Just a short film I put together from a recent ride at Raccoon Mountain, Tennessee. Thanks to Paul Foster for shooting all the video and stills. Enjoy!

Raccoon Mountain Unicycle Epic Video

My next B.H.A.G.

I've been in a real rut lately; trying to figure out where to take my passion for trail ultra-running. I've finished over 125 ultra-marathons over the past 14 years and have acquired plenty of 100 mile buckles. Now it's time for something completely different; time to explore new avenues; time, as David Horton coined, to truly have a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (B.H.A.G.)!!

It just so happens that there is a 325 mile long trail right in my neck of the woods called the Pinhoti Trail. While there is already a trail 100 mile race there, I'm more interested in covering the entire trail system which extends from Flagg Mountain in Alabama to the Benton MacKaye Trail in Georgia in as fast a time as possible. I originally entertained the thought of covering the entire trail back in 1999 when I first moved to Alabama (of course back then the entire Pinhoti trail was only just over 100 miles!) I'm calling this quest the Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run. Plans have just been hatched so stay tuned.

2009 Heartland 100 Mile Run

The Short Version:

Even by Kansas standards race day was unseasonably cold and windy with near gale force winds out of the north east and a high that barely reached 40 degrees. Thus wind chills were deep into the 30s all day long and remained about the same overnight as the wind eased somewhat but the temperatures plummeted to freezing. The race course is a 50 mile out and back and so most of the out bound leg was either directly or indirectly into the wind! Fighting the wind was extremely demoralizing and I could not wait to hit the turnaround. The return leg was much easier having mostly a strong tail wind to guide me home. I ran the first 25 miles , to the Teterville Road aid station, with my wife Kathy, who would end up going on to win the women’s race in the 50 mile event, in around 4 ½ hours. After Kathy turned around to finish up her race, I continued on and ran right around 4h 55m to get to half way (9h 25m for 50 miles). I had a slower go over the next 25 miles as night had fallen over one of the more difficult sections of the race course. It took me nearly 5h 35m to cover those 25 miles. However I began to “feel my oats” so to speak and sped up over the remaining 25 miles covering this ground in around 5h 22m to finish 11th of 61 starters and 41 finishers in 20 hours 21 minutes and 33 seconds.

Quick Gear Review:

Going into the Heartland 100 I was still on-the-fence about which shoe to wear. I knew that the race course was all gravel roads, covering wide range in quality, gravel size etc… I almost went with a pure road shoe but after getting a bit more course beta from race veterans I decided to go with my fairly new pair of La Sportiva Skylites.

As a minimalist runner who is quite comfortable in the Inov-8 line of trail running shoes, the Skylite fits right in as it is very lightweight at just 9.46 oz (268 g) and has a very low profile and awesome grip. Those familiar with the La Sportiva brand have probably seen the Crosslite which looks virtually identical to the Skylite but with a bit more aggressive (thicker) outsole and weighs a little more at 12.35 oz (346 g). I will admit that right out of the box and on my first couple of short runs I was a bit skeptical of this shoe. The shoe is quite a bit more stiff than anything in the Inov-8 line as it contains an embedded nylon molded shank (for what reason I do not know). It took a bit of getting used to this additional stiffness, but after flexing the shoe fully by hand back and forth a few times before and after each run I grew to really like this shoe. Another nice feature of this shoe is the laces are protected by a flexible mesh that keeps small debris from creeping in from around the tongue of the shoe. However, the biggest asset the Skylite has to offer, at least with respect to the Heartland 100 is the FriXion® outsole that protected my feet from even the largest of gravel chunks and rocks that I encountered. This last was very crucial as I aimed to run the tangents on these gravel roads as much as I could which meant that sometimes I was running over some large gauge rocks more frequently.

Like any shoe the La Sportiva Skylite does have its detractors. As already mentioned the Skylite has an embedded nylon shank that makes the shoe very stiff compared to other minimalist shoes on the market. Also the yellow “La Sportiva” lettering that is glued/stitched to the mesh upper started peeling way on my first run! I’d have expected the lettering to stand up a bit better than it has so far; a bit disappointing.

Overall I give the La Sportiva Skylite very high marks and plan to continue racing in this shoe for a long time to come.

The Longer Version (***warning it is long, read at your own peril!***):

Prelude:

Last February, after learning that Kathy (my wife) didn’t get selected into the 2009 Badwater 135 , we began to look around for another goal race for her to run. The trick was finding a 100 mile event that fit into our busy work and school schedule, didn’t involve competing at altitude or cost too much to travel to. We quickly settled on traveling out to Cassoday, Kansas in October for the Heartland 100 Mile Cross Country Run . So we went ahead and made all our travel arrangements (why not?) and went on with our lives. Then around April, Kathy was contacted by the Badwater 135 staff and offered entry into the event! How could she pass that up; this was a dream race for her! So then we decided, rather than cancel our Kansas travel plans, to both run the 50 mile option. Kathy and I are trying to collect an ultramarathon in every state so this would be perfect as we’d yet to run a race in Kansas. In July I dropped out of the Hardrock 100 and so, desperate for a little 100 mile redemption, I upgraded my Heartland 50 entry to the full 100. Big thank you to race director Randy Albrecht who put up with having to change our entries around for his race several times!

After recovering from that whirlwind week in July that encompassed travelling to both the Hardrock 100 in Silverton, Colorado then immediately out to Las Vegas, Nevada and beyond to support my wife at the Badwater 135, I began to train in earnest. On paper at least, the Heartland 100 would be the “easiest” 100 mile course I’ve ever attempted; sporting a mere 6,000 feet of climb and run entirely on dirt and gravel roads. Of course everybody knows there is nothing “easy” about running a 100 miles, anywhere!

When most people think of Kansas (including myself) they picture a very flat country side and perhaps a lot of wind blowing through the tall prairie grass. I can attest to the fact that, at least this part of Kansas, is NOT FLAT as the course winds its way all through the famed Flint Hills . I can also confirm that, yes, it is windy in Kansas and it is that element that really challenges runners. In fact, what makes this particular course tough is the amount of exposure. While having frequent panoramic views over the ocean of amber tall grass is truly awe inspiring and humbling the down side is that there is hardly a shade tree on the route which makes you very susceptible to whatever Mother Nature throws out you. In years past it has been extremely hot, with cloudless skies and intense sun coupled with convection oven like breezes. This year Mother Nature took a different tact and bombarded us with near gale force winds and day time temperatures not much above freezing! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Kathy and I flew into Wichita a couple days before the race amid a huge storm system rolling through. Soaking rains and wind hammered the area as we drove to our hotel in El Dorado (the ‘a’ is pronounced, for some baffling reason, like the ‘a’ in ‘acorn’). Thank goodness we weren’t running the race today!

The next afternoon we drove out to Cassoday, site of the start and finish of the races on a perfect Fall day; blue skies, some large puffy clouds and temperatures in the mid 50s with just a light wind. Too bad the race didn’t start today all the runners agreed at the race packet pickup and briefing.

Twelve hours later we awoke to temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s with an increasing wind out of the north east. Still, we were optimistic that the weather would hold out and that the chance of rain later in the day wouldn’t pan out. Surely we can handle a little wind right? So in the pre-dawn darkness 105 bundled up runners (61 in the 100 mile and 44 in the 50 mile) embarked on their respective adventures; headlights and flashlights bobbing.

Pre-race I’d prepared two pace “guidelines” (I don’t like to use the word “schedule”): one for a sub 20 hour and the other for sub 24 hour finish time. The 20 hour guide basically was to hit half way in 9 hours and come back in 11 hours; the 24 hour had an out-bound split of 11 hours, in-bound in 13 hours. The presumed assumption, from past experience, is that I could expect a 2 hour slow down between the first and second 50 miles (works for me).

Cassoday to Teterville Road (Mile 0 to 25):

Starting out from Cassoday I was a bit anxious about what the day (and night) would hold as the weather was very unpredictable. I put those fears behind me though as it was great to finally be embarking on this adventure. As Kathy’s 50 mile goal pace was basically the same as my 20 hour guide, we decided to run the first 25 miles together to the turnaround aid-station at Teterville Road. I’m very happy that we chose to run together because I feared that I’d get out too fast and then really suffer on the return leg. Instead we passed the time largely running by ourselves. The beauty of a small race field is that it gets really spread out quickly and you end up on your own which is exactly what I love about ultra-running; the lack of crowds. So, by the time we reached the first manned aid-station at Battle Creek (8.2 miles) only a few runners were in sight both ahead and behind; and that is saying a lot as there are frequent places where one can see several miles ahead or behind on the course!

Somewhere in that first section we were treated to a very deep blood red sunrise; the sun was a gigantic, fat orb hidden behind low streaming clouds. With the sun came the wind and the gentle breeze soon ramped up to near gale force strength out of the north east. Unfortunately the general direction the out-bound leg takes is to the north east so runners would experience a wicked head wind throughout at least half of their races.

Kathy and I ran along, only walking some of the steeper sections of the hills. I worried that I was still getting out too fast as I was even well ahead of my 20 hour guide! We really couldn’t help it because we’d both under-dressed a bit for the conditions. We were able to stay just warm enough as long as we kept running and didn’t stop too long at the aid stations. I started out in my green Golite Wasatch Speed Goat Mountain Racing Team short sleeve shirt with my Moeben sleeves and my bright orange Golite team jacket over the top. I ran in my Patagonia shorts and wore Injinji socks inside my La Sportiva Skylite shoes. For the other extremities I wore my trusty pair of 180s gloves (the kind that have a one-way valve on the top that allow you to blow warm air into the glove; genius!), on my head my favorite khaki colored Patagonia trucker cap. So the jacket was just enough to block the wind, but I could have used a slightly warmer layer underneath as the temperatures were barely, if at all, above 40 degrees.

At any rate, that glowing orb, managed to peek out of the thick clouds for a short while which helped warm things up enough to be just comfortable. However, the wind was even more biting if that was possible, enough so that Kathy and I really couldn’t even talk to one another! Talking meant shouting and we just didn’t have the energy for it; so we plodded along, each in our own howling worlds yet just feet apart.

From Battle Creek to the Lapland aid station we were treated with one of the hillier sections of the entire course. Roller after roller greeted us, like an amusement park ride we’d slowly shuffle up one rise and then go roaring down the other side, on and on. We had to be careful to actually walk some as these early miles we felt pretty good and the running was fairly easy, even on the gradual uphills. As we ran along we caught frequent sites of cows and horses grazing, run down and derelict looking structures that ranged from abandoned homesteads to dilapidated barb wire fences and gates leading to nowhere. Often times I felt I was passing through a scene or two from a Stephen King novel. We were in the heart of the Wastelands for sure! An ominous sign and sure indication of my train of thought came just past the unmanned Thrall aid-station at around 21 miles when we ran right by a frayed noose hanging from the lonely remains of a ranch gate. The noose swayed in the wind like a ghostly hand beckoning us to come pay it a visit… Kathy and I looked at one another with looks of supreme surprise and sped on, that next mile was probably our fastest of the day!

Before we knew it 4 ½ hours had gone by and we’d arrived at the Teterville Road aid-station, 25 miles in. Kathy and I exchanged a hug and a kiss and then we went our respective ways. We’d only seen four runners coming back along the 50 mile course and no women as we approached Teterville Road. Kathy waved good bye and wished me luck. She’d go on to run a very negative split on the way back running the last 25 miles in just over 4 hours to finish in 8 hours 38 minutes and 38 seconds, 4th overall and 1st woman. As far as we can tell this was also a female course record by about 18 minutes!

Teterville Road to Lone Tree (Mile 25 to 50):

Alas I was truly on my own now. I left Teterville Road with just a couple other runners, a large pack Kathy and I had come in with were all 50 milers and they had all turned for home. I still had 25 more miles to go before I’d make my own turn for home! After a good mile of running out of the wind, sure enough, the course turned into the north once more right into the teeth of the wind! This section of road was also one in the worst condition of any other place on the course. The road looked as if it had gotten really soaked and muddy, then driven over by some heavy equipment. There were deep ruts and wash-outs and even a creek crossing of sorts where a rain swollen creek was flowing over a low concrete bridge.

Cattle guards. I can’t believe I forgot to talk about the cattle guards. I already alluded that the theme of the day was COLD and WIND and WASTELAND but I forgot to add CATTLE GUARDS. These ingenious inventions that are great at keeping cattle from escaping from their respective ranch lands, forced runners to pay close attention when crossing them. They were constructed from a variety of materials. There were basically three different types I came across. The first utilized several horizontally placed, parallel metal pipes; this was the most dangerous to cross because of the rounded surface and the sections of pipe were often spaced fairly wide apart. The second type was the easiest to cross, these were constructed with fully boxed metal beams and were most often placed close enough together that you didn’t even have to think about where you stepped and the surface was totally flat. The third type was the most ingenious as it used old and short sections of rail road track; some were more dangerous than others; it just depended on how widely spaced was each section of track. I lost track of how many cattle guards I crossed throughout that 100 mile run, I just know that it hardly seemed like one could run a mile without coming upon one. COLD, WIND, WASTELAND, CATTLE GUARDS.

So after crossing over that concrete bridge, and getting my feet thoroughly soaked I continued on that torn up ranch road. I began to ascend in earnest to reach what is known as the Ridgeline area. A true ridgeline it is as the next 10 miles are all along this winding gravel road that is one of the highest areas around and has full 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside. If one knew where to look I’m sure the entire 100 mile course could be made out from here; thankfully I was blissfully unaware of where I was! Sometimes ignorance is bliss!

The route to Texaco Hill (50km), once the ridgeline was attained, was relatively flat and, thank fully, not directly into the wind. This was quite possibly my favorite section of the course with the sun peaking through the clouds, turning the tall prairie grass gold and rippling like waves in the ocean; the clouds streaming by. Wow this is a beautiful country! I arrived at Texaco Hill, grabbed some homemade cookies, refilled my lone bottle and continued on. Just up the road from the Texaco Hill aid-station was an ancient looking pumpjack a.k.a. “nodding donkey” that looked to be on its last leg; it made an awful grinding noise as I approached, passed and receded away from it.

