I'll HAVE TO COME BACK! Greenville, South Carolina - Paris Mountain - Worst Retirement Ever

I'll have to come back, Greenville! Thanks for the hospitality.
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[@scottamy404]

Fun trivia...there is a Greenville in every state.

[@worstretirementever]

🤯

[@triatheletewolf7279]

The terrain between the 2 Greenvilles is like Mountains vs. Sea. Greenville, NC is as flat as flat can be. There is the one climb that is 1.3 miles @ .60%

[@finishstrongcycling2355]

Great to see you come out our way Phil!

[@stevenhandleman4368]

We did a ride camp in Greenville 4 years ago. Even stayed at the Embasssy Suites! Great riding area and I was surprised by how active the downtown was. I agree - would love to go back again.

[@harveyschofield4619]

I was lucky to visit Grenville several times from the UK with work before the pandemic and was very impressed. Nice rooftop bar on top of the embassy suites. I go back in a flash if I had the chance.

[@hold_the_mike]

I used to be a food delivery bike courier in Greenville! Still live relatively close by (about 40-50 miles, I could ride there and home). I spent a lot of time rolling those streets, but unfortunately only used strava for when I was working and not on my personal rides. Now I use it on personal rides and have heavily considered riding over there and claiming some KOMs for myself. I also never rode Paris mountain, but I have left a lot of rubber on the swamp rabbit trail! Glad to see you stopped by and had a good time! So close on the KOM!

[@copdwarriormcdonald7968]

Phil an A+ for the efforts! As an amateur cyclist and now Suffering from COPD (from Gulf War and Somalia) I am amazed at the Pro's setting these Challenge Records! If they had this in the 80 to 90's I would have chased them daily! ja ja ja Keep Going and Never Quit, Never Surrender! OORAH

[@fookie-fone]

Very cool! My in-laws live in Hendersonville, NC and Greenville is only an hour away. Will def have to give this a go when I come visit next time. Congrats again on the wedding!

[@ChrisGuella]

Greenville SC is a great town. Butler is a local legend for sure and this video was awesome.

[@bobblues1158]

I really dig that your family is involved!

[@larsurban5122]

Dear Phil, I understand your attitude and the sacrifices you´ve made for it. I just want to let you know that i like this attitude very much. All the best to you and your family from Europe. Lars

[@galenkehler]

I just imagine someone showing up to Greenville NC and looking around like that John Travolta pulp fiction meme 😂

[@CoderShare]

Paris Mountain is my local trails near my house. Done that road climb thousands of times. You gotta do the Assault on mt Mitchell now man.

[@ericleszkowicz898]

Greenville is such an amazing city.- gotta try this now....my daughter is there for school.

[@orgrichard]

Spartanburg, 30 miles from Greenville, is expanding one of its waking/biking trails through the downtown area. The extension is almost complete and will have the first curb protected bike lanes in the state . There is an MTB park on this trail. The trail will eventually connect to other trails in and around the city into a larger trail system. A criterium bike race is held in Spartanburg in the spring. There are MTB trails in and around Croft State Park in Spartanburg and a race called the Stump Jump is held in that area in the spring on an 8 mile course.

[@abfutrell]

I'd like to see the world famous Saluda Grade north of Greenville, SC turned into a greenway. Would make for a fun cycling challenge for all levels of cyclists.

[@orgrichard]

There are plans to turn the abandoned railroad line that goes from Inman, SC in Spartanburg County to Zirconia NC near Hendersonville into a trail. It will be 31 miles long, will include the Saluda Grade and will be known as the Saluda Grade Rail Trail. 2 organizations are working on funding for the SC portion of the trail, Upstate Forever based in Greenville and PAL, (Play, Advocate, LiveWell) based in Spartanburg.

[@jpait]

Phil kicked my butt on his recon ride!

[@jdavies]

Wow, #2! Solid work. Perhaps that was the same BMW I saw one morning run off the road and up an embankment, narrowly missing a pole. If it was the same guy, perhaps hitting the pole would have been a benefit to all.

[@kevinm7731]

I enjoy your videos Phil. I'm in my mid 60s I enjoy trying to go as fast as I can just for the challenge of it but man I'll never be able to do that many watts for that long uphills. I do have a question though was this Greenville in North or South Carolina?

[@Joshua-dx7zn]

Just imagine all those other cyclist on the climb, just grinding away, then BAM!! the cookie man passes you at triple your speed. Must be very deflating.

[@AnothrGtrPlyr]

No need to imagine, I’ve experienced it first hand. A few years ago when I had my PR on Latigo Canyon in Malibu (one of Phil’s regular routes) he passed all our group like we were standing still. We cheered him on. So I’d say it’s inspiring, not deflating!

