Yesterday, I had the chance to ride in on the Assault on the Carolina’s. My father in law was planning to ride but he hasn’t been able to get on the bike much in the past few months and in light of recent events just wasn’t into it, which I can’t blame him for in the least. However he didn’t want the entry to go to waste so he was kind enough to give it to me. I don’t ride on the road a lot and right now the only road bike I have in my stable is kind of relegated to the indoor trainer. So I readied the Warbird and got ready. With the stage race this week Katie was pretty adamant that I only do the shorter 50K option, which was probably the smart thing anyhow.

At the event, I caught up with some friends and we got lined up. I was planning on riding with the main 100k group to the split and then heading on my way. As I looked around I was definitely the only guy in mtn shoes on a bike with 38C gravel tires but I wasn’t going the full distance anyhow. We were off, the pace was high but not out of control. Over to Walnut Hollow and things split a little on the climb, deciding not to go full out I held back a little trying to keep close to Christian who I knew was gunning for a big day. At the top of the climb I tried to do my best to help him move back to the other Sycamore guys with minimal effort for him, with that being said I don’t really know what I’m doing in road biking so who knows if I was helpful really.

Down on one of the flat parts I found myself in the front with Wes and nobody was pushing too hard from behind so we settled into a pretty good pace and hung out up front for a bit. Then we got to where I was supposed to go straight and I didn’t realize it, I thought the split was a little later. So I stayed with the group and decided that if anything I was adding distance and elevation to the route. I made my right and left the group. Once I got back on course I saw a few riders up ahead and decided I should go ahead and catch them. At first it was four of us, then 3, then it ended up just being 2 of us heading to the finish.

I had planned on just cruising home after splitting from the 100K group, but when I got into this other group It was too much fun not to push the pace and see what we could do. So we kept on the gas, when we got to rises/climbs I would go to the front and on the downs/flats he seemed to have more of that pure power. The closer we got to the end the easier it was to ride him off my wheel on almost any rise. With a little rise leading to the finish line I was pretty sure that I’d ride away from him there, so I didn’t kill myself on the way in. Afterall I was trying to keep the efforts in check.

I ended up being the first one across the line (I think) but there really isn’t anyone keeping track. I rode that route far faster than I ever have though and felt pretty good doing it. I always have more fun at these kinds of events than I think I will. The weather turned out great for this one and I got to ride the early part of the ride with a lot of folks that I really do enjoy riding bikes with. It’s different from mountain biking but it’s kind of fun to really ride in a group with friends.

Afterwards my father in law was at the finish with Lizzie and we hung out at the “After-Party” for a while, grabbing some food, playing with Lizzie, and waiting for the 100K folks to come in. It was a fun time playing bikes and hanging out with all the bike people.

Anyhow, maybe next year I’ll do the full 100k and find a proper road bike for it.