Friday kicked of with a planned 30-40 min Open Water Swim. I did some checking around to find a good spot out by Jordan Lake. At the last minute I spoke to John over at Inside Out Sports, and he recommended a great spot over off of Pea Ridge Rd. This spot was perfect. Easy access, no boat traffic, actually there wasn’t anybody in sight. This ended up being a great Open Water Swim spot.
It was incredibly hot. It was very close to 100 if not hotter. The water was about as warm as I could stand. Anyway, I swam my way through about 1 mile trying to keep a straight line and work on my sighting. My wife decided this was not her cup of tea today as we had never been here before, weren’t sure about the surroundings, and there was absolutely nobody in sight. So about the time I got to the farthest point away in the triangle below, I realized that I would be screwed if I got into trouble out here, or my wife got into trouble on the banks. So, next time we go, we’ll try to plan ahead and try to get an organized group of 10-15 people so we can all swim with a buddy. I’ve never heard about any sightings of alligators, garfish, or moccasins in the water at Jordan Lake, but your mind starts to wander a bit when you can’t see 12 inches in front of your goggles. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. Very eerie swimming with nobody around, but the swim location is perfect.
Cup ‘n Cone Tour
Saturday was the 6th Annual Cup ‘n Cone Tour featuring chip timing of the climb up infamous Col d’Lystra. I’ve added the route to my Bike Routes page if you would like to ride it. This was my first time with this charity ride, but I’ve been up Lystra numerous times in the past. It’s very steep, but not too long. The best part is that you get to come back down. We rolled out of the parking lot right at 7:30a.m. from Green Hope High School. There were about 750 cyclists out there to start the 32, 50, and 67 mile rides.
Once you get out of the suburbs, the scenery is always pretty cool out by Jordan Lake and Chatham County. Just lots of nice roads and gently rolling hills(at least until you get to Lystra). This is my favorite area to ride, as you can just see forever when you’re near the water. Lots of wildlife around, and the traffic has pretty much come to expect cyclists over the years; so you’ll always see other groups out riding as well.
I don’t have any pictures of Lystra. I was either grinding my way up and not able to take a picture or I was descending at 46mph on the way back down. There were quite a few other hills after Lystra as you can see below. Most were short climbs, follow by fast descents. Good times all around. I’m not sure what the results were from the chip timing up Lystra. I never saw this posted anywhere. I heard the fastest time was 6 minutes and change, though I’m not sure what the total distance was.
KOM/QOM Update: As much as it pains me to say, my wife beat me by 1 secoond. There’s probably some “Tortoise and the Hare” type lesson here somewhere. Not that we compete against one another or anything.
Still incredibly hot and very humid. The heat would take it’s toll by the end of the ride, as there were many folks cramping up. We finally got to the turn-around stop out near the Maple View Dairy Farm. Maple View Farm is a family dairy farm located in Orange County, North Carolina, just northwest of Chapel Hill. It is a Holstein dairy farm. A grade “A” milk producer since 1922, Maple View Farm moved to area after selling a five generation dairy farm in Corinna, Maine. The rest stops were stocked with ice cream from the farm store.
Just under 4 hours and 67 miles later we rolled back into Green Hope High School. The volunteers were great, keeping cold wet towels, water, and Gatorade flowing. BBQ was provided by Backyard Bistro, though all I could think about was getting more Gatorade. The organizers did a great job marking the course. We had Cue sheets, but none were needed as there was plenty of signage and arrow markers, etc.
For the rest of the day it was pretty much all about eating and getting rehydrated and trying stay cool.
On to Sunday….We had an 11 mile run planned. I checked the weather before heading out to Umstead Park. 103? Are you serious?
Lots of Gatorade and Endurolytes later, we finished the 11 mile sauna run and now we are done for the week. We’ve put in 12 hours of good training this past week, and I’m really hoping for a break in the heat. The group ride on Saturday was a good time. It’s always fun to ride and meet some new fellow crazies out there. Anyway, drop me a line if you were at the Cup ‘n Cone. I’d love to hear from ya.
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