Mountains of Misery & Wilderness Road Ride

For some reason I agreed to do the mountains of misery.
http://www.cyclingdoubleheader.com/mountains-of-misery

Are you ready to climb?

The Mountains of Misery ride takes place Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (May 30, 2010). There are 2 route options:

* The Challenge Century is 104 miles, with 10,000′ of climbing.
* The Double Metric Century is 200 kilometers, or 125 miles, with over 13,000′ of climbing.

Don’t worry — or maybe, worry — both routes finish with the 5 kilometer, Category 1 climb to Mountain Lake, with an average grade of 11.9%, and sections up to 16%!

www.MountainsofMisery.com

The Wilderness road ride is that same weekend, but the day before:
Wilderness Road Ride

The 2010 Wilderness Road Ride will be operated separately by FCA Endurance of Southwest Virginia. However the ride will continue as usual, on Saturday, May 29. In fact, they’re bringing back the 78 mile route, for those seeking extra challenge! The 14, 29, 38, and 58 mile options will be available as before. As always, all routes will have frequent rest stops supplied with plenty of goodies to keep you fueled.

This is funny - from their website:

Every year we get questions about gearing. A few points:
* If you are at all unsure of your ability to climb steep grades for long distances, use a triple. Compact doubles (34-50, etc.) are a good solution too.
* If you insist on using a standard double (39-53), put the biggest gear on the back that you can. Even fit, professional racers would use a 25t gear in the back. Flatlanders beware!
* The final climb to Mountain Lake is a lot harder with over 100 miles on your legs already.

Sure, a compact or triple would be great, but a standard double and a 25T in back???? A 39-25 would still bust my knees on some of those climbs. A 34-27 ...sure. But to me, a 39-25 is standard for "rolling" terrain....not brutal climbs (especially for those aforementioned "flatlanders"). :rolleyes:
Maybe I'm just out of shape....

Three years ago DH and I rode the 78 mi. route of the Wilderness Ride, exactly 1 month post-hysterectomy (for me, not him! :eek: ). It was hard but beautiful and very do-able, even with anemic blood. Have never tried MOM but would love to someday.

Good luck & please post a ride report!

Yeah. I'm debating what to do with my gearing - I've got a compact double on the litespeed with an 11-28 on the back of it. My carbon bike's got a triple with an 11-25, but I could put the 11-28 cassette on that bike. I should be able to do that big hill at the end with a triple & an 11-28 right?

But I'd really rather be on my litespeed for that long of a ride, but swapping all my components over to make the litespeed at triple would be a mild pain and probably the front derailleurs are the wrong size clamp on the bikes.

I'm not convinced that I can do that ride on a compact double.

I think I need to ride up Hamburg, Gambrill Park Road, and Coxey Brown a few times a day until the end of May. And maybe do the civil war century route a couple of times.

And I'd really rather be out kayaking a lot of these spring weekends.

Since the person that volunteered me for MOuntains of Misery doesn't actually plan on riding it with me, maybe I should just unvolunteer myself and do the wilderness road ride instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Catriona

I'm not convinced that I can do that ride on a compact double.

I think I need to ride up Hamburg, Gambrill Park Road, and Coxey Brown a few times a day until the end of May. And maybe do the civil war century route a couple of times.

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If/when you do these rides - call me. I need HILL training if I'm to do the Blue Ridge Parkway this September. Not sure if MOM is in the plans, however.

I think I will literally be trying to do them once a day at least. I don't see how else I'm going to be ready to do MOM in 2 months time? I'm pretty sure I can ride 100 miles slowly at this point (I so didn't use my trainer like I should have, and hiking/snowshoeing/skiing is not aerobic enough), but I'm not sure about those hills.

Next week I'm going out to ski at Aspen. But otherwise,I think I'll be cycling on weekends and weekdays. I want to get out to Assateague with the kayak before the mosquitos & ticks come out to play.

I think you're going to be too fast for me (I hate slowing people down) - but maybe you & R can take off and I'll meet you at the top of the hills.

I'll train on the litespeed with the compact, and decide right before hand whether or not to take the triple. I'm mildly gear retarded, so I do a lot better with the compact double.

Check out the one called OMG WTF

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zen

Check out the one called OMG WTF

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This makes a hill that I am trying to master in a local park look MUCH easier :o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Catriona

Yeah. I'm debating what to do with my gearing - I've got a compact double on the litespeed with an 11-28 on the back of it. My carbon bike's got a triple with an 11-25, but I could put the 11-28 cassette on that bike. I should be able to do that big hill at the end with a triple & an 11-28 right?

But I'd really rather be on my litespeed for that long of a ride, but swapping all my components over to make the litespeed at triple would be a mild pain and probably the front derailleurs are the wrong size clamp on the bikes.

I'm not convinced that I can do that ride on a compact double.

Since the person that volunteered me for MOuntains of Misery doesn't actually plan on riding it with me, maybe I should just unvolunteer myself and do the wilderness road ride instead.

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You should easily be able to do the Wilderness Ride with a compact. Mine has an 11-27 cassette & I did it fine. If these old legs can do it, I'm sure yours can too! As I recall, there was a series of three hills called the "Three Charlies" or something like that. They were the most difficult part of the ride. The scenery was amazing & it's well worth the trip.

