morrisville 400k

well, the time had arrived for a 'dress rehearsal' for texas. straight out 400 km's of 'are you ready?'...the bike was up to the task. loaded and tuned. I tried to rest some, but it's not so easy. I rose at 4:15 and rolled out about 5:15. had an easy trip to morrisville where 28 other riders were assembling. it  was on the cool side-vests and warmers were in sight on most.

a few words and we were off with an easy pace for the first hour. the glorious morning made for great cycling and story telling. the rush was on at the controls. snow camp was 5min. max..small groups hurried onto the road and good chase ensued for the next 5-6 miles to bring it back together. at siler city our clan of a dozen or more motored off for seagrove. more good, steady tempo kept us moving (along with good BS'ing) and seagrove arrived in no time-11:42 is my FB post. a bit of snacking, and into the hills. flynt hill rd..Joe Ray made a break and I went with him. we had a great time playing out there! we chilled out but were the first to troy at 1:50. pretty strong 1st 200k. as the others rolled in there was talk of a crash. john morris hit a small dog on a descent. he was banged up but bravely soldiering on. back on the road, joe, branson, and lynn were ahead and I joined them. the rest were not far behind, and met us in seagrove. again I rode with Lynn and Branson to siler. we were going well-Branson on his fixie! and Lynn steady as ever.

Ian awaits in siler city with welcome refreshments. loaded, we may have left but pizza arrived along with the other riders! oh well,a hot slice was really good.
at snow camp, the others showed in 5 min. cards signed, warmers out, reflective stuff on, lights running, let's do this thing! Mike D asks why are we still here? there is a record o be broken! over the rollers, and onto old switchboard- little Joe had made another break. lots of push-pull tempo and no closing the gap. just chill. steady riding across chicken bridge and there was Frosty's. and little red blink up the road.
hamlet chapel is a toughy at the end of a long day and today was long. ..

finally to andrews store, branson and jimmy stopped for water. wes, cap'n, lynn, and me chased the little red dot. I opened up on jack bennet, and by farrington it was a welcome downhill to the lake and martha's chapel. I rocked a steady 17-18 all the wasy to the berry patch and finally reeled him in! so funny, Joe looked at me and simply said "good evening".

we rode in together, my garmin showed time of 10:48. it was only moments 'til branson, wes, & jimmy, then a bit later mike, tim, and purple chainring winner john morris rolled in. ALL before midnight!

a fantastic 400K! congrats to all. 100% finishers, no DNFs. 

now I just have to do it for a few days in a row :o)