Ya. WTF. Everyone knows what that means. OMG, that one too.
IWMBD = It Was My Birth Day!
Sure was, I am now officially on the same carbon age level as dirt. I feel wealthy. Past few weeks I have had many adventures and have sat around many campfires surrounded by outstanding individuals. I have met lots of new people and made many new friends. Its been Outstanding.Shredalicious! On my B day, I got up at 6am, drove to Alafia River state park to go get my shred on, I wanted to see the sunrise and ride. Morrisssson joined the fun. He made this climb, I didnt. Eventually we were joined by others including Sandpine. Somehow my rear panaracer keeps coming off the rim. When this happened, the bike locked up and I jumped off the bike as if it was about to explode, and I thought the tube would, but nah, I was able to deflate it and then reinflate it at XC tire change speeed and roll out.. Birthday Cards, this was funny, got it from a co worker. This one came from my sons. And this one from my lovely wife. Not only did we have a fire, which proved to be a battle cause everything was wet, but my lovely wife got me a harry potter pinata full of genuine mexican and american candies, hilarious, thanks babe. My friends set it up, they sure do rock. Maggiii Me up to bat, I sucked at it today. Us by the camp fire in my back yard, it took like 2 hours but it got going eventually. Paloma was awesome at it she got some really good wacks in. Look at it FLY! Special Guest! Birthday DoRK in the flesh.
You have to be able to relate, this was one of the biggest challenges I ever faced and I came away smelling like roses.
First let me take a moment to say thanks:
1. Paloma: my nutritionist and head massage therapist and all around motivator and lead advisor. I am 100% convinced I would not be at the level I am now if it had not been for her direction advice and hardwork. She not only instrumented a philosophical awakening in my life, but also a physical awakening. Thank you my LOVE!
2. Team Bikeworks Orlando dot com, Specialized, Busby Flooring, Trane, McCree, Palmer Chiropractic, 4 seasons air conditioning, road I.D., and Native Skates thanks for your support and product. I honestly, truthfully, and wholeheartedly appreciate it. To all my sponsors, THANK YOU, I appreciate your support in 2008 and look forward to more in 2009.
3. To Eric Wever from Pisgah Productions. Thanks for letting a couple of rookies take on the course and the race, thanks for letting us race despite our lack of qualifications.
4. Steve "THE HAMMER" Wingo. Thanks so much for being able to tolerate a complete stranger for three days and having faith in our abilities to conquer this course as a team. Next time I will go BIG or go HOME, this time I wanted to FINISH, I wanted the BADGE OF HONOR.
5. To all my friends and family that lended spiritual and moral support, your words and encouragement and well wishes do not go unnoticed, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Now for what Worked:
Ergon pack works, I think I over pack it, but it still works.
200 oz Camelback bladder works, too much water for just any ride, but for out there, no worries.
My rear pack from Carousel design works well and it does what its intended to do.
My front pack works excellent, but I discovered I may have been using it beyond its intended means and overpacking it. Great part is Jeff took notes on my desired mods and will take the back and make the adjustments free of charge, that is professional service. As a result I will be getting a Frame pack and fuel cell very soon from him, check the dude out if you want to get into bikepacking anytime soon.
Salsa Mamasita, by far the best bike I have ever had, super plush in the mountains and the bike performed great in all conditions. I decided it will be the bike I race the divide on.
What I need to do different:
Train with my bike fully loaded as often as I can. If I plan to ride the GDR route with it I better just start training with it full, it made a huge difference pedaling a heavy ass bike versus an relatively light bike.
Stick to my nutrition plan especially before the race, cracker barrel really made me feel ill when I could of felt great.
Ride more and more and day in and day out, I need to get to the point where I can ride 100 miles a day every day, and I am still aways from that.
Side Effects:
Well, my elbow still is bruised I can feel it to the bone and so is my hip, when I press deep I can still feel the pain.
And I discovered after a couple of days, like on Monday, all though I was no longer sore, my brain was not firing right. I could feel the difference and felt a little off, I was not able to be as observant, I was mentally taken down a notch. This is a good thing for me to become aware, if I am ever OUT THERE for repeated, days and days, I need to keep in mind that my mental faculties may become impacted and I need to have a system in place to protect myself from that.
Overall, a real blast and totally what I wanted it to be. Next time I will work and push harder, I want to go for a respectable top ten finish which from what I hear is hard for a person who is not a local to do, maybe since we were the first non qualifiers to race it, we can be the first non locals to win it!
Man, I felt like I had spent the day working on my meditation techniques. When you visit a temple and you train for meditation it is common for the monks to slap the sh*t out of your back with a stick while you meditate to test your focus.
