Bridge to Bridge Incredible Challenge -- 1996 The Eighth Riding -- My Fourth Riding 15 September 1996 Douglas B. Meade meade@math.sc.edu Here is the latest installment in my collection of ride reports for the Bridge to Bridge Incredible Challenge and the Assault on Mt. Mitchell. Stories from previous years should be available in various archives; copies can also be requested from the author. I hope others will also write of their experiences -- I know a few of us did cross paths! Comments, questions, and corrections are welcomed. THE RIDE ======== The Bridge to Bridge Incredible Challenge, sponsored by the Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce, is a 101.3 ride from the bridge over the Catawba River just outside Hickory, NC (on I-40, between Asheville and Winston-Salem) through several small towns before climbing NC 181 to the Parkway, then along the Parkway, including the Linn Cove Viaduct, to US 221 (outside Blowing Rock) for the final approach to the entrance to Grandfather Mountain, then the final 2.2 miles UP to the the top of Grandfather Mountain (with it's mile-high swinging bridge). Elevation gain from start to finish is 5,140 feet; total climbing is a little more than 10,000 feet. The 1996 ride is the 8th time this ride has taken place. The first finisher each of the previous years has been George Meyer (he was second the first time the ride was held). Total registration was reported as 950 at the start; this number grew to more than 1000 by the time I finished. PRELUDE ======= The training rides in the mountains typically begin shortly after the hottest part of the summer in Columbia. This year was a little different due to unfortunate travel, work, and injury conflicts. Our group, under the fearless leadership of Brad Poindexter, finally began to get serious around the middle of August. For three consecutive Saturday's we met at 6:00am to carpool to the Upstate (Furman University; Marietta, SC; ...) to meet others for a full day of abuse --- that is, riding --- in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Up the Greenville watershed and over to the bakery in Saluda (NC); over Caesar's Head, down towards Brevard, then through Rosman; from Pisgah Forest, back to Brevard, climb up 215 for the better part 18 miles to the Blue Ridge, descend the other side to the intersection with 276, climb back to the Parkway at Wagon Gap (near Mt. Pisgah) before ending with a 14 mile descent past Sliding Rock and Looking Glass Falls. Each ride full of natural beauty, physical challenge and good friendship. The local regulars on these rides were Brad Poindexter (our primary ride organizer and route planner), Jack Kramer (a relative newcomer to Columbia and eager to attack anytime, anywhere -- not to mention the oldest of the group), Greg Davis (getting back on the bike after several years of limited riding), and myself. Kevin Lundy, a regular in years past, was a less frequent participant -- I'm sure he'll be back in the years to come! By the last of mountain training ride two weeks prior to B2B I was riding with the best form of my life. I was hopeful that I'd be able to continue to improve on my previous year's time. This would be quite a challenge as I finished in a surprising 5:32 in 1995 (partially aided by the lowering of the finish by 1 mile due to 75 mph winds at the top of Grandfather Mtn.) My goal for the last two weeks was to maintain my conditioning, build my energy, and get some rest. While this was generally successful, I did not expect to hit a dog at 25 mph, fly over the bars, slide across the road on my helmet, ... but was fortunate to walk away with not a single mark on my hands, elbows, shoulders, quads, knees -- only a few scratches on my left buttock and a small circle of road rash on my left hip; the helmet was nicely scratched and cracked and the front fork was bent from the impact; yes, even the dog was OK. Then, the Friday before the ride I caught the cold that was making the rounds at the University. By the morning of the ride it was quite uncomfortable to talk or swallow; breathing was a little labored, but didn't seem to be too bad. THE PROLOGUE ============ The past two B2Bs have started under threatening grey skies. This year the weather was bright and clear -- but somewhat cool (probably in the high 40's). Staging at the new minor league baseball stadium was much nicer than in previous years. It was a little fun finding a path to the urinals between the patio furniture stored in the restrooms for the off-season, but much better than in previous years when we would use the women's restroom when the men's line stretched to more than 50 people in the last minutes before the start. The weather report from the finish area had temperatures in the 20's and 40+ mph winds. The temperatures would certainly rise, but would the winds decrease enough to allow the traditional finish? The riders wouldn't know the answer to this question for more than 5 hours. The sun rose directly in front of us at 7:20. This made visibility a little difficult, at 7:30, for the first few hundred yards. It always amazes me that some people work so hard to be at the front of the pack at the start then immediately decide they want to be further back in the pack; the quickest, not safest, way to implement this change of plans is to stop and wait -- usually in the middle of the road. Compared to recent years when I'd witnessed (or heard) too many accidents in the first few minutes of the ride, this year's ride seemed surprisingly well-behaved. Even the pace seemed more relaxed than usual. The biggest (near) pile-up occurred after 25 minutes when riders were attempting to compress back into the right lane for oncoming traffic. In addition the usual "slowing", "braking", ... a few riders overreacted. Once one fell, several others followed suite -- all seemed to have been essentially stopped before falling; it seemed almost all were already back on their feet and beginning to roll again by the time I passed the scene, The pace quickened for a couple