GRUSK Venti: Day 1

Backstory:

So, about seven weeks ago, I attempted the TransVA DC to Harrisonburg route, but had to scratch due to pretty significant knee pain.  Turns out, I tore my MCL in my right knee.  Several weeks of "kneehab", some shorter mountain bike rides, a move (we bought a house!) requiring two weeks off the bike, and one long ride on flat pedals later, I felt pretty good about attempting the 220 mile GRUSK (Gravel Race Up Spruce Knob) Venti route. 

Initially, I wanted to complete the route in two days.  However, due to wanting to keep my knee intact and avoid further damage, I opted to tour it instead of race it and take three days to do it.  My big dumb bike adventure partner was a little iffy on the big route, so I had to convince her that doing it in three days with a couple of bail out options was a good idea.  In all honesty, it did not take much arm twisting and she was ready to adventure with me!  It also may have helped that someone else created the route this time...  😉

We set off for the Experience Learning Mountain Institute (https://experience-learning.org/: Check it out, it is a magical place!) near Spruce Knob, West Virginia on an extremely hot and humid Wednesday afternoon.  No, seriously, it was 103 degrees (F) when I left my house in Falls Church at 13:45.  It was really gross out.  The ride out was relatively uneventful other than the normal traffic backup on I-66 due to all the construction.  Once getting off the interstate and onto Route 55, all the tension that had built up over the past two months from the knee injury, buying a house, and moving all seemed to just melt away.  The mountains and green of the country woods just soothe my soul like nothing else can.  The temperature steadily dropped as I drove farther and farther west.  I got caught up in a couple of storms on the way out, but nothing too bad.  By the time I pulled up to my car's resting spot for the next few days at the venue, the temperature had dropped 40 degrees.  I stepped out of my car and almost immediately got chilled.  It was GLORIOUS.  

Laurie was already there and getting her car set up for sleeping.  I set out to get my car set up, which only took a couple of minutes.  There is something to be said for being able to sleep in the back of your Subaru.  An air mattress, bag liner, and a pillow is all you need.  But whoops.  I totally forgot my car pillow.  Huge thanks to Laurie for having a spare and letting me borrow it.  

A few folks were already there and set up, including teammates Spurrier (and Christina, his wife) and Cyndi.  Spurrier was there early to see us off as he was doing the 140 one day race on Saturday.  Cyndi was doing the 220, but leaving earlier than us and hoping to finish in a day and a half (spoiler alert, she did and crushed it!).  We grabbed a couple of beers and snacks and headed over to Spurrier's camper to hang out for a bit before heading to bed.  We met Steve and Cassie who had plans similar to mine about doing it in three days and enjoying the scenery.  They had planned to leave a bit before us in the morning, though.  After a while, we headed to bed to get a full night's rest before starting our adventure in the morning.  

After that giant wall of text, here are our bikes leaning against my car.

We got up around 06:00 Thursday morning to get ready for an 08:00 roll out.  We packed up bags, ate some breakfast, and basically milled around procrastinating getting out of our warm clothes and into our kits.  Did I mention it was nice and cool?  I think it was about 55 degrees.  I even put knee warmers on!  Around 07:50, we rolled down to say good morning to Travis (race director), get our numbers, and grab Laurie's SPOT tracker.  I have my own Garmin InReach, so I did not need a SPOT.  After chatting with Travis for a few minutes and posing for a photo, we were ready to roll out.  We had an ambitious day ahead of us and wanted to get rolling.  So long friends!  See you in three days!

All smiles as we are ready to roll out of camp and into an amazing adventure!
Photo courtesy of Travis Olson

The first part of the course is just amazing.  It is 100% a completely unearned descent on glorious gravel roads.  While we were really enjoying the fast start, we knew that we were going to have to pay for that descent at some point in the very near future.  All in all, it was about 12 miles of mostly downhill at the start.  It was a bit damp and misty, but we were not complaining since it was just nasty hot and humid back home.  It felt good to be a little chilled.  We finally made it to the first paved section of the route: a little jaunt on Route 28.  

Getting ready to make the turn onto 28.  That hill is short lived, I promise!

Route 28 is super smooth and relatively low traffic, especially that early on a Thursday.  It is also mostly downhill.  Again, we knew we were going to have to pay for this eventually, but BOY did it feel good to start the longest day with a really nice long descent.  Except...  as we really started to hit the downhill on 28, it started actually raining.  It had been misting most of the morning, but these were actual raindrops.  And it was a bit chilly, especially considering that we were going 30+ mph.  Oh well, at least it was not 95 degrees and humid.  

Once we turned off Route 28, we began our first real climb of the day.  It was this lovely gravel road that was as green as green could be.  With raindrops softly falling around us, it was probably the most zen climb I have done in a really long time.  There was nothing around that was not beautiful (this is a theme for the entire weekend).  Every once in a while you see a little flash of colour with some fresh West Virginia wild flowers.  It was fantastic. 

SO MUCH GREEN!

After about 10 miles and 1100 feet of elevation, we get to the tipping point and start going downhill.  Laurie is generally a much better descender than I am (I am not slow, I am cautious...), so she pulled ahead of me, as the road got a little chunkier.  No worries, I will just take a selfie while riding in the rain...  

Why is my cap always crooked?

As I come around a bit of a bend, I see Laurie stopped on the side of the road and I immediately think something is up with her bike.  Nope, she just found this really cool barn with some very pretty wild flowers and wanted to take a picture.  We are "touring" and not "racing" after all.  Might as well stop and taken in the views!

Nothing wrong, just checking out the view!

What a lovely view!

A few more miles and we stop to admire a little patch of wild flowers that someone must have planted.  Poppies, corn flowers, just lovely pops of colour!

Random patch of poppies

World's most adorable bees!

The next milestone was to drop down into Greenbank and take a little tour through the observatory.  It was pretty neat to ride through and see the telescopes.  We also took a little detour to Arbovale to the general store to refill water and grab a snack.  It was the cutest little general store and literally had everything you could have ever wanted, including copper tubing, paint, and propane heaters.  The folks that worked there were super sweet asking us about our ride and how far we were planning on going.  I love West Virginia.  

Space is cool.

As we got back on route, we finished our tour of the observatory and detoured quickly to check out the big telescope.  It was huge.  Apologies that the only photo I have posted of it is from far away, but the area of the observatory around the big one was a radio quiet zone.  

