![]() It was wet, muddy in places and pretty rocky in some parts. ![]() ![]() It was motivating to pass several riders who had to walk when it got steep.Īnd the downhill in this part of the course got spicy (my fav!). Ultimately the Union Springs to Reddish Knob climbing was pretty tame for us. Oh and of course I didn’t notice one of my (newly replaced) Handup Gloves gloves fell out of my pocket (glad I had 2 spare pairs since it was supposed to rain). I got so sick of taking things off and putting them back on, packing and repacking them. This was the beginning of the ride of a thousand wardrobe changes. But since it was pretty warm, you also don’t want to get too wet from sweating. Temps were predicted to get into the 30s at night so you don’t want to be wet when it’s dark and cold. The temperatures were nice at this point, but it was important not to get too wet this early in the ride. Was definitely hoping it was allergies given what I was about to do the next 2 days.īonus: this gas station had biscuits so we each bought one so we could eat breakfast at the top of Reddish Knob at mile 35 (which meant 12-17 miles of climbing from the bottom of Union Springs).Īs predicted, it started raining as we started climbing. I felt so warm I was a bit worried I had a low grade fever. Plus, my headache was so bad that I bought some NSAIDs to take, which meant I was really desperate to feel better.Īt this point I couldn’t quite decide if it was severe allergies or potential illness. We had no plans of stopping at the gas station 14 miles in, but Monica had to pee and I’m fine not turning down a toilet. And we had A TON of climbing ahead of us.Īfter telling Monica, “nothing like trying to nurse yourself back to health at the start of the ride” we saw a couple tandem riders, one even had a trailer! Nothing more inspiring than seeing a tandem on a big ride, and one rider helped me smile again with their “it’s tandemonium!” while we cheered them on. I did manage a smile and tons of hope as one rider quoted one of my fav AC/DC songs to me, “remember, it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll”…I actually get this song in my head a lot while climbing on the bike. So I was a little quiet at the start, even though we ran into a couple friends before the depart and while riding. Besides an empty stomach, I also had a gigantic headache that made me feel a little nauseated. I ate a pack of peanut butter crackers as we rolled out. ![]() Oh well, we rolled anyway and would have to figure out something else for breakfast (because our hotel didnt have breakfast until after 6 a.m.). Unfortunately Black Sheep Coffee was slammed with fellow Grand Depart riders so the biscuits we preordered and paid for were not ready by 7 a.m. so we could drop Monica’s car off and ride to the start by 6:15 a.m. Saturday morning’s wake up call was 5:30 a.m. That way we could make final packing decisions in the comfort of our hotel room. We dropped my truck off in Roanoke and ordered Longhorn to go for dinner once we got to Harrisonburg. Monica Desjardins and I each drove on Friday to Virginia so we could shuttle ourselves between Harrisonburg and Roanoke on our own schedule (vs. Here’s the play-by-play of the RockStar Gravel Challenge (250mi/27k ft of climbing from Harrisonburg to Roanoke, VA).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |