Cesta Z Mesta Ride

I was really looking forward to our Saturday long ride. We are continuing to build up our weekly cycling mileage as we prepare for our first attempt at the 7-day Haute Route Alps from August 21st-27th. In addition to our triathlon training (Note to self: IM Lake Placid is in a month), we are putting in a lot of quality riding. Whereas two weeks ago I was on the struggle bus getting back into structured training, this past week I felt really strong and fresh. My body came around and I felt like I was recovering well from my training sessions. On Monday we did an EZ 1 hour spin, Tues was the Spinners A-group ride (3:43/69 miles - we ride to/from the group ride) and Wednesday we went mountain biking for almost 3 hours (24 miles). Thursday I had a private bike skills session with an athlete (90 minutes). In total, before Saturday I had ridden for almost 10 hours. 

On Friday evening, Karel mapped out our Saturday ride and called it Cesta Z Mesta - in Czech it means "The Road Out of Town." The planned route was 104 miles, 9,000 feet of elevation gain. Our plan was to leave at 8am. 

Well, plans changed. 
First off, Karel needed to Skype with his mom and brother in Czech to help his mom with her Visa for when she comes to stay with us in Sept-November. Nearing 9:30am, we were getting ourselves ready and it started raining. I looked at the radar and it looked like the rain would stop around 10am so we did some mobility, finished preparing our nutrition and heading out - in the drizzling rain - around 10am.

Although we were in no rush to get home, Karel thought it would be best for us to adjust some of our route so that we were not riding the entire day (and into the evening). Seeing that our miles go by really slow due to the technical and challenging nature of our terrain, we shortened the ride from 104 miles to 85 miles by omitting the entire Green River Cove loop. 

I started the ride feeling pretty good so my goal for the day was to try to sit on Karel's wheel on the climbs. For our mini yolomites ride the previous weekend, I made sure to pace myself for the long day ahead and didn't get aggressive on any of the climbs. I knew that pushing myself early on in our ride on Saturday would mean I would risk blowing myself up but I wanted to push myself for this ride. 

We wore our hydration packs for this ride to minimize stopping and to ensure we had plenty of fluids. We each had two bottles on our frame and I had 1.5 L (Karel had 2L) in our backpacks. I had INFINIT in my pack and Skratch SuperFuel in my bottles. I also brought along a Supra bar as well as fig newtons to keep myself fueled throughout the ride. It was on the cooler side when we started (and a bit misty with the rain) but it warmed up as the day went on.

The first 90 min of the ride was punchy. Once we got to the Watershed, we settled into a good rhythm for 11 miles to Mine Mountain. I was feeling strong. 

 

We enjoyed a few miles of descending down to the Saluda grade. Because the roads were slick due to the rain, I stayed a bit cautious and Karel rode away from me on the descend. I felt safe and confident on the descend but I didn't want to take any risks. 

Once we got to the Saluda grade, it was time to climb a few miles into Saluda. At this point, Karel's legs were speaking to him. He was struggling. I love the Saluda Grade climb because it's a steady grade and not steep and I can easily settle into a nice rhythm. I ended up riding away from Karel and waited for him at the top. I felt sad that he was feeling so empty but he wanted to see if he could ride off the fatigue. 

I LOVE my new USWE hydration pack! 

Because we adjusted the route, instead of doing the entire Green River Cove loop (which would add another 20 miles to our ride), Karel and I descended down the Green River Cove Switchbacks, then turned around by the tubing parking lots and rode back up. This was the first time that we had biked down the 17 tight switchbacks and I was surprised that I wasn't scared. I could tell that my bike handling skills have really improved thanks to all the group riding and mountain biking I've been doing over the past year. 

The climb was challenging but doable. There are a few kickers in between the switchbacks that really make the legs talk but otherwise, the switchbacks help to break things up. We climbed the 2 miles back up and then made a stop at the gas station to refill bottles. We had a fun and fast descend down for a few miles down the Saluda Grade to the Pearson Falls Road. I love the Saluda Grade descend as it has great flow with wide turns and it's not busy with cars to slow you down. After the descend, we climbed up Mine Mountain for ~5 miles. At this point, I knew Karel was struggling. I went ahead and would often look back and I could see Karel's head hanging low, struggling with each pedal stroke. I felt so bad for him that the only way home was to keep riding. He was totally empty. He told me that I could go ahead as he didn't want me to feel like he was slowing me down and he would eventually make his way home but I didn't want to leave him. I thought back to all the many rides where Karel was feeling so strong but he would wait for him to catch back up. I knew we needed to finish this ride together. 

We had about 8 miles of descending down the Watershed to loosen out the legs (it's not really a fast descend as you still have to work for it and pedal throughout) and then to Dividing Waters. For the rest of the ride, Karel stayed behind him and I pulled him home. He was so relieved when we finally made it back into Traveler's Rest and on to the trail. It was just after 4pm and Karel was done. 

I finished the ride feeling really strong and wanted to do our planned run off the bike. I ran for 40 minutes and finished my workout just after 5pm. It was a long day of training but a great one for me. Karel didn't run and instead, took Campy for a walk after he made himself a recovery shake. 
We finished the ride with 85 miles in 5:40 and 7500 feet of elevation gain. 

