The first 45 minutes of the ride is your typical large group/charity ride. I averaged over 18 mph here. Then we approached Sauratown Mountain, our first climb of the day. The next 15 minutes were slower and the groups started to break up. Then we did the climb of Sauratown and group riding was over.

On Sauratown, were climbing climbing climbing -- lots of little gear, some standing -- and sort of near the top. I said to the person next to me, "Who thought this was a good idea?" He replied, "I know! And we paid money for this! And trained for this!" I said, "We were supposed to train for this?" Eventually we got to the top, did the loop and came back down. The first rest stop is just after the bottom of Sauratown. I knew to stop here because they have good bathrooms. The second rest stop is at the top of Hanging Rock and the bathrooms there are not convenient.

After just over 15 minutes of hills, we arrived at Hanging Rock. I remembered that Hanging Rock was the shorted climb. I was harder than I remembered it though! Lots of the smallest gear. Some standing. Refill the water bottles, descend and then ride hills for the next 90 minutes (and two more rest stops). At the 60 mile rest stop, I kind of gathered myself for Pilot. In three miles I'd be on the steepest climb of the day. Also, it was just after noon at this point and the day the park roads were opened so we'd be dealing with car traffic as well.

My notes said that the toughest grades were in the first 1.6 miles from the ranger station. After that the tree canopy should open a bit and the grade should be less horrible. As I approached the ranger station, already climbing, I switched the Garmin to show mileage. Just as I feared, there were cars. A lot of cars. They were slowly snaking their way up the mountain. It looked like there was a ranger's pickup truck leading the conga line. The cars were moving slower than I was. There were riders descending on the left but most cars were pulled all the way left on the yellow line leaving a narrow path on the right. I passed three cars and several cyclists. My heart was pounding. I saw some volunteers at the corner. I just need to make it there. I passed the ranger's pickup truck, the trees opened a bit and I looked at my Garmin. 1.7 miles. More than half way there. The top was at about three miles. I took the required photos and headed down. The park rangers asked us to keep descents to 25 mph. I was trying to keep the speed down but I was not watching my bike computer closely. I probably kept it under 30.

I stopped at the bottom of Pilot and called Kevin to give in an ETA. I refilled my water bottles and road the last 10 miles.

I had a great time on this ride. I was really pleased with how it went too. I didn’t PR the course or anything but I came pretty close (14.67 best versus 14.59 today) and last time I did this event, I was a cyclist and this was an A event for me. Now it’s a training ride and I’ve done a lot of running and swimming but a lot less riding and hill repeats. The other thing is that I felt good when it was over. I didn’t struggle to get it in, I was like, darn it! I lost too much time on Pilot. I need to really push to get this thing home if I want to PR!

The road bike did great today. Very spiffy after the last tune up.

I met Kevin and Emma at the end of the ride. The event takes place at a community center (think YMCA) with a nice shower area. I showered and then we had lunch. The ride provides lunch -- sandwiches, fruit salad, bags of chips and baked goods.


Everyone had smiles on their faces at the end of the ride -- not because it was over but because they had such a good time.

I cannot say enough about the volunteers. The ride support is outstanding. One of my friends had a derailleur just before the first climb. She thought her day was done. A support vehicle stopped, called a mechanic who came out and fixed her bike on the side of the road. She was on the road again in 30 minutes. They sagged her to the next rest stop and she finished the ride (skipping the first climb due to time constraints rather than mechanical issues). That's impressive!