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Well this is a self taken shot by Geezer after getting through the Blue Ridge Brutal. He is smiling out of relief and being beyond loopy.

The veins in his forehead aren`t sticking out as far as for the Blood Sweat and Gears ride but the feeling of (wow that was hard) has left him just as dazed and confused. He either over estimated himself or under estimated the 9000 feet of not too steep? climbing. Seemed like a butt kicker to him. (and he has rebuilt carburetors and shared the meaning of life with dogs and such).

The really fine folks at the Ashe Civic Center still had pasta and garlic bread left for stragglers like this guy and it was sitting on the tail gate to be inhaled right after this shot.

All in all there isn`t a perfect way to honestly describe the ride. 40/16 gear was do-able on all but a couple of stretches of hill/mountain but as is the nature of the beast you`re screwed going up or down in the hills or that perfect combination of both.

Cramps ? of course. S-Caps and lots of liquid taken. At around 80miles especially and then they died out. Probably good that fixed gear keeps rolling along. Takes the choice of stretching legs out away. Some head wind was very good training I guess.

Could catch some other riders on the uphills and then hear them whizzing by over and over again on the other side. One rider was at about the same overall pace and we talked for about 20 miles( to the finish). Trusting what you think to a stranger that you are sharing an experience with resembles a bit what folks going down in a crashing plane might feel. Why filter your thoughts? we`re all going down. Nice to cut through the we haven`t been properly introduced crap. Very good to meet folks who are`t too shiny.

There were parts of the ride that only seemed safe from traffic in a relative sort of way - as in hey that truck or camper can`t run over and mangle all of us. Maybe that`s what minnows figure in thinking that they are safe from that big fish drawing a bead on them.

A few parts of the ride were just plain gorgeous. The stretch of the Parkway is as pretty as it gets (except maybe for the same spot in a few months).

Was I happy with the time I got etc.? A bit over 8 hours is SLOW . I have two conflicting feelings which is like an answer of sorts to the old question, "Are you bragging or Complaining?" - Very greedy and Very Grateful.