Awesome Tim, I don't see how you do it. Envy, envy,envy! Go man! James On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 8:20 PM, Tim & Susan <[email protected]> wrote:
> ** > Another weekend spent on one tiny saddle! See if I can write a happy > report! I wanted to ride a 600K this weekend but with the combination of > the route being in the mountains and the current heat wave I made a wise > decision to scale down to the 300K. Well it seemed wise! Up at 2:00am > Saturday morning and drive to Greensboro. No money for a motel room so I > figured I'd just be the man. 3 hours sleep is all you need anyway. Small > group this time as there was some more wise than me. Tony the organizer, a > former successful endurance racer marred by injuries in a crash a few years > ago on a comeback mission decides to ride with me on the 300K. I'm not > thrilled about the possibility of a faster tempo that could do me in but I > welcome the company. A dozen riders head out together for the first 100K. > As expected Tony giving his bad knee a test was the first to break up the > peloton going a little quick. The first 50 miles is surprisingly flat so my > ego plays along keeping the pace a little brisk. At 100K there are only 5 > riders left that are going into the mountains. Around mile 72 we start the > 4 mile climb up to the parkway near Cumberland knob. We can see the gap > ahead of us about 1500 feet up. I keep telling myself, don't look up. One > guy fades quickly, while 4 of us are steady pacing 10mph. 2 miles up, Tony > and Ian have dropped Ed and I. Our pace is now 6 to 7 mph. Ok, now I'm > swearing off ice cream. 3 miles up, Ed and I dismount for a few. I'm > sweating buckets. I'm about to blow a gasket. 10 min. break and we finish > the last mile to the parkway. smoothes out a bit then another mile climb up > to the Eastern Continental Divide. A few more climbs later we reach > Sparta. Ian and Ed continue on to Jefferson while Tony and I grab lunch > then start heading for home. I'm cooked, ran out of water, dehydrated and > frustrated a bit. Tony keeps trying to make conversation and pacing me > while I wish he'd leave me alone. I'm not feeling great. Now forcing in > fluids, food and electrolytes, My stomach is cramping, legs are cramping, > I'm even loosing my voice. (weird) The 2 hour ride back to the parkway is > brutal. We then zoom down the mountain. At 200K we take another long food > break and I'm ready to play again. A tail wind and we push the pace a > little except for the long climbs where we both are suffering a bit. > Cooling down some now as the road flattens we are back having fun again. We > slide back into Greensboro at 9:30. We shower and check on a guy from > Jersey who bailed on the 600K. The 3 of us head for Ruby Tuesday next door > for food and recovery drinks. We then grab a few zzz's as we wait for the 2 > other guys that are riding an extra 100K in the mountains to return. They > roll in around 5am. Ed is finished with his 400K while Ian prepares for > another 200K after a shower and a short nap. I say goodbye and drive to > Garner where I'm meeting a friend Dean and we cruise at 7am for 65 miles to > Dunn and back. Some good training for the next 1200K attempt in 4 weeks. I > now think my chances are not great for finishing that ride. Maybe loose a > couple pounds and hope for cooler temps. 250 plus miles for the weekend. > Tomorrow I not ride! > > -- > 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.
