This weekend, Muffin rode the 6 Gap Century. Meaning, he rode 104 miles over 6 of the steepest mountains in North Georgia with more than 11,200 feet of climbing! My sweet muffin has always loved exercising and cycling (heck, he even ran a marathon for fun), and I couldn't imagine him without a bike. When we first started dating, I worked at a book store that was next to his bike shop. Some really great memories from that summer are of Sunshine Bicycle and Daniel passing time there until my shift was over. His love of cycling is such a huge part of who he is, and I am in awe of his athletic abilities. 6 Gap was the ultimate challenge and I honestly know it is his stubborn streak and will power that got him through such a difficult ride!
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Muffin is ready to ride! |
6 Gap has over 3,000 riders, and I truly haven't ever seen anything like it. There were cyclists from 18 countries and the oldest rider was over 70 years old!
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Cyclists taking off! |
After the riders were gone, Daniel's mom and I took the "short" 2 mile walk back to our car. We then set out in search of breakfast. Dahlonega, where the race starts, has the cutest downtown area! We found a local café and had a great breakfast.
After breakfast, we had a hard time deciding what to do! We originally planned to just shop around the town, but Daniel's dad, via a phone call, suggested that we go meet Muffin at Hogpen Mountain (aka the hardest climb of the entire ride) and offer some encouragement.
Robin, Daniel's mom, and I had quite an adventure heading out to the course to find him. 3 GPS attempts and 1 dog chase later we were in place! We chose to be at the bottom of the mountain, and it's a good thing! The course signs were missing and it was a left hand turn where the riders could definitely use a road block. We "worked our street corner" (hahaha) and directed traffic for a few hours waiting on Daniel to get to us. In that time, we saw a couple of riders get picked up in the service vehicle. One wrecked in a curve and the other just couldn't keep up the pace of the ride. I felt terrible for them!
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Blurry, I know! |
After Daniel passed us (throwing out unwanted items to me as he turned) we packed up and headed to the finish line. They finally replaced the directional sign and we felt safe to go!
There is honestly nothing like watching him pass the finish line! I was so proud for him and knew he must be bursting with excitement!
After the ride was over, Muffin got a leg massage and a huge spaghetti dinner and we headed home. He then got a second dinner at our favorite pizza place at home! Muffin burned more than 6,000 calories and definitely needed to load up on carbs.
His first ride since the race is today. If it were me, I would've taken the whole week off. Then again, nobody has will power like Muffin does!

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