My Back was jacked. My lower back muscles were so tense I was amazed. I felt like I got caught in some hip hop beat down and I had no choice but to roll into a ball and let my back absorb the beating.
I contemplated trying to find an excuse for not getting up and doing the damn thing.
But I came with a goal. Tour the race, crack the nut, test the gear, have fun and FINISH.
So I motivated my bad self, did my thing and got dressed. I decided no front pack today and the smartest move I made was bring my other shoes. I slid my sidi's on and decided I was going to go into battle Undercover Kross Kountry Karateka. I donned my black warrior wool, donned my bibs under my baggy specialized shorts, I was coming to make fight today.
My knee tendon was tender and after stretching my back on the floor I actually felt revived. I was going to carry the weight I had in the front pack and add it to my Ergon pack. Thought it might help me climb, I still had the same weight, but distributed differently. I still used my rear pack, cause it was convenient and kicking alot of ass and I was really liking it.
Well, I was slapped in the face by the temperature and as we rolled up to the spot, I was pre dressed and layering up. I put it all on, but later discovered my second pair of wool socks is nowhere near as good as the first pair, no wonder I froze my feet off at Ididaride. I looked like a male model for specialized as I had the entire set on. The start happened fast, it was like at one moment, there was no one there, then he rings the cowbell and BAM! Racers appeared out of thin air.
We were off quick. The destination a time trial to the top of Pilot Mtn road, the very same road I cracked on the last time I was out here.
I was cold, tired, sore and miserable and here we are pedaling up hill. I could feel the Hate creeping in my heart, and the steeper it got, the more I started hating. Soon, again, finally after 70 plus miles in the mountains, I did it. I abandoned my 1 x9 philosophy clicked into the granny gear. I would ride, then stop, then ride then stop. Then ride then walk, then stop, then bitch and moan, then ride again, then hate and hate some more. I was over it.
Got to the top of pilot mtn road and saw Steve there bundled up in an Army jacket. He kinda looked like he had been rescued by the Red Cross.
I heard someone say the day before, that "just remember Eric is a sadistic Son of a B**Ch!". Well he was cruel as well. After climbing for 14 and a half miles straight, we now had to keep going up towards the intersection of Farlow Gap and Art Loeb Trail and then take the hiking trail to the parkway to Ivestor Gap. I was putting the food down a bowl of cereal was not enough fuel for the effort and ordeal I had just endured, so I ate my Avocado cheese and Turkey sandwich and 3 Snickers and some brownies and an Zone Bar. Calorie engorging process, I'm a scientist.
We started hiking up the side of the mountain. Steve disappeared again, I was happy he wasn't waiting on me to a point, but at the same time I thought it might of been nice to VENT with someone, cause now my heart was more full of HATE then EVER!!!!
At some point, I had mentally given up and I leaned against a tree with my bike placed haphazardly in the bushes as if I had grown upset with her. The sun was shining on me. I was sitting there absorbing the warmth evaluating just exactly what in the hell I was doing out there. I was like, "F***k this bike racing s**t, this is F****in Bull s***!, I was out of control.
My heart was to the brim and toppling over with hate. I then sent some text to my wife, venting, listened to a voice mail my friend left me, texted my friend Marcel, I was just kinda done.
Eventually I was like, Imma find Steve and Imma head back. So I'm walking and next thing I know, my bike wont move. Turns out that a rock kicked up and knocked my rear derailleur into my wheel.
I took a deep breath, hung the bike up in a tree by the seat Ala repair stand style. I pulled out my trusty blue park tool and with the flat head screwdriver, gently pried it out of my wheel. Got it back out, clicked thru the gears and got to more walking.
Got to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Finally, to find Steve enjoying his surroundings. I felt bad that he was having to wait for me, but I was truthfully doing my best here. We got onto riding pretty much right away and made our way up and down to Balsam Rock Road?, and we started climbing again. Kinda Sucky, Steve just riding away. Then at the top we find a bunch of racers and it turns out, despite what I thought was a painfully slow pace, we were not that far behind the "peloton" of riders. We made our way down this ridiculous Jeep road that was going to take us to the First and Mandatory checkpoint Ivestor Gap.
Once I got on this road, seems like my food engorging finally got processed and I started to put a little hammer down and actually liked the rock garden that the road had become; it was actually kind fun I was having a good time for the first time in the day. Everyone I passed, I suddenly found myself studying the beauty in everyone that crossed my path. People I normally would of found to be n0t so eye friendly, I was suddenly blessed with the heat seeking ability, to see their beauty.
