2012 Trans North Georgia

I went into this years TNGA with high expectations of riding a solid ride. My intent was to beat Eddie O'dea's record of 2 days 34 minutes. It was going to be a huge challenge with not much time to sleep, pretty much ride 48 hrs or less straight through. There also was a deeper field than ever before. Shey Lidner, a legendary endurance racer, was going to be there. Brad Kee and Matt  Fusco, who have successfully completed races like the Tour Divide and AZT 750 among others, were going to be there. Wayne Goins, who gets the hardcore award for riding 16 hrs straight in a tropical storm in last years TNGA before finally succumbing to hypothermia, would be in attendance. Ardie Olsen, who finished 2nd in the Tour divide one year, would be there. Ruth Cunningham was there representing the female side hoping to beat the previous women's record.  Plus, there would be 25 or so other riders who could potentially put up strong finishes. I felt fairly confident in my physical conditioning, but in these ultra-long races, there are so many variables and things that could go wrong. I knew it was going to be one of the toughest events I have ever participated in. 

My plan was to ride light with the absolute bare minimum gear. Anything that seemed even remotely a luxury stayed at home. It was going to be somewhat cool because of a cold front that had gone through a couple days earlier, so I packed some arm warmers and a wind breaker for a little warmth. These minimal layers would mean I would be somewhat cold at times but I had to travel as light as possible especially since I knew Shey, Brad, and Matt would be traveling in the same manner. I would travel light on food and water, only carrying enough to get me to the next resupply point. It's a somewhat risky way to travel but it could also pay off. I would just have to be willing to be a little uncomfortable. I had my game plan, now I was ready to ride. Unfortunately, my camera got fried in Colorado, so I wasn't able to take any photos of my ride.

It was Saturday morning and the air was crisp. Perfect riding weather! All the participants were milling around trying to distract themselves from pre-race jitters. Dave Muse was walking around answering Spot questions and last minutes questions about the route. He really has put a huge amount of effort into putting together this awsome, monster of a route. After a short pre-ride meeting, we were off into the unknown.

The pace from the start was nice and easy. I love these events and one reason is the starts. You're getting ready to ride 330 miles so might as well enjoy the start and not blow yourself up in the first half mile. It gives you a chance to talk to the other riders and the scope out everybody's set-ups. 

The first hundred miles or so of this route before Helen hits you with back to back to back big climbs. After Helen, there are a couple more big climbs on pavement before it finally somewhat flattens out. Then there is a brute of a climb called Stanley Gap that destroyed me last year. Once again, it flattens out somewhat for around 20 miles before entering some of the highest mountains on the route called the Cohuttas. Once through the Cohuttas, it becomes dead pan flat over to Dalton, the last easy resupply before the end. The last section I think is the crux of the whole route. Though the mountains are a lot smaller than the ones previously ridden, they are a lot steeper and more technical with very little water. 

Shey, Trey Woodall, John Hightower, and I made to Rabun Gap fairly quickly. John and Trey decided to go into RG to grab a bite, so Shey and I continued on after Wayne who was somewhere up ahead. We finally caught Wayne on Patterson Gap and then rode together until somewhere after the Tallulah river. After the Tallulah, we kind of separated do to different paces with Shey going off the front.

After Dick's Creek Gap, the route dove off the side of the highway and down a gravelly downhill. In years past, the route continued on this little gravel road down to another highway, turned right and headed over past Moccasin state park(a nice resupply), then up Wildcat road to Addis Gap. This year, the route had to make a detour do to a land slide on Wildcat road. The detour involved a massive hike-a-bike then a traverse over to the upper part of Wildcat road then on up to Addis Gap. Let me tell you something, I've done both routes, and although shorter, this new detour really upped the difficulty of the route big time. No nice and easy cruise up Wildcat, no resupply at Moccasin, just one big hike and I loved it. Kind of gives you a sense of being out there just a little more.

The sky was looking dark as I made it over Addis Gap. Then it started to sprinkle and suddenly, CRASH! A huge bolt of lightning hit not to far away. I had just come back from Colorado a few weeks prior and had some close and personal lightning experiences out there. Lightning terrifies me because of its unpredictability. The only predictable thing about right now was that I was hauling butt downhill, fast! Then the heavens opened up and I was riding in rivers down the mountain. By the time I was almost to the bottom, it stopped raining. 

The next climb was Trey mountain. It's one of the longest sustained climbs on the route. About 10 minutes into the climb, it started dumping again and didn't stop for the next hour until I was almost to the top. Over the top, the route goes downhill on a super fun, rutted out, rocky jeep road before getting to Hickory Nut trail. Hickory is a yard sale waiting to happen! First off, it's hard to locate because it's really overgrown. Once locating the trail, it's super easy to crash due to the suitcase size boulders hiding under the thick overgrowth. The overgrowth consist of typical southern poison ivy, stinging nettles, an assortment of skin ripping briers, and huge spider webs. Hey, wait a minute, why am I hitting all these spider webs, I thought Shey was ahead of me. Close to the bottom of Hickory, Shey caught me when I was surveying some damage caused by a boulder to my down tube. Shey had stopped somewhere before Trey to resupply.

