Announcement | Schedule | Ride Descriptions | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
The
17th season
Time to start thinking about warm weather and all day relaxed bike rides in
this beautiful part of the world. Anyone wishing to join us on these rides is
welcome. This year I had to change the ride day to Wednesday rather than Tuesday
as they have been the past few years, so you will need to arrange to be off
on Wednesdays during April and May +. All of the rides have at least 8,000 feet
of climbing, all start at 8am and try to finish by 6pm, all are ~ 100 miles
except the Madison County loop, but it always feels like a century, and 3 of
the rides have remote out of town starting locations. A summary of each ride
and details for the upcoming ride will be posted here each week. We will not
be doing the Cherokee/Parkway ride this year -- hopefully next year. This year
Mitchell will be on May 20 (Saturday) so there will be no Fat Burner ride May
17 or May 24 so everyone will be in shape to ride or cheer on the 20th. I will
have maps available at each ride thanks to Ralph Draves and his fancy computer
skills.
Safe Cycling!
Wes Garbee, 274-5315
| Date | Route |
| April 5 | Hot Springs Ride |
| April 12 | Caesars Head Ride |
| April 19 | Green River Ride |
| April 26 | Reverse Doggett Ride |
| May 3 | Weaverville/Mitchell/Burnsville |
| May 10 | Rosman - 215 Ride |
| May 17 | No Ride |
| May 20 | Assaults on Marion & Mt. Mitchell |
| May 24 | No Ride |
| May 31 | Roan Mountain |
| June 7 | Madison County Loop |
| June 14 | Marion/Mitchell/Parkway |
Description: Traditionally, our first all-day ride of the season has
been to Hot Springs via Doggett Mountain and return through Marshall—and
this year will be no exception. Hopefully, all the snow will be gone and some
of the spring flowers will survive the recent cold weather. The ride will be
on Wednesday, April 5, and we will try to be on the bike and leaving the parking
lot at 8 a.m. We will not be able to park at the First Baptist Church
parking lot; instead, we will plan to meet in the large parking lot in front
of Office Depot at Innsbruck Mall on Tunnel Road. Sorry for the need to change
locations. I will have a few copies of the ride map but you can download
a copy for yourself and a friend from the BRBC Web site, thanks to Ralph.
We usually stop briefly in Hot Springs for a bite to eat; there is a store just
before Doggett; and we often stop at the coffee shop in Marshall on the return.
Summary: We didn't have our weatherman Trevor with us today, so whoever
ordered the beautiful blue skies for our first Fat Burner, many thanks!! It
was a splendid day. meeting at the Innsbruck Mall proved very satisfactory—we
even had 2 messengers of good tidings stop by on their way to work on bike:
Chip and Paul. Doggett won again; everyone was glad to reach the summit. The
only wildlife we encountered were 2 pileated woodpeckers and Sarah. We basically
had 2 groups of riders - the fast group included Brady Hamby of
Walhalla, Drake Fowler, the tandem team Carolyn Roth and Richard Pellerin, Ron
Blaine, and Dave Tomski. The second group had a faster crowd including Robbie
Sweetser, Sarah Carothers, Randall Barnett, Bill Crownover and the rest of us:
Jackson McCarter, Charlie Read, Joe Kane, Charlie Clogston, and me. Kris and
Patsy Sjostrom joined us on Hwy 63/Meadowtown for the trip to Hot Springs, then
they returned in reverse, to do Doggett up both sides!! A snack in Hot Springs
hit the spot. My odometer was malfunctioning; Ralph's cuesheet says we did 100.6
miles with 8860 ft of vertical climb; my last year's reading was 101 miles with
9200 ft of climb; Jackson's reading this year showed 96.2 miles with 9700 ft.
Any way you do the numbers, it sounds like a respectable first all-day ride
for the 2006 season!!
Description: We will try to be on the bike at 8 am. Will plan to leave from the Liberty parking lot—park well away from the store. We will do a loop into South Carolina to come up Caesars Head using a nice back road approach to the base of the climb.
Summary: The weather gods must have been smiling on us today: couldn't
have been a better day for cycling. Fifteen riders joined together for portions
of the ride. The briefest ride was by Paul Endry in an effort to squeeze in
a ride before showing up at work. The ride was 103 miles with 7700 ft of climb.
