The memories are still fresh in my mind, and the pain is still very real.
This race/adventure is two 12 hour events with a 6 hour break in between. The first stage of the race starts at 12 Noon on Saturday and ends at 12 Midnight on Sunday morning. Then you get a few hours of sleep before you have to start again at 6AM Sunday and end at 6PM on Sunday. The goal is to make it to as many check points and back before your time has elapsed. The maximum check points are 10.5 in one stage.
Well team formally known as Trippin on Lactic Acid, now team PoooSaaaaay, started out good. The first test of stage 1 was a time trail to some point near the parkway. The details of the location escape me, but it went something like up Claw – down Buckhorn, up South Mills to the parkway, somewhere around there we got to the passports. From there we plotted our course with took us through pink beds (great trail) and then to the parkway for a long climb up near the Pisgah Inn. It was cold and windy the entire time. Every bit of clothing I had packed was now being worn. I bet the wind was gusting at 30-40mph and the chill was close to freezing. Eventually we found the trail head to Mt. Pisgah which was a 1.5 mile hike to the tower, and then we descended to Laurel. It was great how at the top of the parkway you could see that most trees have lost their leaves and as you went down the leaves would change colors. It was the perfect weekend for this event. Coming down Laurel I had a bit of a miscalculation and went down the side of the mountain. I stopped resting on a log that left a big honking bruise on leg. See:
I pulled myself together and rocked on. For some reason I was off all weekend and could not get any confidence. I think Broussard had some Cajun voodoo going on. Then we went down 5015 for the mandatory check pt. From there we hit Squirrel gap which is tough, but really tough in the dark, down Cantrell and then along S. Mills River. I hope I never do that trail again. There are too many deep river crossings and it is way overgrown. Not to mention it was so rocky that I could not get my speed over 4 mph on a flat trail. The temperature had to be in the lower 40s and getting the feet wet made it that much worse. Finally we made it past the Squirrel gap intersection and up S.Mills to Buckhorn. Fueled by a desire not to DNF I started climbing. Jonathan, who had been dragging me most of the day, hit the wall. By the time we got to the Black Mountain/Buckhorn intersection we had about 20 minutes to descend Claw hammer and make it back. We started cruising in the big ring yelling NO DNF the whole way. We made it back with 1 minute to spare. The race goes on.
Afterwards I ate some food and headed into town to let my wife know that I was still alive and she could stop worrying. I got into bed around 1:30AM.
Around 5AM I hear Eric, the evil genius that orchestrated this event, riding through camp ringing cow bells. So Jonathan gets up and starts to try to wake me. I was not going to go, but he kept at it not taking no for an answer. Thankfully he did. We started our next stage at 6:30AM that morning. It was really cold and dark. Everything hurts and I know I have a long day ahead of me. I had a feeling we would be going up most of the day. Sure enough the time trial is to the top of Pilot Mountain which is at the top of Farlow. It took up 2 hours to get to this section and I walked a lot of gravel. By the way that sucks. Finally to the top and there are no Passports. We have to go up to Ivester Gap to get those. Now I am deep in the pain cave and know that we have to go another 1.5 hours up to elevation 5000’. We have been there before and it takes hiking up Art Lob to the parkway and then a lot of road climbing. Then the double track rocky trail begins. We get there and find out that it is the mandatory check point. Great, now all we have to do is descend the parkway, then 276 and we are home with no DNF. That would be too easy. Jonathan had other plans. (He impresses me how he seems to get stronger as the event goes on). He wanted to get at least two other check points. So we did more hike a bike and more hike a bike. Did you know that kicking with a bike down hill hurts almost as much as going up? Sure does. Finally we get the Daniel ridge were we ride up for a while, get another check point, and descend. Now at the fish hatchery we can ride to the camp no problem. But no, Jonathan wants another checkpoint. So we hike straight up to Bennett Gap. Normally this is a great descent, but this time it was all pain. My toes were cramping up. My knees were locked up. Everything hurts! Finally at the bottom and to the finish.
We rode over 100 miles on bike and easily hiked 15 miles. Total time out was 21 hours with a ride time around 15 hours and 11 CPs total.
Now that I have had time to reflect on the race, I am proud of this accomplishment. All of the teams that go out for Pisgah Production Races are asking for pain, and Eric is happy to provide it. We finished a race that we DNFed last year and that is a victory in my book.
Unfortunately I think it is time for a new partner. Jonathan has taken his endurance game to another level, and I can not hang. Thank you for putting up with my mental breakdowns on Sunday and taking us to the finish.
To all teams that raced this weekend… You Rock!
