Congratulations to Ben, who finished his first post retirement bicycle ride today! I left home at 6:30 in the morning to drive to Cherokee, NC to pick Ben up. He said that he would arrive at the Oconoluftee Visitor Center around noon. I figured if I got there early with my bicycle that I could ride out to meet him. He didn't tell me that it would be a LOOOOONG climb. I arrived at the Visitor's center, got my gear together, and started riding about 9:30, in overcast, but warm weather. The road immediately started to climb, with grades of 6, 7, 8, and 9%, and occasionally 10% steepness. I have been training alot lately for Bike Virginia and for my Oregon ride in August, so I had no problem. However, the first tunnel that I came to was dark and long. It was totally disorienting to ride through so I walked on the small shoulder and no cars came through while I was walking. The next two tunnels I could literally see the "light at the end of the tunnel" so I rode through. I had no headlight but had blinking lights on my helmet and on the seatpost.
The climb continued and still no sight of Ben so I got nervous that maybe I had missed him at the visitor center, but I knew he had 40 miles to ride so I knew that he could not have gotten there before me. I asked a few people in the overlook pullouts if they had seen a "fully loaded bicycle tourist" but no one had. I kept climbing, "just a little longer" and ended up ten miles up the mountain! I took a break and ate my snacks and decided to start down. If I had waited ten minutes, we could have ridden down the mountain together! But I was getting chilly, so decided to turn around. It took me an hour and a half to climb 10 miles and 2800' of elevation with several stops at tunnels, for safety, and to see the views.
It was a SCREAMER of a ride down the mountain at speeds over 34 mph. (except in the tunnels where I almost came to a stop, because they were so disorienting, and the pavement was rough). I absolutely loved the ride down for ten solid miles. That is longer than S. Holston Mountain, our local big climb! The ride down the mountain took me less than 20 minutes!! There was amazingly little traffic, mostly motorcycles, especially for a holiday weekend. I arrived back at the visitor's center and loaded up my bike figuring I would start driving up the mountain, but by the time I ate my sandwich and had a snack, Ben was riding into the parking lot. What a sight for lonely eyes!! He was finished and so happy! Everyone stared as we hugged and, oh my gosh, kissed! We changed clothes in the rest room and headed for Bristol where Graham, Sherri, and Morgan were waiting. We drove up the parkway for about 20 miles so that I could see all the gorgeous flowers, including the pale pink wild azaleas and the trillium which were in full bloom. It was a great ride home and we chatted all the way about the ride, scenery, and Jack's decision to ride North back home rather than finish in Cherokee, NC. I can't wait to see him at Bike Virginia to see how the ride went for him. There were some very big hills on the Parkway.
It was so wonderful to see how much Morgan had grown when we got home! We have not seen them for 5 weeks. She is talking so much and said both our names right off! ...a great homecoming for Ben, and a happy day for me! Welcome back, Sweetheart. Now I can see what it is like to have you retired!!
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