Totals: from December 23rd until December 31st
Distance: 514 kilometers (321 miles)
Elevation Gain: 5510 meters (18072 feet)
Ride #1- Rural Hall to Brown Mountain 63k
Plans fell into place to get together with a small group of like-minded individuals at Frank's Pizza in Rural Hall. We kitted up and headed north towards Brown Mountain. The climb was short, but it was definitely a slog. Two weeks ago, the rear shifter on my bike broke, and I've been waiting on a warranty. The reason I mention this is because I borrowed a bike from a friend (Thanks, Dr. Rob!) The gearing is quite a bit different from my Giant. Giant Compact-11-27, Rob's Seven Standard 12-25. It was great to get out in a group and intermingle a variety of cycling types.
Erich at the top of Brown Mountain enjoying (?) a mini coke!
Ride #2- Lewisville to 601 Solo Ride 59k
Nothing much to say about this ride, its a typical tuesday/thursday stretch of road. The most memorable aspect of this ride was what happened afterwards...Turkey!
Ride #3- Pfafftown Pyrennes Solo Ride 32k
Christmas Day ride around Pfafftown. These roads are some of my favorites because there is such little traffic, they are incredibly smooth, and lined with beautiful farms. Kilmurry Hill, Beroth, and River Ridge are the top three by far.
Ride #4- Lewisville/Watkins/Williams/Grapevine Loop. 103k
Day after Christmas burner. I met up with some other cyclists in Lewisville for a 30 miler. After riding back into town with them, I turned around and headed back out in the same direction. Spinning around some of the beautiful scenery that is the Piedmont of NC, I passed West Bend Vineyards. Up Grapevine at the end of the ride had me reminiscing about last years training for the Tour of the Battenkill. I must have ridden Grapevine about a thousand times in February and march of last year to get ready for the Battenkill.
Ride #5- Lewisville/Powerline/Wyo Loop. 81k
I met up with Whitney and Dudley to get in some good mileage in a brutal wind. We headed straight out of town and into the 20-25mph wind for the first 28k. All cyclists know, the only good thing about a headwind, is the tailwind when you turn back. We rocketed back into town after hitting two loops out in the direction of Yadkinville.
Ride #6- Orchard Gap. 29k
Solo ride to get in some recovery. I headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway with the intention of going slow and just enjoying the scenery. I ran into another cyclist who talked me into descending down from Orchard Gap and into the Piedmont. We made the trip an out and back, so my recovery day included a Cat 2 climb...slightly ridiculous?
View of Pilot Mountain
Boundary Road, an excellent gravel road that parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway
Overlooking Hanging Rock and Sauratown Mountain from the Parkway
Ride #7- City Loop/Tanglewood Loop. 82k
This was a good ride. Perfect weather, relatively calm winds, sunny, and a good riding buddy. Erich and I headed out from his place and towards the south side of town. We continued out into the country and ended up in davidson county and by Tanglewood. After about 45 miles we stopped in at Cycletherapy to shoot the breeze with Mike and Rob, then headed over to Starbucks. It was good to take our time and average a reasonable pace. Erich was my training partner (for those of you who end up here who dont normally read my blog) for the Tour of the Battenkill last year. So many of our rides felt like we were just beating each other up, so anytime we get out now and have a friendly spin, its great!
Ride #8- Lewisville/Watkins/Williams Loop. 66k
back in with another group, we left out of town to fantastic weather. By the end of the ride the temp was in the low 60's, perfect winter day. I had at one point during the challenge said that I felt as if I was cheating having such nice weather, and couldnt imagine having completed it had I lived back North. The group ride was good, and just as we rolled back into Lewiville my 500k was complete, but I decided to do another short loop since it was so nice out.
What a fantastic challenge this was, thanks Rapha for throwing this out there! I'm excited to do the Rapha Rising challenge again this summer, I have some crazy ideas of how to gain the elevation already brewing in my mind.