Back into the green we go.

After leaving the observatory property, the route had us on some lovely double track before diving into Hosterman Trail, which is largely unmaintained.  Laurie was astonished that Travis knew how all these trails connected, since it was obvious that almost no one used the trail we were on.  At times it felt like we were bushwacking and there were tons of downed trees to get over.  

Tunnels of rhododendron!

But boy, was it beautiful.  There were rhododendrons everywhere!  And a small river ran beside the trail most of the time.  Plus, riding unmaintained trails on a fully loaded gravel bike is a ton of fun.  Hopping over slimy, wet logs with 60 pounds of gear can definitely test your skills!

Rivers and logs, what more could one ask for?  Yes, that IS rain falling on the river.

After a few miles, the trail crossed a little stream and turned into rocky, off camber, narrow singletrack.  There were several moments of flintstoning through some chunky rocks and root gardens.  It was a blast.  Seriously, I love stuff like this.  My bike, on the other hand, does not necessarily feel the same way about me pretending it is a mountain bike.  But she handled everything perfectly, even though my tire pressure was about 15 PSI higher than normal due to all the gear I was carrying.  

Easy does it on the super slick bridge!

After a moment, we see the bridge that indicates the end of the trail.  Laurie is ahead of me, as she is a better technical rider and seemed to breeze through the chunky singletrack section with ease.  I hear her yell back at me that the bridge is slick.  I acknowledge and had already figured it would be slick, since it was still raining.  Oh boy...  Laurie understated the slickness of that bridge!  I put one foot on it and just about took myself, my bike, and probably half the bridge with me.  Luckily, the sides were pretty sturdy and I caught myself before hitting the ground.  I steadied myself and stopped to admire the view of the Greenbrier River amidst the raindrops.  Again, the beauty of what surrounds me absolutely takes my breath away.

The Greenbrier River, dancing under the raindrops.

After crossing the river, we hit a short section of gravel road and then meander northward on a lovely paved section for a few miles to Durbin.  Once in Durbin, we jump onto the longest gravel road in the world.  Or at least, that is what it seemed like.  It was about 22 miles of gravel that rolled as it climbed.  It was still raining and the road ran alongside, just very high up from, the west branch of the Greenbrier River.  It was relatively monotonous, but still very beautiful.  

Our next planned water stop was in Glady, but we found a natural spring about four miles out from Glady that we decided to fill up from instead.  So we stopped, filled our bottles and packs, and had a quick snack break, knowing that we had about 14 miles to go to the first of two proposed camping spots.  Luckily the mileage went by pretty quickly.  So quickly that about halfway there, I thought my brain was playing tricks on me when I saw a little black head pop up out of some brambles on the side of the road.  I immediately tensed, because I thought it was a dog (bad dog bite experience on the bike from a few years ago).  But then there were more little heads that popped out of the brambles.  I yelled to Laurie to slow down, because she was a little ahead of me.

I was too slow to snap a photo of them as
they all jumped out onto the road.

"GOATS!!!"  She immediately slammed on the brakes and turned her head around, eyes wide with delight.  

She is coming in for some snuggles!

Then, they all jumped out of the brush and onto the road and paraded down to the next driveway, stopping for pets along the way.  There was probably 25 goats just hanging out next to the road snacking on whatever delicious brambles were down the drop off.  THEY WERE SO CUTE!

Good little goats heading back home.

We stopped to pet them, and some even came back for more butt scratches.  It was so unexpected and such a delightful surprise.  Did I mention that I love West Virginia.  Where else can you find a trip of goats on the side of a lovely country road?  

Goats like scritches, too!

So after getting as many goat snuggles in as we could, we headed on towards our destination, which was the Experience Learning Center director's driveway.  Travis had arranged to have a fully stocked aid station and backyard camping at the director's house.  We had two plans for camping on the first night, and this was the first one.  The second involved about 10 more miles and 1600 more feet of elevation.  

Once we got to the driveway and saw the snack spread awaiting us, we stopped and just started eating!  Salty snacks are a godsend after 86 miles on the bike.  Laurie and I stopped stuffing our faces for a minute to weigh our options.  Should we call it a day now, or head up to the top of the ridge and camp on Bickle Knob?  When we first got there, I think we were both thinking of calling it a day and tackling the climb first thing in the morning.  But after eating, I decided I wanted to press on, especially since we had about two hours of good quality daylight left.  Laurie agreed and off we went.  

The first couple of miles on pavement was pretty easy: a gradual climb and a nice descent down to Route 33.  We crossed over by the now open Alpine Lodge (it was under renovation two years ago when I was there) and both Laurie and I laughed about how we should have stayed there with a real bed and showers.  Maybe next year!  

After crossing 33, we immediately start climbing and then take a sharp left up by the graveyard in Alpena.  And then we just keep climbing.  The road almost immediately degraded and turned into chunky rock.  My heart sunk, as I realized what should have taken at most an hour and a half was probably going to take longer.  I was reliving the white gravel road from last summer all over again (that is another, very long, very fun story to tell another day).  

To my relief, after about a mile, we turned on to a forest service road, which was very well maintained gravel.  WOOHOO!  We are going to make it before dark!  We are both getting tired, and the road, while nicely maintained gravel, was still a climb.  We were both head down, grinding out the miles, when we both notice that there are lovely springs every half mile or so.  The course description mentioned that there was a spring at Bickle Knob and the springs leading up the mountain were running pretty steadily, so we both opted to just keep climbing and fill up our water at Bickle Knob, if needed.  (We had filled up at the aid station, so both had a decent supply, or so we thought.)

We finally got to the turn off for Bickle Knob.  My knee was giving me a little sign that it was about done with climbing for the day, so once the turn off got super steep, I hopped off and walked the rest of the way up.  It actually felt pretty good to get off the saddle and stretch my legs.  But all in all, after almost 100 miles on the day and over 10k feet of elevation gain, I felt pretty damned good.  I was tired and my body ached in all the places that a body aches after a long, hard day on the bike.  

This was the most amazing view.  The picture does not do it justice.

We propped our bikes up and went about setting up camp.  We found a lovely overlook and decided it was flat enough and set up our tents so that we could watch the sun set over the valley.  After getting tents and sleep systems set up, we changed clothes and set about making dinner.  

