Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive Epic Bike Camp Recap
This camp started out as an idea I had while riding the Skyline Drive with someone I had just met the day before. My girlfriend Kate was at UVA Hospital getting prepped for surgery when the OR nurse, Mario Castro, overheard us talking about me missing a big ride I had scheduled to do the next day. He invited me to join him to ride on Skyline Drive. While riding that day, I was struck by the views, climbs, low traffic and just how great a training ground this would be for IMLP that I was intending to register for in 2011.
During the spring of 2011, the plans to do this 4 day camp began. Mario and I talked several times about how best to go about it. I posted the concept on Endurance Nation and the response was very good. I contacted local Hotels along the route to negotiate rates based on a response of about a dozen riders.
By the time we met to do the ride, we were down to 5 people from EN, Kate, and Mario. From EN were Ralph Butler, Beverly Richardson, Scott Davis, Dave Whiddon, and myself. The dates were set for May 19-22. On May 18th, Ralph, Scott and I met at the Hampton Inn in Waynesboro, Va. Mario and Bev are locals and met us the next morning. The 3 of us headed out for dinner and to get a few last minute supplies. Scott and I had met 2 weeks earlier at White Lake ½. We met Ralph for the first time. I think we all knew right away this was going to be a great experience. Since we all ride and train with power, there was much power geek discussion over dinner and beers. Kate, our official SAG manager flew in late Wed night to join us.
We all met up at the Northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway around 8:30 on the 19th. The weather was cool, around 55 degrees, breezy, overcast with a forecast for scattered showers for the day. After some admin work about the details of the day and some pictures, we were glad to roll out heading South on the BRP.
Day 1 was an 85 mile route that would have us climbing a 13 mile Cat 1 climb at mile 63. From there we would have a 9 mile descent into our overnight location at The Peaks of Otter Lodge. We broke the ride into 1/3’s with SAG stops at 30 and 63 miles. On the route we passed through a tunnel, followed by Kate in the SAG wagon. The weather stayed cool and overcast, but no rain. We were lucky. The Cat 1 climb was tough and really got our attention. Ralph and Beverly were the leaders on the climb. The rest of us just got over it. Kate was in the SAG wagon all day, so all riders covered the 85 miles. Ralph put off getting a compact crank and was regretting that decision about this time. Bev on her 650 wheels, a compact running a 12/28 was spinning like a hamster going up it. She earned the Polka Dot Jersey that day and was affectionately referred to as the “animal”. This was particularly amazing given the fact that she had a commuter rack with a bag full of bagels , tools, etc clamped to her seat post. We arrived around 5pm. While most of us were recovering and getting a shower, Bev went for a brick run around the lake on a very nice trail. She spotted a black bear while out. We met up for dinner around 6:30 and made a short drive into Bedford for some good food and beverages.
Day 2 began meeting up for breakfast at the lodge. Of course after Bev had gone for her morning run!! We wanted to get an early start, but the lodge didn’t open for breakfast until 7:30. We rolled out about 8:30 heading north this time to do the return leg of the route we did on Day 1. We had a 9 mile climb back up to the top of Thunder Ridge, the Cat 1 we had covered the day before. The weather was very similar to day 1. We dressed for the climb, knowing we would warm up. At the top, Kate met us and we all dressed up for the 13 mile cold descent.
During the descent, we had a slight mix of rain/sleet, but it didn’t last long. Soon we were back at bottom of the climb at the James River. Kate was eager to ride, so I took over SAG duties for a couple hours. The riders continued north, passing through the tunnel again. Next stop was at mile 55 which required a significant amount of climbing done to get there. A brief rain shower passed through as the riders rolled in to the stop. After the stop, Kate returned to SAG and I rode in with the group. Bev was riding very well, but had begun to mention she was falling out of love with her saddle. This was Scott’s last day with us as he returned for family obligations. We finished up around 5:00. Mario and Bev headed to their homes. Ralph, Kate and I returned to the Hampton Inn Waynesboro to meet up with Dave Whiddon who was joining our group for the next 2 days. After a quick shower, we all headed out to have another great dinner and some beers.
