This is an update.
Angry and Weisan are out. The Baron (Mike) and I both arrive on Weds May 8th in the afternoon. Our two full days of riding are Thursday and Friday the 9th and 10th. We both like an early start (7 am) and Mike likes to get back to Front Royal by 3pm.
He has proposed a number of rides that I will link. I took two and shortened them so as to accommodate my riding speed and capability with the goal of getting him home well in time. I know from my past experience at D2R2 and multi-day cc tours that I should be able to do these two days in a row (hopefully!)
Here's the
road ride. 62 miles, 5,200 feet of up.
Here's the
gravel ride. 60 miles, 4,500 feet.
If we do these two, or another two that Mike prefers, I'm anticipating that since Mike heads back up to NJ on Saturday afternoon, and I'll be tired, that we'll do a shorter easier morning ride that day.
Then I'll have two more full days in Front Royal, Sunday and Monday. I'd really like to get up on Skyline Drive and a classic ride called
Skymass is 82.5 miles and 7,000 ft is in my sights for one of those two days. I leave to drive home on Tuesday but will have time for a morning ride.
At the moment I'm planning to bring two bikes, the Supersix for the pavement loops and the Bingham for the ones with dirt roads.
Here are the RWGPS links Mike sent me:
This is a
compendium of routes he put together for a bike club, three days with loops of varying difficulty.
And here's a nice
road loop and a
gravel loop, both 50-55 miles and 3,200 to 3,700 feet.
So - early starts and (hopefully) early finishes. Some routes don't have a lot of re-supply locations. My pace in the past for D2R2 with 100 feet/mile average on a fair bit of dirt is 11 mph. Local rides with a lot less elevation and more wind my range is 14-15 mph. I like to stop for a bite roughly every two hours. If I do Skymass I'd anticipate being out for 9 hours.
I'll be staying at the Super 8 in Front Royal. If you want to join for any of these rides please PM me. I'd be delighted to meet other Paceliners!
Finally - I'm staying Tuesday night the 7th in Carlisle, PA. I'd love to hear recommendations for a great short ride in that area that I could do before the final drive to Front Royal.