27 May 2017 - American Tobacco Trail (ATT) - Bike Ride

Yesterday looked like a good day for a ride.  The Neuse River Trail look like it was still messy.  I decided to give the ATT a spin.

The ATT has good points in that the trail surface is very nice.  This is the first time I've been on the ATT since the Durham County section has opened.

I traveled to the southern end and rode all the way to Durham to mile number 5 (of 22) giving around 34 miles total.  This allowed me to cross over I40 on the beautiful bike/pedestrian bridge.

The ride was the longest ride I've done since 'The Big Whoops' of 21 August 2016.  The distance I traveled was just a bit short of one half of a day's ride on the MS150.  So I have my work cut out for me to be in shape enough to do 4 such rides as I did yesterday in at two day period by September.

Here are the details of the ride:

53.73 km ...... Total Distance (33 miles)
17.50 kph ..... Average Speed  (10 miles per hour - very slow)
03:04 hh:mm ... Total Time (rolling)
03:24 hh:mm ... Total Bike Ride (20 minutes rest)
115   bpm ..... Average Heart Rate
135   bpm ..... Max Heart Rate
 68   rpm ..... Average Cadence 

Here are some pictures from the ride:

This Park Is At The Border Of Wake And Chatham Counties
And Is The Start Of The Paved Section

Park At Start Of The Paved Section

The Paved Section

A Convenience Store Near The 5 Mile Marker
I Purchase A Small Bottle Of Gatorade
And A "Confused - Snickers Bar"

Looking West From The I40 Bike/Pedestrian Bridge

Looking South 

Looking North

Heart Rate Graph
The Peak Is Coming Up The Hill
Just Before The I40 Bridge
And The Dip In The Middle Is
At The Convenience Store

Cadence Graph
(That 163 is bogus)
And The Dip In The Middle Is At
The Convience Store

18 May 2017 - Neuse River Trail - Bike Ride

Last Thursday the 18th looked like a good day for a bike ride.  The big rains were over and the release of excess water from the Falls of the Neuse dam was ended, so I thought it would be ok to ride.

My first clue that the Neuse River Trail was not back to normal was when I turned down the road that leads to the car park for the trail and found that the gate was closed and locked.

I went ahead and parked in the small lot right at the dam and noted that there were other cars with bike racks so I got ready to go.

A fellow had just arrived at the parking lot and was discussing the trail and noted there were two trees down and some water and mud and that he had just started from Anderson Point Park and was about to ride back.  Anderson Point Park is about 28 km from the dam.

I decided to head out.  Sure enough even before arriving at the seven mile mark at the WRAL Soccer Center I came up on a log across the road.  I think it must have been lying alongside the path and when the river overflowed due to the release of excess water from the lake it floated in such a manner to position itself right across the path.  I figured this was the first tree down that the fellow talked about.

Also a few hundred yards down the trail there was a muddy patch and following that a puddle that was a maximum of 2-3" deep but served to nicely wash off my tires.  Then less than a mile later was a tree that was actually down across the trail.  here are pictures of this tree:

This is looking down river and there is a beaten path to the left where hikers and riders made a detour.

This is looking up river after going around the tree.  As you can see the trail is totally blocked and a detour must be done, which was on the high ground and dry.

After passing the seven mile mark there were a few puddles and some dried mud but no other obstructions.  I had to decide where to turn around or to go on to Anderson Point Park and turn around there.

I decided to turn around at the one hour mark which would make for a nice two hour ride.  So the first bridge across the neuse, as part of the trail, and not a side trail was at about the 19 km mark and I found that to be a good spot to turn around.  Here is a picture:

This is after crossing the bridge and looking back from the north side of the river.

The ride back was uneventful, except for the mud, the puddle, the big tree, and the log.  When I got back to the parking lot I did note some mud on the bike and washed it off when I returned to Swan Neck Ln.  Here is the picture of the bike:

Mud On The Bike.  Hard to see in this picture but there were some nooks and crannies that really needed a good wash to clean them out.

Here are the stats of the ride:

37.37 ... kilometers (total distance)
19.00 ... kilometers per hour (average speed)
01:58 ... hh:mm (time rolling)