Triangle Adventure Racing Team

Well, well, well….where do I start…it should be agreed that this beast was tough…no doubt about it. Brian and I set our goals at 10-12 hours based on last years times…by all indications it was going to be even tougher. The race started slightly after 8am due to a long Porta-John line….Brian and I quickly plotted all 5 points before heading out and agreed to skip CP5 which was optional. It seemed apparent to us and by the number of other teams that we needed to head up Black Mountain Trail, knowing we had a climb ahead we joined several other teams seemingly of similar riding ability and started the long climb up. In between riding there were periods of hike-a-bike, the pace of which was settled by the teams ahead. We cut across Turkey Pen Gap which seemed to undulate with periods of incredible singletrack riding and then mindless bike pushing up and up. Arriving at the Turkey Pen Trail Head we dropped down to the South Mills River and picked up CP1 (mandatory). We again headed up Mullinax trail and eventually reached the double track which resulted in a long uphill granny grind to top out at Yellow Gap. After a brief rest, map check and conversation with some Triangle Cyclopaths riders.

We started up Laurel Mountain Trail to CP2 at this point we were again grinding up toward our goal eventually hitting it after a long ride. With Brian starting to bonk we decided to head down Laurel Mountain which turned out to be an incredible ride….some serious hairy rock gardens which I cleaned only to look back, thinking I should have walked. After some high speed, hand numbing descent we dropped out onto the fire road and started rolling toward the pavement at HWY 276. After what seemed like an eternity we finally made the intersection setting out sights on CP3. We opted for another short break at the 276/475 intersection…while marveling at the two singlespeed riders that spun by us also on their way to CP3. It was a long downhill to CP3 with the main option being to get the point and turn around only to head back up. We flew downhill enjoying the free ride always knowing we would pay..and pay dearly…..after clearing the point we climbed back out…hitting the 9 hour ride mark somewhere in that time period.

Once back to the pavement we picked up the road leading to Club Gap trail which turned out to be another hike-a-bike up. At CP4 we ran into Jeff Thompson and his Charlotte Team-mate Clay…they were in good spirits though Clay’s bike seat post was broken and not fixable…they had decided to push on to get CP3 and ride to the finish on forbidden routes taking the 6 hour penalty but most important finishing. We decided that we had to ride down Avery Creek Trail to pick up Claw Hammer Rd. With both of us having ridden this biatch before we knew we had our work ahead of us….after a quick breather and gathering ourselves we started out riding up and up again…SEE THERE’S THAT DAMN WORD UP AGAIN…..anyways we cleared Clawhammer with a middle finger salute and started the long climb on Maxwell Cove Rd…the REWARD would be the killer..hand cramping…Ernie brake fluid smokin’…jeezus did I just clean that Downhill to the finish….Brian “I’m not much of a descender” took off like a bat out of hell….we had one heck of a run down….and hit the finish…our time was around 11hrs 48min good for 18th place..our route totalled around 72 miles and 12,000 feet of climbing..(thanks Jeff, cause I had no idea)….