I recently did the 130 miles on Skyline Drive. This was the third year in a row to do this ride. It was lots of fun, and lots of pain. I purchased a brand new cyclo-cross bike and got it the day before the ride. That was a bad mistake. Take a bike that you’ve been on a few times…
I had a few troubles with the brakes and front derailleur, but all in all it was a great trip. We stayed overnight in Waynesboro.
We went 66.8 miles on Friday, from Hawkes Bill Gap to Waynesboro, and 65.3 back the next day, for a total of 132.1 miles. I averaged about 6 or 7 miles an hour, and as you can see from the elevation profile, that was usually the speed up the hills. I got up to 40 miles/hour on one of the down hills.
Highlights of the trip: much nicer bike to ride than previous years, seeing a bear, turkey, and deer, speaking German to a couple from Germany, being interviewed by a news lady (someone had driven off the side of a cliff on Skyline Drive the day before), surviving 130 miles!
I was definitely worn out by the end of the ride. I’ll have to be in much better shape next year.
Thanks to Don and Taylor, two good buddies for making the trip possible.
Since then, I’ve already been out on a quick 14 mile ride (in only one hour).
