We made it!

I plan to put a complete write up with pictures and background on my
website, but until then here you go! The Tour de Tuck ended up being
105 miles long with over 11,000 feet of elevation gain. It took just
over 8 hours, and every bit of energy I could muster. I must admit
that I did not think it would be possible to finish when we signed up
for the ride. I trained hard, it made me feel great, so I trained
even harder. The first shot is of us at a field full of Christmas
trees in Little Canada (Jackson county) about 25 miles from the
finish. The second shot is of Jen and I at the finisher party. I
already want to do it again!

Pizza!!

Tonight we are having pizza! This is a special oatmeal whole-wheat
crust with olive oil, garlic, tofu, fresh basil, and tomatos. YUM!
The ride is soon, we only have one more day to rest up. We are both
bursting with excitement.

The ring of hades

Today was our final training/scouting ride in preparation for the big
TdT ride next Saturday. We rode the ring of hades from downtown
Sylva. Here are my stats: Max 46.6 mph, Ave 14.1 mph, Dist 74.01 mi,
5:13 in the saddle, and 6664 feet of climbing. This was really the
best ride I have done all year. The weather was perfect, the route
was super, and the group worked well together. Jen and Deb are really
impressive, I am pretty slow still. Charley's creek was a nice
challange with a 16% grade that lasted for just over half a mile. It
hurt, but my new cranks are made for for it. I must say I am sold, it
is the way to go. The shots are at Richland Balsam, on the way to
215, and Charley's creek. The scenery on Charley's creek is really
beautiful. So much so that you don't even realize you are suffering.
The three of us gave today a thumbs up. Let's see what we say next week.

I've gone compact

Well, after quite a bit of thought, I decided to put a compact
crankset on my bike. With the 34 tooth front and 27 tooth cassette,
it is 34 inches of chain. In layman's terms, that means I will now
have an easier time of it on the climbs. My intent is to remove the
16 on the cassette, and add an 11 tooth. That will give me a bigger
gear than what I had on here before. I bought the crank used from a
nice guy in town, so if it doesn't work, I can return it. Everybody
tells me I will love it, we'll see. I'm going to go give it a try
today, and tomorrow I'll test her out on 6000 feet of climbing.

our strange cat

We have one strange cat, Andrews. Today he got into a gym bag that
was lying on the floor, and refused to get out. Jennifer carried it
around the house to see what would happen, and he just stuck his head
out the top to see where we were taking him.

65 miler, 5000 feet of climbing

Yesterday Jen and I rode the Ring of Fire from the house. 65 miles
and 5000 feet of climbing. I felt fine till the climb back up Elijay
creek. I did not eat enough before I left, and teetered on bonking
the whole time up the mountain. We got home and I went straight to
bed, after checking my weight. I lost 3 pounds on the ride, not good.
I tried to rehydrate, but could not muster the energy to drink much.
I feel better this morning. I must admit, I do love that ride though.
Till next time,
TC

More on Waterrock

Here is a shot of the gang on the way out through Dillsboro. 8 made
the ride, and I'm happy to say we all made it. At the top we took a
break, some of us ate blueberries, and chatted about the climb. Its
another 5 miles to the top after you get to Soco. Back at the house
we logged the cyclocomputer's final stats at 73 miles, 5:10 time in
motion, and 6130 feet of elevation gain. That's only half of what I
need to be able to do for the Tour de Tuck. I can see this one is
going to hurt. I think I'm going to need more gears!

Cherokee-Waterrock loop

Sunday a group of 8 rode the Cherokee-Waterrock knob loop as a
training ride for the upcoming Tour de Tuck. Jen and I are at the
5th, and last tunnel before the descent to Soco gap. It's 11 miles of
climbing at 7-8% to this point.

Bent Creek ride

Yesterday was my first time riding at Bent Creek, and I was not
disappointed. It took me some time to get my bike back in shape after
a few years of disuse, but it proved itself ready for the task. I
completely forgot how fun mountain biking can be. We rode Ingles
fields gap and around a longer loop back to the car. The fun ended
way too soon, I would have preferred to ride some more.