You couldn't have asked for a better August morning for a bike ride. Temperatures were in the mid 60F's with a low overcast to start out, and no wind to speak of. Some wind picked up later, but temperatures didn't get much above 80F by the end around lunchtime.
The local police gave us an escort out and over I-26, said to be a real busy intersection. Per request of the organizers to faciliate that escort, things didn't get too spread out by that point, about 5km into the ride.
Once past that, we started to get out into the middle of Nowhere. Very little traffic, and not much else. So far I'd been hanging near the front of the ride, but soon realized that we had been going down hill most of the way.
That changed when we crossed the Enoree river and things began to spread out more.
The first SAG stop was at the historic Cross Keys house. Things were still heavily overcast at that point. After that stop, we actually got into some drizzly weather. Just as I was thinking I'd have to stop and clean off my glasses, the sky lightened and they dried right off on their own.
Throughout this stretch I'd catch some other riders, or they'd catch me, and we'd chat for a bit before resuming our respective paces. It was all rather pleasant. And almost no motorized traffic.
The 2nd SAG stop was at (again) historic Rose Hill. I kept my stops short, just long enough to wash down some crackers and refill on water. In fact, I only ever used one water bottle on the whole trip. At each stop, I'd finish off the bottle and refill.
Heading towards the 3rd and last SAG stop, I was starting to feel a bit crampy, and a little bit sore in the right leg, so I backed down the power a bit. That was enough to let me finish the ride without hurting anything.
The last SAG stop was in downtown Whitmire. A nice little town with a newspaper reporter. You might see my name or picture in the next paper they put out. By now things were pretty spread out, so I was mostly on my own. A nice mix of group and solo riding, IMHO.
This leg included a loooooong stretch on SC66. SC66 had been tarred and graveled in the past, but not all the way to the edges, so it was ridable as long as you kept to the right.
After re-crossing I-26 (at a much less busy intersection) and winding around and through a bunch of back roads, I could begin to see the end.
What threw me was that, at some point, the route had re-crossed US76 and I hadn't noticed. So I was expecting to approach the finish from the north, but the reality was from the south. I knew I had to be close, but didn't see the shopping center. I saw a mark on the road indicating left, so I got in the left-turn lane and made my left at the light. THEN I saw the shopping center on the left and realized I had turned onto US76. Oh well, that made sure I was over 100km.
I had one IFA ("In Flight Anomaly") - about 1/2 way into the ride I was shifting from my big to middle chainring when the chain just stopped. Fortunately I wasn't mashing hard (yet), so I back pedaled and everything freed up. Before this I had a very slight chain rub on the front deraileur when on the middle chainring and big cog, but now it seemed to be rubbing just a bit more. I need to get the bike up on the stand now and check this out.
The route was well marked (although I might could have used a couple more marks along that long stretch of SC66 to be sure I hadn't missed the turn) and I had no trouble following it. The SAG stops were well stocked and manned. The chili dogs at the end were good.
The hills weren't too bad. There were 2 or 3 that gave me a bit of a challange, and a couple that were just long but not too steep. In fact, a couple of times, I caught myself moving at a good clip and thinking that the bike felt stiff, then realized that I was going up hill. Most of the hills were rolling hills where you could get a good running start downhill and get a good ways up the other side on momentum.
Bottom line: 100.74km / 62.57 mi, 4:15 elapsed time, 3:48:50 riding, average speed 26.41kph / 16.41mph / 7.34m/sec. 2 chili-dogs and chips.
Attached are a few of quick cellphone snaps along the way.
And yes, I did get the T-shirt .
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
man, sorry i missed that.... sounds like a great ride, and no better cause to support imo...
see you there next year!
Tom Hagen: 'Thank you for the dinner and a very pleasant evening. If your car could take me to the airport - Mr. Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news immediately.'
One thing, JLauren: doesn't that third water bottle up on the top tube get in the way?
In a word, no. If I'm standing over the bike, there's just enough room between the goodie stasher and the water bottle. When I'm riding, it's just not in the way.
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
Sounds like a great ride. The HHH (metric for me) up in NC was a great ride on Sunday as well. We had similar weather starting out. Overcast and fog, but then clearing once the sun got overhead.
A few tidbits from this weekend's Laurens County Advertiser:
"All total, 149 cyclists from all over South Carolina and the southeast participated"
"Flight of the Dove raised over $14,300 for Hospice of Laurens County, making it Hospice's largest annual fundraiser".
"the second annual Flight of the Dove has already been set for Aug. 25, 2007"
So, there you go, mark your calendars for next year. All you slackers who claimed you just couldn't make it now have no excuse: y'all have plenty of notice!
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
The route I rode for the metric century was the same as last year, so I won't spend a bunch of bandwidth on that. Suffice it to say the route was as good as last year, maybe a bit better because of some road resurfacing.
