Thursday, June 18, 2009

IBA Run Playback Part 3 - Interstate riding is fast

The Haulin' Phase.

As mentioned in the previous post, once on I-64, I was pretty much away from many of the IBA riders. With no worries about close encounters, and because strictly obeying speed limits on the interstate roads will get you run over--especially when on two wheels--I began to notice I was ahead of my admittedly conservatively estimated time table. By the time I had reached my 4th way point, I-64 on the west side of Richmond heading west to I-81, I was an hour ahead of my schedule. When I got to my 6th stop, heading south on I-81 down near Wytheville, I was two hours ahead. This included strict observance of my 20-min rest-and-relax at each gas stop.

It was about 3:30pm when I got to waypoint 6 having traveled approximately 600 of the 1000-miles. I was pleasantly surprised how pert I felt at this point given that around 600-miles is the maximum distance I had ridden on any one bike trip previously. This feeling continued to "haunt" me throughout the remainder of the ride...more to come.

The weather to this point included everything: fog, rain, sunshine, rain, clouds, and more rain. By the time I got to waypoint 6, the rain had stopped, the sun came out, and the humidity began to rise. To the south, the dark sky portended more rain to come before the ride ended. And it did.


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Note:
It's been over a month since the ride. You may be wondering if I've got a photographic memory or if I'm making all of this up. Neither: I left voice messages to myself at each rest-and-relax stop capturing thoughts, experiences, etc. Technology to the rescue.

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