2007 - Ride Summary

This is Mitch, thought I'd add a little more to the story...
First off, Susan and Paul were like the A-Team on this trip. They were always early to our meeting spots. They would be out of the car, ready with whatever I wanted or needed as soon as I pulled up. They

Day 1: Starting from Cherokee, the parkway climbs almost 6000 ft in the first 30 miles. There is one long downhill on the way down to the intersection with 74. During that 15 min. downhill, I don't think I went below 30mph the whole time. I was behind a group of motorcycles the entire way, and had to slow down so I didn't have to breathe their exhaust fumes.

The stark contrast in speed and conditions when biking the parkway always amazes me: you climb and climb, working really hard, moving very slowly, little to no wind in your face, for a very very long time. Keeping cool is the main goal, because your body builds up so much heat. Then the road crests and turns downward, all of a sudden you are hardly working. You are absolutely flying, the wind is roaring in your ears, and the road turns into a blur beneath you. Now keeping warm is the challenge, because of the wind, and lack of effort. Then very quickly the fast part is over and you are climbing again. Wash, rinse, repeat...
Today the weather was perfect, no clouds, highs in the mid 70s, no wind. The no wind part is really nice, because when the road turns downward and the speeds pick up, getting hit by a gust can really push you around the road when on a 18lb. bike. The only strange thing was that my rear wheel was a very tiny bit out of true, so it bumped a little when I was going fast, but became unnoticeable once I got up around 35mph. I thought I might get that fixed if I get a chance.

When I made it to Mt. Pisgah, I knew almost all the work was over for the day, it's a very long descent to Asheville where I met up with Susan and Paul, hopped into the car, and headed for Chris and Sarah's.

Day 2: BRRRRrrrrrr
I knew this was going to be the toughest day, since It had the most climbing and the most distance covered. When I started in Asheville, it was 57 degrees, which is a little cool, but it was 9:45am and all of the forecasts called for the clouds to break an the temps to warm up (They lie, they lie, they lie). I knew I would be climbing for the first 1.5-2 hours of the day, that it should only be about 9 degrees cooler at the top, and based on the warming "forecast" I decided to only take my windbreaker vest, and arm warmers as extra clothing, so I could stay warm on the descent. Asheville is around 2000ft above sea level, and I was climbing to Craggy Gardens (about 5000ft above sea level), and would be around that elevation until I dropped down from Mt. Mitchell. Towards Hwy 80 and our first meeting spot.

Well, the clouds never broke and it didn't warm up, in fact once I got above  4000 ft. or so, I was climbing in a cloud, very damp, and it was 52 degrees according to my computer. I was cold. I put on my vest and arm warmers, but they didn't help much, when I got to Craggy gardens I went into the little welcome center and stood by their wood stove for a minute or two to try to warm up a little. I still had about 20 miles until our meeting place, and had no phone signal to send a message, so I decided to push on, and try to stay close to the original schedule. I passed the entrance to Mt. Mitchell Park and knew that I would be descending with a little 3/4 mile climb until the meeting spot. One of the things to watch out for when you are cold and descending is getting the shivers. When you shiver, your bike will wiggle and shake, and set up a nasty speed wobble. So, I relaxed and breathed slowly and controlled as I was descending and had no troubles at all.

It was a BIG relief to see that the A-Team had come up the parkway to meet me at an earlier spot than originally planned. I changed jerseys put on leg warmers and put on my fleece vest, and skull cap. AHHH warmth... I continued on, in relative comfort...

The Knee:

After the 2nd meeting point, I changed back into lighter clothes again, since it felt like it would warm up again, as I climbed back up towards Boone, and above 4000 ft. For the final 1.5 - 2 hours the hills were more rolling, while pedalling I started to feel a familiar pain in my left knee. It feels like an ice pick poking just under the bottom knee cap with each pedal stroke. It's a sharp cold pain, and very consistent.

There is a rule that says "below 70 degrees, cover your knees". It's much more important when climbing, and I have experienced the consequences of ignoring this rule before when on the parkway, the last time it happened, I continued to ride for far too long. The result was hobbling around for about 3 weeks. It's a very specific motion that aggravates the pain, walking down hills or stairs hits it exactly, but just stepping off a curb is enough to induce a wince. I was a little worried that I had done it again.

I met B.A. and Murdock at Blowing rock, and finished the long day. We rode to the Hotel in Boone, and Susan and Paul let me stay in the hotel room and rest while they brought dinner back to me. I did everything to doctor the knee, rest, ibuprofen, and ice, in hopes that the pain wasn't what I thought it was.

The next morning, I walked down the stairs from our hotel room to check the knee. It felt a little bit better, and wasn't really bad. but when I started riding, it only took about 5 min. until it was really quite painful. With 3 days of riding left, I knew that it would be a bad idea to push it any further, that this was an injury, and it would just get worse. Knowing when to stop is important. This summer I rode the Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell, a 65 mile mountain bike race with ~12,000ft. of climbing. I rode the final 3.5 hours with the worst quad cramps I have ever had. Several times my legs went straight like the tin-man in the Wizard of Oz, and I fell over like a tree, where I rolled around for about 10 min until I was able to force them to bend again... That was so different. I knew that wasn't an injury, that it was just my muscles misbehaving, so I continued despite it. This was different, the "Injury" red flag had gone up and it was just getting worse. So with 3 days ahead of me, I decided to pull the plug on this attempt.

I didn't quit, though, I am now even more determined to ride the whole Blue Ridge Parkway.

I will do this ride, if I can get the A-Team to join me again. I might even have to call in the Swedish Special Forces next time too...

Thanks to everybody for reading...
///Mitch