The Mountain

Me: "I think I know what a tough hill is like."
Mountain: "You know nothing, Jon Snow."

Hampton Roads is, in general, a pretty flat area. Hill training is tough to come by, so on Friday I burned a vacation day and drove 2 hours West to the Appalachian Mountains. Skyline Drive is a beautiful road that rides along the crest of the mountains between Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, and that was where I was going to cut my teeth. The plan was to bike 26 miles up to a campsite that was open (where I could refill my water bottles), and then turn around and bike back.

Hills are ranked in 5 categories based on grade and length: Cat 5 hills are the easiest, and Cat 1 are the toughest. This route had one Cat 3 hill, two Cat 4 hills, and ten Cat 5 hills. This was all new to me so I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

It was going to be a warm day, so I packed three bottles of gatorade (two in cages and one in my cycling jersey) and a bag of fig newtons. This was my first ride on my brand new Gatorskin tires (made of kevlar to resist punctures), but I brought a spare tube and small pump just in case. Getting stranded on the mountain would not be a fun time.

The route immediately began with a 2.65 mile long Cat 4 hill. I shifted into the easiest gear and slowly made my way up. While it was difficult, my legs quickly got used to the climb and I fell into a nice groove. It was challenging, but not impossible! By the time I made it to the top I was sweating and breathing hard, but had a big ego boost. Mountain training isn't out of my league! Even more rewarding was the view at the overlook, followed by 5 miles of coasting downhill at 30mph.

I was quickly humbled by the next hill, the massive 3 mile long Cat 3. I settled into the same groove as the first hill, but this one was obviously steeper: I was going slower, and each pedal stroke was difficult. It was like doing hundreds of one-legged squats in a row. There is no shoulder on this road, but halfway up I had to admit defeat and pull over into the grass and take a short breather. That did the trick, and I trudged along the rest of the hill at my slow 7:00-per-mile pace. This view was waiting for me at the top, at an elevation of 3,000 feet:

Charlottesville Reservoir in the background

Despite struggling on the hill, I felt great. I came out here to challenge myself and test what I could handle, and I came away with an answer: Cat 3 is the extent of my capabilities right now.

The rest of the ride was easy by comparison. I cruised along at as fast a pace as I could manage, stopping at many of the overlooks to catch my breath and snap some pictures. I made it to the camp site at the 26 mile marker right at noon. There was a restaurant open selling burgers, fries and hotdogs, but I didn't want to eat anything heavy so I snacked on my fig newtons and refilled my water bottles.

At this point I had a decision to make. I could turn around there, or continue on the road for another 5-10 miles. There was a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, and I could see them in the distance to the West, so I decided to go ahead and turn around there. My GPS was fine until this point, but after my 10 minute break at the camp site it had trouble locating me on the map, so I turned it off. This was too bad, as the downhills on the way back were much faster. I was easily going 50mph, which is terrifying on a mountain road on a bicycle. I road the brakes quite a bit. It felt good to coast so much on the second half, because my legs were worn out.

Overall it was 52.34 miles biking, with 7380 total feet of climbing. My fastest mile was 2:09, and my slowest was 7:19. I ate my sandwich in my car and headed home, which was an agonizing 3+ hours in traffic. I would love to bike Skyline Drive again, though supposedly there are a lot more cars in the fall. Here are the rest of the photos I took: