Our "MINI" YOLOMITES Ride

On June 15th I received a group the weekly email from Jeff M., which highlighted the weekly/weekend rides and past events in and around Greenville. The email was promoting an upcoming ride called the Yolomites (which combines YOLO - you only live once and DOLOMITES - cycling heaven in Italy).

Last year I heard about this local curated event and ever since, it had been on my mind. I love doing physical feats for the first time and I have never ridden over 115 miles. The Yolomites ride is as follows (starting from Lex Mullinex Park)

• First Loop: Watershed, Mine Mtn, Skyuka, White Oak, Hogback, Grade, Green River Switchbacks, down watershed to car. 77 miles, ~10,000ft of climbing.
• Second Loop: Watershed, Olivet, down Olivet, down Watershed back to car. 26.5 miles, ~2600ft of climbing. 
• Third and fourth Loop: Cliffs - Mountain Summit to the very top, North side of Panther, back down Panther, Down Mountain Summit, back to car. 25 miles, ~3800ft of climbing 
  Total: 130 miles, 16,234 ft of climbing. 

The funny thing is that this ride doesn't even include all of our "famous" climbs that we have in and around the area!

Karel and I love cycling adventures, especially around Greenville. There are so many hard, challenging, beautiful, scenic climbs where we live and the roads are very bike friendly. Anytime we are in need of an adventure, we can simply bike from our driveway and head to the mountains. We have put together several rides where we map out a route and try to conquer our idea. Often times, we finish the ride saying "that seemed like a good idea at the time." 😁

I thought it was crazy to ride 130 miles and 16,000 feet elevation gain on some of our most challenging climbs outside of Greenville but I was just crazy enough to come up with my own version - calling it the "mini" Yolomites. I mapped the route, invited a few friends and talked Karel into my crazy adventure. Here's the route.

With the route loaded in our computers and bottles filled, Alvi, Kenny, Karel and I started from our house around 8:30am and finished the ride around 4pm, with right around 7 hours of riding time. It was great to have the company and a lot of laughs were shared along the way. 

As for the ride, I was surprised how quickly the day went by. It was hot and very windy. Because I kept my computer on the map setting, I never knew the time of the day, how far we had ridden or how much we had left to ride (that is until Alvi would remind me that we still had x-number of miles or feet of climbing left ;) 

Karel was feeling empty from the first pedal stroke but he was able to finish off strong (must have been the ice cream from our one stop in the town of Saluda). 

We kept the effort pretty chill throughout the ride as it was a long day in the saddle. Karel and I wore our hydration packs that we use for mountain biking/gravel riding (Karel wears USWE and I have a CamelBak). Having our hydration packs was a game changer as we had plenty of fluids and calories so we never had to ration on drinks to rely on a store stop. Alvi and Kenny brought an extra bottle but I'd say that we were probably a bit better hydrated thanks to our packs. It was also nice to be able to keep one frame bottle of water to use for cooling as it got into the 90's during our ride. 

I started with two bottles of Skratch Superfuel (400 calories per 26-ounce bottle) and then 4 scoops INFINIT (custom formula) in my 50-ounce hydration pack. I brought along 2 baggies (each with 2 scoops INFINIT, ~240 calories total each bag) to refill my bottles along with a packet of FLUID (which I gave to Karel because he didn't have any more sport nutrition at our stop). I also had a Picky Bar and a few honey stinger chews. We refilled bottles at the top of Skyuka (3:20 into the ride) and again in Saluda (5:30 into the ride). At our store stop in Saluda (around 5:30 into the ride), I had 3/4 Mexican coke and a few bites/licks of Karel's Lemon Pie ice cream. I felt really good throughout the ride and I feel I paced myself really well on the climbs. I felt very confident on the descends and had a lot of fun flying down the climbs. My only low moment was on the watershed descend which came shortly after our store stop. That is pretty typical to feel a drop in blood sugar after a stop, especially when descending and not giving much effort. It actually felt good to push a bit up Callahan mountain - I instantly felt my energy levels go up and stayed strong until we got back home. Alvi got a flat from a nail in his tire a few miles from our house (6 miles away) but aside from a quick stop to regroup at the top of climbs, we had 36 minutes of "stopping" plus 7 minutes for Alvi to fix the hole in his tire. 

It took us about 1-hour to get to our first official climb (out of six) of the ride. 

Watershed climb - 8 miles
Mine Mountain - 5.4 miles (more descending than climbing)
Skyuka Mountain - 4.2 miles
Hogback Mountain - 3.8 miles
Saluda Grade - 6.6 miles
Callahan Mountain - 1.5 miles

If you'd like to learn more about some of our epic climbs in and around the area, you can check out this blog post that I wrote a few years back. It's crazy that we are still discovering new routes and new climbs. We had never been on Mine Mountain before (but have ridden by the road a million times) and it is now one of our favorites. The road condition was great and after a short climb, there was a very fast and fun descend to take us to the Saluda grade. 

