Euharlee 3 BBQ Populaire / ASPCA Virtual 5K

Yesterday's ride was a twofer: the Euharlee 3 BBQ Populaire and the ASPCA Virtual 5K.  A few months ago, I signed up for the ASPCA Virtual 5K.  Robert and I are longtime supporters of the ASPCA, and this looked like a fun way to give them a little extra support for the wonderful work they do to rescue and protect animals.  Participants can do their 5K via any activity; I chose cycling, of course.  (Besides, running is barbaric.)  The virtual 5K is supposed to be completed between August 9 - 23.  Because I'll be at PBP during most of that time, it seemed easiest to tack my virtual 5K onto the Euharlee 3 BBQ Populaire.

This is the second year of the Euharlee 3 BBQ Populaire.  Andy created this route on somewhat of a dare; could he come up with one that went to three BBQ restaurants?  He did, but two of the BBQ places have closed.  Therefore, Andy calls it the Ironic 3 BBQ Populaire.  It was also ironic, at least for pigs, to have BBQ on a ride to benefit the ASPCA.  I admit that if I had to butcher my own meat, I'd be a vegetarian.  Or perhaps a pescatarian because I don't mind cleaning fish.

Because populaires are shorter (100 km) they tend to be more social than brevets.  Yesterday's populaire was particularly social because there were just four of us: Andy, Frank (a new guy from Rome), Wayne, and me.  It turned out to be a bike walk for me, but I enjoyed the others' company very much.  Besides, it probably was good not to do too killer of a ride with PBP starting in only a few days...

As we rolled out of the park in Euharlee, Andy suggested visiting the nearby covered bridge.  I agreed enthusiastically because I hadn't done so last year, and I wondered if it had been constructed by Horace King.  I learned about Horace King when Robert and I saw a totally cool mural in Atlanta last year.  The mural, called Native Waters, depicts several of Georgia's major river basins.  It has a number of flora and fauna species and illustrates people using and enjoying the rivers.  The mural also has a picture of Horace King:

At the time I was not familiar with Horace King, and so I read more about him online.  He was born a slave, but his owner, John Godwin, saw his intelligence and taught him to read, write, and build even though it was illegal to educate slaves.  Horace King had immense talent for building bridges and constructed dozens in the southeast in the 1800s, including a number of covered bridges.  Some of his bridges still stand.  Is the Euharlee covered bridge one of Horace King's bridges?

The builder wasn't Horace King himself, but it was his son.  How interesting to find this connection!

About 29 miles in, we arrived at Lively's BBQ in Cedartown.  In addition to regular sandwiches, they had a great looking selection of other BBQ items.

I asked the cashier about the pork roll.  She said it's an egg roll filled with BBQ, baked beans, cream cheese, and cayenne pepper.  Sounded good to me!

I thought we were going to eat our goodies there, but Andy had an even better idea: carry our BBQ with us for a picnic a little later on.  Or should I say, pig-nic?  This was another reason the pork roll was a good choice; it fit just right in my jersey pocket.  (Glad I didn't pick the pork nachos.)  I now have a pretty good repertoire of food items I've carried in my jersey pocket: a Stromboli from Deano's in Dublin, GA; a sope from Tienda Tarimoro Mexican restaurant in Eatonton, GA; leftover olives in Majorca; and now a pork roll.

Note my pig tail, recycled from last year's Euharlee 3 BBQ Populaire, and my ASPCA Virtual 5K race number

We left Lively's and stopped for a quick water refill at the depot a few blocks away.  The depot lies on the Silver Comet Trail, which we rode at the Solstice 300K brevet in June.

The roads on the entire route were excellent, not too steep and with little traffic, but the next stretch was particularly good.  For about five miles we rode on a beautiful, winding country road through a valley.  It led us to our picnic spot, a small park next to Silver Creek United Methodist Church.  We sat on the rocks by the creek and enjoyed our BBQ.

Andy and Wayne

I had wrapped my pork roll well, and it traveled just fine - even the BBQ sauce!