It wasn't limited to people, I was seeing it in everything. The habitat made me think, that this is what it must be like to mountan bike on the moon. I had never ridden in a place that had that feeling. I knew we were at almost the highest point in the land cause as I looked around and I could see all the peaks and nothing taller then where I stood.
We made the mandatory checkpoint, we got our passports, we made our plans. The challenge the same as yesterdays but with a slingshot instead of a B B gun. I failed the special test, but I was overjoyed. I was elated, I was laying there enjoying the sun just happy and laughing and joking. My heart that had been full of hate, had now been filled to the brim with nothing but pure love. I was done suffering.
We started making our way back, Ridiculous 8 minute long downhill runs on the road in traffic. Then before I knew it kicked up again and Steve was gone again. We had made the plan to try to nab two more checkpoints for a total of 3 that would of gave us 8.5. The plan take the Blue Ridge Parkway to 276 to 477. So we got split up, I got to the spot and saw 276 and spotted a drainage ditch that I could ride in and decided to cut across. Hung a left on 276 and started big ring hammering down the mountain just flying, going so fast that at one point I caught up to a group of cars and descended the mountain in the draft of a jeep Cherokee, seemed appropriate at the moment.
Got to 477 and no Steve. At that moment I figured it out, he must have been waiting up at the actual road turn to 276 and couldn't see me and I couldn't see him. I was 11 miles down the road now and there was no way I was riding back up. So I cleared a spot in the sun and decided to take a nap. I rested and set my alarm for an hour, and after 40 minutes I got up and decided that since I didn't have a map and I didn't have the checkpoint list, my only choice was to go ahead and go for the one checkpoint I knew, take a pic and head back to the finish.
I grabbed a rock and wrote STEVE with an arrow on the ground and then wrote a message on a post telling him my plan hoping he would see it. As I started packing up and clipping my buckles on my pack, Steve pulls up. We discuss what happened and we take off.
The plan, as a result of our final rookie mistake for the race, we decided to go with my new plan and nab the checkpoint I knew.
My heart full of love, my stomach full of food, and my head a little more clearer, I started hammering the 477 fire road climb. Steve was right there, though he was a little off the pace. But he had also ridden a long ass climb twice looking for me after we got split up, so I figured that smoked him a little so I made sure to stay close even if it meant for me to ease up my pace here or there or once or twice.
We got going, rode Bennett gap which is a slice of technical marble cake and scored our checkpoint. At that point, every time I had ridden there, we hauled as down coontree to 276. Steve said, let's finish Bennett Gap. I had now been trusting his judgement for 20 hours I wasn't about to stop now. Bennett Gap turned out to be my second favorite trail of the ride. Downhill, flowy with sick gentle step drops, it was awesome. We hit the fire road and I made it clear to Steve that if for some reason this trail started pointing downhill that I would wait at the bottom and that I didn't want to cross the finish line without him.
Funny, just as we finish that conversation we make a turn, and Bam the finish line, our day two was done, we were alive, strong and finished at 430 something on Sunday.
We said our goodbyes and thank yous and drank some awesome Organic Beer, and rolled out. Got cleaned up and hung out with my three most favorite North Carolina Residents Ed and Jiff and the BABY. We went and had some ridiculous good Thai food and I tried to score us free desert and I was cutting it up, SO HIGH off my endorphins, I felt like the mission was accomplished.
I will go BAck who's coming with me!!!
Part 3 the reflections and musings is last. LATERS, LOS
If that is what Ultra means and that is what Endurance means, then what I got the chance to experience this weekend certainly fits the bill.
Man, the pennies are tight around here.
I dropped Steve a line letting him know that I didn't think I could make it, money was just not there.
This race is free though. And there are no prizes. Technically to even enter the race you have had to have raced the qualifying race PMBAR.
Eric, the creator or the simply the man who decided to bring this type of racing to Pisgah Forest is a genius, Nuff Said. A race where there is no set route. A course that the only thing that exist is self policed restrictions as to what routes cannot be taken or what trails cannot be traveled. It is a race of HONOR a race of PRIDE.
But PMBAR is only part one. PMBAR is the bunny race.
If PMBAR is the bunny race, then The Most Horrible Thing Ever is the double black diamond of all double black diamonds.
To qualify for PMBAR you just need to sign up and make the cut off, to Qualify for the Double Dare you need to complete a PMBAR to qualify for THE MOST HORRIBLE THING EVER, you need to have completed a Double D.
Steve and I had something in common when we first conversed on the MTBforum. We had not done any of the races at all.
This would be my third showing at Pisgah in one year and my first race ever with this format.
Both Stages start at the White Pines Campground. Stage 1 at 12pm on Saturday October 18Th.
A time trial is first task that takes you to the next staging area where you receive your passport that contains descriptions and a snap shot of the location on the map of the checkpoint.
