Perfect Planning

Imagine riding a RUSA 200K on a Sunday early in February.  Imagine unseasonably mild beautiful weather. Imagine all the dogs are friendly and all the motorists polite. Imagine chatting with your partner as you cruise slowly through the great outdoors from one checkpoint to another without a care in the world, never once checking your perm cards or arrival times during the first 86 miles.

And then imagine arriving at the next checkpoint, and wondering why the luncheon grille is closed early.  Imagine finally looking at your perm card and receipts and realizing you arrived only one minute before checkpoint closing time. And then looking back and seeing you arrived at the previous checkpoint only seven minutes before closing.

At first you might think this is bad, but no...

This is perfect planning, I say. Absolutely perfect planning!!!

Trees and limbs, power trucks, and mud

Bad storms with high winds blew through the area yesterday.  You may have seen a newsclip of a building under construction near Raleigh getting blown down by the wind:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t9MpNTSbYg

I rode the RUSA Carthage Coffee Run 200k  permanent in central North Carolina today.  Between the towns of New Hill and Sanford (about 20 miles), the storm had wreaked havoc with trees and power lines.  The shoulders and sides of roads were all littered with tree trunks, limbs, boughs, pine cones, and other detritus.  Car lanes were mostly clear, but there was a well-defined line along the side where cars had pushed the branches and limbs off to the side, to the space where I usually ride.  Nuisance.

An army of electric power company trucks were everywhere.  In the pre-dawn darkness, their yellow blinkies and klieg lights looked like alien space ships.  One truck paced me from behind, apparently looking for an address.  It eventually pulled into a church parking lot.  Being Sunday morning, I'm sure the power company got a call.

When I got to the perm checkpoint in the area, it was closed.  The outdoor signs were dark, gas pumps were dark, only a few lights were on inside, and there was no sign of life.

On my return trip, I passed perhaps 30 trucks lined up in an empty parking lot, probably staged for their next assignments.  I'm sure the scene was repeated throughout the county.

Despite an abundance of dog chases, and some sloppy mud on the American Tobacco Trail on my return trip (in the gravel section in Wake County), the ride was great.

Click on the thumbnail to see my feet as I laid down on my back at the turnaround checkpoint in Carthage.   Then enjoy the usual boring checkpoint photos here:  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjQyxtFh

Many thanks to route owner Branson for letting me ride on short notice.

Morse Code

I heard a great radio advertisement for Motel 6 this week.  It ended with the announcer spelling out a snarky three-letter-acronym in Morse Code.  Yes, the punch line was in Morse Code!!!

My alarm clock radio had just awakened me.  I was not really listening.  It took me a few seconds to recognize it was Morse Code, then decode the letters, and insert the letters back into the context of the message, but then I was laughing out loud in bed.

Juxtaposing a modern snarky acronym in an antique encoding technique was brilliant.

So listen up, you old ham radio operators, military wonks, and anthropologists.  Pay attention.  You'll love it.


PS (obligatory bike content):  I guess Morse Code is like bicycling. You may get rusty, but you never totally forget.

RUSA Carthage Coffee Run 200K

Today's solo ride:
- No wind
- No dogs
- No rain
- No dogs
- No mechanicals
- No dogs
- Light traffic
- No dogs
- Friendly cyclists
- No dogs

I think I was dreaming.

- No photos.  

Well, just a few checkpoint photos for the archives.

And one glorious violet metal roof.  Want!

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjNng4Kc

Why bike???

With gasoline prices like these, why should I bike?

Of course, I discovered this *after* bicycling 200K yesterday...

Stupid Car Tricks

I've learned two variations on the 'right hook' recently.

In the photo at left, behold the 'Two Lane Right Hook'.

Today I approached an intersection in a bike lane.  In my mirror, I saw a car approaching in the adjacent lane with right turn signal flashing.  I got ready for a typical right hook.  Instead, the car first revved and accelerated abruptly into the next lane.  Then it executed the right hook across two lanes.  At full speed.  Fastest I've ever seen.  In the dark.  Amazing.  (I'm sure it surprised the car driver tailgating him too.)

In the photo at right, behold the 'Right Hook U-Turn'.

Earlier this summer, I approached an intersection on a quiet two-lane country road in a heavily wooded area.  I saw a car coming with turn signal going, and he right-hooked me without incident.  However, as soon as he turned, he spotted a 'road closed' barricade on the side street.  Without slowing, the driver made a u-turn and proceeded back out onto the main road.  Directly toward me.  He absolutely did not see me.  His eyes went wide with surprise as I screamed 'stop stop' 3-4 times directly into his face through the open window as I hunkered down and turned tight left alongside him to avoid the t-bone.  When he finally stopped, his face was emotionless.  Drugs?  Or just clueless?

Spooky Dry Fog

Four randos rode the RUSA Tar Heel 200K today: Jayjay, Mike O, Biker Bob, and me. Gorgeous weather, totally unseasonal for October. Pleasant traffic. Only one two pesky flats.

Click the photo at left to see the lifting spooky dry fog which had lasted three hours this morning. Very Halloween. Photo at right is Mike, Jayjay, and Bob.

 Great day on the bikes.