I had to wait a few moments for a butterfly to fly away before I put my helmet back on.  Preventing cruelty to animals includes all living creatures, not just pets.

It was only a few miles to our other control, a convenience store in Rome.  Although I just got a Coke, these pork skins caught my eye.  Mutt and pork were doubly appropriate for this ride:

Andy said that the cashier told him that pork skins are their biggest seller.

While we stood outside having our refreshments, Wayne noticed this intriguing bug:

It's about an inch and a half long.  I've seen ones like this before, but I couldn't remember what type it is.  I took this picture and used the iNaturalist app on my phone to identify it.  It's a giant leaf-footed bug.  iNaturalist is the coolest app!  And another cool animal for my ASPCA Virtual 5K!

After about another hour of riding, we were back in Euharlee.  Virtual 5K - er, virtual 109K - complete!  Thank you everyone who contributed to my Paws to Consider campaign for the ASPCA.  If you'd still like to donate, the link is https://secure.aspca.org/team/paws-to-consider.

Figs

I love fresh figs.  Not only do they taste delicious, they also give me solace in the later days of summer, when my subconscious starts reminding me that this favorite season of mine won't last forever.

I used to gather fresh figs from a neighbor's house.  This house sat vacant for several years, and my father-in-law was keeping an eye on it.  He encouraged me to take what I wanted from the abundant yield from several fig trees behind the house.  Someone is now living in this house at least part-time.  I suppose I still could sneak back there for figs.  However, I was glad when a guilt-free alternative presented itself at last weekend's farmers market on the square.  I bought the last container of figs from one of the vendors.

All week I've been enjoying my figs.  They are one of my favorite things to add to my morning oatmeal.  I sprinkle my oatmeal with cinnamon, drizzle on some honey, slice fresh figs on top, and add a few chopped nuts.  Rocket fuel!

Earlier this week I tried a new recipe that I just knew was going to be a do-again: pizza with figs, prosciutto, and brie.

The roasted pepper salad on the side was excellent, too.

Yesterday I went old-school on some of my bike food. I had four fresh figs, but you can only see three of them here because one got squished in my jersey pocket before I could eat it. I hid that one in my hand for the photo because it didn't look too appetizing.

Ironically, this ties into a paragraph from "The Rider" by Tim Krabbe, an excellent stream-of-consciousness book about pro cycling:

"I cycle over to the car and put three figs in my back pocket. Or should I make it four? Or five? Ballast, I never eat more than two during a race, the others will just end up glistening with brown sweat.

Ballast? But if I think those few extra grams are going to get in my way, I can always eat them, can't I?"

Moon Ride

Today is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.  Although I wasn't born yet, I'm awed and thrilled by this human feat.  Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Mike Collins may have been the ones physically there, but it truly was "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

To celebrate, I rode 50 miles today, an out-and-back route to Juliette.  I stopped at the Honey Comb, a shop that sells Moon Pies.  They have full-sized Moon Pies and these great little mini ones for $0.50.

It was the perfect mid-ride snack.

This evening I had a moon theme dinner for Robert and me.  He graciously let me pause the Tour so that I could play my list of moon songs during dinner:

• Fly Me to the Moon – Frank Sinatra
• Man in the Moon – REM
• Walking on the Moon – The Police
• Ticket to the Moon – ELO
• Moonshadow – Cat Stevens
• Eclipse (from Dark Side of the Moon) – Pink Floyd
• Moondance – Van Morrison
• Bad Moon Rising - CCR
• Luna – Tom Petty
• Full Moon – The Kinks
• That’s Amore – Dean Martin

The menu included:

• Pizza ("When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..." - see That's Amore)
• Salad with blue cheese vinaigrette (The moon is made of green cheese, but blue cheese is all I could find.  If I had planned earlier, maybe I could have gotten some green cheese by letting some get moldy.)
• Blue Moon

We're watching the end of the Tour now.  When it's over, I'm going to play Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven on the piano.

"Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." - Apollo 11 plaque

2019 Hoot Owl 200K

Last year I volunteered at the Hoot Owl 200K brevet (see 12/27/18 blog entry).  This year I rode it.  I wanted to ride it mainly for some nighttime riding experience before PBP.  I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I expected to ride all night.