To help get into a rhythm with my running, I started to employ a 10:2 run-walk strategy shortly after I left Teterville Road. As truly just about everything was runnable on this course, I needed to work in an effective walking strategy. So I had my watch set with two repeating count-down timers; I’d run for 10 minutes (regardless of terrain) my watch would chime and then I’d walk for 2 minutes and then my watch would chime again. This seemed to be a pretty good strategy for me in the past (Delano 12 hour) and so I hoped it would work well this time around. So I ran and walked a bit, ran and walked a bit, on and on. Finally the Ridgeline stretch was behind me as I pulled into THE Ridgeline aid-station (several cattle guards later I might add). I was now 36 ½ miles in and feeling great. For the first time I asked about my position and was told I was the 13th through this point. No worries, I was just on cruise control for this run. I refilled my bottle, grabbed some pretzels and boiled potatoes and kept trucking.

My next destination was Matfield Green at mile 42 ½. In this stretch I had my closest encounter with cattle thus far. Just a couple miles out from the Ridgeline aid-station I crossed yet another cattle guard and sitting right next to the road were several large black cows; behind them were a few dozen or more idly grazing. They all stopped and stared at me, chewing their cud, as I rolled by; how cool! Just past the lounging cows I saw some ranch hands loading some horses into a trailer. As I got closer I realized that that they were all women! Cowgirls don’t cry! More on them later. I kept going, cycling endlessly through my run-walk cycles until finally I could hear the cars on the near-by toll road. I knew I was getting close to Matfield Green now. I passed by another dilapidated old ranch house, though this one’s grassy yard looked like it had been recently freshly cut; so perhaps it is still looked over somewhat? A bit further and I could now see the toll road and the concrete overpass ahead. Ever wonder about those overpasses you see when you’re driving way out from any nearby city? This was one of those places! There wasn’t a toll exit anywhere close to here! Over the concrete bridge, cars zipping by without a clue, and I was into the aid-station. However I wasn’t alone. I’d just grabbed some noodles to go, and refilled my bottle when another runner came bounding into the aid-station. Where had they, uhh she come from? I’d been looking forward and backward frequently, not out of any care about my position, but just to see if I could see anybody? She’d come up on me pretty quick!

I walked on out of Matfield Green, trying to let all the food I’d just stuffed down settle. Next stop was the 50 mile turnaround point at the Lone Tree aid-station. Susan Lance, the runner who’d caught me, sped right on by as I groped in my waist pack for some vitamin I (Ibuprofen). I popped a couple Ibuprofen and settled back into my run-walk cycle. It is hard to describe, you kind of have to experience it to understand, but it was very comforting to have this 10-2 cycle to stick to. A hundred miles is so far that it can fry your brain if you start to think about how far you have left to go. It is much better to just worry about the next 10 minutes of running or 2 minutes of walking and let the rest of it go. You’ve got to break up a race this long somehow and this is one of the ways I can cope with it. It is a monster.

Cruising out to the turnaround at Lone Tree, the route passes right by a couple of really tall electronic towers (cellular? T.V. ?). The funny thing is that, like every distant object in this land, they appear to be a lot closer than they really are. Perspective and distance are all messed up when you have so much line of sight. Anyhow I just focused on my run-walk strategy and found that, for this section at least, Susan was doing roughly the same thing as after her initial surge by me we largely kept the same distance apart. As we closed in on the towers I expected to see the 100 mile race leaders come back by us anytime. Sure enough with just about a mile to go before the towers (about 3 ½ miles out from the turnaround) I saw some black dots coming down the very straight road. Wow it was still anybody’s race as the top three were all within ten minutes of each other! Passing the towers I topped off my water bottle at an unmanned aid-station i.e. a couple of water containers and a box of various food items, and kept going. Down the last section to the turnaround, more runners on the in-bound leg passed by me. Most motivational was the lead woman, Amy Palmiero-Winters, who is a below the knee amputee! She would go on to win this race in 18 hours 54 minutes and 13 seconds, a record for an amputee and the 2nd fastest women’s time on this course! Amazing, truly amazing! I counted a total of twelve before I could finally spot the Lone Tree aid station, so I really was 14th (Susan was just ahead of me). At the aid station I arrived in around 9 hours and 25 minutes (about 4 hours and 55 minutes for this 25 mile section). I was 25 minutes over my 20 hour guideline, but I felt that was pretty good considering the wind tunnel I had to run through to get to this point! Susan introduced herself as one of my friend Janice Anderson’s friends; part of that G.U.T.S. group (Georgia Ultrarunning & Trailrunning Society). I thought I’d heard her name before. With that she launched back up the hill we’d run down to get to Lone Tree. I hammered down another Boost and retrieved my Patagonia cool-weather top from my drop-bag and tied it around my waist. And with that I was now an in-bound runner as I bounded back up the road and into a wonderful tail-wind!

Back to Teterville Road:

The stretch back to Matfield Green seemed to just fly by. It was so good to not have the wind whipping across my ears any longer! I passed by many runners still on their out-bound legs including fellow Huntsvillian, Christie Scott who was tackling her first 100 mile race! Christie would have a late race melt-down but still rally and perceiver to finish the race in 29 hours 30 minutes and 39 seconds. Way to go Christie! Back into the out skirts of the Matfield Green aid-station I was shocked to see my wife Kathy! Yes! She told me about her amazing 50 mile finish and that since she had plenty of time to meet me out here she did! Thank you! As we walked into and out of the aid-station she quickly told me about her race. How motivating for me! So, with a kiss and a hug I chugged on, light hearted and feeling pretty good even with over 57 miles in my legs.

Susan was nowhere in sight, she was gone! I would learn later that she finished 2nd woman in 19 hours 17 minutes and 21 seconds; the next finisher ahead of me! Talk about a gap! Anyhow I soon passed another runner with his pacer not far out of Matfield Green so now I was back in the ominous 13th position. Running along the Prairie Creek Road I recognized the landmarks I’d passed only hours before. I was making pretty good time. Soon was I passing close to where I’d seen those cowgirls earlier in the day. Coming over a rise in the road I saw them drive a flat bed truck with a large hay bale into a field with 100s of cattle. As I ran towards the scene I heard them begin to blow a whistle and all of a sudden there was a sea of mooing black cows converging on the parked truck! What an awesome sight to behold! I soon passed behind a hillock and the scene disappeared behind me. I was now totally alone on the road, nobody ahead or behind in sight. I’d passed by the last of the out-bounders a while ago. Returning by the spot where the relaxing cows were by the road, the cows were nowhere to be seen. I kept going and soon I’d made the turn off that long Prairie Creek Road and ran up a short hill into the Ridgeline aid-station at mile 63.4. Kathy was there to greet me and as my water bottle was being refilled, I retrieved my dropbag and quickly downed two cans of Boost (this is great stuff!). I decided to that I’d had enough clothing to get me to Teterville (mile 75) as it was “only” about 12 miles away. I still felt fairly warm and had perhaps another hour or so of sunlight left. So I began to leave the aid-station only to cross a cattle guard and remember that I didn’t have my headlamp! Uff! As I turned quickly around to get back to the aid-station, I saw that Kathy had already started to turn the car around to head back down the road! I began to frantically wave my hands and yell, at the same time an aid-station worker began to do the same thing; at first independently of me, but when he noticed I was doing the same thing he re-doubled his efforts and ran to the car to stop her! Phew! It turns out that an out-bound runner had dropped out her and was awaiting a ride back to Cassoday. The aid-station worker had initially flagged down Kathy to see if she’d give him a ride, but seeing me in a frantic really stepped up his efforts! Thank you to that guy, he probably saved my race! As I sped over to her car to get my light, it seemed like I just got really cold all of a sudden as well! So while Kathy fished around for my light, I began to layer up top and put my wind pants on for good measure. Now, finally with my light and with plenty of warm clothes on I left the aid-station for the second time!

