http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96589944
This is Bryan's Garmin data for the entire ride. I lost my Garmin etrex cable and will have to download mine later but it'd be very similar to this. The 'Oklahoma" looks just as bad on paper! I'm sure there is nothing in Oklahoma that looks like this. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim & Susan To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2011 12:52 PM Subject: [COWs] 400K Ride Report!!! Ok, one day I'm gonna bite off more than I can chew. That was brutal on the fat guy! We cycled 252 miles, over 16,000 feet of climbs, all in one day, barely. (23 hrs. 25 mins.) We started out with about 30 riders from all over the country. We had 200K, 300K, 400K or a 600K option. A dozen riders went with the 300K including John o. It was a midnight ride start so that we could ascend the mountain before the sun made things even more difficult. I like that part but it was hard getting any sleep before the ride. My goal was to let the fasties go and ride my on ride, but ended up with the front group for the first 100K through the foothills and getting to the "Oklahoma" which is what the locals call the climb getting up to "Roaring Gap" near Sparta. It's a 5 mile steady, 1800 feet of climb. The first 4 miles were like one long "Target Hill". Then we had ¾ mile "Conner Hill" followed by a ¼ mile of "Snake Mountain". And yes, the fat guy walked up the last 50 feet. There were a half dozen riders that got away from me there. I caught up with them in Sparta and we had a big breakfast. John and others being smartly conservative showed up about 30 min. later. Only a dozen or so riders were to continue on deeper into the mountains to Jefferson. I think 2 or 3 riders bailed out over breakfast and were looking for the shortest route back off the mountain. I had a long breakfast stop as Geof and I waited around for Bryan so that we could stay somewhat together for the rest of the ride. It was a beautiful mountain ride to Jefferson and Laurel Springs. I had a lot of fun for most of that until the heat set in mid-afternoon. Only one missed turn for an extra mile. We ate lunch in Laurel Springs. A half dozen guys in Lycra shorts amongst a couple hundred dressed out in Leather. I think they liked Geof's bike the most because he had shiny parts that resembled chrome. Back to Sparta where we watch some of the 4th parade, then around Cumberland Knob near Virginia where we finally descend back down to the foothills where more long climbs wait for us there. I am so tired of riding 7 mph in my granny gear! I'm really feeling it the last 50 miles. I have a few good sections where I can let it rip but now I'm barely making it over the hills. We skip dinner because we're ready to get this done, and we'd like to finish the same day we started. The last 30 miles I spend watching the computer. It took forever to chisel off those miles. My body ran out of food and I was not feeling well the last hour but we coasted into the barn at 11:25pm. This is a similar route to be used for the first 400K of the Carolina 1200K. I'm having serious second thoughts that I could do another 800K after that. I did enjoy most of the ride. The scenes were awesome. Just wished I wuz skinny! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.
