W.tf VIRGINIA

That was the hardest thing I have ever done. Reading other racers blogs that seems to be the concensus.


We get there Saturday morning around 10am after a long, foggy drive. The doors are locked so there are no facilities. Not good when I gotta go! We warm up for a bit, and then its a rider meeting. At the riders meeting we were told there would be a neutral roll to the bottom of the mountain. It ended up being about 6 miles to the start. It was super sketchy. Had a ton of riders flying down a narrow gravelly mountain road. I used about 2 months worth of brake pad; rims were hot to the touch.

We were sitting at the bottom right by a waterfall, it was wet, sunless, and chilly at the bottom as we were all waiting to take off. Finally it was time for the 4/5 field to take off. The first few miles were mostly flat with some rollers following a river. Next we take a turn and the first climb is on. People are dropping off one by one. I wanted so bad to just have the sag wagon pick me up about half way up. I didn't win the $50 KOM or even come close, I was around the 9th up. But, I couldnt latch onto the lead group.

Next is the sketchy downhill. One lane road with blind corners and some very sharp turns, some with gravel almost made me take care of my unfinished business(due to the lack of facilities in the beginning). It took out quite a few people I believe, including John Kulbis- If you see him, ask to see his helmet! Hopefully his bike is alright.

A small group - 6 of us got together and caught up to the lead group right before the final climb.

The final climb was a sick joke. It was stupid. What the fuck were we thinking? The last climb was 7 miles and averaged 10% with some parts going upwards of 20%. I hurt so bad, it was the most pain I've had on a bike. Yes, I got off of my bike and walked it on two different occasions! Despite that I still finished decently. Again, I didn't get any points...cough cat 4 forever cough. But I ended up with 15th/50.

Props to Joseph Holmes for getting a flat in the last mile and still finishing by ripping off his shoes and walking up the rest of the mountain in his socks!

Thanks to Greg Fletcher for making a 5 hour drive less boring, and finding a nice B&B.

We saw the countrys smallest church, a bike sale, we found a beer store, had the longest checkout in a gas station, a ford GT, more hillbillys than we could shake a stick at, and a cool looking area called deep creek in maryland.