My Return to the Blue Ridge Parkway

It has been about two full years since I've visited the Blue Ridge Parkway by bicycle.  What had started out as an annual excursion in the Fall, fell by the wayside last year due to a series of events.  The plan had been for a return to America's Favorite Drive (Ride) again this year to hopefully make up for the omission last year.  Scheduling was becoming an issue for me starting in September since I had promised Toni that I would not ride on the Parkway alone.  It is difficult to plan a trip to the mountains taking into account several people's schedules, weather, and dodging other riding commitments.  As October arrived, NC found itself in a long term weather system that had daily rain and storms.  The first week of the month brought flooding in many areas across the state, and days upon days of high winds.  All of this wonderful weather prevented one trip to the Parkway that I had been invited on, and it had been rescheduled for Oct 6th, in hopes of better weather.

The forecast kept adding days of rain as we moved through the first week of October.  What had been a clear window, was now right on the edge of a rainy week.  It wasn't until the afternoon leading up to the 6th that we started to

"Reliable", Mabry Mill as shot in 2010

feel comfortable that the weather would hold for us, and be dry for the first time in several weeks.  The plan was to meet in the small town of Mt Airy at Riverside Park and start riding Northeast, turning onto Squirrel Spur Rd, leading up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, and ultimately ending at Mabry Mill.  This was a little bit different from my previous rides on the Parkway since a large chunk of the route would not be on the actual Parkway.  Another difference was the route was only about 50 miles.  My previous three trips up to the mountains had all be metric centuries of 62 miles or more.  The shorter distance was fine by me though because there was a really nice climb on Squirrel Spur Rd that was promising to be an attention getter.

One thing that I noticed about the route was that the particular section of the Parkway that we would be on, I had done in the past.  Actually, this was part of the route that I had done on my first ride on the Parkway in 2012.  While exciting, that ride was a little disappointing overall because it marked the first time that I had to throw in the towel and accept defeat on a climb.  It was the category 4 climb up to Rocky Knob.  To be honest, it was my first ever, real climb and I wasn't prepared for it at all.  I had no idea how to properly climb a long duration grade.  That day the Parkway beat me, and I never forgot it.  As luck would have it though, this route that my friend Phil was telling me about (created by Adrian) was going to stop at Mabry Mill, as the halfway point of a 50 mile ride.  That was the same setup that the original ride had, and the bonus miles to make it a full metric century included the climb up to Rocky Knob which was about 6 more miles down the road from the Mill.  Unless the math had changed, that simple addition would make this route a metric century as well.

I made the suggestion that we go ahead and stretch it out to include Rocky Knob.  Phil said that he would see how he was feeling and make a decision then.  I figured that it might work out.  As we got closer, Phil said that he and Adrian were planning on stopping at the Mill for pancakes.  Well, that would give me enough time to roll out the extra 12 miles, including the climb that beat me before.  So, either we all would go, or I would go it alone.  Either way, the plan became to get another metric century in the mountains, and conquer the climb that bested me several years before.

Rocky Knob in 2012

Yeah, I know that there is no real "need" for me to climb this stretch of the Parkway to prove anything.  I've done much longer and steeper grades since then with no problem.  In fact, to get to this climb, I would have to climb Squirrel Spur Rd which was twice the length, and twice the vertical ascent.  No, I wasn't doing it as an accomplishment, or goal.  This was a grudge climb for me.  I wanted to get back at the Parkway and make it "my bitch!"

The morning of the 6th finally rolled around and I looked at the weather, juuussst to make sure that the rain was really over.  Looking at key points along the route, there was not a chance of rain anywhere in the forecast, and the sun would be out in all of its glory.  As an added bonus, the winds would be negligible, especially compared to the 20-30 mph winds we had been seeing for the past 3 days.  The temperature did catch my attention though with lows starting out the day at about 47* or so.  The high would be in the upper 60's it appeared.  This meant that I needed to dress accordingly, which meant arm warmers and leg warmers.  It would be the first time since early Spring I had worn those extra items, but I wanted to be comfortable.

Phil grabbed this shot later in the day

Phil, Adrian, and I arrived just before 8am at the Riverside Park in Mt Airy.  We all did what cyclists do before a ride.  Almost like clockwork, at 8 we were lined up in the parking lot turning on our bike computers with the symphony of beeps and buzzes that accompany this act.  It was cold, and I was thinking I had underprepared for the weather, but knew that it wouldn't take too long to warm up pedaling through town.  We exited the park, and made a right onto Riverside Dr and worked our way through Mt Airy with the morning traffic.  The sun was low, but I have to admit it was sure nice to see it shining again after so long under cloud cover.