7 - where are you riding the Parkway? I LOVE riding on the Parkway - great roads, beautiful & lots of fun. All the long uphills are followed by long downhills. :D

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Originally Posted by IFjane

7 - where are you riding the Parkway? I LOVE riding on the Parkway - great roads, beautiful & lots of fun. All the long uphills are followed by long downhills. :D

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The plan is to do the whole she-bang - Cherokee, NC to Waynesboro, VA (excluding Skyline Drive) - in 6 or so days of self-supported biking (w/ two vans running SAG).

Catriona,

I'm up for hill training (not doing the MoM, though), so let me know if you'd like some company. Never hurts to build one's legs. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the extremely flat terrain of South Florida last week. Awesome riding in that part of the state.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 7rider

The plan is to do the whole she-bang - Cherokee, NC to Waynesboro, VA (excluding Skyline Drive) - in 6 or so days of self-supported biking (w/ two vans running SAG).

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Sounds wonderful. Wish I could do something like that. Is it a tour or are you putting the trip together yourself? If you have any way of doing it, let us know when you get up toward this end (say, Peaks of Otter & beyond). There are a couple of us here who love riding the Pkwy & might just be able to ride out to meet up with you for a day.

IMO the Parkway is much nicer to ride than the Skyline Drive. DH & I ride both each year & the experience is consistently better on the Parkway. Enjoy!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IFjane

Sounds wonderful. Wish I could do something like that. Is it a tour or are you putting the trip together yourself? If you have any way of doing it, let us know when you get up toward this end (say, Peaks of Otter & beyond). There are a couple of us here who love riding the Pkwy & might just be able to ride out to meet up with you for a day.

IMO the Parkway is much nicer to ride than the Skyline Drive. DH & I ride both each year & the experience is consistently better on the Parkway. Enjoy!!

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That would be great!

A friend and co-worker is organizing it. He's got the books, the schedule, and the plan. And the wife with a minivan. We'll have about 6 riders (I think) and 2 vans riding support.

I actually haven't ever been on Skyline (yet), so I'll have nothing to compare it to -- and looking at those elevation profiles, hoo, boy! I just hope I survive it. I am so NOT a climber!

Bike Virginia is in BRP/Skyline territory this year. It's a great way to get multi-day hard climbing rides in.

A few years ago I did the Skyline Drive from Fort Royal to Big Meadow, spent the night at the lodge, and then came back the next day. 50 very hard miles each way, but really paid off when I went to Vermont for riding a few weeks later. I found Skyline really nice to ride. I drove to FR, spent one night at the Super8 at the base of Skyline, and left early the next day. It's a great 2-day hard ride.

Skyline Drive is great to ride - but the road surface & width are better on the Parkway, IMO. DH & I ride a century on the Skyline Drive every year. We park at Swift Run Gap (where Rt. 33 crosses), then ride north to Thornton Gap (watch out in the tunnel!), turn around & come back, then ride south to Loft Mountain & back. Great ride, long, tough climbs but lots of great downhills!

7, the same goes for the BRP, though as I said, I think the road surface & grades are even better. Yes, the climbs are long, (sometimes 5+ miles) but are gradual. The downhills are equally as long with big sweeping turns & gorgeous scenery. I need to get Kathi Cville to weigh in on this 'cause she is up there even more than I am. Hope we can hook up - keep us posted!

BTW, have you seen the latest about the shooter up there? Please understand this was something that was not a normal incident up there! Very scary, but at least they caught him:

http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/ne..._wounds/54678/

I am not fond of that tunnel. Coming down, fast, I could feel a pickup truck behind me. I had no headlight; not sure if I had a rear blinkie. I could not see a thing. I just became Luke Skywalker and let the Force Be With Me. It worked, but I don't want to be in that situation again. I'll bring a light next time.

Howdy.......Weighing in late here on the BRParkway part of the thread. IFJane thought maybe I could toss in a few useful tidbits about the northern stretch, between Tye River and Waynesboro. I didn't get a chance to ride up there this past summer, but I did the year before, several times.

I generally did an out-and-back from about Milepost 10 to Milepost 27 or so. Not a long stretch---33+ miles---but I always found it challenging! If I remember correctly that stretch contains one of the more dramatic changes in altitude in the northern region of the Parkway. (I can believe it, whew!)

Roadway is very well-maintained. Drivers tend to be courteous and pay attention. Plenty of motorcycles, especially on weekends, no surprise. Plus local, fast-moving cycling clubs.

Keep in mind that the vehicle speed limit is 45 on the Parkway, but only 35 on Skyline Drive, so motorized traffic *can* move at a faster clip than you might expect for a scenic roadway......And, boy, is it scenic! Gorgeous!

I'm NOT strong or fast rider, but I could (usually) patiently and slowly granny gear my way up the two- to four-mile steady climbs. I actually found the downhills tougher 'cause they're curvy AND steep on the Parkway. But if you're totally comfortable on your bike and know how to handle it at speeds above 25mph, you'll be just fine.

Have fun! The views more than make up for any grunting and groaning as you pedal! :)