I have a great group of cycling friends but sadly, several of them had other plans this weekend (like cycling 200 miles from Spartenburg to Beufort - talk about like-minded friends) but Garrett and Alvi were in town and agreed to ride with me and Karel for a birthday ride.
Garrett is the master of planning epic cycling routes so I told him to come up with a route that included a lot of climbing in the mountains and great views.
The route including Ceasar's Head, Sassafras, Table Rock Overlook and Paris Mountain. We wanted to include Pretty Place but it was closed for an event.
We left around 7:30am and didn't return home until after 2:30pm. It was the perfect day.
101 miles, 10600 feet of elevation gain, four climbs conquered (Caesars Head, Sassafras’s back side, table rock overlook and Paris Mountain) and 6:22 hrs of laughs, smiles, and amazing views.
- I had a huge PR up the 6.31 mile (1988 feet) climb up Ceasar's Head. We didn't plan on going hard but when I get to a long climb, I can't help myself but to go as strong as I can up to the top. Karel started off with a steady pace and for the first 2 miles, I felt like this was going to be a PR for me. We just did 2 times up Ceasar's Head on Wednesday during our mid week longish ride and I had a PR of 40 minutes and a few seconds. I felt like I could go under 40 during this ride as the weather was a little cooler and I was fueled by my birthday carrot cake. My legs felt amazing and I kept saying to myself in my head "If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done." There were a few times when I questionned if I could hold the pace behind Karel's wheel but for the most part he paced it really well and after riding it so many times during the past week, he knew where we could pick up time. We didn't even talk about going for a PR today but it just felt right. I went 36:16!! I was in shock. A 4 minute PR at 42 years old.
- Karel and I have ridden most of this route a few times and it was really cool to feel how much my skills and fitness has improved on the bike. Certain descends were no longer scary and certain climbs were not as intimidating.
- This was one of those rides where I felt amazing all day. These workouts don't come often or easily. On Wednesday I felt super sluggish and tired. I fueled really well (I went through 6 bottles, the first 4 each had 80g carbs from Infinit Fructose, the fifth bottle had 60g carbs from Never Second C30 Berry ad the last bottle had 50g carbs from Sword. I nibbled on a Clif Bar throughout the ride and had PB and honey crackers from the gas station around 4.5 hours. My energy level was constant and my legs felt relatively fresh throughout the entire 101 miles.
- At 5:36 and 91.3 miles into the ride, we could have made a left turn into our neighborhood. Instead, we turned right and rode toward Furman to top off one bottle before one last climb up Paris Mountain (2.18 miles) up Paris Mountain. It would have been so easy to just go home and call it a day but when you have a mission and accountability from others, you finish what you planned.
- I love riding my bike and I am so thankful to Karel for sharing his passion for cycling with me. When we met almost 18 years ago, I was scare to ride a bike. I had no skills or fitness. It wasn't until we moved to Greenville in 2014 that I was forced (by our terrain) to improve my skills and to get stronger. We have a great cycling community which makes it easy (and fun) to ride outside. We also have several different group ride options (and events) which gives me so many different opportunities to continue to improve on the bike. My birthday ride was a lot of fun. Garrett, Alvi and Karel made it so much fun and I laughed so hard it hurt.
- And after the ride, I ran my favorite loop, which took me ~51 minutes (~6 miles). Thank you body.
It was a great birthday. I'm looking forward to a great year ahead.