This is Part 3 of a my TNGA Race report (Click Here For Part 1, Click Here for Part 2, Click Here For Part 4)
I woke up to the sun at the campground at Vogel State Park at the beginning of day 2. The small group of racers camped at the pavillion Jim and I had slept at were mostly gone. This was not good. I had set my alarm to allow for 3 hours of sleep. The fact that the sun was up meant that somehow, I had shut off my alarm, and it was much later. Jim was still there and we fetched out kits from the dryer in the laundromat and changed. He got ready much faster than I did and waited for me to get my stuff packed up. I learned an important lesson the first night. Always pack up as much as you can before you go to sleep, don't leave things out that you don't have to. It makes getting moving in the morning much easier.
We got about 5 hours of sleep total and I was actually feeling really good. We started our day with a climb up Wolf Pen Gap, which I actually quite enjoyed. I lost Jim somewhere on the paved section of Wolf Pen Gap. At the top of the Wolf Pen Gap Climb, the route turns on to Duncan Ridge Road, which is a gravel road and continues to go up for a while. After finishing that climb and coasting down the long gradual descent on the other side, I was kind of bummed we hadn't tackled it on the first night before sleeping. We could have easily made at least another 30 miles or so. I stopped at the convenience store at the intersection of Cooper's Creek Road and Route 60. There were a few other racers there who I chatted with a little while eating some more breakfast. If you are reading this in preparation for and attempt, this C-store seemed like the type that closes pretty early so if you hit this at night, be prepared for it to be closed. I stocked up on food and headed out.
After Wolf Pen/Duncan ridge is one of the two long flattish sections of the race. Cooper's Creek is the first, later in the race, the run into and through Dalton is the next. Cooper's Creek is actually mostly downhill, it's a place you can really cover some ground quickly. Several of the racers that had left before me from Vogel that morning were singlespeed racers or riding with singlespeeders. So I caught and passed them on the section due to the spinny nature of singlespeeds on gradual downhills. I met up with them again at Iron Bridge which is just about the end of the flat section after Wolf Pen/Duncan Ridge. There is a Hostel/Cafe at Iron Bridge. I decided to get a hot meal there and the others all caught up to me there including Scott and Tristan who were a pair of friends who had come down from the Pisgah area to take on TNGA. Scott was riding what was probably the nicest fat bike I have ever seen in person, it was a singlespeed, and even though unloaded it weighed significantly less than the 29er I was riding, that still seems like by far the hardest way to race this route I can think of. Tristan was a super nice dude, he always had a positive attitude. I was pretty amazed they were still on route and in the race after hearing how they had been navigating solely from the cue sheets with no mileage to go off of when their GPS units failed! Scott's GPS started working again after it dried out luckily. I needed to use the bathroom after my meal, and when I came out, everyone was gone. Tristan and Scott were the last to leave and I caught them on the road over to the beginning of where the real mountain biking began.
Shortly after Iron Bridge the single track begins. I climbed up a very short steep little paved road off of Aska Road and was supposed duck right into a double track on the left that looks like a driveway. I missed the turn and continued up, until it became clear at the top that something was not right and I stopped to figure out what was going on. Scott and Tristan followed me up and we all agreed that we should try the little double track we had passed. This took us to the Green Mountain Trail, which was a fun rolling bit of single track until it pitches up into a pretty stout steep climb. After we came down the other side we were at the Stanley Gap trail head on Aska Road. I had a hell of a time on Stanley Gap.
I came into the trailhead with Scott and Tristan, but Scott was having issues with the heat, probably dehydration and had to slow down his pace. Tristan was sticking with Scott so I ended up leaving them behind on the climb. As I was climbing, my track and the GPS track didn't quite line up and I had a feeling I had bypassed a section of trail. My track and GPS track came back together and right at that point was a trail sign and my heart sunk. The double track I had come up was the wrong trail. There had been a right turn onto some single track that I had missed and so I would have to descend to the bottom and start again.
As I was coming back down I ran into Scott and Tristan coming up the correct way. They wondered why I was coming back down and I explained that they were on the right trail but I had left the course and taken a different route to the ridgeline and had to descend and climb it again on route. This would have been a tough climb in and of itself but it was merely the beginning of the Stanley Gap single track climb.
After reaching the point where I had left the course I turned around and started back up again. About half way up the techy switchbacks, I realized I was out of water. I stopped at a small run off that seemed to be coming right out of the side of the mountain. It was so small of a flow that I couldn't fill my bladder from it directly so I used my bottle to scoop water out of a small hole that I dug and fill my bladder. I was really glad I was using a Sawyer Mini water filter and not a chemical treatment or Steripen here, because the water was very cloudy with sediment. Later, I would dump this water as soon as I could if there was any left if I found a cleaner source. I pushed on a bit farther and finally made it back to the top of that trail where the real fun would begin.
The major section of the Stanley Gap climb was ahead of me and it seemed like an amazing trail! It would be just a fantastic place to ride mountain bikes. If only I was going in the other direction on a 6 inch travel full suspension bike! There's nothing like having to ride up what would be an awesome Super D course going the other direction, and I was already in a shitty mood from having to backtrack the section of trail running up to the ridge. This was probably my darkest hour. The was climb ridiculously steep in many sections, though probably a little shorter than I remember it being, just because of my attitude at the time and fatigue. I did tons of hiking on this, as it wasn't only steep, but really technical. Once I crested the top, I was relieved to be descending and ready for some fun. I immediately put on gas and started ripping, venting a little when disaster struck. I took a line to the outside edge of the trail where there was a bit of exposure and the trail just collapsed under my front tire. I was moving pretty fast when this happened, over 15 mph. I had no time to react as I was vaulted over my bars...directly off what might as well have been a small cliff at the speed I was moving. My right side and forearm slammed into the ground HARD and then I pinballed off a few trees before coming to a rest about 40 feet down the side of the mountain.
I somehow managed to not hit my head at all during this. When I came to a rest I didn't dare move. I thought to myself "You just fucked up badly. You have to be seriously injured, where are you bleeding, what did you break?" I carefully checked myself where I could reach, trying not to move too much, before deciding that I didn't have a spinal injury and picking myself up. I had a serious bruise just above my hip, a scrape on my elbow, my right ankle felt slightly sprained, a nice bruise on my thigh where my bars slammed into it, cut up knees, but nothing that looked overly serious. I was amazed I wasn't dead. The impact injury slightly above my hip had me slightly worried about the possibility of internal bleeding at the time. Those concerns faded as I monitored my condition over the next few hours. It was actually probably a bit of a ridiculous thing to worry about but after crashing that hard, I just didn't expect to get up and walk it off with scrapes and bruises. I took a solid 30 minutes recovering from that crash before I felt ok to get back on the bike and coast down at a timid pace.
At this point I was done with Stanley Gap. Seriously, fuck that trail. It doesn't like me, and I don't like it. Unfortunately now I was feeling extra sketchy and fighting a hardcore adrenaline crash. I picked my way down the back side slowly. I had never been so happy to see a gravel road as I was when I popped out of that trail. Every bump and rattle the trail threw at me hurt like hell. Eventually I got on pavement and it started sprinkle a little so I stopped for a minute under a covered bridge to check trackleaders and the weather maps and eat some food. If you are new to ultra racing, here is a tip. if you start to feel crappy for any reason, mental or physical, eat something and drink some water, then have some more. Even if you aren't thirsty or hungry, pissy moods, headaches, lack of energy, strong feelings of fatigue, all of these are signs you need food and water and you needed it yesterday. Bonking at the paces ultra's are raced at feels very different than bonking in a high intensity race, it's possible to not realize it's happening until you've been bonking for a while, especially later in the race.
I continued on past Cherry Log on the road when who do I see rolling by in his SUV but Scott Thigpen and Sean Williamson. Scott smiled and gave me the bird as he drove past. What a guy! I laughed a little, I had read Scott's race reports to prepare for the event, and we had a fun evening chatting the night I showed up at Mulberry Gap before the race. Scott and Sean were there doing a mini documentary on the race. He told me later that he was going to try to get the camera out and get my picture but I was hauling ass looking serious and he didn't have time to get it out so he gave me the finger instead. I think he was mistaking pain for seriousness. I was seriously sore from my crash.
After Cherry Log there is a long road section where I caught up to Scott, Tristan, and eventually Jim I think, or maybe Jim caught us. I'm not sure which, it's a little fuzzy, something about me missing a BBQ joint in Cherry Log. Somewhere along Highway 2 we ran into a convenience store. We pulled over to check it out and it was closed. Fortunately for us, one of the people who worked there showed up just a minute or two after we did and let us in and sold us assorted delicious goodies. I used the bathroom and cleaned up all my cuts and bruises and dressed my wounds. I took some Ibuprofen, which I normally avoid at all costs, but I was so sore from that crash that I needed to take the edge off the dull roar from my body telling me that it was time to stop riding. I reapplied chamois cream and I was set to go. We packed up and headed out.
