Long Ride

I considered getting up at the break of dawn to imitate race day. I had a long gravel road ride planned that would be similar to the Cohutta 100. I did not get up at the break of dawn due to two things. One: it was cold,, two: I was tired. So I slept in until 7:30, got up had some coffee, took my time getting ready, considered staying home to play with my family. And finally hit the road just after 9am. I decided not to push the pace too much as I had 70 miles in store. South on the Parkway, through the Arboretum, up Hardtimes Rd, left to go up Bent Creek Gap Rd, down Wash Creek Rd, right on 1206, all the way to hwy 276, turn around and come back.

It was warming up by the time I hit Bent Creek Gap Rd. I had knee warmers and arm warmers on. It was warm enough to slide the arm warmers down to my wrists. It was difficult passing up some of the sweet Pisgah single track, but I figured it would be there another day. I wanted consistent pedaling and some longer climbs. And I got it. Bent Creek Gap and Yellow Gap being the long climbs today, I got to climb them each two times. I also got to descend them 2 times.
I had calculated the one way trip to be about 35 miles. When my computer showed that I had 35 miles and I wasn't at 276 yet, I got a little worried. I kept riding and about 1 mile later, I heard traffic whizzing by on the pavement of hwy 276.

I stopped for a p break, and then pulled out half of my pb and j, climbed on the bike and headed home. Very pleased that I made it this far. I considered that I have not ridden the mtn bike more that 45 miles this year. I cruised down the road, kept a steady pace, continued to drink and eat. I reached Mills River Campground, went on through to take a left on Wash Creek Rd, and up to Bent Creek Gap. On the climbs I was sweating sufficiently so I knew that I was drinking enough and taking enough electrolytes. Up to this point I had been riding in the sunshine all day. As I descended into Bent Creek, I was surprised that the temps were dropping and that it was cloudy. I figured that I was cold only because of the downhill, but oddly enough, I was still cold as I rode the entire length of South Ridge rd. At the Arboretum I stopped to fill my bottles, and ended up putting my jacket on.

Back up on the Parkway, north to home. Great day, great ride, and I feel good about my fitness at this point: 6.5 hours total ( including stops) 12.3 avg, 75 miles.

Finishing out the day with some Marco's pepperoni pizza and 2 new editions of COPS!!!!

Have a great day