Bat Cave Loop

I got a nice 40 mile ride in last night. I decided that I needed to add a longer Tuesday night ride to the mix. Rhonda agreed so I went for it.

I left camp, skirted Black Mtn , the south on highway 9. The climb up to the Eastern Continental Divide is not steep but it is steady. The pavement is super smooth too!! Once at the top, OJ, who had decided to ride with me, bombed the downhill, caught some cars and drafted behind them. I took my time on the twisty downhill. I have no desire to risk hitting the pavement.

The temp at 2pm had been 87, but by the time 5 pm rolled around with some thunderstorms, the temp dropped to a pleasant 77.

Going south on 9, we were looking straight into a dark, menacing, thunderstorm. It was headed south east, so we were hoping that it would move on before we got to it.

After descending from the Continental Divide, Hwy 9 consists of some long flats, long rollers, and more downhill.

After 20 miles we hit the final downhill that dead ends at Hwy 74. Taking a right at the stop sign, the fun really begins with another climb up to the Eastern Continental Divide again. This is one of my favorite climbs in the area. The road takes you up a narrow valley, next to a cascading creek for most of the ride. Lots of twisty road leading through the town of Gerton.

Gerton has a little store, a volunteer fire station, and a post office. Really cool place.

Once we reached the Divide again, we hit the fun switchbacks that lead into Fairview. Most people don't touch their brakes on the descent, it's a fun one.

Then hwy 74 turns into a 4 lane with lots of traffic, and not really that exciting. Although, we were again staring into a large sized thunderstorm. A wall of grey blocked our view of Mt Mitchell and surrounding mountains . Not sure whether we were going to get wet, we kept the pedals turning.

Once we finally reached the Blue Ridge Parkway, the rain had started. Oj and I parted ways. As I got closer to home, the rain really started letting loose. I made it home before I got drenched, though.

Good ride, just under 3 hrs. My legs felt good although tired towards the end. I'm really glad that I am able to add in some longer rides and more intensity. Nutrition wise, I felt really good too. There was a point where I started to feel funny, but I chewed on some Power Bar chews, and felt immediately better. I'm wondering if I need to add a little fructose to the mix.
My understanding is that fructose digests a little bit faster that Maltodextrin.

Next up: exploratory mtn bike ride after work!!!

Have a great day.