Southeast - Our Saturday Valley Tour 3/21

So today a request came in from one of the two riders joining me on the ride to have a less stressful ride than the one we did a couple weeks ago. So I chose the Franklin Valley but of course nothing is flat around here. We had a great day which started near 50º and ended in the low 60s. The ride ended up at 48 miles and somewhere over 4800' of climbing. I'll let Wolfpack fill in the details.

Neal rides in the valley rimmed by mountains.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2140.jpg

Karen tried to put a hurtin' on us old guys.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2141.jpg

The cows were out in the pastures on this fine day.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2142.jpg

Someone looks like she's suffering as we approach the Skeena climb.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2143.jpg

Spring is popping everywhere now.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2144.jpg

On the way to the Allison Watts climb. STEEP!
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2145.jpg

Thank you NCDOT for the rumble strips of death. :rolleyes:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2147.jpg

Karen begins the Winding Stairs descent, fast and breezy.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_2148.jpg

Another nice day riding very low traveled roads here in WNC.

great ride today! i thought it was a bit chilly and was pretty cold for the first hour or so - but the guys said they were quite comfortable. right. my knees and boobies were dang cold! no knee warmers, no vest, no base layer.

me? put a hurtin' on you guys? uh huh. sure. i think it's always the other way around. http://www.socalbikeforums.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif and, this is the 3rd time i've ridden Skeena since last july and my time has dropped from 10:30min down to 7:40min. i would never have been able to do this ride we did today last year....i've come a long way bay-buh! http://www.socalbikeforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Allison Watts?? OMG...as we approached it, i asked Andy if we were going up THAT??? yes. omg - can you say steep?? 18% max grade. holy cow that was hard but i made it up it without unclipping/walking. the next and last climb was Standing Indian. felt pretty good for the first 30min, then the PT died and i was worn out from going a bit too fast for that time. gotta learn to Start Slow to Finish Fast.

profile for today's route:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/SkeenaAllisonWattsStandingIndian-1.jpg
ok, here's my pics. i didn't take too many today.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03636800x600.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03638800x600.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03639800x600.jpg

Allison Watts in the background. Doesn't really look that steep from this shot, but trust me, it is.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03640800x600.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03642800x600.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03643800x600.jpg

starting the Standing Indian Climb
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20032109/DSC03644800x600.jpg

Nice pictures.

I wish I was in good enough shape to climb 18%.

Nice pictures.

I wish I was in good enough shape to climb 18%.

So do I, but we got up it anyway. :)

me too. :)

wow! did I read this right? This ride took you 7 HOURS???? you people are crazy!

no. my climb up skeena was 7min30sec. i think it took us, hell, i can't remember. :rolleyes: i know we got back to the cars around 3pm. think we started around 10-11am....BWNC probably knows....

OH!!!! I misunderstood. It sounded like you guys were on an epic journey.

The ride time was about 3:15 and the total time was obviously a bit longer. We didn't stop very much though.

sounds much more reasonable! Hopefully Jarrett and I can meet up with you guys for a ride again sometime.

The Sunday ride the next day took right about the same time at 3:10. Again the overall time was more and we took our time at the couple of stops we made. It was a pretty day.

sounds much more reasonable! Hopefully Jarrett and I can meet up with you guys for a ride again sometime.

That would be great Liz. I'll be back in town at the end of May. Late May/early June is a spectacular time to ride up here.

That would be great Liz. I'll be back in town at the end of May. Late May/early June is a spectacular time to ride up here.

+1. hell, anytime is a spectacular time to ride up there! :D

hell, anytime is a spectacular time to ride up there! :D

Incorrect. :p

oh you hush VV! :p dang...you are correct though...i don't think i'd want to ride up there in the weather BWNC has had this week...

how about, MOST of the time is a spectacular time to ride in WNC?

how about, MOST of the time is a spectacular time to ride in WNC?

Most of the time between April and September, at least. ;)

And quit posting ride pictures, or I'm going to have to load up the VeloVolmobile and hit the BRP soon!

hee hee.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/khgulledge/WNC%20August%2015/DSC02828800x600.jpg

Most of the time between April and September, at least. ;)

And quit posting ride pictures, or I'm going to have to load up the VeloVolmobile and hit the BRP soon!

You could mosey over to Marion and join us on a ride up Mt. Mitchell on Sat.

+10000000000000000000000000000

:)