Since I ran yesterday, I had to bike today, but most people do their long rides on Saturdays, so I had trouble finding people to ride with. Luckily, my friend Dale and his friend Scott were up for 40ish miles to the Flat Rock Bakery with a lot of climbing via Mt. Olivet, but I still wanted to do a bit more than that, especially since I've got the Roan Moan century on the calendar for 2 weeks from yesterday. I was a few minutes early getting to the start and they were a few minutes late, so I was able to fit in about 9 before we started up the watershed. It was a pleasantly cool morning considering that the high today was in the 90s, and a nice ride up the watershed. Mt. Olivet was longer and harder than I remembered, but finally we made it to the top, then meandered around on Pinnacle Mountain Rd back to 225 (remind me never to do that descent again) and up to the bakery. At the bakery I got a yummy tartlette thing with kale and peppers and potatoes to eat then and an almond croissant for post-ride refueling and we headed back down the mountain. We got back to the cars after around 45 miles (for me) and I headed out to add on a few more. I remembered some people talking about sunflowers on the Ride with George and I figured we must have missed that part when we got lost, so I decided to try to find them.
Success!
After that I found my way back around to Banks Rd to try that climb again. This time I made up the first 2 steep parts, but barely. After my run yesterday and the 57 miles of biking I had already done, my legs were too tired and I decided to walk the last little bit to the top. I think I'll have to go back with fresher legs one day this summer. :)
All in all, 65 miles with 5000 feet of climbing. Not a bad day!
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2999641
No comments:
Post a Comment