The sunset was lovely, even if there were a few clouds.

I was super stoked to eat the pasta dinner that I had bought specifically for Day 2 of the TransVA that I missed out on eating.  I was craving something savoury and knew it was going to hit the spot.  Laurie, bless her heart, brough wine.  So I had wine and pasta.  FANCY!  Laurie had a three cheese mac & cheese dinner that smelled amazing.  It apparently WAS pretty tasty, as she ate the entire thing.  Needless to say, we had full bellies, a glass of wine, and a spectacular view.  What could be better?

Robot birds.  That is what.  

As we were relaxing after eating ALL of the food, I kept hearing these birds that sounded robotic.  I had never heard anything quite like it.  It was mesmerizing.  I took a video of the skyline just so I could keep the birds' song in mind to figure out what kind of bird it was.  I have never tried to imbed a video before, so if the above video fails, my apologies.

Obviously, we were exhausted, so shortly after the sun set, we headed to bed.  We knew we had an easy start to the day, but we were still hopeful for a restful night's sleep. 

See next post for the continuation of our adventure tale! 

Can We Talk About Failure?

I have been trying to wrap my head around my emotions since Saturday morning. And honestly, I am still in turmoil, so I apologize because this is most likely going to be a shit show of a write up. I woke up on Friday excited and incredibly nervous about setting out for the DC to Harrisonburg route of TransVA. This was to be a less than 48 hour 225 mile adventure by bike. I was set to leave my house at 1500 hours that afternoon, and arrive in Harrisonburg by 1400 hours on Sunday. Easy-peasy, right? It should have been. Three days of cycling (60-120-50) and two nights of camping sounded like the perfect way to spend the hottest weekend of the year so far. I should have been able to complete this with my eyes closed. Should have... Should have... But I failed.

Where it all begins...  

Before I get into the real heart of this discussion, let me run you through my mini adventure. Because it was fun. Well, until it was not. I left a little before 1500 on Friday. It was sunny, very warm, but the trails from my house to DC were fairly empty. It had been a few months since I had been downtown, so it was nice to cruise and see the sights. Not a whole lot has changed.

Ready to get this party started!

I hung around at the Lincoln memorial for about 10 minutes or so, waiting for 1600, which was when my Individual Time Trial (ITT) was scheduled to start.  As soon as my Wahoo showed the time, I rolled out slowly, since I was not 100% sure where the route was going to take me.  And sure enough, I was on the wrong side of the street and had to backtrack.  No big deal, sometimes the scenic route is the best route!

Fully loaded and rolling out!

After a few minutes of navigating the paths downtown, I was out on the canal.  It was flat, it was boring, but it was beautiful.  There were blue herons, turtles, ducks, song birds, gnats...  Nature was definitely thriving in our region's most beloved park.  At this point, I was feeling pretty good.  I kept having to remind myself to look around and enjoy the beautiful sights and smells around me (OH THE SMELLS!).  

Eventually I made it out past Great Falls and the foot and bike traffic on the canal diminished significantly.  It was not terribly crowded on the eastern side, but it was enough people to remind me that we living in a pretty large metropolis.  It was really nice to get out to the less populated sections and really just enjoy getting lost in the greenness of it all.  

Hey look...  Flat and straight.

There really is not much to say about this section of the ride other than I had forgotten how terrible riding long distances on flat surfaces can be.  I never really do it, so my body gets super fatigued at the constant stress of not moving around much on the bike and never really getting a break from putting out steady power on the pedals.  My feet, which had been fine for the past year and a half, started to ache about 40 miles in.  But I kept my head on a swivel and reminded myself how beautiful spring in the DMV can be.  

The cat tails were prolific! 

Somewhere between Riley's Lock and White's Ferry, a very large insect hit my chest.  Since the Brood X cicadas were out and about, I just assumed it was a cicada and tried to brush it off.  Well, turns out, it was a large hornet and I brushed it inside my jersey where it stung me three times before I could get the jersey unzipped.  OUCH.  No, seriously, OUCH.  That hurt.  And it continued to hurt for a few minutes until I realized that the stinger was still stuck in my chest.  Whoops.  So I stopped to scrape it out and had a quick snack before continuing on.  The stinging continued, but started to lessen after a few more miles.  

I had wanted to get to my planned campsite around 1930, but because of the unplanned bee stop, I was running about 10 minutes behind.  My feet were hurting, so I did not want to push the pace too much, so just cruised through the last few miles while watching the sun get lower in the sky.  It was so peaceful out there.  

Still flat...  Still rolling...  

As I rolled up to the Calico Rocks camp site, there were three tents already set up.  I had picked this site since it was closest to Point of Rocks (which is where I would exit the canal and head south into Loudoun County) and is not the most desired camp locations due to its proximity to Route 15 and a well used set of train tracks.  I tend to feel safer the less people that are around.  Especially when on a solo journey (Note: my friend Ken was meeting me later that night, but ended up not getting to PoR until almost 2AM).  

Luckily, all three were long-haul cyclists and were pretty awesome company.  I quickly forgot my aching feet and went about setting up my tent and making dinner.  Two of the guys were doing a full pull of Pittsburg to DC as a last hurrah before one of them left the country for a two year stint.  The other was a guy from the mid-west who was doing a modified, touring version of TransVA.  It was really fun hanging by the fire and just chatting about bikes and cicadas with them.  

A cicada emerges...  On my bike tire.  

After a while, we decided to head to bed, since we had a pretty long day on the bike planned for the next day.  This is where things got weird.  Remember how I said that Brood X was emerging after 17 years underground?  They were starting to emerge in the campground (a few days behind the ones back home) and were crawling all over my feet while we were hanging out by the fire.  Which, is fine, I guess, I just picked them off and tossed them towards the trees.  Well, after I had gotten ready for bed and laid down in the tent, I realized that my tent tarp was blocking the ground.  (Well, obviously!)  This would normally never even be considered an issue.  But that night, I could actually hear the (not so little) cicada nymphs scurrying under ground trying to figure out a way to get to the surface.  It was SO creepy.  Between the cicadas scratching at my tent tarp and the trains, I got almost zero sleep.

A newly shed cicada drying out.

Ken showed up around 0200.  Along with one of the dozens of trains that came throughout the night.  I got up to welcome him and use the bathroom, then went right back to my tent to listen to the scurrying cicadas until morning.  

