The big day is next weekend.
Am I ready? Personally? I think absolutely not.
Mentally - YES ...Physically - it's going to be a bear.
I'm ok with that though.
The trial runs taught me that I am amazing with going downhill. The one thing my ride buddies were worried about was me, hitting those fast speeds and panicking and wiping out.
But if you
- Feather your Brakes
- Lean into your turns
- Watch for Gravel
- And just focus on the ride - all is well.
I did amazing on that.
Going uphill however?? Yea that was rough.
There is no ...middle ground on these mountains - I mean it is the start of the Smokey/Blue Ridge Mountains. The minute you go down hill, you better start pedaling as soon as you can to gain momentum for the climb. And some of those climbs, can take up to over an hour to do.
Your legs will hurt, you will be tired. You will feel like there isn't enough oxygen to breath and you WILL ASK YOURSELF WTF am I DOING THIS FOR.
And no - no gearing is ever low enough. Even on your LAST low gear, you WILL be wishing for just ONE MORE.
I did all of these things..and yet. I STILL want to do this..next weekend and next year.
I am going to do the best I can this year.
Where I live, does not have mountains (Central Florida). The closest thing to training I could get was doing a interlacing type idea going back and forth from the mainland to the inter-coastal/beach area and using those bridges. Also - heading up to Tallahassee for weekend bike adventures when I could.
I just made my ride time longer - mainly so my stamina would be up on the bike and I could determine what needed to be taken care of for long extensive riding. I'm good with that..my stamina and resistance to the bike is ready to roll. Just give me time to take breaks (and you're allowed) and I will be able to tackle this thing I think.
So - here goes for next weekend. :)
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