Pisgah 36 - The Barcley Marathon of MTB

As I continue to search out new adventures this year, the Pisgah 36 came up on the radar and it seemed like an interesting event. If you are not familiar with the event, it is a 36 hour race that starts at midnight on Friday night and runs until noon on Sunday. comprised of 6 different stages with various checkpoints within that you can rack up extra points through the event. The course and routes are unknown until the start of the race and a single stage is released at a time which requires you to come back to camp after each stage.

Over the last couple years I have done various Pisgah Productions events and have learned that they are some of the hardest around. If there is a difficult way to do a route in Pisgah, @Ericweever will find it and put it together. Though super tough this is part of what makes these events so awesome!

I started researching the event and found there was not a ton of write ups out there on others experiences. The couple that I did find described freezing temps and and a brutal route. Nothing else would be expected with one of Eric's events!

Found that Graham Skardon had already signed up for this one and Dustin Welch was going to be coming down as well so i would have some familiar company to hang out with. My oldest son had never been to one of these events and with it so close to home he was also able to come out and hang for a night which was super cool.

Work has been insane this year so stress levels are high and prep time becomes nonexistent. I end up getting my stuff somewhat organized the night before the event and throw everything into a pile to be loaded up the next day.

Friday the 3rd rolls around, the day again starts at the crack of dawn, and the normal chaos that has become my life this year gets cranking. Check the weather again and it looks like the rain is suppose to hold off, but the temps are going to be in the low 20's and it says it will feel like 16.

The plan is to hit the road by 4:00 at the latest so I can get to camp bfore dark and make sure I can get the RV across the creek crossing at the entrance to the Cove Creek campground. As I expected, the day hits overdrive and the planned departure time quickly slips away. It is now 5:30 and I am finally pulling out and heading to Pishgah.

The drive up was fantastic as the mountain views and thought of the upcoming adventure seem to melt the stress of the day away. If you have never been to the Pisgah forest, it is an almost magical place filled with mountain laurels and endless water falls. It is one of the few places that I can escape into and get away from cell phones and the constant barrage of texts and other electronic crap that seems to make up most of my days.

Arrive at the camp entrance, check out the creek crossing, and luckily it looks like it should be no problem. that this 32ft monster has to get across.  It makes it through with no incident and onto the camp site we go. Cole's car does not fair so well and the creek claimed some of his front air damn. Luckily zip ties were in abundance and a trail side car repair was done.

We get the RV to a good place and get everything setup and ready for the weekend. I went with the Trek Stache 29+ instead of the Procaliber as I figured the forgiveness of the big treads in the middle of the night would be worth it. Get the bike packed up with all the required gear and its time to try and eat and relax a bit. Tried to lay down for an hour to rest before the start, but unfortunately that didn't work out as there is just too much going on to rest.

Graham pulls up about 10:30PM or so and begins getting things prepared. The riders meeting at 11:45 is on us quick and Eric goes over some of the details and the stage 1 slip is handed out.

Now coming into this thing and remembering how tough the Pisgah 55 course is I thought to myself, I bet this guy is gonna take us right up Farlow and back. To my dismay this is in fact the choice that was made for Stage 1 and it was not an out and back, but an out, way around, and back. To make it even better the prologue lap is up 475B back around to Cover creek. Gotta love a big prologue to get the night started for what is suppose to be a 6-8hr stage.

Dustin decided to ride the first stage to keep us company and the three of us were going to ride together. It was not 2 min up 475B that GrahamIAm turned on the SS gas and quickly proceeded to drop Dustin and I. My biggest concern at this point is getting too hot and sweaty and getting cold. Riding in this weather is new territory for me and it has me a bit nervous. I am forced to stop a few times and put on and take off layers trying to regulate body temperature.

As we are climbing I start to notice that the dead fall on the road is crazy. There are tons of 4ft to 15ft long sections of trees scattered across the road and this is when I start to take notice of the wind for the first time that night.

There was a wind advisory that came across my phone earlier in the day, but I did not pay any attention to it unfortunately. We continue to climb and the wind just keeps getting stronger. Looking around you see huge tress swaying and bending all over the place. I begin looking up above us and realize that there are slew of widow makers we are riding underneath and are being held on by threads in the tress above. One in particular had to be 20ft long and was dangling right above Dustin head.

We try to just keep pushing on and not paying attention to the impending death hanging above. Little did I know at this point that this was tame compared to what we would encounter that night. The prologue lap takes us about an hour and a half due to some navigation errors getting onto the cove creek trail from 225. Seems like this happens to me every time and I roam around the same field wondering where the trail is.

Arrive in camp, get a few more things organized, and somehow end up wasting probably 45 min messing around. We get back on the road and start heading toward Daniel Ridge on our way to climb up Farlow Gap. I have come down Farlow many times and it is one of my favorite trails out there, but I have never gone up it. I had no idea of what actually laid ahead of me, but was felling good that we were gonna get this stage done and move on.

Starting up Daniel is not too bad until you get to roots that seems to mark the start of a lot of hike a biking to come. We make our way up the trail and I always forget how long Daniel actually is to the point where the more technical climbing begins. We meet a couple guys that are hanging out at the bridge there and we chat for a few before continuing on.

Hike, ride, hike is the sequence as we climb up Daniel. This is very different with a loaded bike and seems like I end up hiking more than riding. As we are making our way up the wind takes on a whole new form and begins to sound like a 747 coming right over your head. We continue on and continue hearing trees snapping and falling to the ground. Surrounded by debris I start to get more and more nervous about getting pinned to the trail by one of these falling spears.

Not sure of the time at this point, but we make it up the stair case to the intersection of the Farlow trail. We were gonna sit for a few minutes, but the death wind made us think better of it and figured a moving target would be harder to hit.Onward into the mouth of Farlow we go!

The hike/ride/hike starts turning into just straight hiking as we progress on. The first set of challenges show up as we start coming to the various waterfalls you have to cross along the Farlow trail. I dont remember any of these being difficult when coming the other direction. However, tonight the water was high, fast moving,  and the routs across looked sketchy as hell.

My carbon race shoes are somewhat of a terrible thing when trying to cross wet slippery rocks caryying a loaded bike. I think we maybe crossed 3 or 4 and some of them took a while to figure out as the risk of slipping in one of these things could lead to a long ride down some hard rocks. It is after the last water waterfall that there was a wall in front of me that I wondered how the hell can I even walk up that thing. I think it is at this point that my mental game is starting to slip and frustration is starting to set in some. So early in a race this is never a good sign.

This is somewhat compounded when I look up to see a headlight coming at me. Holy Sh***! the leaders have already gone up and around the rest of the huge loop that made up the stage and are on the way back down. I just put my head back down and kept pushing my bike trying to keep focused and positive. More riders are coming down and making their way past us in the opposite direction.

