PMBAR 2008 #3

As they say, “3rd time is the charm”.

(You want some of this?)

(No. How about some of this)

Team “Trippin on Lactic Acid” has successfully completed our 3rd PMBAR against all odds. My back injuries this season have really been the ups and downs. Fortunately, self prescribed physical therapy and some help from my Chiropractor have me back the right track. My partner, Tomato, has had his own set of challenges from broken bikes to overuse injuries. Thankfully it all worked out, including the weather, for another great adventure.
This race was not like the others. I was calm, no expectations except to finish, and navigation spot on now that Tomato rides Pisgah like 2X a week for the last 2 years.
We received our passports and for the first time we glanced at the check points and started up Black Mountain. In the past we have marked all check points figured the route and then proceeded.
The ride/hike up Black Mountain is always painful. It is nearly 2 hours of uphill until we finally reached Turkey Pen. Just for the record, I Love Turkey Pen. This trail is miles of 6 inch wide single track with something like 12 gaps and only 3-4 of them are impossible for me to ride. It is one of the best roller coasters ever and the only price for admission is a climb up Black.
From there we stopped at the parking lot where a few other teams had gathered. Tomato gave me just enough time to pee and suck down some hammer gel before he was pushing for us to go. We were leaving just as Toby and Kenny were rolling up. A quick drop down some double track a left hand turn (Toby) and we got Check Point #1. We left there in a hurry and took a left up Laurel (???) We ran back into Toby and Kenny who seemed to be really confused. Tomato and I made the same mistake in ’06. We joked with them that they needed to follow us. As they were following my conscience got the best of me and I informed him to turn around, take a right and there was the check point. He would have done the same for us if the situation was flopped.
Down Laurel to Check Point #2. I am sure there were some turns in there, but thankfully my guide handled all of that. We then turned around and rode it back to Squirrel Gap. Supposedly this is a revered trail in Pisgah. If so you guys keep riding it and leave the other great stuff untouched. Maybe it is just me, but 2’ deep mud holes and nothing that really stands out as good single track just does not do it for me. Don’t get me wrong, this is like complaining about pizza or sex. It is still a trail in Pisgah! There are just handfuls of others that I prefer over Squirrel. Somewhere along Squirrel we reached CP#3.
At this point my spirits were High and I was feeling what I think was too much bleach in the water. We decided no filter this year; we will just chlorinate stream water. I think I over did it on the first bladder of water. None the less, the legs felt pretty good and it was now time to climb up to Black. I do not know the name of this trail, but it gradually ascends up to the Black Mountain Shelter. Last time I rode it was during Double Dare on the second day. This time I think we made it in half the time.
Right turn on Black, past the shelter, lots of hike a bike and then CP#4 at Club Gap. At this point I was feeling great. We have been on the bike for 6 hours and we have made the minimum # of CPs to complete the race. There was some talk of 5 check points or riding towards the BEER. We made the logical decision and rode towards the BEER.
So from Club Gap we turned around and hiked back up Black and descended all of the great single track we walked up before. Tomato nailed the stair drop at Clawhammer, while I walked it in front of some mouthy spectators. I made it to the beer before they did. Naa-nana-na-na.
Then the craziness hit. About halfway down Clawhammer I see something drop from Tomato’s bike. I think "what was that", and then I see him come to a complete stop. I asked him what it was as he pointed to his handle bar. At first it looked like the grip slipped off, but upon further investigation he broke it off at the end of the grip. Boy am I glad we did not go for 5 CPs. After some attempts to rig it we gave up and Tomato road out with one grip and hardly enough handlebar to pull the front break. He descended the rest of Clawhammer, Hammered up Maxwell Cove and then descended Black Mountain. MAD PROPS, that is crazy stuff. We were the 8th team to cross the line. We completed it in 7 hours and 38 minutes. Considering that 06 was 13:30 and 07 was 12:30 I am really pleased with our performance. After all the time bonuses were awarded we ended up 17th of 75 teams. What a great event!!!
I am thinking next year we go for all 7 CPs.

Can anyone say Double Dare?