It wasn't but a few miles and we hit the Virginia border.  We stopped for a moment while Adrian grabbed a couple shots at the sign.  We were back on our way again and doing some nice and gentle rollers heading Northeast.  My legs were feeling really good this morning despite the cold weather which would normally keep me from warming up.  The bike was working flawlessly, but I happened to notice that due to the lack of humidity, and my lack of sweating, my heart rate monitor and power sensor combo was not registering at all through my Garmin.  I tried to move it around a little bit, but nothing would make it work.  Oh well, it was not the end of the world not to have it.  It would come on occasionally, but usually with numbers that I knew were not accurate.

I had looked at the elevation profile and route for the ride the night before and I knew that shortly after turning onto Squirrel Spur Rd the biggest climb of the day would start.  It just happened to be just after the 12 mile mark.  Normally, by this point, I would have switched into the big ring as my warm up would have been done.  With the climb looming in the near future, I just left the chain on the little ring and prepared for a nice 4 mile climb of about 1000 feet gain in elevation.

As happens so often on my rides, I would hear Phil's voice telling me to ride my ride.  He had already said not to wait for him on some of the smaller climbs of the day, so I decided that I would find my groove and work this climb out.  The next turn would be onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, and that was were we would regroup.

This climb reminded me a little bit of Caesar's Head in SC.  It was about the same grade, and it called for my lowest gear at about 8-9 mph.  The steepest sections of it were at the beginning though which was nice, and it was nowhere near as long a climb as Caesar's Head.  It was that length that made the difference between a category 1 and a category 2 climb.  Today was the lesser of the two.  The climb went off without a hitch and I realized the biggest difference between the two climbs.  Squirrel Spur Rd is long enough to be interesting, but not so long to be boring.  Caesar's Head gets rather boring in the last third of the climb.  I found myself actually wanting more of the Spur.  Yes, I am seeking psychological help for this.

Phil's Specialized at the entrance to the Parkway

There are times that karma bites you in the butt.  Today happened to be one of those days.  As usual, I made a comment about Phil and his uncanny ability to get lost on a ride.  Well, the route sheet, as well as the map made it look like Squirrel Spur Rd followed beside the Parkway for a bit before turning to the left to intersect with a "T".  This was what I was looking for as I came to the Parkway.  I could see several places to enter the Parkway, but none of them were as I was expecting.  Eventually, I could tell that I was moving away from the Parkway and heading more West than I thought I should be.  It was time to pull the phone out and check the cue sheet.  I was past the mileage where I should have made the turn, but I had not come to that "T" intersection yet.  I looked at the GPS map and found that I was, in fact, moving away from the Parkway at this point.  I decided to turn around and access the first entrance to the Parkway that I could find.  Fortunately, I was only a couple miles beyond the turn, so it didn't take me long to get back.

Once I got back to the entrance, I saw no signs of Adrian or Phil.  Since I didn't know what their pace was, I had no idea how far behind they were from me.  Had they been through here already, thinking that I had kept on going?  Should I still wait for them?  I decided to go ahead and wait....and

wait.....and....wait.  Just as I was about to give up and call Phil to see where they were, I see a couple of cyclists coming up the hill.  One of them was brighter than the sun...that had to be Phil.  They were here!  I had not been left behind due to my missed turn.  We were all back together again and after a brief break, we made out turn onto the Parkway and outran a friendly dog that had come to say hi.  I had finally made it, I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway once again riding my bike.  It was a wonderful feeling, and one that I had missed for far too long.

While we were done with the big climb of the day, there were still going to be a lot of rollers to deal with on the Parkway.  It is in the mountains after all.  The climbs that we came to caused us to separate as we each went at our own pace.  I would surge ahead and work my way to the top and wait.  Adrian would be the next in line shortly after I stopped.  Seizing the photo opportunity on one of the climbs, he let go of his handle bar (something I still can't do!) and framed his Selma Cyclepaths jersey.  I could almost hear him say "Hey Ma, look, no hands."  OK, so I might be a little jealous of his bike handling skills.

Phil was not far behind Adrian and came up the mountain in typical Phil fashion...strong and steady.  That is one thing I have come to expect from Phil, he might not be the fastest out there, but he is as consistent as a German clock.  When he is climbing, he finds his pace and will stick to it for the entire climb.  I honestly think that if given the opportunity, he could climb a telephone pole that went to the moon without changing his cadence.

