The Minivan was loaded up with mountain bikes and all the snacks as I made the drive from Asheville, NC to Brevard, NC for the Pisgah Productions Pisgah 36 mountain bike race. The forecast for the weekend looked like highs in the 40’s and lows in the 20’s. A slight chance of snow was now steadily falling in Asheville but soon cleared as I drove through Mills River. My thoughts were on the mountains that I would be traversing over the weekend. The high peaks were covered and looked to still have snow steadily falling. I did my traditional Waffle House Texas bacon, egg and cheese sandwich with hashbrowns and a waffle around 6pm before heading to Cove Creek Campground where the Race start/finish would be. My goal was to get my food and gear set early enough to get a little nap in before I finished the last few details on my bikes and backpack. I set a few alarms and turned out the lights.
I woke up at 11:35pm in a blur realizing I had slept through the alarms I had set. The pre-race meeting was going to begin at 11:45 and the race would kick off at midnight. I scrambled to get the last few items together and threw my kit on. There were flurries in the air and the wind made for a bit of a shock as I emerged out of the van. I could see the other racers beginning to gather by the fire so I made my way to see who all had shown up to take on the Pisgah 36 aka The Most Horrible Thing Ever. There were a few familiar faces illuminated by the fire. My stoke was so high! I had DNF’ed this race two years prior and I wanted revenge. Race director Eric Wever of Pisgah Productions gave us a rundown of the rules and a few things to look out for on the first stage before passing out the checkpoint cards. Once we had Stage 1 in hand the race was on! Like the previous attempt at the race Stage 1 would take us up Farlow to Farlow Gap. For anyone who knows Pisgah this is the double black gnar to descend and Eric was sending us up it after a quick loop around on the Cove Creek Loop. Coming out to pre-ride this section at night in roughly the same temperatures two weeks prior I knew what to expect and how to pace myself. In these conditions, it is imperative to keep the pace below my core threshold for sweating. If I was sweating it was either because I was going too hard or because I was wearing the wrong layers. Knowing that Stage 1could take me 8 hour I packed several backup layers, most of which I didn’t use but I felt at ease having them. Taking time at camp to double-check my gear had put me behind most of the field of riders so as I caught up I could see their lights like fireflies in the darkness. The Farlow/Daniels intersection was the first checkpoint, another rider was stopped and taking a picture as I hiked up the stair steps leading to the intersection. This seemed to be where the snow line started. The high mountain trails in the snow are so magical to me, I commented to my fellow racer about how beautiful it was. The look he gave me let me know he was not viewing the current situation as a beautiful moment. I had also packed Bar Mitts to wear during the coldest portions of the night starting at the top of the Farlow climb. I was blown away by how much the mitts helped! I didn’t need to use my extreme cold mittens that I had in my pack. Farlow Gap was covered in snow and still snowing hard as I took my picture I saw some more lights in the distance of racers descending down FS5003. I passed several other rides on the big loop on FS5003 and then it was back up to the top of Farlow. I saw three races descending as I was climbing. These riders had decided to bail on the FS5003 loop. I continued to follow a few fresh tracks in the snow all the way back to Farlow Gap. I was now 6 hours into the race before descending out of the snowstorm. So rowdy and beautiful! I continued on the route down Daniels Ridge, Longbranch, Cat Gap and around back to Cove Creek Campground.
The campground was quiet when I arrived. The other racers were all still in their camps prepping to go back out. I got in the mini and turned the heat on so that I could warm up while changing into fresh clothes before heading out on Stage 2. I chose to go with much less gear for this stage since in theory, I should be back in the daylight and the skies were clear. I was a little ambitious and could have taken a long sleeve top layer but being a little chilled when I stopped kept me motivated. This stage had up to 6 checkpoints with 2 of them being mandatory. Some of the bonuses seemed to be easy to link up so I picked a route that would allow me to pick up a few of the bonuses as well as the mandatory points at Cantrell Creek Lodge and the Slate Rock/Pilot Cove overlook. Eric is a master at making something seem like a good idea until you are deep in Pisgah and realize this might not be the best plan. Getting the extra checkpoints took 2-3 hours longer to complete the stage. My original goal was to be back at camp by 3pm at the latest but I ended up back at Cove Creek Campground closer to 5pm. My friend Chris Coney of Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventures had shown up while I was out and he was dialing in his bike and gear so that he could head out with me for the next stage. I hadn’t been riding with anyone for the whole race so it was going to be nice to have someone to talk to instead of talking to myself.
