'The Two Hour Ride'
I went on a great little road ride today:
From W. Asheville->Biltmore Forest->Blue Ridge Parkway->Town Mountain Road->Downtown->Clingman back to W Asheville.
28.5 miles, 3830' climbing.
I decided to head out around 2PM. I called Erinna so someone would know where I was going to be and she knew exactly what I meant when I said 'The Two Hour Ride'. Right from the get-go I was feeling pretty good so by the time I got to Biltmore Forest I was ready to hammer. That stretch is always longer than expected but I still felt like I made good tim through there. It was a beautiful Fall day, temps in the 60's, strong breezes, a cloudless sky, and leaves *almost* at their peak color. Next was the Blue Ridge Parkway headed North. Everytime I stood up on the bike it made a click click click sound but I put in (what felt like) a heavy duty pace all the way to Rt70. After crossing the Swannanoa River I knew waht was next.... I mean come on..... rivers aren't at the TOP of mountains, now are they? By the time I got to the overlook I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest and run away screaming He's Crazy! He's Crazy! So about 100 yards later I took a break. A few deep breaths and a drink of water later my heartrate was back down into the lower 200's so I peddled off up up up to Craven's Gap. Once you've done a route a few times (and you don't use a computer) you find landmarks that let you know how close you are... or how far you are.... from the top. I sure was happy to see the 'beware of sudden icing' sign because a little more up, then a nice relaxing down later, I was at the gap. upupupupupup one more time and then the fun had begun .... downhill all the way back to downtown Asheville. I had one car pass me up at the top but other than that I had the downhill lane all to myself. I pushed HARD at the bottom and came flying into the final big swoopy turn so fast..... the bike was leaned over so far.... oh...man.... I passed the road of death (where drivers can't see you swooping through that turn at 45mph).... and looked up and saw the downtown skyline, with the mountains behind, still traveling at 30+, and thought to myself.... I'm so thankful to be here.... and to able to do this. A quick jaunt through downtown was next, followed by one more climb from the French Broad River back up to W. Asheville, and I was done.
Oh, and time from start to finish? 1:55
From W. Asheville->Biltmore Forest->Blue Ridge Parkway->Town Mountain Road->Downtown->Clingman back to W Asheville.
28.5 miles, 3830' climbing.
I decided to head out around 2PM. I called Erinna so someone would know where I was going to be and she knew exactly what I meant when I said 'The Two Hour Ride'. Right from the get-go I was feeling pretty good so by the time I got to Biltmore Forest I was ready to hammer. That stretch is always longer than expected but I still felt like I made good tim through there. It was a beautiful Fall day, temps in the 60's, strong breezes, a cloudless sky, and leaves *almost* at their peak color. Next was the Blue Ridge Parkway headed North. Everytime I stood up on the bike it made a click click click sound but I put in (what felt like) a heavy duty pace all the way to Rt70. After crossing the Swannanoa River I knew waht was next.... I mean come on..... rivers aren't at the TOP of mountains, now are they? By the time I got to the overlook I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest and run away screaming He's Crazy! He's Crazy! So about 100 yards later I took a break. A few deep breaths and a drink of water later my heartrate was back down into the lower 200's so I peddled off up up up to Craven's Gap. Once you've done a route a few times (and you don't use a computer) you find landmarks that let you know how close you are... or how far you are.... from the top. I sure was happy to see the 'beware of sudden icing' sign because a little more up, then a nice relaxing down later, I was at the gap. upupupupupup one more time and then the fun had begun .... downhill all the way back to downtown Asheville. I had one car pass me up at the top but other than that I had the downhill lane all to myself. I pushed HARD at the bottom and came flying into the final big swoopy turn so fast..... the bike was leaned over so far.... oh...man.... I passed the road of death (where drivers can't see you swooping through that turn at 45mph).... and looked up and saw the downtown skyline, with the mountains behind, still traveling at 30+, and thought to myself.... I'm so thankful to be here.... and to able to do this. A quick jaunt through downtown was next, followed by one more climb from the French Broad River back up to W. Asheville, and I was done.
Oh, and time from start to finish? 1:55
