Ride 2 Mt. Mitchell

Today was a beautiful day! Got a later start than anticipated, and it was a tad chilly, but still a gorgeous day for riding! I felt pretty good starting out, I'm usually a bit nervous with the longer, farther away from home rides, but still felt compelled to give it a go.

My first encounter was when I caught up with two ladies riding. One was a Trek rider, therefore I felt obligated to compliment her for riding such a fine machine. Couldn't tell what her partner (a more mature lady) was riding, but she didn't seem as thrilled to receive my greeting (hi how are you?), and my not giving her machine props, like I did her younger Trek riding friend,  hahaha! But she wasn't rude by any means.

Listing pics in reverse order, the second pic is from the Three Knobs Overlook. This overlook is not quite the halfway point to Mt. Mitchell, but a pretty view nonetheless. The big arch cloud was the eyebrow of the "Eye in the Sky" that watched over me today. I couldn't resist stopping just long enough to take this picture.

My second encounter came when I passed a couple of Harley riders at an overlook just below Rough Ridge that waved at me, and said, "Aren't you ready for one of these?" pointing at their Harley Davidson motorcycles, and I said in reply, "I had to go with the Wisconsin (Waterloo) carbon, but yeah that Milwaukee steel would be nice on the uphill right about now!" They laughed and gave me a thumbs up and waved as I rode past the overlook. They passed me a few miles later, and waved again as they rode passed me on the way up the mountain.

My third encounter was from another group of riders. One of my favorite people from one of my least favorite place. A place that I have some of my worst memories from! The bright spot in that place was the man in the group that I know as a spiritual brother! Lord let it be far from me to ever have to work in another factory, but if I do, let me work with another man like the one I passed today. He is a great cyclist, husband, and Christian man that I learned a lot about compassion, and Gods' grace and mercy from while I was going through a very difficult time. Love ya Joe!

The fourth encounter was a humbling one! Just because a guy appears to have a little more white hair than the average Joe, and seems a bit more mature, doesn't mean that he can't kick your butt at something! My cousin will appreciate this. The big red S-Works machine and it's tall, slim, very fit rider eased passed me as he greeted me, and we very briefly talked about the weather. Then an oncoming car drove up to us, and I told him that he was clear of my wheel, and he took the line and lead, and steadily climbed the mountain. I stayed with him for a few hundred yards, and then understood, that he was wearing that polka dotted King of the Mountain Jersey for a reason! He was boogying!

The first picture is from my stop at the entrance of the State Park. I paused long enough to think about the four mile climb to the top, get a word in with my family, and have my grandmother (affectionately known as "Grandmama") see me ride to the big mountain, and not see me suffer as badly as I did the last time I made the attempt to ride up. My legs didn't cramp today like my last trip, instead this time I was a bit sick at my stomach, but I made the climb! All in all, a great day for a great ride, and hopefully this mountain will be a stepping stone, albeit a large one, for my training for the Trek 100. Tomorrow I will look to do Grandfather Mountain, or the three county loop to Point Lookout and back home. Until the next time... happy cycling!

What A View!

I set out later than I wanted on the cloudless Saturday morning. It was already a warm Southern morning with the dew burning off quickly, and the sun muscling its way through the cool morning breeze. I knew the climb would be tough enough, and now I also had a feeling that the heat would be a factor as well. 77 degrees can feel like 107 when you are fatigued and early in a season, and especially when you are not used to the temps rising. Mild temps or high temps, I wanted to be in more than just survival mode, I wanted to be a conqueror! My endeavor this Saturday morning was to test the legs to see what we had left. My analysis: the heart is still good, and according to many, the mind has always been questionable, but they both begged the legs to get us all to the top of the mountain. Six thousand, six hundred, and eight....y - four (6,684) feet to the summit at Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi, with a new bike, old legs, and the same frame of mind! I tried to stay hydrated, I had two bottles of H2O, and a small 12 oz. bottle of (Blue)Berry Gatorade. For nutrition I took a couple of energy bars (a Power Bar and Zone bar) for an extra boost, and fared well. I put my empty bottles back in the cages, and my empty wrappers back in my under the saddle carrier. I was amazed at how others had not done the same thing! There were empty water bottles, and nutrition bar wrappers left after the ride (The Assault on Mt. Mitchell) this past weekend, all along the road side. I understand that this is a competition, but I also understand that cyclist leaving trash behind gives biking a blackeye! Yes it was consistent enough to confidently evidence to all others that the trash was left on the roadside by riders. If you are that close to the front, or if you are well off enough to ditch a bottle, then you should be well off enough to have a clean up crew as well. If you just don't care, then you shouldn't be too uptight with my wishing your being banned from future Parkway events.

