Friday May 7th, 4:30 am
The alarm goes off and I open my eyes. I roll out of bed and immediately head to the kitchen to start the coffee. What have I gotten myself into? I guess it was back in March when I saw a notice on the Tri RATS yahoo group about a 2-day 220 mile ride on Skyline Drive. After riding parts of Skyline last summer in preparation for Ironman USA, I had decided that someday I wanted to ride the entire 105 miles of Skyline from Front Royal to Waynesboro. Never had I ever thought about riding those 105 miles and then riding back the next day. This sounded like a lot of fun and I knew my training would be good enough to get me through this ride so I decided to do it. I forwarded the email to Theresa, thinking that since she's going to France this summer to ride, that she would want to go also.
Julie: "Theresa, will you do this 220 mile ride on Skyline Drive with me?"
Theresa: "Sure"
That is how all of my adventures with Theresa begin.
Amy, Theresa and I roll into Front Royal just around 7am. We're sitting at McDonalds, Amy is calling in to work sick and my cell phone rings. "Where is everyone meeting?" It was Kyle Yost. "I have no idea but I am guessing at the entrance to Skyline." No more than 2 minutes later, the phone rings again "Where are we meeting?" It was Olwen. Suddenly I wonder if I had been appointed as the official "details" person for the TriCats. We make it over to the entrance to Skyline. I get out of the car and look around. Whoa....this is a serious person ride. I may be out of my league here. We get our gear together and join the group for some last minute instructions from Steve Smith. "We're staying at the Quality Inn Waynesboro." Theresa repeats this to herself out loud several times and I chime in that we will need a late check in for our room. People laugh, but we were completely serious.
Here we go up the hill. The first 21 miles, which I had done several times before, seemed to go by rather quickly. We made it to the top and Steve from Trinergy took pictures of us with huge smiles on our faces. Down the descent, stop at Elkwallow for bathrooms and to fill the water, and we were back on our way. Theresa and I got separated here and I spent the next 25 miles basically alone with my thoughts. I spent a lot of time thinking about this year and how amazing it has been. Skyline, while challenging, wasn't seeming too bad. I made it up the last climb before lunch and pull into Big Meadows...still smiling! 1 veggie burger, 1 bag of pretzels, 2 diet Pepsis and 1 bag of gummy bears later, I was back on the road.
The next 30 miles flew by. The next rest stop was at mile 80. I had another diet Pepsi. It was getting really hot out and I was craving an ice cold soda. Steve said that he had seen Theresa a little while ago and that she wanted some Advil. He had some ready for her for when she got to mile 80. "I hope that she's not in a bad mood" I said to Steve. She came riding into the rest stop with a huge smile and immediately said "I'm not in a bad mood!" It was as if she heard Steve and I talking.
I headed out shortly after Theresa rode in. Back out on Skyline, again, just me and my thoughts and 30 more miles. I had become a slave to the elevation chart that I had brought and at the bottom of every downhill, I would pull it out to see exactly how far up I had to go before the next downhill. That is how I knew I was getting tired. I knew that as long as I could get to mile 100, I the rest was all downhill into Waynesboro. As I exited the park, I got out the map to the hotel that Steve Smith had given us that morning to make sure I knew where I was going. It said that there would be an overpass and it would be obvious. I rode right past it, go figure. Luckily I didn't get too far down the road before I realized what I had done and I went back and followed the signs toward Waynesboro.
The highlight of my trip into Waynesboro came right as I entered the town. I was flying down the road and I see a pick up truck about to pull out onto the road right in front of me. They didn't end up turning and the second I got past them I hear the guy scream "nice ass." It was nice of the town of Waynesboro to send out the Welcoming Committee to greet us.
I found the Quality Inn, got my bags, room key, and was off to the shower. Somehow along the ride I had become a human windshield and had bugs and dirt all over myself so it was really nice to get washed up.
Off to dinner. Amy, Theresa and I shared a large pizza, some pasta and a few beers. The beers tasted SO good! Kyle joined us at our table after dinner and the four of us agreed that we should try to find a bar to go to. He asks our waitress if there was a bar close by. You would have thought that we asked her to solve some terribly complex problem. Nope, no bar in Waynesboro. It looked like we were going to have to settle for more beer at the restaurant, which was fine. Amy and Theresa told us some of their hilarious Spain stories. We headed back to the hotel around 10 pm to get some much needed rest before the return trip to Front Royal.
