Potts Mountain

I decided yesterday I was going to try and ride to West Virginia and back... as a challenge of sorts. What would be my reward? A big ol' Hamburger of course! (I LOVE hamburgers, and have been depriving myself of one for several weeks now) Needless to say, I fell short of my goal.. but did meet the goal of burning 3500+ kilo joules of energy.

Back to my ride.

Hilly would be an understatement, so too was the weather forecast of "light and variable" winds. I'll buy the "variable" part... but the light... nope. The cross/headwinds made most of the way feel as if I were riding uphill the entire time. Was I? Unfortunately not... borrowing a GPS did give me a elevation profile of the ride. There were three mountain passes, but a lot of rolling grinders made the trip suitably tough.

The summit Potts Mountain was the turnaround point for this ride. West Virginia was only a few miles away... but staring down the backside. I decided I had reached my turning point. I was satisfied with my ride so far, but knew time-wise, it would not be wise to ride farther (for fear of ruining Katie's plans for the day!). While climbing Potts Mountain my iPod playlist came to an end. The final 15 minutes of the climb were zen like. For much of it, there was no wind at all. I don't think I've ever climbed in such a quiet and serene environment... the bike was even quiet! (no surprise there.. haha..)

Potts Mountain seems out of place in Southwest Virginia. It's pretty big (3500') and is one of the steadiest grades of found out here (2000' in 5 miles at a very consistent grade). Near the top the groves of trees look like they belong in Colorado. The views from the top were exceptional, I could see everything.. including the Peaks of Otter (really far away). The road has been freshly paved since the Summer, and there was even snow is the shaded areas of the ditch (as well as a nice coating of salt on the road).

I hate to admit, I rode the descent conservatively. A freshly paved rode with little debris and smooth turns begs for a Red Bull Rampage-esque attempt; but for the sake of self-preservation I decide to keep it smooth and steady. Catawba mountain features another thrilling downhill.

Anyways, the Training Stress score for this ride was pretty high. Go figure, wind + false flats/hills + big climbs meant the effort was a little tougher than I had planned. Fortunately I managed to stay in zone 2 most of the time, and kept my average power for the ride in the 211 neighborhood.

While it's definitely not the most climbing I've ever done for any given distance (feel free to come out and ride the Three Peaks with me sometime), I definitely want to ride Potts Mountain again. The Allegheny Range really is a lot different from the Blue Ridge Mountains.

That's all for now...