The Blue Ridge Fondo 30-Mile Course

As we prepared to ride the Virginia’s Blue Ridge Fondo 30-mile course, the sun was out and even at 11 a.m. the temperature was already pushing toward 60.  Not a bad day for the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

After a cold, rainy fall that kept our bikes in the garage, the weather was a reason to be thankful.

Plus, we were at a brewery.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The actual Blue Ridge Fondo had come and gone back in October.  It had been a terrible day weather wise, with a high of 48 and steady if not pounding rain.

But we survived. Sometimes epic is good.

On this day we were settled in the same parking lot – Ballast Point Brewing in Botetourt County, Va. Since we were well past mid-season form, the plan was to do our first ride of the Blue Ridge Fondo 30-mile route which can be found on the website of Muddy Squirrel, which handles all the fondo related details and organization.

Then of course, a beer and a burger at the brewery.

One of several short climbs on the Blue Ridge 30-mile course

Let’s do the ride

Eight of us set out from the parking lot under clear blue skies.  We navigated the short but somewhat intimidating stretch of Route 220 to Daleville and turned off onto the country roads that would dominate the rest of the loop.

Like the 50 and 80-mile versions of the Fondo, this one begins by taking riders through pretty country all the way to the historic town of Fincastle.

According to historians this was the actual starting place of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

It’s that historic.

It’s also quaint and pretty, with older homes and a certain authenticity you only get with historic communities.

Sadly, this part of the ride only lasts a few blocks.

Fortunately, the course drops you off on a nice downhill where you can let it rip.

Gary and Barbara Butcher ride past an old church.

From this point you are in agricultural areas where the road is rolling to climbing.

In this part of Virginia every climb is rewarded with a downhill.

Conversely, for every downhill, you must climb until you’re just over it.

As in, “I’d rather drink cat urine than climb another hill.”

Though our group was more than capable of making these ascents, there was a bit of grumbling that this was harder than anticipated.

Maybe we just anticipated the wrong thing.

Strava says we climbed 2,193 feet over the 29-plus mile ride.  My rule of thumb is that it’s not a climbing day until you reach a thousand feet for every 10 miles.

So it wasn’t a climbing day.

It just felt like it.

Which, is really what we were looking for.  We wanted to take advantage of a rare, beautiful late November day with a ride that would challenge us but not kill us. We wanted to feel like we had really done something, but we still wanted to finish in under three hours and be back for a late lunch.

Which brings us to beer-thirty.

Strava shows the starting and ending point of the Blue Ridge Fondo 30-miler along with the elevation gain.

The kettles at Ballast Point Botetourt, Va.

Beers you might like

As always, I’ll write more in a separate Beers I have Ridden post.  But Ballast Point is not your average brew stop.

There is a full service restaurant on the premises and the food is much better than average.  The burgers, Brussels sprouts and burritos are orders you will remember fondly.

The Ballast Point facility is also the brewing and distribution center for pretty much everything east of the Mississippi.

That’s a lot of beer.

But it doesn’t taste mass-produced.

I’ve been to the company’s original headquarters and west coast operations in San Diego, where I’ve interviewed some of the brew masters, including the guy who came up with the famous Sculpin IPA.

If you come do this ride, try the Sculpin, or the Grapefruit Sculpin

On this trip I tried the Spruce Tip Sculpin, which smells like a Christmas tree.

Somehow, that’s a good thing.

More in another Beers I have Ridden post.

The other great thing about Ballast Point east is that they recognize the value of cyclists.  Management was quick to support and host the inaugural Blue Ridge Fondo, and sees the business sense in making life easy for groups like ours who want to ride the beautiful back roads of Botetourt County before enjoying some leisure time at the brewery.

Ballast Point amenities

The brewery offers a huge parking lot, with ample space. We parked well away from the door, since we would be occupying their real estate for several hours while we rode.

Yes, it’s a bit farther to walk after the ride, but honestly, if you can ride your bike for 30-miles, or 50 or 80, you should be able to walk a couple hundred feet to the door.

The brewery has large, clean bathrooms where it’s easy to change into your street clothes.  It has a comfortable feel and lots of seating.  There’s even an outdoor fire pit that looks out over a lake and the mountains.

Not too shabby.

As of this writing the 2019 Virginia’s Blue Ridge Fondo is a go for mid-October.  Again it will start and end at Ballast Point, where riders will experience all we did, plus some cool swag.

A rest stop on Virginia’s Blue Ridge Fondo 30-mile ride

Some of the countryside on the Virginia’s Blue Ridge Gran Fondo 30-mile route.