Yesterday was the 17th riding of the Burnsville Metric (http:// www.burnsvillemetric.com/). I'd not ridden it before; I wanted to last year, but, didn't have enough miles under my belt to attempt. I decided to give it a go this year, though.
Burnsville is a small town in western North Carolina, about 25 miles north of Asheville, and is 45 miles south of me here in Kingsport, Tennessee. As my dad's mom was from a small community seven miles northwest of there (Bee Log), and my mother-in-law's father was from another small community 10 miles to the northeast (Bakersville), that was part of the attraction of wanting to make this ride. (I should mention, these distances are as the crow flies... to drive it, sometimes you have to double your distances in our terrain here). Although this ride is in the mountains, it's probably about as flat as you could find in the region. The ride left Burnsville heading west on 19E, then turned north, going up the Cane River to its confluence with the Toe River, where they form the Nolichucky River. There, the course turns eastward and runs up the Toe River, to Bakersville. There, it turns south until it hits 19E on the east side of Burnsville, then turns west to return to town. Weather was unbeatable. Beautiful day. Cool in the morning to start out, and though it warmed up it didn't get hot. My son and I got up early and stopped for a quick bite enroute, before hitting the road. On the interstate, we passed several other vehicles carrying bikes, which we guessed were also headed that way. Arriving before 8am that morning, we registered, then started warming up, riding around the town square where the ride begins. In several of the parking lots around the square, were numerous other bikers, all checking tires, pinning on numbers, talking with friends. We found the vehicle we'd encountered on the highway, met two really nice gentlemen, also from the Kingsport area (Bob and Larry). We continued riding around, eyeing other bikes, checking out various biking jerseys, chatting with several of the locals who were assisting with parking and directions. I do believe, not only was I on the only Rivendell there (only one we saw), I was also the only bike present that was fendered. My son's Motobecane is an aluminum-framed crossbike; I know I spotted one other bike that was steel (perhaps an older Raleigh); but every other bike I saw was carbon. The ride started prompt at 9am. The first thing I noticed when everyone started moving, was the sound. Waves of clicks after clicks. Alex and I started chuckling, as we may also have been some of the very few who were riding free, also (I did spot one person with toe straps as we started). The quickest riders started towards the front, then mid-pack riders, and we were near the back of them, perhaps near the front of the 3rd-tier riders (was interesting, that the packet had an instruction sheet explaining how to arrange yourselves for the start as such). Have to admit, it was a very cool site seeing a couple hundred bikes taking off down the hill from the square, leading us back out to the highway. The ride started well. The state police had held traffic on the highway as the ride started, so we could all get those first few miles out of the way, before reaching the turn towards the north. At that point, the car traffic became much lighter. This was the first time my son and I have ever ridden with a larger group of people (not that we were with a club, the way many clubs were there, but, that we were riding with any other riders other than family). We noticed how the distance segregates people out... that we'd reach a hill-climb, and some could pound ahead, others would drift back... as distance grew, some faded, while all the time, others from somewhere behind would fly by and continue on. We were doing well, as well as I could have hoped, was feeling good. We rolled through the small communities of Higgins, Bee Log, Ramseytown. When we reached the first aid-station at mile 20 at Sioux, noticed how crowded it was and not feeling particularly tired or thirsty yet, continued on, passing it by. At this point, we started noticing that we weren't around as many riders; we were mostly on our own, that there were fewer pelotons that would catch and pass us. We passed the community of Green Mountain, the midpoint, in under two hours. But shortly after that.... Alex had remarked at some point along the way, how easy this was. I would tell him to not worry, that he'll have to earn this easy ride in a little while. There was a turn where you had to climb over the railroad track where he first thought was what I meant, but I assured him no, that that didn't count as a climb at all. The first climb came right around mile 35... We rolled across a bridge at at Red Hill, where the road gets away from the river for a bit... and you have to climb up to run along the ridgeside. At the top of the ridge, a small clinic was evidently having a 'prescription medicine collection' event, and had a sun awning set up. I think they were a bit flustered; all of the riders thought it