It took me a good mile of running to finally warm back up, but I did and was glad to have grabbed the extra layers when I did; it could have been ugly trying to get to Teterville had I not added more clothing! An hour later the sunlight faded and with the heavy cloud cover there was no spectacular sunset, just a gradual graying of the light into black. I managed to get to the Texaco Hill aid-station (mile 68.7) without needing my light. There was just enough contrast between the scraped dirt road and the surrounding prairie that it was very easy to stay on the road without a light. I knew I was close to Texaco Hill when I heard the laboring pumpjack grinding and groaning in the dark. Over on last hillock and I saw the lights of the Texaco Hill aid-station. I only stopped long enough to grab a hot cup of potato soup and I was out of there. I did manage to congratulate Phil Sheridan, who’d won the 50 mile event and was now out there manning that aid station all night! I remember running with Phil during 1998 at Old Dominion and Leadville when I was doing the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning. He remembered my purple (red) hair at Old Dominion and green hair at Leadville. It’s funny that is how I’m remembered! Better than being forgotten I suppose!

Now I was just a 10km away from Teterville, on some of the nastiest terrain of the course, in the dark no less. It really wasn’t so bad, I was still making fairly good progress and largely sticking to my 10-2 run-walk plan. If I had one low-point it was just after making the tricky 180 degree turn off the main dirt road and onto a much less frequently maintained side road. The first part of this side road is tucked between a few large hills and is one of the very few places where there is no wind. As I’d been dressed for the cold and wind I got very hot in this section and had to stop and strip off my wind pants and a layer up top. I was bursting with heat and felt sick! I’d made it another mile down this road when the wind returned with earnest and now the pendulum had swung back and I was freezing again! So I had stop once again and put all those layers back on! After that I had my first indication that my brain was getting a bit tired. Peering ahead of me I saw a green road sign fluoresce in my headlamp light. Getting closer to the sign I was stunned to watch as that supposed road sign transform in to a green glow-stick, attached to a holder and stuck horizontally in the ground! Woah! I was losing it just a bit! It is weird how your brain interprets things without enough information to fill in the pieces. It was just so dark out there that all you could see was the bit of dirt road ahead of you and just this pitch black nothingness all around. I was just in a bubble of light, surrounded by the night. Further on I passed a well lit ranch and then some signs of civilization (if you can call it that) as I could see my turn ahead onto the last bit of road into Teterville. The only way I could tell that was I could see some vehicular traffic (just points of light to me) heading perpendicular to my direction. Who else would be out here this late, but the dedicated crews? A glowing red point resolved into a stop sign ahead and soon I’d made the turn as arrived in Teterville after a short jog up one of the nicest surfaced dirt roads on this course. Kathy was there once again as I rolled in just a few minutes before 9:00 p.m., about 15 hours in and about 5 hours 35 minutes for this last 25 miles; not bad at all considering. It was pretty cold out so I didn’t stop long, just enough to eat some soup and refill my bottle. I hugged Kathy and left the aid-station. Just 25 miles to go!

The home stretch:

Leaving Teterville I was cold once again; you stop for even just a little bit and you get cold! With the sun down it was barely above freezing and the wind was still blowing, albeit a bit less strongly than it had been during the day. I ran the next mile a bit upbeat as it was largely downhill. I was finally warm again soon enough. Looking behind me I was stunned to see a headlamp bobbing down the road perhaps a quarter mile behind me! I hadn’t seen any other runner for hours now. Well, not that it really meant anything, but I refused to let this runner pass me. Besides, trying to hold this guy off would be something to do to pass the time over the remaining miles. So I began to pick up the pace more during my 10 minute running blocks. I passed by Thrall, some decrepit buildings and the ghostly noose and was past the unmanned aid-station. I cut my light off and tried to determine when the chasing runner made the hard turn to the right onto the road I was currently running down. He finally did and it appeared that I was still maintaining the same quarter mile gap. I cut my light back on, before I stumbled off the road trying to run with no light and looking back over my shoulder! This next section had some good rollers so I made good use of them running up all the hills and trying to hammer the downs as best I could. I didn’t skimp on my walk break, but often delayed it if it occurred mid downhill. It wasn’t long before I thought I could see the Lapland aid-station (mile 83.1), a glowing red light at this distance. It was impossible to tell how far away it was, it just looked like another point of light in the distance; like a star in the sky! I was onto a pretty sustained downhill and the red light vanished from in front of me. I knew I was close because I was running through a thin copse of woods, which was why the lights of the aid-station disappeared (I remembered this section from the way out). I really let my legs roll down this part and started a little when a black shape sped across the road not 20 feet ahead of me; a skunk! Luckily he was making a bee-line for the woods and had no interest in tangling with the head-lamped Cyclopes barreling out of the night! Out of the woods the red aid-station light was now a large tent covered with Christmas lights and before I knew it I was on the final gradual uphill pitch into the Lapland. Kathy was the only crew at the aid-station so I knew there must be a large gap ahead and behind me (except for the chaser of course). I grabbed some more soup and crackers and a few caffeinated gels and kept going. This was the last time I’d see Kathy until the finish so I told her to expect me in around 4 hours.

Heading down the road out of Lapland I could see that the chaser had closed to perhaps a couple hundred yards! I guess I delayed longer than I thought at the aid-station? Anyhow I didn’t let it bother me and instead focused on trying to finish strong. I was getting tired now and so shifted to a 9-3 run-walk plan. The caveat was that I’d really try to run strong during that 9 minute stretch but really try and relax on the 3 minute walk. I think this was a good strategy shift as this section to Battle Creek had a number of rolling hills which really allowed me to play to my hill climbing strengths. I quickly lost sight of the chaser in the roller-coaster like hills but would occasionally catch a glimpse of his headlamp from one of the peaks. It seemed like I was keeping a peak ahead so that was good, he wasn’t gaining on me anymore. Roller after roller I ran and walked, ran and walked until finally I pulled into the Battle Creek aid-station at mile 91.7 almost unexpectedly as this aid-station is buried in some woods and can only be seen from a short ways out. A couple of aid-station workers came running up the road to me. The grabbed my water bottle and sped back to the aid-station. They wanted to keep me going without stopping; now that is service! So I barely paused and was gone up a short but steep climb out of the little valley where the Battle Creek aid-station was hidden.