Day 3 had us rolling out around 8:00am. This time we would head north on the Skyline Drive to Front Royal l, VA. Mario and Bev again joined us. Gene, one of Mario’s local buddies joined us for the start.
Bev had been busy shopping for saddles the night before and showed up with 5 demo saddles. Over the next 2 days, she had the opportunity to test them all out. The route was 105 miles long and featured some gentler grades, smoother roads, and some commercial services along the way. There are no commercial establishments on the BR, but there are on Skyline Drive. We rode to the first stop at about mile 25. The weather was perfect, cool and bright. Not a cloud in the sky. We saw deer, turkeys, snakes, every kind of local wildlife. Mario had warned us of the most delicious Blackberry Milkshakes at the rest stops on Skyline drive. We found him to be truthful as we enjoyed them and coffee at the first stop. The first stop came about 25 miles in at Loft Mountain. Kate started riding there and rode to Big Meadows at mile 52.
Mario had made a decision to turn the 4 day into a 3 day by turning around at Big Meadows and heading back solo to Waynesboro. This would give him 110 for the day. We said our goodbyes to him here, wishing him well!! Kate and I switched up there and I rode the last 53 miles with the group. At about mile 60 today, the route began to gradually descend to the finish. We passed through another tunnel and rolled to the end at around 5:30. We had considered riding to the Hampton in Front Royal, but this would have involved 5 miles through town with traffic at the end of 105 miles, so we loaded up the SAG wagon and drove in. We were directed to a nice Italian restaurant for a great dinner, more beer, wine and a margarita.
Day 4 had us rolling out again around 8:00. Over dinner the previous evening, we discussed the need to get going early, stay a bit more focused on end time, etc, as each of us had 3-4 hour drive home at the end of the day. Looking at the topo of the route, we saw that the first 5 miles of the day would have us climbing 1000 feet. We knew this would take us 45 minutes to cover on bike, so we opted to drive through the park gate to the visitor center at mile 5 and depart from there. This would still give us 100 miles and over 8000 feet of climbing. The original weather forecast was for warm weather, over 80 degrees. We dressed for that. It turned out cool, breezy and some overcast skies. The first 40 miles had us climbing 5300 feet.
At this point, Kate and I swapped. She rode; I drove the SAG wagon to the next major stop at mile 75. We again couldn’t resist the Blackberry Shakes!! At the 2nd stop, we ran into Blackbear Adventures, an outfitter running fully guided camps on the same routes we were riding. We compared notes with them and decided we had a good deal going the way we were doing it. Ralph was starting to struggle with some knee pain at this time and made a good call to get off the bike and ride the SAG for a while. Up till this point, Ralph and Bev were the only riders to cover every mile. We rolled out of the last stop of the day realizing this would soon be over. I think we were all excited that we had made it this far. I was rested up from being in the SAG for about 25 miles and wanted to finish strong. I put the IPOD in and cranked it up. I could not believe how good I felt at this point in day 4 and soon had a nice breakaway going. The final 25 miles included 3 climbs, with the last 5 miles descending to the park entrance. At the top of the 3rd climb, I decided that we had ridden the whole thing as a group/team and that it wasn’t right to continue the breakaway alone. So, I stopped to regroup. A couple minutes later, Ralph pulled up in the SAG wagon. He was closely followed by Dave Whiddon, then Kate, and then Bev. Kate suggested all the EN riders finish the last leg together so Ralph got back on his bicycle and Kate moved to the truck. We rolled out as a group to finish together, so I thought. With about a mile to go, we had a slight uphill then a flat and Ralph attacked. What happened to the sore knee Ralph?? Dave W wasn’t going to stand for that and took up the pursuit. I sat on Dave’s wheel for a bit, knowing we had more descending to do and my P2 is a rocket on the downhills. Bev must have been laughing at our foolishness, because she didn’t want any part of this. I finally pulled around Dave and Ralph, but sat up and we rolled into the ranger station. After some high five’s, WOWs, “we did it’s” and some departing pics, we loaded up, said our goodbyes and headed out for home.