I took about an hour-and-a-half nap late in the afternoon yesterday to prep myself for the Hoot Owl.  Then, I cooked dinner for Robert and me and headed to the staging location in Ellenwood.  Nine of us gathered for the 10:00 PM start.

We were still one group when I hit a large pothole only a few miles into the ride.  Fortunately, my bicycle was fine, but my rear light popped out of its holder.  I had to go back to get it, and the others pedaled on.  My light attachment seemed quite adequate, and so I think that was simply a particularly nasty pothole.  However, I'm going to double check my light setup before PBP.  This is exactly the kind of data I was trying to collect to get ready.

Meanwhile, I found myself riding alone for almost the first half of the ride.  I didn't mind, but it would have been nice to have at least one companion in the earlier miles where traffic was heaviest.  Traffic wasn't that bad, but it didn't really die down until about 30 miles in, after Covington.

Then, I relaxed into a groove, enjoying the night air and sounds.  Happily, the moon was close to full.  It was a typical muggy summer night in Georgia.  Several of my riding companions later complained about the humidity, but it felt good to me.

The first official store stop was in Madison at mile 53.  Here I finally caught up to Brad, Brian, and Wayne.  A few minutes later, Ian and Joe rolled in; they had made an extra stop at a convenience store in Covington.  (I had passed Chris and Graham shortly after I picked up the light I had dropped.  Unfortunately, Graham had gotten a flat.)  Brian and I were ready to roll out of the Madison control first, and so we headed on.

The next stretch was almost completely on Georgia Highway 83.  Typically, I don't ride long distances on this road, using it only as a connector between quieter county roads.  However, Highway 83 was great in the wee AM hours; few, if any, cars passed us between Madison and Monticello.

Brian pulled ahead of me pretty soon after we left Madison.  He was almost always within sight, but I was essentially by myself again for a while.  I didn't mind.  It was a lovely nighttime ride.

Brian pulled over and waited for me once we got to the Monticello city limits.  We rode together to the next control, the Circle K in Monticello.

Like cyclists coming through around 3:00 AM . And me eating sardines.

There was a sweet dog hanging out.  The cashier says he comes over all the time from his nearby home.

I posted this photo on Facebook, and one of my friends in Monticello says this dog loves Slim Jims.  My friend buys him one every morning.

Photo credit: Brian Burke

Wayne and Ian joined Brian and me as we headed out of Monticello.  The four of us stayed together for the rest of the ride.

Brevets provide ample time to discuss things with your rando buddies.  This time I educated Brian (originally from Ohio) and Ian (originally from England) about cathead biscuits.  They are called thus because they are as big as a cat's head.  Ian thought about that for a while and then brought up an adage I've heard before: Never eat anything bigger than your head. He then amended that to, unless it's a cat's head.

Wayne had been dangling behind, not drafting but staying with us.  Toward the end of the ride, he shot around the rest of us.  I thought maybe he wanted to get on the front.  Or maybe he was trying to get off the road we were on and to the next quieter one.  Brian and Ian caught up to Wayne, but I got dropped.  Oh, well - it wasn’t a race, and I had plenty of time.  After a while, they slowed down, and I caught up.  Wayne said, “I’m sorry Betty Jean. I was listening to James Brown.”  I laughed.  Best reason ever to drop someone.

We finished at 6:33 AM.  That was well before the 11:30 AM cutoff, but it was still cool to also finish before the 6:37 AM sunrise.

Jasper County Dirt and Other Adventures

This past Saturday I had a thoroughly enjoyable day exploring right near home.  It all started with a quest to visit Barnes Mountain (elevation approximately 880 ft), the highest point in Jasper County.  Barnes Mountain is on private property, but I got as close as I could on the public road.  Barnes Mountain Rd. is a dirt road; thus, a dirt adventure was in order!

First up was a trip to the Saturday morning farmer's market on the square.  I picked up some great swag: homemade pickles and green tomatoes.