It was really neat to see all the support for this event. There was a banner up listing businesses and whatnot that sponsored the event. I counted about 60 of 'em. Good work by the organizers all around.
I think I heard that there was about 230 riders (the shopping center parking lot where we started was just about packed), a nice increase from last year. I guess some of the little additions (like the raffle for a set of MIchelin tires, auction for a signed picture of Lance Armstrong, and adding Subway sandwiches to the menu) brought out the crowds.
Weather was a good bit warmer and more humid this year (some of you may have noticed the heat wave in the southeast USA), but since we were riding in the morning, I didn't have any thermal issues other than feeling nice and cool when I started up again at the rest stops. A bit of a breeze mostly out of the west worked to wear me out on the return to Clinton, but...
Bottom line: 100.45km / 62.39 mi (didn't miss the turn into the shopping center this time), about 4:05 elapsed time, 3:39:15 riding, average speed 27.49kph / 17.07mph / 7.63m/sec. a Subway sandwich and a pint of chocolate milk.
And the T-shirt is way cool! Those of you who work with me and wimped out will get to see it Monday .
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
... average speed 27.49kph / 17.07mph / 7.63m/sec....
Could you give us that in millimeters per picosecond and furlongs per fortnight?
Originally Posted by JLauren
And the T-shirt is way cool! Those of you who work with me and wimped out will get to see it Monday .
Wimped out? You know that I couldn't ride because of my back injury and Goldilocks couldn't ride because it was too hot and RedFred couldn't ride because... well, because I didn't and he has no ride motivation apart from me. I'd hardly call that wimping out... more of wussing out, when you really think about it.
Experience is that thing you get just after you needed it.
Could you give us that in millimeters per picosecond and furlongs per fortnight?
Glad to oblige: 0.00000000763611111111 mm/picosec, 45884.16 furlongs/fortnight (as if I could ride that long ).
Originally Posted by Alasdair
Wimped out? You know that I couldn't ride because of my back injury and Goldilocks couldn't ride because it was too hot and RedFred couldn't ride because... well, because I didn't and he has no ride motivation apart from me. I'd hardly call that wimping out... more of wussing out, when you really think about it.
Ok, those of you who wussed out.
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
Some tidbits from today's Laurens County Advertiser Extra:
"Two hundred thirty-three cyclists from across the Southeast braved record breaking temperatures to gather in Clinton Saturday morning for the second annual "Flight of the Dove" cycling event benefitting Hospice of Laurens County."
"This year's event raised over $21,000 for Hospice of Laurens County".
"More than 75 volunteers worked together to make the event a sucess."
Good ride! The start/finish area had an almost festival-like air to it.
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
Flight of the Dove is an annual cycling event benefiting Hospice of Laurens County. This year's event with take place on Saturday, August 23rd. This year's ride starts and finishes at Bailey Memorial Stadium on the beautiful campus of Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. This location is just down the street (Springdale Drive) from our Clinton Thrift Store location and across the Hospice House construction.
This year's rides will be a repeat of last year (routes could change closer to time depending on road conditions). Three rides are available to appeal to all level of riders. The Metric Century and 30-Mile options offer a scenic view of Laurens, Newberry and Union counties. The third option, is a leisure ride through the idealic growing town of Clinton.
For Registration visithttp://www.hospiceoflaurenscounty.co...ofthedove.html. Please mail registrations to: Hospice of Laurens County, PO BOX 178 Clinton, SC 29325. Call Hospice of Laurens County 864-833-6287 for more information. Be sure to register early to guarantee a t-shirt. We cannot guarantee t-shirts for registrations received after August 13th.
Hospice of Laurens County is a not-for-profit agency, governed by a volunteer board. We are a United Way agency, and have been serving our community since 1987. Hospice of Laurens County has served over 1400 Laurens County families.
This year, 2008, we will be celebrating our 21st anniversary. Hospice of Laurens County was established by volunteers that saw a need to offer comfort care in our community. We continue to benefit from the involvement of our volunteers.
Hospice is available for any individual that has been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness and is no longer seeking curative treatment. This can include cancer as well as non-cancer diagnosis, such as heart diseases, pulmonary disease, AIDS, etc.
Thank you for supporting Hospice of Laurens County! We look forward to seeing you in August!
FOTD Planning Committee
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
If y'all didn't make the ride today, y'all missed it!
Even though we still had tropical storm Faye affecting our weather, it was a great day for the third annual Flight of the Dove. About all we had left from Faye was some wind, and most of the route is pretty well sheltered by trees. There were, of course, a couple of places where the wind became an issue (like Old Buncombe Rd. after Rose Hill), but then going west on SC66 had a nice tailwind.
