Whew!

Well, trying new things and testing new environments can be good, but sometimes, you just gotta know when to pull the plug. We went to the mountains this weekend for a first annual 'Ride & Camp' weekend. We'd been waiting since May for this....you know, trying to coordinate everyone's schedules. The campsite was great. Kudos to Jodi for getting us one with such great facilities.


Our short ride on Friday was fun. It was hot and we ended up going shorter than we expected. But we got to meet Ken's Uncle Edgar and Aunt Margaret and that was cool. Even photographed him under the 'Howell Farm Road' sign.


Saturday dawned awfully cloudy and the chance of rain was 40%. We dined at a precious 50's style diner and set out. Master Ken had planned our route....planned to be about 70 miles. The first 15 miles were great....nice and easy with good conversation. Then we hit the BIG climb. It was at least 14% grade in some places and it was all I could do to turn over the cranks. I decided to make it up using a counting method. 8 turns of the right crank seated, 8 turns standing. That worked pretty well and I made it to the top, followed by Patrick, Beth, Rick and finally Jodi. (Of course Ken was eating a banana when I summited). The climb was 3 miles but it felt like 10!



We continued onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is always pleasant. The climbs can be substantial, but they're generally not as steep. The descents were fun....until it started to rain. It rained off and on for what seemed like an hour. Then the it started to pour! We were starting to feel afraid. We were descending at 40+ mph and barely able to see. The group decided that we'd better get back fast, but we were still 25 miles from camp.



Enter Uncle Edgar. Or at least we hoped. We had to convince Ken to call him, but he did call and an hour and a half later, Aunt Margaret and Cousin Sara showed up in a lovely Toyota Scion to get us. It was the most beautiful car I'd ever seen! Happily, I shoved Patrick and Ken in the Scion and sent them to get bike-portable vehicles. Jodi and I sat huddled on the porch of the Northwest Trading Post for an hour more, huddled together in towels and drinking coffee. It was OK, because our saviors had been dispatched.



In retrospect, it's almost comical. It was definitely an 'epic' ride...one we will talk about for months, possibly years to come!