Today was a relaxed ride to be able to have time to chat it up with the guys and get a feel for the Team House and of course figure out where each person was sleeping. I spent the night on Friday for Saturday's ride but had to be home Saturday night for school related responsibilities. Its awesome riding out in Unison, VA and its only an hours drive away. I never knew how hilly and beautiful it was out there...and the 50kph gravel descents are pretty gnarly too haha.
Saturday: Haymarket Team Camp Day2 @ Garmin Connect
Besides the infinite number of flats that the group got today, which of course lead to multiple annoying stops, the ride was quite enjoyable. We hit up one of Chuck's favorite climbs, Firey Run, a 3-4km all gravel climb with some ups and downs. We did a couple other shorter climbs on the road that were fun. I was attacking as much as Chuck and Eli would let me and showing the team why I got picked up and what I can do with my bike. Regardless of the stops to fix flats (I think there were 6?) and some problems of my own with my shifting, this really was an amazingly fun day.
Sunday: Haymarket Team Camp Day3 @ Garmin Connect
Today was the longest ride I have ever done, and it was awesome! After yesterday I realize just how much food my muscle mass body needs on long rides in order for me to not bonk...A LOT. During the 4:30 hour ride and 135km I ate 5 gels, 4 energy bars, a bag of chips, a glazed donut, a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and drank 1 bottle of gatorade, 3 bottles of water and a can of Mountain Dew. Now that really is a lot of food!
There were times on this ride where I was feeling a bonk coming up, but I always spaced out my eating and drinking well and regained energy every time I felt down. I was attacking on every single climb, every single descent, and even won the group sprint we had to the coffee shop (Sorry Steven Black...haha). This was a really fun ride and I absolutely loved the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the top of the 3 major climbs that we did. It was also really neat to finally get a close up look at Harper's Ferry. This is a day I'll remember for a long, long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment