"Fur,none" pt.3

After our Huntinburg lunch we headed east towards Birdseye, knowing that we had a middle stop in St.Anthony for water and supplies as needed. The stretch from H to B revealed less information on google streetview, so I didn't know how much gravel we would encounter. I was pleasantly surprised to find several sections. At the same time, the mounting heat and roller climbing was getting to me. I felt quite good into Huntinburg, but perhaps I had been too ambitious. As some point on a gravel climb I just sort of "popped", perhaps at the 45mark. From that point Dave and Michael were stronger than I was and I had trouble find a good gear. It's the first time of late that I've ridden this kind of climbing on the BR. I'm used to mtbike gears on my other bikes and I was missing that granny bail gear on these rollers.

We did find a nice, short section of dirt 245E along some cypress, much like you would find in a European allee.

I'm not sure if this pic quite does so, but there are 3 rollers in this one pic, interminable.

Once we climbed the steep pitch out of St. Anthony's, that put us towards Birdseye. We suffered through both gravel and paved rollers, and I for one was bushed. At this point I suggested (coerced) that we take a smart cut-through and shorten our ride at the expense of mileage and more heat and more rollers. My right calf even started to cramp a bit late. Our cut through cut off the Birdseye stop, but still took us close to Ferdinand State Forest and some of the rustic roads in that area.  Amazingly, I don't have a pic of Ferdinand Forest Rd., which is basically graded portion of a field where someone dug a new phone line.

Dave on the bridge of Ferdinand Forest Rd.

One can tell from the lack of pictures late that I was bushed and intent only on finishing. The legs felt like crap and I had trouble climbing with a necessary gear. Still, the roads around FSP were delightful and worth a return trip.  Michael and I discussed the reality that as you get later in a ride, you take fewer pics, and that reality held for me. Apertome did a more consistent job than I documented the latter stages of my own misery (and his quality is better).

While very challenging in the last 15m or so, it was a spectacular day in so many ways, the company, the texture, the leaves, the open space and the challenge. I have to mention that I didn't speak much of Dave here if only because I think he had the opposite day that I had. Early on he struggled, but as the day lengthened, he seemed much stronger and comfortable with his legs (although not other body parts). I pooped out. and Michael was a very strong riding partner.

Very challenging day. Very satisfying day.