I was feeling very good; I was now onto the true home-stretch, some of the easiest running on the entire course. After the climb out of Battle Creek it was largely flat all the way back to Cassoday. Just a couple of miles out of Battle Creek, my headlamp began to blink! Uh Oh! That means my batteries were running low! Yikes, to lose my light this close to the finish! Fortunately my headlamp has different lighting levels so I shifted down to the minimal setting; didn’t really need much light on this last bit of well groomed dirt road. I also still had my backup light that I’d used in the opening miles of the race just in case. In the distance I thought I could see the lights from the turnpike toll station at the out skirts of Cassoday. That meant I was really getting close. All of a sudden I saw what looked like a Carnival cruise ship lit up for the night drifting by ahead of me! I could hear the grumbling of a diesel engine but couldn’t make out what the heck it was. Then it was passing me. It was a large diesel truck pulling two large horse trailers (all of which was lit up). Weird what your brain does without enough input? Just past a couple of well lit homesteads and I arrived at the last aid-station. This was an unmanned aid-station on the out-bound leg, but now there were a couple of bundled up folks there to check on the tired, finishing runners. I downed a cup of hot apple cider and kept going, just less than 5 miles to go! I couldn’t see the chaser behind me but kept tricking myself as I’d look behind me I kept thinking that lit up homestead was a runner’s headlamp just behind me! Freaky! I was getting tired and needed to finish thing before I really started hallucinating!

This last stretch was just a blur, after a few more miles I could see the lights of Cassoday ahead now and a bare shimmer on the unlit Cassoday water-tower. I also could hear the kennel dogs barking that I remembered hearing at the starting line. I was in shouting distance now! The finish area looked pretty dead. Unfortunately this section of the course is bisected from the town of Cassoday by a very active railway. Rather than risk tired runners from getting run over by trains in the middle of the night, the event staff wisely moved the start/finish area just past the railway crossing at an old school and site of the town’s water supply. It was this now resolved water-tower that I set my sights on as my feet emerged onto pavement, just a half mile to go! I tucked my head into the wind, one last insult by the weather gods, and ran for all I was worth for the finish. I was greeted at the finish, a chalk line drawn next to a folding chair, by race director Randy Albrecht, ringing a cow bell, and Kathy, clapping her mittened hands. After 20 hours 21 minutes and 33 seconds I was done! I’d finished 11th overall and put over an hour on the chaser in the process! This last 25 miles took me about 5 hours 21 minutes, so it was a bit faster than my 3rd 25 mile leg (and not my slowest leg at all). In the end I was only off my "ideal" schedule by 21 minutes; not too bad given the conditions!

Aftermath:

It was a great relief to be done, but I was getting cold, Kathy was cold. She’d tried to get some sleep in the car waiting for me, but kept getting too cold! We talked with the Randy for a few minutes, I enjoyed a large bowl of hot potato soap and then were back on the road to El Dorado (remember the ‘a’ is pronounced, for some baffling reason, like the ‘a’ in ‘acorn’) and our warm hotel room.

Big thanks to Randy and all the other volunteers that made the Heartland races possible. I really had an enjoyable time running in the Flint Hills of Kansas; a lot more than I thought I would. The course photos I came across before the race don’t do it justice. You really have to go and experience it for yourself; I promise you won’t be disappointed! What a truly a beautiful place to pass your day (and night). I'm already looking forward to returning to this special part of the U.S.A. one day.

2009 Asheville Mountain Unicycle Festival

(Hand made banner for the Asheville Mountain Unicycle Festival)

Friday Afternoon

Until a few days ago I’ve only ever ridden with two other unicyclists (and never both at the same time). On Friday, September 25th that all changed shortly after I drove not the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area a.k.a. Bent Creek Campground. I’d arranged to split a camp site with Ben King who’d I’d chatted with some on Unicyclist.com but had never actually met in person. To our mutual surprise we ended up arriving at the campsite registration building at nearly the same time! He had come from Louisville, KY and me from Huntsville, AL so it was fairly miraculous timing!

After setting up camp, Ben and I strolled down to the festival head quarters which were just a few camp sites down the road. Arriving in the early afternoon like we did, we’d missed the first group ride of the day (I didn’t want to leave any earlier), but that was okay because we would get our fill of riding in shortly (more on that in a bit). We hadn’t been hanging out long at the festival site when all of a sudden unicyclists emerged out of the woods like some rare exotic creatures! One, two, three, four… I quickly lost count! This was completely mind blowing for me to see so many padded up, mountain unicyclists at one time in one place. I saw 29”, 24” and 20” wheels; all sorts of configurations… Cool! I quickly made the rounds trying to introduce myself to everybody coming in. I met the event organizers and local riders, Ben Richardson, Jeff Ray, Bill Spears and Jack Igelman. Everyone was so friendly! Wow!

As the next group ride wasn’t for a couple of hours, Ben and I decided to get in a short ride for ourselves just to loosen up the car legs.

(Getting ready for first group ride)

(Ben King preparing to ride)

So a few minutes later we were off, he on his KH29 and me on my KH24 Guni. We learned a couple of tips about where to go so we quickly found a trail head and started UP! I hadn’t ridden any true single-track in quite a while and it showed! Just 50 feet up the trail I had a pretty good Un-Planned Dismount (UPD) and jammed one of my fingers! Ouch! But, after that the cobwebs were shaken and Ben and I continued through the Pine Loop, just a short 3 mile or so exploration ride. I had a few more UPDs, but the muscle memory was coming back; most important of all I was having fun!

Once back at camp, we got re-hydrated and met up with some of the riders we’d been introduced to earlier.

(A break in the rain, before my first group ride: L-R, me, Bill Spears, Jeff, John, Robbie, Ben K., Cody, Ben R.)

It was about time to head out for the afternoon group ride. The weather changed quite drastically, that is, it began to rain and heavily! This was just fore-shadowing of things to come. So in a bit of a break from the rain, a whole pack of us headed out and UP and UP our goal being the highest point in Bent Creek and then a fun, fast descent down the Greenslick trail.

(Elevation profile of Greenslick group ride)

The climb started out on a series of gravel roads which had a fairly easy climbing grade. However the grade got much steeper and slicker when we finally turned off the gravel road and onto single track. One by one we cheered each other on up the trail and out of site, urging everybody to climb as far as they could without a stop. I made it up a descent way but soon red lined and came off! This became the pattern over the next few miles of climb, climb as far as you can, UPD/PD, take a few breaths and repeat! This group definitely had the climbers as all were very, very good! Despite the wet, slippery at times trail we all finally made up to Five Points (I could only count 4 ways to leave this spot ;) ). This spot was extremely muddy from recent heavy machinery work and the heavy rain; there was an excavator at hand that Ben Richardson, one of the event organizers, decided to do a still stand on! After hamming it up we proceeded to climb some more creek bed like single track, because of the rain, the trail was a creek!

