On Sunday, April 13th, NORSA cyclists Alan Stewart, Mike Rhodes, Tim Josey, and Adam successfully completed the epic Raleigh to Virgilina, VA road ride - a 116 mile trip from central North Carolina, north to the Virginia border town of Virgilina, and back.
NORSA had attempted the trip back in December but was hampered by 40 degree temperatures and cold rain. The cyclists made it only halfway to Virgilina and turned back at the town of Stem, NC. Virgilina remained in their sights, however, and April 13th proved to be the day when the weather and everyone's schedules cooperated. 
The team left from Ryan Boyle's house in North Raleigh at 8:00 AM (Alan and Adam had spent the night before partying with the NC State Sailing Club for it's annual Commodore's Gala semi-formal). Following a route mapped out by Mike and Tim, the cyclists swiftly covered the first 25 miles of familiar territory past Creedmore and Stem. Just before reaching Stem, they were pursued by the first of many packs of dogs. A group of three dogs charged into the road as the team rode by a property, putting the cyclists into an all-out sprint which left the dogs behind but resulted in the first of two flat tires for Adam.
Adam patched his tire and the team continued on through some of the most beautiful countryside North Carolina has to offer. Horse farms, pine plantations, and traditional farmland provided scenery under a beautiful sun and 60' temperatures as they worked their way north. Then, a little after 12:00 PM, the cyclists left the State of North Carolina and entered the Commonwealth of Virginia!
After lunch at an exceedingly 'local' pub/restaurant/bar, the cyclists made a lap through town, and headed south. Following a different and partially bootlegged route back, they pedaled their way across rolling hills, through the town of Oxford, and back to Ryan's house. Legs and rear-ends burned with pain, but in a good way.
Virgilina was a success. The only disappointment from the trip was for Alan and Adam, who experienced a painful revelation of exactly how far the Louisville Ironman will be.
See Tim's photos and videos here! See Alan's photos here!
Check out Tim's GPS tracker. 5300+ feet of climbing ... not too shabby.
1 comment:
That GPS tracker thingy is awesome - buy me one.
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