was the next rest-stop, having just climbed the first hill... we automatically stopped, and seemed a bit bewildered that there weren't water coolers, etc. But, we still caught a breather there before continuing on. We passed through Loafers Glory, on into Bakersville, and stopped at its official 2nd rest-stop there at mile 42. We did take a break there. Banana halves, orange wedges, pretzels, water refills, and some friendly chat with other bikers. But, I didn't want to tarry too long, knowing the next leg was coming, left there before noon. The 3rd rest stop was at mile 55.6, right before reaching the highway at Micaville. The views over the next 13 miles were incredible, but, wow, the climbs, I really am not that strong of a climber. My 15- year-old son, carrying half my weight (but is a few inches taller than me, and I'm 6-foot), he can rocket up the hills. He won't be anywhere other than right on my heels as we ride the flats, but when we get to a hillclimb, he rides to the top, then waits at the crest for me to get there. More often than not, when I reach it, I don't stop, I go ahead and continue rolling, and he falls back in behind me again. On several of the hills, I had to stop part-way up, walk up a portion, before remounting and continuing on up. On a particular hill or two, I had some pretty intense thigh cramping for a minute, but found it after a bit of a rest, I could continue on. But I was ready for another break when we reached stop #3. (note: must go back to Kona to take pictures of the views.) With seven miles to go, we left out of station three. It's a moderate climb, much easier grade, from that point back to town, but, is right on the shoulder of 19E, with a LOT more traffic than anything we'd encountered all day long. A half-mile from the rest-stop, I felt like my legs were about to start cramping again, when suddenly, I must've hit a piece of glass on the shoulder... Whoosh, and my rear tire is down and flat, a nick on the sidewall. I have to admit, I would've hopped on a SAG wagon if it happened by about then. But, I sat down, and while resting my legs, pulled the rear wheel, peeled the tire off, changed out tubes... discovered I didn't have any of my boot material w/ me, so, I used one of my granola-bar wrappers to wrap the tube inside of where the sidewall cut was. Very effective improvisation. After pumping back up, on we went. If the last six miles had occurred right after the midpoint, would have been cake. After the preceding 14 miles, though, it was trudgery. But, we made it back to the town square, and rode our victory lap around it. There were several bikers still there, but, most of the lots were empty by then. We watched another rider or two come back in after us, cheering them on making it, too. We wondered how many riders there had been (we had numbers 318 and 319), and how many were still out there behind us somewhere. We loaded up our bikes, and pulled away. I neglected to reset my trip computer; our arrival back at the square was five and a half hours after our departure. With the rest-stops, the flat, I'd say it was about five hours of ride time... two hours for the first half, and three hours for the second half. No records set, but, a personal accomplishment, to have ridden 62 miles. [I also neglected to use sunscreen; my legs are fine, but there are these squares on the tops of my feet (I was wearing Tevas), nicely red, as also are my forearms. Quite the farmer's tan line going....] Twice on the ride, people complimented me on my 'vintage' ride. They were very incredulous when, upon asking how old it was, I would tell them the frame was from 2008. One other fellow commented on my Brooks saddle, who he and his wife were also riding Brooks'. Another rider, as she passed me, said she really liked my jersey (I was wearing a Rough Rider's jersey). Yesterday evening, I was having a mix of emotions. I did it! What was I thinking, trying to do that? That was a great ride! Whatever possessed me to attempt that? I enjoy riding, and I enjoy longer rides (meaning more than 10 miles); I enjoy doing the Yuma 22-mile loop, 20 miles on the Greenbelt, 30-some miles on the Creeper Trail... And, I'd love to go do that first 35 miles again and again... but I really need to work on climbs.... maybe then, I could enjoy some of these longer rides in our terrain here, but, until I do become a better climber, maybe I need to stick to less than 60-mile rides... (or, maybe I just need to keep flogging them, to get better?) I took a few photos at the start, at the rest-stops, and then at the end... but wow, as much as I wish I thought to, taking photos of the scenery wasn't on my mind when I was stopping on the middle of the hill climbs. I may have to drive back over there soon and take some pictures along the route, to add. (I've evidently left my download cable at the office, will try to remember to get them posted to Flickr tomorrow.) All in all, though, it was great day out riding with my son. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. 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