It was very interesting to ride with other unicyclists as I often wondered how the on trail dynamics would fall out. As a trail runner I’m used to running in a group, chatting and taking walking breaks on hills, but over all we tend to stay close enough together to keep up conversations. Unicycling on trails with other riders was a bit different and way more humbling. We’d typically get going one by one, follow the leader, and then, sooner or later somebody would UPD and then if you were behind you were now ahead (unless that UPD caused you to UPD!) but lest you feel too smug about cleaning a line that the guy ahead of didn’t, soon enough you’ll UPD and somebody behind you will pass you! So it really never mattered if you started out in the lead or bringing up the rear, there was constant turn over! But this all made it quite fun and entertaining to watch people clean a line you just missed, or have witnesses (or be a witness) to some spectacular UPDs.

Anyhow, we continued to climb and climb until we, at last, reached the Greenslick trail head (at the highest point in the Bent Creek trail system). This downhill trail started out with some huge bermed corners and a few purpose built “mountain bike speed bumps” to keep trail speeds down (apparently there had been a lot of injuries on this trail in the past!). These added trail obstacles were just a whole lot of rolling trials type fun for us unicyclists! We just kept dropping and dropping, it was raining steadily but this kept us cool so it was okay. The light was beginning to go by the time Ben King, John (a fellow KH/Schlumpf hub owner out of Tampa) and I exited the trail onto a nice downhill gravel road. Schlumpf time! John took off down the road in high gear on his 24” Ben followed behind and soon I managed to shift into over-drive as well. Within seconds I was flying down the road at over 15 mph and quickly passed Ben and nearly caught up with John before he came to a stop at a trail crossing about ½ mile down the road. We three had separated from the rest of the group and so decided to stop here and figure out where to go next. There was some survey flags at hand that were being used to mark tomorrow’s race so we thought maybe we ought to go that way. I thought we’d be better off going down the road and so back to camp (I thought). None of us knew are way around the trail system so finally Ben came to the rescue by producing a soggy trail map. We’d just determined where we were and how to get back to camp quickest (did I mention the light was fading fast!) when the rest of the group showed up. We ended up proceeding further down the road, to John and my delight as we got to put our Schlumpf’d 24ers to the test by quickly out pacing the rest of the group in the 29ers! (About the only time we’d get ahead of them for very long!) We finally finished up a wet and sloshy ride and quickly dried off, got changed and headed into Asheville for some fine Mexican food and some camaraderie.

Saturday Morning

Friday night it started to rain, and rain, and rain, right on into the next morning as riders prepared for the 12 mile mountain unicycle race. About 10 minutes before the start, most of the motley group had assembled. We all chatted and half-heartedly listened to Jeff (the race course designer and marker) explain about the markings and in particular how to pay close attention to the first part of the course as it was easy to get lost because of a mixture of markings because there would be an intersection where the 12 mile loop and a shorter 4 ½ mile loop would be coming together. I wish I’d paid more attention because this was about to come back and haunt me shortly!

I’d prepared all my gear the night before but was shocked when I arrived at the start only to find my hydration bladder was nearly empty! I think my pack had been leaning on the bite valve and most of the water mix had drained out! Luckily it didn’t look like I had a leak and also it seemed like we were going to start a little late anyhow, so I quickly found a water spout and re-mixed my hydration concoction for the race.

(The starting field)

Standing in the rain we all posed for a pre-race photo and then we were off.

(And their off! Now I ask you, does that white shirted unicyclist's (Ben R.) tire look flat in the picture above? )

(Look at me, already in last place!)

As expected, Ben Richardson and Jeff flashed out to the front, followed by the rest of us out-of-towners. There were 24”, 29” and even several 20” unicycles in the field. Amazing! We’d only gone a quarter mile perhaps when I noticed Ben was hopping up and down on his 29er and his tire was totally flat! I heard him yell and then Jeff, the obvious pre-race favorite, stopped to render assistance. The last I saw of Jeff was taking off his large pack and rooting around for tools and a spare tube perhaps… At any rate, all of the out-of-towners surged ahead and I now found myself in the lead along with Ben King (my camp-mate) and John from Tampa, two other very strong riders who were in definite contention for the race title. We arrived at an intersection in the road, saw some orange flags to the right and so followed them, though something felt a bit wrong about that. We crossed a bridge and started to climb. Problem was I thought I heard something about not crossing a bridge and that the climb should be on a trail? So I began to slow and climb less enthusiastically and the rest of the group caught up, yes I lead almost the entire race field of course! Between the pack of us, each of us had heard various parts of the pre-race meeting and so we were able to reconstruct that briefing; we realized we were off course and quickly turned around and headed back down the hill. Once back at the bridge we went back to the right and then, clear as day, saw another set of markers (the ones we were supposed to follow in the first place) and got back on course! All in all I think we lost about 10 minutes on this diversion. We were unaware of the fact that, during our off course excursion, Jeff and a couple other riders had taken the lead (all unaware that a large group had gone the wrong way!).

Now climbing up a narrow single-track trail I could see several fresh tire marks so I knew some folks had taken the correct route, including Jeff! Very quickly, things sorted themselves out and it was clear that Ben King and I would be battling one another throughout this race. He was on his 29”, I on my 24”. While I could keep pace and gain at times on the climbs, he’d surge ahead on the downhills. The route wasn’t technical enough to slow him much so I was being beaten purely based his larger roll-out distance per crank revolution. So that was the theme that played out over the next 10 miles. I would sort of catch up to him on the climbs, perhaps just catch a glimpse and then he’d be out of sight again on the next downhill or level stretch. I continued to look behind me, but there was nobody in sight. As there was no telling how far Jeff was ahead, my race came down to just trying to keep up with Ben.

The first five miles or so of the course (the correct one) climbed and climbed and climbed, much like yesterday’s ride on some gorgeous single-track. I honestly couldn’t believe I was able to climb as much as I did. About the only times I couldn’t stay in the saddle was when the grade was too steep and slick; I think if it had been dry I could have climbed a bit more. One a particular uphill stretch of trail I passed by a couple of race photographers who told me Ben was just a minute and a half ahead and that I was second place! That’s when my heart really sunk because if they’d only seen two unicyclists that meant that Jeff was lost (highly unlikely since he was a local and marked the course) or he had a huge lead (which he did)! It didn’t matter to me, I was really just trying to take in the whole experience and live in the moment. In my mind I really wasn’t racing but trying my best to clean all the lines that I encountered. Near Five Points I caught another glimpse of Ben as he rocketed off again up the trail on the final bit of the main climb in the race. Then all of a sudden I came around a bend in the trail and saw a couple mountain bikers coming up the trail. One of them warned me, “Look out there’s a dead deer lying across the trail!” I was thinking, yeah right when sure enough there was a freshly dead deer right across the path! I know it’s morbid but I did entertain the thought of trying to side hop over it, but only just briefly! I dismounted and stepped over it and continued on my way, Ben just disappearing around the next bend in the trail. I remember thinking that Jeff must have been going so fast through here that caught and hit that deer totally unaware! Sure didn’t seem to faze him though!