miles as the pack re-organized, then returned to it's leisurely pace. The only other incident I saw was one rider down in the last turn on the way out of Lenoir. This was just one rider, and he seemed to be fine. We passed through the 50 mile mark in 2:23, about 15 minutes slower than in 1995. Now I know why I felt so good, and regretted having pushed the big ring as much as I had during the first half of the ride. LET THE CLIMBING BEGIN ====================== While the pack probably contained 300+ riders for most of the first 50 miles, more than half of these people disappear (off the back) as soon as the route turns onto NC 181. The first few miles are not bad, but the turns gently, but noticeably, upward. In total, the elevation gain between miles 49 (1 mile before 181) and 64 (entrance to the Parkway) is 2663 feet -- not very steep, but long enough to cause some discomfort for more than a few riders. Early in the climb I see what appears to be one of my riding partners: Brad Poindexter. He had decided at the last minute that he wasn't going to ride -- between slower than expected recovery from a bad crash, the first cold weekend of the year, and poor experiences in recent years this seemed like an understandable decision. However surprised I was to see Brad, I was glad that he did change his mind. (I don't know how sane it was to drive from Columbia to Hickory on Sunday morning -- he must have left home around 4am.) Once I caught the group Brad was riding with, we rode together for a few minutes. I wasn't much company as my throat was really started to hurt. Before long Brad took off with a group that passed through; I passed him again on the Parkway. He was about done. As it turned out, Brad abandoned shortly after mile 80 when he was finally successful at getting his sag (his dad) to stop. I reached the entrance to the Parkway (64 miles) in about 3:35. The climbing continues on the Parkway for another 10 miles (gaining an additional 820 feet). My usual stop for refilling fluids is at mile 70. It takes less than a minute to refill two bottles and grab a pocket full of bananas. The Linn Cove Viaduct (mile 74) is usually the start of an easy 50+ mph descent. This year the wind kept my maximum speed to 41mph (the two tandems that passed me sure found some speed, but I imagine even they were not going as fast as they might have expected). The views from the Parkway are always breathtaking (no pun intended). The clear skies made this year's experience that much nicer. The exit from the Parkway, onto US 221, finds the panoramic views replaced with views from the bottom of the forest. The road passes by several rock overhangs (including the biggest fishhead I've ever seen!) and waterfalls (at least this year I knew it wasn't rain when I started to hear the waterfall) as the road continues its general ascent. After 98 miles (102 according to my odometer), and 5:30, of riding we reach the entrance to Grandfather Mountain. Cars are backed up in the highway waiting to enter the park. The entrance to the Park is steep, but short. With only a little more than 2 miles to the finish, it would be nice to sit up an enjoy the accomplishment. This would be a real mistake, as the finish is almost 1000 (925 feet) above the current elevation. The next mile is a real grind -- steep switchbacks that bring you to the Visitor Center (where the 1995 ride ended due to 75 mph winds at the top). The 1 mile sign is a mixed blessing. It's only a mile, but it's obvious the road only gets steeper. Besides, it's now been 5:45 since I started and I'm beginning to wonder if I'll make the 6:00 goal that I thought would be easy to achieve. In previous years I can remember seeing 2.5 and 3mph on my odometer -- no, I was not walking! This year I was able to maintain a blistering pace of almost 5mph for most of this climb (at least the times when I was watching the computer). The worst part of the climb is the switchbacks just before the last pull to the summit. I take my usual lap of the overflow parking area as a last breather before pushing the last quarter-mile to the top. While I know there was a good crowd offering lots of support on the final ascent, I don't remember any of it. I was just determined to not give up any momentum. My finishing time was 5:57:59, the 126th finisher. POSTLUDE ======== The first finisher was Tim Black, Junction City, TN, in about 5:15-5:20. George Meyer was 3rd and Gordon Stiel was 10th. (If anyone has more detailed or accurate information, please let me know). These times were about 15 minutes slower than usual -- the same 15 minutes lost in the first 50 miles. Thus, if I adjust my time by these 15 minutes and add 12 minutes for the last mile, I see that my climbing time betters my 1995 effort by about 2 minutes. While my 1995 finish was good for 75th place, just ahead of the remains of the main pack, this year I was just behind this group -- 5-10 minutes faster and my placing would have been about 60th. While I had hoped to ride a little better than I did, I won't complain -- particularly in light of the last minute cold that made breathing a real effort. Besides, the real reason for this is to enjoy the beautiful countryside and have a good time -- life is too short, and I don't have the physical skills, to take myself or my cycling too seriously. With each passing year recovery from these rides become a little easier. The first year I rode B2B I had no real energy in my legs for the next week. This year I felt as if my legs could have cooperated for a hard training ride on Monday. The weather and my cold decided otherwise; instead I stayed up working until 3am. The rest of the week has been beautiful and my cold is mostly gone. The last two nights (which have been races against the sunset) I've felt quite strong. The immediate goal is to find a way to preserve as much of my current strength and conditioning for the next four months. Serious training for Mt. Mitchell should begin in March. Find out how successful I was in my next chapter, due in mid-May 1997.