In summary, this was an amazingly fun trip. Considering that we started this whole thing over the internet among people who had not met, but came together to accomplish such a ride still amazes me. This was way cool!! Mario was inspired and is now looking to sign up for an Olympic distance race. I see EN in his future. Bev rode every single mile, got in 2 runs and was actually heading back out to do 5 more days on the BRP heading over 400 miles to Ashville, NC with another group, she’s amazing. Bev and I will meet again to take on IMLP. Dave Whiddon is heading off to tackle his first IM at Coeur d’Alene soon. Scott is on coach’s orders to take a couple weeks off before training for IMFL in November. Ralph is off to find a Compact crank!! Kate did an incredible job with SAG and got in some good miles. EN supported us by covering our SAG gas expenses and providing advice on pacing/nutrition, etc. We all vowed to do this or another EIC ride again soon. Hopefully we can expand our group to include more. Thanks to all for making this happen!! Until next time.
The Stats
| Dave Campbell's Ride of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive-2011 | ||||||||||||||
| Daily Segments | Daily Totals | |||||||||||||
| 19-May | 20-May | 20-May | 21-May | 21-May | 22-May | 22-May | Total / Max | 19-May | 20-May | 21-May | 22-May | Total / Max | ||
| Time | 6:35 | 1:26 | 1:58 | 1:58 | 3:12 | 3:45 | 1:31 | 20:25 | 6:35 | 3:24 | 5:10 | 5:16 | 20:25 | |
| kj | 3,187 | 591 | 814 | 1,042 | 1,453 | 1,938 | 751 | 9,776 | 3,187 | 1,405 | 2,495 | 2,689 | 9,776 | |
| TSS | 322 | 63 | 90 | 105 | 166 | 191 | 82 | 1019 | 322 | 153 | 271 | 273 | 1019 | |
| IF | 0.71 | 0.67 | 0.68 | 0.74 | 0.73 | 0.72 | 0.74 | 0.71 | 0.71 | 0.68 | 0.73 | 0.73 | 0.71 | |
| NP | 166 | 157 | 161 | 173 | 170 | 169 | 173 | 167 | 166 | 159 | 171 | 170 | 167 | |
| Distance | 86 | 22 | 28 | 26 | 51 | 47 | 26 | 286 | 86 | 50 | 77 | 73 | 286 | |
| AP | 134 | 114 | 115 | 147 | 126 | 144 | 137 | 133 | 134 | 115 | 134 | 142 | 133 | |
| Elevation | 8,498 | 1,660 | 2,278 | 2,458 | 3,752 | 5,262 | 1,572 | 25,480 | 8,498 | 3,938 | 6,210 | 6,834 | 25,480 | |
| Max Speed | 43.4 | 41.3 | 44.7 | 42.8 | 42.2 | 42.2 | 42.4 | 44.7 | 43.4 | 44.7 | 42.8 | 42.4 | 44.7 | |
| VI | 1.24 | 1.38 | 1.40 | 1.18 | 1.35 | 1.17 | 1.26 | 1.26 | 1.24 | 1.39 | 1.28 | 1.20 | 1.26 | |
| Mph | 13.1 | 15.3 | 14.2 | 13.2 | 15.9 | 12.5 | 17.1 | 14.0 | 13.1 | 14.7 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 14.0 | |
| Ft/Hour | 1,291 | 1,158 | 1,158 | 1,250 | 1,173 | 1,403 | 1,036 | 1,248 | 1,291 | 1,158 | 1,202 | 1,298 | 1,248 | |
| Grade | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 1.1% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.5% | <td align="right" class="xl152" style="border-width: 0px 0.5pt 1pt 0px; border-s|||
Comments
And Blackberry shakes!