If you have never gone up Farlow Gap I would highly suggest keeping it that way unless you are looking for some serious hike a bike training. This ended up being the steepest nastiest thing I had ever gone up, but the positive thing for me was seeing all this gnar and thinking wow I actually ride down this stuff.

I have lost all track of time at this point and it is just about putting one foot in front of the other. This goes on for hours and my mental game is cracking quick. I come to ledges and climbs that are so steep and tall that I am constantly falling backwards and giving all I have to not fall backwards or off the edge.

My bike was thrown up some root ledges a couple times as I was starting to break down and just wanted to get off this damn mountain hike. About this time the sun is starting to come up over the ridge and is the most awesome color of red.



It looks beautiful and I try to stop for a second and take it in, but my brain wont let me do it and all I want is to get to the top of this trail and be done with it. Time continues to pass and after another couple hours maybe I start to see light at the end of the tunnel and realize we are getting close to the top of the ridge.

Crest Farlow, throw the bike down, curse a bit, take a control picture and then just stood for a few trying to figure out what to do.

Once I stopped being pissed about the 5 or 6 hours I had just spent hiking the sunrise got my attention and things got a little better, for a moment

Earlier in the morning on one of the crazy ledges I was climbing I said that I was done and didnt care if I even finished a single stage. I was trying to reel that back in, but after looking at the rest of the stage and knowing what was ahead and that I would be coming back to Farlow again after the outer loop the mind said enough and I decided to take the straightest path back to camp.

That was the first time I had ever ridden overnight so for me this was still a win and progress in the right direction.

As I am on my way to bail on this adventure we come up on Graham and a couple other guys that are just now coming back around and getting ready to head down Farlow to wrap up stage 1. We chat for a couple min and then we make our way to the bail out gravel roads back to camp. The ride back was cold and fast as we descended down gravel roads all the way back to the camp ground. By time we get back it is around 8:30AM or so.

I tried talking myself into just resting for a few and heading back out to finish stage 1, but the thought of riding back up what I just came down to have to loop around and climb it again was not sitting well. The other option was to hang out at camp and help support Graham in his efforts to get this thing done. It was going to be a couple hours still until he returned so I had a few minutes to lay down and grab a couple hours of sleep.

I slept a couple hours and then Graham came rolling back in to get ready for the next stage. We reviewed over the map and Stage 2 and tried to give some advice on where to avoid and some options to get where he was heading. We helped him get together what he needed and he was back out onto Stage 2

Later that night Graham rolls in and is trying to get things together and head right back out for Stage 3. We helped him get some things together I think and then he was gone again. I am not sure exactly how long he was out, but seems he realized that his power was shot and that he needed to sleep so he turned around.

Got him all setup and ready for some sleep and back to sleep I went.

The next morning rolls around, maybe it was around 7:00 and I notice that Graham is still there. I would have thought he would have been gone by now if he was going to try stage 3. Looks like Pisgah has claimed another one and now we are both done.

We hang out around the fire a bit in the morning and chat with Eric and others. Scott Sidener rolls in on his SS fat bike to win the weekends event. He doesnt even really look tired at this point and I am pretty sure he just went nonstop through this thing. Its not long after that the next rider Tristan comes through. There is one guy left that just headed out to try and complete the last stage before time expired. That guy made it back in time to round out the 3 finishers.

Each new adventure is unique, however there are some consistencies between all these "Type II" fun activities. No matter where you go, what you ride, how fast/slow you are, you are always going to meet awesome people and build relationships out on the trail and back at camp.

More specifically to the Pisgah Productions events, I realized that I spend the year traveling to far away places to race and ride when the entire time there is an entire season of racing that goes down in the most magical place I have ever ridden and is an hour away from my house.

So this year I decided to ditch all of the NUE series races, except the Marji Gessick of course, and focus on spending more time close to home racing on the best trails and hanging out with the coolest people.

Thanks @EricWeever for putting together a fantastic race series that pushes you farther than you thought you could go. Looking forward to racing the full King of Pisgah Series this year and spending more time in the wonderful Pisgah forest!

Check out the details of the events that make up the series here

Cohutta Cat 300 - Bike Packing is Awesome!

So I meet this guy named Graham Skardon from GA who came up to buy a bike I had for sale.We ended up riding that afternoon on some local trails together since Rebecca and I were heading out to ride that afternoon anyway.

At some point he brought up a bike packing event he was doing in a few weeks. I had done a bunch of 100 mile events, but never a multi day trip that was almost 300 miles long. It piqued my interest and sounded like just what was needed given all the standard year end stress at work. It was not 48 hours later and I had signed up and started the planning.

The Planning Begins

The next problem was what bike would I ride for this type thing. The Marji Gessick had claimed my SS a couple months prior and I had not figured out what to replace it with. I had been looking at the new 2018 Stache and a number of others at the shop raved about how fun it was. Best of all it had the stranglehold dropouts so i could flip it to SS when I was ready.

I read a ton of articles and blogs on other riders and racers, of course had to watch ride the divide again, and then started the Amazon ordering rush to try and assemble all the gear I thought I needed. Revelate designs seemed to come up in a number of articles so I decided to go with them for all of my bike bag needs. This proved to be a great choice as everything performed as expected.

New bike arrives the week of the event, so no time for test rides except in my yard. All the bags arrive a couple days before its time to leave. I am able to test pack up the bike once before having to hit the road and it seems like all should fit. I later find I did not pack everything exactly like it would be and have to figure things out the night before the race.

Night before the race!

I get everything loaded up with the plans to make it to Mulberry Gap retreat early and get my campsite setup for the night. The rain started somewhere on the way there and it ended up taking longer than expected. I roll in at about dark and it is still raining steady. I find out where the primitive camp setup is and then realize that I did not really bring lights for camp so i could get the rest of my stuff packed up.

Luckily there is a cabin available for the night and I end up having a great place to sleep and get the rest of my gear prepped. If you are looking for a really cool place to stay that has a pump track on site and trails all around then give these guys a try.

Bike fully loaded and ready to go about 1:00AM

End up getting to bed later than expected as it seemed like I was always forgetting something that needed to be loaded up. Call it a night and try to get a few hours of sleep.

Day 1 - Adventuring and late night hillbilly encounters

Alarm goes off sometime early, the sun is not up, and I would prefer to just stay in that warm cabin and sleep a couple more hours. Get up and moving as I know that I need to get the bike loaded up and get my car to the parking area.

The first realization of what a packed bike weighs hits me as I try to wrestle this pig down three stairs and back to the car. I had a hard time picking the bike up and getting it onto the rack and end up having to put some bungees around it to the car so it doesnt fall off the rack from the weight.

Everyone is shuffling about around the main building getting things ready and messing with their bikes. I head in and eat some breakfast. The food was great and these guys did a great job of taking care of everyone. I know that @JohnEmerick at the shop has raved about Mullberry Gap when they have gone down for company trips.

Learned that these events all seem to have a patch. They had some cool ones collected from the group.

Departure time nears and everyone gathers at the starting point. Remember that I have not started my Garmin Etrex and have to fumble with that for a minute or so before taking off.

The main group of riders have already disappeared up the road when I rolled out of the parking area. You immediately start into some climbing up the road heading toward the entrance to the first trail. I have never been down here, but have heard people talk about the Pinhotti trail. The guys at the shop talk about it being killed as it is just up and down the whole time.

I hang a right into the trail and not long after that it starts going up. Within the first 100 yards into the trail peddling that tank of a bike I knew I had possibly made a terrible mistake. I continued up and up having to get off a couple times due to the wet trails and my lack of willingness to keep pedaling this beast. The trail keeps rolling and mainly climbing for some length of time. Probably half way up the trail or so I run into this guy Dustin Welch who looks to be having as tough of a time as I was. A group of riders come up and look super fresh like the last however many miles of climbing we just did was not big deal on a loaded bike.

Dustin and I decide to take a break for a few and take in some food and catch our breath. We continue pushing on and eventually pop out on a road, not really sure what road it was. There are a couple other riders stopped here taking a break. Took a couple pictures and kept plugging on.

We now have a group of three or four and are back moving along. We passed a turn at one point and then were back on some more trails. The rain had been light most the morning, but then started really coming down for a while. I was able to test the rain jacket and wished I had brought rain pants and everything was wet and getting cold. We rode for a ways more and then came out to a state park. Again took 5, grabbed some food and a couple pictures.

We continue on for a while in the rain. I am again wondering why in the hell I am out here on a 80 pound bike riding in the rain. Not sure how many more miles we rode, but there were some really fun trails out there. There was a mix of chunky jeep trail and single track and steep gravel climbs. After coming down one particularly technical single track section we descended down further into the woods and right next to a sweet waterfall. Again, time to take in the sights and some food for a few minutes.

These are the things that make these trips so epic. You cant see things like this stuck in your house or at your job.

We get back going and motoring on and I am definitely starting to feel run down. I get my first experience filtering my own water and have to say it felt awesome. Funny how something as little as filtering your own water can bring such satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. The sun is going down, it is getting cold, and I am starting to get frustrated. Suns down, out of water again, when we come across a water source that seems to be down the bank a bit.

Down the bank we go and find a very small flow of water to gather from. Dustin and I both work on getting bottles filled up. I had brought a small bag for my filter which proved to be insufficient. Bottles loaded we continue on up the road. I have now come to the realization that there is no way I am going to make it over 100 miles tonight as was my original goal.

We start up the next long climb and both Dustin and I are getting tired and starting to talk about stopping at a campsite that is not supposed to be far up the road. Miles pass and no campsite, we top a hill and there is an abandoned church that has a nice emtpy covered area. It is decided to stop there as the thought of sleeping under cover during the rain sounded better than a campsite.

We get our stuff laid out, get some food cooking, eat, and its time to try and get some sleep. Not sure what time it is now, but feels super late. Now sleeping outside in a tent is not something i have done much in my life, so sleeping in a bag on the ground in this shelter was definitely new and nerve racking. Every sound in the woods behind made me puts me on alert. I hear different critters crunching around in the woods and then some coyotes off in the distance. As nerve racking as it was it was even more freeing. How lucky was I too be out adventuring in the woods on my bike and doing something I had never done before.

As I started to finally fall asleep it did not last long. Cars had been going down the forest service road for a while and now someone stopped and shined a flashlight at us. They didnt say anything, just sat there for a minute and then pulled off. Now I was really nervous, I was in the hills of GA in the middle of the night with unknown people in trucks shining lights at me. I think the sound of banjos maybe started in my head and I thought about deliverance. We settled back down and to sleep I went for a bit more.

The sound of a 4x4 in the woods clawing at a trail wakes me up this time. I sit up and can see headlights bouncing around in the air vaguely. This goes on for a bit longer when the lights get brighter and crest the side of a hill I did not know was there. So here we both lay in sleeping bags and this truck/suv pulls up to the side of this pavilion and sits there with their bright lights shining on us.

You cant see inside the truck at all and nobody is saying anything. Just dont say anytihng and sit tight Dustin says. I am now trying to figure out what is nearby that I can grab to defend myself if these guys decide to jump out and try to beat on some cyclists. It feels like an eternity passes and still nobody is saying anything or doing anything. Finally the trucks starts to back up and turns around the way it came. I think they sprayed us with some dirt and they were on their way.

I am surprised I did not crap myself and Dustin and I just sit up looking at each other like WTF was that all about. I am now physically and mentally beat down and the situation has told me that I need to get the hell out of here before I get killed. I tell Dustin that I am done in the morning and will be calling Mullberry Gap to get a shuttle back to the start and call it a weekend. He tries to encourage me, but I am done. We lay down for a bit more, no sleep is had, and now the sun is coming up and I am damp and cold as hell.

The events of the prior night are whirling around and I am immediately questioning my decision to quit. Problem is that I only had a limited number of days to complete this adventure and that required about 100 miles a day. I looked at my computer and we had made it 48 miles I think it was. First thought was how in the world did we only make it this far in an entire day of riding and why did I feel like I had ridden so much more.

Day 2 - The new adventure begins

Dustin starts in on how even if we cant finish the entire route that we can always just make our own route and start off by heading into the closest restaurant for some lunch. This trip was not about trying to win a race or really go fast, it was about trying something new and finding a way to melt the stress away if even just for a few days. At that point the thought of hot food and a bunch of it sounded like the best thing ever. I tell him I will ride to food and then figure it out from there. We pack up, grab a couple pictures, and are off on our way.

We start off and I think the food was maybe 30 miles or something away. We ride on some nice rolling forest service roads and I tried to get some pictures along the way. Stopping and taking an extra few minutes to capture some pictures was great and something I never did on the faster paced races.

Just some random shots that were memorable during the day.

We rode some nice rolling forest service roads and the weather was perfect. The sun was shining, no more rain in the forecast, and felt good. We were shooting for Ocoee to grab some food at the Ocoee Damn Deli.  I ordered a burger and fries and they were awesome. We sat for a bit and I started feeling better about continuing on our own adventure.

