Today is a big day. This day marks 2 weeks before our departure. According to our training plan this is the last long mileage / hours weekend before we head out (apparently I was wrong about this last week!). For the next two weeks, we'll be tapering to allow our bodies some recovery time before we really hit it hard.
In the last few days, I've had some great rides. Thursday evening, I met up with Gavin and Perry's son Taylor for a little jaunt up and over Altamont Road on Paris Mountain. It was a very straightforward out and back route that I have ridden numerous times. We did the optional climb on Lake Circle Drive and up to the towers before crossing the summit. It's always fun on the descent down the Furman side. At the bottom I turned around and checked my time. I was well rested and thought it would be a good time to see about a personal best on the ascent.
I quickly passed Gavin and Taylor. I was finding my little climbing zone and they weren't in it. I felt really good going past the water tower. There is a steep(er) section there and sometimes if I'm not feeling it, it drags me down. It didn't this time. In more than one spot I kicked up a gear (in one spot I kicked up several gears) to carry as much speed as I could. I pushed through the wall and checked my time - 13:20. This is my best so far. I'm very pleased about that. Our total mileage for the ride was just over 22 miles.
Yesterday, I decided to start with the Sunshine Bike Shop Hour of Power ride. This is a fun ride that ends up being about 30 miles. Usually, several members of the Piedmont Orthopedic Associates squad shows up to this ride. I never really have had a chance against those guys (in the sprints), but I was interested in pitting myself against them after all this riding I've been doing (it's a relative thing right - how far back from them would I be this time?). Unfortunately for me, they were out enjoying their last big event of the year, so none of them showed.
There was a number of regulars who always turn out a good performance. Most notably, Tyler and Art. Phillippe, A co-worker I had recently met was also there along with about 7 other riders. I was very pleased with this portion of my ride. In the sprint zones, I was right up there with Tyler and Phillippe (who is very strong) and Art. At the rock quarry, Phillippe showed how strong he really is by just motoring away from all of us. We had no chance to catch him.
After the Hour of Power ride, I headed up over Paris Mt again. Just past the CVS, I pulled over to check on a fellow rider and saw that it was my buddy Steve. My plan was not to ride too aggressively, so I decided to ride with him. We tacked on about 23 miles together, then the final 3 I rode home. The total on the day was 56 miles.
Last night, I was looking for someone to ride with, but alas, no-one responded positively. I decided then to go ahead with my plan to climb Caesar's Head. However with one small modification - I would ride directly from home rather than starting from Furman. I thought this would add about 20 miles to the total distance.
The great part about the route I would travel is it included three of my favorite climbs - Altamont Rd from the State Park side, Caesar's Head and Altamont Road from the Furman side. My goal was to just have a fun ride. I knew I wouldn't be setting any personal records as I generally ride a fair bit slower when I am by myself - especially on a longer ride.
I finally got out of the house at about 10 till 8. This was a bit later than I had planned, but the bike did need some maintenance and I had not done that the previous night. It was a great morning, albeit a little cool. I started off with my bib shorts, a jersey, arm warmers and the C3 wind vest. I was a little cool for a lot longer on the ride than I thought I would be. I think I would have been comfortable with my long fingered gloves.
I really enjoyed the ride up the State Park side of Altamont road. I pushed a little, but not near as hard as I have done in the past. I found out it is just about 11 miles to Furman from my house by this route. I didn't actually go onto the campus though, I went straight along New Roe Ford Road.
From there, I pretty much took the route we intended the first time I climbed Caesar's Head. It is really beautiful countryside with very little traffic. I had my new camera, so I had to take some photos to test it out....Ok, I'll have to download additional photos later, but here is the obligatory shot at the state park sign.
I checked my time at the base of the climb so I could see how fast I might climb today. I really wasn't feeling it, but part of that is because I didn't have anyone pushing me up the hill. I was surprised though, I still did the climb in about 45 minutes and 30 seconds. I felt good about that.
I took a break to eat half a clif bar and fill my bottles. Then I re-traced my route back to the house. Once you cross Hwy 11, it really is just rolling hills all the way back to Altamont road, but I was not pushing hard. I know I'll have to do better with my nutrition on the ride to Austin. although I did not bonk, I did put my body in energy conservation mode. I spun to take advantage of any downhill and pull my average speed up, but on the uphills, I really didn't push at all. I just kept clicking down on the gears until I had a nice cadence.