I held back some for most of the first part of the ride, expecting that at any moment the wind would make me really work, so my time wasn't anything to write home about. I also waited up for a co-worker who came out for the ride at a number of points. That gave me a ride-time of 3:55:40 and an elapsed time of around 4:45. I was just a tad shy of 100km on my computer at the finish, so I went back up the road and back just to make up the difference (about 1km). If I'm going to ride that far, by gosh, I'm going to see my computer turn over 100.
I have to say that moving the start/finish to Presbyterian College's Bailey Memorial Stadium was a stroke of genius on the part of the organizers. I won't say I've been to a lot of organized rides, but this is the first one I've been to where there were no rest room lines at all.
I don't know how many riders we had, but the field used for parking is said to hold thousands of cars, and we filled a fair fraction of it.
The route was, of course, impeccably marked, with all turns and hazards clearly highlighted. SAG support looked good, although I didn't need to partake of that service. I saw the motorcycle guys patrolling the route all morning as well as manning the busier intersections, and several appearances by well-marked SAG vehicles.
A variety of foods were waiting for us at the end: hot dogs, ice cream, fruit, all manner of drinks, probably a lot I didn't notice in my frenzy .
Good weather, good route, good route marking, good venue, good food... This has got to be near the tops of organized bike rides. A big tip of the helmet to the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and Clinton PD. I can't wait for next year!
Here's a few pics taken at the rest stops at Cross Keys, Rose Hill, and Whitmire, and at the finish.
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
Way to go on the 100K! Wish I could have been out there with you, but unfortunately I had other committments (I guess like all the other guys that bagged on the ride). I hope I can join you for a ride soon. I'll be doing the MS-150 in Greenville in September. I hope to be in somewhat reasonable shape for it by then, not that taking 2-1/2 weeks off in August helped a lot. Did a little 15 miler around Simpsonville today, just to work the legs out a little. Tyler and I rode to get lattes. Tomorrow, a more serious ride. 75 - 80 miler, starting in Fairview, NC and winding through the mountains of WNC, hitting Buncombe, Henderson, McDowell, and Rutherford Counties and crossing the Eastern Continental Divide twice. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 feet of vertical. That should help some. When's the next Hickory Tavern Wrench 'n' Ride?
Mark your calendars, 22-Aug-2009 is the date for this year's Flight of the Dove, the Cadillac (or, these days, maybe I should say Lexus or Mercedes) of upstate-SC rides.
If y'all weren't at the Flight of the Dove ride this morning, y'all missed another great ride.
The weather forecast for the ride was hinting at showers and thunderstorms on and off all week. but those who follow the weather around here know not to put too much stock in a 40-50% chance of rain. Sure enough, it didn't rain, but the thin cloud cover early in the day kept the temperatures from shooting up too much.
With a light westerly wind and mostly downhill, the first part of the ride was wicked fast (at least for me). We did have to make one unscheduled stop on the way out of Clinton while an ambulance crossed on SC72 in a big hurry. Early enough in the ride that I'm hopeful it wasn't for anything ride-related. The Clinton PD provided an escort out until we cross I-26.
For some reason, this time I had drafting partners all the way out to the 80km mark; usually well before that point I find myself on my own. And a good thing it was because the wind was getting to be an issue by the time we were on SC66 headed back from Whitmire.
It was along there that I got into a bit of a scuffle with SC66; note I didn't say along SC66 or on SC66, but with SC66. The road had been tarred and graveled at some point, and is pretty rough except on the far right edge. I was hugging that edge when I apparently got a bit too close to, er, well, over the edge. Like a lot of roads around here that have been repaved a few times, there's about an 8-10cm drop before you get to the ground. Of course, for mysterious reasons, I managed to land back on the rough tar & gravel part of the road. Fortunately, it was on an up-hill stretch (read: slow) and I just got a few good scrapes (road bike rider badge of honor? Or ignominy?). The bike is fine.
The motorcycle folks were out in force this morning providing SAG support and traffic spotting at major intersections. It wasn't very long between seeing one of them patrolling the route. As usual, the SAG stops, route marking (including hazards), and food were top-rate.
They had a clock set up at the finish, and as I rolled into the stadium driveway it read 4:00:12. On the bike I had 3:32:30 and 99.97km, for an average of 28.2kph, which ain't a bad time for me over that distance. I made it back before the band stopped playing (yes, there was a live bluegrass band).
A big tip o' the helmet to the organizers, Clinton PD, motorcycle folks, all the wonderful folks staffing the SAG stops, Presbyterian College, and whoever else I forgot.
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
Today's Laurens County Advertiser reports $20,000 raised for Hospice of Laurens County and 296 riders, including a 70-year-old woman who completed the metric'.
You are what you eat... and I eat a lot of fruit and nuts.
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Originally Posted by JLauren
