Day 3 Henderson

Four of us rolled into the Henderson "Y" at about 3:30 today.  My stats were 71.76 Miles and 13.3 MPH Average.  Average is creeping up a bit. Today felt the best for me so far and I was blessed with an energy burst at the end which enabled me to catch up and finish with the group.  I rode the last half of the day with Nancy Alexander and we both closed about a .3 mile gap at the end of the ride.  Again another perfect cycling day!!!!!!!!!  Fewer clothes and more freedom on the bike.

Here we are at the finish.  Mark, George, Cassandra, (Bill who finished earlier), Bonnie (my nutritionist) and Nancy

We are all excited about a great ride for tomorrow.

One Way To Post on the Blog

By Android phone: Go to the main page of the blog. Near the bottom of the page, click on the full website version. If you're signed in on your phone, you should be able to press "compose" on the upper right side.

For some reason, I had trouble getting my keyboard to display, but after I pressed "preview" and then "edit html" it worked fine.

Mark Says Hello

Posting from a smart phone seem to be a challenge that is beyond me.  I had no luck helping either Joanne (I Phone) or Mark (DROID).  I think we need to meet up with Allen who seems to have it figured out.  Anyhow, here is a picture Mark took yesterday along the way.  Thanks Mark.

Along the road on a terrific day

Day 2 - Mebane

Here are a few updates from people who haven't posted on their own.

Joanne emailed me early this morning. Her bike crashed (apparently totally on its own), and she needs a new mirror. Be sure and call out "on your left" really loud until I can get there with a new mirror from Flythe's on Wednesday evening. She says she and Mark and Cassandra were riding together this morning and enjoying the ride.

Mark is enjoying the whole wine and cheese theme. He did manage to scare up a deer on today's route, but Mark is fearless, and the deer was probably pretty startled by all the people on bikes. Mark described today as "wonderful." (Mark, I want some of what you're having).

Bill and Dave also had a really good day today. Bill says he didn't have to do any walking, and his hip is feeling a lot better. Once again, Dave Whitlow patiently waited for Bill until Dave had a chance to ride with Cassandra near the end of the ride. Then Dave dropped Bill like a hot rock and left with the cute cyclist.

Nancy and Bonnie discovered that today's winery rest stop would deliver a case of wine to New Bern for only $7.50 shipping charge. Even better, Bonnie told me that the winery would deliver wine and cheese to their hotel with no delivery charge. I wish I was at a hotel in Mebane.

Everyone who contacted me said today's ride was just great. The route was more about rolling hills than steep mountain roads, and it's just a big relief to be out of the mountains so quickly.

Cassandra's Ride

What a great ride today from Eden to Mebane  with Nancy, Bonnie & myself. Great weather with wonderful friends. Also Mark, George, JoAnna, Bill & Dave Can't for the ride tomorrow. Life Is Good. By Cassandra

Wine and Cheese in George and Carol's Suite

Cassandra, Nancy, and Bonnie at the winery rest stop

Day #2 Mebane

Today was a lot nicer.  56 Miles @ 12.7 average.  We shaved off about 20 miles because our hotel was that far from the campsite.  Gorgeous weather -almost perfect cycling conditions and a pretty country side.  Vineyards seem to be the theme this year.  Here is a picture of us sampling some local wine and cheese at a rest stop.

Joanne, Nancy, Bonnie, Cassandra, George, and Mark drinking wine  in  the  morning at  rest stop  number  3

CNC Bags

Some people have to search for their bags at the CNC overnight stop.

CNC 1 Day

Well, our first CNC ride on the first day. Downhills were great, but the uphills... not so much. Happy to say Bambi and I didn't have to walk up any of the uphills, but it was close. Three MPH going uphill is pretty slow. Going to bed now and think about tomorrows ride.

Day #1

Well Day #1 of the 2011 Fall Ride is history.  My cyclometer says 68.70 miles with an average of 11.7 MPH.  I can't remember ever having such a low average on any length of ride.  Perhaps the fact that I was occasionally walking the bike up hill accounted for this.  Anyhow my maximum speed was somewhere north of 40 MPH and I did use my brakes a lot.