They really loved hanging onto my tires.

     

Waking up, there were cicadas EVERWHERE.  They apparently really loved my bike tires.  They are such interesting creatures with such long lifespans.  I wonder if the nymphs can remember when they dropped from the trees and what has changed since they last saw the aboveground world.  

I hung out at the campsite for about an hour past when I wanted to depart, waiting for Ken to wake up.  I had already eaten and fully re-packed the bike.  I hated to just leave without chatting with him to figure out a plan for the day, but I really wanted to make my planned campsite (Wolf Gap) before dark.  Luckily, just before 0800, he got up.  I told him I would wait around at Bluemont if he thought he was only going to be a half hour behind me.  With that, I rolled out, crossed the tracks and left the canal behind.  

All packed up and ready to roll.

Crossing the bridge on Route 15 over the Potomac is never one of my favourite things to do, but it does take you to one of my favourite roads, Furnace Mountain Road.  My good friend, gravel mentor, and just amazing person, Pete Beers took me on this road for the first time about six years ago.  I remember that ride vividly, since one of the guys on the ride actually grew up on Furnace Mt Rd.  (Hi Rob!)  In fact, Pete introduced me to almost every single gravel road in Loudoun County.  And this ride was partly being done to honour his memory (he passed in August of 2020).  

I was feeling great at this point.  I had Pete in my thoughts and in my heart.  The sky was a beautiful shade of cloudless blue.  I was riding my bike on some very lovely gravel roads.  And even though I got a later start than I wanted, I still had not been passed by the leaders that left with the grand depart earlier that morning.  Life was good.  

Heading down Purcellville Road, I got passed by a gentleman that started at 0430, about an hour and a half before the grand depart.  I chatted with him for a bit, until he hung back to wait for his buddy.  A few miles later, they blew by me as I was chugging along eating a snack.  My right knee was starting to ache a bit and I was starting to look forward to a brief respite from pedaling in Bluemont.  As I started to roll into Purcellville, I heard the lead group behind me.  They were all super chipper and friendly as they passed me by.  I love gravel adventure folks.  They really do have the best souls.  

I rolled on through Purcellville, looking forward to deviled eggs and whoopie pie at Bluemont Store, which would be in about 15 miles or so.  A couple miles outside of Purcellville, I hear a bell ring and a rubber ducky (?) squeak.  The lead group was passing me AGAIN.  I think it was Abe that said I passed them while they were in the store and that was a good move.  I countered with I was holding out for whoopie pie at Bluemont and wished them well on their journey (Abe smashed the course record with an elapsed time of 55 hours and some change.  WHAT?!).  

A little bit after that, I was climbing up a hill, out of the saddle, when all of a sudden I felt a pop in my right knee.  Uh...  What was that?  Pedaling became relatively uncomfortable and soon, it became pretty apparent that something was very wrong.  I knew I needed to bail, but I am stubborn and felt like I could at least make it to Bluemont for my long awaited for treats.  Those were very VERY long miles, soft pedaling as much as possible.  By the time I got to Bluemont, my knee was noticeably swollen and tender to the touch on the inside.  I went inside, got my snacks and a ginger beer and sat down.  I knew then that my ride was over.  There was no way I was going to be able to make the climbs up and over (and up and over) the ridge.  I also remembered one of the most important lessons that Pete taught me over the years: Listen to your body and live to adventure another day.

Deviled eggs, whoopie pie, chunk of cheddar, and a ginger beer.  
YAY Trash Panda!

I was contemplating my next move, when a local LoCo/VeloPigs friend rolled up hoping to catch myself and Kasey Clark before we climbed up and over Route 7.  John hung out and chatted with me for a bit and really lifted my spirits.  By the time he headed out to go meet up with Kasey, I felt like I could at least ride home easy to finish out my day with some semblance of pride.  I called my husband to tell him about my change of plans, but he was at a group ride/birthday bash event and was pretty distracted.  I told him I would be fine and would see him later.

No idea what this guy's name was, but his bike was AMAZING.

Shortly after, more TransVA rides pulled up, including a teammate (and gravel goddess), Cyndi. She reiterated Pete's advice and even went further to say I should stop riding and find a ride home.  Some good samaritans offered a ride home in a van, but I declined (I feel like that is how horror stories begin).  In hindsight, maybe I should have risked it.  Ken showed up and I let him know that I was scratching (leaving the race, for those not familiar with the lingo).  I gathered up my things, put my bike into its easiest gear, and headed for home, with my head hanging low.  

One last glance over my shoulder before the ride of shame.

I got a flat a couple of miles later, and had a hard time getting the tire to seal.  I guess, when it rains it pours.  I finally shoved a bacon strip in the pinhole and added more air than I would ever normally have done and pedaled on.  About eight miles from Bluemont and a couple from getting back to Purcellville, the discomfort from my knee turned into screaming pain.  I knew at that point I was never going to be able to make it home (a little over 40 miles at this point).  I started scrambling in my head trying to figure out who I could call to come fetch me.  Luckily, a friend has asked my husband if he had offered to come get me (thank you, Madison!!!), and that seemed to spur him into action and he sent a text at the exact right moment asking if I wanted a ride.  

I called him, and told him I would meet him in Leesburg, which was about 10 miles away.  Normally this would take 35 minutes to ride.  It took me over an hour.  It was excruciating.  There may have even been tears.  But I made it.  A quick change of clothes and unladening the bike and we were on our way back home.  

It was official.  I failed.

I knew going into this that I was not in the best shape for a multi-day bikepacking trip.  I knew that life had thrown me some interesting curveballs over the past few months which has limited my ability to truly train for an adventure like this.  But I also knew that I had been riding hard every day.  I had the miles on my legs to make this happen.  

But it did not happen.

Can we talk about failure for a moment?  

Some of the greatest lessons in life come from failure.  Can you imagine what would have happened had Spencer Silver succeeded at his attempt to create a super strong adhesive?  There would be no Post-It Notes.  Jamie Link was in the process of working on very thin, multi-layered silicon chips when she accidentally shattered one.  That failure led to the development of "Smart Dust", which is changing the medical and chemical industries.  

So, what does failure teach us?  Failure teaches us that we are not the best, we do not know everything, we have more learning, training, exploring to do.  Failure also teaches us to never underestimate the adventure you are about to embark upon.  