Just after this we got on USFS road 64 and that was the beginning of the infamous Potato Patch climb I believe. About half way up the track lead off down a little trail. Jim informed me that this section of the course was a bunch of crap. We were going to ride a section of trail called the South Fork Loop which is apparently part of the Cohutta 100 race course. On my GPS I could see why it was bullshit. The exit of the South Fork loop was just up the road from where we entered it, meaning it was a completely unnecessary mileage add-on we would be riding. As we dropped down in to the valley along the South fork of the Jack's River the trail was nice and flowy and actually kind of fun. Then it started raining at about the same time we were reaching the bottom. After we crossed the stream the trail turned into a muddy shitshow of steep rooty single track that might have been a good ride at one point before it was destroyed by equestrian overuse and lack of maintenance. I'm confident it is all probably rideable if it's dry and you aren't 200 or so miles deep in an ultra race. I burned a bunch of matches here where I probably should have just walked. It ends with a fairly steep double track climb back out to the road we were just on, about a mile further up the road. My first words to Scott, Jim, and Tristan were, "What a bunch of horse shit!" Jim said, "Just try not to think about it, it's only going to piss you off more."
Soaked and covered in mud and horse shit, we started up the rest of the Potato Patch Climb. Somewhere at the midway point between where we exited the South Fork Loop and the top of Potato Patch the sun went down and the fog rolled in. This was not a good thing for our pace. Our lights were completely ineffective in the fog. I could only see a few feet in front of me no matter how I positioned the light. It was the first time ever where I found myself riding by instruments, paying attention to where the GPS said the road was going next to make sure I didn't miss a sharp switchback and fall to my death. I actually preferred to be climbing at this point. We finally reached the top and I found out that I had been confused. I had thought that this was just one of the many unnamed climbs along the course and that Potato Patch was ahead. Since that climb had taken eons and was quite massive, I was nervous about what Potato Patch had in store.
Luckily at the time, I didn't know we were actually on the Potato Patch climb, so when we reached the top, I asked Jim "So the Potato Patch climb is next?" He happily corrected me that we had just finished it and were going to be heading into Bear Creek, a fun descent. Well, it would have been fun, if we could see anything at all. Jim referred to the conditions as the night-fog-mist, an apt description if you ask me. We dropped down the road to the entrance to Bear Creek where a huge pine tree had fallen across the trail on the gate. We had to carefully weave our bikes through the splintered branches of the tree. I thought that this blow down was pretty impressive at the time, but I had no idea what was to come later in the race.
After we made it through the tree, we started down Bear Creek Trail. It was twisty and flowy in a great way. It was a real shame we had to check our speed so hard due to the fog. once we dropped all the way to the bottom we stopped for a break and there was a steep kicker I motored up as I climbed up to Pinhoti 1. I had a pretty good pace going at this point. I knew we were getting very close to Mulberry Gap, and there was food, showers, a roof to sleep under, and laundry again! I was also starting to feel a little better except for my feet. The bottoms of my feet hurt badly.
I had not made any attempt to keep my feet dry the whole race up until this point. I was charging through stream crossings with abandon. I got rained on for at least half of the second day. I never bothered to try to dry my socks at stops. One of the biggest rules of any multi-day expedition through the outdoors is to take care of your feet. Being in Georgia in August, it was warm enough that I didn't really think about it until it was too late. In addition, a small stone worked it's way into my shoe at some point on the South Fork Loop and I didn't notice it until it was way too late. I had cleaned my shoes out at the top of Potato Patch, but the damage was done. I had the beginnings of trench foot from the wet conditions and I think the stone had compressed my median ulnar nerve in my right foot. This resulted in sharp burning pain any time I placed pressure on the soles of my feet and a painful, electrical shock feeling in some of my toes on my right foot. I just wished they would quit hurting and go completely numb at the time. My toes on my right foot are still partially numb a month later. I was more careful for the last leg of the race, and in the future I will be much more careful, probably carrying an extra pair of socks somewhere waterproof. This is just one example of the kind of thing that can happen if something that is just mildly irritating isn't addressed right away.
We climbed up and descended part of P1 and eventually I stopped after a steep downhill section to take a break, take my shoes off, and have a snack. The others caught up shortly and were all too happy to take a break as well. At this point everyone had an issue of some kind. Tristan was having some numbness issues in his hands, probably from too aggressive of a position and his large backpack, Jim was feeling some heavy fatigue, but Scott was doing the worst. He was experiencing some severe dehydration. He laid down and rested for a few minutes while we all sat around eating. Jim had cell service and called his wife, who he got some confusing information about where we were ranked in the race right now from. We were all clearly pretty mentally fried at this point from the nerve wracking zero visibility descending and the wet conditions. Our physical shape wasn't too great at this point either.
Eventually we got moving down the trail again and came to a stream on P2 that Scott could filter some water from. We all took a break while Scott and Tristan filtered some water and Scott drank a bunch trying to catch up on his hydration. The heat had been extremely brutal during the day, and his body had just not been handling it well. It caught up to him and put him in even worse shape that night. The heat was a huge factor, resulting in a ton of people dropping from the race. This is a race that requires not only nearly constant hydration, but electrolyte replenishment as well. In August, in Georgia, you will be constantly sweating due to the 90F+ temps and super high humidity. I'm very lucky that I handle heat well, but it wasn't all luck that I felt like I had good legs for most of the race. I was constantly drinking water. I probably drank at least 15 liters of water over the whole course, probably more actually. I also used a lot of salt tabs in the first two days of the race when the temperatures were at their worst.
After the break by the stream I was up and off to finish P2. I needed to be out of the woods immediately. I picked up the pace and Jim followed suit. The two of us finished off trail and popped out on Conasauga Road. We were pretty much at Mulberry Gap at this point. On our way up there, a mangy little pup that had chased my Jeep on the way to Mulberry Gap on the way to the race was out guarding his owner's drive way. He nervously started to chase us. Then he got in front of us and thought we were chasing him. I yelled at him in a gutteral, angry tone I rarely use and he took off back for the driveway. I after this I was done with riding for the night. I was ready to crash. I hammered up the rest of the hill, and cranked down the backside and caught up to Eleanor, the leading female racer, also riding singlespeed, at the very bottom. I cranked up the driveway. Man is that driveway steep! Probably one of the steepest grades in the whole course. I was so damn happy to be at Mulberry Gap!
When I walked into "the Barn" I sat down in a chair, removed one shoe and just sat there. Kate was up and offered to make me some eggs, an offer I graciously accepted. Jim and Eleanor came in and saw me just completely spacing out in that chair and snapped me out of my daze. I greeted them with "I'm so tired I can't even take off my other shoe." which brought forth a little laughter. I was not joking. We were at about mile 220 of the route. Kate brought out the eggs and I asked her about laundry and showers and someone found me a towel and a plastic bag to put my filthy clothes in. I then proceeded to sit there clothed only in a towel and finish my eggs. I went and took a shower and cleaned my shoes out while I was in there. I went back up and stuffed my shoes full of paper towels and placed them by the fan to hopefully dry out. Then went to bed on the floor on my sleeping pad with a blanket someone got for me. It was probably about 3:00 AM by the time I got to sleep.
Stay tuned for the final section of the race and the post race report!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Monday, September 15, 2014
Trans North Georgia Adventure (TNGA) Race Report. Part 2 - Day One
This is Part 2 of a my TNGA Race report (Click Here For Part 1, Click Here For Part 3, Click Here For Part 4)
At 5:00 AM Saturday morning, my cell phone alarm woke me for breakfast. It was time. Race day. There was a palpable tension in the air. Mostly that's because I'm not a morning person. Do not fuck with me before I've had my coffee, or you'll have one cranky asshole on your hands until I get some caffeine in me. Luckily, once I showered, got dressed and made my way up to the common kitchen and dining area there was coffee available and the caffeine monster was satiated. This also ensured the vital pre-race unloading of Mama's Potato Pie from the Italian restaurant from the night before would occur, which I had been worried about, since it kind of sat in my gastrointestinal tract like a piece of granite. I got some oatmeal, eggs, sausage, a bagel with cream cheese and devoured it. I tempered my urge to grab seconds. I had a feeling the pace from the start of the racers I wanted to be around for the rest of the race would be pretty quick. All mountain bike races work this way. Everyone starts at an unsustainable pace until they size each other up and fall into a group they feel comfortable in. It doesn't matter if the race is 6 miles or 2800 miles, this is just the way of things. Anyway, the point is, that I didn't want to over do it on breakfast and get sidelined by too full of a stomach. I headed back to the yurt to do a final gear check and then reloaded my bike on the trailer to be hauled to the start.
We all then piled into the vans to get hauled to the start line ourselves. We got there about 45 minutes before the scheduled start time and there was a lot of milling around and neurotic rechecking of gear, not that it would matter if you realized you missed something. Highway 28 on the border of SC and GA is in the middle of nowhere, so if you didn't have it now, you weren't gonna have it. I hung out and talked with some of my fellow participants in this truly absurd race. It takes a special kind of crazy to want to race 350 miles over 56,000 ft of elevation gain on a mountain bike. Most people who do this kind of racing are familiar with the plight of trying to find people to ride with for long rides, and I have to assume, knowing at least two fairly talented ultra endurance racers local to me, that it is as difficult for most others as it is for me. So most of my long ride training was done alone. It was a treat to be surrounded by like-minded nut-jobs for a change.
When we piled into the vans, I had run into Chris Joice, who would be racing singlespeed. I had met him earlier in the year at the Wilderness 101 in Coburn, PA about 30 minutes from my home. It was good to see a familiar face. I would spend some time riding with him in the later portion of the race. We chatted a bit at the staging area as we checked air pressure before I wandered of to spin around and loosen up a bit before the pre-race announcements and such. As I was hanging about, ran into Joe Polk, curator of ultra endurance racer call-ins on his website, http://www.mtbcast.com. I gave him a short and nervous pre-race interview. You can listen to it here along with all of the other pre-race interviews. I got a quick shot of my rig prior to the start and it would be the only picture I would take that day.
Then it was time for the pre-race announcements and a prayer for a fallen veteran racer who had passed away from cancer, Ray Porter. I never had the honor of meeting him, but the stories I heard reminded me of a lot of the great riding buddies I have. He is clearly missed by a great part of the ultra endurance cycling community and left a big mark. That's a credit to the kind of person he must have been. I was honored to pay my respects with his friends.
After the pre-race announcements We rolled out to the bridge and lined up on the border of South Carolina and Georgia on Highway 28. And then, all of a sudden we were off, and we were off FAST. The pace of the front group was akin to what I would set for the start of a 100 miler. Most 100 milers don't climb 20,000 feet. The climbing on the TNGA route is front loaded. If you make it 100 miles on the first day you will have about 18,000 feet under your belt. I hung in with the guys at the front on the first gravel climb but soon a group of about 4 or 5 guys slipped away, and I would never see them again. A second group caught up to me as I was just around a wrong turn trying to figure out where my GPS was trying to send me. They passed me up and I turned around and got busy chasing.
Soon enough, wouldn't you know, there's Chris catching up to me on the climb, we settled in a on a decent pace chasing the group that had passed me, shooting the shit and passing the time as we stomped up the gravel road climb. All of a sudden we see the group that had passed me coming back down at us. Apparently they had thought they were off route and had turned around. Chris said something to the effect of "I need to do less talking and more navigating!" thinking we were headed the wrong way. It turned out the group ahead had been wrong. We were on route and good to go. It was a good thing that the group ahead had made a little error, because it contained a lot of the riders I would be spending a good deal of time riding with for the next three days. I settled into the first serious climb. It was my first taste of serious fire road climbing in the Georgia. The big gravel road climbs tend to have a character of being steep at about 20% to 25% average for the first mile and end with a half mile of ridiculously, insanely steep bullshit averaging 35% or greater. I seriously wonder why the hell they even bother building roads to the top at all, as there is no vehicle on earth I would feel safe driving up some of that without a winch hooked up at the top. Normally there's a few miles of reasonable 5% to 10% average grade between those two parts.
After a few more confusing navigational issues on the GPS I reached the top of that first climb and I entered the Darnell Creek Horse Trail. It's a long, fun descent that transitions from flowy and twisty to gnarly and rooty from top to bottom. The bottom section was really techy and reminded me a lot of the trails back here in PA. I did most of the descent with Alex, a New York native. We slowly picked our way through the techy bottom section until he had an issue with his cleats and stopped to fix it. I continued on without him and ran into Jim Rivers after I popped out at the bottom. Jim and I rode together on the road section that would take us through Dillard. Dillard was my planned first resupply point and I had packed light on food since it was only 30 miles in. At least my waypoints said it was 30 miles in. Dillard is not 30 miles in. Dillard is 28 miles in. When you are riding the road after the Darnell Creek Horse Trail, you will come to an intersection with a 4 lane road with a post office on your left. That's Dillard. If you are planning on stopping there for resupply, don't do what I did and just roll on down route thinking you have 2 miles before you are there.
I was still riding along with Jim and around mile 33. I asked him "So where is Dillard? My waypoints say it's at mile 30."
"We passed it 5 miles ago." He replied.
Shit.
I needed water and I discovered one of the most useful features on my GPS besides the track I was following. The base maps I loaded show churches on the map. You can skip a stone all the way across North Georgia from church parking lot to church parking lot. Churches typically have water, be it from a unlocked spigot outside or a friendly groundskeeper who will let you into the rec center to fill your hydration bladder. I quickly located a church and we both stopped and topped up water and took a short break to eat. My water problem was solved, and my food situation was ok for the time being. I knew I would eventually run out, well before the next resupply in Helen. It wouldn't be the first time I had to ride 40 or 50 miles in bonk mode.
We continued on when we reached O.V. Justice Road. Jim had warned me ahead of time that there was a pack of dogs that ran that road that were professionals at running down cyclists. He explained that they had a system that we needed to be ready to move. They were apparently fearless and we did not want to get caught. We got barked at by one mangy looking canine but he didn't give chase. We apparently lucked out. Jim said he wouldn't be surprised if most them had been hit by cars, as aggressively as they liked to chase. It was the first year they hadn't chased him. After that it was on to climb Patterson's Gap Road. I ran into Scott, Tristan, and Monte on the way up. Jim and I had a pretty good pace going and we ended up leaving them behind at that point. Monte hung in there with us for a bit but then I looked back and he just wasn't there anymore. I kept grinding and as I crested the top, I realized I had lost Jim as well. I figured I'd see them again when I was bonking because I had missed Dillard. I ripped downhill and was on pavement back in the valley again. I was starting to look for places to grab some food. Literally anything with calories would do.
On Persimmon Road, I thought I was saved. I saw a sign for a bait and tackle store that promised cold drinks and snacks would be available. I was ecstatic as I cruised up the drive, only to find a very creepy and abandoned looking building with door hanging wide open and junk strewn about everywhere inside. Visions of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre flashed through my mind and I was out of there fast! At some point there had been a shop there, but it was definitely not in business anymore. I continued on to the Tallulah River Road/Charlie's Creek road climb. I ran into a few other racers when I was about to stop and check out a campground for a soda machine. They looked like they had just stopped in there so I asked if there was any food or drink to be had there, they indicated there was not so we continued on for a little bit together. I pulled away from them as it tipped up.
This section of the course is particularly beautiful. The Tallulah River is just awesome to ride along next to and there were tons of people out enjoying the area fishing, swimming, hiking, and four wheeling. When I got to Charlie's Creek Road there was a ford where the creek was wide and shallow. There were several guys around a 4x4 truck trying to get unstuck. I couldn't see the road across the creek so I asked them, "Is there a road or trail over there somewhere?" thinking the GPS might be slightly off in this location. One of them pointed about 75 feet or so upstream and said, "Yeah it's up there, you've got a hell of a lot more power in those legs than I do to be riding that thing up that! Good luck!" I supposed that meant I was in for a climb. I rode across the creek and got on Charlie's Creek Road, which is more of a jeep trail than a road. I got a little motivation about 1/3 of the way up when I heard thunder behind me. Crap. I had to be off this jeep trail before that storm got to me. I did not want to be on that steep jeep trail when it turned into a river. I kicked it up a few gears, got out of the saddle, and picked up the pace. I reached the top and descended the rough backside in the typical fashion, with reckless abandon of all common sense. I made it to the pavement on the other side just as the first drops of rain started to fall.
The GPS indicated another church close by at the bottom so I hurried to it and found a little overhang to hide under and wait for the storm to pass. I could tell it was a typical southern 15 minute afternoon cloud burst. A dry chamois was more valuable to me than the time I would lose waiting the storm out. As I was waiting I saw JP and Jim pass me up. Soon enough the rain let up and I was on my way again. I could see the entrance to bonktown now. If I didn't get food soon, things were going to get ugly. As I turned out on to a main road, I decided to try to see if I had cell service so I could locate somewhere off route I could get food soon. No luck. As I was packing back up, Monte passed me and told me we had about 40 miles to go to get to Woody's Bike Shop, which was right before Helen, where there would definitely be food. This was a distressing thought. 40 miles was a long damn way to go in the state I was in. I could make it, but it was going to take a long, long time.
Luckily, I wouldn't have to wait that long. About a half mile from where I stopped, halfway up the road climb was the Top of Georgia Hostel. They had set up at the end of their driveway with PB&J Sandwiches and Coca-Cola. IT WAS A MIRACLE. Imagine this scenario: You are racing TNGA, you are in the early stages of the dreaded bonk a mere 60 miles in, on a climb, and all of a sudden, in a place where there should be no services for 40 more miles, there's this beautiful tall woman named Tex set up on the roadside offering free PB&J and bottled water and selling Cokes for a buck. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. Top of Georgia Hostel, you guys are the best, you probably saved my race and I hope you continue to do this in the future! I downed a sandwich, a bottle of water and two cokes. I bought a coke to bring along for later and I was off again. Refueled and spirits lifted, I charged ahead with Monte up the climb and then we headed down a pretty sketchy section of double track where I ran back into a group containing Jim, JP, and a few others. The coke I had drank earlier was like rocket fuel. I was having a bunch of fun descending this section popping off little rocks and catching a little air in sections.
I lost most of this group on the descent and then once we got out on the road again, I widened the gap significantly before the Wildcat Road Climb. Wildcat wasn't too bad and soon enough I was dropping back down to the Unicoi Turnpike for brief moment before I got on Corbin Creek Road, the start of the Tray Gap Climb. I stopped briefly to get the coke I had bought earlier to gas up for the 10 mile climb ahead. I reached in my CraterPacks framebag to pull it out and what I got was an empty can. Thank goodness I pack everything in ziplock bags in there because it must have exploded on the double track descent before Wildcat. I was upset that I didn't have a coke to drink at the moment, but checking for it alerted me to the fact that I was almost out of water. I checked the GPS and wouldn't you know it, about a quarter mile off route past the turn onto Corbin Creek Road is church on the left.
I backtracked about a half mile to the church. There was a spigot on the side of the building and I topped off water there. I headed back to Corbin Creek Road where I ran into Jim again. We started up the Tray Gap climb. Jim said he probably hates this climb more than any other on the route. It just never ends. It feels like you are steadily climbing for a solid 10 miles, even though there actually a few slight downhill sections. The road slowly gets rougher and rougher as you go along until goes from gravel road to full on washed out Jeep trail. I was riding with Jim and Matthew on this section of the trail. Another racer later described Tray Gap as "one of the most hateful gravel roads I have ever seen." I'm inclined to agree with him. There are steeper climbs and rougher climbs on the route, but none are as interminably insufferable as Tray Gap. Part of the reason it sucks so badly is because Woody's Bike Shop is what is on the other side at around mile 100 and, at that point in the day, you are ready to be there immediately.
We trudged our way up the infinite suck until we crested the top. We were then descending an extraordinarily rough jeep trail. I decided it was a good time to haul ass and I ripped down the the back side jeep trail. It was covered in large basketball sized boulders and was actually pretty technical. I was flying and Matthew was right on my wheel. I went to hop a large rock that was in the middle of what was otherwise the smoothest, fastest line and I must have tagged it slightly with my rear wheel because it threw me sideways into a full on moto-whip at about 18 mph about 8 inches of the ground. Now I know I said I was getting rowdy on the descents, but I draw the line well before whips. I barely straightened it out at all before I hit the ground. When the rear wheel hit I countersteered, but the force of the tail of the bike shooting back the other way ripped my foot out of the pedal. Somehow, I reigned the 40+ lb. bike back under control. I had one of those adrenaline spikes you get when you know you almost seriously injured yourself and barely pulled it out and had to back it off a little bit until my heart rate came down. Amazingly, my rear wheel was dead-on true still even though I landed completely sideways on it. The tire didn't even burp air.
We rounded a corner and ran into some Jeeps four wheeling the trail in the opposite direction, and we slowed way down as we squeezed past them, then it started mellow out slightly until Matthew and I reached what was supposed to be the start of Hickory Nut Trail. The GPS looked like it was telling us to ride up a super steep washed out jeep trail to the right. Matthew and I rode the steep techy climb, only to find a young couple camping up there and a trail that just straight up ended. Clearly we were not in the right place, even though the GPS track said we were right on route. We rode back down, warning the campers to expect more intruders on their peace and quiet that evening. When we got back to the intersection Jim was there and showed us the actual start of Hickory Nut Trail. It was no wonder we missed it, the entrance was constructed in such a way that it was nearly invisible until you were right on top of it. We headed down together. Hickory Nut Trail is obviously not trail that sees a lot of use as the trail tread is overgrown a bit and difficult to see in places. Add to this the fact that it was dusk, and there were soccer ball sized square edged rocks littered randomly all over the trail and it makes for some risky descending. If it weren't for all the random rocks it would actually be a pretty awesome trail. I would find out later at Woody's that the rocks come from the bears and hogs flipping over the rocks on the hillside above looking for bugs to eat. The rocks naturally roll down and stop on the bench cut of the trail. We ran into a racer that was riding back up looking for his SPOT tracker which he had somehow lost. Make sure your SPOT is secure! That thing could save your life out here! It's not just for race tracking! The course is very remote and if you get seriously hurt there is a really good chance no one would find you otherwise.
I was determined to make it out of Hickory Nut before I put my lights on. Jim had caught on at this point that I was a risk taker and fast descender. So after leading for a bit he let me take the lead. I let it roll a little bit and things were moving along pretty well until, wham! I hit one of those big square edged bastards hidden by some plants and low light conditions. I was propelled over my bars directly in to a large patch of poison ivy. Awesome...just my luck. I knew would probably take a spill or two, but the poison ivy was a nice touch. I carefully picked my self up and retrieved my bike. The bars were spun 180 degrees from their proper orientation. I got out my tools to tighten my headset and stem bolts and Jim and Matthew caught up to me. They asked if I was alright and I sent them on ahead of me, knowing I would see them at Woody's. I tried to use some water to wash my exposed skin hoping it might do something to prevent or mitigate the reaction to the poison ivy. I don't react to poison ivy too badly, but I didn't want to be the guy who dropped from TNGA because I crashed into pile of the stuff. I did end up getting a little bit of a rash in a few spots after the race, but it actually wasn't too bad considering. I put on my lights before I started back down again and shortly after was out of the trail and on my way to Woody's.
Woody's Bike Shop is right down the road from the exit of Hickory Nut Trail. If you are not gunning for the win Woody's is an awesome place to stop. They will cook you food, have tons of cold drinks waiting, a place for you to crash if you are ready to stop for the day, WiFi, and spare parts and tools. It's a great place to take a break and all the people there are awesome! It is also, however, a huge time suck. I think next time I attempt this I will skip Woody's unless I have a major mechanical issue that needs to be addressed. There is a gas station and small market down the road on the route that's open until at least 11:00 PM on Saturday. That's definitely the place to stop if you think you lack the time management discipline to make Woody's a quick stop. Jim and I ended up stopped there for at least an hour probably closer to two.
Jim and I headed out together as Scott and Tristan rolled up. I wanted to get over at least the next climb, the infamous Hog's Pen Gap road climb, before I crashed for the night. Somewhere along the line Matthew slipped away while we were at Woody's. We had picked up Alex who I had ridden with briefly earlier in the day. We headed up the road and I suggested sticking together at night. Riding at night can be difficult psychologically when you are alone. It can be hard to stay motivated to keep moving. I'm sure there are people out there that are better off riding alone at night, but I'm not one of them. Jim and Alex seemed to agree that this was a good idea. We started in on the enormous road climb. I highly recommend doing this section of the course at night unless you are just too fast and get there in daylight on the first day. It's cooler at night, I kind of lost track of my sense of scale for the climb in the dark, and you can't see the tops of the extended 20+% grades. Somehow this makes it seem easier. Alex had a different strategy than us. His pace was much slower as we got into the Hog's Pen Gap climb. He planned to ride at an easier pace and not sleep if possible, while Jim and I were planning on crashing at some point for a few hours. Jim and I ended up riding away from him on the climb and when we got to the top, we waited for a little while but there was no sign of Alex, so we went on without him. I felt a little bad after suggesting we stick together but he had said he needed to go his own pace, so there was no point in us waiting and then trying to push him. He ended up finishing well before I did, so I guess it worked for him.
Jim and I screamed down the back side of Hog's Pen Gap and rode the short bit of the route over to Vogel State Park where there was a campground. As we were pulling into the campground, we ran into Chris leaving. We chatted for a bit and I could see he had a bit of a crazy look in his eyes. He had stopped briefly and was headed back out. He said he was going to try to make it to Aska Road or Cherry Log. Then he said, "Maybe I'll try to make it Mulberry Gap. Does that sound unreasonable?" I replied something to the effect that I thought that idea was probably unreasonable. It was only another 100 miles away. If those miles were anything like the first 125 to get to Vogel, that sounded impossible at the time. Having completed the route, it wasn't as crazy as I was thinking, but still a very tall order. Jim had ideas about conquering Wolf Pen Gap before we crashed, but I decided I was definitely done for the day. 20,000 ft of climbing and 125 miles was the hardest ride I had ever done in my life at that point and in my mind was in and of itself an unreasonable task. I was happy to bed down and tackle Wolf's Pen in the morning. For next run, I would probably try to get Wolf's Pen over with on day 1 as it would be easy to get to mile 160 or so once you are over that.
