Jayjay and I rode the RUSA Tar Heel 200 today (in eastern North Carolina). It was a glorious overcast day, with the slight crispness of approaching autumn in the morning and a few hours of summer heat in the afternoon. Although Jayjay thought she felt a raindrop or two, our ride was completely dry.Daylight is getting shorter, which affects slower riders like us. We chose to start in the early morning darkness while we were still fresh and alert, so we could finish the ride in the light before dusk. It worked out well.
We took an intentional brief excursion off the route today. The route roughly parallels the Cape Fear river from Erwin to the turnaround in Tar Heel, but the only time you can actually see the river is in Tar Heel. We rode about a mile west from the checkpoint at Erwin to see the river and took some photos.
The last time Jayjay did the ride, she met some other randonneurs from Raleigh who ate lunch at the Subway in Tar Heel. This really sounded good today and we did the same. This was the first time Jayjay and I actually stopped for a sit-down lunch. Our confidence must be growing that we can stop for a while and still finish within the time limit.
We enjoyed several neighborhood dog relays today. As the first dog family would greet us, their barking would alert the neighbors. The neighbor dog family would wait for our approach and continue the greeting as we passed. One neighborhood had three sets of dogs doing the handoff, which was impressive. I must get a camcorder for the next ride here.
No flats, no mechanicals, no new injuries. I enjoyed watching a CSX freight train at the crossing just north of Wade. Jayjay enjoyed watching a fancy wedding at the Barrington House in Dunn.
Click here for some photos
Another great day on the bikes.