At last I’d topped out at the highest point on the race course and began a real bomber of a descent, perfect for my 24” wheel it was just technical enough that I thought perhaps I might catch up to Ben on this section of trail. No luck there, but I continued to drop and drop and drop now in a real down pouring rain! Unlike back home in Huntsville, Alabama where the trail surface is either limestone or good old Alabama Red Clay that gets respectively very slick or very sticky, this Bent Creek trail system seemed to drain very well and very few sections of trail were slick or slippery. In addition it also really didn’t seem like I was harming the trail by trenching as the trail surface was very hard-packed dirt and sand, even with all the rain that had been falling over the last 24 hours!

After descending quite a bit on that lovely trail it finally emptied out onto that very same gravel road I had fun riding in high-gear down the night before. Yes! Here was my chance to try and catch up to Ben. I shifted into high-gear and soon I was flying down the gravel road as fast as I could spin; I wouldn’t doubt I topped 20 mph on this short stretch of road. Coming into a long straight-away I spotted Bill Spears and another guy taking photos. They cheered me on as I flew by in over-drive! Wow what fun! Bill yelled that I was 3rd place and that 2nd had just gone by. That confirmed what I’d thought, Jeff way out in front with me and Ben trying to pick up the pieces after our off course adventure. Just up ahead was that same flagged intersection we’d spotted the night before. Today this was part of the race route and as I was approaching the intersection, still about a 100 yards or so away I spotted Ben just turning onto the trail. Yes! I kept it in high-gear (mainly because I’m still very lame at down-shifting on the fly) as far as I could on up the next trail section. I finally came off trying to cross a rain swollen creek and just like that I had caught right back up with Ben, who was also hiking up the next short steep section of trail!

For the next mile or so, Ben and I fought. I’d slowly catch up on the up hills, he’d get ahead again on the downhills, but now I was starting to hold my own on the flats. However I was getting pretty tired myself, I was UPDing far more frequently, the trail was getting a bit more slick and even mounting was no longer 100% I saw Ben was struggling as well, UPDing just as frequently; probably as a result of constantly looking over his shoulder! So with just a few miles to go, I caught up to Ben and proposed a truce. I said that we’re probably a good ways ahead of the rest of the field and probably have no chance of catching Jeff so let’s just stop battling and finish this thing together. He happily agreed and so the intensity eased a bit as we rode and chatting along the remaining miles of trail.

Finally I could see Lake Powhatan so I knew we were very close to the finish. We rode along the trail that was parallel to the spill-way and soon emerged at the very intersection where we’d gotten lost earlier that morning. This time there was no doubt where to go and just a few minutes later, and after two hours and four minutes of riding, Ben and I, together, rolled over the 2x4 that marked the finish line of the 12 mile mountain unicycle race. Phew!

(Elevation profile of 12 mile mountain unicycle race)

We learned that Jeff had finished the race in one hour and forty eight minutes, some sixteen minutes faster than us! Apparently hitting that deer (and generously leaving it lying across the trail) didn't faze him one bit! So if we hadn’t gotten lost it might have been a closer race after all? I think it was because of this ambiguity that the race officials declared the race a three-way tie between Jeff, Ben and me. I still think Jeff deserves the overall win, after all there is only one Asheville Muni Fest Champion T-shirt and I think he’d definitely have beaten me this day. Ben, on the other hand, I think would have given Jeff a run for his money; he is one strong rider. So with both Jeff and Ben on 29ers I was the first 24er to finish for which I’m proud. As Ben and I shared the same camp-site we also won the camp-site team competition hands down! Look for us to defend in 2010!

Saturday Afternoon

After getting cleaned up, warm and eating a wonderful lunch prepared by the event organizers, I joined a rag tag group to do some trials riding. I thought I wouldn’t want to ride any more this day after that wearying race, but after a little down-time I was ready to go again. So me, a young chap named Daniel (who is a very impressive rider with only 6-months experience), Robbie, his daughter and young Jarrett from Tampa spent the next hour or so messing around on some near-by rocks, stair-sets, skinnies and just practicing some flat-land skills. At one point Jarrett’s unicycle ended up in the Lake (I still can’t figure out how) so I had to fix it out! The high point came on particularly tricky cement, curb, skinny that had a few left and right kinks in it. Daniel proposed a $1 ante and winner take all to whoever cleaned it first. After several tries I gave up and practiced some other lines. Robbie and Daniel both got close until Daniel attempted the same line from the opposite direction and cleaned it on his first attempt! Ha! What a hustler!

Once back at the festival camp site, the rain had stopped, temporarily, and a ton of eager unicyclists were hanging out and sessioning on various unicycles available. People were learning to ride five foot giraffes, impossible wheels, 36ers, Schumpf’d 24ers, etc… There was even a tiny 12 incher that a few of managed to ride! It was so much fun to just hang out and watch people riding all this various equipment, it was a regular unicyclist traffic jam!

(Giraffing!)

Saturday Evening

Eventually the sessioning climaxed with Ben Richardson proposing another, short, trail ride. So a few hardy souls once again strapped on wet gear and prepared to head back out into the woods. Just as we were departing the rain began to fall in buckets, again. We decided to ride the 4 ½ mile race course, most of which was the last bit of the 12 mile course. This was an opportunity to go ride and to pick up any leftover course markings (Ben Richardson had already swept the 12 mile course after fixing his flat earlier that day). As we had a mix of ability levels on this ride, and because of a complete lack of wanting to push too hard, we ended up spending time sessioning fun elements on the sides of the trail as we waited for others in our party to catch up. I had fun riding across slick rocks and ledges and other wise just soaking in the moment (figuratively and literally, it was raining hard!). Still all things come to an end and soon this Muni session was over as we chased the fading light back to our respective campsites to change clothes and get warm.

Regrouping under the large festival tarp, we managed to build a campfire while Bill Spears and company began cooking a whole heaping pile of fresh corn and rainbow trout! The rain came down harder and more and more people began to gather under the tarp; attracted to the warmth of the camp-fire and the wonderful smells emanating from the large boiling pots of food! I was quite content a while later, eating mounds of battered rainbow trout fried in peanut oil and munching on a huge piece of corn on the cob! Wow, thank you chefs! Later on, at the end of the evening, Ben Richardson came forward to present several awards in categories such as “Best Fall”, “Best Wheel Walk”, “Best Socks” and many others. It was a huge laugh and a lot of fun. The rain had finally let up as we parted ways back to our respective camp-sites to rest our weary bodies, our stomachs full of fish…

Sunday Morning

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…” William Shakespeare, “King Henry V”

(Heart Break Ridge Riders: L-R, Jeff, Ben K., Jack, Ben R., Josh from Unicycle.com, Aleks, Daniel and myself)

So there we were, the last ride of the Asheville Mountain Unicycle Festival 2009, donning wet gear once more. This morning just a few hardy folks remained to tackle the Heart Break Ridge Trail ride. This route would sport almost 4,000 feet of descent in about 8 ½ miles! A true epic descent was in store! Unfortunately, most folks were either too worn out over the past couple of days of riding (I don’t blame them) or had to depart early to get back to their “real lives” (that’s life); that was too bad as this was probably the best ride of the weekend! I so wished Robbie and John could have made it for this ride; they would have totally loved it. I think this ride should be THE staple EPIC RIDE for all future Asheville Muni Fests! We all awoke early and were shuttled, still bleary eyed and sore, up the Blue Ridge Parkway to just in site of Mount Mitchell. At 6,684 feet, Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. The riders on this last day of riding were, Josh from Unicycle.com on his custom neon green Nimbus 29er, Ben R., Ben K., Jeff, Jack, Aleks and Daniel (his first time on a 24” Muni). It was a cool 48 degrees when we started this ride amid clearing clouds and hints of sunshine; a perfect morning for a ride! At around 5,500 feet elevation we quickly climbed up a gradually sloped old rock and gravel toll road for about a half mile until we reached the intersection with the Heart Break Ridge Trail.

