Scariest moment:
Storming of Thunder Ridge, descent turns off of the Blue Ridge Parkway and completes on VA Hwy 43.
Chip seal. Technical. 35mph limit. Another BF member and I were descending in the rain.
He stopped to put his rain jacket on, so I got ahead. They shut down 43 just after I turned.
1988 Centurion Ironman Carbon. DA 7400 brake levers and 7700 calipers. Pouring.
Kind of a point of no return, I guess. Once started downhill, couldn't stop.
Brakes pulled to the bar, could not get the bike under 35mph.
Chip seal ruts, turns that dropped out of sight.
A couple of times, the bike just drifted across the road to the outside, but never lost it.
I learned more about bike handling on that descent than in the years before.
It leveled out into sunshine. I caught a guy just diddling down the road.
He said he was waiting for his tears to dry up before he kept on.
No way I'm ever getting on a mountain bike. Those guys are crazy.
I saw one duct tape his chin and keep riding. Easily 10 stitches worth.