BikeFest Rural Heritage Tour

[tulip]

It's just too long a drive. Perhaps next year I can take a long weekend, but this year I can't skip out of work. Have a great ride! I'll be doing a nice, flat ride closer to home near the Chesapeake Bay.

[emily_in_nc]

CA ~ Hope you get to do the sweep! Can't believe the volunteer coordinator hasn't contacted you yet. They used to be much more organized.

I swept the last 38 miles of the century a couple of years ago, and it was a challenge, because they had us start too quickly behind the back of the century riders. Naturally, there were a few very slow riders attempting their first century back there (not that there's anything wrong with that!!), so Evan and I caught up with them almost immediately. We spent the rest of the ride having to stop and take breaks to let the back of the pack riders get a bit up the road from us, then we'd catch them again. We were not trying to go fast, but these guys had done a lot more miles than us that day, it was hot and sunny, and the last 38 miles was hilly as well, so they were suffering. One guy took a wrong turn (we didn't see him), and when we got back to the courthouse, he had not arrived. The sag drivers had to go all over looking for him. He finally turned up.

Since I'm only mountain biking now, I am not doing anything with Bikefest this year (riding or volunteering), but I hope you and everyone else has a blast! Last year I worked at the courthouse rest stop (I was still recovering from my fractured pelvis so was not ready to ride), and despite the heat, it was a lot of fun (and all the cookies we could eat!)

Emily

[Blueberry]

Thanks, Emily! We still don't know (despite my plea to the bike fest director on on Wednesday). It's really frustrating - we see all of the please for more volunteers in the newsletter, and we try to help and can't get an answer. I don't know how you address that as a club, but I can see why more aren't volunterring at this point. We chose not to register (didn't want to end up paying if we wouldn't have had to), so if we're not riding if we don't sweep.

For all who will be there - I have a purpleish helmet, really short blonde hair and ride a Blue Cannondale R600 (named Blueberry). I may ride my touring bike, though - a Green Cannondale T800 (since we'll be going slowly anyway, I'll get more of a workout and can carry more goodies for lagging riders!). If we get to ride...

Carrie Anne

[emily_in_nc]

Carrie Anne ~

Let me know how it turns out. I hope you get to ride! And, I hope the weather is decent. It is too bad that they are not jumping to welcome you with open arms since they are always desperate for volunteers....

Emily

[khgulledge]

GLC1968 -

I will be riding a blue (some say it's purple) Trek Pilot 5.0. Think I'll wear my Jelly Belly jersey and I have a red helmet. One of my riding buddies is a big guy and he's on a Bianchi (not sure of the model, but it's the greenish color) and has a handlebar bag.

Karen.

[Blueberry]

Looks like Hubby and I are riding - probably the 31. We'll be behind the rest of the riders, so I would expect we'll be getting back to the start around the time the 62 mile fast people come in.

Looks like interesting weather - usually it's hot as &*%$ - I think it was last year that there was a tropical storm in progress - this year, it's predicted to be a high of 75 and cloudy. So long as it doesn't rain, perfect

See y'll out there!

Carrie Anne

[emily_in_nc]

Oh good, Carrie Anne - have fun sweeping! I am in Charlotte for work this week (no riding, pooh!) and just saw on the weather tonight that it is only going to be 75 on Saturday - how wonderful is that?! Last year we were just baking at the courthouse rest stop volunteer station with muggy temps in the 90s, but I knew the riders were suffering a lot more than we were!

Barry and I are planning to ride our Bike Fridays up to the Hillsborough Farmer's Market that morning - my first road ride since October. Should have nice weather for it! I am a little nervous, but for the sake of the environment and my own recovery, I know I need to do this. We live about 7-8 miles from there, and it will be fun to see riders out and about doing Bikefest when we roll into town.

Enjoy Bikefest!
Emily

[Blueberry]

Barry and I are planning to ride our Bike Fridays up to the Hillsborough Farmer's Market that morning - my first road ride since October. Should have nice weather for it! I am a little nervous, but for the sake of the environment and my own recovery, I know I need to do this. We live about 7-8 miles from there, and it will be fun to see riders out and about doing Bikefest when we roll into town.

Emily-

Awesome!!!!! You'll do great! Has Barry been riding at all (mtn biking?) or will this be his first time on the bike for a while? I'll keep an eye out for you - we're not scheduled to start until 8:30 and I'm not sure we'll be out of the gate all that quickly then - I'm thinking there will be lots of people that are really slow on the 31 mile ride. So...our pace will be leisurely (if I minded, I wouldn't be riding sweep ).

