Back in March, I crashed twice within two weeks while riding my gravel bike - the first in a race and the second in a training ride. Both falls left me with a good amount of road rash. Thankfully, nothing was broken and after both crashes, I got back up and kept on riding.
A comeback is defined as a return to a previous state. On Saturday, Karel took me to Walhalla, which was my first real gravel ride since March. It was my courageous comeback.
I wasn't sure what to expect as I had never been to this area. Karel had ridden there twice (once on a group ride and once by himself) and he thought it would be the perfect place for my first real gravel ride since March. I say "real" because I have been on my gravel bike a few times (mostly on the paved road) over the past 7 months. He felt like this would be a good area for me to ride because it was scenic and the route was not extremely technical.
It took about 50-minutes to drive to Walhalla and we parked at an elementary school just outside of downtown. Before we left, I downloaded the long-route into my computer from the Southeast Gravel Series website (although we weren't sure how long we would actually ride). It was a dreary, cold morning so riding off-road was the perfect idea for our Saturday. Although I find the trainer beneficial, I really look forward to riding "long" outside on the weekend (especially in a group) and try to keep myself outside on Sat/Sun throughout the winter months (luckily for us it doesn't get too wintery here between Dec-March).
When we started the ride, we almost immediately started climbing on the road. We then had a few miles of unpaved road, which was a nicely packed section of gravel. Thankfully the off-road conditions were great for our ride. We then had seven or so miles of road with great scenery around us. Throughout the entire ride, I couldn't help but think that we went back in time and we were in another country. I was pleasantly surprised with how beautiful the area was!
The next 9.72 miles were mostly descending but there were a few rollers to mix things up. This section was all on gravel but nothing was loose or technical until the end (more loose rocks). I found myself feeling more confident in this section although I wasn't taking any risks and certainly rode a bit more safe just to be extra careful. Karel would sometimes slow down for me just to check on me on the steeper downhill gravel sections.
There was a nice section of riding on the road and it felt like we were in the gaps of GA. That's the nice thing about gravel riding - you can take the bike anywhere, on and off the road. We then had a few more sections of gravel before we decided to modify the course and head back. We rode by old houses and fields and we were surrounded by nature. The leaves were falling and despite the cold dreary day, we had the perfect fall backdrop.
In total we did 50 miles in just under 4 hours (3:51, 13.2 mph) and accumulated almost 5000 feet of elevation gain. It was a great route and I absolutely want to go back.
We have all been there. We've all had a setback. Something doesn't go as planned. It can make you feel like you are stuck and not making any progress. A setback can make you feel like you are a failure. It can make you want to give up.
But you must learn from your experiences and make a comeback. When something doesn't go your way, look at it as an opportunity to prove to yourself that you can overcome anything that comes your way.
If you don't try again, you'll never get better.
Getting knocked down is really a step forward.
A setback is nothing but a setup for a comeback.