Jim and I rolled down to main services building for the campground and not only were there bathrooms, there was a coin op laundromat! We both hurriedly changed out of our kits and scraped together some change. Starting in clean kit on the second day was going to be awesome. After we started the laundry I mixed up a recovery drink and slammed it and then had a snack while calling into mtbcast and surfing the net on my phone for important information for the ride ahead tomorrow. You can hear my call in here. We then moved up to a pavilion to lay out our bivvy sacks and catch some sleep where two other racers had already set up and fallen asleep. There were outlets so I plugged my light in to charge and turned off my phone. I lay down to sleep and shortly after, extremely close by, I heard a pack of coyotes attacking something. It was very unsettling and I had a rough time getting to sleep after that. Eventually though sleep came and it was a much welcomed when it did. Soon enough I would be waking up to tackle day 2 and I had a feeling things were only going to get harder.
Stay tuned for Part 3: Day 2! (Click Here for Part 3: Day 3)
At 5:00 AM Saturday morning, my cell phone alarm woke me for breakfast. It was time. Race day. There was a palpable tension in the air. Mostly that's because I'm not a morning person. Do not fuck with me before I've had my coffee, or you'll have one cranky asshole on your hands until I get some caffeine in me. Luckily, once I showered, got dressed and made my way up to the common kitchen and dining area there was coffee available and the caffeine monster was satiated. This also ensured the vital pre-race unloading of Mama's Potato Pie from the Italian restaurant from the night before would occur, which I had been worried about, since it kind of sat in my gastrointestinal tract like a piece of granite. I got some oatmeal, eggs, sausage, a bagel with cream cheese and devoured it. I tempered my urge to grab seconds. I had a feeling the pace from the start of the racers I wanted to be around for the rest of the race would be pretty quick. All mountain bike races work this way. Everyone starts at an unsustainable pace until they size each other up and fall into a group they feel comfortable in. It doesn't matter if the race is 6 miles or 2800 miles, this is just the way of things. Anyway, the point is, that I didn't want to over do it on breakfast and get sidelined by too full of a stomach. I headed back to the yurt to do a final gear check and then reloaded my bike on the trailer to be hauled to the start.
We all then piled into the vans to get hauled to the start line ourselves. We got there about 45 minutes before the scheduled start time and there was a lot of milling around and neurotic rechecking of gear, not that it would matter if you realized you missed something. Highway 28 on the border of SC and GA is in the middle of nowhere, so if you didn't have it now, you weren't gonna have it. I hung out and talked with some of my fellow participants in this truly absurd race. It takes a special kind of crazy to want to race 350 miles over 56,000 ft of elevation gain on a mountain bike. Most people who do this kind of racing are familiar with the plight of trying to find people to ride with for long rides, and I have to assume, knowing at least two fairly talented ultra endurance racers local to me, that it is as difficult for most others as it is for me. So most of my long ride training was done alone. It was a treat to be surrounded by like-minded nut-jobs for a change.
When we piled into the vans, I had run into Chris Joice, who would be racing singlespeed. I had met him earlier in the year at the Wilderness 101 in Coburn, PA about 30 minutes from my home. It was good to see a familiar face. I would spend some time riding with him in the later portion of the race. We chatted a bit at the staging area as we checked air pressure before I wandered of to spin around and loosen up a bit before the pre-race announcements and such. As I was hanging about, ran into Joe Polk, curator of ultra endurance racer call-ins on his website, http://www.mtbcast.com. I gave him a short and nervous pre-race interview. You can listen to it here along with all of the other pre-race interviews. I got a quick shot of my rig prior to the start and it would be the only picture I would take that day.
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| Pictured: Rig |
After the pre-race announcements We rolled out to the bridge and lined up on the border of South Carolina and Georgia on Highway 28. And then, all of a sudden we were off, and we were off FAST. The pace of the front group was akin to what I would set for the start of a 100 miler. Most 100 milers don't climb 20,000 feet. The climbing on the TNGA route is front loaded. If you make it 100 miles on the first day you will have about 18,000 feet under your belt. I hung in with the guys at the front on the first gravel climb but soon a group of about 4 or 5 guys slipped away, and I would never see them again. A second group caught up to me as I was just around a wrong turn trying to figure out where my GPS was trying to send me. They passed me up and I turned around and got busy chasing.
Soon enough, wouldn't you know, there's Chris catching up to me on the climb, we settled in a on a decent pace chasing the group that had passed me, shooting the shit and passing the time as we stomped up the gravel road climb. All of a sudden we see the group that had passed me coming back down at us. Apparently they had thought they were off route and had turned around. Chris said something to the effect of "I need to do less talking and more navigating!" thinking we were headed the wrong way. It turned out the group ahead had been wrong. We were on route and good to go. It was a good thing that the group ahead had made a little error, because it contained a lot of the riders I would be spending a good deal of time riding with for the next three days. I settled into the first serious climb. It was my first taste of serious fire road climbing in the Georgia. The big gravel road climbs tend to have a character of being steep at about 20% to 25% average for the first mile and end with a half mile of ridiculously, insanely steep bullshit averaging 35% or greater. I seriously wonder why the hell they even bother building roads to the top at all, as there is no vehicle on earth I would feel safe driving up some of that without a winch hooked up at the top. Normally there's a few miles of reasonable 5% to 10% average grade between those two parts.
After a few more confusing navigational issues on the GPS I reached the top of that first climb and I entered the Darnell Creek Horse Trail. It's a long, fun descent that transitions from flowy and twisty to gnarly and rooty from top to bottom. The bottom section was really techy and reminded me a lot of the trails back here in PA. I did most of the descent with Alex, a New York native. We slowly picked our way through the techy bottom section until he had an issue with his cleats and stopped to fix it. I continued on without him and ran into Jim Rivers after I popped out at the bottom. Jim and I rode together on the road section that would take us through Dillard. Dillard was my planned first resupply point and I had packed light on food since it was only 30 miles in. At least my waypoints said it was 30 miles in. Dillard is not 30 miles in. Dillard is 28 miles in. When you are riding the road after the Darnell Creek Horse Trail, you will come to an intersection with a 4 lane road with a post office on your left. That's Dillard. If you are planning on stopping there for resupply, don't do what I did and just roll on down route thinking you have 2 miles before you are there.
I was still riding along with Jim and around mile 33. I asked him "So where is Dillard? My waypoints say it's at mile 30."
"We passed it 5 miles ago." He replied.
Shit.
I needed water and I discovered one of the most useful features on my GPS besides the track I was following. The base maps I loaded show churches on the map. You can skip a stone all the way across North Georgia from church parking lot to church parking lot. Churches typically have water, be it from a unlocked spigot outside or a friendly groundskeeper who will let you into the rec center to fill your hydration bladder. I quickly located a church and we both stopped and topped up water and took a short break to eat. My water problem was solved, and my food situation was ok for the time being. I knew I would eventually run out, well before the next resupply in Helen. It wouldn't be the first time I had to ride 40 or 50 miles in bonk mode.
We continued on when we reached O.V. Justice Road. Jim had warned me ahead of time that there was a pack of dogs that ran that road that were professionals at running down cyclists. He explained that they had a system that we needed to be ready to move. They were apparently fearless and we did not want to get caught. We got barked at by one mangy looking canine but he didn't give chase. We apparently lucked out. Jim said he wouldn't be surprised if most them had been hit by cars, as aggressively as they liked to chase. It was the first year they hadn't chased him. After that it was on to climb Patterson's Gap Road. I ran into Scott, Tristan, and Monte on the way up. Jim and I had a pretty good pace going and we ended up leaving them behind at that point. Monte hung in there with us for a bit but then I looked back and he just wasn't there anymore. I kept grinding and as I crested the top, I realized I had lost Jim as well. I figured I'd see them again when I was bonking because I had missed Dillard. I ripped downhill and was on pavement back in the valley again. I was starting to look for places to grab some food. Literally anything with calories would do.
On Persimmon Road, I thought I was saved. I saw a sign for a bait and tackle store that promised cold drinks and snacks would be available. I was ecstatic as I cruised up the drive, only to find a very creepy and abandoned looking building with door hanging wide open and junk strewn about everywhere inside. Visions of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre flashed through my mind and I was out of there fast! At some point there had been a shop there, but it was definitely not in business anymore. I continued on to the Tallulah River Road/Charlie's Creek road climb. I ran into a few other racers when I was about to stop and check out a campground for a soda machine. They looked like they had just stopped in there so I asked if there was any food or drink to be had there, they indicated there was not so we continued on for a little bit together. I pulled away from them as it tipped up.
This section of the course is particularly beautiful. The Tallulah River is just awesome to ride along next to and there were tons of people out enjoying the area fishing, swimming, hiking, and four wheeling. When I got to Charlie's Creek Road there was a ford where the creek was wide and shallow. There were several guys around a 4x4 truck trying to get unstuck. I couldn't see the road across the creek so I asked them, "Is there a road or trail over there somewhere?" thinking the GPS might be slightly off in this location. One of them pointed about 75 feet or so upstream and said, "Yeah it's up there, you've got a hell of a lot more power in those legs than I do to be riding that thing up that! Good luck!" I supposed that meant I was in for a climb. I rode across the creek and got on Charlie's Creek Road, which is more of a jeep trail than a road. I got a little motivation about 1/3 of the way up when I heard thunder behind me. Crap. I had to be off this jeep trail before that storm got to me. I did not want to be on that steep jeep trail when it turned into a river. I kicked it up a few gears, got out of the saddle, and picked up the pace. I reached the top and descended the rough backside in the typical fashion, with reckless abandon of all common sense. I made it to the pavement on the other side just as the first drops of rain started to fall.
