OK, so with any hobby/passion in life there are certain things that you feel like you would want to accomplish in that realm.....a bucket list of sorts. For me, cycling has its very own bucket list. Surprisingly, after only 10 months of riding seriously, I have been able to achieve several of the experiences. From riding 50 miles, and later on 100 miles I have developed the endurance that I have wanted. As far as locations, I have ridden in many different counties and cities in North Carolina. I have participated in the Bike MS, Tour to Tanglewood. All of these things were on my bucket list for cycling. There is also another experience that I have wanted to try for some time now, but didn't really think that I was ready for it.....to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway.
You see, when I was a photographer, I spent many days on the Parkway taking pictures, and driving up and down looking for scenic vantage points. Never once did I look at it through the eyes of a cyclist. Well, I do remember seeing cyclists riding up the hills and thinking that I had better stop the car and get out to help them look for their mind...because they had obviously lost it somewhere. Now that I understand cycling a bit better, and know what the human body is capable of I find myself reconsidering my initial reactions to cycling on the Parkway.
I figured that this would be a "fun" challenge for me to embark on. Being rather familiar with the Blue Ridge Parkway, I knew that there were more hills than any sane person would need on a bike ride, but for some reason I found myself wanting to give it a try if for no other reason than to prove that I could do it. The opportunity presented itself in a rather auspicious way. I have been following the activities of the Kernersville Cycling Club which is newly formed in my neck of the woods. I've been considering joining them for a while now, They have done many group rides in the local area which I haven't been able to join for one reason or another. However, I saw them posting about a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, scheduled for a day when I was not working, and my wife, Toni was at work. Hmmmm, this was very tempting to say the least.
The timing was working out wonderfully, all that was left was convincing myself that I could actually turn the crank on my bike well enough to go up the long grades without embarrassing myself. Fortunately, I had a vacation scheduled for the week leading up to the ride, so I was able to put a lot of miles on the bike to condition my legs for what I was sure was going to be a rough ride. Up until Friday night I wasn't sure if I would be going on this group ride. It was that little voice in my head that got the better of me. "This is a great opportunity to ride somewhere you have always wanted to ride, and with a large group of cyclists for company." The more I thought about it, the more I decided that letting this chance slip away would be more of a regret than actually failing at the ride. The decision was made....go for it!
When Saturday morning came, I woke up early and had a good breakfast. I racked my bike for transport (which doesn't happen often) and loaded up the truck with snacks and other important things that I would need on the ride. With everything all loaded up, I left out early in order to go and meet Barbara Fulp with the Kernersville Cycling Club. As it turned out, I was the only other person there ready to caravan up to the Parkway.....not looking promising, but I was going anyway. Barbara told me that she didn't know how many would be meeting us up there, but knew that there was already a good group up there representing the Cape Fear Cyclists which came from Wilmington, NC. They were camping up there for the weekend. From this point on, whatever happened, I was going to be a part of it, and that was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
The trip up to Fancy Gap, VA didn't take long at all and we arrived at the KOA campgrounds where the other cyclists were already there camping. It took a little while for everyone to assemble, and there were a few announcements that had to be made prior to heading out. There were two main routes from which to choose from. The nice thing about these routes is that they both share the same road, just one goes longer than the other. That is a real benefit to out and back routes. As long as you can estimate when half of your energy is expended you can decide when to turn around. The "short" route was 24 miles to the Mabry Mill and back, and the "long" route was 31 miles to Rocky Knob and back...for a metric century (62 miles). For those who know me, it will come as no surprise that I chose to take the longer route telling myself that I would turn around if I needed to before reaching my goal....yeah right!
Not that I was in a rush to start the onslaught on my legs, but we got off to a late start by about 30 minutes or so. In that time, all sorts of things were running through my head. Will this be harder than I thought, or will it be easier? Only time would answer those questions, and I was ready to find the answer. We finally all rolled out headed to the Parkway, but first we had to have a group picture by the sign. The good news.... a quarter mile was behind me and I was still feeling great! The bad news...we hadn't really gotten started yet.
When we finally did get moving we were all pretty well grouped up together. Because of Parkway laws, we were in single file rolling down the road. The speed was moderate and very comfortable, but my legs were not used to operating at that pace, and I found myself itching to go faster. After about a mile or so, I pulled out and put the hammer down finding myself on the first decent....and going about 42 mph. Now this was fun!!! However, in cycling what goes down, must come up, and I found another hill waiting at the bottom of the decent. Speeds slowed, but I could handle it with no problem. As the saying goes, I had lots of gears left. I was feeling confident, and I liked that. I also realized about this time that one of the other cyclists had followed me when I left the group and we stayed together for a very long time.
Normally, the first 10 miles of my rides is a warm up and its where I am getting my rhythm down. That just wasn't happening on this ride. With all the ups and downs, my speeds went between 8 and 40mph in a matter of minutes. There were no flats to speak of, just ascents and descents. The first 10 miles started to take its toll on my legs. They weren't hurting, and there was lots of energy left in them, but they were confused. This was so much different than what they were used to. The first rest stop was at 11 miles, and was quite welcome. My partner and I were the first ones to arrive at Groundhog Hill (elevation 3030 feet). We had about a half mile lead on the next rider, who was about 2 miles ahead of the pack.
