Well, this past Saturday marked the 3rd and final Snake Creek Gap Time Trial for 2008. In a way I am sad because it has been some of the best racing I have had the opportunity to be a part of. This truly is an epic race that should be on everyone's mountain bike race calendar next year. But I know my bike and body are happy it will be 9 months before I have to go to Dalton, GA again!
Ed Hamilton and I found ourselves making the trek over to Dalton, GA again. Due to rushing around last time trying to make the shuttles, we decided we needed to leave a little earlier. So the alarm went off at 3:45 am and I was out of the house at 4:15 to pick Ed up. It was going to be a very long day for sure.
The ride over was uneventful but I do believe Ed and I may have solved a majority of the economic and social problems that plague our nation, as well possibly finding solutions for the rising gas prices and alternative fuels. But that is a whole 'nother post in itself! As soon as we tweak a few ideas over the course of the race season, I am sure we can have our economy back in the black!
Anyway, we arrive in Dalton, GA, make a pit stop at McDonalds, and head to the race site. The place was packed and I could tell my nerves were starting to wake up. The extra 45 minutes really helped as we each got suited up, signed in, loaded bikes on the trailers and hopped in the shuttles for the drive to the starting lines. I asked the guy driving if he was taking us to the flat part of the course. He just looked at me with an evil little smile. It was going to be a long day.
Last month, I was running late so when I got to the start line, there were only 6 other people (who had also been running late) in the parking lot with me. This time there were about 30 people lined up to start. Each one going off at 2 minute intervals. It was a little more stressful but I kept telling myself I just had to race my own race. Don't worry about the others and just focus on the task at hand. My time came, they wrote my name/number, and time down, wished me luck (I would need it) and I was off (off meaning 4 mph climbing speed from the start for the next several miles)!
Overall, I felt good, but I knew the reason why I came back was to do one thing, beat last month's time. So I kept my heart rate in check, but pushed myself harder than I had before. All I had to do was keep a steady pace and keep pushing but not blow up. If I blew up, my race would be over. The trail was in great shape, hardly any mud and I was really enjoying myself. If you enjoy climbing, this trail will not disappoint. As I came up onto the gravel fire road I could feel that I had been pushing myself. My legs were a little more tired than last time. A lot of it had to do with watching other riders and pacing myself behind them. But I still felt good and kept a strong pace up the fire road to the sag station at the top of the hill. Once I got up there, I grabbed a swig of Hammer gel from the volunteers and turned back into the trail marking the beginning of the toughest part of the race course. I knew in about 30 minutes, it was going to get ugly.
The rocks were just as I had remembered a month ago. Brutal. For the most part, I road the second half of the trail a lot better than last month. I didn't fight the rocky sections like I did last time. Mainly because it was fighting a loosing battle. I was concentrating more on keeping my momentum through the bad sections and not trying to pick the best line. Because there weren't any "best" lines. A lot of times, there were no lines at all. One section that I rode last month really well, got me this time. Maybe my nerves were rattled when I got to it but I noticed my left leg was unhooked a lot more than it was in February. But I don't think I lost any time, it just didn't look good!
About 12 miles in, I passed a guy standing on the side of the trail and he tells me "you got a big climb coming up down the trail." I thought great, the fun is about to really begin! About halfway up this beast of a climb I look back and laugh to myself. It looked like a death march. I had one guy about 10 feet in front of me and 3 behind way down the hill. We were all off our bikes and had our heads down pushing our machines up this hill that was doing its best to rip my hamstrings out of my legs one by one. Over the past month, I have thought of this climb and told myself I was going to do best to run as much as I could up this hill. HA!!!! Obviously I had forgotten how I felt when I had gotten to this point last race. I was doing everything I could just to get my bike to move in a forward direction. Once there, reality kicks in and you realize you are in the belly of the beast! Rocks and rocks and more rocks.
I kept to my original plan and kept pushing, staying on my bike more and walking only when it got ridiculous. I remember reaching the rocks that had taken me down last month and busted my head on, cracking my helmet. I road right by it with a smile on my face and that was encouraging. The last couple of miles are a blur but I do remember looking up in the tree tops and finally seeing the radio tower. Just as I noticed it, a guy told me "only about 1/2 mile longer and it is all downhill." The only problem was that 1/2 mile is the longest 1/2 mile you can spend on a bike. Once out of the woods and onto the gravel road, I felt relief that I was almost done. I looked down at my watch (first time that day) and saw that I was going to beat my time and could possibly make it into the 2:30's! So I hammered it down the gravel fire road, taking corners way too wide and was pretty much out of control. I was thinking if I go down here, Ed will be driving me home in a casket! There is a small single track section that I somehow missed last time that takes you from the gravel road to the paved road. Last time I just took the gravel road down to the paved one. This time there was somebody standing there directing you back into the woods. Needless to say, this section was new to me and I had waaaaay too much speed going in!!!! After hitting who knows what and almost flying over my handlebars, I made it through and got out on the nice paved road with a big smile on my face. I was big ringing it all the way down at 40+ mph cause I knew I was cutting it close. As I got closer to the finish I knew I wasn't going to make the 2:30's but that was alright. As I crossed the finish line, I stopped my watch and saw I ended up with 2:41. I was happy. I beat last month's time by 9 minutes! Mission accomplished!
One thing that will keep bringing me back to this race, besides the killer racing, is the killer chili! I threw all my bike gear in my truck and headed straight for the chili line when I was done. It definitely helped ease the pain a bit. Then I climbed into the back of my truck and went to sleep! I knew it was going to be a while before Ed showed up from the 34.o I might as well catch a few zzzzz’s. About an hour later, Chad Hungerford wakes me up asking where Ed was. We were at the 4 hour point so Stephen McConnel was about to come through and Ed would not be far behind him. Well, Stephen comes flying through almost missing the finish line with a huge smile on his face!!! This guy tore the trail up and it looked like he wanted more. He is an animal! About 20 minutes later Ed came through and was looking pretty happy about his results.
The organizers really have something special with this race series and I see it getting a lot larger over the next few years. Chad Hungerford told me when it started 4 years ago, they had 7 people show up! Now there are over 200. The trail has a little of everything, except for climbing, it has more than a little of it!
All in all, I had a blast. Perfect weather, perfect trails. They even handed out to all racers custom laser-etched stem caps. Congratulations to Ed as he hammered his way through for a personal best time of 4:25. AWESOME job Ed!!! Also, Stephen McConnel finished his first Snake at a blistering 4:05 in the Over 50 category! Job well done!!!! Next year, I will be lining up with you guys to tackle the 34. See you next year!
Distance: 17 miles
Total time: 2:41
Average Speed: 7 mph
Max Speed: 40+ mph
Max Heart Rate: 183
Avg Heart rate 173
Total Climbing (ft): 2500+
You can read more about Brooks @ http://pedalhardcycling.com/
