Tar Heel 200 - Valentine's Day 2010

I rode the RUSA Tar Heel 200 permanent today. It was chilly cold, but most of yesterday's snow was gone, and I saw almost no ice on the route. (There was plenty of ice on I-40 south of Raleigh while driving this morning, but that doesn't count.) Photos with details of the ride are posted below.

My original title for this post was going to be Bonk Early And Bonk Often. I decided against it, thinking no one would read it.

Meanwhile, I re-learned many lessons from Rando 101 throughout the day.
- Eat well and drink often, whenever you are not barfy.
Unfortunately, I can't remember the rest of the lessons. "Not Barfy" didn't happen often, and I think I was too bonked.

I do remember, however, searching for landmarks and checkpoints from other rides. Soon after the start, I wondered if I had I passed the Kountry Kwik Pick yet. No, wait, that is on the Black Creek ride. Later I was obsessing about how far to the Wawa in Pemberton. No, wait, that is in New Jersey.

Oh, and I think I also hallucinated about the bike-lane marking on a new strip of pavement on River Rd in Bladen County. Click on the thumbnail photo for a bigger view. (full disclosure: it's not real, it's been modified by Gimp, hehe.)

Luckily I arrived home with a signed perm card, receipts, and photos to document my passage.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/sagittandy/TarHeel200ValentinesDay2010

PS: I experimented with a dollar-store scarf, trying to make it stop allowing exhaust breath to fog my goggles. Today was its inaugural ride. It worked very well. You'll notice it in the photos. I'll post a blog entry about it soon...