Saturday, May 9th 5:30 am
I think I woke up to the third alarm that we had set. After a few cups of coffee, breakfast and packing up all of our gear, we were back on our bikes. I expected that getting back on my bike was going to be more painful than it turned out to be. I also expected that the first 20 miles of the ride were going to hurt but they didn't. Theresa and I left Waynesboro with Olwen and Matt around 6:40 am. We wanted to get a head start so that we wouldn't finish too far after the faster riders. I also wanted to have the chance to actually see other riders throughout the day. While I enjoy the time by myself, 220 miles is a far way to ride by yourself.
About 8 miles before Big Meadows (lunch) I finally see the first group of riders. It was Steve Smith and his group. I thought it was going to be good to see other people, but it really put my in the only emotional low that I had the entire two days. They all are so fast and passed me like I was standing still. About a mile later, Kyle and Amy passed me. I didn't really hear what he said, but all I heard Kyle say was "lunch." UGH! I was starving and at the time contemplating eating everything I had with me on my bike. I tried to hang on for 6 more miles. Between the wind, hills and feeling hungry, it was a good thing I was alone.
When I got to lunch, there were so many other people there! This was excellent! It was nice to have people to talk to. Another veggie burger, bag of gummy bears and diet Pepsi and I was back to my normal smiling self. The weather was much different from the forecast I had seen a few days before. It was much cooler than it was supposed to be. I didn't even being my arm warmers. I changed into a jersey with sleeves hoping that it would keep me a little warmer. Leaving lunch at Big Meadows, you basically go down a 3 mile descent. It was chilly and I couldn't wait to start climbing. At least that would warm me up. The fast groups passed me again and this time it really wasn't that bad.
Right around the highest point on Skyline I met up with Jeff the "candy man." I soon learned why. He took a huge bag of candy out of his fanny pack and offered me some. I had just had the gummy bears so I was ok, as far as sugar went. We descended into Panorama together. After Panorama (mile marker 31), there is about 8 miles of flat/moderately rolling terrain. It was nice to know at that point that there were only 3 major climbs left for a total of about 6 miles of climbing. It really didn't seem to bad. I had done all of them several times so I knew exactly what was ahead of me.
As I got closer to Elkwallow, which is at the bottom of the 3 mile climb, I debated not stopping. I was completely out of water, but I didn't need to stop for the bathroom and I had a full bottle of accelerade. I started to go by and I saw bikes. I thought that it would be nice to see other people so I stopped. This turned out to be the best decision I made all day. I only took about 5 minutes at this stop because I just wanted to get this next climb over with so I filled my water bottle, stretched and got back on my bike. As I was getting back on my bike, "Candy Man" was riding past the rest stop. We climbed for a few minutes together. I knew that the top of the climb was a mile marker 21. It seemed like about 20 minutes went by between 23 and 22. Then finally I looked up and recognized the top of the climb. I remembered back to the first time I did that climb and Vince was standing at the top screaming. That thought got me up that last quarter mile.
Once at the top, I felt relieved. There wasn't too much work left. The next climb started just after mile marker 18 and was 2 miles long. Close to the top, Matt and two other riders passed me. I hung with them the rest of the way up and then we all descended together. One more climb to go and it was only a mile long. The guys passed me about halfway up. I kept them in sight and gave it everything I had left.
The last 6 miles you can basically do without peddling so I used every single bit of energy I had to get up that last short climb. On the way down, the mile markers were flying by 6-5-4-3- then I got to 2. I got completely choked up and had tears in my eyes. I could hardly breathe. I almost didn't want to get to mile marker 1. I was ready to be finished with this adventure, but in a way I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to sit on my bike seat for one extra minute. As I flew past mile marker 1 at roughly 42 mph, I remembered seeing it the day before. What I passed it the day before I knew that I had 209 miles ahead of me, but it didn't bother me at all. I just learned how to take it one day at a time, one climb at a time, one mile at a time, one pedal stroke at a time. Past the entrance gate and around the bend to the car. I was done with my little emotional moment and now had a smile from ear to ear.
220+ miles (roughly 15 hours) by yourself is a long time. I never really felt alone since there were other people out there, but I had a lot of time to let my mind wonder. I thought of Ironman Lake Placid, my goals and what a wonderful year of training and racing I had already had. I had an amazing ride, met amazing people and the crazy thing is I want to do this ride again.
