How Far Is It To The Top?

Wow! I went to work today after a super greuling hardass mofo mtn bike race yesterday. Oh, did I mention it was hard? Sunday was the ORAMM. It has some of the most stupid and ridiculous LONG climbs in it. Who thought of this???

I started out getting up early and meeting Rob and Brian at the one stop @5:30am to carpool and save some gas over to Old Fort,N.C.. This was my second year riding this race and each year I have learned something new. We arrive get our sign in kits, get our numbers on our bikes, drop off our rest area bags and get suited up. Get to the line feeling pretty good. I'm looking for John who I was going to ride the start with like last year and hes not ready yet, he got there late. His friend Levi said hes on the way so we get started with about 399 like minded idiots looking for some pain. Well they all have came to the right place! I'm far from a pain junkie but I'm always wanting to know my limits. This is a great place to do that! They get us started and I watch as Brian and Rob disappear ahead of me. I'm just riding along people watching and laughing inside at some of the folks that try this. Then all of a sudden John shows up and we pick up the pace. We make it to stop #1 (we wasted alot of time here) . By the way the new jerseys look nice don't they?

John looks like he hasn't had a meal in weeks by the way hes stuffing food down his throat. We get going again and head to the "l o n g" grassy FS road after awhile John tells me to go on so I'm feelin good so I do. I start picking large groups of folks off left and right. I come around a curve and see this lady in pony tails just a riding along, I slide up beside her. It was Anet. I slow down (just a bit) and ride with her to rest stop #2. We get there and DAM, what do you mean your OUT OF WATER??? I sit there and talk to a couple of folks I know. About 12 minutes later a truck shows up with more water. Thats unacceptable for a race promoter to let that happen, more on him later. Anet had already left. I get my bottle full, grab some more advils and get to the major pain that awaits up the road.... CURTIS CREEK RD. A little over 9 miles thats a sum-b**** to climb. It takes alot of energy to get up to the Blue Ridge Pkwy. I head out still feeling really good! I'm climbing along and I pass Ritter, but hes going down instead of up. Hes through he says, oh well hes not the first that this LONG hill has discouraged. I catch up with Anet chat a minute and go on. I'm wondering why I'm going around everyone then I remember that I don't have a 22T granny gear on my bike I'm climbing this with a 32 up front and a 34 in the rear, thats alot of gear for this road. Then my buttocks start burning, not from pain but from sitting in the dang saddle pedaling up hill for so long! I decide to push. I go about 25 yds, it stops burning so I pedal some more. I drink the last of my water and my mouth starts getting dry....yuk! Several miles and turns later I decide to just push awhile, heck everyone else is. My but is not liking all the saddle time. I say I push for about 1/4 mile and Anet gets back up with me and I finish out the climb with her. I almost climbed the whole thing. She's like a busy bee at rest stop#3 and is gone. I get my bag and get some water, sit down eat a protien bar and some other things and try to rest for about 8-10minutes. I go back to fill my bottle before I leave and I get the last of the water! This is ridiculous!!!!! Totally unacceptable for a rest stop to run out of anything for the ridiculous fee ($80) they charge us to race this thing!!! I lube my chain and I'm back on trail. I'm still feeling pretty good though. I jet across the BRP and fly down the FS road. Get to the bottom and start climbing again. Dang another CCR wannabe! I don't know how far that was getting up to rest stop#4 but it SUCKED!!!! Hurt too!!!! I get there rest a minute, drink up, eat some more gels and stuff. 5 min and I'm back on the BRP. 1.5 miles UP the BRP to the crappy 100yd hike-a-bike section straight up.

I get up that and I need to take a breather. 3 more minutes and I'm headed down a very long and grueling\rough a$$ descent. It takes its toll on your upper body after you have tortured your legs for most of the day. I hear this very loud pop with a metal scratch. Something bad has happened inside my RockShox Reba. Everytime I hit a bump, squeak, clank, thud. I try to ride light on my bars as possible but that was hard considering the toll that the day has had on me so far. I get the crap scared out of me when I'm shootin' down the area thats called "the swamp" and have to pass two riders walking it, I pass on the OUTSIDE droppoff edge. Thats was spooky! I manage to get to rest stop #5. I take in a bunch of bananas and some more gels but that's not doing it for me this time. I need something besides water,heed and gatorade. A coke is what I need! No cokes to be found so I settle for a RED BULL. MISTAKE !!!!!!! of the grandest fashion. It tasted and felt good going down though. I tear out and head up the last FS rd climb feeling a little better. I must have passed 10 more riders going up that road. I get to the base of Kitsuma for the last and final time.....it hits me - sugar rush GONE!.......BONK BONK BONK. Its all I can do to push me and the bike up to the top of Kitsuma. My legs wont move more than 3 inches with each step. No ...Darnit !! I very slowly, I say very slowly trudge up that long switchbacky trail stopping about 3 times for a 5 minute rest. (didn't work) I FINALLY get to the top to see a bunch of women walking around the trail everywhere. I would later find out it was a church group hiking. They give me a big round of applause which kinda helped me ride away from them looking like I had some energy left. Finally the down part! I do all I can to hang on with my fork raising all kinds of cane down the nice fast and bumpy descent. I start thinking now, how am I going to be able to pedal down that last three miles of pavement to town? I come through the picnic area at the end and find that cold water fountain and drown my head and face. That helped ALOT! I hit the road with just enough new found energy to sustain 17-19 MPH back to town and the finish. I passed a couple more guys riding SS bikes and got passed by one dude on a ventanna. Seeing that wooden bridge across the creek was so nice. I cross the finish passing Brian heading back to the truck and find John and Levi. I drop my bike and head down to immerse my battered body in the nice refreshing creek. It felt so good! I had a mechaincal brake failure last year and didn' get to finish. It felt so good to accomplish this. Im sure I could have shaved alot of time off my final 9:17:00 by not lingering in the rest stops and waiting on John but next year I will be on top of things a bit more by being more efficient at the stops like Anet was. By the way I never caught back up to her. I think she finished around 9 hrs even (way to go Anet) She shaved 3.5 hrs off lasts years time. That goes to show you what training can do for ya!!

Promoter: The ONLY rest stop worth a hoot was number 1&5 it being the same first and last. 2, 3 and 4. Ridiculous was the only way to describe it. All the volunteers were very nice and helpful but the promoter should give a 50% refund to anyone that did without. Its a shame that I had packed better for those rest stops than what 2-4 supplied. Very poor management!!!! They ran out of water and several other supplies. They had plenty of advil though. I guess you needed it with all the headaches they gave us at the stops. I'm very seriously thinking about riding this next year "ghost rider" I gave the event the benefit of the doubt when the same thing happened last year at stop #2. But overall this is poorly promoted compared to most events that I have attened. I guess they think free beer and spaghetti will smooth anyone over after that kind of ride. Pre-entry fee of $80 X 400 riders= $32,000 Gee I bet he's fat ,dumb and happy. There should have been at least bananas and PBJ available at EVERY stop! But they couldn't afford to keep water supplied at the stops..............UNACCEPTABLE!

Later G ...................................