Burkes Garden Update

As we posted last week, TwoUpSports, headed out last Friday to go to Virginia. Stopping on the way to meet up with long time compadre Chris Harkey, we set out for Scottie's house where we were to stay that night and be ready for the next day's festivites.
John Delong was going to be at Scottie's as well, so I knew that the laughs and acting up was going to mean that we would probably get in the bed late, but no worries, we were going to have a blast.
Next morning did come early. Scottie was up early, and had a mean brew of Java ready for those who partake. We all say numb from a couple hours less of sleep, but ready none the less. We started talking about the ride, and that got us all hyped up. One the way to the start, the fog was thick, eerie. We passed the time with crazy smart phone antics. Once at the start, we all kitted up and pinned on the number.
Burkes Garden is a gladiator style century. This means that you pay, get your number, and then take off, un-supported! The official route that the record is recorded on is from the Narrows town line, but you start from the parking lot, so the route ends up being 103!
We rolled out fast. averaging over 25 for the first half. Things started to thin out, and once we hit the main climb, it thinned that much more. Up and over the top, this is where the ride gets it's name. You roll into what looks like a large crater. Someone decided to light a torch, I am not naming names, but it was someone in our immediate four! I was tongue hanging hurt. I was ready to get back to the climb, just to recover. And so we did. By this time, it was the four of us, and we were making good time. The record was in dire straits. On the run in, we typically would have been pushing 30 mph, but with a headwind, we were getting beat down. Rolling thru, it was just constant pain cave. Coming in, we did not know if we were going to do it. John was keeping official time, and we pushed all the way.
In the end, we did the 100 in 4:03. I think that was a new record. We wanted to bust the 4 hour mark, but come on, 100 miles in a tad over is the stuff!
We were tanked. We had that feeling in the legs, like you are completely full, not cramping, just muscles aching from the efforts all day. Backs sore from being laid over he front of the bikes, grabbing drops all day. Rear ends sore for a lot of the same reason.
Rolling back to Scotties, the heated seats in the Subaru/Fisher car were a welcome friend. We hit Sharkey's before heading out, to scarf down copiuos amounts of goodness to replace somewhat the large amount of calories that the body must have to perform.

HUMP