Blood, Sweat and Gears

[profàvélo]

Anyone out there going to be at Blood, Sweat and Gears? (June 25 near Boone, NC) There's a century and a half-century; the full century is almost full (seems redundant--meaning there is a rider limit).
http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/

[doc]

Yep, me again. I am planning on doing the metric century. But it better not be thunderstorms again!!
I am driving out there that morning, at like 4;30am. I am so excited.

[profàvélo]

Great! We'll have to actually hook up this time. Maybe we can figure out what we will be wearing ahead of time and let each other know. I have one friend (same Mitchell one) doing the century with me, and another who's doing the half. (My husband is also doing the century--it's one of his favorite rides--but I can't keep up with him.)

We splurged--we're staying at the Mast Farm Inn both Friday and Saturday nights.

[bouncybouncy]

Wouldn't you know it :( that is the day we will be arriving after driving all night!!! Not a good condition to do something like that!!! Wish I had known about it sooner...oh well...like I said about the "Assault" Maybe next year! :)

You go girls!!! Doc, I am doing a good weather dance for you :p

Good Luck...

Ride on........

[profàvélo]

I highly recommend this ride close to Boone, NC. It is a butt-kicker, with some serious climbing, but the route is gorgeous. Great support. Half-century option. Start training now...

http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/

The on-oline registration doesn't seem to be available yet, but I got a brochure in the mail yesterday, so maybe it will be activated soon.

[doc]

I'm signed up again. Last year it was fabulous. I look forward to more of the same!

[Carlene]

Hi there! I am new to this "chatting" thing and new to your forum. I have really enjoyed being a voyeur and reading all the great things others have been saying this past year and now I have taken the plunge to talk to you.

I am from southwestern Virginia and I did the metric route at the Blood, Sweat and Gears in Boone last year. It all started out dandy and the scenery was fantastic but the last ten miles or so are all downhill and very curvy. I love taking it fast downhill, but took sharp angle too fast and slid on the old butt about 8 feet and the jeep that was hogging the road slid about 4 feet. I trashed the right side of my bike, slashed a tire and took off about 2 pounds of my right hip (slightly exaggerating!). At the end, my best friend cheered my arrival and asked me if I had witnessed some big wreck back up on the route. Ha.

I'm all better now and have a new bike, but I will be doing the 5-day Bike Virginia ride this year. Next year I'll join you guys in Boone.

[Blueberry]

Hubby is thinking of doing this one. I *suck* at climbing, so I doubt it would be the ride for me, though the area is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Any advice on how realistic a goal the metric would be for someone who doesn't climb well?? My longest ride this year was today - 30+ a little, on my touring bike, half pulling a trailer...

Also, how do you ladies know it's filling up? I just emailed to find out when the cut off would be, and they said you could register the day before (no mention of it getting to capacity...)

Anyone doing Hilly Hellacious Hundred in August - I'm thinking that might be a better (more realistic) goal, though I would love to do both.

[profàvélo]

I think they posted a rider limit last year. Just keep an eye on the web site. The shorter version is actually shorter than a metric:

Half Century: The Half Century ride, approximately 47 miles,will start and finish at the Valle Crucis Elementary School. The course follows a mostly separate route and is fully supported with 2 aide stations. The uphills are not too bad, and there are 2 really great downhills. The cumulative climbing elevation is 5,800 feet. All riders will be computer timed when they cross the finish line.

You've got two more months to get in some climbing. On a related note, George Hincapie's "mind coach" spoke at our bike club meeting last night (primarily as an intro to a full-day workshop that she was recruiting clients for). For years he believed that he wasn't a "climber"; she helped him figure out that it was due to an incident from his teenage years (he raced with great success in NY, went out to Colorado to race and did not do well in the mtns., labeled himself a non-climber...never considering that the altitude change had anything to do with it). Bottom line: his belief that he was not a climber kept him from reaching his potential. So you should think of yourself as an improving climber, not a non-climber.