[@gtaylor815]

Used to happen to me all the time when I was on the mountain when Hincapie and company were doing repeats. Demoralizing, lol.

[@Joshua-dx7zn]

@@AnothrGtrPlyr That is your personal opinion so I respect that, but it isn't the same for every person.

[@fabioqueiros9322]

To me it’s not deflating, quite the opposite. If there’s something awesome about cycling is that you share it with these men. You can’t play catch with Tom Brady or throw some pitches to someone like Pujols or Carrera, but you can cycle with (if only a fleeting moment) a world tour rider. That is not deflating, at all

[@markbentley4343]

Haha this is his life. He had better be much faster than the rest of us! 😂

[@norsangkelsang7939]

luv Greenville... best city in the SE. The best climb in that area is Skayuka in NC. 40 minutes N east.

[@dan.p.8060]

Used to be my local training climb 💯

[@lejake]

Loved it! :)

[@troycollett8540]

That was still a great effort

[@FaiscaaaH]

Yah... "Geese not your brakes" excuse doesn't stick Phill 😉 Oh wait you are on a rim brake bike 😜 Nice one

[@macho_burrito]

Greenville NC is a whole different vibe

[@fa1coner]

Great video as usual. How can I get a cool helmet like that one you're wearing? I assume its a Lazer G1? You should have Lazer make a bunch to sell off for No Kid Hungry. Bet they would sell out in minutes.

[@davidtt8372]

There's literally repeat names for just about every town in NC&SC

[@tonypapay]

Guess that means you are still clean!😁

[@amypowarzynski1737]

I need those socks!

[@jayobannon5359]

Hey Phil, are you going to head up and do a ride with Dylan Johnson? Brevard is like only 50 or so miles away. I find it really interesting how progressively bike oriented the southern states are compared to say like, CA or OR or WA.

[@worstretirementever]

That is a great observation. All I can think is that population density adds a lot of hurdles, and then places like Greenville fund these for tourism, where in LA the tourists come for commercial reasons, and businesses too often see cycling infrastructure as a threat to parking spaces.

[@davidweisz3338]

I admit - having only been there (from CA) to visit some factories the cycling infrastructure looked way better than I would have guessed. Beautiful!

[@meganflowers9505]

I am in Northeast Florida and cycling has been a HUGE sport/recreation activity for as long as I can remember. I would say very noticeably over the last 10 years or so. A lot of scenic, quiet, winding, country roads in these parts!

[@fredshino]

It's funny to notice the speed difference when you pass others riders. Insane power! Too bad you didn't get the KOM. Maybe next time.

[@joerenner8334]

It was horrifying to do the math. Converting to kph blew my mind! He rides 6 to 8% grades at my flat road cruising speed. Lol!

[@jakubtrzcinski1014]

With the last couple of your KOM attempts i was wondering what made you choose your setup (bike & wheels). I thought, that on this kind of gradients + your power + KOM duration, aero is everything.

[@worstretirementever]

My rule is if I average under 20 mph I focus on light weight

[@edmarkey4057]

I rode Paris Mountain and the Swamp Rabbit Trail last month. Gorgeous riding, but did not see a single swamp rabbit.

[@tommyrq180]

But the Swamp Rabbit saw you…

[@jpait]

The Swamp Rabbit was the name of the train that used to ride the rails that is now the trail. The "swamp" part of the name came from the wetlands the trail runs through.

[@malcontent456]

Insane power.

[@TheClanFollows]

immediate tangent about naming is a sign of a good youtuber

[@worstretirementever]

I can’t tell you how many times I plugged the wrong Greenville into Mapquest back in the day

[@Appetite4Rose]

Geese, not my brakes 😂

[@danielcavanagh4110]

Hey Phil, are you still in Greenville? Was just out there running on the swamp rabbit this morning.

[@shepshape2585]

Flying by those two other riders like they were just having a casual ride, but they were probably going as hard as they could. 444 watts for 8:33 is pretty damn strong, I know I couldn't come anywhere close. And even if I did, my 90kg body wouldn't be going nearly as fast.

[@BIKEHIKERN]

Do you encounter dogs during your rides and when you can't outrun them what do you do to deter them? Thanks for your input!

[@worstretirementever]

Thankfully I’ve always been able to outrun them. Some carry pepper spray

[@macdaddy1617]

where do you recommend in Carolinas to move for all aspects of biking?

[@davidnicholson6680]

In the context of remote work, I'm struggling to understand the appeal of places like LA and NYC when Greenville exists.