I made it to the Furman side of Altamont road, and I knew I was going to be slow. I was so slow in fact that I added about 50% more time to the personal best I set just a couple of days ago! It was good though, just grinding out the climb with a reasonable respiration rate and I'm sure a reasonable heart rate.
I finished up the ride home and looked at the clock on my cyclocomputer. It showed an elapsed time of 5h50m. It also showed a ride time of 5h8m. That means I spent about 42 minutes stopped. Hmmm, I'll have to improve on that. Finally, it showed a total distance of 75.9 miles. This little experience has shown me that even working together as a team, my Polka-dot team-mates and I are going to have a big challenge to travel significant distances in a 6 hour shift!
To put you in the right mood for this blog, go ahead and let this video load. Just as it did when I rode the Assault on Mt. Mitchell earlier this year, The Eagles 'Hotel California' was running through my brain as I climbed up Caesar's Head today - Specifically, when home-boy starts up with the double necked guitar - that guitar riff is what is running through my head on a nice long climb.
It was a great ride. Courtney, Gavin, Perry, Taylor and I talked about doing a ride as we were having dinner after Tuesday's ride. Perry had suggested the climb up Caesar's Head. I knew I could not miss this opportunity as I had yet to make this climb. I checked my schedule at work and decided I could afford to take a vacation day to do this ride.
As you know from my last blog, I love climbing so for me this was going to be heaven. Others might think it a bit hellish. What better way to get a good climbing fix than to get out and do Hwy 276 up to the State Park. Perry wanted something around 50 miles and I thought I could put together a route that would give us just under 60 miles out and back to Caesar's Head.
Earlier this year, I had done the Greenville Spinner's 'First Fifty' and had a great time. I knew this route took us right to the base of the climb so I searched mapmyride to find the route - labeled here as the Final Fifty.
We met at the Publix parking lot (off old buncombe road, near Furman) at 8am and headed out shortly after. We cut through the Furman Campus and picked up the route. We weren't looking to set any records getting to the base of the climb, so we rolled along at a comfortable pace. The Upstate is a beautiful place, and this route takes you along some very beautiful rolling countryside dotted with some very incredible houses.
As we rode along, I was looking for the route markings that we used on that ride earlier this year. I thought I saw some faded orange hand-painted arrows I recognized and they were sending us along the planned route so I didn't argue. When we got to Hunt's Bridge Road, the hand painted arrows told us to bear right, but the planned route actually should have beared left. I followed the arrows and this got us into a slight detour.
When Hunt's Bridge intersected with Earls Bridge Road we did a stop for a map check. Our que sheet said to turn right on Earls Bridge Road, so we did. Unfortunately, this turned out to take us about 6 miles out of our way. Of course we didn't realize how far out of our way until we were headed back. Not a major problem, as we were able to get back on route easily enough.
We followed Pace Bridge road to cross over Hwy 288 and link up with Marked Beech Road. This took us to Moody Bridge Road and across to Pleasant Grove road. The views of the mountains from this road are truly spectacular and today was an exceptionally clear day. Someone had even painted 'WOW' on the road to wake up those cyclists who might not be taking a look around.
This road connected us to Hwy 11 and we made a SAG stop at the EXXON station. We all topped off our water bottles and had a little snack. We were now at the base of the climb and we were all looking forward to it. Instead of turning right on Hwy 11 and then left on 276, we went straight across Hwy 11 and connected some roads to put us on Hwy 8 just below it's intersection with Hwy 276.
As we made the left turn from Table Rock Road I checked the time on my computer. It showed 10:35am. This was our marker for the climb. As we started up the climb, Taylor's youth and enthusiasm had him going off the front. Even after we made the left turn onto Hwy 276, he stayed out front for a little while.
It was well understood that all of us would make the climb at our own pace. I was surprised at Taylor's early push. I did my best to ignore it so I could find my own pace. It was about this time when the guitar riff started up in my head. It seems that my pedaling pace and the time of that song fit well together. At least in my head they do.
Soon, I was on Taylor's wheel, and shortly after that I went around him. I had found my zone and the Eagles were my soundtrack. I know I was pushing myself, but I'm not sure if I was going as hard as I could. I have driven this road countless times, but this was my first time to climb it on my bike. It felt good and I was very happy to be there. However, although I knew the road from a vehicle standpoint, it is very different when I'm the horsepower (or the BillyGoat power as the case may be ;). I know I was keeping something in reserve - especially early in the climb. I didn't want to blow up.
