Vacation

Lisa and I went out of town for the weekend for a late five year anniversary present to ourselves. Unfortunately, there was much in the way of marine life present in the water, so that kept us at bay spending much of our time at the pool.

Much fun was had, and entirely too much food was consumed, especially of the butter laden and fried variety. I paid for that tonight on a City Loop with Erich and Cisco, but it was worth it! Lisa and I had been wanting an espresso machine for a while now, and with some of her leftover birthday money, she picked one out.

Always the one for finding good deals, she snatched up this $1200 beauty for a mere $320...impressive. Needless to say after having a double shot after tonight's ride, I am in for a sleepless evening.

Bike Math

Pfafftown+Pilot Mountain*up*up-1Kilo o' sweat+descent(climb/40)^(to the exponent of Erich)+Pfafftown=hunger at the end of a ride

Erich came over today after we got out of school to head out to Pilot. On the way out we were both feeling terrible. Our state of affairs was most likely due to the fact we were heading into the wind, and climbing for a vast majority of the time. My bike was acting up, as was his computer, so things were looking rather grim. When on the bike, sometimes any little noise that you hear your bike making, or any little thing that isn't working just right can work to lead you into the halls of despair. We stopped in Pinnacle to poke and prod my bike, but to no avail, the everpresent ruckus that is my bike was not to be defeated. Through Pinnacle, and on towards Pilot we continued where I snapped this photo of Erich.


At the bottom of the climb we decided it in our best interest not to kill it up since we were both feeling so bad...we were in the mentality of hoping not to phone a friend to rescue our carnage on the way back. We took it relatively easy (relative on Pilot is about a pain factor of ten elsewhere) but I digress.




View from the Top


Vultures anxiously awaiting our heart failure


We made it to the top with minor gnashing of teeth and started our descent. 17 minutes up, less than 4 back down...maddening!

We started heading back towards my place and were thanking the Anemoi, whereas, less than an hour earlier we were cursing them profusely. We made it home moving at a pretty good clip. Total ride=35.5 miles, 3300 feet of gain, 17.3 mph average.

Stolen Photos

I stole some photos from over on the CLM blog of our ride yesterday...two more fine examples of my idiocy, and one trying to make me look like I have a vague understanding of cycling

Parkway!

First, bike to work day, yesterday I was able to convince a fellow teacher to ride in with me, evidence below


The "comfort station" at Cumberland Knob in the fog.


Erich, Chancey, Sirena, Lori and I decided to do a nice climby-type ride on the Parkway this morning. We met up at the olde shoppe and made our way to Cumberland Konb. As we got closer to the mountains, the skies got darker, and a thick blanket of fog was draped over the landscape. The flora was brilliantly green after having received rain over the last day or so...amazing. On top of the green, the Laurel and some of the Rhododendron was blooming as well. At the beginning of the ride, things were a bit dicey as far as weather goes.

The paceline at the beginning.


Along the way, we spotted a Mitch in it's natural habitat. (insert Australian accent here, along with a "crikey")

I had gotten new brakes, which was great, but the braking surface on carbon rims, when wet is nearly worthless. On every descent I would hang off the back so as not to run my fat butt into the back of the other riders. Things broke up a bit when the big climbs started as we got closer to Doughton Park, and E and I found ourselves working together on the longest of the aforementioned climbs.

Erich egging me on




Working.

We arrived at the store and restaurant and hung out for a bit til we regrouped. We chatted it up about some other big ride possibilities on the Parkway, possibly riding north from Meadows of Dan. Boone to Asheville. And many others

The bike taking a break at the store.


On the way back we knew that there was going to be more descending than climbing because we were almost a thousand feet above Cumberland, so things were looking good. Things got blown apart again...and then again, and I found myself in no man's land trying to catch Erich. I swear I could hear his thoughts. We were seperated by about 150 or so meters and I couldn't do anything to really pull him back in. He kept looking back over his shoulder as if to say, "Dude, get your sorry butt up here." No dice, no closing power. Then, on top of that, Chancey came rushing up to me, and I anounced my inability to catch E, so he took off around me trying to catch him alone. E was the driving force of the day. As London would say, he was the, "dominant primordial beast." We all arrived back at Cumberland within just a few minutes of each other, everyone was riding extremely strong today!

