Don't Let the Pictures Fool You...

So last week my dad, Bill Gardner, Stu Hess, and I headed down to Brevard, North Carolina for a Carmichael training camp. Left on Tuesday after school and drove down to Roanoke, Virginia. Woke up the next morning to continue the drive (Virginia, Tennessee, and NC) and show up in time for a short ride in the rain. Ate a very good lunch and dinner that day, and got to bed excited to go do a field test on a 2 mile climb the next day. I felt a little slow when I went hard in the Mash, but these efforts made me feel good about the upcoming races. Did 2 efforts, rode back, and ate lunch. It was still raining hard by the way. But I really like climbing in the rain. Then we got ready to go out for another 2 1/2 hours on the flatter areas. Worked on paceline skills (yeah in the rain) and got a good, hard 40 mile ride. Then it got interesting...

The next day (Friday) was a 4 hour endurance ride. Started off through the fields and stopped at a gas station for a re-fuel from the support car. Then it was off to the mountains. It wasn't all uphill, but there was no downhill on the 21 mile ascent up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a climb that took an hour and 50 minutes. It got really steep at the top, and it was raining again. The summit was 5,667 feet, and I'm proud to say that I reached the highest elevation I have ever been to...and I did it on a bike. So that was 3,000something feet of climbing on that single climb. But it was almost 10 degrees cooler at the top, and I was shivering badly while waiting for the support car with all the gear. It got there, and no matter how many dry clothes I put on, I was still shivering. So I skipped the 20 mile descent back to the hotel and rode back in the car. After a long time driving around the town trying to find a decent place to eat, Bill stumbled upon Fall's Landing. An amazing seafood restaurant. I got blackened Mahi Mahi and it was really good. The next day was hill repeats. I can say that by this time, I've gotten used to really pushing myself again. So again, I'm feeling good for Marysville. 13 miles to the climb and 13 back, so the ride was about 45 miles. I got a chance to do some homework that night and we went back to Fall's Landing. The Mahi Mahi was really good, but I wanted to try something different on the menu. I decided to go with Orange Roughy. It was still really good fish, but I liked the Mahi Mahi better. Bill had a craving for pizza and beer while we watched the Villa-Nova/Pitt game, so he ordered Pizza Hut (which was next to the hotel). I had a few pieces, and it tasted good after a few days of hard rides. Next morning was the Carolina Crusher, and our final ride. After some rolling flats and a big descent into the valley, we stopped at a gas station in South Carolina and fueled up for a ride up George Hincapie's favorite training climb: Caeser's Head. The climb is a little over 7 miles long from the time it really starts to pick up elevation. It stays mostly in the 8-10% grade range, but at the switchbacks near the top, gets up to 15-18%. It's a really scenic climb with a lot of overlooks over Greenville county.