My Life On A Bike

Summer arrived suddenly this weekend after a long absence.  A dreary, wet, rainy, annoyingly long absence.   With no time to waste and the clock ticking down on our Camp Hillseeker training, we were thrilled to have a weekend wide open with endless opportunities to thrash our legs into shape.   Raja got a jump start and took Friday off work in order to head to the North Georgia mountains, or, “gaps”, as we call them.  He and Rlaz rode Neels, Jacks, Unicoi, Hogpen, and Neels for a total of 7,000′ and 67 miles.  I was insanely jealous to miss out on that “warm-up” ride, but secretly glad I would not be exhausted before the weekend riding even began.

When Raja puts his mind to something, nothing will stand in his way.  I did not doubt for one second that he would be able to handle 3 days of beating.  However, I did wonder how my little legs would respond to merely 2 days of thrashing.  There was only one way to f ind out.

Our newest addition to the fold, Mr. Bill, was going to join us and RegularJoe in the Cohuttas for some Pinhoti/Tatum Lead action.  Mr. Bill has yet to taste the delight of Pinhoti singletrack, because he had to bail on the Martina ride due to a friend’s bike malfunction.  He was so excited he could hardly stand it.  So eager was he that he was 15 minutes early to our 7:45 meet time at  the gas station for the drive up.

What I had not divulged to RegularJoe was that we would also be joined by Larry the Shredder and his posse of W.O.T. teammates, Gary and Brad.  These guys don’t fit into the category of “normal” riders, but more like, animals, or aliens.  Since Camp Hillseeker’s leaders are aliens (Becky and Jeff), this would help us simulate the Swiss environment as much as possible.   Our training is in full swing.  Game on.  No whining, no crying, just gotta suck it up and DO IT.

The day was glorious with a bright blue sky and the woods rich in verdant green.  We started our ride up FSR 90B to begin with the Pinhoti 2 trail.  The pace did not seem bad at all for me, and then it dawned on me….my legs must actually be feeling good today.  They did feel good.  I was not killing myself to stay with the guys.   Regardless of what pace they ride, it is always a challenge for me to keep up with them.  I knew they were not going race pace, but I was still pleased with the fact that I was sitting in  comfortably without dipping into the red zone.  That is when I knew it was going to be a great ride.

Poor innocent Mr. Bill just wanted to experience a new trail with his new friends.  He had no idea what adventure lay before him, and I felt it best to just allow him the bliss of ignorance.  Sometimes we do our best when we have no idea what we are up against.   RegularJoe, on the other hand, knew exactly what we were doing.  We had taken him on this ride a year ago, and the memory was still fresh in is mind.  He survived and earned a gold star for his impressive ride.  I had a feeling he would do even better now with another year of experience under his belt.

While newcomer Mr. Bill and Sophmore ReglarJoe quietly took their place in the pecking order, we picked our way up the trail without much fanfare.  It was going to be a long ride so no one was eager to put the hammer down just yet.  Brad was recovering from a torn meniscus which was bad for him, but good for us.  Having to baby his knee meant we could keep him in sight for the climbs.  Larry will always oblige and keep whatever pace you want, but Gary was our torturer for the day.  I was happily pedaling behind Larry as we climbed up P3, when Gary says, “Larry, could you pick up the pace a bit?”   Yep, Gary was going to be a problem, or rather, the source of my problems!

We rode up Pinhoti 2 to Pinhoti 3 and over to Pinhoti 4.  It was a spectacular day with clear skies.  I never get tired of the beauty of the Pinhoti.

At that point we reach the loop part of the ride and there was division in the ranks on which way to do the loop.  All the tough guys wanted to take the route counterclockwise which meant we would not be climbing Spider Rodge hill.  I was going to have none of that, no easy outs today.  I came for the whole shabang, and by golly, I was going to get it.  With a little bit of complaining, they all agreed and followed me for the clockwise loop.

After a long descent and a little bit of climbing, we finally reached the WALL.  I refer to it as Spider Rodge climb, because my Raja is the only we know of that has cleaned this climb.   Mr. Bill was hanging in just fine and our group was pretty evenly matched without massive amounts of waiting on slower riders.   We reached the turn for the arduous climb up the WALL and we all watched Gary rocket away.

Gary is riding like a machine, and I could do nothing to answer his call.  I sat in with Larry and Raja for a little while, but decided I wanted a slightly higher clip.  I slipped on by and settled into a rhythm.  Climbing in solitude seems to agree with me.  I can focus better when I am not distracted with other riders around me.   Focus was important since at times I could not figure out where the trail was.  Obviously, this route has not been used much.  Had we not done this before, I would have seriously doubted we were on the correct path.

I was very impressed to hear a rider closing in on me at one  point towards the last half of the climb.  It was Mr. Bill!!!  I knew he was a sandbagger!  From what I’ve seen how strong he climbs on the road, this performance did not really surprise me.  He’s plenty strong for this stuff.

Eventually, the trail takes a hard right and kinks itself back up the mountain.  At this point, the trail gets even more rugged and it is a real challenge to keep the wheels on the ground.  The trail pitches down which makes you think it is almost over, but that is merely a deceptive evil ploy devised by a very wicked person.  The last section will test the best of riders.