The next town up the road was Blue Ridge and it was going to be a 30 mile ride on a busy road with little shoulder. That did not really sound like fun and it was somehow only a few hours from dark at this point. Dustin is from around this area of TN and knows some people he can reach out to and see if we can get a lift into Blue Ridge.

It does not take long and he has a buddy that is not far away that is willing to haul us to the next stop. We ride down to a gas station, grab a beer and proceed to go to the park and wait. We are not there too long and up pulls a small pickup truck. I am wondering how we and these massive bikes are gonna fit.
We get them all loaded up and I jump in the back of a truck for a 30 mile ride. This feels all kind of sketchy and like it could be one of my worst ideas yet. However, it proved to be yet another experience outside of my comfort zone that gave some weird satisfaction.

We pass the Cohutta 100 start at the white water center and decide to stop at one of the lookouts for a view of the colors that had been changing.

We get back on the road and on our way to Blue Ridge. Snap a couple more mountain shots and then we start getting into the town and see this.

Where else could you actually buy guns and drugs in the same place?









We arrive in the town of Blue Ridge and it was time for some food. Seemed like many of the small mountain towns, lots of shops and most likely pricey restaurants. I offered to buy Brandon and his wife dinner that night for their hospitality and helping me to be lazy that afternoon. There were not many food options we saw so found a spot to grab a beer.

Brandon was always smiling and great to hang out with












Sit and had a drink or two to find that we could not order food on the patio.It's packed inside and the waitress says there is more of a "dive" bar with good food and decent prices. We finish our drinks and head over to the next place.

There is a band playing covers and it is fairly busy. I am not a big fan of crowds, but food was needed so it was the best option. We get a table outside in the cold which is fine as at least people are not on top of you.
Order dinner, eat, have a few more drinks and then we have to figure out where we are sleeping that night.

I figure no big deal, call the local hotel down the street and we will be snoozing in 30 minutes. A valuable lesson is learned about hotels in small mountain tourist towns. They book up fast and are hard to come by in short notice. We are a ways from camping at this point, I have had some beers, and riding for miles late at night would not have been a wise choice.

Brandon and his wife have to take off so we part ways and go for one more beer to figure out what we are going to do.When I go for my bag with license and card I come up empty. It is nowhere to be found, I run down Brandon as he was leaving and check his truck and it is nowhere. Now I am really stressing as that had all money, license, etc for the trip.

I walk back to the bar and Dustin is sitting with a group of guys  he knew from rafting. Apparently Dustin is also a raft guide down there and most of these guys know one another from the different posts. I let him know about the money situation, he has his card so we are good until we can get back.

It is getting late, I am getting tired, and we still have nowhere to sleep for the night. As we are talking with the group they mention that they just live a mile down the road and we are welcome to crash at their place on the floor. Sleeping on strangers floors is not something that has been common in my life, but this sounded like a great idea at this point compared to the alternatives.

Most of the guys cant be over 25,  a couple of them are hammered and wanting to ride our bikes on the way back. Dustin is more adventurous and lets a guy jump on his and after a minor crash the bike is retrieved with no damage. We make it to the house and get our mats laid out to try and get some sleep.

Before going to sleep I get a message from Brandon telling me that he found my money and cards on the floor of his truck and can meet up tomorrow to get it to me. Crisis averted and I slept strangely well that night in this strange place.

Day 3 - Morning whiskey and waffle house

Its already light out when I wake up. Everyone is still sleeping, but its time to get stuff together and get riding. Start getting my stuff packed up, Dustin gets up and starts doing the same. At some point a guy comes in that I did not see the night before. His walks in shirtless, doesn't say a word, sits down, and then proceeds to grab the flask the guy was drinking from the night before and took a few slugs. Then his big dog walks up and he proceeds to pick him up and put him in his lap as he grabs one more swig.

I was again filled with excitement at the fact I had again done something way outside of my comfort zone and just rode the cosmic wave this guy Rich Dillen told me about before the Marji Gesick.

Its another beautiful day, the sun is shining, and its time to get out there and ride. We get all packed up, thank our hosts, and off to the nearby waffle house for some breakfast. We get side tracked at a local coffee shop first.










Rode through town and had to grab a shot of the big moose bush on the way out of town. 

The other interesting thing in this town was the train and the huge amount of tourists.

People were everywhere as the train looked to be loading up to depart shortly.

Onto waffle house we go and find that everyone else in town also had the same idea.

Took a bit to get a seat, but in normal WH fashion the food is fast and tasty. Proceed to eat a boat load of calories and get filled up and ready to ride back to Mulberry Gap.

I think it was 40 miles or so that we had left and the weather looked perfect to end this weekend adventure.


We are off on rolling roads for a while before he head out into the woods back onto some more gravel double track. Make a wrong turn after a tall climb and drop down into someones yard and are greeted by a handful of large angry dogs. We quickly change direction and scurry up the road and try a different direction. This leads us up a tough steep climb to find a road close sign.

We decide to see whats ahead since we don't really have any other known options at this point. Keep pushing on to find that the road has washed away, but not too much that we cant pass.

We continue pushing up the road and pop out on another paved road and keep pedaling. Time passes and I am just enjoying the ride and the sights. After a while we come up on a bridge and decide to walk down to the creek and eat a snack.

Hanging out snacking under the bridge

We get going again and once again have to stop to grab a quick picture as its just too nice not to.

We roll on for a while longer and get to a point where we can turn right to take the final gravel road back to Mulberry or we can stay straight and climb the mountain back up to the top of the Pinhoti trail we popped out on during the start and get some proper climbing and descending in to wrap up the day. We stay straight and start heading up the climb.

Not sure what this road was, but it was fairly busy and seemed to go on forever. We climb and climb some more and the road just seems to keep twisting upward. Finally we see the lookout up ahead on the right and decide to stop off and grab some pics before we get back to the single track.

Off we go again, ride down the wooden stairs, and roll out back onto the main road for a bit more climbing before we hit the Pinhoti trail We get to the trail entrance, check all our gear is tight, and proceed to try and bomb down this way faster than I should on a loaded bike.

One thing about the trail is none of it is all downhill. We rip down some trail to then be greeted by a climb just steep enough to zap you a bit. This goes on for a number of miles and we are having a blast on this final leg. We pop out of the trail, hang a left, and its the final stretch back to Mulberry Gap.

We get there to find a decent number of people hanging out and chatting about the race. I sit for a few, but then its time to grab a shower and get a bit cleaned up for the drive home. Clean up and head back to hang out and talk with the group for a few more before loading up and heading home.

The Aftermath

As I start the drive home it is a bit overwhelming to think about all the adventure I just experienced in a few short days as well as how much I missed the family and was ready to get home. I have done a decent number of events and rides across the country over the last few years, but this seemed to be by far the most fun I had ever had out on my bike. There were no time cutoffs or course markings to follow, there was a map and the unknown adventure down the road.

