[JimF22003]

I can always put ’em back on I guess. I don’t guess anything will make the bike feel as light as a road bike.

[JimF22003]

340 is legal, but not fun. I have done all of this and lived:

340 West from 180 to the official left turn onto Keep Tryst Road
340 West from 180 , hopped the median where the access point to the Appalachian Trail crosses (CAREFUL, ZOIKS!), to the other end of Keep Tryst Road

Rohersvile (67) south to 340, then East to 180 towards Brunswick
I THINK I followed a cue one time that put me on Valley Road running south parallel to Rohersville, but I can’t remember. It was a Potomac Pedalers cue you might be able to find.

–Jim F.

[JimF22003]

If you want to go even further afield, and you’re looking for bike path stuff, I recommend the Trail of the Coeur d’alenes in Northern Idaho. Lovely pavement and beautiful scenery, almost no hills. If you’re lucky (like I was this summer) you’ll see the moose outside of Cataldo (and be sure to detour to see the Cataldo Mission as well)

http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/trail-coeur-d-alenes
http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/coeur-d-alenes-old-mission

[JimF22003]

I didn’t have any formal goals for this year. In 2012 I had some serious medical issues that kept me off the bike for 2 months in the middle of the summer, so anything would have been better than that.

Counting today’s ride I have 9653 miles for the year, and have done 34 century rides. Did my longest single-day ride @139 miles.

[JimF22003]

@PeteD 73071 wrote:

Two big goals: I do plan on riding Skyline drive over two days, southbound on a Saturday, and Northbound the next Sunday. And actually riding my bike and not walking up Coxey Brown Rd.

One variation of the Skyline trip I’ve done a couple of times is to start in the middle at Big Meadows. Go to one end or the other on Saturday, and then go to the other end and back on Sunday. You can either camp on Saturday night or wimp out like I did and take a “rustic” cabin. Because there’s not much on the south end where Skyline meets the Blue Ridge Parkway except for the defunct Howard Johnsons, you might need to ride down into Waynesboro. That makes the south “half” about 112 miles. I usually do that one on Saturday, and do the north half on Sunday.

Oh, and Coxey Brown puts the “F” in the OMGWTF ride, eh?

[JimF22003]

@Jason B 73029 wrote:

Zoinks, didn’t realize Mountains of Misery was a double metric!!

That’s optional. You still get the “Finisher” shirt if you “only” do the 104-miler

[JimF22003]

@Jason B 72912 wrote:

Funny, I just became dehydrated and out of breath.
Now, you have posted some beastly rides on the site. Add some of your worst to the list. I thought I read before you did Misery. How bad is it?

It’s pretty bad Actually it’s a pretty normal hilly century mostly, except for three sections. At about mile 60 you have a medium-length but very steep climb out of Maggie Valley. At about 85 or so you have a little side-loop that takes a bunch of very steep non-stop rollers for 5 miles or so. Then to finish off, after mile 100 or so you have the final climb up to Mountain Lake. Supposedly this average 11.9% or so for the last four miles, but there are some much steeper sections in there.

I’ve done it four times. The third time I had to walk the last half mile to the top.

You have to commit to it early, because it sells out and you need to sign up right away when they open registration. I am probably not going to do it this year.

But I say that every year

The only other really hard organized ride I’ve done is Mountain Mamas out of Monterey, West of Staunton. Maybe harder than MoM because it has more, longer climbs. That last descent into Monterey makes it worth it.

Edited: Oops I forgot Storming of Thunder Ridge out of Lynchburg. This comes before MoM and makes a nice “warmup” ride. It includes the section on the Blue Ridge Parkway that goes from the lowest point to the highest point in Virginia, over about 15 miles, from 700 ft. to just above 4000 ft. Not steep, but relentless. Very good organization too.

[JimF22003]

@Jason B 72864 wrote:

SkyMass is doable, and probably one of my favorite rides, but it is damn hard. It is easy to forget how hard it is because it is such a nice ride. But climbing up Mass waiting for that damn cabin on the right is a death march.

This one?

[JimF22003]

My evil twin sometimes wishes they would pave over the Colonial Parkway AND the C&O Canal towpath with nice, smooth asphalt.

Not me though.

[JimF22003]

@rcannon100 72731 wrote:

Is it possible for a Garmin to laugh at you???

Happens to me all the time. I have the “auto pause” set for “when stopped.” Damn thing likes to auto-pause on me when I’m slowly crawling up a hill…

[JimF22003]

P.S. I’m a “north up” guy on the map, and not a “track up” guy. I like the subtle sense of confusion I get when I think I’m heading one way, and the map tells me I’m nuts…

[JimF22003]

Nice!

I max out the first page, including temps, elevation, total ascent, grade, heading etc., and then don’t use any of the other pages.

I need to use bifocals in order to read the tiny little print though…

[JimF22003]

Lots of fun on the ride today, until I broke a spoke after about 60 miles (I rode 15 from home to get to the start.)

I wasn’t too terribly sad having a good excuse not to make one more d*** loop, I must say

[JimF22003]

Looks like you’ve discovered the joy that is the W&OD trail

The stretch from Hunter Mill back into Vienna is kind of a steady 1-2% upgrade. It’s really a false flat, but it can surprise you if you’re expecting to coast all the way in

[JimF22003]

If it’s raining, and 70 degrees, I think I’ll just bring my bike down and give it a good thorough cleaning on the grass and just watch the rest of you go round and round and round…

[Author]

Posts