In this particular instance, I was over trained.  Working from home full time has been a struggle for me.  As a full time bike commuter, I was at a loss when I no longer had a bike commute.  So, I looked to my trainer and Zwift to be a substitute for my morning commute.  I stopped taking rest days, since it was so easy to just hop on the trainer and ride for an hour or so.  That, and I am just unable to sit around and not do something active.  I have to have movement, otherwise my mental health suffers.

I did zero training with my bike fully loaded.  This was a big mistake because having a bike that normally weighs 22 pounds loaded with an additional 25 pounds worth of gear really changes things.  It changes the stresses it puts on your body, it changes how you stabilize the load, and it really changes your climbing dynamic.  

I did zero training on flat land.  I really should have done a couple of overnighters on the canal this spring to get those flat land muscles where they needed to be.  This would have also helped some with training with a fully loaded bike.

I also swapped out the pedals on my bike before heading out.  I bought a new pair of Time pedals with a bigger platform thinking it would help with rougher terrain and foot pain.  I honestly have no idea if this actually had anything to do with anything, but I probably should have put in a couple of shorter rides on the new pedals before attempting a 225 mile ride.  

Granted, what happened could have also just been a freak accident.  After a few days and a consult with my doc, it appears that I have a very mild, grade 1 MCL tear (no imaging is being required at this time, this is based on a physical exam).  He was happy that I stopped riding when I did, because it is possible it could have gotten a lot worse, very quickly.  I am taking it easy for a few more days (I can actually get back on the bike with flat pedals and easy spinning) until the swelling and pain diminishes.  I should be back in decent shape in a couple of weeks with some PT and continued rest.    

I know that there will be other opportunities to finish what I started here.  And while I am disappointed in myself and discouraged, I will be back out there.  In the meantime, I am looking forward to the GRUSK Venti route in July.  Needless to say, there will be a couple of overnighters between now and then.  

#WSGFABR

#WWPD

#BeMorePete

All smiles on the canal...

Emerging After a Pandemic

Wow.  It really has been over two years since I have written about an adventure by bike.  A lot has happened, including a global pandemic.  

I am renewing this, since I am about to embark on a new adventure, by bike!  The plan was to race TransVA this spring, but life (including buying a house!) has gotten in the way.  So, instead, I am going to ride the "baby" version, DC to Harrisonburg.  I am heading out this afternoon (a little ahead of the Grand Depart, which heads out tomorrow morning), since I do need to be back by Sunday evening.  

Link to the Track Leaders page:
http://trackleaders.com/transva21 

Fingers crossed that things go well.  Especially since I have done zero training for this!  Eek!

Croatan Buck Fifty - 2019

Wow.  Things have been super busy and crazy since DK200.  

Due to some medical issues, I had a pretty mundane cross season, but had a blast with all of my teammates and friends.  I even got to race at Nationals, which I will possibly write about at some point (but in all honesty, probably not).  

So, without further ado, we get right into the 2019 gravel season with the "Buck Edition" of the Croatan Buck Fifty.

Training has been pretty non-existent this year.  This has been for a mixture of reasons, but mostly because of the medical issues mentioned above.  I will not go into too much detail, but basically all of my power and endurance is completely gone.  It sucks.  But I did get out on some training rides with friends, and that did not suck.

Hi Pete!
Photo Courtesy of Jan Feuchtner (I think?)

So, with that said, I had tempered my expectations for this race.  I really wanted to finish in less than six hours, but I figured that with my body rebelling against me and the anticipated headwinds, it would most likely be between 6.5 and 7 hours.  I also wanted to finish the race without stopping. 

Just like last year, we left Thursday morning so that we could have all day on Friday to relax, goof around, and play on the beach.  It was a relatively uneventful drive down and once we arrived, Dane and I checked out the house, unpacked, got the pups settled, and went to the store for pizza ingredients and beer.  We had a little bit of time to kill before other folks from other houses showed, up, so we chilled by the pool for a bit.

Super sweet salt water pool! Did I mention it was 75 degrees out!?

When Dane went in to grab more beer, I noticed a little insect floating in the pool.  At the first glance, I thought it looked like a honey bee, so I got up to investigate.  Sure enough, there was a little worker bee struggling to stay afloat in the pool.  So I grabbed the net and fished her out.  She was quite damp, but no worse for the wear.  I kept her on the netting and hung it back up so she could dry out and fly off when she was ready.

Sweet little honey bee, go pollinate all the flowers!

Soon enough, folks started to show up for the pizza party.  I absolutely failed to take photos here, but we had a blast.  I made pizzas, we drank lots of beer (and wine and whisky), sang a few songs (Thanks, Joe!). 

After everyone headed out (at 2:30 AM!), I needed to walk the dogs one last time.  As soon as we walked down the drive, I could hear the ocean!  I figured it must be closer than I expected, so we headed that way and walked down to the beach in the moonlight.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I really wish I would have thought to take a photo of the ocean at night.  But I might have had a bit to drink and was laughing at Nola chasing a ghost crab.  The crab finally got tired of her shenanigans and turn around to fight her off.  It was HILARIOUS.  I did manage to snap one non-blurry photo of that encounter, though.

The ghost crab defends!

 After that photo, I told Nola to stop harassing the crab and we headed back towards the house to get some much needed rest.

The next morning, I got up early to take the dogs for a sunrise walk on the beach.  Yep, I only got about three hours of sleep.  But...  Sunrise on the beach!

The dogs love the beach.  I think Nola thinks the sand is just like snow, but less cold.  She just wants to run around and kick it up.  

Nola gazes out, wondering how many of those birds she can catch.

Bella is quite a bit more reserved in her dignified old age.  She just wants to sniff around.  

Bella gazes out over the sea, contemplating life.

It was a lovely walk and a lovely sunrise.  I had the beach entirely to myself, which was surprising.

The sun finally peaking over the clouds at the horizon.  It was spectacular in person.

Although, it was a bit windy, so there was a bite of chill in the air.  We walked for about an hour before heading back to the house to see if anyone else happened to be awake.  (Spoiler alert, they were not...)

Salty wind in my hair!