Although we both went into this ride a little fatigued from our previous training, Karel had a bad workout. It just wasn't his day. Sometimes you are the hammer and you do the pounding and sometimes you are the nail - you get pounded. Sadly, Karel was the nail. 

When a bad workout happens, it's important to reflect on the reason(s) for feeling off. Could it be nutrition, sleep, stress, fatigue, previous training sessions, weather......? Often times, we can contribute a bad workout to something specific. But then there are times when we just have off days. There's no real reason why they happen but there will be times in training and on race day when you can't deliver the effort that you hoped for - and that's ok. 

There's no reason to blame it on your body or make excuses. Sometimes the stars just don't align and you need to give yourself a break. There have been plenty of times when Karel and myself have had a bad bike workout and followed it up with a great run. But then there are times, in your gut, when you know that the run off the bike doesn't make sense. Karel made his decision not to run, didn't dwell on it or feel guilt and just moved on. 

When training is your lifestyle, there are going to be speed bumps. The peaks will almost always outnumber the valleys so never let a lousy workout question your abilities. Fail forward! 

Greenville Cycling: Green River Cove Loop

What you need to know before climbing the Green River Cove Loop 

Note: The Green River Cove loop has a little bit of everything. This 20-mile loop includes descending, 3 very steep short climbs, a scenic flat section and a 2.3 mile climb with over 17 switchbacks. Because there is a lot going on in this loop, I'll break it down into three specific sections: The beginning, middle and end.

Distance: Starting from the gas station on Holbert Cove Drive (by hwy 26), the beginning section is 9.57 miles (left on Silver Creek Road - your first stop sign to the church. You then make a left on Green River Cove Rd). The middle section (starting at the church) is 8.3 miles. The end section (the actual climb with at least 17 tight switchbacks) is 2.29 miles. And then back to the gas station is about 1.7 miles.

Elevation gain: Since this is a loop, you start and finish at the same elevation (2010 feet). For the actual climb at the end, the elevation gain is 904 feet (in 2.29 miles).

Grade: In the beginning section, you'll notice there is a lot of descending. There are several switchbacks to descend on (two extremely tight and technical turns around 6 miles in this loop - be sure to slow down!) which is a lot of fun (if you have good bike handling skills. However, the fun is often interrupted by three very steep climbs. While each climb is relatively short, it stares at you in the face and reminds you that what goes down, has to go back up.
Steep climb 1: ~0.3 miles = ~9% average grade
Steep climb 2: ~0.28 miles = ~6% average grade
Steep climb 3: ~0.15 miles = ~8% average grade
In the middle section (after the church), this is mostly flat with a few small (very small) rollers.
In the end (the climb), this averages ~8% with some sections between 11-15% (and that's if you take the switchback in the outside and not in the inside where it's much steeper).

Road condition: The road condition is good. Some sections have been recently paved and other sections are a bit more beat up. It's not bad but it's not excellent.

Scenery: This is a very scenic climb. You have wide open views of the foothills, alongside farms, the rushing water of the Green River, beautiful trees and rocks spread around the land and as you near the top of the climb at the end, you can see the mountains far in the distance. If I had to compare this to a race venue, it reminds me a lot of the Ironman Lake Placid or Whistler race courses (just no epic mountains with snow on top).

Recommended bike/gearing: We have taken several campers (even a group camp) on this route and everyone had a tri bike. However, it's much more fun on a road bike since there are so many switchbacks throughout this loop. You'll enjoy the climb at the end much more on a road bike.

Descend: I'd consider this a very technical loop. There's one section that is dangerous (it will come out at you if you aren't prepared, around 6 miles into the loop), but nothing will come out of no where. You can almost always see what is coming. We've never descended down the climb (although Karel is itching to do it) so that may be a different story. The descend is technical and does require good skills.

Climb with a view? This loop is beautiful. There's no specific view point on this climb. Just a lot of beautiful scenery spread over several 20 miles.

Traffic: Although a few miles in the begining and the last few miles before and during the climb can get busy (there are several hiking trails throughout and a few river tubing facilities by the river), this is a very quiet loop. There have been some times that we don't encounter any cars until the last few miles of the loop. Because there isn't a lot of room to pass on the switchbacks, this is where you'll experience the most cars. But generally they are patient and there are some sections for cars to pass. The only downside is if a car is going down the climb and you are climbing up as you won't be able to take the far outside of the switchback (where it is less steep than the inside, but still steep).

Difficulty: The 3 pitchy short climbs are challenging. The end is challenging. I'd call this a difficult loop because of the grade changes. There are easier sections throughout the loop with the descends and the flat section in the middle.

Honest feedback: It's one of my absolute favorites. If it wasn't for those 3 nasty short climbs in the beginning part of the loop, I'd do this loop more often. I suggest to do this loop when you are fresh as it will take a lot out of you to conquer this loop. Note: In the Hincapie Gran Fondo, the Green River Cove loop comes at the end: After Skyuka and after the Saluda Grade (originally it was Howard's Gap but the road fell apart so they replaced that nasty climb with the Saluda Grade).