There were a large number of 100 mile NUE events on the schedule for this year, but since this experience and a couple other bike packing adventures I have had since this I think that schedule will be changing a bit. The long drives for shorter rides will be replaced more with shorter drives and longer epic rides.

If you are looking for an adventure that will push you beyond your limits and at the same time be more fun than anything you have tried before then I would highly recommend giving bike packing a try.

I want to give a huge thanks to Dustin Welch for showing me just how fun going out and adventuring on your bike can be regardless if you stick to the original plan or not. This was an awesome adventure and has inspired me to push my limits further and get out there and stop just racing and have an awesome adventure first and foremost!

2018 Huracan 300 Ride Report

The Huracan was my second attempt at a bike packing ride/race. I attempted the Cohutta Cat in GA at the end of last year and learned a ton of lessons about gear, pace, etc.

The biggest thing that I learned in my first attempt on these is that there are a ton of awesome people out on these adventures and someone you talk to for 5 min can turn into a new friend that you talk with and see at the different events. These are not the 100 mile efforts I have become accustomed to and seem to require a very different approach both physically and mentally.

I used my Trek Stache for the first trip which was great for comfort, but proved a good bit heavier and less maneuverable then my smaller tire bikes I am used to. My wife Rebeccca has been riding and racing a Trek Procaliber for a couple years now and absolutely loves it. Since I was opting for gears and lighter weight on this adventure that bike was a good fit. My new 9.8 arrived less than a week before the race and my new bags arrived just days before I left so no real time for gear testing.

On my first trip I used all revelate bags and they did great. For this trip I made a number of changes to maximize storage as well as have full use of my dropper post.

I used the following bags on this trip.

• Frame bag - Custom Rogue Panda w/ water bottle boss mounting
• Seat bag - Rockgeist dropper bag
• Cockpit - Rockgeist feedbag, Rockgeist front harness and front feedbag, 2 x Revelate feed cans

All of these bags did great and I would highly recommend checking them out if in the market for new gear. It was cool to learn that Rockgeist is right up the street in Asheville, NC so nice to have some local gear makers.

Rebecca and my youngest Connor came down for this trip to enjoy the Santos trails and nice mild winter temps. We arrived later Friday afternoon and there were already a large number people shuffling about.
All the gear was about packed and ready and it was time for some Mexican before hitting the sack.

For some reason I slept better than I had in months and had no concerns of being up hours before the ride. Pulled the last of my things together and rolled to the start with about 30 seconds to spare.

Segment 1 - The race begins
After a few words from Carlos the group is sent off like a heard of wild animals. It is apparent fairly immediately that this is going to be a fast pace if I wanted to stay up with the front groups. I will realize later this may not have been the best idea. Dustin Welch and I planned to ride this together and stick to our planned pace. That went out the window when the larger group was keeping solid pace and you had shelter out of the crazy Florida wind. We got spit off the very front group after we all missed a turn. After this we dropped into a group of new friends (Justin, Glenn, Flynn) and hammered on together.

The pace stays hot as we navigate pavement, dirt, sandy singletrack, and maybe some hard pack. I start to feel the quads locking up about 40 miles in. This seems like a really bad thing considering I had about 300 miles still to go. I struggled to hold on at times, but was able to stay with the small pack until we reached the first control location around 45 miles maybe in.
Bought some waters, ate some food, and after about 10 minutes everyone was off and rolling again.

Segment 2 - Naked Water crossings and reroutes
We roll off at a bit more of a controlled pace, but Justin and Glenn were freight trains that just sat on the front and drove the pace. Seems like we were in some single and double track a lot through here.

I learned why such the hard push to start, that chest deep water crossing was around mile 90 or so and needed to get there before dark to cross. Knowing this helped me dig a bit deeper and push because who the hell wants to cross deep dark water crossings with gators at night.

We roll up on the party camp and this guy is yelling about a reroute that was sent out. I had not been checking email or any of that so it was news to me.

We make our way through the woods to the water crossing. Damn! it looks bigger than I expected. There are a couple guys stripping down naked to keep things dry. The thought of riding for hours to come in wet bibs was worse than stripping down and crossing some funky looking water so I chose the later. I will say despite being terribly uncomfortable doing it, I felt way better putting dry stuff back on to continue the day.
We pushed on to Control 2 at the Circle K and then grabbed some Wendys and a break.

Segment 3 -Getting lost around the lake and freezing
Once we arrived at Lake Apopka we had a navigational mishap that cost us an extra 7 miles or so. While on this loop Glens rear tire was taken out by some super sharp rocks in the trail. While we are sitting there you can hear the baby gators and frogs all around. Seeing some others pictures from the day it looks like it would have been nice to see during the day.

We are off and rolling again, we are at 15hr on the bike at this point and I am starting to wear down, but wanted to hang with the group that was trying to push to Clermont on the first day. At some point someone mentions there being another 27 miles to Clermont and it would probably take us a few hours. Dustin ad I decided that we would camp out on an overlook that was not far ahead. We were sitting at mile 135 on my computer. This stop would later prove to be a dumb move.

We actually brought no real sleep gear as we had planned on riding through the night. We each have a thin bivy sack and we posted up on the bench out on the lookout. Dont think either one of us slept much as the wind was cold as hell and we just laid there and froze until the morning.  In hind sight we should have just laid down for an hour and then got moving again.

We get moving again on day 2 and have the goal to push on to ridge manor. Things start to get a bit hazy here on details. I know we climbed what was called the FL Pyrenes. It was not near as bad as people described it, but it was very surprising considering we were in FL. I know we made it to Clermont, had some bad mexican food, bought some additional clothes and other supplies and we were off to the next reroute we were told about at Epic cycles.

During this time we are on some sketchy roads where drivers just dont give a F*** and seem to be buzzing us the whole time. I thought it was bad at home in SC, but this seemed way worse. The rain starts not long out of Clermont and is steady for the next several hours or so.

We pushed until about 4:30 that afternoon and came to a couple other riders taking shelter from the rain. We are soon joined by more riders coming to get out of the rain. Chris tells us that the bad rain is coming in the next couple hours and there is no shelter ahead for a ways. Again we made a lazy decision and decide to post up and nap for a few hours and then get going once the rain passes.

I am told here that if we push to ridge manor that we will have a possible deep water crossing at Marji's hole. The thought of that did not sound good at all and my vote was to push 20 miles to the next camp site and stay there for a few hours and leave early.

