Relentless - Marshal 57 miles

Saturday May 21 Dan Wolfe and I met up in Marshall VA to tackle the very difficult Blue Ridge Mountain Road and then some to be a tune-up for next weeks Mountains of Misery (MOM) century.  We arrived around 9am and off we went on Rectortown Road.

The beginning of the ride is rolling hills that aren't too bad.  However, the route does not let you warm up much so you're climbing right out of the gate.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the country side is impressive, although I stopped noticing later in the ride.

Snickersville Turnpike is 20 miles into the ride.  We took a short break to power up and rest because we both knew what was coming.  Snickersville is quite a climb just getting up to RT 17 and then Blue Ridge Mountain Road.  This is a daunting task and it really is pretty difficult.  You can read this post about an earlier ride on the Blue Ridge Mtn BRM Ride.

We made it the length of BRM (~11 miles) with one relentless hill after another.  The difference with this ride is we took a different route than last time which added multiple climbs after BRM.  We re-filled and had a quick lunch outside the Ashby Inn in Paris.  It's a cute place.

Route 688 was next and the climbs there were difficult, perhaps more mental than physical ... but that is hard to imagine.  Coming around the corners just made me want to cry.  It can be a difficult thing not to panic during these climbs.  I'm tired, sore, and just don't want to tackle another hill.  The mental toughness plays a huge part.  This was only about mile 40 of the ride.

The next 17 miles included a couple more climbs, one of which was unnecessary.  We missed a turn and unfortunately this led us up a big hill.  On the flip-side, we turned around and got to go down it.  I didn't remember it being that big ... it was huge.  Fast fast fast downhill.  I hit a new land speed record on an earlier hill with 46mph.  I may have been able to make 50mph, but I was way out of my comfort zone and started braking.  46mph on a bike through narrow winding country roads is exciting and very scary.

I am happy to say it was a successful prelude to the MOM ride later this week.  I can't imagine MOM being any harder, just a little longer.

Many miles ahead,
K-Lance

Stats
Ride Time: 3 hrs 55 mins
Distance: 57 miles
Avg speed: 14 mph
Max speed: 46 mph

Posted in: bike