Stage 3 was a “recovery stage”. There were 6 options for checkpoints and I only needed to go to one to complete the stage. I chose to get the checkpoints on Butter since I was already getting sick of the Cove Creek Trail and 475b. The legs were definitely feeling the climb up to Butter but my spirits were high and after all my legs should be feeling a little fatigued by now. Riding the full squish for this stage was a solid plan since Butter was a bit sick after the freeze-thaw from the snowstorm the night before. It's crazy to think that 3 years ago this 12ish mile loop would have been my big ride of the week but now during the 36 it was my recovery stage.
We arrived back to camp around 7pm and it was now night time again. I turned in my Stage 3 page and exchanged it for Stage 4. Stage 4 was my biggest challenge perhaps in my race career and one of the most challenging moments physically and mentally that I have ever pushed through. After seeing the mandatory route I decided it was best to take a one hour nap before heading out into the void all night. At this point in a race a 1 hour nap feels like a blink of the eyes and then it was time to suit up and get back in the saddle. Chris would be joining for the start of this stage and I’m grateful to have him motivating me to keep going despite the task ahead. Under normal riding conditions(fresh legs, daylight, above freezing temps) this stage would have taken around 6 hours but after almost 24 hours of Pisgah ping-ponging me around It was going to take much longer. Chris and I set out on Stage 4 and I felt like a slug. The climbing was slow and the legs were heavy. By the time we were descending into the Pisgah Horse Stables, I was bonking hard. I had begun nodding off while on the bike so when we arrived at the stables parking lot I took my pack off and laid down on the ground for a few minutes. It was around midnight and below freezing so my nap didn’t last long before I woke up violently shivering. I have learned a lot about myself over the last couple years of long-distance mountain bike races and one of my biggest lessons is that I’m unable to sleep while shivering. There is only one cure for the shivers, climb! I hopped up and grabbed by bike and got ready to take off when Chris let me know he was going to head back to camp. His feet were cold and he didn’t feel that he was prepared to head off into the void overnight so I took off up Clawhammer in a desperate attempt to warm back up. This sleep, shiver and ride system continued for the next 6 hours. It must have taken me over 2 hours to get to the top of Clawhammer due to the number of times I had to lay on the ground because I couldn’t stay awake on my bike or even stay awake pushing. I asked myself “Can you continue on?” the answer was yes! It was going to be a miserable way to complete the stage but it was doable and once I dropped down into South Mills there was no turning back. I took at least one nap on every trail on that stage with my final nap just before sunrise. I woke up to the vista of Looking Glass Rock glowing orange as the sunrise hid behind the giant rock. Suddenly I was wide awake and feeling energy back in my legs. I had survived through the night and the warmth of the sun spiked my stoke to put down the hammer. I cranked hard on the pedals and even felt the joy of ripping around the trails with newfound power in my legs. I came into Cove Creek Campground fired up!
Stage 5 was a loop that I knew quite well from practice rides and from the amount of times it was incorporated in the other stages. I put down some snacks and water and lightened the load of my pack then I was off! The legs were still feeling the newfound energy of the sun as I sped out of camp. I was no longer worried about sweating too much of feeling cold so the climb up 475b seemed to take no time. The section from 225 down Cove Creek was more fun now than it was at the start of the race. I had 3 hours to finish the race and there was a chance! I wasted no time when I came back into camp to grab the last stage and refuel.
While I was refueling for Stage 6 I saw Chris Joice who I thought had to be already done but instead he too was about to head out for the last stage. Chris took off first and I put down a little more water and food before I took chase. Chris disappeared but I caught up to two others who were also on the last stage and it got real. Hours before I had thought of giving up but now I had a real chance of finishing and possibly making the podium! Where Davidson River Trail pops out onto 475 Joice reemerged. All I could think about was making it back under the cut off and that added fuel to my legs to crank harder. I chose the closest checkpoint and hit an out and back to the Coontree/Bennett intersection. Even the last bit of hike-a-bike up Coontree felt strong and fast. Once back on the pavement it was a full sprint back to camp. I didn’t want there to be any chance that I would be passed or that I would miss the cut-off. Still sprinting up the last half mile gravel road to camp there were now tons of day hikers. It made me smile thinking how they have no idea what I have put myself through for the last 35 hours. I turned my last stage in and sat down, I made it! I finished Pisgah 36 in just under 35 hour and came in 2nd place!