The time trial, special task and the Mandatory checkpoints are the only required stops or task. The other 10 locations littered throughout the forest are optional. There was also a special test that could net you extra points. But the goal is to get as many checkpoints as possible and return to camp before the 12am cut off.
There is no SAG wagon or SAG stops. There are no certain sources of water so you have to have a filter or iodine pills. There is no convenience stores on the course. You have to carry the required gear and all your food and water. I was itching to test out some of my touring gear, but going, just didn't seem possible.
But, Steve offered to help me get up there and help me live out a dream before the years end. And somehow Steve managed to get us in a race that we technically had not "officially" qualified for. And Steve had the Baddest ass land plot that we got to stay at and Steve could climb and read a map all I had to do was RIDE.
So we met up and got up on the road, the Bird went to P city to visit the Family, I met him On Eye Ten and we headed up. We had never even really spoke more then ten or twenty minutes so it proved to be a good chance to get to know one another and discuss strategy. Looking back I feel like I was smack talking myself, not really knowing what challenges laid ahead.
We got there on time, had breakfast at Cracker Barrel(which I later regretted, made me feel sluggish), and we got checked in. They checked all are required gear and we readied ourselves. In the pre race meeting they told us we had to time trial to some place. And that we would be released in reverse order with a 2 minute gap for each. The difference between the slowest and the fastest would determine the time bonus.
My bike felt pretty heavy loaded down with all the stuff that I CHOSE to carry to kinda practice what It would be like to ride with a load(GDR practice, nerd right!). And immediately the route kicked up hill. I wasn't diggin it too much, I wanted to go fast but I had turned my 25lb bike into a 35lb beast. It was ROUGH. But I gritted my teeth and eventually we made it to the end. There we got checked in and they gave us our passports. I immediately went to eating cause I was already feeling the ass kickin.
Steve laid out the map and we decided to mark all the points and strategize. Well so much for that crap, cause we pretty much went the least strategic route from the start. That's Hindsight talking. Cause next thing we knew after we rolled out, we were riding some pretty sweet single track right next to a river. It was beautiful and I was feeling the high of being dwarfed by the magnificence that surrounded me.
It went pretty good when all the sudden we crossed this really nice little bridge, and I was just so high and happy to not be climbing and riding on the road or a forest road, that I was just froggy. Well, we had a choice. Follow S mill river or take Squirrel Gap. This proved to be our Rookie mistake Number two as we chose to continue on S Mill River.
This trail at parts was like an old creekbed. Very rocky and technical for miles. I was diggin it cause I am used to riding in adverse conditions. But it gets different when the trail dips and when the leaves are hiding what may be the obvious safe path. Rocky, rooty O and add Ridiculous Deep and frequent Creek Crossings for good measure. Creek Crossings in Cold weather is a combination as deadly as that old geezer and the ditsy chick that are running for president. Something you don't really want to ever have happened to you but if it does you kinda deal with it. That's the first product propers and lesson I learned from this trip, next time carry extra socks and make sure they are the same thick wool as the ones I had on. Even when they were wet they managed to keep my feet warm.
Steve's navigation skills were extraordinary. We got to a spot where there was another deep creek crossing OR you could continue along the river. Steve looked at the map and decided to continue North.
He made the right call as we scored another checkpoint and then immediately started making our way up the mountain to the next one. It was pretty much take this trail and we will get to the next one. Well were going up, not bad, the entire day I was riding 1 x9 style, and this was no different, it was a good Lil pitch to start on but totally doable, it kept going, it meandered, we did some switch backs, then it gets rocky. You know you may have made the wrong choice which was now rookie mistake number 3, when we came a cross a team that said we had a lot of guts or skills to be going up that trail. And again when we made the checkpoint we found another team and they said something similar as well, seems like once again, rookies did their thing.
Now its when it gets even more Fun as we start riding the Gem of the ride Squirrel Gap Trail. This trail was right up my skill alley as it was fast, flowing and technical with no room for error to the left. Beautiful.
I see Steve navigating by foot through a section and I decide to just let my speed carry me
threw. As I hit it fast, something swallows my front wheel and I end up Flipping over the bars onto my back onto a log, elbow and hip smack on the wood... It hurt so bad, worst of all the rear tire almost came down on my face which would not have been sweet at all. As I get up, I notice that I'm missing my water bottle. I had a 200 oz camelback bladder in my BD1 ERgon pack, I didn't need the bottle for water. That bottle was my last full bottle of Iced Coffee, and I didn't want to lose it. I set the bike down, slid on my ass 20 feet down the mountain, got my bottle and climbed back out.