After a while (a rather long while), folks started to wake up.  We had some makeshift breakfast and chatted about what we wanted to do for the day.  While we were exploring the house the day before, we noticed that there were several beach cruisers in the garage.  They all had flat tires and needed some... corrections...  Dane and Stearman set out to tackle that while I walked the dogs again.  Once that was done, we decided to take the cruisers down to the beach and ride on the sand.

Anna and Dane cruising towards the beach.

The beach cruisers only had coaster brakes, so it was an interesting experience.  It is kind of crazy when you think about it.  As kids we all road bikes with coaster brakes on them all the time.  We did all kinds of stupid and ridiculous things, such as riding down very large hills and jumping them off of things.  But now, a bike with coaster brakes is more than a little terrifying!

But also fun.  SO much fun!

Once we actually got them moving, they were super fun to ride on the pavement.  But once we got down to the beach, the sand proved to be a bit of a challenge.  It was hilariously hard to ride the bikes in the sand.  There was a very narrow stretch of damp sand that proved to be hard packed enough to ride on.  But if you drifted too far towards the dry sand, you would sink.  And if you drifted too far towards the ocean, you would sink.

Dane advised he got his interval workout done for the day.

After we finished up at the beach, we headed back to the house to clean up.  We were hungry, so we decided to head out to a local Mexican restaurant for some fuel before heading to the speedway to pick up our stoke boxes.  

At the speedway, I also failed to take photos, but we grabbed our stoke boxes (SO MUCH STOKE!) and chatted with pretty much everyone we saw.  I was happy to be able to grab a few minutes to chat with Emily Hairfield (the queen of stoke herself) as she was doing swag swap duties.  I also got a few minutes to chat with both Gordon and Matt (the race directors of this amazing event).  Events like this make me so happy to see so many of my wonderful bike friends in one spot.  This one is especially good because it is the first event after a long, damp, and dark winter.  And there were SO many wonderful bike friends there!

On the way out, we happened to notice this little hut with Coca-cola garb all over it.  Once we got closer, we noticed the interesting choice of vending machine housed within.

All the Coca-cola memorabilia (more on the outside)...  With a Pepsi machine inside!

Nathaniel, Stearman, and Dane convinced me to do a quick openers ride with them when we got back to the house.  It was really fun and gave us an idea of what riding with the headwinds would be like.  We even got to practice our level lift/bunny hop skills on some speed bumps.  It was surprisingly fun.

For dinner, we had a massive pasta dinner prepared by Helen and Simona (THANKS!) and as the evening winded down, I started to get all of my race gear ready to go.  Since I was not planning on stopping, I grabbed a few sleeves of ShotBloks (Huh...  It seems they are just called Bloks now...?) and a Clif Bar to put in my top tube bag.  I filled up my Source Hipster and two 24 ounce bottles of water.  It was going to be cool enough that I should be fine with that amount of water.  I packed up all of my clothes and then took the dogs for a quick walk before bed.  It was peaceful, but still breezy.

I did not sleep very well, which is par for the course for big races.  I finally gave up and got up well before my alarm was scheduled to go off.  I got dressed and took the dogs out for their morning walk.  That morning walk was needed for me just as much as for the pups.  Walking in the cool morning breeze with a hint of salt in the air was pretty calming.  We did not hit the beach so that our feet could stay sand-free.  

Getting back to the house, other folks were already out and about getting breakfast ready.  Dane cooked me a couple of eggs, which I was able to get down.  Pre-race nerves always do a bit of a number on my stomach.  After a bit, we were loaded up and on our way to the Carteret County Speedway to start the BEST BIKE GAME EVER.  

Hi Big Green Bus! (And Simona!)

We got the bus set up and started getting all of our things squared away.  We even got to watch the sun rise over the stands at the speedway.  It was kind of magical.

Getting bikes and gear ready to go.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened pre-race.  We saw friends, chatted about tire pressure, gave everyone encouragement, and freaked out a little.  You know, normal pre-race stuff.  

Because everyone was in the same spot at the same time, we did make time to get a team photo.  Can I just take a moment to say how amazing my teammates are?  Seriously, last year when Gordon told me about this race, I was super excited, because I was going to get to do an inaugural gravel race that was being put on by the guy who once spray painted a carbon single speed frame glitter gold (you better believe I remember the "blingle speed", Gordon!) at the BEACH!  Well, I mentioned it to a few folks on the team and told them it was guaranteed to be a fun time.  Needless to say, I think about 20 teammates joined me last year.  Everyone brought back the stoke and I think we ended up with the majority of the team this year (40+ AND loads of friends of the team).  They all came, they all crushed it.  And it was so much fun to see everyone on the out and back sections!

Best Team EVER at the Best Bike Game EVER

I just want to take the time to also point out that Josh's eyes are closed.  Again.

Alas, it was time to stop goofing around and line up.  A few folks headed away from the group and lined up either closer to the front or closer to the back.  I lined up in the big group of pink and green and the man behind the camera himself, Ben Kristy, lined up next to me.  Ben is also known as Dominion Cycling Photography and does a wonderful job of documenting local MABRA cross (and road, I think) races.  This is the first time I have seen him with a race number pinned on!  He recently purchased a Salsa Warbird from Bikenetic and this was his first race on it (maybe first race?).

Hi Ben!

Soon enough, it was time to go!  And go we went...  for about six feet.  With all mass start bike races, things often get started a little slow.  I was still really nervous, so I was being goofy and making faces (apparently) while we scooted along waiting for things to clear up.

I have no idea what is happening with my face...
Photo Courtesy of Sheila Canaday

Once we finally got going, we picked up a bit of speed and there was a lovely sea of pink and green around me.

Sea of pink and green!
Photo Courtesy of Jack Looney

Man, those bright green Shimano shoes really do pop!  

The first couple of miles were the same as they were last year on pavement.  I kind of slow rolled it a bit, since I take a while to warm up and I hate being in the mix at the start.  Once we turned onto the gravel, I ended up with Ben Kristy for a bit.  I was excited to be able to share a couple of miles with him and hear his thoughts on the course/race.  Unfortunately, a few minutes later I had some technical difficulties and had to stop for a second to adjust my chain.  I got back on and was able to pass some of the folks that just passed me.  Until it happened again.  This time I was able to get back on quicker and made up more time.  I passed Ben again and a few friends from the Bike Arlington Forum.  (Hi guys!)