Chris and Judy pulled out just ahead of Dustin, myself, and yet another new friend Seth. The three of us blistered the next 20 miles at a race pace pace lining the super fun limestone roads through green swamp.
We arrived at the campsite in about an hour and a half and I was again ready to crash.
Dustin mentioned a couple other guys, Nick and Irmantas, would be coming through in a while as well.

I slept some that night and we still ended up getting a later start than anticipated. Before we roll out we meet another new friend, Opie, and we all hung out and shot the bull for a few and then left together.
Off we were again on Day 3 now with the goal of hitting lake lindsey mall and beyond.

Segment 4 - Clermont, and crazy drivers
I think on day three we were somewhere on this segment to start the day. I started losing track at this point. We were on green ways, double track, sugar sand, and probably some other surfaces during this time. We make our way down water rd at some point and that was loads of fun.

We navigate Marji's Hole and with some creative navigating around the right side we stayed dry in the crossing. It could have definitely been done at night with no issues.
What came next would not have been fun in the middle of the night. It was sand and more sand and then a bit more. About this point I am starting to realize that this terrain down here is just not my thing. We keep on pushing and grinding through this crap and eventually come out to ridge manor. We stop and I bought two gas station hot dogs that seemed like the best thing I had ever eaten. We eat and sit for a few more before pushing on to the lake lindsey control.

We enter croom and we ride what feels like forever. It was flowy for the most part, but by the end I wanted to tear of my fingernails from the monotony of those trails. There were some cool flowy and tech sections back there, but for the most part was one long pine needle trail. The one cool thing about the trail though was the length. I cant think of anywhere else I have ridden where you could have so many continuous miles of single track.

We make it  and right after pulling in another group comes rolling in and we see another one of those "Dont give a F***" drivers as a young lady was making the turn the car swerved around her honking and driving like an A**. We sit down order a sub, cuban, couple beers, and begin shoving our face.

At this point I start to not feel the best and just want to lay down and go to sleep. We sit for a while longer and then get going.

Segment 5 - Push to the end
Dustin and I only rode for another 5-10 miles and I had to pull off the side and take a break. We found a rock query and threw our sacks down for a couple hours and tried to sleep.

Yet again we were freezing and new we had to go. We get up and moving again keeping a nice super easy pace. We motor on and think crossed another big forest with a bunch of hard pack. We run across an SUV winching out of one of the many huge holes back there.

We roll into Inverness I think it is to stop and grab some supplies for the final 60 mile or so push. We stop at the racetrack and load up. We end up sitting longer than we should and the thought of a hotel comes up. We both puss out and decide to grab a few hours of sleep and crush the rest in the morning.

We find the Florida Motel is closest so we decide to give it a go. It looked a bit sketchy, but ended up being just fine and a nice change to get some actual sleep and a shower.

Never hear the 5AM alarm go off and look up to find it is 8AM. We are way behind and I need to get back to Santos by 1 so we can move the RV. We get ready, grab some quick food, and get on our way.

I had an urgency to wrap this thing up and felt refreshed from sleep. Threw on some music, got in the aero bars, and tried to drop the hammer. Pushing for a while I did not think to look and make sure Dustin was with me. He was nowhere in sight so was not sure how far ahead I was. I knew we had very little left and I felt like i needed a hard push on the final day.

I was on rail trail for a long time and running a fast pace. Once I start getting into the trails again I start to have some navigation problems due to all the turns around. Scream at some trees a few times and curse my lack of navigational prowess.

I kept pushing on and at some point was on some more technical flowy trails for a while. On some basic section of trail I had my front tire wash and face planted into the side of a bank. Rung the bell a bit, but no broken glasses so good to go.

At some point with about 15 miles to go one of my knees decides it is done riding. I could not walk on it or turn the pedals all the sudden. Never had this happen before so just go off the bike and stopped for a few minutes. Knee decided to work right so go on my way.

The last 15 miles felt like it took days and would just never end. Some more time goes by and I finally make it to the Santos trail head. Head to the RV to get a beer and head to the showers.

Dustin rolled in about 30 minutes after me and we all sat and chatted for a few before I needed to get the RV packed up to try and make it a few hours up the rd that night into GA.


Closing Thoughts
This is only my second bike packing event, but I believe I have found my new favorite events. There is just something about going out there unsupported for days and seeing awesome places and meeting cool people.

Marji Gesick Race Report - From a slow single speeder

Having read race reports from last year and now some from this year already it amazes me how all these folks are able to remember with such precision all the details of the trails, how they felt, etc.After racing most of the course I am further astounded by the details as I have a hard time remembering any of the trail names at all.

So this race report will have none of that juicy detail and clever writing. Just a dump of the random details I can remember to try and help someone else conquer this beast.

This is my 3rd year doing NUE and endurance type racing. I started racing and riding mountain bikes a few years ago so very green still. After my first Shenandoah 100 on my geared bike, I cracked the frame, and did the next one, Fools Gold 100, SS and have not gone back. After I did the Shenandoah 100 this year I was ready to throw my SS in the river and ride my geared bike that I had not ridden in a couple years. It was just too much flat and gravel road and not enough single track. Tried the geared bike twice after the race and quickly decided to give the MG100 a go on the SS as the bike just felt right and gears just feel strange anymore.

Below are the things I took this year:


Bike and Gear

• 2015 Trek Superfly SS Hard tail
• I9 Trail 32
• Maxxis Ikon 29x2.35
• Oval 32x24
• 100mm Fox Fork
• 2 Computers (Garmin 800, Lezyne Super GPS)

Hydration and Nutrition

• 100 oz Camelback
• 2 x 24 oz bottles
• Carborcocket Rasperry
• Tons of HoneyStinger products

Drop Tub

• 2 x Tubes
• Spare Premixed 100oz bladder
• 2 x Water bottles
• 3 x lights
• Bib and Jersey
• Socks
• Food
• Chain
• Sealant
• Portable battery
• Rain Jacket
• Arm/Leg Warmers
• Gloves
• Tubes
• Sealant

The following is my best recollection of the days to come

Wednesday - 9/20/17
Cole and Jeremy arrive a bit after 7:00, we load up and hit the road. Put in an 18hr drive the first night before stopping in some park and ride as a nasty storm is rolling in and I was too tired to try and drive through that.

Thursday - 9/21/17
Head out early and arrive in Marquette about 12:30 and ready to visit Border Grill for lunch. Awesome food and really nice place, onto the camp ground at Tourist Park.

Get checked in, find the campsite, and then off to do some pre riding Harlow Lake trails.








Drop off Cole at the skate park and into the woods we go in the RV. Road was tight and we started wondering if we were going to the right place.


We backed off in a cut off in the road and parked to find the trail head. RV looked like something from breaking bad parked in the woods. Found the trail, ended up going to see top of the world and riding down most of it. After that was the old railroad bed and then a mix of different terrain for the rest of the ride.





