Beautiful Backroads Century - 15 Sept 2012

The Beautiful Backroads Century's routes are in one of the prettiest areas of north Georgia.  The ride starts and ends at the Budweiser Brewery just off I-75 in Bartow County near Cartersville.  The routes are year round favorites of cyclists.  There are several options from 14 miles all the way up to 101 miles.  In keeping with my pattern and fitness, I rode the metric century (67 miles).

This ride is very popular (1500 riders) and with the brewery having only one road in and out, traffic really backs up.  I set my alarm for 0500.  I woke up with my sinuses reacting to the weather changing (cooler, dryer temps) making me feel pretty lousy.  I had registered online on the last day so I did not want to blow off a whole $40, but I thought about it.  Uninspired, I loaded the bike and gear and headed north.  It takes me about 50 minutes to get there.  Once on I-75, it seemed like almost every car had bikes on it and why not?  Who else would be up at this hour?

With even the ungodly early start, there was a line of cars backed up on the Brewery Drive.  It was stop and go for a long time, but I still had plenty of time.  I saw up ahead the volunteers were directing traffic into the large grass field on the brewery property.  Plenty of space, but a looooonng way from the registration area and food pavilion.  Just as I was about to turn in, they directed me on down the road to the other side of the brewery.  This lot is right near the preferred parking and close in.  What luck for the 2nd year in a row!  I'm feeling a lot better as I start getting excited with all the other cyclists getting ready.  I strike up a conversation with 2 guys next to me who had never ridden the routes.  I assured them they would love it.  I saw them a couple of times at the SAG stops and they concurred with my assessment.  I make the easy walk to get my wristband for the SAG stops and food afterward.  Did I mention there was free beer given away at the end of the ride?  Wonder if that had anything to do with the huge turnout?

I got ready in plenty of time.  I met one of my Lockheed Martin riding buddies (Steve) and we went to the start area.  The temps were ideal; mid-60s and low humidity with little to no wind.  A lot of riders don't like the mass starts as this can be a recipe for disaster i.e. wrecks, but I really enjoy them.  There was a long line of riders for the first few miles.  I noticed we were really cooking along.  A few riders I knew came and went.  We passed by the first SAG stop and continued on.  I have ridden this section quite a few times, but the metric portion from mile 32 or so on I had only ridden once before in last year's ride.

Steve and I (and Steve's neighbors) stopped at the 2nd SAG stop at the 24 mile mark.  I realized I was feeling pretty good at this time and had gone through some of the hillier sections better than I had ever ridden.

Pics of the 2nd SAG...

I bumped into yet another group of riders I knew from other rides.  I left out with them and rode pretty much the rest of the ride with them.  Mike and his friends are some of the friendliest folks I've met.  They are also great riders and we had a bunch of laughs.  I was concerned about my "48 mile" fitness and wondered how tough the last third of the route was going to be.  I remembered last year's ride was very hard for me.  Well, we were rolling along really well.  Did I mention the weather was perfect?  I was "surprised" how well I still felt at the next SAG stop.  Don't really know why, but I felt like I was getting stronger!  This cycling thing has about as strong a mental aspect to it as golf.  Anyway, the last 15 miles are mostly uphill, but I didn't seem to be fading much.  I followed a smaller young lady rider for much of the way to the last SAG stop and tried to match her speed.  Got to the last stop still feeling great.  In the process of getting off my bike, I somehow scraped the inside of my right leg on the crank setting off a little blood flow down my leg.  It was starting to get warmer and as I sat in the shade I wondered how much I had left in the tank.  Our little group plus my buddy Steve joined us as we headed for the barn.  After getting the kinks worked back out, Steve and I put the hammer down (at least for us old guys).  We pounded our way home.  On the last 4 miles going back down Brewery Dr, I spotted a guy and decided to see if I could catch him.  Man, I was really flying and I couldn't believe I could still be pounding away after 60+ miles!  I caught him and rode his wheel the last mile until he turned off.  I had a little extra ride to get to my truck in the far lot, but I was feeling really great.  Put the bike up, changed clothes, and had some great hotdogs and chicken fingers.  Truly my best day on the bike so far.

Mike Harmon aka "Hollywood" takes some great videos of rides.  Here is his video of the 2012 Beautiful Backroads
click on da link-->2012 BBC Video 

MACC One Love Century - 1 Sept 2012

Debbie and I decided to chill out Labor Day Weekend instead of going camping  with the big group from Roswell Street.  Christie's wedding plus work stuff had us on the go for most of the summer.  The camper was in disarray as I didn't have time to get it out, cleaned, and the leaks taken care of.

I decided to ride in the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club's (MACC) "One Love Century" on Saturday.  I had heard great things about this ride and the hosts and they were right!  I chose to ride the metric century which was 62 miles.  The route is in the southwest part of the Atlanta metro area south of I-20 and east of I-285/I-85 in what is known to the local cyclists as the Silk Sheets.

I got out of bed really early due to the fact that I had not pre-registered and wanted to beat the crowd.  As it turned out, I got to the start of the ride (a local elementary school) early enough to get a good parking spot up front.  Walked up and paid the ride fee and they handed me a XXL tshirt.  I don't expect to get tshirts large enough so that was a good surprise.  There was a scheduled "mass start" at 8:00am but there was a steady stream of riders leaving to begin the ride from 7:30 on.  I waited awhile, but decided to head out about 10 minutes early.  There was only a slight chance of rain predicted, but high temps were guaranteed.  The first 15 miles were easy with some long descents.  I grimaced on some of the longer descents as the last part of the route came back along these roads so I was not looking forward to climbing at the end of a long, hot ride.

The route itself was fantastic.  We rode on some of the roads I had ridden on the Tour de Cure ride back in May only we were going the opposite direction this time.  Sag stops were really great.  The MACC members manned the rest stops and provided a whole raft of food options.  Tomatoes and pickles were added to the usual peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, and sports drinks.  The MACC members go above and beyond in their support of riders.  Volunteers took my bike and filled my water bottles.  As if the ride wasn't hard enough, a yellow jacket popped me really good on my right arm just below the elbow.  I'm not allergic to the stings, but MAN, do they hurt.  This particular sting bothered me until I went to bed Saturday night.

With large gaps between longer rides this summer, I knew the last third was going to be tough.  Most of this summer I have had what I call "48 mile" fitness.  Trouble is, this ride is 62 miles and I really started to feel it at 50.  The normal route had a detour coming back in due to a bridge being out on Cochran Rd.  The detour took us on Creel Rd.  I have never been on Creel Rd and I wish I could still say that.  There was a good 7% climb on it and it just about finished me off.  My heart rate was off the charts at the top of that thing and I still had a good ways to go.  There was one looooonng steady climb left about 3 miles from the end.  I just put my head down and stared at the white line and slowwwwly climbed that sucker.  Rolled back into the parking lot completely whipped.  Did I mention it was HOT!  That's 3 times I've ridden routes in the Silk Sheets and each time I've been whipped at the end.  Fun times anyway!

The MACC has the coolest bike kits of any cycling club I've seen.  They have some great color schemes.  Anyone who knows me knows I like the intense colors.  Hope to hit this ride again next year!