I had a big day planned on the bike and spent the night before getting everything together. I was feeling a little bit of a scratchy throat coming on which was in the back of my mind all evening. I hope I'm not getting sick, I hope I'm not getting sick. I had everything pretty much ready to go, set my alarm for 5:30 and hit the sack.
5:30 came around quickly and I woke up immediately when the alarm went off. I felt motivated to get up and get on my way. Then I realized I was doomed, my throat was killing me. I could hardly swallow. I went to the sink, poured a glass of salt water and started gargling, one of my moms old tricks that usually never works but is always worth a try! It did make it feel a little better. I pounded an Emergen-C and decided to get a little extra rest.
Price Lake |
The second time I woke up I felt a little better and decided to get my things together and go. Worse case scenario is that I end up coughing up a lung, being sick and tired and just turn around and come home.
So it was a later start than I had planned but I was off, riding down the Greenway, up Winklers Creek Road and then to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I decided the Parkway would be a great warm up for the morning and continued on all the way to Roseboro Road. It was a beautiful day, perfect temps and not really any clouds in the sky.
Ripping down Roseboro Rd went by quick and before I knew it I was climbing up 192 to Old House Gap. This is a great "road" that is pretty rough and steep in spots but a fun climb. Cresting out at Old House Gap I continued onto the gravel of 192 which is one of my favorite roads in the forest. It just has a remote feel and is super windy and fun to ride.
The flowers were out big time! I must have seen 15 different kinds along the roads. Here's a trillium.
And finally a little bit of singletrack! Gotta keep it real out there. After some fun turns and a couple steep climbs I ended up on Chestnut Mountain Road. This is a grassy double track that is usually climbed to access some great single track but today I had the opportunity to rip down it. It provides some great views and some fun riding!
I was glad to see the "OPEN" sign lit up at the Betsy's Ol' Country Store. I had been craving a Coke for at least 15 miles at this point. It tasted so good!
From here there is a short climb over Staircase Mountain and then a 5 mile stretch of flat riding until the infamous Globe Road which climbs just over 2,000 feet at an average grade of about 10%. I had decided to ride only half loaded today since I was dealing with a slight pain in my achilles tendon from some earlier training rides up and down Globe Road earlier in the week. I didn't want to make it worse. I started up the climb and could feel the pain in my achilles but it was easy to manage. I just couldn't put a lot of power in so I just spun at a decent pace and made my way. About halfway up it started feeling better and I stood up for the long steep section and didn't really notice it bothering me at all. I had issues with my achilles during the Trans North Georgia on day 3 as well but it was also quick to work itself out then. I finally made it to the top and stopped at the overlook in Blowing Rock and realized I was going to be about 10 miles short of my 100 mile goal for the day.
Here's the view from the overlook. I posted a picture before of this same spot on a foggy day a couple weeks ago. Here you can see the amazing view of the Pisgah Forest.
After settling on a route home I got back on the bike and continued riding through a neighborhood, back onto Highway 221, into Blowing Rock and then eventually to my friend Mike's house. I was out of water and hungry! Mike was in the middle of making dinner so grabbed a small potato, slice of cheese, some olive oil and just enough water to make it home. After a quick photo op, I said "later!" and was off back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Thanks for the pic Mike Anderson! |
Back on the pavement, my legs were still feeling pretty good. I was pretty psyched about that and even put in a few little efforts up a couple of the rolling hills on the Parkway. I turned down George Hayes Road and bombed the downhill into town. A couple short little climbs and I was back to the flat Greenway which leads back to my house. Home at last! My awesome wife had a huge pizza waiting in the kitchen! (Thanks Hun!) I was hungry and glad to be home but I felt pretty good!