Thursday, September 8, 2011

It's been awhile since I wrote...

I can't believe I haven't blogged since the Hot Springs brevet at the end of April! Here's what I've been up to in a nutshell:

-On May 8th I rode the Carthage Coffee Run 200K solo- a little rain at the start, then the sun came out. Then headwinds on the return trip.

-May 22nd I rode the Siler City Express 200k with Wes Johnson. Hilly...

-May 25th I rode the Get 'er Dunn 100K with Dean and a few others- even though this ride starts just about 5 miles from my house this was the first time I've ridden it.

-May 29th I rode Leesvile-Leasburg-Leesville 200K with Geof, Tim, and David. This was David's first 200k, and he chose a hilly route on a really hot day. Geof & Tim went up the road, but I stuck with David and he refused to give up. Chapeau!

-June 5th I rode the Showdown in Black Creek 200K with Geof, Hoffman, Tim, and I think Mike D. and Lynn L. A little rain in the first half.

-June 7th I rode Tim's Whirligig 100K route with Tim and John O. John and I both hit 5000K for 2011 on this ride!

-June 9th I rode the Howling Grits 100K with Maria, Alan J, and Vance. Great food & company!

-June 12th I rode the Tar Heel 200k with Tim L. John O. was supposed to join us but overslept I think.

-June 19th was the Benson Mule Pull 100K with Geof, Hoffman, David, and Tim L. Once again Geof took off, this time with Hoffman. David and I finished with Tim.

-June 26th was the Kerr Lake Loop 200K with Geof, Lynn L, Ian H, Tim L, and Chris W. Fast pace on a pretty hot day.

-June 30th I rode the Get 'er Dunn 100K with David S, then went to the Slow Spokes ride in the evening.

-July 2nd I rode Tony Goodnight's Bicycle for Life 400K brevet out of Salisbury. This was a great test for the upcoming Taste of Carolina 1200K since it started at midnight for a bit of sleep deprivation and took us to the Blue Ridge Mountains for some serious climbing. I felt good at the end- very encouraging!

-July 10th I rode the Carthage Coffee Run 200K with Ian, Geof, Lynn L, David, Tim, Cole, and Isaac. The heat was a major factor, and David was feeling it toward the end. Hung in for the finish though- rando tough!

-July 19th I rode Leesville-Leasburg-Leesville 200K solo. It was cool early in the morning so I tried to make good time. Short stopped the controls since I was by myself. Finished with an excellent time, especially for such a hilly route.

-July 24th I rode L-L-L 200K again, this time with Byron. A more relaxed day, but still hot and hilly. Took about an hour longer than last time, mostly in longer stops.

-August 7th I rode L-L-L 200K solo again- this time about half an hour slower than my best time of 7:56.

-August 16th I rode the Tar Heel 200K solo and realized that I'd been spending all my time training for climbing. Windy flat rides suck. The time on this one was about an hour slower than the last month's L-L-L run, even with approximately 6,000ft less climbing!!


There's 3100 kilometers of rides I neglected to blog about. I'm sure Martin has been wondering what happened to me. Next post will be my report from the Taste of Carolina 1200K!!