I witnessed a few other irritating things along the way... first and foremost "horseflies!" Count all things joy the Bible says, so I can say that the horseflies were motivators, and encouraged me to pedal a bit faster, to rid myself of them. I saw several little green garden/field snakes dead on the road, and one ginormous Black snake, that appeared to be toting around five baby rabbits that she had for breakfast!  The Black snake was slithering off the road into the high grass, and looked to be approximately thirty-six or thirty eight inches long, and as big in diameter as a mountain bike tire. I am not a fan of snakes, so needless to say, this too creeped me out! If I had been mowing, this snake would have been a dead one as well.

THEN, yes a big then is very necessary for this one, THEN a playful Black Bear cub came wandering out of the woods! I nearly had a coronary, but as I stated before the heart is still good, and the will to live even better! I stopped, we looked at each other for a second, and I asked Kert what we should do next. Kert turned back downhill, and said he may not eat me, but I don't want your blood on my conscious, or my mangled frame. Kert is such a loser sometimes, but I love him, he's the most awesome bike I've ever had! At that point I prayed that the cubs mother was somewhere far enough away to give me a shot at a forty (40) mph downhill. I don't think that a Black Bear can run that fast, and even if they can, I am skinny enough to hopefully be a waste of time for one to expend that much energy. The playful cub then ran up the mountain side, and watched me from the ridge top. I was thankful that he observed from a distance, and all alone.

The ride in the the Blue Ridge mountains are beautiful. The Parkways dark tunnels, the views down into the valleys below, the mountain tops, it's so serene, and peaceful, that it truly leaves you with a sense being just a mile below heaven. I was in a head down, keep spinning, groove when I took a quick I look up and just at a glimpse noticed something round the curve slightly ahead of me. My initial thought, "Oh great what now, a rabid coyote!?" But this time it was a rider, and he was on the same quest. He too had his family trailing him, and was fighting to stay hydrated as well. He told me later that the last twenty-five (25) miles of the Assault from Hwy 80 up to Hwy 128 were much tougher than the seventy-five (75) miles from Greenville to Marion. After the climb to the summit, I am inclined to believe him! I also met a rider from Florida that said the same. He didn't like the decent as much. He said, "You don't have drops, and mountains like this where I'm from!" I am a downhill junkie myself! fifty (50) mph and more if I can get it!

The fire tower is a welcome sight. You know you have one last downhill after the watch tower, and that you are getting ever so close to THE mountain top.

I had finally arrived! I could see the sign for the State Park, and my heart went from a heavy beat to a flutter! Knowing that I was only three and half miles, or roughly just under four miles away from the top was encouraging. On the flip side knowing that my quads had started to tighten, and nearly seize after the twenty-eighth mile were a slight discouragement. I honestly didn't know that I would be able to climb Hwy 128 to the summit. My middle son, looked out the window and said, "You can do it!" I can't begin to tell you how that hit my heart! My wife was also yelling out encouraging words, "Come on old man!" Not really, she may have inside, but she yelled out, "You can do it baby!" My baby girl in the back seat yelling, "GO DADDY GO!" I knew at that point the only thing that would keep me from the top was the Rapture really taking place, or my legs just completely seizing up, and not churning the cranks to push me to the top. I would not quit, and would simply not turn back. The quads knotted, the hamstrings knotted, and I chugged a Strawberry Gatorade, and just kept pushing! I am one blessed fella to have a family stick behind me, and encourage the old man, to push to the finish. A twenty miler on Sunday is possible, but it will not involve a gradual three thousand foot gain! To God for sparing me one last climb, hopefully the first of many, to my family, to all cyclist, and my boy Kert, and Trek Bicycles, this blogs for you!

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