Then, it was time to ride.  My route took me northward on some familiar dirt roads.  I love these roads but don't get to ride them except on my longer dirt outings.  The top of my loop went along Clybel Road:

I wouldn't drive on most of Clybel Road without 4-wheel drive

Rut road!

but this part is OK:

A cyclocross bike works great on the entire road!

When I've ridden on Clybel Road in the past, I've turned left, heading south onto Ellis Road.  This past Saturday, I continued straight on Clybel Road, a portion I had never ridden.  My spatial skills came in handy here.

I had created my route as a gpx file and uploaded it to my Wahoo.  Also, I had studied a map ahead of time.  My Wahoo told me to turn on Ellis Road.  That wasn't correct!  I reviewed the cues in my uploaded file, and somehow the northwest portion of my route had been truncated.  It wasn't even going by Barnes Mountain, which was the whole point of this ride.  I determined where my Wahoo route would bring me back into the correct route.  Time to do a little navigating on the fly.

I was never truly lost, but I stopped a couple of times to check Google Maps on my phone to make sure I was going on the roads I intended.  I had never ridden on a few of these dirt roads - woo hoo!  Before long, the green lights on my Wahoo lit up; I was back on (its) track. 

For the second time ever, I rode on Faulkner Road.  The first time was last fall at the Sasquatch Ride.  That time, however, was in the opposite direction.  My route last Saturday took me up a steep climb that I didn't know I'd encounter.  According to Strava, parts of it were more than 13%!  There were a few technical points on my route - heavy gravel in a few spots, including a steep descent or two, plus some severe rutting on Clybel Road - but getting up this hill on Faulkner Road really did test my off-road cycling skills.  Glad I made it up without falling or having to walk!

Faulkner Road dead-ended onto Highway 16.  From there, I went almost straight across onto Concord Church Road.  I stopped to visit an interesting old grave at Concord Church that I discovered a few years ago:

Good Grief!  Can you imagine naming your child that?  The headstone must have been replaced at some time because this man lived so long ago.  He almost made it to 100, quite a feat, particularly back then!  Note that he was a mason, too (see symbol at top of headstone).

Fourteen miles to go, but only about the first half of those were off-road.  I had to savor the dirt while I could...

It was a good ol' humid summer day.  I had been fine on food and water, but I was ready for the treat I had planned for the last part of my ride: Dairy Queen!  I indulge in a Blizzard once or twice a year.  This time I got a summer berry cheesecake Blizzard - fuel for the last three miles.

When I got home, I had a late lunch.  I tried one of the pickles I had bought that morning at the farmer's market.  It was outstanding!

The good eats weren't over, however.  That evening I made a green tomato casserole.

I love where I live.  Check out your own backyard - who knows what treasures you'll find!

Drafting Queen

This morning I rode with Bill, Robert, Tony B., and Tony L. in Macon.  It was 2 1/2-hours at steady tempo - just what I needed!

I felt better riding than I have in a few weeks, which made me realize that my cold probably took more out of me than I realized.  I think I'm about 97% recovered.  Also, I was thrilled to stick with the guys for an entire ride.  Granted, it wasn't a killer pace, and there were no attacks or surges, but it's been a while since I've been able to hang with them in any form or fashion.

Because it's been so long since I've ridden with the guys without being dropped, I purposely drafted the entire time.  In fact, today I was the

Drafting Queen

You can draft 
You can ride 
Having the time of your life 
Ooh, see that girl 
Watch that scene 
Dig in the drafting queen

Ironically, I got a QOM on my Drafting Queen ride 😂

Training Goals

Please forgive my self-indulgence with this post.  I've been disappointed in several of my races this season, and I'm trying to put them in perspective.  Although it's been a bitter pill to swallow, I'm doing my best to learn from my experiences.  It helps to evaluate everything in terms of training goals.  The good thing is that training works.  I'll start with a few success stories from the past to take lessons for moving forward.

