Over the past few years, I've celebrated my birthday with some type of cycling. Last year I was joined by Karel and my friends Garrett and Alvi for a 101 mile ride (with scenic views) and a little over 10,000 feet of elevation gain. A few weeks ago I started to think about where I wanted to go for my birthday ride and I wanted to do something I've never done before. I was chatting with my friend Garrett and I asked him about riding to and on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Garrett is all for epic rides so he is a great person to consult when it comes to creating routes. Several of my cycling friends have ridden on the parkway but they usually start from the Flat Rock/Dupont/Brevard area. I asked Garrett if he would create a route that included the Blue Ridge Parkway from our area. The first route he created started from Marietta (~10 miles from where we live) and included a loop around/on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was exactly what I was looking for. However, I...
Quick Recap I consider myself an experienced racer when it comes to challenging courses but words can't describe the legendary Club La Santa IRONMAN Lanzarote. This year was the 33rd running of the event. As one of the most iconic and long standing races in Europe, athletes from around the world keep showing up to try and tackle this brutal course. From the stunning landscapes to 8200+ feet of climbing in 22-30+ mph gusty head and cross winds, this race pushed me to my limits and beyond. I expected the bike course to be hard, but it was harder than what I imagined due to the windy conditions. Lanzarote is an island in the Atlantic Ocean and it's one of the Canary Islands. It would be easy to compare Lanzarote to the Big Island of Kona (the home of the Ironman World Championship) because they are both volcanic islands with windy and hot conditions. However, after racing on both islands, I can confirm that the Ironman Lanzarote bike course is considerably more challenging that...