[@worstretirementever]

With you on NYC and I don’t like cities in general, but I can’t imagine leaving LA

[@CoderShare]

I remote work and moved to Greenville. It's terrible, don't come here 😉

[@Outsideville]

@@CoderShare 😆

[@pedalrush]

Cookie Powered !!!

[@gabriellesaulsbery4253]

my home!

[@coverchick]

Why the rim brakes and not the disc?

[@bbanks5546]

Hey Phil, just curious what width bars are you using?

[@worstretirementever]

Black inc integrated bars included with factor frames

[@kurtward]

I got an ad for Oreos…

[@paramisamadhi]

Roanoke to Greenville with no Asheville?

[@worstretirementever]

I did Asheville a couple years ago!

[@jonschmitt232]

"That's not safe. That's not safe at all"

[@phila9288]

Bro where do you get all of those watts!!!!??

[@worstretirementever]

About 18 years of doing nothing else!

[@filipedias7952]

@@worstretirementever genetics also play a role 😅

[@worstretirementever]

With respect to my parents I don’t so for me. No athletes in my family at all

[@alanwllms5172]

“Not safe” Looks like BMW drivers are the same as the uk.

[@MS-bw7yt]

Well I love road cycling, but I am a car guy as well. What was wrong with the BMW? He wants to enjoy his car in the same way we want to enjoy our road bikes. Just dont ride bigger roads, where cars are likely to drive fast. " Dont ride where you drive" is like such a simple mantra to go by

[@fredshino]

You can't really know if the KOM holder had some draft for part of the climb right? That makes things a bit unfair.

[@worstretirementever]

Conditions are a lot on strava but I’m a former pro with a super light bike and a speedsuit. Either way it’s more about fun and challenge

[@finishstrongcycling2355]

@@worstretirementever There is a Paris Mountain X event that is held every year. It attracts a lot of participation. Maybe it might pique your interest to come and give it another go! Ten seconds is just soooo close!

[@ReVoltaire]

Chris is listed at 61kgs in his prime 🦘💪🏻 but actually put out more watts per Strava (466)

[@utube7930]

Maybe try a higher cadence next time?

[@williamroberts6937]

say hello to George Hincapie

[@asdfg7493]

So not one mention of Hincapie or Hotel Domestique? Bad blood?

[@worstretirementever]

Yeah I never got on with the little doper club

[@asdfg7493]

@@worstretirementever Ah, I picture you as much younger than those guys, sort of separated from that era. I rode Paris with the three amigos a few years back and they were super nice. But I get where you're coming from. And that was a kick ass time. Well done, sir

[@worstretirementever]

Ha yeah I was just at the end that got that fallout from their mess. Im good now but not gonna validate dudes who got to buy hotels while I was sleeping in my car. Thanks!

[@sakomeow]

I turned off SponsorBlock for your videos because it skipped the badass intro music. Please request an extra $0.01 or so from your sponsors for the extra eyeballs!

[@worstretirementever]

Ha shoutout to bad religion for that theme song!

[@MFQuinnCyclist]

You think their cookies are good? Get the bacon. OMG. It is good

[@jjbignutz7098]

Soap? 😂👌 ever heard of lazor? Cmon man, be serious .

[@RepublicanJesusthe2nd]

Greenville is physically beautiful but the people are...

[@jeffaddis5715]

"great" is the word i think you were looking for

[@MS-bw7yt]

I saw nothing wrong with the BMW. On roads like this, you have to aspect to encounter fast driving cars. He wants to enjoy his BMW in the same way we want to enjoy our road bikes. Just don't ride where you drive...

[@worstretirementever]

He was about double the speed limit around a blind curve. Aside from my own safety there’s deer up there. Great way to die

[@MS-bw7yt]

@@worstretirementever Fair enough... But coming from Germany the US road network doesn't make much sense to us :D a road like this in Europe would have a speed limit of around 40-60 mph. And if you call this turn "blind" you havent seen small twisty roads in Europe :D it is a mystery to us how the Americans can have such big roads, drive so slow and still have so many accidents.

[@ZachTheExcitedViper]

No. Riding bikes in South Carolina is extremely dangerous, and the drivers are among the worst Ive encountered in the entire country. Especially where he is riding. (used to live there)

[@tammygrant2205]

Paris mountains camping not good ,park rangers are very hateful .There are alot better places to go !

[@josephalbanese1393]

I had to stop the video to comment on both idiot drivers. But then again…Blinky lights, Phil?

[@worstretirementever]

Because there’s no way to see cyclists if they’re not dressed like a traffic cone