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05-28-07, 10:18 AM
Insights from yesterday's Mountains of Misery ride:
The name Mountains of Misery is spot on. That last climb is incredibly miserable. So were some of the very rough roads on a descent but hey, I stayed upright.
Surprisingly my wife tagged along and went with me to Blacksburg and I'm really glad she did. It gave us a chance to talk which we hadn't done in years.
Another reason I'm glad she went was she spotted the correct road for the last climb to the finish. We drove up to the finish the day before just to see the last climb and went up what I thought was the correct road. After getting to the top I was feeling pretty good as the last climb didn't look too bad-but it didn't match what I'd read about. On the way out she spotted another way up and suggested we drive down it. About a mile down we saw porta-johns and we instantly knew it was the correct climb. It was about twice as steep and the other road-but at least I knew what to prepare for.
The pack was pretty typical at the start-probably yo-yoing even more than normal though. About 10 miles from the start we slowed abruptly on a downhill (go figure) and someone to my right was not paying attention. They locked down their wheels and blew a tire.......that makes for a very long day.
They printed the riders names on the bib numbers. (the special bib nos were also done to commemorate the Va Tech students) That was a really nice touch as you could really personalize your discussions with other riders. Like nice pull "Adam"! He really did do a lot of long hard pulls.
Speaking of pulls, at around 35-40 miles I was puttering along solo thinking about how long a day it was going to be. I was not feeling great-not able to generate much power and going a lot slower than I knew I was capable of going-and then a group I had ridden with before came whizzing by. I jumped in and rode about 20 miles with them and it turned the whole ride around. My energy and speed picked up and the group grew from 12 to about 20 as we motored along. Thanks for the boost guys!!! Your timing was perfect!!
One of the riders and I kept a running conversation going most of the day. We didn't ride much together but he passed me a lot. I don't stop very much and he tended to stop at a lot of the rest stops-almost like he was racing from stop to stop. Interestingly he never passed me after I saw him at the next to the last rest stop. Maybe slower and steady has some advantages.
Not once but twice I almost didn't make a couple hairpin turns. Just going too fast and not familiar with the roads. It wakes you up pretty quickly. It also makes you thankful to still be upright!!
My first stop was at the 65 mile rest stop and I went crazy seeing freshly sliced oranges. I've been eating those a lot lately. I had orange juice dripping all over my face and chin but it was so good!!!
My second and last stop was at 85 miles and I was very disappointed they didn't have the same flavor gatorade as what was in my bottle as I just wanted to top it off and quickly hit the road. Then I discovered they had cold Grape Gatorade which is a personal favorite. I bet I picked up several minutes in time just from the mental boost!
The last rest stop was incredible. It was about 1 mile from the finish and on the steepest part of the ride. I had planned to stop there but didn't need any fluids and didn't want to disrupt the climbing and cadence. One of the ladies handed me a cup of cold water as I was pedaling by which was wonderful. The second doused me with a cup of cold water which about took my breath but was so refreshing and terrific. Another lady sprayed water over me from a water bottle. Then two people grabbed my saddle and pushed me along for about 10 yards. The timing was perfect. I was able to pedal on and grind it out for the last mile. Those folks ought to get some sort of reward!!!
The name Mountains of Misery is spot on. That last climb is incredibly miserable. So were some of the very rough roads on a descent but hey, I stayed upright.
Surprisingly my wife tagged along and went with me to Blacksburg and I'm really glad she did. It gave us a chance to talk which we hadn't done in years.
Another reason I'm glad she went was she spotted the correct road for the last climb to the finish. We drove up to the finish the day before just to see the last climb and went up what I thought was the correct road. After getting to the top I was feeling pretty good as the last climb didn't look too bad-but it didn't match what I'd read about. On the way out she spotted another way up and suggested we drive down it. About a mile down we saw porta-johns and we instantly knew it was the correct climb. It was about twice as steep and the other road-but at least I knew what to prepare for.
The pack was pretty typical at the start-probably yo-yoing even more than normal though. About 10 miles from the start we slowed abruptly on a downhill (go figure) and someone to my right was not paying attention. They locked down their wheels and blew a tire.......that makes for a very long day.
They printed the riders names on the bib numbers. (the special bib nos were also done to commemorate the Va Tech students) That was a really nice touch as you could really personalize your discussions with other riders. Like nice pull "Adam"! He really did do a lot of long hard pulls.
Speaking of pulls, at around 35-40 miles I was puttering along solo thinking about how long a day it was going to be. I was not feeling great-not able to generate much power and going a lot slower than I knew I was capable of going-and then a group I had ridden with before came whizzing by. I jumped in and rode about 20 miles with them and it turned the whole ride around. My energy and speed picked up and the group grew from 12 to about 20 as we motored along. Thanks for the boost guys!!! Your timing was perfect!!
One of the riders and I kept a running conversation going most of the day. We didn't ride much together but he passed me a lot. I don't stop very much and he tended to stop at a lot of the rest stops-almost like he was racing from stop to stop. Interestingly he never passed me after I saw him at the next to the last rest stop. Maybe slower and steady has some advantages.
Not once but twice I almost didn't make a couple hairpin turns. Just going too fast and not familiar with the roads. It wakes you up pretty quickly. It also makes you thankful to still be upright!!
My first stop was at the 65 mile rest stop and I went crazy seeing freshly sliced oranges. I've been eating those a lot lately. I had orange juice dripping all over my face and chin but it was so good!!!
My second and last stop was at 85 miles and I was very disappointed they didn't have the same flavor gatorade as what was in my bottle as I just wanted to top it off and quickly hit the road. Then I discovered they had cold Grape Gatorade which is a personal favorite. I bet I picked up several minutes in time just from the mental boost!
The last rest stop was incredible. It was about 1 mile from the finish and on the steepest part of the ride. I had planned to stop there but didn't need any fluids and didn't want to disrupt the climbing and cadence. One of the ladies handed me a cup of cold water as I was pedaling by which was wonderful. The second doused me with a cup of cold water which about took my breath but was so refreshing and terrific. Another lady sprayed water over me from a water bottle. Then two people grabbed my saddle and pushed me along for about 10 yards. The timing was perfect. I was able to pedal on and grind it out for the last mile. Those folks ought to get some sort of reward!!!