*Summary: I rode from Atl to near the AL border then across North GA to meet Shey at the start of TNGA. My ride was full of hard rain and wonderful singletrack and fs roads. Riding TNGA west to east mean singletrack first and forest service roads last. (with tons of fun in between!)
*Shey's start was Saturday morning at 8am. I knew he would be sub 40 hrs, so I needed to be at the border Sunday night. He had a great first day of riding. He rode strong and consistent. He was more experienced and knew not to stop and visit and how to cut out extraneous time.
*On Saturday evening, I texted Pete to see if he and Kim were at their cabin for the weekend. He texted back that he was and planned to watch the riders come through. (his cabin is right off Aska rd) I met him and we caught up on what our families were doing while we waited for the riders to come through. Shey was first and Pete waved as Shey yelled that his legs felt good and rode on. We continued to talk and wait for the next rider. After 45 minutes, there wasn't another rider, but my phone rang. It was Shey. He shouldn't be calling. He said his rear wheel was damaged beyond repair. I could tell his mind was whirling trying to figure out what he could do. He finally said, he didn't think he could fix it and he would walk back down the green mountain trail to be picked up.
*Bummer! I was in a hurry and went to the wrong parking lot, by accident. A guy was waiting there for the racers to come through and said he was a friend of Eddie's. I let him know that it would be awhile before they would hit that area and he gave me quick directions to the other green mtn. parking lot. When I got to Shey he was pretty bummed. He had two broken spokes, one spoke was lodged in the rotor, and at least 5 spokes were bent and loose, dh was bent (which he always carries a spare), broken pulley, etc. It was bad. He was in shock, but handling it well. You hear of cracked frames, bent wheels, etc on these long races and you feel so bad for the guys who train and prepare, just to have a mechanical. But, that is part of the race and I was thankful he wasn't hurt. Eddie's friend drove up to us and offered all kinds of help. He was very nice, but it's a self supported race and Shey was out.
** UPDATE**
*Eddie set a new record for the course.
*Shey and Jason both had mechanicals.
*Ruth hit the border as the first place self-supported female and second overall female. She is an old pro at these bikepacking events.(The riding/food/drink along the way for these races is the easy part, the heebie-jeebies in the dark when you are all alone and missing your loved ones, the lack of predetermined physical and visual moral support is a killer for many!)
*Lisa was allowed a new course record for women. She wasn't riding self-supported. She was flying!!! She had meet-ups for safety/moral support and a rear blockade by her husband in a car on the very busy road around Dalton.
******
This is what a mtbers dining room table looks like before a long ride.
My sweet blue. All fixed up by Shey.
Shey dropped me on the Silver Comet trail at 5am before he headed to work and I started at about 5:30am. Thanks for getting up extra early!
My start was scary. It was dark and raining lightly and my front tire was leaking air. The first place I stopped to pump up the tire was the park dedicated to the lady that was killed on SC. I had my bike leaning against her plaque and was reading it while I pumped. The lights and water were turned off at that park. The water was turned off all the way on the Silver Comet until I got to Cedar Town.
The coolest thing about SC was riding over a bridge while a train went under me in the dark. That made me smile, then I played leap frong with another train for several miles until I hit Cedar Town and turned north.
The sky cleared for a couple hours and it didn't rain again until the afternoon.
I saw these signs along the road I was taking north.
I saw pinhoti signs everywhere, but I wasn't sure if bikes were allowed until the Simms Trail section, so I waited until I got to Simms before jumping on the rails to trails.
Huge logging company along one of the roads.
Now on the TNGA route......This isn't what I think of when I think "wildlife club"
My plan for each day was to ride 50 miles of TNGA, then any fun trails not included on TNGA, then set up a nice camp and relax on my vacation. I rode 120 miles the first day and set up camp on a ridge before it started raining again.
My pack and bike were much heavier than for a race. (more battery packs, water filtration system, more camping/sleeping equipment) I noticed this when I had to push up any steep rocky sections. I didn't notice it much when climbing because the Osprey pack is really comfy and that is good, but I knew the weight was there.
I filtered water after riding some extra trails around dry creek. It had rained early, but the sky looked okay for now and I thought I had time....
Lots of spider webs on snake creek. The rain hit hard just after I hit the first bit of singletrack on the snake. I couldn't see and the ground is so saturated that there was no where for the water to go, so it poured down the singletrack like a creek.
It was still raining on P2 in the morning and that was pretty much the story along the whole route. I did have a light rain on hogpen, which was nice. I would rather have rain than sun on that exposed road area. It alternated light and heavy rain for the next few days, so I cut out all the extra fun riding I had planned, stuck to the TNGA route and reserved a hotel room in Clayton on Tuesday night. I'm glad I did because it rained for the next two days straight.
A trail I hiked for a bit when the rain let up.
A camper left this for me at Mulky Creek along with some firewood. (which wouldn't burn in the rain, but it was still a nice thought)
My little friend.
Everything I had was soaked, including my hammock. So I used my emergency blanket as a barrier. It was loud and like sleeping on tin foil.
Waterfall in the rain.
This is a forest service road.....
Pretty mountain flowers. I saw three bears while climbing Hickory Nut, then accidentally got between a mother and cub when descending the long gravel road after. This was a little break in the rain and all the animals were out and moving.
One of the many creeks I crossed after Mocassin Creek
Pretty views
Wet hands get sores
My friend at the hotel
Blisters on my toes didn't hurt, but my feet did burn after the third day of being wet. I didn't look at them because I didn't want to know what was wrong. Still not sure, but my toes are still numb.
Shey came up early to hang out with me and we had a great time! Dinner in Clayton
He brought Indy up to hike with me during his TNGA ride. Indy was a happy dog.
TNGA start
Shey, well prepared and ready to go
Fast Jason
Thomas looking quite dapper in my glasses
Indy and I hiked everywhere!
Pete offered for us to stay at his cabin after we found out about Shey's wheel. So, the evening turned out okay. If you were going to have a mechanical, it was cool that a friend was just five minutes away. We drove to Pete's and hung out until really late talking about all the crazy rides we have done and crazy friends we have together. We slept well, visited some more in the morning and let the dogs play together. Then we headed home after some breakfast.
Shey's rear wheel
And broken pulley....
I would love to do this again with dryer weather. The TNGA route goes right through areas with many more miles of singletrack, so you can ride to your heart's content. 450+ miles easy. I might take running shoes next time, as well. I passed tons of trails that were hiking only and hiking them in my mtb shoes really wasn't that bad, but slick on any rocky sections. Hmmmm....more weight to add to my pack......