We kept going and hit some sharp switch backs. Steve was keeping it swift in the front, this guy can ride, and I see Steve walking the first super sharp one, I clear it so I'm right on him, he picks the wrong line on the second one, I took it tight and was about to pass him, when his front wheel dug in and dumped him right in front of me. I had to hit the Eject button and dump the bike to avoid smashing into Steve's face with my Panaracer Rampage.
Luckily, my Samurai skills saved the day as I cleared him and landed safely to roll out and get back up, I knew once we started crashing as a team that the Bonding process had officially been completed.
We finally make the mandatory which was rad, I was rolling up, letting out battle cries and whooping it up. We had a choice of a task. Either, shot gun 3 beers between the two of us or hit a target at a distance with a B B gun. Steve nor I were Alcoholically skilled enough to shot gun beer. So I shot, I can shoot a B B gun and nailed the target 3 out of 3 shots. We readied for the night, mounted our lights, I took off my wet shirt and put on my wool shirt and we started the fire road away from that area towards the next checkpoint. That road went up and down and up and I couldn't see Steve for a long time, but eventually I roll up and were at the checkpoint and Steve is there and all the sudden its like grand central station as other racers are pouring in and gearing up and wow it got busy quick.
At this point it was 830pm or so and Steve wanted to go for 3 more checkpoints. I was looking at the task at hand and thinking about mills river miscalculation and how if we made the wrong choice and took the wrong line we might miss cut off. WE had worked so hard that day that my recommendation was to keep it conservative, lets go for one more lets go back home, eat and rest for tomorrow. Stage 2 started at 6am.
The race was far from over though as we made our way back, we later discovered a checkpoint that was a mile or two from the spot where we had started earlier that day. That was our first rookie mistake, remember, O well. It was a fun trail and I was feeling good, so I started putting the hammer down.
Something about knowing that your close to being done that makes you put the hammer down and I was on it, when we finished hammering thru Pink Beds, we got on the road, and it was pretty much downhill for a couple of miles.
For the first time in the day I disposed of my 1 x 9 philosophy and started hammering the Big ring. Roadie tucked, hauling ass, taking corners like if I was on a ninja street bike, just flying and loving it all, trying to wrap up the day.
After hammering for a bunch of miles we hit the fire road that takes you to the Start finish and once again I am hooping and hollering, we roll in with day one complete around 10pm or so.
We Officially made it to STAGE 2. EeeeewWWWWwww!
I have a couple of beers and we pretty much haul ass. Steve's feet were as white as cotton socks, he was freezing and so was I.
My lower back was the so sore from leaning over and pedaling all day long. My wrist muscles ached from pulling on my bar ends all day while climbing. My right knee had tendon pain, I broke the number one rule and decided to try my new shoes the day of a race and I didn't have the cleat right.
O, and by the time, I showered, soaked in a hot water bath tub ate and drank to recover it was midnight and I had to be up in 4 hours.
All data is off by an mph or two or a mile or two or a feet or two, garmin does not do an accurate job on the little twist and turns.
And now CAPTIONS: WRITE UP WILL BE UP TONIGHT DO OR DIE!Check out the great artistic shot of Bess and myself, this dog loved me so much, she would come up and rear up to me and sit, I hear tell this means a dog likes you and trust you when they do this?
This is the shots of the back yard 3 in the series, very nice 80 acre property that Steve's in Laws own close to Ashville NC, 20 minutes from the race venue. The main house on the beautiful property I stayed at. We had the option to camp Saturday night of the race, but I suggested we come back shower up and sleep in beds, this is the house we stayed at, I had my own room and bathroom, It was such a treat! The ride and our rides, Steve was super generous and an excellent rider. Steve, selp portrait! This was Steve's first Endurance event, he definetely has the skills to pay the bills. My bike set up on Day two, on Day one I used my handlebar bag, on day two I put it all in my Ergon BD1 pack. I tell you what, its alot harder pedaling an 38 lb bike uphill then a 25 lb bike, I have to train harder for the GDR.
This picture is hilarious, cause I thought we had actually hit a checkpoint, so I told him to take a picture of me spanking it.In retrospect we should have taken Squirrel Gap to our checkpoint, Mills River was a HUGE and TIME costly mistake, 13 or 14 creek crossings in the cold, not very fun. Super technical trail with rocks and roots and dips, Fun, but time consuming. Another chekpoint nabbed, I tried to be funny in all the shots, got to be silly I figured.
Hike a bikes are REAL up in this Place! Weird Walking shot, photo cred to Steve and the early shots in the blog were from my camera phone.Squirrel Gap, had to be one of the funnest trails we rode that day, although I thought they were all fun, this was an edge of the mountain rolling roller coaster of pure fun with all the stuff you would want a real Mountain Trail to have. Me at another checkpoint, in the dark, headless. Me at the Last checkpoint for day one, trying to be funny. My reward for climbing on day two for 18 to 20 miles straight, excellent views of the land from the blue ridge parkway and from balsam rock road.
On day 2, it took us 5 hours to make it to checkpoint 1 the mandatory checkpoint and the spot were we got our passports for the race. On our way to attempt to nab two more checkpoints, Steve and I got split up. Here I am waiting at 477 for Steve, hoping he would figure out what happened cause I was not about to turn around and pedal uphill for 11 miles, more on that and the rest of the story later.
Wow. day two sucked real bad in the begining. It took nearly 4000 feet of elevation change and 5 hours of total time to make the point of the race where they give you the passport to start looking at the other check points. Today i discovered that I still have a lot of work to do to transform myself into and all day all night rider and thats ok. I wish i could of had the leggs I had two weekends ago this weekend. You know me I will go back to the lab and figure out what happened. Regardless, we did not come in last. We finished the race with 7.5 check points at 430 something on sunday. I was a little delirious with my stats yesterday, but we figure we covered 103 miles over the two days with about 12 to 13 hours of actual ride time. We were out there a total of about twenty actual hours. This is the brief so I will leave it at that, more to come and a full write up in the next couple of days. Laters, LOS
day one is in the books. steve and i managed five checkpoints in our first ever attempt at a pisgah production race. 58 miles started at 12:04 pm ended our day 9:57 pm. very tough, many details to share so u will have to check back for the full write up. I am sore, but focused on resting, stage 2 starts at 6am. Laters, LOS
Earlier this year I had slotted to partner with my buddy Luis to do the PMBAR. Those who keep up with the blog know that I had to bow out from that race and several races due to a medical condition that needed surgical attention.
Well now I am back, I am strong, and my form is the best its ever been. This weekend My partner and I, will race in Pisgah Forest, for two days 12 hours each day with a 6 hour break. Some will treat it as a race, some will treat it as a fun ride, I will treat it as an off road tour of the mountains.
My plan is to carry 3600 calories, and all the required gear in my handlebar bag. The goal for Saturday is anywhere from 6 to 8 checkpoints then smoke it back to the end line before the 12am cut off. Then Get up Sunday and roll out by 6am to get 6 to 8 more.
Finishing would be grand, placing would me a miracle, even if we were professional riders, local knowledge goes a long way and my partner and I are far from locals.
I am ready, the gear is tight, will practice my bike set up tonight, but If I ride this weekend like I rode there two weekends ago, I will have no problems with speed or covering distance in good time.
Bubbling up inside my internals waiting to bust at the seams.
Emotionally 2008 has been the Mother of All Mothers and It has been TAXING to say the least. When I reflect on the journeys and adventures I have had, just this year alone, it blows my mind.
Slowly but surely everything had been coming to a head. I must admit that going thru all I have gone thru this year, on top of being the Chief of my own Clan, on top of working long days, on top of all this talk on the TV and news about the economy, on top of the potential chaos that could be ensuing in the pending months; I have felt the urge to cut the cord that attaches me to this known dimension and surrender to a quest for a vision.
In case you didn't know that's the medicine you take when you feel what I have been feeling. You go out there and you climb the mountain and you seek your vision. Traditionally it is referred to as a vision quest and I needed one bad.
Since I was a child the Mucaro has looked after me. Coincidentally enough the Mucaro still does. It is true I am racing the Double Dare, most likely I am in WAY over my head, it will be equivalent of doing two 12 hour races with a 6 hour break. It will be the hardest thing I have ever attempted to do by bicycle, it is my destiny to fight this battle vs. nature.
Luis, invited me to go up to Pisgah Forest on a trip. I know enough to trust in Luis and the last time I was there I got cooked pretty good. So the chance to go back was too hard to resist, AND, I was going to get a chance to do some scouting and self evaluation before the Impending ordeal that laid ahead. In short I was not going to miss a trip to the mountains. I simply LIVE for the mountains. My ancestors were mountain people and the hunger to be up there is too hard to resist.
It took what seemed forever to get there. I did my best to stay awake, but I dozed off here and there. We were the second group at the camp and we were able to pick a pretty good spot. On the way up we had talked about the group and the amount of people we expected and that was pretty much it. After breaking camp
and getting some food in our stomachs, I decided to lay down for awhile and rest up before the Black Mountain night ride. I love our new team kits, and I wanted to wear my kit that evening cause its super comfortable. I may have looked a little racer x, but I was on a mission.
See, there are only three known ways to achieve a level of consciousness that differs from the one we normally exist at:
Traditionally the plan was to starve yourself for days on end. Some Nations did 3 days no food or water. Some did longer, like my ancestors, they did 6 days no food, very little water. No sleep, no nothing, eventually, you transcend. You cease to exist in this level of consciousness and the universe advises you and guides you and gives you some great lesson.
Another way is to take psychotropic substances, natural from the earth plants and herbs that could take you to another level rapidly.
The final way is thru extreme physical exertion. Push yourself to a point of physical exertion beyond your normal limit. Venture confidently and comfortably into the realm of your unknown and undiscovered potential. You can either explode and suffer and then travel, or you could reach a place that you never have reached before where you feel impervious to anything.
As the group finally got together and we made our way up the Mountain, I had the urge to GO. I mean, I wanted to GO, I wanted to pull the pin out of my grenade toss it into my legg chambers and see what would happen. So when we hit Clawhammer, I hammered.
And it worked out for me. I stood and pedaled for a long time. Got into a very comfortable and swift pace and just settled in. Rode with people, rode alone, rode into a group, got passed, passed back, laughed, felt nothing but extreme Joy. The climb up Clawhammer turned from an exercise in physical exertion, to a psychedelic excursion. I was in simple and perfect bliss, with tiny tears streaming out the corner of my eyes.
At one point I rolled up on this Bad Ass single speed cat, called Chico, and started talking to him, thinking I had caught up to Luis. Just as I rode past him and spoke to him, we hit a downhill and I was railing the turns at 20 plus no brakes baby, and kept going.
Saw the very two people in the front and rode up to them to find out that I indeed had finally caught up to Luis, it was hilarious. I felt so silly, but at that point I was so giddy from the sheer joy that I was experiencing that I just rode on.
When we finally reached the top we got to sit and chat and enjoy the surroundings and as we got back together we started the slog up Black Mountain. The plan was to reach the top and catch the Sunset. I remember going up to the climb someone asking if we thought we would make it and I was sure we would, no reason why not.
As we started the hike a bike, there was such a feeling of pilgrimage; as together we trudged thru the woods to the top. WE rode and WE hiked and we laughed and we joked, it was wonderful. At the top, my new friends broke out some Sailor Jerries and some Yuenglings, it was bad ass. Here I was with a breathtaking vista
searing my eyeballs, sharing a Yuengling with SAMMY!!!! These were definitely my kind of people and the rest of the weekend, when I wasn't having psychedelic visions, was spent full of joy and laughter.
After the ride, and after chatting it up with some of the coolest people I have met in a long time, I went to bed. I heard Rob speaking about the impending epic and I thought it would be better if I slept. So I crashed early. Got up and ate and prepared and off we went. Up Clawhammer again. We decided it would be good to get up there and sit and enjoy the sun and enjoy the surroundings while we waited for the group to reunite. It was chilly that morning but I had my wool gear and I felt fine. By the time everyone had reached the start of Buckhorn gap everyone had lost some layers so it had appeared that I had indeed made the right choice.
Once we got back together we stayed together and rode thru the various climbs and descents and hike a bikes, just laughing along the way and having a great old time. We would rest and chat and laugh and reflect and then roll. It continued like this till we got to the Fish Hatchery were the others took a chance to fill their packs with water. I had my 200 oz bladder so I never had to refuel. It DOES weigh 22 plus pounds, but I don't got to worry about water for 70 miles.
By this point two people had peeled off due to Everything happening that could happen (well almost everything). And we decided to head up Cove Creek. Another hammering good time for me and the others and we got to the top and just enjoyed the ride. Whether going up or going down, sheer joy. At the end of Cove creek, I don't know how many peeled off to head back, but all I know it was now down to three, Luis, Rob and I.
We started up this Ridiculous fire road, the mission, Farlow Gap.
Luis and I had spoke on it before. Others have said its one of the most difficult trails out there, all I know is I was feeling froggy and I still had plenty of fight left in me. So as we hit the road, I was going for it, riding hard, and then it got steeper, and I kept riding, Rob and I, side by side, and Luis was up there about 100 feet up the road, we still had our eye on
him. And then it got steeper, and steeper and then I couldn't see Luis no more
nor Rob, my legs, after pushing myself hard for Hours and Hours, were DONE
...I felt like I needed a Nap.....
Ate a bar and wished I had some Almonds, and walked for a bit, then got back on the bike, they waited for me, which I appreciated and we kept going, and climbing. I rolled up a couple of times and Rob and Lu were looking at Map. Ok, no problem I thought. And boy, them cats can read a map cause at one point Luis said, it should be coming up and it should be downhill all the way to it, and it was. WE hit Farlow Gap and then it Hit Back. It turned into a momentous experience. I was biking and hiking and at one point could smell my brakes burning, the stuff we encountered and the creek crossings created an experience that at the moments when I was Cracked I was hating it, but after I recovered and now in Retrospect I look forward to experiencing it again.
