I think I over did it

Dave and I decided to take a ride along the route for the metric century - taking in only the unfamiliar parts. So, we wouldn't be doing the part of the route that goes over Paris Mountain. I figured it would end up being about 50+ miles but less than the actual 60+ that I'll be running next week.

It didn't turn out that way.

Things started out really well. Old Buncombe road is a known stretch. We managed to stay with the directions just fine until we reached Talley Bridge Road. We were looking for Edwards Road and didn't see it. We continued all the way to 276. We knew we had missed it then. So we back tracked and found that the Edwards Road sign was covered with kudzu. That added several miles to our total.

We noted that the rest stop is the entrance to the Cliffs off of Hwy. 11.

Then we missed another turn on Old Hwy. 25. We were supposed to turn on Dividing Water Road. Unfortunately, we were working so hard to keep going that we missed that turn as well. We almost rode up to the water shed before realizing we had missed it. That added a mile or so to our total.

Then we got to the Tigerville stretch. This gets a little confusing because it turns into Mountain View Road. I was at the four way stop sign at Hwy. 414 waiting for Dave to come up. I saw some serious looking riders coming toward me on the other side of 414. Dave caught up with me and we crossed. The other riders were slowing down to stop. We then got a good look at the lead rider. It was George Hincapie. I'm not sure, but he might have had Craig Lewis with him. What do you say? I said, "Hey" and kept riding.

That was neat, but it caused us to get distracted and we got confused again. I missed the turn that would put us back on Tigerville. We got to a fork in the road and there was no name on it. So, we turned around and went back up to 414. Looking at the directions, we discovered that the "no name" road was Tigerville Road. So, off we went again. That added quite a few miles to our total.

Thankfully, that was the end of our wrong turns. We hit a metric century as we turned off of Little Texas onto Pine Forest Road. From there, we knew exactly where we were going... HOME! After 72 miles home was looking pretty good. Though I will tell you, I couldn't do anything for the rest of the day.

Today's Training Line:

Distance: 71.19 miles / Average Speed: 15.5 mph / Time: 4:34:43
Average Heart Rate: 151 bpm / Level 5: 0:41:10* / Work: 4774**

* Level 5 is the time heart beats between 165 and 183 bpm
** Comparative number to measure exertion during different sessions
Data collected by Sports Instruments ECG Pro 7 heart rate monitor and Cat Eye Astrale 8 cyclocomputer