Vacation Adventures

Hey guys,

First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a late Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year! I have to apologize for the absence of posts, because I was up in the mountains for a week with my family for a Christmas vacation!

Now, for everyone who lives in a mountainous region, you know how beautiful the scenery is. However, as a 16 year old, I'd actually never seen mountains in person before. Driving in to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where we stayed, was truly a magical experience for me, seeing mountains and hills roll past the car windows, like in a movie. But that wasn't going to compare to what happened later on in the trip. Now, I had brought my oldest bicycle on this trip, a 1987 Trek 1200, which is a very special bike to me. It is an all aluminum frame, with down tube shifters! :) It's a very classic bike, and I love it. Unfortunately, almost all of our trip was freezing cold, icy, snowy, and rainy. But, on one day, it started out in a downpour, but around noon the rain stopped and the sun came out. I decided to take control of the stop in rain to go out and ride, and I told my parents I was going to explore a town about 5 miles away from our hotel, mostly uphill. So, I set out, and was having an absolutely magical ride-picture rock slabs right next to the road with waterfalls coming through holes in the rock, with a large river flowing off to the left side of the road, moving quickly from the recent rain. Then, a tunnel-and on the other side heavily wooded areas with streams running through them in the underbrush. It was absolutely breathtaking.

After making it past all of that beautiful scenery, I reached the town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and was riding around, down the main and back streets, looking for fun things for my family to possibly do there. Then, as I was riding, I saw it-a mountain, rising from the horizon, and going up for a very long time. About halfway up the mountainside, fog and clouds had accumulated, hiding some of the scenery from view, but then the peak of the mountain again looked out from above the mist. I had one thought and one thought only-"I have to climb that mountain." I started riding in the general direction, and as I got close, I stopped on the side of the road and asked a man who sold firewood what mountain it was and how to get there. He told me it was Bluff Mountain and told me how to get to the top, and I set off. Soon, I turned down Bluff Mountain Road, and began my climb. At the bottom of the mountain, the incline isn't bad-just a little up here and there. But as soon as I turned a corner, the road seemed almost straight up. My heart rate shot up to over 200BPM, and I struggled to keep turning the pedals. However, I was able to, and started my trek up the mountain. The roads, to my delight, were in the same format you see watching the Tour when the climb any mountain, but I thought of the Alpe d'Huez personally-with the winding 180 degree turns like this!
The road continued for a very long time, and as I made my way up, up, up farther and farther I began to get very fatigued, having to get off my bike and breathe for some time before I could resume the ride, it was so steep. But I was determined to make it to the summit, and soon I could tell I was close-because as I turned another 180 degrees, up the road I could see the fog I had seen from the bottom! I rode through the mist, climbing higher and higher, and soon the fog began to disperse, and I knew I had climbed out of it. Even so, I still had some time to go, but then, as I struggled up a final stretch, Bluff Mountain Road ended. Looking out past the road, into clouds, I could see I was high above any other mountain and really, anything. I could see the cloud level, but I could also see where the clouds stopped and where the sky began, and I could see for miles. It was absolutely inspiring, beautiful, and extremely meaningful. Because as this whole year comes to a close, that bike ride couldn't have meant more. It meant to me that no matter how much hardship you endure, no matter what you're put up against, no matter how much you struggle, you can find the strength to continue going, even when life knocks you off your bike-you can get back on, and you can ride to be on top of the world. And that's where I was.

Happy training guys, and to all a Happy New Year.