have you ever ridden a bike in south florida? when the group told me the rest of the ride would be flat, i was expecting _______________ that. what i got was more rollers. a 5 foot bump in the road is difficult for me, and today I just jumped in with a group that wanted to hammer it all and I am no where near ready for that. It's in the country around kannopolis too, not in the actual city of charlotte. It's no mountain, but it feels like it to me. Maybe if I had a few more months of this I could start telling stories like some of our other, younger, more enthusiastic members. ::cough:: razor::cough,cough::

and damn my massive quads for snapping that chain. I think the chain just wigged out from the constant strain of actual elevation change.

Supported group ride? Where?

You know what I need more than drinks and snacks is a couple good domestiques so if I get gapped I can charge back and catch the peloton.

Gravity is hard.

so i was checking out the garmin data, one portion had a 18% grade. so far thats the hardest i've seen while scanning through it. the hardest grade at home is 3%

Mt. Doom has three sections that exceed 15%, one that's about 17%. I hit that mile long climb daily. Today @ mile 116. That sucked. Actually there was so much climbing (7500') on today's ride that Mt. Doom didn't seem so bad. I was just tired and a little hot at the end.

That must be amazing. Today we had one that hit 18 briefly and one at 12% for a bit longer. I've never experience a climb like that and for me it was intense. I was trying my hardest to hang on to the lead group but once I fell back a bit I felt much better and started to have fun. 1650 ft over 35 miles. 1650 ft is my 200-250 mile week.

I think I'll convert my TT bike into a road bike. Oh wait, that would be silly.

He's riding and posting from his iphone simultaneously, it's the only way to do it

hey velo

how long did you hold on for this time? 2 miles?

incorrect.

Oh. My. God. 79 solo miles. I swear that the 3 mile two percent grade on the way back was not there the first time. It's not steep, but if you try to coast, you slow. No shade. That was awful, but a good ride none the less. Got far enough that once I saw farms and pick 'em up trucks I turned around.

Now I'm enjoying a cream soda and ordered pizza. My mom got home and saw me passed out on my bed while still wearing my kit.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37448226

^ said ride.

Average is awful. I was hurting though, which is odd. Oh well. Sun burned. I said 79 miles because I forgot to press start for a mile.

Jesus Razor your sig is annoying. I added the images to my add filter.

17-18 miles.

I hung on past the 40/75 split to where the road goes over 75, heading west.

Nice! Next time try a loop, way more fun than out and back.

saved for future quote.

I'm sick of all this Gulf oil slick drudgery. I'm hopping on the Lear jet and going to the yacht races in England. Who's with me?

You are an ass.

Thanks, I actually had no idea where I was going. I stayed on the MUP which thins out after you get out of the cities, and then it gets hilly. I knew I couldn't get lost on the mup, so I just followed that back. I've never been to Clarke's Gap before - didn't know it existed. There were two guys + a girl in a pick up that stared me down up a hill. Then I saw them again, and got the same reaction. The guys had long hair and tats. Smoking. I didn't feel comfortable out there, I don't think they like my kind - funny little pants and all.