Monday, April 23, 2007

riding, the grizzly, being silly

since my last post i've raced in athens, georgia, ridden a few really good training days, gone to a fit clinic, and did a huge climbing day with the boone bike boys. oh, and i sat in the yard with darcy and stared at beautiful skies and relaxed. its been great.

Check it out: Athens SERC GPS Info

the weather here has been interesting. i raced in athens, placing 11th of 25 or something in sport men's xc 19-29. i was happy with that finish. here's a couple pictures. you can't really tell, but its cold and windy.

Frank handing off a bottle:


Darcy and Ryan waiting for me to come around:


Making sure i still had the gap on 12th place guy:



so driving back from athens, darcy and i found snow still falling in boone. now, a week later, its 70's and clear skies every direction. a perfect day to scout a route for "the grizzly." a ride to be featured in the highland games this summer. so the boone bike crew met at linville post office. we rolled through eceola resort area and then down 221 to crossnore. we did a loop on a road with 'squirrel' in the name. followed US-19E north to elk park and then right on 194. turned left onto old beech mtn rd. we climbed for the next 17 hours. okay maybe just two hours, but it felt like 17. we did 3.5 miles of gravel at 3500' elevation, then proceeded to climb over 1500 feet in the next 3 or 4 miles. beech mountain. fred's store. potato chips. diet coke. more water. heaven. the decent down beech was quite incredible. it was my first time on beech mountain so i didn't push it, plus my legs were torn up. we rolled past lee's mcrae, newton posed for a great picture... passed chris, robin, dave and beth. hickory nut gap road, legs barely holding on, donovan off the front, crack. easy gear spinning, no now its easy gear mashing. am i really barely turning a 34-26?!? crest the hill and start the descent. fat guys go fast here. stuck behind a pickup. sharp curves, not stuck behind the pickup anymore. find the group. ride with them for a few feet, crack. both legs cramp. keep pedaling. there's the cars. laying on hot concret.e

paceline, we are so pro:


more paceline(sort of):


ray (of sunshine):


our special guest, MAX:


off the front, briefly:


for danny:


roan mtn:


a stop on buckeye rd:


fred's mercantile:


more fred's mercantile:



newton (is newton really in this picture??):


thats all folks. the ride was probably 62 miles. 6000 feet of climbing. the real ride this summer will finish in mcrae meadows at elevation 4600 feet or so. thats another 1000 feet in 2 or 3 miles. yep. pain. we don't call it the grizzly for nothing!!

darcy and i in the yard:




thanks for reading this.

1 comment:

bizzle said...

whats up joseph, its bizzle. looks like your doing real well up there. you look happy and healthy.

i just wanted to hit you up and let you know that i've become completely addicted to mtn biking. stevie and i went to buy some bikes a few months ago and she ended up getting a job at the shop. kinda odd, but well.. you get it. i got a trek 4300 disc. didn't want to spend a ton since i wasn't sure if i was gonna like it or not. its obvious tho now, everytime i have a chance i'm riding.

anyway, i'm having a hard time finding folks to ride with that don't shun me away because i'm a n00b. i can ride flat rock in an hour.. not the 50mn thats posted, but still, not bad considering. was gonna try my luck on phenix city's trail this friday, probably gonna die, but i aint skeered! ;P

anyway, hit me back. you can email me at dbizzleATgmail.com. i'd like to pick your brain a bit about this stuff and whatever else. hope to hear from ya. oh, and you can delete this comment if it clutters up your page.

-david