Top of the World











18 miles later we are back at the RV and had done a mix of flow and chunky trails. Some of the trails were like riding in Croft State Park near home with all the pine needles and more flow rooty trail. Then you had the railroad ties and some other really chunky sharp rock sections. Saw nothing that was terribly difficult on that route.

The day draws to an end with another nice sunset

Friday - 9/22/17
Next day Jeremy and I go to pre ride with Scott Mormon and David Jolin at the South Trails Pavilion. These guys have been here before and know the route we are taking. We do a number of trails including the Mt. Marquette rd climb. That was a nice walk for me. We end up doing another 10 miles that day and I get a good taste of the sweet downhill, but a bigger taste of the chunky HAB that I probably have in store.

Knew that buckle was not a thing for me after seeing some of the course, not that I really ever thought it was a thing, but figured finishing should not be out of the question based on other races I have done. After the Pisgah Stage race and the Pisgah 111k I did not believe that there could be trails that were gnarlier than what I had ridden in Pisgah. How wrong I will find that statement to be later.

We get back to the campsite and start getting things organized for the next days race.





The sky gets dark and then the downpour starts for at least 3 hours.









It was long enough for everything to puddle up and get soaked. This made me very nervous for the race to come if the trails were going to be slick. What I already rode was tough and it was dry. I find later that what I had already ridden was not to be the toughest trail by a long shot.

Rain stops and then we have to figure out how to get to packet pickup without driving the RV. We did not bring a car or plan any type of support or transportation to the race. Figured worst case we could just drive the RV.

No ubers to be found, but the local taxi company has vans and will haul bikes. So we call the cab to get a lift to packet pickup and figure we now have race day transportation covered.




Get to packet pickup, pickup stuff, eat some more burritos.









Back to camp we go to get organized, one more great sunset pic, and head to bed.





The calm before the storm










Saturday - 9/22/17 - RACE DAY
4:00AM rolls around and alarms go off. Start getting coffee and food moving so everything will also get moving before the adventure starts. Confirmed with the cab that they will be there at 6 which will give us plenty of time to drive the 5 miles to the race start in time.

We get everything ready to load up and are ready for the cab.Jeremy gets nervous that the cab will show late and we see a guy in a truck heading out with only 1 bike and plenty of room. Jeremy takes off across the field to catch him at the exit. He comes riding back, we have a new ride, need to hurry. We grab our drop bags and get across the field and loaded up.

The couple that we are riding with are super nice and have been to the race before. Once of them is volunteering I think. We are talking about the race and then realize we have been driving for a while when the passenger up front mentions what they think is the start location and we realize that we are not going to the right place. We thought they knew the way, but they had mixed up the address. Luckily we knew the right location. Unfortunately no cell or GPS for the first time since being up there. We go back the way we came, get signal, route picks up, and start toward the start area. We end up on a crazy rough jeep road that seemed like it was too rough for the truck to even make it, but the driver motored through it and 10 min later we pop out where we should be at the start.

Get the bikes checked in, drop bags dropped, handful of bathroom visits and its about time for the run. Had heard reports it was extended to 1 mile, but seemed like the .4 that was advertised. Met a fellow SS, Jeff Bliss, and we chat about the race for a few.

Everyone getting ready to run









The bottle rocket goes off and everyone starts running, except Jeff and I. I am walking a slow pace and it is even too slow for Jeff so he starts to run some. Jeremy probably took off with the fast guys since he likes to run.

I get passed by everyone and am the last guy to come back into the staging area. Get pack and helmet on and start out at more of a snails pace.

Start catching up with people slowly. Seems like the bulk of the field has really taken off. I keep my pace as planned and keep turning over the pedals.





Get to the top of a climb at the powerline and stop to take in the view








These trails had a mixture of pine needle covered trails around harlow lake and then some nice chunky sutff on a trail I cant remember the name of.

I ride a bunch of different stuff that I had ridden the first day I was here. They were to be the most mellow trails of the day.










Get to the Marquette Mountain climb, walk about all of it, then you get to this awesome look out that makes the climb well worth the effort.

Once we get over to the South trails we get to some chunkier rocky stuff that is great. These were some awesome trails to ride and very rocky and rooty. At some point between here and mile 30 I catch back up with Jeff from the start and we ride and walk the next miles until we get to about the 30 miles mark and the first stocked area at the pavilion.

Jeremy is there already when we pull up. I then find he had been there for an hour or more already. We eat some food and refill our packs and bottles trying not to hang out too long. Try to pep Jeremy and Jeff up to keep plugging. Its is stupid hot and it has already made an impact. The three of us head out together to try and conquer the next leg of this beast.

Jeremy is feeling better than us at this point as he disappears on most of the climbs we come to and we catch up with him waiting later. We ride a bunch of stuff for the next 20 miles and come back out to the road again. At this point Jeremy decides to call it a day since he knows he is only a few miles from the campground where we are.

I try to convince him to keep plugging, but the heat and this course have taken their toll. Looking back he was the smartest one in the group at that point.

Jeff and I push on hill after hill. I could not believe that we really did seem to be going up the entire way. We are both running out of fluids again as you just could not drink enough in the heat.  Grab some water in a steam we pass reluctantly, but you gotta have fluids. We make it to the Lowes with the hopes of their being an unofficial aid station there.

No luck, only some sag vehicles for other racers. Jeff wants to push through the parking lot to see if there is anything further up. I decide to cross the highway and buy enough Gatorade to fill my pack and bottles. The crap is terrible for you, but sounded really good at the time.

Fill everything up, cross the highway, and back on the course. After going under the highway there is still no water or aid so made the right call filling my stuff up. Again ride for a while alone before coming back up to Jeff again. We ride and then come to the second chip location. We stop, eat, drink and hang out for a few at the chip stand.

Not really tracking miles at this point as much as paying attention to time. We keep calculating that at the pace we are doing we are looking at around a 15hr finish time. Quickly try to change the subject and keep positive that time does not matter and just need to keep riding steady.

Once again we are both out of fluids and hoping that we will be coming up on the worst aid station soon. We just keep climbing and walking for what feels like forever. We pop out on another trail and there is a cardboard box that says "Worst aid station" Jeff worries that this is it and we are so late they already left. Then we notice the sign has an arrow on it pointing down the trail. We head that direction and luckily the aid station is not too far off.

This was the best thing I had seen all day and I knew we were not far from the drop bag now at mile 68 or whatever it really was. These folks at the aid station were fantastic! They had cold rags, beer, grilled cheese, and a bunch of other stuff that was perfect. We sat and drank a couple beers, ate grilled cheese, and enjoyed cold rags on the neck. Popped a couple beers in my pack to leave at the drop bag as I figured I may need them soon enough.

Headed out for what we were told were the easiest 8 or 9 miles of the day. This did actually turn out to be true. It was nice to have just flatter gravel and sandy roads instead of the constant onslaught of technical goodness. Jeff got a second wind and seemed motivated to get to the drop bag. I held my pace and ended up riding and chatting with an older guy who said he was planning to drop at the drop bag.

At this point I still felt fairly good physically and was keeping positive mentally. We arrive at the drop bag location and I find Jeff looking like he has been there for a while. He tells me that he decided to call it quits. I tried to convince him it was a good idea to continue on and that was only had 40 to go. This was probably one of Jeff's better decisions of the day looking back.

I put on a fresh bib and jersey because somehow when its 90 degrees I was still managing to get cold chills every now and then. Get all my nutrition refilled, load up food, get my two additional lights loaded up, try to convince Jeff one more time to go, he wisely refuses, and off I go to start this next 20 mile or so loop.

As you start up the road you are riding up the remnants of the old town streets. There are brick walls with stairs that just lead up into the woods. It is kind of spooky and weird and your mind starts to wonder. About that time the course turns you up into the woods and you have to walk up one of these stair sets to start into the Humpty Dumpy trail I think it may have been.

I ride and walk, probably more walking than riding, and I keep trudging on and the sun starts to go down quick. I make it to what i think is the top of a climb that has some nice views and exposure.I ride for some amount of time and then it is all the sudden pitch black. I will say I am not really the biggest fan of night solo riding. There are some sections on the trail I come to that seem to be no more than six inches wide and on the side of the mountain. There are a number of nice views and areas that you could easily just fall off the edge and nobody would know you are there.

I start riding with a guy, name unknown now, we are together for a while, we chat a bit and he tells me how he is the last of his group he came with and that he is going to finish. Some miles pass and I get a little separation on one of the climbs. I get to the top and wait for him to get there. I see a light coming up and start talking to then find out this is a different person. I ask if he passed another guy not far back as he was not far behind. He says he has not passed anyone in a while and then asks if I might be hallucinating. I assure him that I was riding and talking to someone, but it makes me question myself at this point.

The whole time we are riding on this loop of the race you can hear the band playing at the finish line and if you listen close could probably hear beer being drunk. This was one of the aspects of this race that made it such a mind screw. At any time you were never far from a bail out point or somewhere that made it real easy to just quit.

We continue on for mile after mile and climb after climb. I swear it just took us up and down the same damn hill but on a different trail. This goes on for hours and again we seem to be doing more walking than riding as even the slightest uphill feels like it is a 20 degree grade. On and on we go, the course goes back to the main road and passes directly in front of the finish line. The music is playing, you can smell food, and they make it so tempting to just turn in and call it a day.  Some others that were back and forth with us on the trail turn off at the finish and call it a night.

I couldn't tell you what trails we were on, how many times we climbed and descended, or really even where I was at. One minute you felt you were on top of a mountain and the next you were dropping in behind houses that were in the city, and then back into the woods again. This went on and on and we never did run into the 3rd chip location.

During this time the second light on my bar flies off the mount without me noticing and shortly after the light on my helmet goes out. This leaves me with a single light to finish this loop and possibly attempt the remaining 16 miles. Not too long after this my main light starts blinking that its getting low. Now I am worried I will even make it back to the drop bag with a working light.

At this point we are nearing 1:00 AM, so I have been up since 4:00 and on the trail now for about 18 hours. In and out of the woods and we go and then we got ready to follow the trail back into the woods again and I told the guy I was riding with that I was not going back in those woods again as I did not think I could hike another hill. He agreed and we backtracked the trail we were on a bit and found are way back to the road and the path back to the bag drop. As we are riding I mention that I have no ride back to the campsite. My plan had been an Taxi back, but at this time a night and 30 miles from camp it looked bleak.

I guess the cosmic wave worked out this time as the guy said his buddy that was coming to get him could give me a lift back to the campsite. Not that I needed it, but this sealed the deal that I was calling it quits once we got back.

We pulled back into the bag drop and it now about 1:00AM or so. It had taken me 18hr to make it a total of 91 miles, or that is what the computer told me anyway. I have terrible cold chills at this point so I throw the bike down and start shedding the wet layers and putting on my spare clothes. I ball up in the fetal position trying to get warm and make these damn chills go away.

I lay there curled up for about an hour or so maybe before the ride gets there. We get loaded and head out on the 30 minute drive back to camp. Arrive, get unloaded, thank these guys for the ride back and start looking for the fastest way to the shower.

I open the door to the RV and feel an arctic blast hit me and I immediately go back to shaking. Figure i may have to use the campground at this point as its just too cold. Make it inside eventually, get cleaned up and made it to bed about 3:00AM. This was by far the longest I have ever been awake or riding my bike so I pushed myself farther than ever before.

I have only failed to finish one other event since I started trying endurance events so having to call it quits really sucked. But I had broken down mentally and after that its seems way easier for the body to quit.

Even though I did not finish it was probably the best race that I have done to date. The single track was the best I have ever ridden and the way the trail systems are built are just awesome and a blast to ride. Unlike most of the other NUE events this was actually primarily single track riding instead of the 50-70 percent gravel of the other events I have done. If you are looking for a true adventure and you really love riding sweet technical single track then this is the race for you.

I will be back again next year to try and tackle this race again. Only this time armed with a lot more knowledge and experience on my side.


Lessons Learned

• Make sure your lights are very securely attached. I lost two lights from my bars over the course of the day and did not notice in time to go back
• Have SAG support - There are trail angel stations out there, but later in the race the amount of support seemed to dwindle. There was not station setup at Lowes as I had heard there would be. As it states, this is self supported.
• Leave GPS at Drop bag location for final 16 miles. The course marking were really good and my Garmin died after 8-9hrs. Luckily had a second computer to track mileage knowing the garmin would only have 13hr or so max
• Take gears - I love my SS and the thought of riding gears does not appeal to me. I did take a geared bike with me up there, but decided to stick with the SS. Looking back it would have been better to try this course with gears first. Too many steep climbs to stay on the bike. By about mile 75 I was having to walk even the most minor of grades. 
• Leave Spare Kit and Jersey - This worked out well and was nice to be able to change and try to tackle the remaining miles
• Dont start too slow - I started way slower than I ever do and this hurt me by just making my time out on the trail so much longer. The last 40 miles are definitely the toughest, but dont save to much. You are going to be spent and hurting by time you get to mile 68 whether you push it harder or extra slow. Extra slow just guarantees you will be out there a looong time.