The Creeper Trail: Top to Bottom!

My friend, Chip, wanted a bunch of us to ride the entire 34 miles of The Creeper Trail, top to bottom on bikes. His team at work had done it a couple years ago and wanted to do it again. The fact that it took him two years before he was ready to do it again should have been a warning to me.  Instead, when he sent the meeting notice, I responded, "That's insane! Count me in!"  Afterall, I had been riding my bike since I got it for Christmas and am in decent shape.

Me and my husband, Shea, went up and rode sections of it many times this summer, one day as much as 10.5 miles. So I was ready.

We went on a Friday because everyone's schedules are too full on Saturdays. To our surprise, about 4 other van loads of people also had the day off. So it was crowded and that's dangerous on narrow bridges and a rocky path!

The top of the mountain, White Top, was under construction so they dropped us off a couple miles lower at Green Cove.  My strategy was to go as fast as I could at the top where it's downhill and so get done quicker and maybe save my rear from hurting. Well, it started out rough.  One of our friends, Tony, had rented a bike and the chain fell off right away. Then he got a flat tire. I had noticed a jingling noise on my bike and when we stopped to see about his tire, I found a nut had come off my front tire. I heard one of the guys with us say he worked for the rental company, so I caught up with him to see if he had a spare nut. He did not. He advised just to check it every now and then to make sure the other nut was tight. He was really nice and we talked as we rode for a while. He said people call him Rabbit. He also told me that Sunday afternoons are the best time to ride the trail without a lot of people. Saturdays are the worst, especially in September and October. One Saturday last fall, his company alone took over 400 people to the top!

So...back to the ride. It was really rough at the top and I stood a lot to save my rear from the bumps. I was very concerned about my front tire though, especially when I exited a bridge as sometimes that was a steep drop off. So as soon as we reached civilization in Damascus, we stopped at the first bike shop we came to, JC's Outdoors. Inside we met Hutch, who also was very friendly. He looked through all his parts to find the size of nut I needed. When he couldn't find it, he took the nut off one of his own bikes and tried it, and it fit! Hutch would not let us pay him. He said just to tell everyone about JC's Outdoors and use them next time we ride. So when you need a bike or shuttle on The Creeper Trail, call JC's Outdoors! :)  Shea bought a map of the trail from him.  He had been wanting one anyway and wanted to give Hutch our business. Oh, right next to the store is a vegetarian bistro and Hutch said their food is really good and it sure smelled good!

I, of course, had brought my own food that Shea was so kind to carry in a cooler on the back of his bike. We stopped with some of our friends at some picnic tables in Damascus and had our lunch. There was a Subway there and they let us fill up our water bottles for free! Honestly, the people around there are so nice!

So the rest of the trip is quite a blur. My body started shutting down soon after we rested in Alvarado. I came to the brilliant realization that I could walk beside my bike at about mile marker 7.  I was alone (everyone was WAY ahead of me) and thought I may as well enjoy the scenery!  Shea came back and found me and if you know the coach he is you are not surprised that he "encouraged" me to get back on and ride to get it overwith quicker. The rest of the 6 miles were walk/ride. The last mile I couldn't use my legs and I'm not sure how they were pushing the pedals. But I survived! It only took us 6 hours total, including all the stops and walking. :)

By the time we got home I was a little shaky. I quickly fixed something to eat, ate, showered and climbed in bed by 7:45.  As the night wore on, my thighs got more and more painful. I recall simply rolling over in my sleep causing a lot of pain. So when I awoke at 6:00 am, it was no surprise that I could not move my legs, at all. Shea got me food and ice for my legs and I began an all day regimen of 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off with the ice. By that evening I could walk again, but was still very weak! My mom said, "Bet you won't do that again." She's so wise. :)

Lesson learned: Yay for being adventurous! However, if the most you've ever biked at once is 10.5 miles, don't go and do 32!