The alarm goes off and I open my eyes. I roll out of bed and immediately head to the kitchen to start the coffee. What have I gotten myself into? I guess it was back in March when I saw a notice on the Tri RATS yahoo group about a 2-day 220 mile ride on Skyline Drive. After riding parts of Skyline last summer in preparation for Ironman USA, I had decided that someday I wanted to ride the entire 105 miles of Skyline from Front Royal to Waynesboro. Never had I ever thought about riding those 105 miles and then riding back the next day. This sounded like a lot of fun and I knew my training would be good enough to get me through this ride so I decided to do it. I forwarded the email to Theresa, thinking that since she's going to France this summer to ride, that she would want to go also.
Julie: "Theresa, will you do this 220 mile ride on Skyline Drive with me?"
Theresa: "Sure"
That is how all of my adventures with Theresa begin.
Amy, Theresa and I roll into Front Royal just around 7am. We're sitting at McDonalds, Amy is calling in to work sick and my cell phone rings. "Where is everyone meeting?" It was Kyle Yost. "I have no idea but I am guessing at the entrance to Skyline." No more than 2 minutes later, the phone rings again "Where are we meeting?" It was Olwen. Suddenly I wonder if I had been appointed as the official "details" person for the TriCats. We make it over to the entrance to Skyline. I get out of the car and look around. Whoa....this is a serious person ride. I may be out of my league here. We get our gear together and join the group for some last minute instructions from Steve Smith. "We're staying at the Quality Inn Waynesboro." Theresa repeats this to herself out loud several times and I chime in that we will need a late check in for our room. People laugh, but we were completely serious.
Here we go up the hill. The first 21 miles, which I had done several times before, seemed to go by rather quickly. We made it to the top and Steve from Trinergy took pictures of us with huge smiles on our faces. Down the descent, stop at Elkwallow for bathrooms and to fill the water, and we were back on our way. Theresa and I got separated here and I spent the next 25 miles basically alone with my thoughts. I spent a lot of time thinking about this year and how amazing it has been. Skyline, while challenging, wasn't seeming too bad. I made it up the last climb before lunch and pull into Big Meadows...still smiling! 1 veggie burger, 1 bag of pretzels, 2 diet Pepsis and 1 bag of gummy bears later, I was back on the road.
The next 30 miles flew by. The next rest stop was at mile 80. I had another diet Pepsi. It was getting really hot out and I was craving an ice cold soda. Steve said that he had seen Theresa a little while ago and that she wanted some Advil. He had some ready for her for when she got to mile 80. "I hope that she's not in a bad mood" I said to Steve. She came riding into the rest stop with a huge smile and immediately said "I'm not in a bad mood!" It was as if she heard Steve and I talking.
I headed out shortly after Theresa rode in. Back out on Skyline, again, just me and my thoughts and 30 more miles. I had become a slave to the elevation chart that I had brought and at the bottom of every downhill, I would pull it out to see exactly how far up I had to go before the next downhill. That is how I knew I was getting tired. I knew that as long as I could get to mile 100, I the rest was all downhill into Waynesboro. As I exited the park, I got out the map to the hotel that Steve Smith had given us that morning to make sure I knew where I was going. It said that there would be an overpass and it would be obvious. I rode right past it, go figure. Luckily I didn't get too far down the road before I realized what I had done and I went back and followed the signs toward Waynesboro.
The highlight of my trip into Waynesboro came right as I entered the town. I was flying down the road and I see a pick up truck about to pull out onto the road right in front of me. They didn't end up turning and the second I got past them I hear the guy scream "nice ass." It was nice of the town of Waynesboro to send out the Welcoming Committee to greet us.
I found the Quality Inn, got my bags, room key, and was off to the shower. Somehow along the ride I had become a human windshield and had bugs and dirt all over myself so it was really nice to get washed up.
Off to dinner. Amy, Theresa and I shared a large pizza, some pasta and a few beers. The beers tasted SO good! Kyle joined us at our table after dinner and the four of us agreed that we should try to find a bar to go to. He asks our waitress if there was a bar close by. You would have thought that we asked her to solve some terribly complex problem. Nope, no bar in Waynesboro. It looked like we were going to have to settle for more beer at the restaurant, which was fine. Amy and Theresa told us some of their hilarious Spain stories. We headed back to the hotel around 10 pm to get some much needed rest before the return trip to Front Royal.
