Now that I’m sitting at home with the heater running full tilt, having enjoyed two hot showers and eight hours under the heavy feather duvet, it’s hard to describe how cold I felt yesterday on Brasstown Bald. The weather reports all called for temperatures in the upper fifties, so I planned to wear several inner layers, a fleece, and a windbreaker.
When the wind started howling through in late morning, I realized the temperatures were in the 30s, and saw my first snowflake of the year, I knew I was under-dressed. I probably would have been fine if I hadn’t gotten all sweaty by pushing twenty-five pounds of stroller up Brasstown Bald. At the steepest section of the road I was actually pushing the stroller faster than some bicyclists were able to turn over their peddles. I’ve seen claims that this climb has a 26% gradient on one section but that seems like a lot! I want to ride up next year; Andrea and Elizabeth can take the car and give me someplace to put the bike when I get there.
The race was incredible! I’ll get my pictures up early this week, but if you just can’t wait to see how it went, have a look at the coverage on cyclingnews. With the weather so nasty up on the mountain and most of the current big American names in international cycling racing each other up the mountain a few short feet away from us, it really was epic.