Sirena finishing strong!

Powerline

Erich, Mitch, Chancey, Sirena and I all rode the Powerline Loop from Ye Olde Shoppe of Velocipedes and PennyFarthings. Ridiculously fast, painful, fun, awesome. 42 miles, just under 22 mph. fun. Short entry for the evening, getting up early to ride to work for National Bike to Work Day. I convinced a coworker of mine to do the same, so I'm going to swing by his place and we're rocking the mountain bikes into work. I have no idea how long it's been since he's ridden a bike, but hopefully he'll get addicted!

after Powerlines...tiredness

NWS Crit #2

Much fun was had by team Pirate Race Productions. All five NCers were there this evening and all rode very strong! Robert led an attack and lead out on the second lap, Stack did some work bridgning gaps, Alex got a prime (Six pack of Blowing Rock Ale), and Jacob was chasing some breakaways too. I unfortunately had some bad positioning on the final leadout to the sprint finish, and ended up eighth or ninth place out of maybe thirty. I'll have the final result up tomorrow. Much fun!

mmmm, Gravel!

Just wanted to share a short video of the Mt. Mitchell ride I did a few weeks ago. I can't wait to get back out there again!

Untitled from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

Salem Lake

It's great to have the spousal figure back from her internship! After church this morning we hit up the Greek Festival...souvlaki and baklava, nothing better. Baklava must be the single greatest culinary creation of man, seriously. After eating to our hearts content (and then some) we went home to a few hours of yardwork, and unfortunately lost track of time and missed a friends graduation ceremony. Sometimes I am not the greatest of friends.

Once we realized we weren't going to be able to make it, we decided to head to Salem Lake for a ride. The last time we were there, Lisa got stung by a bee just under the eye and within about a half hour looked like she had gone four rounds with Joe Louis. An urgent care visit, and many steroids later, she was back to normal. So, revenge must be had. Everything was beautiful this evening along the greenway and lake, only a little bit of mud, and the water crossings were high, but in all, it was a perfect ride!

Tour du Life

I'm feeling slightly discouraged after this race; the course was fun, the climbs were painful, descents scary...but I didn't perform up to my expectations. Anyways, the full write up ensues below.

Friday night, I was thrilled to get to Boone to meet Lisa as her internship/clinical is over and it's been a long ten weeks (mostly) apart. I got everything loaded up ASAP and started on the haul on 421. About at the Parkway, things looked sketchy, and about another five miles, the skies opened up. First rain, then heavy fat drops, then hail. Hmm, bike on the roof exposed to hail (would insurance cover that?). Once I got to the hotel, checked everything out and it was golden, no worries. Lisa was already there so we did a quick unload and headed to Sorrento's for Dinner...a hefty helping of lasagna later and I was satisfied.

Erich showed up a bit after we got back to the hotel so I went to chat with him about strategery for a few minutes. Fast Forward: Bed...awake...breakfast. We then decided to drive the course to check it out. I have to admit the course was intimidating, especially the descents. After the getting the lay of the land (hilly) it was time to check out of the hotel and get changed and ready. Then, back to the start to meet up with Mitch. Quick warm-up after registration was just the thing to calm the nerves. Then, to the start line. And onto the race:


