Thanks Neal for the great write up on this ride. I guess we have a tough mountain ride to look forward to in April.
Tony ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neal" <[email protected]> To: "North Raleigh Cyclists (Gyros)" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 5:49 PM Subject: [Gyros: 12126] Re: Tour de Gaps Ride > > I rode the entire event this past year and, I don't recall any single > lane roads either. However, the road up Pipers Gap, the final climb, > was a fairly narrow with painted shoulder lines but no center line. > So, it could give the impression that its a single lane road from > pictures - although it really is not. Just a narrow two lane road > without a center line. > > Some comments: > > Westwood Park, where we started and finished, is a nice setting for > organizing this ride. There is plenty of parking and a nice covered > picknick area for lunch - which I should add was extremely good. I > thought it to be one of the best lunches of any ride I participated in > this past year. Homemade spaghetti and meat sauce - and plenty of > it. Drinks, chips, fresh salad, other dishes and desert too. It was > yummy. > > The ride is tough but, the four main climbs are spaced out nicely > which allows some recovery miles in between them. The rest stops at > the bottom provided a nice refueling stop. > > Squirrel Bluf is a good first climb, as its rather consistent moderate > grade (6% or so) provided a nice warm up for the steeper climbs to > come. > > I am not sure which Gap, Willis or Orchard, is the most difficult. To > me Willis was the tougher but, I suspect most people will pick Orchard > as the most difficult. Regardless, Orchard is the prettiest climb of > the four. You pass apple orchards on the way up and, the view at the > top is nice. > > Pipers Gap starts off tough with 8 - 9% grade and sharp switchback > turns - not to mention the legs are getting tired by this point. > However, it moderates after about half of the distance and, the > remaining half is easier at a 6 - 7% grade (to the best of my > memory). > > The steepest section on this route is the short (maybe a quarter mile) > climb on Old Schoolhouse Road immediately after Willis Gap. The grade > on this short section is well into the teens and was tough, especially > since it occurs just when one's legs were stiffening up from the > descent down Willis Gap. > > Like Ryan mentioned, traffic was notably light. The roads were mostly > in very good condition. > > I am not convinced the total elevation gain on this ride is 11.2K. My > Garmin registered right at 9500' in total gain. This is not the first > ride that came up short on the advertised gain. I don't know if its > my Garmin or, whether some of these events are a bit overstated. I've > been on several events where my Garmin was dead on with the advertised > gain. Regardless, there is a significant amount of climbing on this > route. > > I also rode the Mt. Airy Bikefest event this past year and it was a > nice ride. Significantly less climbing but, a very nice route. Some > roads on this event are also on the TdG route. > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you foolishly subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post useless drivel to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] We love reading 3000 line messages so please don't bother trimming your replies. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