I'll be honest, at this point, I was feeling very confident about the ride. I was in the lead group, and was keeping about an 18mph average speed. This was easier than I had thought, and I could do this all day....or so I thought. We stayed here for a little while, and I ate a snack to keep my energy up. Then it was off again. This time it was a group of three that set out, and it shortly became the same two again. Not bad....I'm really doing well out here. The rolling terrain continued, and the hills started to get a bit steeper, but nothing that I couldn't handle, albeit at a slow pace. We still hadn't been passed and that made me feel great (overly competitive at times, I know). The next stop was at approximately 24 miles into the ride, and that was Mabry Mill. I was starting to get hungry and thirsty, but the decision was made to keep the momentum going as we went on to Rocky Knob (elevation 3572 feet). Looking back, this was a terrible mistake on my part.
We continued on, and found the big hills had yet to be climbed. About 5 miles from the destination we started what would turn out to be a bit over 2 miles worth of climbing. Keep in mind that I have never climbed a categorized hill before, and on this ride, there were seven cat 5 climbs....this was not one of them. This was a cat 4!!! It kept going and going.......and going. I had become rather familiar with the small chainring already, and had even dipped into the low gear on my rear cassette, but I was living in the low/low combination now, and wishing I could go lower. I was out of gears, and regretting my decision to swap the 11-28 cassette for the 11-26 a few months ago. Oh well, we live with our choices. The climb kept on going, and my riding partner left me to continue on at a faster pace (I had no more coal to put on the fire). As I neared the top, about .3 mile away from the crest it happened.....I cracked.....popped. My legs just gave out, they were screaming at me, and I couldn't continue.
The worst part about that feeling is knowing it is a form of giving up when you put the brakes on (redundant on a bike that is traveling about 4mph) and stop. It was a huge effort to dismount from the bike, and once I got my feet on the ground I quickly realized that I could barely stand on the ground. Now the questions started...."Why did I want to do the metric century on such new terrain?" "Should I just turn around and go back falling less than 5 miles from my goal?" "Could I make it back under my own steam?" It was that last question that really bothered me. I had not come this far to fail now. I was not going to turn around, and I was not going to give up. But......I also knew that I was no longer firing on all cylinders. I was done, but I had to continue on because failure was just not an option.
While mustering up the huge amount of energy that was needed to complete the climb, I was passed by the third cyclist from earlier. I decided that I needed to saddle up and get on with it. It was a slow climb, but I made it and continued on down the road, only to find another climb which taxed my aching legs...but I made it to Rocky Knob. Again, it was the three of us all alone at a rest stop. The rest was short lived as they had been there several minutes longer than I had and they were ready to start the return trip. Knowing that I needed to be able to draft to conserve some of my energy, I decided to leave with them after gobbling up some food to boost my energy reserves.
Once we left, it was not long before I was dropped and they went on down the road. Oh well, I could do this on my own, I just had to buckle down and make it happen. I just looked forward to that two miles of downhill awaiting me in the very near future. When I got to it, I really enjoyed the decent, and just coasted to rest my legs. What had taken me seemingly forever to climb took a matter of a couple of minutes to descend. What a let down! It wasn't much further after that when I came to the Mabry Mill and decided that I would stop and rest here before completing the last 24 miles of the day.
It was here that I found the majority of the group partaking in a nice lunch at the Mill. This was the trade off for doing the extra mileage, I didn't have time to eat lunch. That worked out just fine for me though since I have a policy of not eating anything that is unfamiliar to my tummy while on a bike. It was here that I met up with Sarah and Allen whom I had coincidentally parked behind at the campsite. Long story, but I was blocking them in, so I felt like it was a good choice to ride back with them. As it turned out, it was a great way to wrap up the day. They were pleasant company and kept me motivated to continue riding even though my body was done. On a side note, Allen can climb like a scalded cat! I wish I had his stamina.
The hills that had been no problem before were really putting strains on my legs, and I was wearing out quickly. Again, I saw no way to allow myself to fail on this ride, and I insisted to myself that I continue on. There were bursts of energy that came and went, but nothing very long lived at all. Fortunately, Allen and Sarah were not above taking the occasional break, and far be it from me to argue the point. We even took a moment to stop at a barn that I had photographed years ago in the fall. I've always liked its character.
It was the last 5 miles that really took forever to go by. I think even the bike was getting tired. The drivetrain had been functioning smoothly all day long with lots and lots of shifting. But on one of the last climbs of the day, it locked up dropping down to the small chainring. It was a simple problem, and one that was fixed quickly, but I have to hand it to Allen. When he realized that I was in trouble, he circled around and came to provide assistance, and then rode up the hill with me to make sure all was well. A nice change from getting dropped earlier in the day I must say.
After a total of 62.5 miles and 4852 feet worth of climbing I was back at my truck. I have never been so thankful to done with a ride before. Sure, it wasn't my longest (that would be my century ride last month), but by far this has been my most impressive ride. I'm so glad that I did it, and I had a great time with both the Kernersville Cycling Club, and the Cape Fear Cyclists. This isn't a ride I want to do often, but I can see doing it again.....next year. I'm just happy that one more bucket list achievement can be marked off of my cycling list.
I have ridden on the Blue Ridge Parkway!!!
No....check that....
I have ridden a metric century on the Blue Ridge Parkway!!!!