The start was relatively calm. We got about 5 miles out and into the first little climb and someone attacked...for about a half mile, then ended back up in the pack. Interesting. The pace really ramped up on the rest of the climb, and I found myself a good rhythm. The field pulled apart pretty quickly, and all of the sudden we had about five or six guys less than we started with. Onto the first descent, and things got very hairy. There were quite a few extremely sharp turns, at inoportune times, with an inordinate amount of cinders and gravel on the descents. We were riding two up and everything was pretty chill on the descents everyone choosing their lines carefully, until we got to the first sharp turn. There was already carnage in the corner from a race that took off about 15 minutes before ours. The guy along with a few others were down in the ditch with bikes strewn about. As we break into the apex of the corner, dude (who is now on the Mafia's short hitlist, beware the piano wire garotte, the icy hand in the dark) tried to thread the needle between me and the guy beside me forcing me into the cinders. My front wheel slid out and I headed straight for the ditch at about 20ish mph. Not good. I wish I could have been witness to what happened next but somewhere in my ancestry there must live a humble ninja. I managed to hop down into the ditch about a foot and a half below, ride next to the road in the ditch and slow down. I finally had to slam on the brakes as there was nowhere to go because of an abanoned bike from the aforementioned wreck. All this happened while I watched the lead pack disappear around the corner on the next climb. I unclipped, picked up the bike, carried myself back in the road and took off. I knew that if I didn't catch them in the next three miles, I could kiss any chance of a top ten goodbye because of the long flat section up next. I burnt through a ton of matches, passed a few dropped riders and caught back up to the leaders. The pace quickened up and over another crest, then onto the fun part.

A ten mile stretch of mostly flat/rolling section of pavement. We were cruising along at about 26-32mph. Once at the end of this section the pack of about 20 was still all together, but the grade steepened and I didn't have the legs to follow. Now, I knew that if I was suffering others were too (I could hear Erich's words echoing in my head). I knew that if I rode hard, I could pick off a few riders here and there as they dropped off the back. I was able to muster passing about four or five of those in my race, along with some of the guys from the previous races. On up to the fiish, and the race was over...16th place, out of 25. disappointment. The course was incredibly hard, but the riders were also very strong, I was impressed. Erich and Mitch both rode very strong, and had some ridiculous competition, but they were both able to muster good finishes!
Post finish:

You'd have thought the dog raced today:

I hate you, I love you.

Those six little words that I uttered on Wyo Road with Erich. I simultaneoulsy meant both, hating that it hurt so bad, but loving having a friend to push me so hard and encourage me. Tonight was very tough, fast pace, hills, wind, downpours...just a brutal ride. We met up at the River Park with ominous clouds in the direction we were headed. After about fifteen minutes of warm up, the clouds opened up on us on Flint Hill, and within a minute we were absolutely soaked.

Riders on the storm


At the school at East Bend


At one point, we decided that the rain was about to turn to hail, but I'm glad that we continued. We both wanted to get in one last really hard effort before Saturday's road race in Boone. Tonight definitely qualified as a hard effort. After we tagged East Bend we headed back on Baltimore, and the sun came back out.


Then on to Dinkins Bottom, then Wyo, and over to Powerline. The intent was climbing with some speedwork on the flats between. Accomplished, as I am entirely shelled. By the time we got back to the River Park we ended with 46 miles with an average speed of just under 21mph. We collapsed onto the asphalt at the River Park when we got back to the trucks...evidence below:

mmmm, sweat angel!

Cuz People Like to Say Salsa!

Seinfeld reference, that's right. The bike is complete, now to get in the first ride. It may have to wait until next week, or possibly a short jaunt on Sunday since I'll be racing this weekend in Boone. Now that some of the other Mafia members have the itch to do some endurance races, and Curtis now too, I am wanting to get back into the pure suffering that is mountain biking for at least six hours straight. Mike at Cycletherapy informed me of a five hour race in Virginia in June that sounds pretty appealing, so I may have to check that one out...but first, I think I need to take the new bike on a gnarly ride...Kitsuma??? Heartbreak??? A 50 miler in Wilkesboro...hmm, decisions, decisions.

