Rock and Roll yer Eyeballs Out

Still biking regularly, which is great. I have been steadily increasing my distances and times, and am now biking roughly 6+ miles at a time, 5 days a week. 2 of the rides I try to make 10+ miles. My goal is a 30-miler by the first weekend in August.

I went this weekend to Sherando Park, near Lyndhurst, VA. I got two things to say about my 7 mile adventure:

1. Rocks are hard
2. Elevation changes with rocks are hard

Seriously, I thought I was climbing so long that I was suddenly going to burst into a clearing and be face-to-face with The Silver City. Instead, it was the Blue Ridge Parkway. Close enough, I suppose.

The best part about the climb was the payoff: downhill.

I screamed (literally, at times) down the other side of the mountain. I think I was actually in the air more than I was on the ground.

Hopping rock to rock, flying through the air, nailing the landings to simply launch again and again and again. Forward and down, like a cannonball.

I got rained on twice making the descent. Thunder, lightning, the whole show, and all I did was keep moving. Forward and down.

No beginner could take what I had done. Nearly 3 miles of climb up the rocks (with only 1 stop), then another mile of climb up the Parkway to the scenic overlook that was the trailhead for the ride down. I passed others on the way up, people on full-suspension bikes. Me on my hardtail Mountain Cycle, standing and pumping because going slow and grinding meant no momentum to get over the rocks. Never left my second ring in the front. I swore death before going to the granny.

And I made it down in one piece, and realised 2 things:

1. I have improved considerably as a rider

2. I need to bike even more