Cheat Mountain and “The Lost Boys” Adventure…
What an adventure! It was my first year for the Cheat Mountain Challenge in Snowshoe, West Virginia. It was also my first meeting with Sprocketboy (Leslie) of Travels With A Tin Donkey. That’s him in the solo
picture on the left and then with me in the next picture. We’ve been communicating through our blogs and email for about a year now but have never met. We all communicate with great people through our cycling blogs almost everyday.
Unfortunately, most of us are so far apart. But this proves we can’t let that hold you back. So it was great for me to finally make a connection with Leslie and ride together. Leslie and a few fortunate others make up ”The Lost Boys” also known as “Lost Boys International”… OK guys… which is it? Two other “Lost Boys” I had the pleasure of meeting are Ralph and Jeff seen in the bottom left picture (Ralph is hiding a bit behind Jeff). And I cannot leave out Kim, Ralph’s girlfriend. She was great company and a great help at the ride. She volunteered the entire day. Go Kim!
We all met up and stayed at the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. Leslie was the great organizer and the house we rented worked perfectly. The area is beautiful and the Cheat Mountain Challenge ride was epic. I say epic because it’s not only breathtaking (scenery & climbing)… the roads are a cyclist’s dream. The 105 mile course took us along for miles on a winding narrow road through the mountains appropriately called Back Mountain Road (we saw one car there). We pedaled through the fantastic Watoga State Forest and climbed up to the Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150). There was more than 10,000 feet of climbing and the last five miles was climbing to the top of the Snowshoe Ski Resort. I would love to go back to the area not only for this event but just to ride again for a couple of days. But it would have to include this group! I’m raving about the ride but what really made this event so much fun and memorable was the camaraderie. We all shared great stories and it help keep our minds off the tough climbing. We laughed, we sang, we suffered a bit together… and then we toasted our accomplishment with a delicious high-carb malt-based recovery beverage. Thanks guys!
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Comments
Congrats to all,
sounds like a great ride!
You sang together? - hopefully NO VIDEOS were recorded of this scary sounding event.
Since Ralph is a little hidden in the photo - here’s a better one of him - at the top of Galibier watching the 2008 tour (he’s the good looking guy!)
Best
Will
Luckily only Donald sang as none of us Northerners knew the words to the “Jug o’ Mountain Dew” song and it would not have sounded the same anyway.
The best rides are those that are shared among friends. Happy to hear everyone had a great time and made it to the end.
SPROCKETBOY– We have many rides ahead… I’ll make sure you learn the words to “Good Ole Mountain Dew”… You reminded me I have to forward the cookie recipe to Ralph… did you want it to? Hey… for having such bad leg cramps you did an amazing climb and finish!!!
WILL– Your ears must have been itchin’ as we say in the south. We talked about you wishing you were there as well. But with that climb you would have been waiting for us at the top. Hopefully not finishing all the high-carb recovery drinks.
IAN– TRUE… you need to join us for the next one… you and Leslie could carpool. OK I know your about 4 1/2 hours from Ottawa but you could work something out. Either way — we’ll have to get a ride in together sooner than later.
ROB– Thanks… You thought BS&G was epic … this was great… and what a phenomenal course. The roads were truly perfect for cycling.
I think we should post Janice’s cookie recipe. The cookies gave me enough strength that I was able to avoid staying overnight in Scranton again. For this I am truly thankful.
Well, my brother Bill’s got a still on the hill,
Where he runs off a gallon or two.
The birds in the sky get so drunk they can’t fly,
From the smell of that good ol’ mountain dew.
SPROCKETBOY — I’ll work on getting the cookie recipe posted today. Oh and I’m so proud… you looked up the lyrics! That’s great… am I convincing a Canadian to give Bluegrass a try?
CHRIS — I still think one of these mountain centuries should be in you future. Hope all is well.
“Try” Bluegrass? Why, hell boy, I was listenin’ to Chris Thiles play the mandolin on the drive home. And I have me a mess o’ Stanley Brothers records in the basement…
As the only Canadian (or Northerner of any kind) who will admit to an enthusiasm for grits, I have no choice but to like Bluegrass as well.
SPROCKETBOY– I knew there were other reasons I liked you besides just your mellifluous delivery of all things cycling. Did someone say Wiki? Stanley Brothers and grits… you could hold an official Southerners Pass.
JEFF — The ride was awesome. You gotta train for one of these. This was my 5th organized century event. I have another one next month. The endurance is a whole new test and experience. You can do it!
Man, I’ve got to come over some time and ride with you guys. It just sounds great. I love riding with a group of friends and even better when you rent a house and spent a few days doing what you like best - together!
GROOVER — Sweet … come on over! The more the merrier as we say. Although– you may have to wait up for us.
I do look forward to the next big ride with friends.
What a fun time! I always look forward to meeting with other bloggers too, it’s very cool. Looks like you guys had a great ride and the pix are good too. The food after long rides always tastes so freaking good!
JUDI — Yeah, it is cool to finally meet some of the people I’ve been blogging with for sometime now. Food… stuff face… more food!
Looks like you had great fun. Thanks for the picture of sprocket, he reads my blog too.
Great profile for the stage, that finish must have been pretty tingly after 90+ miles in the legs? You know you’re an awesome dude, right Don? 
RON — Stop pumping me up … my wife will think I’m getting too serious about this stuff. Yeah, the last climb had a couple of tough pitches but I had enough to give a little sprint up to the finish… that always feels good. An incredible ride!
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Man, I look good in those photos! These were clearly taken before I blew up on the Highland Scenic Highway. It was a great ride indeed: my Garmin suggests that we climbed just over 11,000 feet, a bit more than I had expected. The scenery is fantastic, the route challenging and the company was the best of all. In addition to the high-carbohydrate, malt-based recovery drinks (which are isotonic and rehydrating), we also had the special cookies from North Carolina which came with the imprecation “Enjoy!,” so we did. A great weekend–training begins now for next year!