State TT Championship

In 2012 I had had a serious crash, which prompted me to give up mass-start road races and focus on time trials (TTs).  In fact, I set a goal of winning the 2013 women's Cat 4 state time trial (TT) championship.  After months of dedicated TT training, my efforts paid off!

RAAM

When I joined a four-person women's team to do the 2015 Race Across America (RAAM), I made a weekly training schedule.  It started in January and went until the race in June.  I was very diligent about sticking to my RAAM training schedule.

I trained harder than I raced, which helped me actually enjoy RAAM rather than just endure it.  Also, I think I had more fun than anyone else on my team :)

PBP

My long-term goal for the last few years has been Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP).  I first learned about PBP soon after I began randonneuring in December 2013, but it didn't really pique my interest until my rando buddies starting talking about it a lot in the lead-up to PBP 2015.  At the time, I was training for RAAM, and so the thought of preparing for a 1200K brevet seemed a lot less outlandish than when I first started randonneuring.  PBP is held only every four years.  Thus, when I finished RAAM in 2015, I set my next goal: PBP 2019.

The first step toward PBP was to build up my endurance with longer brevets.  I had done my first 400K in February 2015.  I needed to do more 400K's and, more importantly, step up to 600Ks.

I did my first 600K in April 2016, the Double Caesar 600K.  That was a pretty tough one to start with.  It was grueling, but I completed it successfully.  In fact, I specifically remember thinking to myself when I finished that I could do a 1200K.  A large part of training is mental in addition to physical.

In 2018 I did my second 600K.  Not only was this good general training, it also allowed me to preregister for PBP fairly early.  PBP is in August, but you can preregister in January.  Your sign-up date is based on the longest brevet you completed in the previous year.

You also have to qualify for PBP, which involves completing a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K between January and July of the PBP year.  When Wayne, our Georgia Regional Brevet Administrator (RBA), was preparing the 2019 Georgia brevet schedule last fall, he was very considerate to include several options for all the PBP qualifying distances, including some earlier ones in 2019.  I was able to complete all my qualifying brevets by the end of March.

Conflicting Training Goals

It was a big relief to get my PBP qualifying rides done early this year, but the training isn't over.  I've been riding a lot of miles as well as doing a little work on intensity.  Tuesday Worlds is one of my best ways to get intensity.

I've also been doing some interval training although not to the extent I would for a regular TT training season.  There are almost no TT's on Georgia's racing calendar this year.  Amazingly, there's not even a state TT championship scheduled for this year.  Road racing in general and TTs in particular have dropped in popularity.  From my perspective, at least it's a convenient year for there not to be many TTs because I'm focused on PBP.

Training definitely works, but this is where conflicting training goals come in.  It's very difficult to train for both endurance and intensity.  This year I just don't have much "pop" because of all my PBP endurance training.  I see it when I try to keep up with the A group guys ; i.e., it's not possible.  (To be fair, they also seem to get stronger and faster every year!).  However, my decline in shorter, more intense efforts has been most abundantly clear in the two shorter gravel races I've done this year.

Gravel Racing

While road racing has been on the downswing, gravel racing is getting a lot bigger.  I love riding on dirt roads, and so it's been natural for me to do some gravel racing, particularly two events held right in my backyard: the Fried Green 50 and the Red Clay Ramble.

I've had a lot of fun doing these two events, and I won't deny that part of the fun has been doing well every year I have entered.  I have almost always made the podium and often have come in first.  But not always...

State of Gravel

This year one of Georgia's few race promoters, seeing the writing on the wall regarding gravel racing, hosted the first State of Gravel.  It was billed as Georgia's unofficial gravel state championship.  Of course I was in.

The State of Gravel was held Easter weekend in the northern part of the Oconee National Forest near Athens.  I had never ridden on these roads, and they were as smooth as you'll ever find for dirt/gravel roads.  Also, it drew out some serious road competitors.

I stayed with a small group for almost half the ride.  One of the ones who dropped me was my friend Jennifer.  Jennifer is 63 and is super talented.  Actually, I'm pretty sure she's an alien.  I knew I wouldn't be able to catch her.  On the other hand, because I didn't know if any other masters women were ahead of me, I kept going with the hope that I still had a shot at the podium.