The climb up Caesars Head always gets your attention. We were constantly on
the lookout for the truant officer since Sarah skipped school again this week.
Seven riders met at liberty besides Paul: Bill Crownover, Joe Kane, Brady "of
Walhalla" Hamby, Sarah Carothers of Sylva, Richard Pellerin and Carolyn
Roth on the tandem, and me. We picked up Kris and Patsy Sjostrom at the Flat
Rock Playhouse and were joined on Old 25 by Jackson McCarter of Travelers Rest,
Bill Reichart of Spartanburg with 3 of his friends from Spartanburg, his neighbor
Chris, Katie the triathelete, and Collette of Canada. A great mix of riders
and I think everyone had a good time.
Description: We plan to meet and leave at 8 am from Homestead
Farms on Naples Road acrosss from the Park Ridge Hospital, as we did the
2 previous times I did the ride (I may have told a few people we would
be leaving from Liberty, like
we did last year, but that would add too many miles to the trip). The out
of town folk may have a hard time finding
this location so I will plan to meet at Liberty at 7:15 to lead or carpool
anyone who wishes to Park Ridge Hosp. We plan to do Ralph's
famous Green River ride via Lake Lure and Saluda. No one will be allowed
to skip Locust Grove on the return leg this time!!! At that link here on the
BRBC Web site,
Ralph has a new map of the ride using a different route. I tell you this in
case you download a copy of the route, it will be different. I will have copies
of the old map.
Summary: A little damp at the beginning but no dampened spirits.
Alittle rain with one brief downpour with hail, brief thunder and lightning,
and Locust Grove at the end: all, as Brady Hamby always says, help to build
character—and everyone knows he is an expert on character. It was easy
to dress this a.m. with the lightning illuminating the bedroom. I'm just sorry
so many of you had last minute commitments that kept you from joining the 3
of us who rode - Tim Hinman joined us for a recovery ride from his 192 mile
brevet 4 days ago and Jackson McCarter from Travelers Rest rode with me. The
last 60 miles were sunny, the 10 miles along the Green River was restful, and
the climb out of the Green River was still there and is called Alp d' Saluda
by the locals. We rode 101 miles and climbed 8500 feet.
Description: A route designed to beat our heads against Doggett for
the second time in one month. We will
again plan to leave from the parking lot in front of Office Depot at Innsbruck
mall at 8 am - we will leave town a different way than is shown on the map
so as not to repeat the Hot Springs beginning of 3 weeks earlier. I
will have copies of the map.
Summary: Six riders showed up this morning for the Reverse Doggett Ride
- a little rain began just as we got on our bikes. Joe Kane pulled out early
to attend to dryer options. Randall Barnett bailed out in Canton to sell a house.
Paul Endry headed back in reverse from 209 / i 40 to get to work. Tim "the
mountain man" Hinman headed for the finish line from the top of Doggett.
Bill Crownover and I finished the ride at our speed. 105 + miles with 9660 feet
of climb. Most of the ride was rain free and most of the rain only amounted
to an intermittent drizzle, making it another great ride and lots of fun. The
cookie and hot coffee at the Marshall downtown coffee shop was a real treat.
Description: We will meet and leave from the parking lot at Innsbruck
Mall on Tunnel Road at 7:15 to drive to Weaverville. We will plan to assemble
in the parking lot in front of Roses on Weaver Blvd, off 19/23 at the
Weaverville/Marshall exit, toward Weaverville. Anyone who wishes can just meet
us there. We will plan to leave at 8 am. Ralph and I have not yet had the opportunity
to make a map of the route due to Parkway construction but I will have some
hand written maps, especially for the fast riders. You will need lights for
the Parkway tunnels.
Summary:
Description: Using John McCollum's famous route to Rosman and return
on the Parkway
Summary:
Description: My favorite ride -- we begin in Burnsville and use Mike Ward's modifications and the reverse route of Michael Davis's Roan Moan
Summary:
Description: My friend Harold Phillips originated this route and it remains a favorite - we usually start at Harold's home in Petersburg with llamas
Summary:
Description: Old 70 to Marion, up Hwy 80 to Mitchell and home on Parkway - probably a new route to Marion - not done in 2005 with Parkway closed
Summary:
© Blue Ridge Bicycle Club Inc. 2006