Rolling into Robertstown, I suddenly felt light headed and starving. Reluctently, I had to let Shey go and headed into Helen to grab a sandwich at subway. After reviving myself, I gave chase knowing Shey was probably 20 miles down the road by now. Up and over Hogpen, then up Wolfpen to Duncan Ridge road. To my surprise, Shey was bivied at the beginning of Duncan. I was feeling great so I continued on into the night and down one of the funnest descents of the entire route. 

Riding on some gravel road off the fish hatchery road, I suddenly got the all too familiar urge to puke. Funny things can happen to the stomach on these ultra rides and sometimes it can bring you to your knees. I knew I needed to take a break before it past the point of no return, so I found a quiet place in the woods and laid down. Before long, I was freezing cold. Due to nice little afternoon thunder dumper, I was still a little wet and since I was travelling light, I had no extra clothes. As I lay there shivering, trying to get my stomach to slow down, Wayne goes riding by. Then a few minutes later Shey goes ripping by in hot pursuit. About an hour later, Matt, Brad, and Robert Peerson, go rolling. Ok, time to get up, too many people have passed me by. It probably took me a half hour to warm up and it was so foggy I could barely see my front wheel.

I caught Brad and Matt just before Shallowford bridge and we stopped at the store across the road to refill water. After talking to them for a couple minutes, I took off on my own down Aska road to Green Mountain trail.

Green Mountain and Stanley Gap trails are the second hardest section of the route for me. Last year it took me three hours to get to the top of Stanley and I must have puked ten times on the way up. So I was a little nervous about it this year. I got in the mindset I would just play it safe and walk most of it. On the way up, I passed Robert in his bivy in the middle of the trail. By the time I got to the top, the sun was coming up making the descent down to Stanley Gap road much easier. 

Flying down SG road, I passed the game check station and saw Shey passed out on the front porch. Now I only had Wayne to catch. However, I wasn't seeing any tracks in front of me so I was wasn't completely certain he was still in front of me. The next few miles up Cashes Valley were pleasant paved road riding with the exception of Bushy Head climb. Short but brutally steep and loose. By this point I was absolutely starving. I stopped at Jacks River Outfitter store but they were closed. One of the ladies that works there saw me sitting there so she pulled and told me the store would be open at 9. It was 8:30, so I had half an hour. Around 8:45, Shey came rolling in and then around 9, Matt and Brad stopped in. Not planning on stopping again until Dalton, we loaded up.

Shey and I took off and had a great time riding together through the Cohuttas. We saw quite a few people we knew out riding around and probably killed an hour talking to everybody. They were all very interested in how the race was going and to offer encouragement  which was greatly appreciated. After climbing mountain after mountain and riding some awsome sections of the Pinhoti trail, we finally made it out to the town of Ramhurst and it was like somebody stuck a flamethower to our backs. The weather went from mild and pleasant in the mountains, to downright suffocating in the valley. We stopped at a gas station to grab water, chocolate milk, and other snacks for the ride over to Dalton. Other than the heat, the ride over to Dalton was very relaxing. Very little traffic and not much head wind which can sometimes be an issue on that stretch.

All the way across to Dalton, I had a serious craving for Taco Bell. All I could think about was those chicken burritos. In Dalton, Shey stopped at subway and I made a beeline for TB which was clear across town. Shey thought it was right down the street, so he grabbed a sandwich and took off to meet me. Little did he know he would be dodging maniac drivers while trying to transport his footlong without dropping it. We finally met up again, ate, and felt like a million bucks. We were ahead of schedule and feeling good about it.

The next and last 70 miles of the route are some of the ruffest, rockiest, trail you will ever ride. And after 250+ miles, it can be a real test of will power. The first section of trail on this segment is pure rocks. We made through this section without mishap until we got to a feature known as The Wall. It was now dark and we got a little out of control coming down it. Shey missed a turn and blew into the woods. Somewhere in here he lost his gps and though looking for it, it was never to be seen again, bummer. 

We continued on through the last few sections before the end. They dragged on and on for what  seemed like forever. We were seeing weird things in the woods that weren't really there. I was having trouble with falling asleep on the bike. One moment, I would be super hot, then the next, I was freezing. I saw a tree by the trail that was violently shaking even though there was no wind. I did a double take and it was standing perfectly still. 

We finally made it to highway 20. I looked at my watch and thought we weren't going to be able to break the record. We decided even so to give it all we had left while trying not to get killed by one of the many semi's on the highway. Since we had ridden so much together, kept each other motivated to keep moving, Shey and I decided it was only right that we finish together. We finished thinking we were 15 minutes behind the record. In our sleep deprived minds, we had forgotten that we had started 15 minutes late. It wasn't until we were eating at Waffle House that we realized we had tied the record to the exact minute. Amazing! After 300+ miles with all the variables and situations that happened, we tied the record! I'm still not sure how that happened but it was awsome!

Congratulations to Ruth Cunningham for beating the previous women's record in 3:03:45! Great job to all those that finished this long and difficult route across Georgia! It is an unbelievable route that just keeps throwing everything at you and yet we keep coming back for more.