The GPS indicated another church close by at the bottom so I hurried to it and found a little overhang to hide under and wait for the storm to pass. I could tell it was a typical southern 15 minute afternoon cloud burst. A dry chamois was more valuable to me than the time I would lose waiting the storm out. As I was waiting I saw JP and Jim pass me up. Soon enough the rain let up and I was on my way again. I could see the entrance to bonktown now. If I didn't get food soon, things were going to get ugly. As I turned out on to a main road, I decided to try to see if I had cell service so I could locate somewhere off route I could get food soon. No luck. As I was packing back up, Monte passed me and told me we had about 40 miles to go to get to Woody's Bike Shop, which was right before Helen, where there would definitely be food. This was a distressing thought. 40 miles was a long damn way to go in the state I was in. I could make it, but it was going to take a long, long time.
Luckily, I wouldn't have to wait that long. About a half mile from where I stopped, halfway up the road climb was the Top of Georgia Hostel. They had set up at the end of their driveway with PB&J Sandwiches and Coca-Cola. IT WAS A MIRACLE. Imagine this scenario: You are racing TNGA, you are in the early stages of the dreaded bonk a mere 60 miles in, on a climb, and all of a sudden, in a place where there should be no services for 40 more miles, there's this beautiful tall woman named Tex set up on the roadside offering free PB&J and bottled water and selling Cokes for a buck. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. Top of Georgia Hostel, you guys are the best, you probably saved my race and I hope you continue to do this in the future! I downed a sandwich, a bottle of water and two cokes. I bought a coke to bring along for later and I was off again. Refueled and spirits lifted, I charged ahead with Monte up the climb and then we headed down a pretty sketchy section of double track where I ran back into a group containing Jim, JP, and a few others. The coke I had drank earlier was like rocket fuel. I was having a bunch of fun descending this section popping off little rocks and catching a little air in sections.
I lost most of this group on the descent and then once we got out on the road again, I widened the gap significantly before the Wildcat Road Climb. Wildcat wasn't too bad and soon enough I was dropping back down to the Unicoi Turnpike for brief moment before I got on Corbin Creek Road, the start of the Tray Gap Climb. I stopped briefly to get the coke I had bought earlier to gas up for the 10 mile climb ahead. I reached in my CraterPacks framebag to pull it out and what I got was an empty can. Thank goodness I pack everything in ziplock bags in there because it must have exploded on the double track descent before Wildcat. I was upset that I didn't have a coke to drink at the moment, but checking for it alerted me to the fact that I was almost out of water. I checked the GPS and wouldn't you know it, about a quarter mile off route past the turn onto Corbin Creek Road is church on the left.
I backtracked about a half mile to the church. There was a spigot on the side of the building and I topped off water there. I headed back to Corbin Creek Road where I ran into Jim again. We started up the Tray Gap climb. Jim said he probably hates this climb more than any other on the route. It just never ends. It feels like you are steadily climbing for a solid 10 miles, even though there actually a few slight downhill sections. The road slowly gets rougher and rougher as you go along until goes from gravel road to full on washed out Jeep trail. I was riding with Jim and Matthew on this section of the trail. Another racer later described Tray Gap as "one of the most hateful gravel roads I have ever seen." I'm inclined to agree with him. There are steeper climbs and rougher climbs on the route, but none are as interminably insufferable as Tray Gap. Part of the reason it sucks so badly is because Woody's Bike Shop is what is on the other side at around mile 100 and, at that point in the day, you are ready to be there immediately.
We trudged our way up the infinite suck until we crested the top. We were then descending an extraordinarily rough jeep trail. I decided it was a good time to haul ass and I ripped down the the back side jeep trail. It was covered in large basketball sized boulders and was actually pretty technical. I was flying and Matthew was right on my wheel. I went to hop a large rock that was in the middle of what was otherwise the smoothest, fastest line and I must have tagged it slightly with my rear wheel because it threw me sideways into a full on moto-whip at about 18 mph about 8 inches of the ground. Now I know I said I was getting rowdy on the descents, but I draw the line well before whips. I barely straightened it out at all before I hit the ground. When the rear wheel hit I countersteered, but the force of the tail of the bike shooting back the other way ripped my foot out of the pedal. Somehow, I reigned the 40+ lb. bike back under control. I had one of those adrenaline spikes you get when you know you almost seriously injured yourself and barely pulled it out and had to back it off a little bit until my heart rate came down. Amazingly, my rear wheel was dead-on true still even though I landed completely sideways on it. The tire didn't even burp air.
We rounded a corner and ran into some Jeeps four wheeling the trail in the opposite direction, and we slowed way down as we squeezed past them, then it started mellow out slightly until Matthew and I reached what was supposed to be the start of Hickory Nut Trail. The GPS looked like it was telling us to ride up a super steep washed out jeep trail to the right. Matthew and I rode the steep techy climb, only to find a young couple camping up there and a trail that just straight up ended. Clearly we were not in the right place, even though the GPS track said we were right on route. We rode back down, warning the campers to expect more intruders on their peace and quiet that evening. When we got back to the intersection Jim was there and showed us the actual start of Hickory Nut Trail. It was no wonder we missed it, the entrance was constructed in such a way that it was nearly invisible until you were right on top of it. We headed down together. Hickory Nut Trail is obviously not trail that sees a lot of use as the trail tread is overgrown a bit and difficult to see in places. Add to this the fact that it was dusk, and there were soccer ball sized square edged rocks littered randomly all over the trail and it makes for some risky descending. If it weren't for all the random rocks it would actually be a pretty awesome trail. I would find out later at Woody's that the rocks come from the bears and hogs flipping over the rocks on the hillside above looking for bugs to eat. The rocks naturally roll down and stop on the bench cut of the trail. We ran into a racer that was riding back up looking for his SPOT tracker which he had somehow lost. Make sure your SPOT is secure! That thing could save your life out here! It's not just for race tracking! The course is very remote and if you get seriously hurt there is a really good chance no one would find you otherwise.
I was determined to make it out of Hickory Nut before I put my lights on. Jim had caught on at this point that I was a risk taker and fast descender. So after leading for a bit he let me take the lead. I let it roll a little bit and things were moving along pretty well until, wham! I hit one of those big square edged bastards hidden by some plants and low light conditions. I was propelled over my bars directly in to a large patch of poison ivy. Awesome...just my luck. I knew would probably take a spill or two, but the poison ivy was a nice touch. I carefully picked my self up and retrieved my bike. The bars were spun 180 degrees from their proper orientation. I got out my tools to tighten my headset and stem bolts and Jim and Matthew caught up to me. They asked if I was alright and I sent them on ahead of me, knowing I would see them at Woody's. I tried to use some water to wash my exposed skin hoping it might do something to prevent or mitigate the reaction to the poison ivy. I don't react to poison ivy too badly, but I didn't want to be the guy who dropped from TNGA because I crashed into pile of the stuff. I did end up getting a little bit of a rash in a few spots after the race, but it actually wasn't too bad considering. I put on my lights before I started back down again and shortly after was out of the trail and on my way to Woody's.
Woody's Bike Shop is right down the road from the exit of Hickory Nut Trail. If you are not gunning for the win Woody's is an awesome place to stop. They will cook you food, have tons of cold drinks waiting, a place for you to crash if you are ready to stop for the day, WiFi, and spare parts and tools. It's a great place to take a break and all the people there are awesome! It is also, however, a huge time suck. I think next time I attempt this I will skip Woody's unless I have a major mechanical issue that needs to be addressed. There is a gas station and small market down the road on the route that's open until at least 11:00 PM on Saturday. That's definitely the place to stop if you think you lack the time management discipline to make Woody's a quick stop. Jim and I ended up stopped there for at least an hour probably closer to two.
Jim and I headed out together as Scott and Tristan rolled up. I wanted to get over at least the next climb, the infamous Hog's Pen Gap road climb, before I crashed for the night. Somewhere along the line Matthew slipped away while we were at Woody's. We had picked up Alex who I had ridden with briefly earlier in the day. We headed up the road and I suggested sticking together at night. Riding at night can be difficult psychologically when you are alone. It can be hard to stay motivated to keep moving. I'm sure there are people out there that are better off riding alone at night, but I'm not one of them. Jim and Alex seemed to agree that this was a good idea. We started in on the enormous road climb. I highly recommend doing this section of the course at night unless you are just too fast and get there in daylight on the first day. It's cooler at night, I kind of lost track of my sense of scale for the climb in the dark, and you can't see the tops of the extended 20+% grades. Somehow this makes it seem easier. Alex had a different strategy than us. His pace was much slower as we got into the Hog's Pen Gap climb. He planned to ride at an easier pace and not sleep if possible, while Jim and I were planning on crashing at some point for a few hours. Jim and I ended up riding away from him on the climb and when we got to the top, we waited for a little while but there was no sign of Alex, so we went on without him. I felt a little bad after suggesting we stick together but he had said he needed to go his own pace, so there was no point in us waiting and then trying to push him. He ended up finishing well before I did, so I guess it worked for him.
