NealH
08-24-2008, 06:38 PM
I rode the Tour de Gaps event on Saturday out of Mt. Airy. It was a great ride - and a good workout! Well supported and well executed, and included the best lunch I've had to date in an event like this. Spaghetti with home cooked meat sauce and it was uhmm, uhmm good. Lots of deserts, snacks, salads, breads, etc. to complement it.
The city allocated the entire park (Westwood Park) for this event so, parking was simple as well as registration and facilities. A very friendly and comfortable atmosphere prevailed. I was impressed. We had 130 riders and police escorts into and out of the city.
It was overcast when we started the ride at 8AM with temperatures in lower 70's - just about perfect. I guess it rose to the lower 80's as the day progressed but, on each of the four mountain passes it was in the 60's. Very nice when climbing, a bit cool when descending.
The ride stared in Mt. Airy and immediately headed up to Virginia. The distance was 82 miles and this included four mountain gaps (passes). These are "up and back" passes that basically go up to a BRP access. We would ride up to the access then back down. There is a slightly different landscape perspective offered by each mountain pass. All were very pretty areas (as is just about everything in Va). There is quite a bit of elevation gain on this ride but, its broken up nicely so this tends to reduce the difficulty.
A few pictures:
I stayed at the Mayberry Motor Inn and, as you might guess Andy Griffin kind of dominates the culture here. This car should look familiar.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p223264551-4.jpg
Inside the motel office, its much the same.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p289645840-4.jpg
This motel was unusually clean and neat.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p461945097-4.jpg
Westwood Park, where the event was getting ready to start.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p506840632-4.jpg
Within about 10 miles, we were entering Virginia.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p359524544-4.jpg
It was really nice and peaceful in this area. Very little traffic. The girl in front is wearing a "Vanilla" jersey and, that bike she was riding reeked of quality. I should have taken a close up of it.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p132312354-4.jpg
Nice, just very nice riding.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p171359787-4.jpg
There were four rest stops, located at the bottom of the mountain passes. This was nice as one could stop before and, after the climb/descent.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p130777101-4.jpg
Heading to another pass. The terrain was always rolling.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p418703557-4.jpg
The city allocated the entire park (Westwood Park) for this event so, parking was simple as well as registration and facilities. A very friendly and comfortable atmosphere prevailed. I was impressed. We had 130 riders and police escorts into and out of the city.
It was overcast when we started the ride at 8AM with temperatures in lower 70's - just about perfect. I guess it rose to the lower 80's as the day progressed but, on each of the four mountain passes it was in the 60's. Very nice when climbing, a bit cool when descending.
The ride stared in Mt. Airy and immediately headed up to Virginia. The distance was 82 miles and this included four mountain gaps (passes). These are "up and back" passes that basically go up to a BRP access. We would ride up to the access then back down. There is a slightly different landscape perspective offered by each mountain pass. All were very pretty areas (as is just about everything in Va). There is quite a bit of elevation gain on this ride but, its broken up nicely so this tends to reduce the difficulty.
A few pictures:
I stayed at the Mayberry Motor Inn and, as you might guess Andy Griffin kind of dominates the culture here. This car should look familiar.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p223264551-4.jpg
Inside the motel office, its much the same.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p289645840-4.jpg
This motel was unusually clean and neat.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p461945097-4.jpg
Westwood Park, where the event was getting ready to start.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p506840632-4.jpg
Within about 10 miles, we were entering Virginia.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p359524544-4.jpg
It was really nice and peaceful in this area. Very little traffic. The girl in front is wearing a "Vanilla" jersey and, that bike she was riding reeked of quality. I should have taken a close up of it.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p132312354-4.jpg
Nice, just very nice riding.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p171359787-4.jpg
There were four rest stops, located at the bottom of the mountain passes. This was nice as one could stop before and, after the climb/descent.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p130777101-4.jpg
Heading to another pass. The terrain was always rolling.
http://rnhood.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p418703557-4.jpg