Saturday, May 9th 5:30 am
I think I woke up to the third alarm that we had set. After a few cups of coffee, breakfast and packing up all of our gear, we were back on our bikes. I expected that getting back on my bike was going to be more painful than it turned out to be. I also expected that the first 20 miles of the ride were going to hurt but they didn't. Theresa and I left Waynesboro with Olwen and Matt around 6:40 am. We wanted to get a head start so that we wouldn't finish too far after the faster riders. I also wanted to have the chance to actually see other riders throughout the day. While I enjoy the time by myself, 220 miles is a far way to ride by yourself.
About 8 miles before Big Meadows (lunch) I finally see the first group of riders. It was Steve Smith and his group. I thought it was going to be good to see other people, but it really put my in the only emotional low that I had the entire two days. They all are so fast and passed me like I was standing still. About a mile later, Kyle and Amy passed me. I didn't really hear what he said, but all I heard Kyle say was "lunch." UGH! I was starving and at the time contemplating eating everything I had with me on my bike. I tried to hang on for 6 more miles. Between the wind, hills and feeling hungry, it was a good thing I was alone.
When I got to lunch, there were so many other people there! This was excellent! It was nice to have people to talk to. Another veggie burger, bag of gummy bears and diet Pepsi and I was back to my normal smiling self. The weather was much different from the forecast I had seen a few days before. It was much cooler than it was supposed to be. I didn't even being my arm warmers. I changed into a jersey with sleeves hoping that it would keep me a little warmer. Leaving lunch at Big Meadows, you basically go down a 3 mile descent. It was chilly and I couldn't wait to start climbing. At least that would warm me up. The fast groups passed me again and this time it really wasn't that bad.
Right around the highest point on Skyline I met up with Jeff the "candy man." I soon learned why. He took a huge bag of candy out of his fanny pack and offered me some. I had just had the gummy bears so I was ok, as far as sugar went. We descended into Panorama together. After Panorama (mile marker 31), there is about 8 miles of flat/moderately rolling terrain. It was nice to know at that point that there were only 3 major climbs left for a total of about 6 miles of climbing. It really didn't seem to bad. I had done all of them several times so I knew exactly what was ahead of me.
As I got closer to Elkwallow, which is at the bottom of the 3 mile climb, I debated not stopping. I was completely out of water, but I didn't need to stop for the bathroom and I had a full bottle of accelerade. I started to go by and I saw bikes. I thought that it would be nice to see other people so I stopped. This turned out to be the best decision I made all day. I only took about 5 minutes at this stop because I just wanted to get this next climb over with so I filled my water bottle, stretched and got back on my bike. As I was getting back on my bike, "Candy Man" was riding past the rest stop. We climbed for a few minutes together. I knew that the top of the climb was a mile marker 21. It seemed like about 20 minutes went by between 23 and 22. Then finally I looked up and recognized the top of the climb. I remembered back to the first time I did that climb and Vince was standing at the top screaming. That thought got me up that last quarter mile.
Once at the top, I felt relieved. There wasn't too much work left. The next climb started just after mile marker 18 and was 2 miles long. Close to the top, Matt and two other riders passed me. I hung with them the rest of the way up and then we all descended together. One more climb to go and it was only a mile long. The guys passed me about halfway up. I kept them in sight and gave it everything I had left.
The last 6 miles you can basically do without peddling so I used every single bit of energy I had to get up that last short climb. On the way down, the mile markers were flying by 6-5-4-3- then I got to 2. I got completely choked up and had tears in my eyes. I could hardly breathe. I almost didn't want to get to mile marker 1. I was ready to be finished with this adventure, but in a way I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to sit on my bike seat for one extra minute. As I flew past mile marker 1 at roughly 42 mph, I remembered seeing it the day before. What I passed it the day before I knew that I had 209 miles ahead of me, but it didn't bother me at all. I just learned how to take it one day at a time, one climb at a time, one mile at a time, one pedal stroke at a time. Past the entrance gate and around the bend to the car. I was done with my little emotional moment and now had a smile from ear to ear.
220+ miles (roughly 15 hours) by yourself is a long time. I never really felt alone since there were other people out there, but I had a lot of time to let my mind wonder. I thought of Ironman Lake Placid, my goals and what a wonderful year of training and racing I had already had. I had an amazing ride, met amazing people and the crazy thing is I want to do this ride again.
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