Lost River Ride 90miles 8800ft

I was going to do the 12 hours of Cranky Monkey, but a broken bike and the fact I was getting over a sinus infection changed my plans. I saw this ride on the PPTC calendar, and it interested me greatly. I have ridden here some on my mountain bike, and knew there were some big climbs along the route. I found out that Jonathan and Chris would be doing the ride, so I teamed up with Chris to carpool out there. Chris and I got an early start and got to the ride start where there were more people (15+) doing the ride. We started at Columbia Furnace and then went over Wolf Gap. I rode the climb a little slower than the really fast people, so I ended up solo behind them. I had planned this ride to be a long, steady ride. The people in front were pace lining and I could have joined them, but it was going to be a long day in the saddle and I didn't want to blow up. On the way down, Chris caught up with me, and he seemed like he wanted to catch the others. So we took some pulls, and then I asked him if he wanted to catch them again, and brought up the speed and caught the lead group. We were with them for a bit, but then it started to get fast again. I let them go and Chris stayed with me. We did another climb that was on the opposite side of the mountain (WV) of the Liberty Furnace ride. The weather started turning bad, and as we climbed I enjoyed the drizzle. On the way down, I kept it slow so that I wouldn't crash on the wet roads. At the Lost River Store rest stop, we met up with the front group. Jonathan decided to ride with Chris and I, which I was happy about. After the stop, the weather was starting to clear. We rode some nice country roads that had elevation gain that wasn't one climb, but a bunch of rollers going up. Jonathan and I would climb together with Chris following, and we would ride together on the downhills and flats. I won the Mountain KOM points doing a cheeky little move on Jonathan. Chris surprised us all at the VA/WV state line sprint. We passed a rest stop, since the next bigger one was only another 10 miles. My legs were really starting to lock up before the rest stop. We pace lined to the rest stop, and refueled for a long charge to the finish. Joyce said the last part was the hardest. I did agree with her, since we basically rode the ridgeline going up and down these rollers that were mostly going up. Chris fell off the back, and I ended up going on ahead in front of Jonathan. I felt good, and found I still had some hamstring strength, but my quads were pretty dead. I ended up taking a wrong turn, adding like 700 ft. of climbing and 5 miles. After going back the right way I was totally spent—just wanting to get back. The last small steep climb, I planned to ride strong, but my leg cramped, so I limped to the finish. I ended up finishing a bit after Jonathan and Chris. Was a great ride—should help my endurance for future rides.

Lost River

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