This race/adventure is two 12 hour events with a 6 hour break in between. The first stage of the race starts at 12 Noon on Saturday and ends at 12 Midnight on Sunday morning. Then you get a few hours of sleep before you have to start again at 6AM Sunday and end at 6PM on Sunday. The goal is to make it to as many check points and back before your time has elapsed. The maximum check points are 10.5 in one stage.
Well team formally known as Trippin on Lactic Acid, now team PoooSaaaaay, started out good. The first test of stage 1 was a time trail to some point near the parkway. The details of the location escape me, but it went something like up Claw – down Buckhorn, up South Mills to the parkway, somewhere around there we got to the passports. From there we plotted our course with took us through pink beds (great trail) and then to the parkway for a long climb up near the Pisgah Inn. It was cold and windy the entire time. Every bit of clothing I had packed was now being worn. I bet the wind was gusting at 30-40mph and the chill was close to freezing. Eventually we found the trail head to Mt. Pisgah which was a 1.5 mile hike to the tower, and then we descended to Laurel. It was great how at the top of the parkway you could see that most trees have lost their leaves and as you went down the leaves would change colors. It was the perfect weekend for this event. Coming down Laurel I had a bit of a miscalculation and went down the side of the mountain. I stopped resting on a log that left a big honking bruise on leg. See:
I pulled myself together and rocked on. For some reason I was off all weekend and could not get any confidence. I think Broussard had some Cajun voodoo going on. Then we went down 5015 for the mandatory check pt. From there we hit Squirrel gap which is tough, but really tough in the dark, down Cantrell and then along S. Mills River. I hope I never do that trail again. There are too many deep river crossings and it is way overgrown. Not to mention it was so rocky that I could not get my speed over 4 mph on a flat trail. The temperature had to be in the lower 40s and getting the feet wet made it that much worse. Finally we made it past the Squirrel gap intersection and up S.Mills to Buckhorn. Fueled by a desire not to DNF I started climbing. Jonathan, who had been dragging me most of the day, hit the wall. By the time we got to the Black Mountain/Buckhorn intersection we had about 20 minutes to descend Claw hammer and make it back. We started cruising in the big ring yelling NO DNF the whole way. We made it back with 1 minute to spare. The race goes on.
Afterwards I ate some food and headed into town to let my wife know that I was still alive and she could stop worrying. I got into bed around 1:30AM.
Around 5AM I hear Eric, the evil genius that orchestrated this event, riding through camp ringing cow bells. So Jonathan gets up and starts to try to wake me. I was not going to go, but he kept at it not taking no for an answer. Thankfully he did. We started our next stage at 6:30AM that morning. It was really cold and dark. Everything hurts and I know I have a long day ahead of me. I had a feeling we would be going up most of the day. Sure enough the time trial is to the top of Pilot Mountain which is at the top of Farlow. It took up 2 hours to get to this section and I walked a lot of gravel. By the way that sucks. Finally to the top and there are no Passports. We have to go up to Ivester Gap to get those. Now I am deep in the pain cave and know that we have to go another 1.5 hours up to elevation 5000’. We have been there before and it takes hiking up Art Lob to the parkway and then a lot of road climbing. Then the double track rocky trail begins. We get there and find out that it is the mandatory check point. Great, now all we have to do is descend the parkway, then 276 and we are home with no DNF. That would be too easy. Jonathan had other plans. (He impresses me how he seems to get stronger as the event goes on). He wanted to get at least two other check points. So we did more hike a bike and more hike a bike. Did you know that kicking with a bike down hill hurts almost as much as going up? Sure does. Finally we get the Daniel ridge were we ride up for a while, get another check point, and descend. Now at the fish hatchery we can ride to the camp no problem. But no, Jonathan wants another checkpoint. So we hike straight up to Bennett Gap. Normally this is a great descent, but this time it was all pain. My toes were cramping up. My knees were locked up. Everything hurts! Finally at the bottom and to the finish.
We rode over 100 miles on bike and easily hiked 15 miles. Total time out was 21 hours with a ride time around 15 hours and 11 CPs total.
Now that I have had time to reflect on the race, I am proud of this accomplishment. All of the teams that go out for Pisgah Production Races are asking for pain, and Eric is happy to provide it. We finished a race that we DNFed last year and that is a victory in my book.
Unfortunately I think it is time for a new partner. Jonathan has taken his endurance game to another level, and I can not hang. Thank you for putting up with my mental breakdowns on Sunday and taking us to the finish.
To all teams that raced this weekend… You Rock!
Thanks to Eric and all of the volunteers for putting on a great event.
I will do a photo dump as soon as I get some of the pics from Jonathan.
2 comments:
congratulations Joe.
Good Job Joe.
Putting up Leroy's shit talk all day can be demoralizing.
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