Country Roads Ride 2012

After all the time and miles logged in the saddle the time has finally come for the Country Roads Ride 2012! After posting on Friday about what I was looking forward to I got there and discovered they had changed the route for 2012. It used to be called the Country Road 150 and this year it was all that and more. OK, only four miles more but still...

Day 1 went really well. The weather was in a good mood with the ride starting in the 60's and the high for the day only getting to 80. After all the really hot weather we've had this summer that was a real relief. The new route added a loop through the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. This what the big dish there usually looks like on the ride.

This is what it looks like on the new route. That's one big ass satellite dish. I don't know how many channels they get with that thing but they definitely must get all the HBO and Showtime channels.

It gets all the channels!

If you're curious how the battle with my personal demon I mentioned before went, I smacked that thing around like nobodies business. It turns out the thing is an 11% grade. Right before you get to it the ride organizers put a sign that read, Breathe. Yeah, right. Thanks for that advice.

I had been working on my on road nutrition and hydration on my training rides and it worked out perfectly for me which is kind of unusual. Normally I would have everything go smoothly in training and puke my guts out on the day. I ate a Clif Bar every hour and downed a GU gel on the half hour. That combined with 3 water bottles filled with water plus a Nuun tablet kept me on the road and out of the rest stations. I only had to stop at 49 miles to refill my bottles, grab a banana, and get back on the road. I like riding that way for this event for some reason. Maybe just to get it over with.

I read once that when your resolve begins to crumble during an endurance event it's called the beast. Letting the beast visit helps to learn how the chain that critter. On Day 1 for no apparent reason at about mile 45 the beast whispered in my ear that I should quit. "Just wait for the sag wagon," it said. My brain and body responded with, "Shut the hell up and put on some big boy pants you wuss." The beast slinked away and I never heard from it again. Guess my countermeasures are getting more effective.

The drive to the top of the mountain, by car mind you, just reenforced that I will never ride to the top of Snowshoe from Cass. It's 10 additional miles with a hill from hell that only gets worse as you go. Plus, my beautiful wife who is my also my road crew gladly drives me to the top. Prior to the drive up I picked up the usual post ride chocolate milk and a couple bags of ice for the dreaded ice bath (which really seemed to help despite the shrinkage).

Taken by my wife while I laid in bed trying not to seize up. I'm not this artistic.

The forecast for the weekend was sunny and warm so, of course, it was raining and cool on Day 2. I decided to bring my rain jacket just in case I got chilly so I basically rode all day carrying a soggy, heavy coat I never put on. Carrying 3 water bottles, all the GU and Clif Bars, a tube of Nuun tabs, plus a spare tube is my jersey just wasn't enough weight.

The miles always seem to roll along easily on Day 2 probably because I'm too tired to notice much. I cruised up the first few climbs without a whole lot of trouble. I did discover that the other side of that 11% climb is also 11%. Consistency is important in steep climbs. 

View from the top of the big climb

 

Day 2 takes a slightly different route back where they give you this awesome 12 mile climb from Huntersville up into the area around Watoga State Park. The lunch stop at the Rimel campground is roughly in the middle section of this climb which is awesome if you stop, which I don't. As much as I might complain about the climbs on this ride it's what makes it such a great time. You have plenty of time to hammer downhill and have enough climbs to see how much you can push yourself.

As always it was a great time on the Country Roads Ride. The ride is a fantastic experience every year. Great support, great rest stops, great post Day 1 meal, and more cow bell (you just have to be there to understand that part). Even with the longer course and the less than optimal weather on Day 2 it was an incredible ride again. So when someone asks what I did this weekend I can say: 154.02 miles, 10 hours and 47 minutes in the saddle, gained 5,420 ft of elevation, and burned in the neighborhood of 8,864 calories. I guess you could say a good time was had by all.

Since it was raining at the start I didn't take my Iphone with me so there's no pics from the ride today. You'll just have to make due with me holding my finishers medal to prove I made it back to the Greenbrier.

Over the mountains and through the...mountains

As you may know, I'm not what you call a goal oriented person. I'm more of an imagineer. I think of really big things with no idea how to go about getting them done. Well, I might have an idea about getting it done but then I'm probably going about solving the issue completely the wrong way. Amazingly, it turns out that I am goal oriented person when it comes to exercise related things. I like having a reason for the sweat I'm pouring out all over the place. I like having a reason during this drought to water plants along the trails I run on.

Every summer my training (a phrase I use very loosely) ramps up for the Country Roads ride that benefits the National MS Society. The ride is really well run with frequent aid stations that are well stocked with eats, treats, and fluids galore. They have fantastic road support and a sag wagon (that I'll hopefully never have to use). The ride begins at the famous Greenbrier Resort and winds through the valleys up to Cass at the base of Snowshoe Mountain. You can, of course, ride up to the top from Cass but that seems downright crazy to me. My wife is always waiting at the bottom with a perfectly good car that has a passenger seat with my name on it. I suppose that some day I'll give it a try...yeah right.

 The charity ride helps to give me focus for the rides during the long, hot summer. On those days when I really, really don't want to do anything that will make me sweat anymore than I already have I think of those last few climbs on Day 1. The ride is 67.75 miles long with a total of four category 5 climbs. Two of these come after mile 54. One is only 1.2 miles long at a 2.3% grade. The other is a mere 1.68 miles long at a grade of 3.5%. That may not sound like much but at that point in my day you might as well ask me to climb Mt Everest in the dark, naked, carrying my bike. The worst part is the one hill that is too short to be categorized. It has a sharp turn to the right at the top which makes it look much longer than it really is. Last year I couldn't push the pedals down any more and walked to the top. This year I will conquer that climb like my own personal demon!

I always pretend that I'm a real athlete after I finish my ride and go soak in a cold water bath that supposedly helps my muscles recover by constricting blood flow, flushing out lactic acid, and reducing swelling (shrinking them, along with other things). Then I take a long, tear-filled hot shower to stop all the shivering and shrinking. 

What I'd look like if I had muscles...and was a woman...

Day 2 only has one categorized climb which is a 4. It's 2.24 miles long at a 2.7% grade. That's a short version of a local climb I do frequently so it's not too bad. Except for that whole having ridden 68 miles the day before thing. And, on top of that we take a slightly different route back, which is longer. Yeah, longer. It's all for charity so it must be worth it. It's all in your perception. I remember last year when I hit the last aid station for a banana and a refill on Gatorade. One of the workers told me not to worry because there were only 3 hills level then I'd roll into the town of Cass. As I climbed the 7^th hill after the aid station I remember choosing some choice words to describe him and realized that one person's perception of a hill who had been driving around in a car all day can be so radically different from someone who has spent five hours in the saddle of a road bike on the same roads.

So, it's Friday night the packing is almost done and I leave at 5:30 am for the drive to White Sulphur Springs. I've picked my favorite jerseys, packed my favorite vegetarian foods for breakfast on Sunday, and tossed some Ibebrokens in my bag just in case. Wish me luck and think good thoughts Saturday and Sunday morning as I cycle my way through the mountains of West Virginia!

Have you ever run a charity ride or run?

What did you think of the experience?