Morrisville 600k

FYI: to whatever cycling deity has been trying to send me a lesson:

message received!!

Loud and clear!

Enough already!

Yes, I get it; ride your own ride. Hang in no matter what and just finish the event.

For reasons I cannot fathom, I had bad legs for the start of the ride.

Things felt perfectly fine, but when the lead group notched up the pace….nada. Nothing.

 John M. and (possibly) Chloe?

Watched them pulling away.

Recumbent passed me.
Going.
Up.
Hill!


I’d half expected trouble when I had to triple check with Alan and Dorothy about which pile of drop bags was for White Lake.

The Wilmington one was gigantic.

With generally decent weather in the forecast and the belief of some that you should ride a 600k straight through if you’re doing PBP, it looked like the lead riders were planning on just such an approach to this one. As such they were looking for a fast time and were in no mood to dawdle in the least.

I’d ridden through the night on the 2nd day of Tony’s 1000k last fall and HAD to ride straight through my first ever 600k, so I didn’t feel the need to beat myself up on this one.

 I was not amused.

So, from around mile 30, I was on my own until the Rocky Point control (18 miles from the turn-around in Wilmington). There I hooked up with Joel and John O. for the ride out and then Joel and Tom all the way back to White Lake around 2AM.


When I was ready to leave at around 6AM, Joel and Tom were there, but Ian’s fiance’s pasta offering for breakfast was too good to turn down. It really hit the spot. Unfortunately, I once again got myself separated from other riders all the way until Angiers with ~ 35 miles to the finish. Even then,Joel, Tom, John M and Branson were about to roll out as I got there for lunch. They informed me that Kim and Brent had just left and said they were tired of soft-pedaling for me and that I needed to hurry up.

Consistent with my oft stated claim that I moved to Virginia to be in the sweet tea zone south of the Mason-Dixon Line, a large amount of said beverage kick started me into a strong finish. (‘bout damn time)

I caught John M. exiting a park where he’d contemplated a nap but decided to push on. Soon I came upon Joel who had some GI issues from the McDonald’s lunch stop.

I rolled into Alan’s around 3:30, soon after Kim and Brent had arrived.

 Two brand new Super Randonneurs!!!! 

(And Brent just rode his 1st Century in August)

Advice of the ride, paraphrased from Joel at Rocky Point on the way back:

“No, Keith. At a fast food restaurant stop late in a ride, you want to sit as far away as possible from the windows to make it EASIER for your bike to be stolen. “Hey Jerry, can you come pick me up? Nothing I could do about it. Can’t finish the ride. Bike’s been stolen.”

A HUGE thumbs down to the manager of the Wilmington Howard Johnson’s for threatening Jerry with a call to the police if he didn’t pay for EIGHT rooms for our use during the ride.

BIG thanks to Ian and his fiance for the help at White Lake and to Jerry for the pizza and support in Wilmington.