A good gap, though not the day's highest point
Scott shuttled us nearer the base of the mountains so we could make the round trip ride in decent time. We headed up Bob's Place, for the first climb of the day, after just five minutes in the saddle; which hurt for Byran because he decided to climb in the big ring. When I caught him, I told him that he'd just set the pace for the day and I continued to throttle it. Since I was pushing the pace across the flats and downhills, it was almost like one climb all the way to the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway some 35 miles away.
We climbed up the Continental Divide, dropped down a quick two kilometers into Rosman and then started the massive climb up route 215.
I was thinking that the climb was maybe a tough 6 miles from the turnoff, so I put the gas on and gave Bryan some pushes. Little did I know that we were nowhere near the top after 6 miles, and I had to dig into the bag of courage when, after one turn, I could see miles of road ribboned into the side of the mountain ahead. In all, we continued to climb for an hour and ten minutes.
There was deep snow lining the roads, and the giant fir trees made it look like we were about to enter another climate zone... or another planet! It was sick, because we were so high up, the water coming out of the side of the mountain was freezing into thick blue columns of ice at least 40 feet tall. There were huge rocks, ice falls and cavernous views. We could look out over three states from where we were, there was a lake far away that looked like a sliver of ice in the distance. It was hard to believe that it was 5000 feet below us.
Our climb was followed by an amazing descent! The payback was incredible. We chased down a big pickup truck and hugged its rear bumper. The driver pulled over and let us take the lead down the wild curves and 180's.
We stopped in Rosman for some snacks, and I CHOWED down! Two frappuccinos, one big sports drink, half a cream pie, an oatmeal cereal bar, trail mix... I was an eating machine.
It was a great ride, and another great adventure at Tiger Camp. It was amazing to get out into the high mountains since the weather and snow melt finally allowed.
Happy Adventures,
Jeremiah
Labels: Epic Adventures, Training
posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 9:15 AM 
