Blood, Sweat & Gears

WOW!!!
What an awesome ride. I was feeling better than I have ever felt for a ride or run. I went out to meet and ride with a couple of friends from the club. Unfortunately we weren't able to get together before the ride so I figured that we would meet on the course. I started out almost at the back of the 1200 riders, hoping that my size and training would allow me to catch up to them. After a rather slow start, I decided to pick up the pace a bit and keep it up until I hit the hills or caught one of my friends. I ended up catching up to Sean about 10 minutes into the ride and eased up some. I was content with riding with him until the end. We settled into a good pace and on the flats and in the hills. About half way up the hill we caught up to Larry, who wasn't doing so hot. He was lightheaded and his pulse was HIGH. I stopped with him for a while to see if he might feel better and keep going, but he wisely decided to call it a day and head back down the hill. I, on the other hand, had been back there quite a while and would have a long road ahead of me to catch back up to Sean. Sean isn't fast but he has the power and stamina to keep going and going up the climbs, so I figured I would catch him, it was just a matter of time. Once I did we rode together to the finish. I had a fairly easy ride. Cruising up the hills at such an easy pace that I didn't ever come out of the big ring. Speaking of the hills, there were over 23 miles of climbing and most of it was constant, just climb, climb, climb. The climbs were great and the decents were something else. I couldn't beleive the speed that we were getting coming down some of those hills. I wasn't too hot on those descents especially the finally. The road was winding and it had some sharp turns. We had to hold the breaks most of the time and by the finish our hands and feet were cramped just from trying to hold the bikes upright thru the turns.

So, in a word the BSG was just GREAT. I had a Super Great time and ride. Next up is the Tour de Gaps in Mt Airy(23 Aug). 50 miles and another 5k of climbing. But first I have to go to Fayetteville for a couple of weeks. At least I'll get a few rolling climbs in while I'm there.

'Til next time . . .
Ride On!
-Super Dave