Le Tour de New River Valley - Review

The informal and fun event was announced last week and commenced yesterday from Our Daily Bread Bakery on July 1st at 9:16 AM. Stage One of the tour finished at our starting point a mere 3.5 hours later followed by award shirts and delicious food.

The course was an enjoyable 36 miles and incorporated a fair amount of rollers and the classic “steep climb home” familiar to residents of Blacksburg, VA.

I had a ton of fun. I got a good tan, I met more cyclists, affirmed a few friendships/acquaintances, thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful weather, and strutted my sprinting stuff! It was sunny and not too hot, hovering around 73 degrees F with lower humidity than usual.

Josh and I both successfully completed the event, and I even got to try my hand on the open sprint that happened on Luster’s Gate going back towards home. I left everyone in my dust, except Nick Macias! That man is a machine of sheer strength and power! We battled head-to-head on the flats for quite some time until we came upon a corner (marking the beginning of the uphill climb) in which he said to me, “Watch this corner; it’s a lot of fun!” And with that, he broke away in a mad craze of speed. I did my best to at least maintain my pace, but quickly dropped back to the end of the first pack; I was completely spent and–oh!–feeling my quads and glutes trembling and my body groaning with the knowledge of a steep climb coming up.

I considered just trying to power through, but I was already tired and didn’t want to have to stop because I was dizzy while climbing up Ellett. At the base of the hill, I opted to pull over to let my heart rate drop to 55% of my MHR before beginning the steep incline. It was a good call. I was able to breathe deeply and consistently and kept a good cadence going. I stayed within 65-75% MHR (endurance levels) and was ecstatic to crest up and over the last hill to be greeted by the many in our group whom where already there. Hooray! I’m getting better at this! Now, just imagine how much lighter I could be if I could lose those 11 lbs … Hmmmmm … there’s (no) food for thought! Ha!

NRVBA.org - Le Tour de New River Valley Stage One at the Feed Zone:

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