Feb 2nd and 3rd "where were you"

Saturday Feb 2nd
The Mini me discovery ride.

Today’s ride had a total of 4 riders. Two formed the Testosterone ride and two formed the Smell the Roses Ride. In attendance for the Testosterone riders were; Christine (Tri-Pink-athlete) and Kevin Smit. This was Christine’s first start with the group. She has ridden part of the route once as she and her pack of Tri-athletes swarmed past several weeks ago. She elected to fall off the pace of her group and join the more social Testosterone riders. You can read more about the ride in the Blogg’s write up for the weekend of Jan 12th. Christine did ask where the little dog was. Kevin though about that with a puzzled look on his face prompting Christine to rephrase her question. “ you know the little guy that talks a lot.” “Oh, you mean the Chihuahua– Steve Cope”. “Yes the high energy guy”. Alas Steve did not make today’s ride. In attendance for the Smell the Roses riders were; Jae (always ready to ride) Brainard, and Theresa (when do I get my new bike) Smit. The temp was in the upper 30’s with the promise of reaching mid 50’s to low 60’s by rides end. The sun was out and the wind was light. This should prove to be a smooth days ride. Kevin and Theresa both were still in the last stages of being sick and were hoping for an easy days ride. The two groups started the ride with a gap forming early as the riders turned into the Preston neighborhood. Kevin and Christine road side by side – remember Tri-athletes are not allow to draft. Christine is in the final training phases for her Ironman competition in April. The two rode at a comfortable pace allowing for conversation and occasional jockeying to form a single file as cars passed, then regroup to ride again side by side. Conversation included politics, training plans, nutrition, and work. This team elected to skip the climb at Up-Chuck by skirting around it through the new development. This is longer and provides a gradual climb ending at the top of Up-Chuck with the heart rate well within the target Zone. Eventually these riders found themselves at the corner of 751 and the strawberry patch. To their amazement the Yacht that is being refurbished was joined by a 21 ft version of itself. Same hull design and color scheme sitting on a trailer. Speculation is that it is the yacht’s dinghy. On they rode to the corner at Martha Chapel were they turned towards Lake Jordan. Kevin learned that Christine was planning on a 6 hr day. To accomplish this she had to make the right turn at lake Jordan, do the out and back on Big Woods, and still needed to climb Lystra before considering turning back for home. Kevin was not prepared for that many hours in the saddle or that many miles, or Hills. They parted company at Lake Jordan with Kevin heading back solo and Christine headed for hours of solo riding, knowing that on Sunday she would follow today’s long ride with a long run. Kevin altered his ride home by incorporating the route the Smell the Roses take during the home stretch. This decision had Kevin heading back into the Preston neighborhood, with a left turn towards Morrisville parkway, and a turn onto crabtree crossing parkway. This road worked its way through another section of Preston and dumped into Cary Parkway just above the Bruger’s parking lot. In total Kevin rode 35 miles at a 15.3 Mph pace.


Sunday. Feb 3rd – Kiehls 27th Birthday and Super Bowl Sunday Day.

Another low turn out of riders as the Smell the Roses riders from Saturday also made up all those riders again today. The Testosterone riders were represented by David Bridenbaugh and Kevin Smit. Today’s ride was much like Yesterdays ride. The riders rode side by side in a comfortable pace with conversation that touched on politics, work, training rides, and nutrition. The route was the same how ever the riders did elect to climb Up-Chuck resulting in heart rate monitors beeping as each rider exceeded the target zone. These two riders followed the normal 32 mile route with little interact of other riders that were out on the roads. Traffic was respectful, temperatures were warmer than Saturday, and wind was light. Both Kevin and David did a good job of consuming plenty of water on the ride and monitored each others situation. At the start of the ride David was suggesting the group could go further than the standard distance. David also mentioned that he and his wife were planning on going our later that same day on mountain bikes to get a ride in together. As the ride continued to unfold both riders elected to keep the original miles as the day’s goal. David did come to the realization that he had not eaten anything prior to the ride and was starting to feel the beginnings of an energy drain (bonk). Now he was contemplating no afternoon mountain bike ride.The ride ended with David and Kevin splitting at Carpenter Upchurch and High House. David headed straight home and Kevin headed down High House to the start/finish at Brugers parking lot. This group rode 33 miles at a 15 mile per hour pace.