miles, and he’s been doing it on a carbon bike that has the look of a classic randonneuring rig.

As Lin packs his bags for the trip to Virginia, he made time for a quick Q&A with RTP. As you’ll see, his sense of humor is still intact. Several members of the NCBC crew will be working at the Fancy Gap control, so it's a sure bet that Lin will have the best cheering section. Lin, we're rooting for you!

This is first 1200K. What attracted you to this event?

To quote the old real estate saw, "Location, location, location."
It's a regional event so I don't have to travel as far or take as much time from work yet I've never seen the Shenandoah Valley. So, it's close enough to be accessible but still is a new adventure. The fact that I'm much closer to home for my first 1200 km randonnee also makes me feel more secure. If I'm successful in my back yard, I'll have confidence to tackle events across the continent and abroad.

Tell us about your training. Have you done anything different this year than in other years?

I haven't followed a structured training program in about 20 years when I gave up racing. Since that time, I've "just been riding" but for the last six years that has meant commuting to work every week day. I ride amazingly little on the weekends unless I'm going out with the local randon contingent. The main difference between this and former years is that I have a new job that's twice as distant as before. I now ride about 32 miles a day and the terrain is considerably more rolling than my former route. I believe it's made me stronger.

Which bike are you taking and why?

A heavily customized 2007 Trek Pilot 5.9. Why? Well for one, I can't seem to keep more than one bike in rideable condition at a time. ;) But even if I had another bike up and running, I'd still use this one due to its low weight and smooth ride quality. I lucked up and was able to purchase a bare frame and thus built it the way that made sense to me for randonneuring, not the way Trek stocked it on the peg. To me, "makes sense for randonneuring" means high spoke count wheels, mudguards, higher bar height plus bar-end shift levers coupled with a 50/34x13/34 drive train. Yep, a one-to-one gear on carbon fiber. It may seem excessive but then I've heard there are a couple of hills on the Shenandoah route. Also, I've commuted on this bike since last November so I know what to expect from it. It's served me well on the brevets so I'm not going to switch now!

Like everybody else, you probably have a bit of nerves. If so, how do you deal with those?

Scotch and melatonin...no, wait.... Seriously, I try to visualize the ride, visualize the fun and adventure I'll have and the new friends I'll meet. I've tried to anticipate how I'll subdivide the route into ride segments between drop bags and gauge the gear and nutrition I'll need to carry and what I'll need to send ahead. I've tried to project an average speed, when I expect to arrive at the drop points and how long I plan to spend at each. In other words, I've developed both a vision for the ride and an event strategy that makes sense to me at least on paper. And well, now it's time for the scotch and melatonin...no, wait.... In truth I think once we're underway and I can develop a rhythm, my nerves will calm.

Are you planning sleep stops or straight through?

I understand that I'll need to sleep but I plan to ride as much as possible and to not lose time at controls. I expect to enjoy beautiful scenery but for me this isn't a sight-seeing trip.

Do you have a daily mileage goal?

I don't have a specific daily mileage goal. Instead, I plan to ride to Harrisonburg (drop point), pluck what I need from my drop bag, rest for a few minutes and then ride to the next control (mile 266). I'll rest longer there before continuing to the turn around at Fancy Gap. I hope to arrive in Fancy Gap by Friday afternoon/early evening. Once there, I'm sure I'll need to rest for a few hours. Afterward I plan to ride straight through back to Harrisonburg, rest, and then ride the final leg back to Leesburg. This is the paper plan, at least. We'll see what the route says about that.

Any other goals on this ride?

Enjoy the company of new riding partners, of the people I meet 'en route' and to enjoy the view. Oh yes, and to finish...can't forget that.

Do you feel our local brevet series prepared you for this event?

That's hard to answer since I've been randonneuring for three years but have only ridden NC brevets. It's difficult for me to gauge how well prepared I am since this will be my first "away game." This I can say: the prime benefit of the local brevet series for me hasn't been physical preparation. That's come from daily riding. Instead the brevets have given me the opportunity to observe how experienced randonnuers/randonnueses approach long-distance cycling. I've learned a lot from my riding partners since my first brevet, a little through talking and a lot through observation. I ride brevets considerably faster now than when I started and I credit as much to being exposed to knowledgeable, efficient riders as to fitness gains from the NC series. A large measure of credit will go to the NC randonneuring contingent if I'm successful on this ride. And if I'm not successful, only I not the brevet series will be responsible.

Have you picked up any helpful pointers from your fellow riders?

Absolutely. A couple have verbally advised me on how to approach the event, confirming that I should stick with what I know and that I'll mainly need more of what I require on shorter distances. (Thanks Branson and Paul!) Given what I've heard, read and observed, I'm convinced that riding as fast as possible while remaining within a sustainable limit is the best approach to success since speed creates opportunity for future rest without running up against the time limit. I'm also convinced that it's important to decide what to carry versus what to leave at home. As others have said, this is essentially risk assessment. I plan to cover the common scenarios (tires/tubes) plus a couple of potential show stoppers (chain, der. cable) but otherwise plan to ride as light a practically possible. Of course, everyone has a different definition of "practically possible" and I tend to carry more gear than others but I don't want to haul unnecessary luggage through Virginia hill country. I'm counting on a base set of clothing and repair items that I'll always carry and then resupply nutrition, shorts/jerseys, and any other needed consumables from my drop bags. Based on what I've been told and picked up elsewhere, I think this is a sound strategy. I sure hope it is.

How big are those holes on Lewter Shop Road?

View Larger Map

Big enough to show up on Google Street View. This is one we're not likely to hit though. Others are more in the lane of travel. Lewter Shop road is near the finish of our Morrisville, NC brevet series. Construction traffic has created lots of potholes, making for cautious going among tired randonneurs.

If there's any question whether Chatham County is a popular cycling destination, these street views settle it. This is from Lewter Shop.


View Larger Map

And the view below is from that long hill on Jack Bennett, also on our brevet route.


View Larger Map

For those who haven't done the Morrisville 200K, 300K, or 400K, the last 20 miles are fantastic.

The fun starts here at Andrews Store, where we stop for drinks and Nutty Buddies...


View Larger Map
...and continues with a five-mile drop, including a fast descent on Jack Bennett, to Jordan Lake.


View Larger Map

There's another 3 mile downhill run to the finish at Al's house. As someone commented on one of the listservs, those easy stretches make for a pleasant cool down.

a nip & tuck for an old friend..

Hi there, my name is Branson. Mike asked me if I'd like to contribute to his blog every now and then. So if there are any complaints- it's his fault.

If you've ridden any of Alan's 200/300/400 brevets in Research Trailer Park, you know Yates Store Road. A little fuzzy? Here's a hint: that wall we hit 15 minutes after the start? The one with two county lines to sprint for? Yep, that's Yates Store Road. That short but steep hill is Yates Store's most memorable feature. Or, at least, it was.

Now thousands of homes, occupied or in the process of being built, may be what we'll remember most about Yates Store. Cary's huge Amberly development is quickly changing the landscape. Quiet, narrow Yates Store couldn't handle the traffic that comes with all of the growth, so it's gone under the knife.

The photo above is at the new intersection of O'Kelly Chapel Road and Yates Store, looking south. Technically, this part of the "nip & tucked" Yates Store isn't open yet, but as you can see, it already has traffic. I ignored the sign too, singing "Breaking The Law", and had 7 cars pass me in the next mile. Here's a map where I've drawn in the new road.

Result of all the plastic surgery? Virgin pavement for this spring's brevets, and a lot more motorists to share it with.