We continued on along the Parkway in this same fashion for about seven miles or so from where we had entered.  This brought us to the Mabry Mill.  We had discussed the plans in the last few miles and it was determined that Phil and Adrian were still not interested in going on to Rocky Knob.  I made sure it would not hold them up too long if I went ahead and stretched out the route.  Phil assured me that I had all the time I needed, he and Adrian were going to get breakfast.

The time was finally here, the moment I had been waiting for over three years.  It was my chance at redemption.  I know, it is rather silly, and I freely admit that.  However, it was something that was important to me on an emotional level, and I wasn't going to be able to let it go until I had my "do over".

So, while Phil and Adrian rested and ate a special mountain breakfast, I continued toward Rocky Knob.  My riding style changed slightly at this point since I no longer had to worry about the overall pace of a group, I could settle into my own cruising speed.  I remember feeling exhilarated as I was starting to feel the tension in my legs, and my heart start beating at a more "normal" pace.  Yeah, this was what I was looking forward to.  But...I needed to watch myself because my first attempt at this climb failed because I had gone in too hot, too early, and ran out of steam before I ran out of climb.  I had no doubt that I would make it to the top this time, but I still didn't want to fall victim to overconfidence.  I kept my pace reasonable, but still let my legs enjoy the ride.  My destination was only about 6 miles from the Mill, so I was at the base of the climb in no time at all.

Immediately, I recognized the climb.  I had replayed it so many times in my head.  I started shift down, and then moved the chain into the little ring.  I found a nice pace that I could keep up with for the two miles I would be climbing.  It happened to be about the same pace that I had used climbing Squirrel Spur Rd.  I remembered how I had started the climb before, choosing to stay in the big ring and muscle through.  This had lasted just under a mile, and then I started dropping gears and eventually running out of lower gears.  That would not be the case today.  I was comfortable, and the climb seemed quite easy on my legs today.  In no time at all, I found myself at the very spot I had cracked.  I remember barely being able to stand after bringing my barely moving bike to a stop.  Here I was passing that by, still at about 9 mph, sitting, and barely breaking a sweat.  I crested the climb in the same shape as I had started, and actually felt bad that it was over.  After all the mental energy I had exerted on this single climb, the success of the climb was very anti-climactic.  But in my mind, that failure has now been corrected!

I was planning on recreating the original shot that I took with my other bike three years ago, but there was a little bit of a breeze that made me a little hesitant to stand this bike up on the curb.  As light as it is, it is not all that stable standing up on its own.  In lieu of that picture, I opted for a selfie in the overlook parking lot.  Yep, it was a small accomplishment, but an important one.  In the excitement, I forgot to eat my lunch which had been my plan.  I had packed one of my now famous waffle and nutella sandwiches and with this being the halfway point, I figured that would be the perfect time.  However, I wasn't hungry and forgot all about eating.

After a few minutes at the overlook, I saddled back up and headed back down the mountain to the Mill.  I remember this descent all too well from the last time.  It was reasonably straight and pretty fast.  Since traffic wasn't bad, I decided to press it just a bit.  I ended up with a top speed of just under 43 mph on the descent.  For me, that is pretty quick, because I am just not a fan of the descents at all.  Just like last time, the return six miles goes by in just a few minutes.  It seemed that by the time my heart rate had stabilized, I was back at the mill again.

Adrian's and Phil's bikes doing the lean

My timing was perfect, they were just coming out of the Mill happy and fed.  It was time to get a few pictures at this point.  While they were doing that, remembered that I had a sandwich in my jersey pocket that wanted to be eaten.  It wasn't pancakes and ham, but it was a proven cycling fuel, and one that I was suspecting I needed about now.  There was still about 25 miles left to go, and even if they were mostly downhill, I didn't want to be running on empty.

Adrian standing by while I ate real quick

With everyone's bellies filled again, we got the bikes back out on the road and headed back to Mt Airy.  For the most part we stayed together for this leg.  It didn't take long before we were at Squirrel Spur Rd again, and exiting the Parkway.  Phil and Adrian had spent about 16 miles on the Parkway, and even with my added leg, I only at about 28 miles.  That was just enough to give me a taste for the rolling hills and fresh smells of the Appalachian Mountains. I really hated to be turning off of the Parkway so soon after getting here.  I'm going to have to figure out how to get back here again soon, and more often!