I rode by myself for a good while, which became my downfall.  I didn't go as hard as I could have.  Eventually, here came my teammate Tina!  I've got to give her credit for clawing back on after getting dropped fairly early in the race.

Tina and I stayed together for most of the rest of the race.  I knew that I could out-climb her, and so every time we got to a hill, I pulled ahead.  She always caught up, though.  Back and forth, back and forth until one last kicker about three miles from the end.  My bike quit shifting when I got to the top of that last hill.  Tina pulled ahead, and I never caught her again.  I'd like to blame it on my bike, but it was really me not keeping my head in the race the whole time.  Tina still might have beat me that day, but I couldn't quit kicking myself for not giving it my best.  By the way, Tina came in 3rd, and I came in 4th.

Red Clay Ramble

My next race - and the last one before PBP, thank goodness - was yesterday's Red Clay Ramble.  I've been pretty worked up about it for the past week.  I felt like I needed to redeem myself from the State of Gravel.  To complicate things, after riding nearly 300 miles last weekend and battling a cold this past week, I wasn't in peak form for the Red Clay Ramble.  I talked to myself all week, first, trying to get sufficiently over my cold and second, telling myself simply to do my best and let the chips fall where they may.

About 170 racers (nearly double last year's entries!) lined up behind the starting line.  I was close to the front.  As I expected, lots of racers passed me in the first mile.  Most of them were guys, but there was also Tina!  I knew she would be one of my toughest competitors.  I didn't worry about it, though.  I knew I couldn't go that hard that early, and so I focused on riding as hard a steady pace as I could.

I rode much of it by myself.  I made a concerted effort to keep my head in it.  I did, but I also realized mid-race what's so different for me this year.  I've been so focused on long, steady efforts - crucial for PBP - that even during a race I can't summon those quick, intense efforts.  You just have to have those to race, at least on the relatively shorter races (50-60 miles like this).  When I have that pop, I can expend a little extra energy to hop on the back of a group and then recover a little as I draft off the back.  Right now, I can't do that very easily.

For about the last third of the race, I rode with my friend Angie.  We both seemed to be going hard but didn't want to absolutely kill ourselves.  I could out-climb her, but I didn't want to make a real effort to drop her because I figured she would just catch me.  Why burn matches unnecessarily?

In the last couple of miles, Angie asked me if I was racing masters or open class.  I said masters.  She was racing masters, too.  Tina was ahead, of course, but I didn't know if there were any other masters women ahead of us.  Angie and I agreed not to make a sprint finish at the end.  I was OK with that because I didn't feel like I had it in me anyway.  Between the lack of pop and lingering congestion, I had felt rougher than usual during this race.  Additionally, I thought Angie already had a few seconds on me because she had been a lot farther than me behind the start line; your time doesn't start until the electronic timer records your chip as you roll across the line.

We did pick up our pace a little during the final stretch.  We might have ridden side by side, but I was tired and drafted right behind Angie instead.

I missed the podium by 1 second...

Dumbest mistake I ever made in a race.

Perspective

OK, lesson one: the rules of racing are different from group ride etiquette!  I should have dug deeper and tried to out-sprint Angie at the finish.  Maybe I'm too nice to be a great racer.  I want to win, but I really don't have the a$$hole instinct a la Lance Armstrong.

Second, Angie is a very nice person, and if someone's going to beat me, she's a good choice.  I really do want to be happy for my friends like Angie, Jennifer, and Tina - even if I also want to beat them!

Third, I can't forget that I did very well at my longer gravel races this year, the Middle Georgia Epic and the Fried Clay.  Both of those were 200K events.  In fact, I won both!  I shouldn't be greedy about these shorter events where I didn't podium.

Fourth, and probably most important, my real goal this year is PBP.  I've worked hard to get to this point, and I have to keep it up through the event in August.  I wouldn't trade wins or even podiums at the State of Gravel or the Red Clay Ramble for successfully completing PBP.

So, here's to keeping my head in the game through PBP!