My First 3 Gap Bike Ride

My first trip to the North Georgia mountains this past weekend turned out to be one of the best short trips I've taken in a long time. My husband and I were invited by our friends Matt and Shelly to go up. Matt is a member of the local bike racing club. There was a group of 8 us. We stayed at the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega. The plan for Saturday was to bike early and go out on the water in the afternoon. The ride we had planned for the day was the 3 Gap ride. This ride includes Neels Gap (Blood Mountain), Wolfpen Gap and Woodys Gap. I was filled with trepidation as this was my first ride on the mountain. I had been looking at the profile of the elevations for the ride. Neels Gap is a 7 mile climb. It was my friend Shellys first ride in the mountains too. My husband, Scott had done the ride last year. He knew what was in store for us. The going was not fast, but I stayed steady with it. I was riding my Cannondale with the triple chain ring. Climbing up Neels Gap was challenging. At the top of the climb there is a store that acts as a rest stop. You can buy drinks and snacks. There is also a bathroom. Hooray! My one track mind had decided about half way up the climb that I needed a REAL Coke when we got to the top. Sugar and caffeine, YES! Scott and I shared the Coke. We topped off our water bottles and got back on the bikes. One climb down, two to go.
Wolfpen is about a 3 1/2 mile climb. It is MUCH steeper than Neels. The climbing again was slow and steady. There was a point I was thinking, "oh my goodness, what in the world are you doing?" There is no stopping to rest or to think you can walk some of it. If you get off of your bike, you are pretty much done! So, I kept pushing the pedals, round and round. Another of my thoughts on this part of the ride was, when you get tired while running you can stop running and walk. Not so with a mountain climb on a road bike. Suddenly, Dori from Finding Nemo is in my head. Not telling me to keep swimming, but to keep pedaling, just keep pedaling. We made it to the top of this climb and began the descent. Oh yeah, the descent was AWESOME!! No pedaling required. At the bottom we stopped at the gas station that everyone seems to use as their rest stops. It was great to come off of the saddle and stand up for a bit. We topped off our water bottles again and headed out for the final leg of our ride.
Woody Gap was almost easy when comparing the other two climbs. At this point all I really wanted was to be finished. I had managed not to whine or complain the whole trip. My husband, knowing me as he does, congratulated me for staying strong with no whining. When we got back to the hostel there was a final climb. The drive way entrance for the hostel is almost straight up! I managed to pedal part way up, but nearly fell over. I was able to come off of my pedals thank goodness! Shelly and I gave each other high fives and congratulated each other for being such kick butt, biker chicks!!