From this point on, most of the route would be downhill with just a few small climbs thrown in for fun.  The biggest descent was just a few miles ahead.  That category 2 climb that we had to dispatch on the way up, was now going to be a twisty, fast descent.  Unlike most cyclists, I don't much care for descents.  Ironically though, I found that both Phil and Adrian shared my disdain for them citing similar reasons.  However, whether we liked descents or not, we were at a certain elevation, and we needed to lose altitude somehow.  that somehow was going to be going back down Squirrel Spur Rd.

This one wasn't that bad considering the grade and curves.  The road was in decent shape, and the traffic was light.  This was a good thing, because we were all using every bit of the lane as we swooped around the corners.  Since I don't really consider myself a seasoned descender, I chose to stay behind either Phil or Adrian to force me to keep my speed in check.  This was a very good thing, because even doing that, I overcooked a couple of corners and had to really get on the brakes.  There is just nothing quite like the sound of carbon fiber screaming against brake pads...just think grinding teeth, or fingernails on a chalk board.  Not pleasant, not pleasant at all.

Just like with Rocky Knob, the descent was over in just a few minutes.  What had taken 30 minutes to climb, passed by with a blink of an eye.  We were now on the road that would carry us back to Riverside Park.  There were not many significant climbs, but there were plenty of rollers as we made out way back to NC.  The earlier pattern repeated itself and I would either soft pedal or wait at the top of the climbs in order to regroup.  Seeing this as a potential photo opportunity, I decided to surge ahead and get to the NC/VA border where Adrian had got a picture earlier.  I figured that it would be really cool to get the guys passing the state line sign.  I had enough lead that I wouldn't have a problem getting in position to grab the shot.

I went ahead and hopped off of the bike and stumbled over onto the shoulder of the road.  Riding shoes are not meant for any amount of hiking, and I had a hard time getting where I wanted to be.  However, I had a great position that allowed me to see the road for quite a distance which would allow me to plan my shot.  I had everything set up, and looking back on other times I had surged ahead, I knew that I had about 2 more minutes before they would show up.  After about 5 minutes, I started to wonder just how quickly I had gotten here.  I was seeing no signs of either of my companions.  I knew I hadn't missed a turn at this point.  What I didn't know was whether or not something had happened to either of them.  After what seemed like about 10 minutes, I decided to get back out in the road and retrace my steps.  I wanted to make sure that they were ok wherever they were.  I guess it was about a mile to a mile and a half that I found them both rolling down the road.

I shouted out a quick hello as they passed me and I stopped to get turned around.  It was then a quick sprint to catch up with them again.  I found out that they had made a quick side trip to see a historical site.  I was glad that there had not been a problem, and we were back together once again.  We weren't far at all from the park where we had started, and we made the rest of the trip pretty much together.

We pulled into Riverside Park shortly after 1pm.  We were done for the day.  I had just shy of 70 miles, and Phil and Adrian had about 52 miles.  It had been an outstanding day to be on a bike.  The weather couldn't have been better (maybe warmer), the route was awesome, and the company was great as always.  I really enjoyed having this reunion on the Parkway with Phil and Adrian since this was the same crew I had ridden with the last time I had been on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  My year was now complete, and the icing on the cake...I had shown Rocky Knob who was boss after three years!

Out of all of my rides this year, my time on the Parkway really stands out.  Even in past years, no matter what rides I do, it has always been the Fall ride in the mountains that turns into the reward for a year well ridden.  I had a lot of time to think on this ride, and what I thought about was next year.  I have been tossing around the idea of riding in the Six Gap Century, which is a 100 mile ride with about 11,400 feet of climbing.  If I were to commit to this ride, I would have to work a lot on my climbing next year.  I can do the distance all day long, but my climbing legs are not quite as long lived.  For the kind of training that I would need, I could really get into riding the Parkway at least once a month.  Heck, even if I don't take part in Six Gap, I think I would like to spend more time riding the Parkway in 2016.  I just have to find a way around the need for the buddy system on these rides.  It is quite cumbersome to find other's to ride with, especially the way I like to plan training rides.  I'm kind of a spur of the moment kind of kid when it comes to picking and choosing my routes.  That might have to change to make this happen though.  Time will tell, but I know that I am really enjoying climbing for the first time in my cycling career.  I want to foster that as much as possible since it is one of my weaknesses.

Garmin Data From the Ride