A few miles up the Hwy, there is a pull off next to a little bald that offers a great view. I was feeling good as I passed this spot and I looked back and could still see someone (not positive but I think it was Perry). I tried to forget about competition and just ride for myself. Although that is a difficult thing to do, I think Don Henley and his boys allowed me to forget about competition and just keep with my rhythm.
About half way up, there is a false flat. I tried to keep my cadence solid and ended up shifting up to the big ring for a while. I still was holding a little in reserve - I think I missed the sign that says 'Caesar's Head - 4 miles'. I really only knew where I was because of my familiarity with the road.
As I neared the top and got into the switchbacks, I knew I was getting close. I tried not to dwell on the elapsed time, but I could see that I was making good time. After the switchbacks, there is a restaurant (not sure if it is still open or not), but it came into my view just after I passed the 40 minute mark. I felt good that I should make the visitor's center in under 45 minutes.
As I came upon the sign showing 1000 feet to the park entrance, I was still only at about 41/42 minutes (I was using only the clock with hour:minute so I could only be accurate to about 1/2 minute). I gave it a strong push and crossed the entrance at what I have to call 43 minutes (it could have been less if I had a more accurate time measurement, but it wasn't, so I am taking 43 instead of something less). I did a short cool down lap through the parking lot and went to the end of the parking lot to cheer everyone else on.
Soon, Perry came into view. He was pushing hard for the last bit and he crossed the line at 47 minutes. He came back to join me and we talked briefly about who was coming next. Courtney is a strong climber, but Taylor is an unknown. He has only been riding for a short time but has proven himself to be quite capable. Perry said the last time he saw anyone behind him, it was Taylor. Unless Courtney or Gavin caught and passed him, he would be next.
Sure enough, just a few minutes after Perry's arrival, Taylor came into view. We cheered him on and he gave a good push up to the entrance at a time of 50 minutes. Our little cheering party was now 3 strong and we didn't have to wait long before Courtney came into view. We yelled our encouragement and she pushed across the line at 53 minutes.
Gavin would be our rear guard for this climb. We couldn't know how he was doing on this climb, but he has proven himself a strong rider in the several weeks we have known him. As I watched my clock, the 60 minute mark was creeping up on him. At about 57 minutes (by my clock), he came into view. We yelled encouragement and he began his final push. I had one eye on my clock and the other on him. My clock had switched over to 11:34 shortly before he crossed the line. I marked him at 59 minutes, but he had also tracked his time and he had himself clocked at something under 59 minutes. He earned it, so he get's the 58 minutes as his climbing time.
We took a nice break at the visitor's center, refilled our bottles and had a snack before we started our way back. Gavin and I led the pack on the descent - we had a great time. I'm still trying to get a good feel for how much I can throw the bicycle around through fast turns. A 20 lb (or whatever it weighs) bike is a lot different than a 400lb motorcycle in how much 'throwing' you can do. It was fun and I reached a top speed of 44mph.
We re-traced our route back to the Exxon, and took another quick break. From there, the ride back was as beautiful as the ride out. As usual on a moderate distance ride, we were all a little quiet - well, except for Courtney. She started belting out 'The final Countdown'. It was awesome! It gave us a boost when we needed it. Obviously, she was feeling good about the climb. I think all of us were feeling really good about it as well. Since I'm in a youtube mood, I had to find this song for Courtney - so, here's the video. I've selected this particular one because of what she does for a living....
However cool it is to watch those guys, I have to post this one as well - dig that big hair!
I took a little more care with the map on the way back and trimmed off the 6 extra miles we did on the way out. We finished up at 66 miles. A few miles more than intended, but none-the-less a great ride. Topped off by a great lunch at Kerrie's Deli and Pub.
So, along with my fellow riders, I also have to Thank the Eagles. After all, they provided today's soundtrack for a great climb that was indeed heaven.
I checked my time at the base of the climb so I could see how fast I might climb today. I really wasn't feeling it, but part of that is because I didn't have anyone pushing me up the hill. I was surprised though, I still did the climb in about 45 minutes and 30 seconds. I felt good about that. 
