The end of the world

May be west of Clayton on N.C. 42. Loyal reader htrouser did warn me of this likelihood even though he was not specific about where. The Tour de Wake went fine for the first 60 miles or so into Wendell, where my navigation started to falter. Even with a cue sheet I still had to know the secret names of the streets that turned into the roads I needed to be on. I also didn't help myself by not studying carefully enough to confirm the route around Clayton. Instead I took the long way through town, twice, before learning the identity of the secret street. By this time I had probably added 15 unneeded miles. When I finally got out of Clayton it seemed for one of the few times when I've been on a bike that the road was getting longer instead of shorter. So when I got to the intersection of I-40 and N.C. 42 after 87.8 miles with the prospect of 40 more to go in 95-degree heat, I decided sense was in order and I called the college student. She was prompt so I didn't tax the patience of the gas-station employee who was kind enough to let me wait inside.

There are several lessons to learn from this, the first time I have ever bailed on a ride. O the ignominy. First, know the route. Second, eat adequately before leaving. No matter how well the fluids are laid in — I had about a gallon with me and I replenished every 15 to 20 miles — the body still needs some calories to work with. Third, when it's that hot, leaving earlier is better. The original idea had been to leave around 8 a.m.; instead I hit the road about 10:22 a.m. Mistake. Fourth, consider the distance-temperature tradeoff. Even five degrees would have made the attempt easier.

Cycledork remains convinced that it is possible to complete the circumnavigation of Wake County. I believe the gap in N.C. 42 between I-40 and N.C. 50 can be filled and that I will succeed. Of course, if I fall off the edge, I will never be heard from again.

Northeast reconnaissance

I've threatened for months that I plan to circumnavigate Wake County. For years the southern and western routes have been clear. Today I rode most of the northern portion. Though I have no map to offer at the moment, I can say that I followed the northeast border of Umstead State Park along the remarkably crappy Ebenezer Church Road for a crucial portion of the route. Even in its remarkable crappiness — mostly because it desperately needs resurfacing — I could manage the other traffic. Shoulders on the other roads were at least good with decent sight lines too. I made it to Six Forks Road, which was my plan unless I decided to go farther. A few miles to the south, Six Forks is an Amazon of traffic flow. Where I need to catch it to go north before going east toward Wake Forest, it is a tranquil country stream. The rest of the route from Wake Forest seems obvious: south on N.C. 96 to N.C. 42 into the dark heart of Johnston County, west on 42 out toward Moncure and routes northward into the extremes of Chatham and Wake counties before heading east toward home. With today's link under my belt, the circumnavigation could be next weekend. Or maybe later. Stay tuned.

My own private time trial

As I mention in this post, this 9.35-mile back-and-forth fills the bill when I want to ride hard — for me — but not long. In the original post, I said I wanted to bring this one in 30 minutes or less, with emphasis on less. Today I came in at 27:51.9: 20.13 miles per hour, after two rides last week that blasted through the half-hour barrier. While for an overaged schlepp I'm thrilled and proud of my 20.13 mph, I'm also willing to put my effort in some context. David Zabriskie holds the Tour de France time-trial record at 33.97 mph over a course of 11.8 miles in 2005. I don't expect to race Zabriskie any time soon. Even with his longer route he will have finished his first beer by the time I join him. Figuratively, anyway, since he probably hasn't enjoyed a beer and cheeseburger in a much, much longer time than I have.

C'dork's Friday ride guide: going around in circles

Despite last week's injunction to get myself lost, likely time constraints will probably lead to the same old thing. It's lame to whine about it, especially when generally it's a pretty ride with light traffic. That doesn't change the fact that I need to find a route to get me to the unexplored northern and eastern portions of Wake County.