At some point Nick from Bluemont Connection happened to ride up to me.  Apparently they got in a little late and had a late start.  It was good to ride with Nick on this section for a bit and catch up.

We made it through to the first bypass to get us off Route 58.  This was a huge improvement over last year, since those sections of Route 58 are pretty heavily traveled and a little sketchy by bike.  The cornfield by-pass was really kind of fun.  It was a bit more like single track than I was expecting.  The actual cornfield section was a little bumpy, but definitely worth the extra effort.  Until...  my chain dropped AGAIN.  GRR.  This time it dropped beneath the drop stopper so I had to loosen than to get it out.  I ended up kind of knocking the drop stopper out of the way and that was the last issue I had with it.  Not sure what that was all about.

Quick side note:  The gravel racing community is so amazing.  Every single person that rode by me while I was stopped asked if I was okay and had everything I needed.  It was refreshing to know that so many folks were willing to stop their race to help me.  

Getting off the cornfield put us back onto pavement for a couple of miles, which was a welcome smoothness after the cornfield and the washed out gravel road of the course.  I put down the hammer and caught up with the group that had passed me as I was stopped after the bypass.  I noted that Robyne and Judd were with that group.  As I was getting ready to pass Robyne, she lost a bottle after hitting a pot hole and had to stop.  Hi Robyne!

At this point, it was very obvious how badly the hurricane last year had affected the course.  Areas that were relatively smooth were riddled with deep pot holes.  Sections that were rather sandy last year had almost no sand on them at all this year.  It made things a lot more challenging this year, especially if you were trying to pace line.  Last year I was pretty confident riding someone's wheel.  This year, I avoided following someone closely as much as I could.  Unfortunately, this was probably my biggest downfall.  More on that later.

I must admit, that I failed miserably at taking pictures this year.  So I apologize for the giant wall of text here.  So, to tide you over, here is a picture of Shiba butts on the beach:

Shiba Butts!

I chugged along for a bit until we made the turn on the "longest, flattest road ever".  You may remember this from my race report last year.  This year, it had just been graded.  So while, it was relatively smooth, it was super soft.  About two miles into this section, I started to see the leaders coming back through.  This was absolutely my favourite part of the day.  I got to see the race leaders, which was a group of about 10 at that point.  The chase group was HUGE and saw Jay Owen hanging on it in (!!!).  After that, folks just kept rolling on by.  Loads of shouts, low fives, and words of encouragement were flying all over the place, it was AMAZING.  

A few lone Bikenetic folks were with other groups and I saw Dane out front of a group and was floored at how well he was doing.  A few minutes after he went by, the main Bikenetic group went by and I got a lovely low five from Stearman.  (Best part of my day!)

I was just plugging along when Brad and Simona caught up to me.  I rode with them to the aid station/turn around point where they stopped and, as per my plan, I kept rolling along.  On the way out, I got to see many more folks and give out words of encouragement.  At this point, the wind was blowing, but I was not feeling it at all.  I was having the time of my life.

After the "longest, flattest road ever", was the short section before the highlight of the race: Savage Road.  I got to high five Steve O and Chris, who were volunteering at the intersection.  Steve also graciously got a photo of me passing by the Savage Road sign.  Thanks!

Heading out on Savage Road
Photo Courtesy of Steve Offutt

I am not sure if it is because I am a better drop bar, skinny tire bike handler this year or if Savage Road was in better shape than last year, but I felt a lot more confident rolling around the car-sized mud holes.  Just like last year, I used this as a recovery section and kind of slow rolled it, focusing on getting out of the saddle and using different muscles.  I was relatively alone when I rolled in, but I did have to put a foot down in a spot (my brain still freaks out in sharp dips).  This allowed a group to catch up to me. 

Leading the train through the mud holes of Savage Road.
Photo Courtesy of Jack Looney

I gave them space to pass, but they kept their distance and followed me through until Kelly Roberson found a spot to pass a few folks and blew by me like I was standing still.  That girl has gotten so strong! 

There was a lovely contingent of folks at the end of Savage Road playing music and having a good time.  They dared me to go straight into the biggest puddle at the end of the road...  I laughed and told them not to tempt me!

Nearing the end of Savage Road
Photo Courtesy of Jack Looney

Once I got off Savage Road, my recovery section was over.  I was feeling pretty good, so I pushed and caught up with Kelly.  We chatted for a bit (she is recovering from being hit by a car earlier in the year) until she asked if she could grab my wheel.  I laughed and told her sure, but I kind of suck at missing pot holes.  (Sorry about that!)  Another woman (found out later her name was Joanna) caught up to us and grabbed on as well.  I lead them for a few miles and Kelly offered to take a turn up front.  I told her I was a bit nervous about drafting on such rough roads so she and Joanna road ahead.  I hung back for a bit, but caught up with them a bit later.  We all rode together until we got back on the pavement.  I pulled them up to Pete's group and I dropped them on the pass back through the cornfield. 

Once we got back on gravel, everyone caught back up.  We were in a relatively tight line going through the mud holes near the start when Joanna, who was ahead of me took the right line (which ended up being the wrong line) and had a very close encounter with the mud puddle.  She miraculously saved it, but did have to dismount, which caused me to dismount.  Everyone else went through the left line (which ended up being the right line...haha) and dropped us. 

I do not remember much of the rest of that lap, except going through the second bypass was a bit of a shock.  It was pretty chewed up mud and was not expecting it to be two-way traffic.  So my apologies to the guy who knocked me over...  Totally my fault!  Whoops. 

I hopped on the pavement and headed back towards the speedway.  At this point, I passed by the big Bikenetic train and attempted a low five, but missed.  Whoops again!  

I also passed by a lovely woman (who I later learned was Meena) who was questioning all of her life choices.  I spoke with her for a couple of minutes on the way in and told her to just keep pedaling.  I rolled through the speedway without stopping and kept rolling.  Less than three hours!  I felt a bit of fatigue, but was in good spirits.

Another wall of text, another photo of Savage Road.
Photo Courtesy of Jack Looney

And then I hit the headwind.  OMG.  I have no idea how I did not feel the wind on the way out during the first lap.  But I went from feeling relatively well to barely being able to push 12 mph on pavement.  I went through the single track section mostly by myself and the mud zapped whatever remaining energy I had left.  I knew right then that going out for a second lap was a bad idea, but I am stubborn and am trying not to let my medical issues affect the things that I want to do. 

