When my alarm went off at 6am, I wondered why. But then it did not take long, probably seconds before the answer rousted me out of my warm bed: "because I can". I heard the coffee pot brewing, rolled out of bed and walked to the computer. The forecast was calling for 100% chance of rain. I checked out the "weather in motion" and saw that there were two storms, one moving north of Asheville and the other moving south of Asheville.
It was on. I loaded the bike, toasted some homemade whole wheat bread that I topped with peanut butter, honey and local blueberries, and his the road......after I drank some coffee. Once on the road, I sent Mike a text telling him I would be there by 8am. He texted back and told me to bring my blinky red light. Too, late. I was halfway there.
As I climbed Hwy 226 the fog got thicker.
I walked into the house, and they were eating waffles. Mike had also mentioned that I should be ready to eat when I got there. I sat down, had some coffee, and a waffle. As we sat there chatting, the conversation turned to me and my troubles with nutrition, how I had a habit of not finishing etc. ( no one mentioned my recent successes). And now they were trying to force feed me, fatten me up, and slow me down....set me up for failure. I was onto their scheme but I did not let them know.
It turned out to be 4 of us: me, Mike, Mike's brother Scott, and Todd. It was chilly due to the damp air, but not raining. We headed north on the Blue Ridge Parkway and joked about how nice the views were. We couldn't see more than 100 feet over the edge. The fog was dense, the trees dripping and the road was saturated. We were soaked in a matter of minutes, but warmed up on the first short climb.
We saw turkeys, a little black bear way up in the distance, chatted about bike stuff, life stuff, and other stuff. We had assumed a relaxed pace and were all looking forward to the main goal of the day: Beech Mtn. This would be my first time climbing Beech. I've heard a lot about it. Steep, switchbacks, a killer, long, intimidating. But, I was game.
About 20 minutes into the ride we came to Hwy 181. We got off the Pkwy, and I needed to fill a water bottle. I guess the guys were getting a little desperate about my fitness and how good I was feeling. The waffle had not done the trick, so they dug deep into their bag of " what can we do to slow Stephen down"? So, Scott decided he wanted to get a cup of coffee. We pulled into a little deli, that had some delicious looking and smelling food. I didn't give in though. I filled my bottles and ate half of a Powerbar.
Then they got really desperate and we sat there, for a long time. Then I started shivering. Some jokes were made about me needing to eat more. I guess the deli staff was in on it, because one called out from the counter, " Don't you wanna try one of these prime rib sandwiches"? I said, " Maybe another day".
I stood up and made it apparent that it was time to go. We walked outside and then they decided to clean their bikes. It was raining still but they went for some paper towels. Aahh, I got on my bike and headed down the road. I was freezing, shivering but undeterred. They caught up shortly and we headed to Banner Elk. The pavement was actually dry but the sky was overcast. We headed up the gap towards Banner Elk, then dropped down the pavement into the little town. Left at the stop light, past Lees McCrae, then right. A steep little downhill and the road turned up.
We decided to meet just over the top at Fred's Mercantile to get some lunch and re-assess. As we started climbing it started raining. It rained.....hard. We climbed. And climbed. I imagined the great views.... and climbed. About 2.5 miles later I got to Fred's. Not too long after the other guys got there and we went down to the deli.
At this point Mike laid it out," Ok" he said. " Before we order our food, we have to decided if we are calling Rhonda ( his wife) to come pick us up". I said that I really wanted to ride back, to get the miles in my legs. They all ( wisely) decided to call for the team car. I guess at that point they got desperate. While I order a ham and cheddar melt, they ordered a large pizza, with everything on it. Mmmm, my mouth watered and I wavered. But I snapped out of it and did not fall for their last ditch effort to derail me. Nice try.
I finished my sandwich and hot chocolate and bid the fellas adieu, as they waited for the pizza. I knew I had to get out of there before I saw the pie, and before the team car arrived, or I feared I would change my mind.
I zipped up, put my helmet on and wheeled the bike out into the rain. That 2.5 miles downhill was a little scary. I was already cold, soaked and shivering, but riding down created a shivering in me that caused my arms to shake which caused high speed wobble in the front wheel. I had to remind myself to relax.
I got to the bottom of the mountain and hit the gas so I could warm up. I never got warm. I got to a point where I wasn't shaking, and knew I wasn't hypothermic, but I never got warm.
The ride back was uneventful. Just more rain, in fact it poured off and on, and rained the rest of the time. I stopped in at the deli to refill my bottles. I did not eat a prime rib sandwich this time either. I kept a steady pace and tried not to push too hard. I was able to push the pace comfortably though.
I couldn't remember exactly where I was most of the time, in relation to being finished. I knew a couple of landmarks, but knew better than to tell myself that this was the last climb. When I finally got back to Hwy 226 I was elated, but desperate to finish. I had about 1.5 miles to go when I got off the Pkwy. My phone rang and I didn't want to answer it. I pulled over. I had a bit of trouble pulling the waterlogged glove off of my hand. Considering that, I knew that it would be a big hassle to pull my phone out. I put the glove back on and head to the house.
Suddenly I hear Mike whooping behind me. They had caught me just before getting home. Managed a cold smile and mumbled that they should have a warm fluffy towel ready for me. When I finally made it back, I did not want to take a shower, I was tired of water, I didn't want to soak myself with any more. It was only that fact that it would be hot water that got me in the shower.
I got dressed and went upstairs. We chatted and Mike asked if I wanted something to eat. I figured a sandwich would be fine, but he raided the fridge. He ended up pulling out some Mexican Lasagna. I cut out a huge square of it, heated it up and I ate it.
As much as I wanted to stay, relax and relive the day, it was time to head home and meet my family for dinner. I loaded up and hit the road. It was still raining and I was tired. I decided that if I had stayed any longer, I would have had to spend the night.
Another High Mtn Camp in the books. I got in 80 miles, felt good, and road a new route. The day was a success, even the with attempts to stop me. I look forward to the next Camp!!!
Have a great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment