“I Double Dare You!”

Last year Jonathon and I decided not to participate in the Double Dare because we were pretty much burnt out. In hind sight we would have done much better last year because I was in better shape and the course was easier. This year we decided that we should do it, but with low expectations. I am not sure what the definition of “Low Expectations” is, but I feel sure that we accomplished it.
Day 1 Jonathon and I arrived the day of the event, got ready and we rode. I mean I got ready and Jonathon left the start line with no backpack. Always an adventure…The day was good for me and painful for him. We went up for 3+ hours straight before ever decided to go down. It is really impressive to be able to look out over the Blue Ridge Parkway and see mountain ranges that you actually started your ride from.

That’s right; you see that bald rock down there. We started riding about 4 miles on the back side of that mountain. We ended up picking up passports 2 hours into the ride at the top of Farlow. That alone was 2000 feet worth of climbing. Then we managed to hike a bike up Art Loeb to the parkway where this picture was taken. The mandatory check point was at Ivestor Gap which ended up being one of the most beautiful places I have been. The view was forever and apparently blue berries grow up there. I heard they only grow at that elevation. I will have to check into that one.

Just check out the view behind Dave. We are way up there.
At this point Jonathon is spent so we take the most direct route back the camp site looking for the most single track. We decide to take Art Loeb back down (Hike a Bike of course), Farlow Down, and then Daniel Ridge down. That is one great decent. My ears were popping. We got back before dark and had time to hang before we called it a night.

Day 2 was not as good for me as it was for my partner. He woke up after the 3rd team had left and we decided to get ready. I ate a normal breakfast while Jonathan had a PBR and a Red Bull. I am starting to think he may be an alien. We were riding in what seemed to be 40 degree weather and I am dressed for it and still freezing, while he is just in a jersey and shorts. None the less we have missed our chance to be competitive so we decided to take the single track route instead on pavement and fire roads. We took Maxwell to Claw hammer to Black Mountain to Turkey Pen. Turkey has to be one of my favorite trails out in Pisgah. It has 12 gaps, which means it goes up 12 times and down 12 times. What a blast. From there we missed the mandatory check point and made our way up to 5015. That is when we got to Yellow Gap 4 hours later. I figure if we took the correct route we would have made it in 1.5 to 2 hours, but we had a good time going. From that point we knew that we had DNFed because we where not going back down 5015 to get the mandatory, so we set out to ride our own ride. My spirit was broken and I was ready to get finished. My partner had other ideas… He proceeded to drag me through Buckhorn up to Black Mountain. At this point I knew where I was and was not to be fooled again. He went left up Black and I went straight down Maxwell. Unbeknownst to me I passed two checkpoints on the way down. Twin Falls and Buckhorn. Oh well we DNFed any ways. (I do wish I would have snuck in that last little bit of single track.) When I got back I packed my stuff and hit the road. I was tapped and all I wanted was a shower and some hot food.
Jonathon, thanks for dragging me around on Sunday, (my birthday).

Now that I have had an uneventful season for the most part, I think I am ready for some riding and racing. Things are starting to look better job wise, so maybe I can use this painful experience to build from. There is a 12 hour race in Fort Mill on November 3rd that I am thinking of doing and there is still the Swank 65. I may even throw in some short track racing for the fun of it.
Bring the pain!