I was alone for a bit, then Kelly and Nick caught up with me.  I knew that I needed to get over my fear of drafting on rough roads in order to survive, so I grabbed onto Kelly's wheel and tried with all of my might to hang on.  Did I mention how strong of a rider she is?  I think I lasted about three minutes before she road me off her wheel.  Talking to Nick afterwards made me realize it was not just me, she really IS that strong.  After Kelly rode off, Cyndi, Kevin, Trey, and a few others showed up.  I grabbed onto Cyndi's wheel, who was following Kevin.  I was able to hang on with them for a few more minutes before the pot holes finally got to me.  I remember telling Nick that every time I hit a hole my legs would seize up.  I bid them farewell and trugged along by myself.

Mile after mile after mile of rough, flat, headwind put me in a really dark spot.  Unfortunately even seeing friends and teammates coming along could not pull me out.  I really hate to admit it, but my darkest moment was seeing someone that I love dearly succeed.  You know that person that does not train, barely rides their bike, yet can crush any race that you throw at them?  Yeah...  I have worked my ass off training and pushing through even though my body is fully rebelling.  I have worked so hard.  It is just not fair.  All of those thoughts just came crashing down on me. 

Luckily I was alone. 

Because I ugly cried on the course. 

But I kept pedaling through. 

I spent most of the rest of the second lap alone, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.  I was in a really bad place physically and emotionally.  Heading back after the turn around spot, I got a bit of relief from the wind, but not much.  I was able to pull it together to cheer for some of the folks behind me.  I knew they were probably in worse shape than I was.  Turning onto Savage Road was a relief.  I had an excuse to slow down and move around on the bike.  I did not have to put a foot down at all on the second lap, which was a very small, but significant victory in my weary mind.  But when I got to the end of Savage Road, I had to stop.  My body was in so much pain and I wanted to swap bottles.  I stretched for about 10 seconds while straddling the bike, swapped the bottles, and gave myself a stern pep talk.

And then I carried on.  I felt a bit better and was able to pick up speed a little.  I ended up passing the one guy that passed me on Savage Road and that was just the victory that I needed to keep me going.  Meena caught up with me just before the pavement and we chatted for a few seconds before she kept up her pace.  I was happy to see the cornfield bypass come up and apparently felt good enough for Brett Rothmeyer to get a good photo of me.  I have no idea how I look this good in this photo, because I was dying on the inside!

Rolling through the Cornfield Bypass on the way back in on the last lap.
Photo Courtesy of Brett Rothmeyer

The last few miles are a bit of a blur.  I was doing a great job of staying hydrated and was almost completely out of water in my pack and my last bottle was about half full.  I rolled through the mud pits, but came up short on the last one.  My brain was not able to make quick decisions.  There was a girl coming out as I was going in and she had stopped as well.  I laughed and told her that the far right line was the correct one, now that I was stopped I could see that.  I backed up and rode through.  She watched and went that route as well.

Shortly after that, with about three miles or so to go, I saw Robyn Spann ahead of me.  I slowed down to chat with her since I figured she could use some company and so could I.  She was also in a pretty deep hole and even with my words of encouragement she advised that three miles was too far, she needed a break.  If I had not be about to crack, I would have stopped with her.  But I knew if I stopped pedaling, there was no way I would have been able to keep going.  While I was slowed with her, Joanna passed me.  I thought about trying to catch up, but at this point, it was not worth it.  I bid Robyn farewell and reminded her to eat and that I would see her soon and rode on.

Coming up to the muddy single track section was like seeing a watering hole after being lost in the desert.  The end was near!  I could almost taste the beer!  

Right after making it through the muddiest section, Chris from Bluemont got behind me.  Apparently his bike rebelled against the dust and he was stuck in one gear, and not the one he wanted to be in.  He grumbled something and pushed on through.  I tried to keep up, but my body was not having it.  

Rolling back into the speedway this year was a different feeling than last year.  Fifty less miles but way more suffering.  I was disappointed and frustrated with myself and in a pretty intense amount of pain.  Simona and Brad stopped me on my way to the tent to tell me congrats.  I almost was unable to start pedaling again.  Dane met me and tried to talk to me.  I told him I could not stop until I got to the tent.  When I got to the tent, I dropped the bike and sat down.  And cried.  Again.  Those tears were filled with lots of different emotions: Relief (I finished!), Frustration (WHY ME?), Disappointment (I did horribly), Love (All of these people love me!), and a bunch of other feelings. 

Dane brought me a beer.  I took my shoes off.  Helen (seriously, god bless her) massaged my back.  Ben came over to chat about the race.  So many people came by to give their cheers and congratulations.  These people keep me going.  Every one of them.  

I finally pulled myself together, changed clothes, and felt human enough to interact with other people.  I went and checked the results.  I finished in six hours and thirty-two minutes.  I was surprisingly happy with that.  Well, not really, but happier than I was expecting to be.  

After race face...  Where am I supposed to look?

I got to cheer on friends who finished after me.  I got to be there for folks who did their longest race/ride EVER.  I got to high five Dylan, who won, not by a sprint, but by a full five minutes!  I got to drink some delicious beer.  I got to chat with so many lovely bike friends.  And I got to tell Dane how proud I was of his sub 6-hour time.  (I think his official time was less than 5:30!)

I know I have more to say about this race and my time down in Croatan National Forest this year, but this is long enough.  If you are reading this and are on the fence about doing it, know that I am already looking forward to next year's race.  This is a fantastic format and is so accessible to everyone that can ride a bike.  I am hoping to get some of my lovely friends together for some interviews in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that.  

Best Team EVER.
After the Best Bike Game EVER.

Shout Outs:
Gordon Wadsworth and Matt Hawkins - Race Directors

Emily Hairfield - Queen of Stoke

Ridge Supply, Cutaway, Hand-up Gloves - Sponsors

Team Bikenetic - Best Team EVER

Bikenetic Full Service Bicycle Shop - Best Bike Shop (and Sponsor) EVER

Salsa Cycles - My Warbird was awesome again this year

Source Hydration - Keeping me hydrated on bumpy roads, yet again

Hand-up Gloves - My hands were literally the only part of my body that did not hurt

#teambikenetic

#shakethedust

#bestbikegameever

#adventurebybike