Jim and I screamed down the back side of Hog's Pen Gap and rode the short bit of the route over to Vogel State Park where there was a campground. As we were pulling into the campground, we ran into Chris leaving. We chatted for a bit and I could see he had a bit of a crazy look in his eyes. He had stopped briefly and was headed back out. He said he was going to try to make it to Aska Road or Cherry Log. Then he said, "Maybe I'll try to make it Mulberry Gap. Does that sound unreasonable?" I replied something to the effect that I thought that idea was probably unreasonable. It was only another 100 miles away. If those miles were anything like the first 125 to get to Vogel, that sounded impossible at the time. Having completed the route, it wasn't as crazy as I was thinking, but still a very tall order. Jim had ideas about conquering Wolf Pen Gap before we crashed, but I decided I was definitely done for the day. 20,000 ft of climbing and 125 miles was the hardest ride I had ever done in my life at that point and in my mind was in and of itself an unreasonable task. I was happy to bed down and tackle Wolf's Pen in the morning. For next run, I would probably try to get Wolf's Pen over with on day 1 as it would be easy to get to mile 160 or so once you are over that.
Jim and I rolled down to main services building for the campground and not only were there bathrooms, there was a coin op laundromat! We both hurriedly changed out of our kits and scraped together some change. Starting in clean kit on the second day was going to be awesome. After we started the laundry I mixed up a recovery drink and slammed it and then had a snack while calling into mtbcast and surfing the net on my phone for important information for the ride ahead tomorrow. You can hear my call in here. We then moved up to a pavilion to lay out our bivvy sacks and catch some sleep where two other racers had already set up and fallen asleep. There were outlets so I plugged my light in to charge and turned off my phone. I lay down to sleep and shortly after, extremely close by, I heard a pack of coyotes attacking something. It was very unsettling and I had a rough time getting to sleep after that. Eventually though sleep came and it was a much welcomed when it did. Soon enough I would be waking up to tackle day 2 and I had a feeling things were only going to get harder.
Stay tuned for Part 3: Day 2! (Click Here for Part 3: Day 3)
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Trans North Georgia Adventure (TNGA) Race Report. Part 1 - Pre Race/Gear Lowdown
This is Part 1 of a 5 part race report. (Click here for Part 2, Click here for Part 3, Click Here For Part 4)
Way back in December when I didn't make the start list for Trans Iowa, I set my sights on the Trans North Georgia Adventure as a test to see if I was going to try to make a Tour Divide run. My friend and Tour Divide finisher Brett Simpson suggested it noting it contained 1/4 of the elevation gain of the TD route in less than 350 miles. Ouch! So I set my sights on it and started training and preparing. I registered and got on the start list.
Fast forward to August and I was on my way to Georgia on an ill advised road trip. I stopped halfway at my friend Jon's place in Lynchburg, VA, where he was studying at Liberty University, and spent the night after a 7 hour drive and pushed on in the morning. I drove from there down to Sycamore Cycles in North Carolina, where I picked up some maps and got some advice on some good loops in the Pisgah area.
I chatted with the guys there, and it definitely seemed like a pretty cool shop. They had a coffee shop built right in to the store there so I got an iced coffee and studied the maps I bought. I then rolled over to Dupont State Forest to do a short shakedown ride. I did about 10 miles up there and had a blast! The majority of what I rode were flow trails and double tracks. That place has some seriously good flow and I was pretty glad I stopped driving for a bit to take a break. I need to go back to that area and ride more on the Pisgah side as well now that I have some new friends from that area. The Pisgah side is much more gnarly and technical in character than flowy Dupont. I proposed a South East mountain bike road trip to some friends at the shop for later in the season when things slow down at the bike shop.
After a shakedown ride with my fully packed rig, I got back on the road and headed down to Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-Away just outside of Elijay, Georgia. My jeep's electrical system started acting up and I barely made it there. There were a few times that I was unsure if it would pull through but it made it to Mulberry Gap and promptly died. Fortunately that was all the further I needed it to go. I checked in with Kate there and set up my tent and just relaxed in the barn there. Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-Away is a major supporter of the Trans North Georgia Adventure. They provide shuttle services to get racers to the start and pick up racers from the finish. They are also just a short distance off the route at around mile 220 and provide a place for racers to crash, grab a bite of hot food, charge their electronic goodies, grab a shower, and do some laundry. Kate, Diane, Ginni, and Andrew do their very best to make sure everyone feels like they are at a home away from home. I arrived Thursday late and they got me set up with a camp site. I woke up early on Friday and had a nice big breakfast before arranging to get my jeep towed to a garage to get it fixed. It was a big relief when I finally had it figured it out so that I would have a repaired vehicle after the race. I could worry about the bill later. Big thanks to Andrew Gates and the other racers who helped me push it over out of the way.
Shortly after figuring out how to get the jeep situation sorted, I got all of my race essential gear packed, the bike loaded up with gear, threw it all in the trucks, and got in a van to be shuttled to the start where we camp out at a small campground in yurts. If you are unfamiliar with what a yurt is, it's a large circular semi-permanent tent. There were bunk beds for six people in mine and I shared my yurt with the crew from Texas, JP, and Monte. When we first arrived at the yurts, the bikes weren't there yet so we just sort of hung out by the yurts outside and shot the shit. Everyone sounded really well prepared and sounded like they did a bit more research on the course than me, some had attempted the race before. TNGA is not a race to be trifled with and as a rookie racer it can be intimidating hearing other racers with experience on the course talk about it. It is every bit as difficult as it sounds, and course conditions can conspire to make it harder still. I choose to put some of the horror stories I heard out of my mind and just hoped luck would be on my side and the weather would hold out.
The second shuttle van of racers arrived and shortly after the first wave of racers piled back into the van and we went to an Italian restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I ordered a pizza and sweet tea and down the hatch it went. I always eat pizza the night before any race. It's tradition, superstition, and science. I've never had a bad race when I have followed this habit so I was happy to be able to fulfill that desire. It was kind of crazy while we were there, the entire wait staff looked no older than 14. I guess they start'em young in Georgia
The bike trailer had arrived while we were gone. This was what we had all been waiting for, we all hurried to get out bikes and gear out of the trailer. From there we all hurried into our yurts and started unpacking and repacking our gear. We were all searching for things to cut from our final packed gear list. I tried to make some cuts, but everything remained mostly the same. Now that I have finished the race, there were a few things that I realize I didn't need at all that were fairly heavy, but for a first run I definitely caution against rolling out with too light of a pack. Here is my pack list:
Tools, Maintenance Items and Spares:
3mm L allen wrench
2.5mm L allen wrench
Torx T25 small L allen wrench from avid bleed kit
Pedro's Tulio Skewer
Park Tool Valve core remover
2x Single use Stan's No-Tubes Sealant bottles
29er tube
Park Emergency Tire Boot
Small tube of super glue (double bagged)
Bottle of Rock and Roll Blue (Extreme) Chain Lube
Set of Semi-Metallic Brake Pads for Avid Elixer Brakes
2x SRAM 11 speed quick connect chain links
3 links of 11 speed chain
2 very small pieces of towel
half roll of electrical tape
10 zip ties
small Giant MTB pump
Shelter, Additional Clothing, Comfort Items:
RAB Survival Zone Light Bivvy
Klymit X-Lite sleeping pad
Endura baggy waterproof shorts (only outers)
Endura rain jacket
gym shorts
Tub of Eurostyle chamois cream (double bagged)
Contact case prefilled with fluid
Ground cloth, made from a cut down lumber wrap, light but bulky
Electronics:
Garmin eTrex 20
iPhone 4S
eTon BoostBloc 6000 (useless)
Cygolight Expillion 800 and extra battery
iPhone charging plug
iPhone Cable
mini USB Cable
BoostBloc Cable
Digital Tire pressure gauge
Hydration and Nutrition:
Full bottle of Endurolytes, repacked into ziploc bag
3L Bladder, Sawyer Mini water purification filter hooked up in line with drinking hose.
4 Honey Stinger Waffles
5 Shot Bloks
For the race I rode a custom build El Mariachi Titanium frame that I built up myself, including handbuilding the wheels. I ran a SRAM XO1 drivetrain with a 32 tooth chainring, Stan's Flow EX rims laced to Hope Pro 2 Evo Hubs with DT Swiss Revolution Spokes shod with Maxxis Ikon 2.35 EXO 3C TLR rubber, a Whisky Parts Co. #9 carbon rigid fork, Avid XX brakes, Thompson furniture, and a Brooks B17 Titanium rail Champion Select saddle.