MNR

Another Monday Night Ride is in the books, and much fun was had by all. I decided to get in a little extra mileage today, so I rode with Erich from his place, which ends up adding about twelve miles total, 40 miles altogether tonight. Anyways, the usual suspects were there along with a few faces of yore (Cam and Cisco). It was good to be out with a very fast crew, but mostly because they are such a friendly crew. Don't let the name, "mafia" deceive you. Anyways, everyone was riding strong tonight, solid pulls and even a few attacks here and there. Once the third lap rolled around I knew that it was Erich's design to attack on the first big climb about halfway up. I had every intent of following him and breaking away, but by the time I caught up to him, I had very little gas left in the tank. The break was over in the blink of an eye because I couldn't help out much. We wound up back in a pack of about six, and took our turns pulling, but had burnt through too many matches to really do much when it came time to sprint. On the way back to Paceline, Cameron led a blistering attack downhill (I wish there was a way to make "downhill" 2 point font). But things were brought back under control by a few of us who were able to just barely bring him back under control. After regrouping at the shop, Erich, Cam and I took off to head home. The dark was just behind us all the way back into town, but it was a good finish to a great ride.

Another Asheville Post

Lisa and I decided to head to Asheville today to go on a picnic and enjoy being outdoors. In my miniscule ability to think ahead I brought only long sleeve shirts with me, and was desperately desiring a t-shirt once we got to A-town. Sooooo, I decided to stop by to see Curtis at Motion Makers. I was blessed with being the first customer to buy a t-shirt with their logo on it. The shirts came in yesterday, and they were still in the back in a box. This may be the only time in my cycling career that I am first, so I must relish in it...

Mt Mitchell

I'm visiting the spousal figure this weekend in the mountains right before her last week on her internship, and had the morning/early afternoon to ride. I awoke to an awesome view from her place She had to run an errand into town so we ate at DT's cafe, which has about the best sausage egg and cheese bagel in the history of mankind. I also partook of a shot in the dark (double espresso shot in a cup of dark coffee) and had the jitters, which would help with the ride that I was planning. After breakfast, I got changed into the riding attire (read: hot pants and muscle shirt (muscle, really?)). The planned route had me on gravel for about the first 8 or so miles. The first three or four were relatively tame following the Toe River, but miles 5-8 pitched up pretty decently towards the Parkway.
Gravel grinding

A stream dumping into the Toe

Parkway in sight.

Once on the parkway, the climbing continued, and continued...and continued. I ran into a guy on a touring bike that had started with a friend at mile 0 in Virginia on Sunday. They were rocking days of 50-80 miles and were shooting to be at the terminus on Sunday, 7 days of riding and camping sounds pretty excellent. While he and I were chatting, two other cyclists came up on us, so I hopped in with them.



The remainder of the climb would be spent with these two guys. They had started early in the morning and were riding from Boone to Asheville today, then back tomorrow. I think I found my next adventurous road ride....mafia members, anyone....Bueller? The climb tops out at nearly the summit of Mt. Mitchell almost 6600 feet above sea level.


My ride started at 2400 feet. Once the climb started it was 13 miles and 4200 feet, the parkway and 128 (the road up to the summit) were relatively tame, but the gravel at the beginning was pretty taxing.

After refilling the bottles (thanks Victor) we took off back down to the parkway. Four miles straight of 40+ mph descending was exhilirating. Once back to the parkway, we said our goodbyes; them continuing on south, myself back towards the gravel road. Now, continuing my descent on the gravel, this was probably the sketchiest/hardest part of the ride. Everytime I started to feel comfortable enough to let off the brakes and break the 20-25mph barrier I would hit a section of loose gravel and feel like I was doing some Dukes of Hazzard moves, but I didn't want to take forever on the downhill so I kept scaring myself. It was a reeeediculous amount of fun though. I made it back into the valley and then back to the truck to load back up and meet up with Lisa after she got out of work. A celebratory pizza and cake for her birthday (early birthday, it's Friday). Man, I love being in the mountains. Ride stats, about 40-42 miles and 5500 to 6000 feet of climbing.

Dusty, abused bike