Still haven't decided on the Friday - Crusoe or Tourist (3 lb weight difference, right on either side of my current road bike) or barcons (though I really don't like rollamagigs and there's no other way to get the brakes I need) - I'm driving Walter crazy, I'm sure

You have my sympathies on Charlotte - I'll be back there before the end of the month on business too (probably), and I didn't even try to find somewhere to ride (we were staying downtown).

Carrie Anne

[emily_in_nc]

Has Barry been riding at all (mtn biking?) or will this be his first time on the bike for a while?

He has been riding the trainer, jogging, a couple mountain bike rides, and he went on his first road ride (also since Oct.) a couple of weeks ago, then hurt his back (completely unrelated to cycling) so has only ridden on the trainer since. He is so active, though, he's in incredible shape, but this will be a very leisurely ride, with panniers to boot!

Still haven't decided on the Friday - Crusoe or Tourist (3 lb weight difference, right on either side of my current road bike) or barcons (though I really don't like rollamagigs and there's no other way to get the brakes I need) - I'm driving Walter crazy, I'm sure

So did I! I had to decide between an Air Friday, Pocket Crusoe, and one other - maybe a Pocket Rocket Pro?? I finally settled on the Pocket Crusoe, as you know, and never regretted it. If you can swing the financial difference, I'd highly recommend the lighter bike. You will appreciate it on every hill! As I mentioned, Walter suggested the barcons, and I was very leary, but he highly recommended them because of the better shifting, and he's right. Barry has had some issues with the STI on his Crusoe (I was in a rush and forgot to mention this in my post on your Bike Friday thread). He has the rollamajig so he could also use the mountain brakes. His shifting is more finicky and requires more adjustment than mine. Mine is click-click-click, never a problem. The front shifter is friction so is infinitely trimmable, which I love (no chain rub!!) The only thing I wouldn't like it for is if I were really hammering out of the saddle and needed to shift fast while standing, but I so rarely stand on my Friday as it's just not an aggressive-riding bike for me, that that has never been an issue. And I adapted to the barcons almost immediately. Not everyone likes them, but I was sure a convert. I had begged Walter for a Campy-Shimano mix (Shimano on the back but with Campy in the front as I love my Campy shifters on my Aegis), but he said it just couldn't be done on Fridays; that's why he suggested the barcons.

Not sure when we'll arrive at the farmer's market, but we're not really early morning people, and do not want to get caught in the start of Bikefest madness, so it will probably be more like 9 or 9:30 when we get there, so you'll already have left, in all likelihood. I'm not sure which way the 31 mile route goes, but If you happen to see us coming or going on our Fridays, do give us a shout! We'll definitely be distinctive with red panniers (I'll probably just have a Tailrider on my rack and Barry will have one or two rear panniers) and our Fridays (Barry's is blue, mine white).

I guess I better get some sleep....gotta work tomorrow.

Emily

[tulip]

Looks like GLC1968 had a great ride, I hope the rest of you did, too. I ended up taking a 70-mile ride down around the south Potomac River, not quite as far as the Chesapeake Bay. It's not entirely flat down there!

[khgulledge]

hi gals!

i ended up doing 40 miles yesterday. i just really don't like being wet and cold, so when we (my riding buddies) got to the 1st rest stop, we found some 31mi cue sheets (thanks carrie anne!) and made our way back to hillsborough.

a couple of people questioned my choice since i was already wet; i had grit in my mouth from the rooster tails in the pace line, water was sloshing in my shoes, and i really got cold waiting at the rest stop. i just wanted to get into some DRY clothes!!

i do have all the cue sheets, so at some point, i'll be heading back out to that area and doing the 62 or 100mile route.

great ride & support - will ride again next year!

karen.

[GLC1968]

Hey Karen -

I saw you!! I think?! Were you wearing a terry sleeveless rainbow jersey with a pink thing in your back pocket? If so, you passed us on the way to the first rest stop! I wanted to say 'hi' but I was stuck in the restroom line and by the time I was done, you were gone!

I did have a great ride! The first 40 miles were pretty miserable, but conditions improved quickly after that. We were careful to avoid any drafting in the wet...knowing how long we'd be out there!

It was a lot of fun and I believe the first of many centuries for me!