After the sufferfest of Saturday, all that Neal, Andy, and I wanted or needed was a good recovery ride. Some of the Franklin group were headed our way to ride on the BRP. We decided that we would just meet those guys and do a ride there instead of going to Franklin and doing the Burningtown route.
We met Guy, Ludwig, Tom, & Gus (Franklin guys) and Chris at the maintenance facility at Balsam. Andy's wife, Beth was also riding for the first time in a long time. The decision was made to ride up to Waterrock Knob and we headed off. It was a beautiful day again - bright sun, great temps and a bit of wind. I felt pretty good on this climb, despite having cramping issues the day before and my right hamstring hurting a bit. This is a good solid 9mi climb with avg grade around 5-6%, but there are some steeper sections of 7-10%. As usual, the guys all dropped me, but I was able to reel in Guy and Ludwig a few times, then they would pass me, reel them in again, and pass me....
I made it up to the summit in 1:17hr. 3 whole minutes faster than the last time I rode up this back in August. And, I was able to do this with all the other climbing in my legs from the day before. The descent back to the cars was sketchy in some places - falling rock debris and tree limb debris littered the road. The wind was a bit bad on the descent as well and I only had a max of 42.5mph. Had it not been for that debris, I think I could have gotten over 45mph.
After the ride, said our good-byes to the Franklin group, Neal, and Chris, and Andy, Beth, and I went back to his place. I got a shower, packed all my stuff up and made the long trip home. I sure didn't want to leave. It was such a beautiful afternoon. Would have been really nice to sit out on a deck somewhere and soak up the sun. Hopefully, that's what I'll be doing in 3 weeks besides more riding when I'm back up there for Assault On The Carolinas.
Pics coming this evening....
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