With 5 weeks until IM Lake Placid and 9 weeks until we start the 7-day Haute Route Alps, we are having a lot of fun with our training. 

On top of Skyuka

And in case you were wondering, out of 30 starters for the Yolomites ride, 4 people completed the entire ride. The fastest was Jeff who finished in 8:55.36 and Kathleen finished in 9:24.22. Mark White, who painted the route, set up the coolers and made the signs, finished the ride at 2am. Talk about grit and determination! 

Here are some pics from our adventure on two wheels....

Starting out and heading toward the Watershed

Fresh bodies one hour in


Too tired to stand. On top of Skyuka. Such a hard climb with long grades above 12%. 

Karel thinking about how to get a ride back home ;) 


Life is better again. Lemon pie ice cream hit the spot. 

Climbing the Watershed. So peaceful.

Riding toward Skyuka. Such a hard climb and fun twisty steep and fast descend. 

On top of Hogback. 

Riding Mine Mountain for the first time. Loved it! 

Who loves climbing Skyuka? At least the view is a thumbs up! 


Riding to another climb...

Finding more mountains to climb. 
Find

Enjoying the views and quiet roads. 

I talked them into this crazy idea. 

Climbing Skyuka. 

The amazing route markers that made us laugh every time we saw one. 

Greenville cycling: Skyuka Mountain

What you need to know before climbing Skyuka Mountain

Distance: There are two ways to climb to the top of Skyuka. From Skyuka Mountain Road, the climb is 4.27 miles (to the scenic rock point, picture above). From White Oak Mountain Road, the climb is 4.06 miles.

Elevation gain: Start at 1061 feet and finish at 2883 feet (total gain = 1966 feet).

Grade: According to my Garmin, the average grade is ~8% (from both sides). There are several very pitchy segments that range from 11-17%. This is a nasty climb with no relief (recovery sections) from bottom to top.

Road condition: The road condition is poor. There are a few sections that have been paved, which is a real treat. You can expect cracks, bumps, debris, water, trees limbs and bumps as you are climbing and descending.

Scenery: This is a very peaceful climb with views of the mountains tucked beyond the trees. However, you likely won't be enjoying much of it as you'll be focused on the road ahead of you. There is a little bit of everything throughout this climb - waterfalls, a lake, mountains, trees, running water....it's nature at its finest.

Recommended bike/gearing: Road bike! Crazy enough, the first time we climbed Skyuka we were on our tri bikes. The road bike is better for this climb as the descend is extremely technical with fast sections going right into very tight switchbacks. You'll want your "easiest" climbing gears; Semi-compact crank. 52-34 chainset and11-30 (or 28) cassette. Disc brakes and electronic shifting will also make your climbing/descending experience a bit more enjoyable.

Descend: No matter which side you descend from, this is a very technical and dangerous descent. We've never taken any of our group camps (and only one private camper) on this climb for that reason. With the poor road conditions, debris on the road and fast descends going into back to back tight switchbacks, you definitely want to have great bike handling skills for descending when planning this climb.

Climb with a view? While it's our most technical and challenging climb and most dangerous descend, the view at the top makes it all worth it. You actually get two scenic points to enjoy - one on each side of the top of the mountain. The panoramic view is really is breathtaking. Just make sure to go on a clear day so you can really enjoy the view (we've climbed it in the winter and all we got at the top were clouds). On the White Oak Mountain side, you'll see a beautiful waterfall flowing from the mountain. On the Skyuka Road side, there is a lake near the top! Be sure to have your camera ready for this climb.

Traffic: There are several houses spread throughout the mountain, as well as some other lodging facilities. However, I've never found this climb to be busy with traffic - only a few cars may drive by (if any). Because the climb and descend is so technical, the cars are not traveling very fast (albeit, a little faster than what we can do on two wheels).

Difficulty: You've probably gotten the gist that this is a technical and extremely difficult climb with an incredible view. You'll need great fitness, endurance, strength and bike handling skills to feel comfortable and safe on this climb.

Honest feedback: We have never taken any of our group campers on this climb because it's not the best for tri bikes. We've actually only taken one private camper/athlete on this climb. The view at the top is incredible but it's a very challenging climb with a sketchy descend. Be safe and smart.

The 7-hour tour (Hogback Moutain, Skyuka Mountain x2, Saluda Grade, Green River Cove loop)
Date: 6/14/20
Road bike
Riding time: 7:06
Total Miles: 104
Total elevation: ~12,000 feet
Run off the bike: 21 min/2.5 miles/~300 feet