For bags I used a custom made CraterPacks cuben fiber frame bag that weighed in at a mere 325g, big shout out to Rich out in Telluride, CO for making this awesome piece of gear for me. The gas tank and saddle bags were off the shelf models from that other famous bike packing bag maker formerly known as Epic. My rig ended up being bomb-proof throughout the race. I changed out my rear brake pad at Mulberry Gap, and that was the only thing I did besides lube the chain periodically. Zero mechanicals. I definitely put the bike through it's paces, as I received multiple comments from other racers that I was going to break something the way I was descending in the race. There were several occasions where a landed awkwardly or put my wheels to some severe stress descending rough technical terrain and they stayed dead on true the whole race. I was descending fast whenever I could and even had a little fun popping off of stuff occasionally and catching small amounts of air. I love these wheels, even if they are a little heavy.
Leading up to the race, I was averaging about 17 hours a week of riding time, going three weeks high volume, one week recovery. I rode my bike everywhere I could commuting on top of training rides at least 4 days a week. I definitely felt like I was prepared for the race as far as my fitness went. We don't have the climbing terrain that I was told to expect in Georgia so I did about half my training on a singlespeed set up on the El Mariachi Ti for leg strength and climbing. I really feel like the singlespeed riding paid off now that the race is concluded. Perhaps in the future I will start trying to tackle some of these ultraendurance races on a singlespeed. I think I might try a 100 milers next year just to see how it treats me.
My plan for the start of the race was to pack light and only carry enough water and food to make it to Dillard which is the first opportunity for resupply about 30 miles into the race. I dumped about 2/3's of the food I planned on starting with and only filled my bladder with about 1.5 liters of water. I repacked my travel bag with all my unneeded supplies and clothes that would go back to Mulberry Gap and hit the sack. The next morning would be the start of the greatest adventure I've had on two wheels so far!
Stay tuned for part 2!
Way back in December when I didn't make the start list for Trans Iowa, I set my sights on the Trans North Georgia Adventure as a test to see if I was going to try to make a Tour Divide run. My friend and Tour Divide finisher Brett Simpson suggested it noting it contained 1/4 of the elevation gain of the TD route in less than 350 miles. Ouch! So I set my sights on it and started training and preparing. I registered and got on the start list.
Fast forward to August and I was on my way to Georgia on an ill advised road trip. I stopped halfway at my friend Jon's place in Lynchburg, VA, where he was studying at Liberty University, and spent the night after a 7 hour drive and pushed on in the morning. I drove from there down to Sycamore Cycles in North Carolina, where I picked up some maps and got some advice on some good loops in the Pisgah area.
I chatted with the guys there, and it definitely seemed like a pretty cool shop. They had a coffee shop built right in to the store there so I got an iced coffee and studied the maps I bought. I then rolled over to Dupont State Forest to do a short shakedown ride. I did about 10 miles up there and had a blast! The majority of what I rode were flow trails and double tracks. That place has some seriously good flow and I was pretty glad I stopped driving for a bit to take a break. I need to go back to that area and ride more on the Pisgah side as well now that I have some new friends from that area. The Pisgah side is much more gnarly and technical in character than flowy Dupont. I proposed a South East mountain bike road trip to some friends at the shop for later in the season when things slow down at the bike shop.
 |
| A nice little log ride at Dupont SF |
Shortly after figuring out how to get the jeep situation sorted, I got all of my race essential gear packed, the bike loaded up with gear, threw it all in the trucks, and got in a van to be shuttled to the start where we camp out at a small campground in yurts. If you are unfamiliar with what a yurt is, it's a large circular semi-permanent tent. There were bunk beds for six people in mine and I shared my yurt with the crew from Texas, JP, and Monte. When we first arrived at the yurts, the bikes weren't there yet so we just sort of hung out by the yurts outside and shot the shit. Everyone sounded really well prepared and sounded like they did a bit more research on the course than me, some had attempted the race before. TNGA is not a race to be trifled with and as a rookie racer it can be intimidating hearing other racers with experience on the course talk about it. It is every bit as difficult as it sounds, and course conditions can conspire to make it harder still. I choose to put some of the horror stories I heard out of my mind and just hoped luck would be on my side and the weather would hold out.
The second shuttle van of racers arrived and shortly after the first wave of racers piled back into the van and we went to an Italian restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I ordered a pizza and sweet tea and down the hatch it went. I always eat pizza the night before any race. It's tradition, superstition, and science. I've never had a bad race when I have followed this habit so I was happy to be able to fulfill that desire. It was kind of crazy while we were there, the entire wait staff looked no older than 14. I guess they start'em young in Georgia
The bike trailer had arrived while we were gone. This was what we had all been waiting for, we all hurried to get out bikes and gear out of the trailer. From there we all hurried into our yurts and started unpacking and repacking our gear. We were all searching for things to cut from our final packed gear list. I tried to make some cuts, but everything remained mostly the same. Now that I have finished the race, there were a few things that I realize I didn't need at all that were fairly heavy, but for a first run I definitely caution against rolling out with too light of a pack. Here is my pack list:
Tools, Maintenance Items and Spares:
3mm L allen wrench
2.5mm L allen wrench
Torx T25 small L allen wrench from avid bleed kit
Pedro's Tulio Skewer
Park Tool Valve core remover
2x Single use Stan's No-Tubes Sealant bottles
29er tube
Park Emergency Tire Boot
Small tube of super glue (double bagged)
Bottle of Rock and Roll Blue (Extreme) Chain Lube
Set of Semi-Metallic Brake Pads for Avid Elixer Brakes
2x SRAM 11 speed quick connect chain links
3 links of 11 speed chain
2 very small pieces of towel
half roll of electrical tape
10 zip ties
small Giant MTB pump
Shelter, Additional Clothing, Comfort Items:
RAB Survival Zone Light Bivvy
Klymit X-Lite sleeping pad
Endura baggy waterproof shorts (only outers)
Endura rain jacket
gym shorts
Tub of Eurostyle chamois cream (double bagged)
Contact case prefilled with fluid
Ground cloth, made from a cut down lumber wrap, light but bulky
Electronics:
Garmin eTrex 20
iPhone 4S
eTon BoostBloc 6000 (useless)
Cygolight Expillion 800 and extra battery
iPhone charging plug
iPhone Cable
mini USB Cable
BoostBloc Cable
Digital Tire pressure gauge
Hydration and Nutrition:
Full bottle of Endurolytes, repacked into ziploc bag
3L Bladder, Sawyer Mini water purification filter hooked up in line with drinking hose.
4 Honey Stinger Waffles
5 Shot Bloks
 |
| after repacking in the yurt |
For the race I rode a custom build El Mariachi Titanium frame that I built up myself, including handbuilding the wheels. I ran a SRAM XO1 drivetrain with a 32 tooth chainring, Stan's Flow EX rims laced to Hope Pro 2 Evo Hubs with DT Swiss Revolution Spokes shod with Maxxis Ikon 2.35 EXO 3C TLR rubber, a Whisky Parts Co. #9 carbon rigid fork, Avid XX brakes, Thompson furniture, and a Brooks B17 Titanium rail Champion Select saddle.
For bags I used a custom made CraterPacks cuben fiber frame bag that weighed in at a mere 325g, big shout out to Rich out in Telluride, CO for making this awesome piece of gear for me. The gas tank and saddle bags were off the shelf models from that other famous bike packing bag maker formerly known as Epic. My rig ended up being bomb-proof throughout the race. I changed out my rear brake pad at Mulberry Gap, and that was the only thing I did besides lube the chain periodically. Zero mechanicals. I definitely put the bike through it's paces, as I received multiple comments from other racers that I was going to break something the way I was descending in the race. There were several occasions where a landed awkwardly or put my wheels to some severe stress descending rough technical terrain and they stayed dead on true the whole race. I was descending fast whenever I could and even had a little fun popping off of stuff occasionally and catching small amounts of air. I love these wheels, even if they are a little heavy.
Leading up to the race, I was averaging about 17 hours a week of riding time, going three weeks high volume, one week recovery. I rode my bike everywhere I could commuting on top of training rides at least 4 days a week. I definitely felt like I was prepared for the race as far as my fitness went. We don't have the climbing terrain that I was told to expect in Georgia so I did about half my training on a singlespeed set up on the El Mariachi Ti for leg strength and climbing. I really feel like the singlespeed riding paid off now that the race is concluded. Perhaps in the future I will start trying to tackle some of these ultraendurance races on a singlespeed. I think I might try a 100 milers next year just to see how it treats me.
My plan for the start of the race was to pack light and only carry enough water and food to make it to Dillard which is the first opportunity for resupply about 30 miles into the race. I dumped about 2/3's of the food I planned on starting with and only filled my bladder with about 1.5 liters of water. I repacked my travel bag with all my unneeded supplies and clothes that would go back to Mulberry Gap and hit the sack. The next morning would be the start of the greatest adventure I've had on two wheels so far!
Stay tuned for part 2!
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