Yesterday Gwynn and I rode the Gears and Cheers metric with a friend. While we were waiting for the ride to start, I was pleased to see Gyro Derek (Paddy) Bateson, proudly wearing his Tour de Cure jersey as a reminder that this year's TdC ride is the weekend of June 5-6th.
Gears and Cheers is a fun event. The ride host is the Grove Winery, located just north of Elon, NC and only a little over an hour's drive from North Raleigh. The route is essentially flat, except for the hilly parts. Yesterday the pack was orderly and well behaved for the 23 miles that we were able to stay in its draft. We took a break (~36m) at the Yancey House where, in addition to a complete supply of cycling rations, the proprietor was providing special bite-size treats from his renowned kitchen. After the break the route took us through downtown Yanceyville - don't blink or you'll miss it - really! The skies were overcast for most of the day and we rode through some light showers as we neared the finish. However, the finish was dry for the post-ride lunch, where we once again saw Paddy, sitting in a lawn chair in the shade of one of the hospitality tents with about 3-4 cases of wine nearby. ;^) The scenery along the Gears and Cheers route is stunningly beautiful. The residents are obviously proud of their land, with well-kept yards, fields, and forests. Visitors from the Triangle will be impressed by the absence of roadside litter. The lightly travelled roads are another noticeable feature. During the only rough stretch of new chip-and-tar, we were distracted by the splendid views, particularly within the Caswell County Gamelands. Over the years I've heard about the excellent cycling roads in this part of North Carolina. I wasn't disappointed and I'll be back...soon. We finished with 63m @18.5mph, although I'm sure if we hadn't been gawking at the scenery, we would have been closer to 18.6. -- You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected]
