Blue Ridge Part 2

I am definitely not the King of the Mountains. However, after my second Blue Ridge ride yesterday, I certainly have a greater appreciation for the agonized faces of the Tour riders as they grimace up the long climbs in the Pyrenees.

Our ride Saturday was 50 miles on the Blue Ridge. My stomach Saturday morning wasn't cooperating at all from the start. Apparently something I ate Friday wasn't gluten free or I had the touch of the stomach bug and, I couldn't stomach anything (or keep anything in) but a half a banana pre-ride and was feeling nauseated through most of the first 20 miles. But, I had come to ride the BR so. . . a little upset stomach wasn't going to hold me back; it just didn't give me the greatest legs for my day's challenge.

About 20 of us (TGs, hubbys and Maramarc boys) started off at MP 23. Our route was 10 miles down, yes predominantly down to Reed's Gap, our starting point for the last ride, 10 miles back to our starting point, then 15 miles down (again mostly down) to milepost 38 and back up to the start. With my stomach feeling gross, my goals for the ride were 1) to finish, 2) feel comfortable riding McQueen in the mountains and 3) learn how to conquer my fears of the descents.

I did finish; felt fairly comfortable on McQueen although realized that my flat time trial gearing isn't ideal for the mountains and did improve from the last time on my descents. My Garmin recorded a speedy 38 mph. The hills seemed longer and a few a bit steeper than the last trip. And, as with the last time, each time we rode down, down, and down all I could think about was how in the world was I going to make it up, up, up. There were two particularly "memorable" climbs of the day - the first, a winding 3-4 mile long steady and seemingly never ending climb up from MP 38 and the second, the last big climb of the day, probably only a quarter mile, but straight up in the sun, when my legs screamed with every pedal stroke.

As I rolled into our starting/finish point I was exhausted and doubt I could have gone a mile further. At the same time, I'm pretty sure I was smiling and glad I had finished this rewarding and challenging ride.

Post ride, we headed back to our Wintergreen house for the weekend, cooked a bunch a burgers and dogs, celebrated our accomplishments with some Mai Tais and had a great time hanging out with my fellow team mates.

Although I still can't fathom how I am going to be able to ride the mountains of Placid for 112 miles next July, I know these hills are making me stronger. And hopefully, after many more returns to the BR, I'll be ready.

Pics to follow.

Sunday on the Blue Ridge Parkway

First, let me start by saying, I was anxious about today's ride. On one hand, I was looking forward to it. Have grown up in the mountains in Maryland, Bart always talks about how much fun it is to ride in the mountains. On the other hand, I was scared to death. I don't consider myself a hill lover. And to add to my normal trepidation, I had just this week upgraded the components on my road bike to match my time trial bike - yes that means I no longer had my grandma gears or triple.

Around 10:30 am, we headed from our house in Wintergreen to Reed's Gap - around the 13 1/2 mile mark of the Blue Ridge and where Blake (a BR vetran) suggested we begin our ride. We left refueling supplies at the car and headed out. It was a beautiful day - the air crisp and the sky blue. Immediately we started the first climb of the day - not steep, just slow and steady. After about 15 minutes, Bart and I stopped while Bart took a quick work conference call. Here are our bikes at the beginning of the ride.

And here are the mountains that were off to the side most of the day.

After this initial long climb, it seemed that much of the next part was down hill . . . and I mean down hill. Descents were by far more nerve wracking for me than wondering if I was going to make it up the climbs. Bart on the other hand, showed no fear. I learned today that the faster he can go, the happier he is - he crouches down and pedals hard and whined slightly that he could only go about 40 miles an hour. I on the other hand, at least for the ride from milepost 13.5 to mile 1, got good use out of my new brakes. As I was going down all these hills, I kept thinking, how am I ever going to get back up?

There were still lots of long climbs in this first half but I learned quickly to just keep plugging away, and I would make it up them. I didn't worry about how slow I was going (it was slow) . . . my main goal was to have fun, enjoy the amazing views and finish the ride.

After a little over an hour, we made it to mile 0 and our turn around point. Here's me by the sign. Note the elevation - 1900 feet. I refueled with a Nectar Bar, changed out my water bottles for easy access to the new one and we headed back up.

On the return, we definitely saw the hills we had descended. After a long climb ascending a couple of hundred feet, we started our first descent. That's when I knew I could finish this ride, and that I am a much stronger climber than I thought. As I was going down this first descent (and still hitting my brakes), a huge smile crossed my face. "I actually climbed this hill!"

We stopped at the information center for a quick refill of our water bottles and use of the bathrooms and then prepared for the biggest climb of the day. In my estimation, the climb lasted 20 miles, in reality, it was probably around 3. I was in my easiest gear (and wishing I still had my triple) and just kept pedaling and climbing and pedaling and climbing. My heart was pounding hard, my cadence lower than it should be and the hill just kept going. Finally, at the top of the climb, we stopped, took a moment and refueled. I made it. It hurt, but I was there. . . at the top of the hill I thought for sure on my way down I'd have to walk back up. No walking for me.

Soon after our restart we stopped for a photo moment and actually ran into my friend Benton who cuts my hair who was out riding his motorcycle. Fortunate for us since we got a picture of the two of us. The elevation - 3100 feet. (It got as high as 34oo feet). We had just climbed 1200 feet!

The rest of the ride was much of the same. Long climbs and fast descents. We refueled at our cars around the 2 hour mark and headed south on the BR. I used my brakes a little less towards the end - and at some point even reached 35 miles an hour. I made it up all the climbs and even managed a 20 minute run after our 3 plus hours on the bike.

The best part, I enjoyed it! I had a great day, a hard challenging work out and spent time in a beautiful part of our state. I'm disappointed I won't be able to come back next weekend with Blake and the TGs, but I can't wait to return in July and many more weekends in the future.

My next climb to conquer? Wintergreen Mountain.