I rode strong and finished strong. Had my moment of weakness but still came back and finished feeling good. Mission Accomplished.
Later that night, as we drank and talked and watched as Rob did some sick stunt riding and jumped the fire not once but thrice, I felt a great sense of calm wash over me. I am now refocused. 2010 is not that far off, its time to toss all aside and convert myself into a day in and day out rider. The double d will be a great opportunity to find out what I need to do to improve my skills.
Some Musings from the ride:
Who the hell is Sailor Jerry. I heard that name exactly 237 times in 24 hours(jknot).
There was a member of our Peleton that when descending the mountain it sounded like she was experiencing one of these.
I have a distinct mental Image of Rich on his Voodoo SS, climbing past me on Clawhammer, it was great to see him pushing that one gear seated up the mountain.
Luis, is a good friend and I thank him for taking me away. And, even with weeks of non riding and an injured leg he still climbed ahead of me, YOUR THE MAN NOW DOG...
I met Gabe and Thad, the two fixed geared Jedi Knights and owners of Smoke Bikes. They were out there doing there thing and they were very generous as well.
Finally, thanks to everyone for their hospitality the entire ZHP Crew, you my friends are welcome in my hood anytime where we could kick it old school.
A couple of weekends back I was sitting at work multi juggling(my name for multi tasking) and the bird and I were chatting it up online about what to do the coming weekend. Well a couple of weekends ago the Bird started riding clips, and I took her on a scouting trip of a section of the Naked Indian route, her least Favorite part, and it was flooded bad. It was good for me, cause I can ride some ridiculous crap, but bad for her, cause she did the low speed fall a couple of times and even had to walk threw some stinky smelly mud. She was cursing and yelling and having a great time (in my best Borat voice, NOT). Eventually we pulled the plug that day cause she was just over it. For me it proved to be very good cause now not only do I have the NK route, but I also have every single alternate planned out for the times when things are super dry or in this case super wet. She mentioned that Saturday, she wanted to do the NK ride and avoid the bad section (which meant the stinky muddy part). So we planned on Saturday rolling out and doing this damn thing. Well right around 430pm after we hung out and ate and watched the latest Rocky movie, we packed up and rolled out. I heard someone say a trail always has two faces, the one way you usually do it and then the backwards way. I decided to do it backwards and it was just simply pristine and beautiful. Along the route we encountered several deer, many birds and just great terrain, everything was packed well, no sand slogging. WE made it to Angelina's our usual lunch spot, shared a pizza and a pitcher of beer. By this time it was dark and the air was chilly and crisp. We strapped on our lights and made our way towards Cassadagain the night. If you have never ridden there, all the land before it is relatively flat and when you get close to Cassadaga, the terrain starts getting hilly and rolling. The night was quiet, we decided to stop at the park in the middle of the town and relax and enjoy the night. Watched teenage kids mill about, and eventually saddled up and rolled out again. When we hit the longest section of off road riding, we were both feeling a little burn in the legs and when the dog came out to chase us, I told the Bird to hold her ground and the dog backed off. Everything went perfect as we got home close to eleven with another 50 mile ride under her belt. Great times. Right now, with the weather being cool and all being wet the Naked Indian Trail is in perfect condition. Call me, email me or look me up, will be glad to take you on a hell of a ride.
Shredalicious! On my B day, I got up at 6am, drove to Alafia River state park to go get my shred on, I wanted to see the sunrise and ride.
Morrisssson joined the fun. He made this climb, I didnt.
Eventually we were joined by others including Sandpine. Somehow my rear panaracer keeps coming off the rim. When this happened, the bike locked up and I jumped off the bike as if it was about to explode, and I thought the tube would, but nah, I was able to deflate it and then reinflate it at XC tire change speeed and roll out..
Birthday Cards, this was funny, got it from a co worker.
This one came from my sons.
And this one from my lovely wife.
Not only did we have a fire, which proved to be a battle cause everything was wet, but my lovely wife got me a harry potter pinata full of genuine mexican and american candies, hilarious, thanks babe. My friends set it up, they sure do rock.
Maggiii
Me up to bat, I sucked at it today.
Us by the camp fire in my back yard, it took like 2 hours but it got going eventually.
Paloma was awesome at it she got some really good wacks in.
Look at it FLY!
Special Guest!
We started up this Ridiculous fire road, the mission, Farlow Gap. 