C'dork's Friday ride guide: get lost

The fact is I need to find some new routes. I'm fond of the favorites I've been posting every Friday. They are mildly scenic and fit my mileage-and-time needs. But when the highlight of my ride is will a particular — and friendly — dog be sleeping in a particular yard it's time for something new. Most of my rides are also to the west through northeast Chatham County. Nothing wrong with that. Light traffic through the woods with a good shoulder is more than you get in a lot of places. But I need to figure out how to blaze trails around Raleigh to get to northern (and rural) Wake County. If I can concoct a way to the south to Ten-Ten Road without offering myself as a sacrifice on Kildaire Farm or Holly Springs roads that could also be fertile fields for new riding. Otherwise it'll just be the same old thing. I guess it's really time to woodshed with my North Carolina Atlas & Gazeteer and GoogleMaps.

One down, 11 to go

As I believe is mentioned previously, cycledork accepted the "2007 Metric Century a month Challenge" posted in the Cycling Plus forums. Predictably the plan is to use many weekend rides over the next year to meet this challenge. So expect to see maps for 100k rides, such as those posted the last couple of weeks, in the Friday Ride Guide. That said, it may become habitual that the trip described in the Friday Ride Guide is not the one that occurs in the two days following. Readers may recall that on Friday, CD mapped out an ambitious, 78+ mile route that would go through parts of five counties. What actually happened is that on Saturday cycledork took the trip described the week before.
Regardless of the route, I got in 65.6 miles in about 3.5 hours of riding time. It was a gorgeous day here even if a tad breezy. Dozens of cyclists were out. Lots of them seemed to have flats but when questioned said their situations were under control. I also got to meet Pete and Mark at the Wilsonville General Store, the popular cyclists' oasis, gas station and bait shop at the intersection of U.S. 64 and Farrington Road. Anyway it may be another month or two, until the days are noticeably longer, before any long ride I outline is the one I actually go on that weekend. My sympathies to cycling brethren and sistren in the UK who get even less than we do here.
Note: while preparing the second map, I was unable to compel GoogleMaps to find the actual location of Pea Ridge Road so the route description shorts me about 3.8 miles. However, in the first map it found the correct road. If anyone can offer any insight into this situation I would appreciate it.

C'dork's Friday ride guide

We'll confirm that the weather's supposed to be sunny in the morning since the 'dork is thinking about going long, or at least longer, this weekend. This route, an extension of last week's unfinished fantasy, would take in bits and pieces of Wake, Harnett, Lee, Chatham and Durham counties over about 78 miles. Part of the incentive is that it would discharge a twelfth of my pledge on the Cycling Plus forum to ride a metric century per month this year.

C'dork's Friday ride guide

This Saturday, assuming no rain and that I get confirmation from cyclebuddy, is going to be cycledork on the 2100, cyclebuddy on the recumbent and anyone with the fortitude to join us on our homemade, somewhat scenic and partially predictable ride through western Wake and northeastern Chatham counties. Meet at 8 a.m. at the ATT trailhead on White Oak Chapel Road. From there, south along White Oak to Green Level Road. West on Green Level to Wimberly Road. Then east on Jenks Road to Davis Drive (one big hill). South on Davis Drive/Salem Street through Apex (caution: traffic and parallel parked cars) to Old U.S. 1. Hammer on to Beaver Creek (south of US 64)/Farrington Road (north of US 64), where we turn north. Depending how studly we're feeling we can go all the way to Durham, where we turn east on Stagecoach Road, come south on NC 751 (hilly) and then east on O'Kelly Chapel Road (cyclebuddy's recumbent will hit hit 35-40 mph), south on Green Level to Durham (two hills) and back into Cary Park. If we're feeling merely mortal, we turn east on Hollands Chapel Road, jog along 751 for a second and onto Lewter Shop Road and back to White Oak Chapel. My guess is that these rides are in the 50 and 40 mile ranges, respectively, at a speed between 17 and 19 mph. There may be a Plan B to deal with the rain, in which case I'll pass that on.

C'dork's Friday ride guide

There are as many weekend group rides in western Wake County as Carter's has little pills. For instance, tomorrow, you can roll out of Cycling Spoken Here's Cary store, 1377 N.W. Maynard Road in Cary, at 9:30 a.m. for one of three road rides — 17-18 mph, 19+ mph and women only. Two more rides take off at 10 a.m. Sunday. A mountain bike ride gears up at the store at 10 a.m. Sunday as well.