The climb is doable, but the problem is your legs are pretty beat by the time you get to this part.  Every steep pitch has loose terrain hidden with weeds and overgrowth.  My head was pounding and my heart felt as though it would explode, but I could not have pedaled any slower.  Trying to conserve my energy, I tried to keep my body as relaxed as possible while looking ahead to pick out a line.

Gary had waited on me at the turn, so he was now in sight.  He was tackling the steep sections with a little too much gusto and he lost the front end.  He dabbed.  That messed with my focus.  My legs were weakening and I had a feeling I would not be cleaning this to the end.  We got to the last bit and I tried to leave Gary plenty of room to give him time to make the climb.  Expletives were yelled out as I saw him fall short of the cleaning last pitch.  Ugh, I really wanted to make this, but not bad enough.   My legs were giving all they had, but more was needed to keep up this steep steep grade.  I think it’s 20 something percent at the very last part.  It’s stinkin’ steep.

I made it further than I did last year, but not quite to the gate, darn it.  Close, but no cigar. I made it further than Gary, Brad, Larry, Bill, or Joe!  Raja cleaned it, but he did “cheat” but taking a breather just before the last pitch, so that doesn’t really count.   I don’t think I could have cleaned it even if I had taken a rest.

Gary and I waited impatiently for the rest of the crew to appear.  Not really, we were just trying to catch our breath.

This climb, along with Tibbs, is in my opinion one of the hardest climbs around.  My hat is off to anyone that does it, whether you have to walk some or not.  Everyone walks some of it, except for Spider Rodge!

With the worst part over, we were now at Hwy 52 and the entrance to Fort Mountain.  A few miles on the road and our loop was complete bringing us back to Tatum Lead Rd.  Now, “all we had to do” was go back down Pinhoti 4 to Pinhoti 3.   Never mind that little climb in the middle of Pinhoti 3.   It wasn’t too bad, and I was surprised that my legs still had some juice left in them.

At the end of Pinhoti 3, some of the group opted to take Shakerage Road back to the cars, but some of us still wanted more.  Once again, innocent Mr. Bill had no idea of his options and he blindly followed me, Gary, and Joe back up Pinhoti 2.   I prefer this singletrack climb over the boring dirt road back to Gates Chapel.   Even though it can be a bit of a push, the beauty of this trail more than makes up for the extra effort.

Again, I watched Gary pull away as all I could do was plod in the small ring.  Normally I like to take this climb in the middle ring, but not today.  My legs still wanted to ride, they just did not want to grunt.  I obliged them and enjoyed the journey while wondering why I cannot be as strong as Gary.   He would slow up ever so often and act as my carrot, forcing me to dig a little deeper and not lull into laziness.   It hurt, but I needed that extra motivation in order to push myself just that much further.

In the end, we had 37 miles and 4 1/2 hours of pedal time.  I felt good at the end!  Joe continues to stretch himself further and further on each adventure.  I was so pleased that he chose to finish by going up P2 with me.  He’s really awesome;-)  

Mr. Bill was all smiles at the finish and said he had a blast.  I like his attitude.  Good job, Bill.  He’s going to fit in with us just fine.  It was a great ride, no one got hurt, and we all got in some excellent training while enjoying ourselves.  I like this kind of workout.  Thanks guys!

By Saturday evening, Raja already had 9 hrs of riding under his belt and almost 12,000′ of climbing.  I would have collapsed, but he was ready for more on Sunday!

We joined Cyclesmith for his “Sorta Birthday Ride” at Tanasi in Tennessee.  It was the perfect group of friends for a fun filled ride.  Still in the training mode, I had to work hard to keep up with Raja, but we also had a full workout off laughter and goofing off.   I love these kind of training rides too!

Riding with ShortBus is a barrel of fun and guaranteed non stop laughing.  Then if you add in the Captain, Al, Speedy, Clogger, RaceyTracey, and Robin you have a recipe for a Whole Lot of Fun!

We saw a snake and a bear…….yes, an honest to goodness bear.  Fortunately, it ran off the trail away from us, but it was kinda cool to see.  We had 6 flats between us with one being caused by my tire picking up a safety pin in the trail……..what the……..?!!!!   Raja was riding like the wind and only gained momentum as the day wore on.   Apparently his Hillseeker training is working!

It was like the Roger and Tracey show.   Between the two of them, none of us could keep up, and they flew down the trail like racers on wings.   So happy to see them riding so well and having such fun.  Training can be fun!

I do not take for granted the fabulous and exceptional group of friends we have with which to ride.  It makes all the difference between work and fun when it comes to our “training”.  Part of my motivation to be a better rider is so that I can be in top shape to enjoy my time with my friends.  And I want to spend as much time with them as I possibly can, because the bottom line is, it’s FUN. 

The past week things have jumped into hyperdrive.  I’ve been so so busy, that I have barely enough time to update the blog.  So, forgive the sloppy writing, but at least I got some sort of documentation of our wonderful weekend down “on paper”.   I wish every weekend could be like this one:-)    A little bit of training and a whole lot of fun, that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!