Anyway, I did the metric version of the Hilly Helacious last summer, and I remember being glad that I had not chosen the English century, but it was a great ride, nice route, plenty of climbing.

I think you ought to shoot for both of them.

[Blueberry]

profàvélo -

Great advice on climbing...it's amazing how much of it is in the mind (I'm much happier riding into a stiff headwind than up a hill...) But, I'm trying to change that :D :D

Haven't registered for either yet - will probably shoot for the 47 at BSG, the Tarwheels Century in early August (Bike Fest) and then *maybe* the century at Hilly Hellacious Hundred - remains to be seen how things progress:)

[profàvélo]

CA, Doc, Bouncy...anybody doing BSG next weekend? (24th) Come on...

[skibum]

My niece goes to ASU in Boone so I am driving up from Georgia to visit her and do the ride while I'm there. It'll be fun to see how the mountains in NC compare to the ones we have down here.

[doc]

You bet I am!!

[Nanci]

Have fun you guys!! Wish I could have gone!!

Nanci

[bouncybouncy]

too many events...not enough weekends!!!:mad:

looks like the dirty side is gonna win this toss-up!!! hubby & i are looking to head east for a mtb race somewhere near raleigh...

you girls have fun...ride safe and may the wind be at your back (at least up hill!)

cheers :D

[profàvélo]

If you intended to do the century, I hope you're already signed up...it's sold out. You can still do the 50. I have to check and see if they got my registration before it filled up.

[GLC1968]

So I suggested to my DH that we do this ride (the half option) in a half-joking manner...and he wants to do it. :eek:

We live in GSO and ride a lot of rolling hills...are we gonna get our asses handed to us on this one? (the milage doesn't scare me as we are comfortably at 60 miles...it's the terrain). :confused:

Anyone with experience care to comment?

[profàvélo]

I'm not familiar with the 50-mile route; it splits very early from the century. See one of my earlier messages in this thread for a description from the ride's web site. From the description, sounds like you'll be fine.

[skibum]

This was a great ride and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about doing it. On the drive up on Friday, it poured rain so I was worried we would have bad weather for the ride. But, Saturday morning was cool and overcast, perfect temperature for a ride. It warmed up some during the day but never got close to the upper 90's I've been riding in lately.

The route was beautiful -- country roads with little to no traffic and gorgeous scenery. The support was great, I saw lots of SAG vehicles along the route and there were people stopping traffic at intersections to make sure you got through safely.

I did the century route which was challenging but not too hard. I was wishing for a few more gears on Snake Mtn (I did the ride with a double, 12/27 on the back) but other than that, the grades weren't steep so you could just spin up the hills.

The only downside was the rest stops. When I went through, there always seemed to be long lines for water and gatorade and each was a separate line so you had to wait in line twice. It seems like there could be a better way to set things up so that would go more smoothly. And, the main food items available were bananas and pretzels. Great cycling food, but for that long of a ride, you want variety. A couple of stops had some cookies and PB&J so they tried to mix it up a little. But some PB-no-J would have been nice as well as something like granola bars. But, the food was plentiful and I got all the calories I needed to make it through the ride so I can't complain too much.

Overall, it was a great ride and I hope to make it back next year. I wish I could ride in that area more often. Those of you who live close by are very lucky!

[profàvélo]

to what Skibum said. I think everything was covered. Except for the part where I broke out my triple for Snake Mountain.

My only other complaint is that the T-shirt is exactly the same, year after year, with perhaps a slight variation in the shirt color (tan/gray/beige...).

It was a fun day. I hope Skibum got a post-ride massage; it was awesome!

[skibum]

Except for the part where I broke out my triple for Snake Mountain.

I should have broken out a triple, or a compact, or even my 30t rear cassette. I forgot to mention that due to lack of gearing, I had to walk part of Snake Mtn. I hated to do that but didn't feel so bad once I realized how many others around me were walking too.


I hope Skibum got a post-ride massage; it was awesome!
I missed the massage. Bummer!! I could have used one!

[GLC1968]

Thanks for the updates!

We will definitely be putting this one on our schedule for next year! :D