90

Another ride that I have been wanting to do for several years, I was able to do today.  It is a big loop with big mountains and today got hot.  90 plus degrees hot.

I headed out the door at 8:20am.  A little later than I would have liked, but I am home alone and I was being lazy.  And,  I didn't have anyone to come home to, so it didn't matter anyway. 

Riding up to the Parkway, I wondered what my legs were going to feel like.  I was already sweating 10 minutes into the ride and was glad that I was going up high. 

My goal was to ride north on the parkway, south on Hwy 80, then west on Hwy 70 through Old Fort and Black Mountain, and back home again. 

I finished the ride with a total time of 6hr 6 mins, and riding time of 5hrs 40 mins.   The stops were necessary and I could not have done without them.  4 stops to re-fill water bottles, one to buy a coke, and two stops to douse my head and shoulders in water. 

The long climb up to Craggy Gardens Visitor center went well.  I paced myself knowing that I would still have a lot of climbing to do after the following decent.  As I rode past the entrance to Mt Mitchell, I decided not to ride up today.  As much as I wanted to, the extra 10 miles would make the end of the ride very difficult.

As I rode down Hwy 80,  the air temps got hotter.  I could feel the air thicken with humidity and thought that I should have done the loop the other direction.  Now I know. 

I got to the little ice cream shop at the corner of hwy 80 and hwy 70, stopped to refill my bottles.  They wanted to charge me 10cents for a cup of water. 

The portion to Old Fort was uneventful.  I stopped again at the EMS station just outside of Old Fort to fill up my water bottles again.  The people there went out of their way to make sure that I was taken care of.  That was great.

The temps were getting really hot now and I knew that the 4 mile climb up the Point Lookout Trail were going to be tough.  I got in the little gear and spun easily, keeping my heartrate low. Fortunately, there was quite a bit of shade and a large stream about 3/4 of the way up.   That was my first dousing.

Once making it up the grade I was able to get in a bigger gear and make some time. 

I pedaled through Black Mountain, stopping at a local coffee shop with a hot dog stand behind it.  I filled up on free water and bought a coke.  15 miles to go and I was trying to figure out who I could call for a ride.

I spotted a spigot at the Community School and stopped for my second dousing of the day.  It felt so good.  I tried not to think and just focused on keeping good form and pedaling smoothly.  If I thought about the heat and my fatigue, I started to panic.  I kept reminding myself that I didn't feel too bad, which I didn't,  just really hot. 

I made it home safely and was pleased to see that I had ridden 90 miles.   If I add in the climb up Mt Mitchell, it will be very close to 100 miles.

Great day, great ride!

Have a great day.