A 100K Bike Ride (On the Neuse River Trail)

First 100K Bike Ride
of 2015

Short Version:

On Wednesday of this week I left the house around eight am and arrived back around one pm having traveled about one hundred kilometers in about five hours.  Here are the specifics of the ride:

(From The Cycle Computer)
04:52:03 hh:mm:ss (Rolling Along Time)
97.69    km (61 miles)
53.00    kph maximum (33 mph)
20.00    kph average (12 mph)

(From The Wahoo Tickr-X)
05:55:35 hh:mm:ss (Total Elapsed Time)
114      bpm average heart rate
157      bpm maximum heart rate
4066     calories burned 

The Route:

I left Swan Neck Lane and traveled up Old Lead Mine to Forum Drive then over to Strickland Road to Falls of the Neuse.  Up Falls of the Neuse to Old Falls of the Neuse then down to the parking lot for the Neuse River Trail.  That leg of the ride was about 14km.

The next leg of the ride was down the Neuse River trail to mile post 26 which is just as you cross back over to the north side of the Neuse river after swinging away from the Neuse to avoid some southern Wake County landfills and the police firearms range.  So, milepost 26 (42K) was the turnaround point and it was back to Anderson Point Park.

At Anderson Point Park I took the Crabtree Creek Trail all the way up to where Lead Mine Creek joins it where I turned onto Ironwood Trail and biked  up to Shelley Lake.  I rode around the east side of the lake and turned onto Bent Creek Trail and followed it up Lead Mine Creek to Longstreet.

I rode up Longstreet to Sawmill Road and then took Sawmill road west toward Lead Mine Road.  I did a 'cut-the-corner' on Prospector Place which took me back to Old Lead Mine Road and then it was just a few hundred meters back to Swan Neck Lane.

Pictures And Graphics:

Here are some pictures and graphics from the ride.

You can count the hills by noting the spikes.

The graphic above is from my Wahoo Fitness Tickr-X heart rate monitor.  The drop about one third of the way is when I arrived at Anderson Point Park the first time and stopped for a break.

Arriving At Anderson Point Park (the first time)

I took a picture of myself when I arrived at Anderson Point Park (the first time) on the way to the turnaround point at mile 26.  Anderson Point Park is about mile 17 on the trail.  I finished my first water bottle and ate a piece of a banana and a piece of an apple.

This link "(YouTube.COM - Crossing The Neuse Near The Turn Around Point" is to a YouTube.COM video of my favorite bridge across the neuse river.

Flowers At Anderson Point Park

On the back from the turnaround point and having arrived in Anderson Point Park I took the above picture of some beautiful flowers.

A Panorama of Crabtree Creek Trail and Neuse River Trail

Here is where I left the Neuse River Trail having joined it at the Falls of the Neuse Dam and riding down to mile twenty six then back to mile 17.  I think of Crabtree Creek Trail as 'the-way-home' from here, only about 30km to go.

Preparing to go through the tunnel.

There is a tunnel for the bike path as it crosses under North Hills Drive while following Lead Mine Creek.  This tunnel for years had no lights.  I am glad to see they have been added.  The lights give the tunnel a whole new look and are greatly appreciated by cyclists.

The Tunnel