Mark, Joanne, Bonnie, Cassandra, George with Pilot Mtn in the background

I wanted a group shot with Pilot Mtn in the background so we could prove we were there.  Unfortunately the sun was low in the sky and right behind us so this isn't the greatest picture

The weather, which can always be an issue in October in NC was absolutely perfect.  Bright sunshine, no humidity, temps starting in the high 40's and ending in the low 60's.  We bundled up in the morning and most of us shed something during the day.  Rest stops and frequent intervals helped, the big hill climbs at the end of the day didn't.  

One very nasty stretch of road had recently been paved by the "tar and feathers" method where tar is spread and then stones.  The loose stones are supposed to be swept up after the tar dries.  It looked like they forgot that step.  Anyhow there were piles of loose stone on the road and the hill was a steep and twisting decent. As we started down this stretch we were flagged to slow down by police or ambulance people.  At the bottom of the hill they were loading one very injured looking fellow into an ambulance.  We do not know of his condition but all pray that he is on the mend.

The cue sheets claimed that the total climb for the day would be 2200 feet.  That is just a summation of all the up hills with no subtraction for the coast downhill.  I talked with several riders who have the Garmin Edge GPS on board.  They said that they recorded 4900 feet of climb for the day.  I think Garmin uses an altimeter for this computation where the software CNC uses probably uses contour map data.  I would like to believe the Garmin data.

Several years ago Ken Court gave me a wristwatch heart rate monitor.  I mounted the display next to my cyclometer. I set the alarm to go off at 120 beats per minute.  I had to turn the alarm off before I got out of the hotel parking lot.  I got some pretty scary (to me) readings during the day but I think they were accurate since my resting rate now is 83 which is only 20 over normal.  I set a limit of 160 where I would stop and rest.  Maybe a good sign was toward the end of the day with the most stressful hills, I rarely got over 145.  But I had to stop for other reasons.

  

Safe in Mayodan

I spoke to Bill a little while ago. Cellphone service in Mayodan, at least at the camping area, is spotty at best, and the data connection was zero. Bill says that today was a very hard ride on his recumbent, and he appreciates Dave Whitlow waiting for him over and over and over again. The route was beautiful, especially around the Pilot Mountain area.

Tonight's camping is at Autumn Creek Vineyards (and, like, how cool is that!), and Bill seemed quite happy when he called me (5 times) around 5:30 pm. Check out Autumn Creek Vineyards here: http://http://www.autumncreekvineyards.com/home.htm

For those who haven't heard from Nancy Alexander and Bonnie Refinski-Knight today, they had a great time, and enjoyed the winery as well. Bill also spoke to Allen and Bambi Edwards while he was on the phone with me, and I believe everybody is accounted for today.

There was one accident that we are aware of - a cyclist crashed while rounding a set of "s" curves with loose gravel. The cyclist was not part of the New Bern group, and no one seems to know much else about the crash as of right now.

Harry's in Elkin

Kitchen from our table. Local place...parking lot full of cars never lies. Shared our table with our new friends we met during our 45 minute wait.

Ready to ride

Snug in Elkin

We had an uneventful drive from New Bern to Elkin this morning arriving at the check-in at 12:15.  It is cool here and we saw some clouds and a few sprinkles on the way.  I put the touring bag on the bike for all the clothes I hope to be shedding during the day.  Us hotel wusses are happy to have a warm room to sleep in tonight.
Looking forward to a great ride in the morning with a stop for dinner at a winery.

Mark and Lynda - Bill is busy checking Facebook or something

First Snag

Spent night in Elizabeth City last night planning to drive into Corolla to catch bus to Elkin.

On way to Corrola this morning the four lane was closed due to tractor trailer wreck. We were advised by volunteer fireman that it could be up to two hour wait. Not knowing anyone else on bus to contact and no emergency contact number for consulting we decided to drive to Ellkin
On our way now.  Weather beautiful and pleasant company.  May have all turned out for the best.

And Away We Go.......

I've been waiting for this moment all year. Now that it's finally here all the pre-travel jitters are in full check; "what did I forget to pack?, Am I ready physically?, Is the bike ready? Gut check! Answer to all of the above; I won't know till I get there. All I really need is my bike and a smile. The rest as they say is just props. LET'S RIDE !