The tame riding came to end as we all “dropped in” the Heart Break Ridge Trail! The first quarter of a mile or so was an absolute blast; a technical riders dream. The trail was steep, narrow and littered with rock pile after rock pile; you had to choose your line very carefully and keep your speed under control. Absolute concentration was a must and I was so focused that after a short break I realized that I was way out ahead of everybody else! I totally dig this type of riding as this stuff is more like what I’m used to riding back home at Monte Sano State park. My home, staple ride is very similar to this section of trail. Monte Sano is essentially a large plateau with easier, flatter trails up top and very steep, rough, technical, rocky, rooty single track descents off the top onto a bit less technical but no less challenging single track trail system that circumvents the entire mountain. I love it, but for me it is no place for a 29er that is why I’ve grown use to riding a 24er everywhere, and why a geared 24er is almost ideal for me.

I finally paused after clearing the rocky, technical stretch for a breather and to let the other riders catch back up. After a short bit I could hear Ben Richardson’s characteristic whoops and hollers as he was the next to emerge from that treacherous section of single-track. Not long later everybody had re-assembled and was accounted for. Jeff remarked that I must have found an easy short-cut around that last section of trail to have gotten so far ahead so fast!

As we were about to roll off again, Daniel discovered his seat-post was precariously loose so Jeff began to render assistance (it was, after all his unicycle that Daniel was borrowing). The seat-post clamp was a Salsa Flip-Lock type (quick release) and as Jeff applied tension to lock the clamp the bolt parted near the barrel nut! We were a long ways from the end of the ride and trying to ride a unicycle without a secured seat post would be very difficult, if not impossible, even for a seasoned rider! We had a quick brainstorming session. I initially suggested perhaps using some tree bark, or rhododendron leaves to try and use a shim and then wedge the seat post in. Then I produced my Leatherman tool and Josh pulled a MacGyver and used the metal file to cut a notch in the bit of broken bolt protruding from the barrel nut and then unscrewed the broken bolt. Luckily the barrel nut could be moved in its housing enough and there was just enough bolt left that, we just barely got the seat-post clamp to close thus securing the seat-post. Phew! As an aside and for a future idea, I was looking at all the KH’s on this ride with the double bolt seat-post clamps. I realized that there is a pretty good slit around most of the seat-clamp between the bolts. In a jam, and with a metal file like I had, one could cut that seat-clamp in half thus producing two single bolt seat-clamps….

So we were finally underway again, but we’d lost a lot of time dealing with the seat-post clamp issue. We were a bit under a time crunch as we had to finish the ride and be shuttled back to Bent Creek in enough time to break camp and leave our sites by 2:00 p.m. or else possibly have to pay for an extra day! Perhaps the pace became a bit too aggressive because Daniel began to suffer a bit and it became very clear he was getting exhausted. This was a huge ride for him being so new a rider! We tried letting him take the point and going his pace, but as I already detailed earlier, there was quite a bit of lead turn over and soon we’d all gotten back ahead of Daniel. We tried to get him to relax and not force the pace, you could tell he was trying his best to move as fast as he could but all it did was cause him to rush, UPD and get even more exhausted! Poor guy. After a mile or so of this, Ben Richardson made an executive decision to split into two groups. Jeff and Aleks would stay back with Daniel and the rest of us would go ahead to pick up point, still many miles away and a few thousand feet below.

After the group split, we continued on at a bit of a faster clip to make up for our generally slow progress up to this point. We all really pressed and exchanged moments in the lead only to UPD (sometimes spectacularly) and be over taken. This continued for a few miles more along the Heart Break Ridge Line. This part of the trail was very narrow with an often very steep drop off mere inches away. Several times one or more of us would come too close to the edge and auger right off the trail! Luckily most of this section was well covered with vegetation so you or your unicycle didn’t go tumbling into oblivion! Soon it was time leave the main ridgeline and drop to the valley bellow.

This last section of Heart Break Ridge Trail was just spectacular. While the last few miles were mostly a gradual descent this last bit was much steeper, more technical with many sharp switch-backs, and pedal striking roots and rocks. It was somewhere in this section where I had my hardest fall of the weekend. Perhaps it was fatigue or the fact that I was staring off at the panoramic view and not concentrating enough on the trail, but whatever the reason all of a sudden I found myself flying through space and landing hard on my left side! I think I landed right on a rock and Charlie horsed my left quad muscles fairly good! OUCH! It literally knocked the wind out of me enough to just lie there on the side of the trail for a few moments. Ben R. came rolling by soon thereafter and asked if I was okay. I said I was. He then asked what the heck caused my fall as this particular section wasn’t very technical or steep! Ha! Trail unicycling is just like trail running in this respect. I almost never take a hard fall on rough, technical sections of trail because I’m really focused and concentrating, while I might UPD while riding this stuff it usually isn’t too spectacular. No, when I do take a hard fall, running or riding, it is usually on a relatively benign section of trail where I’m not concentrating fully and have relaxed a bit too much. In these cases something as simple as a twig or small rock can cause me to trip and fall! Anyhow, after scraping myself off the ground, wiping the mud off my body and catching my breath, I collected my unicycle (which had tumbled off the edge of the trail some distance) and raced to catch back up to the rest of the group.

Switch back after switch back we descended, I managed to clean most of them often taken more of a trials approach for some of the steeper more difficult turns. Sometime after I lost track of how many switch backs I’d covered I approached the last gasp of the Heart Break Ridge Trail. This last bit was very steep, narrow and full of slippery rocks and roots. I applied my hydraulic brake and gave it my best attempt. I cleaned about ¾ of it until I went a bit squirrely on a steeply off camber, slippery rock and went crashing off the side of the trail into some low hanging branches! So close! (Not really!) Josh was the first to bottom out and he crashed somewhat like I’d just done. We waited as Ben K. gave it the old college try but came up a bit short. Ben R. was next, he chose a bit of a different line but wasn’t any more successful. It was just a bit too steep and slick this time around. Last up was Jack, the smart one, who wisely had shouldered his unicycle and hiked the last bit of trail down!

All that remained was an easy spin down an old fire road, across a wide (and deep) stream crossing, that Josh successfully hopped his way across (often in very deep water!), over an active rail-road line and just like that we were at the pickup location. All things come to an end, but I was quite sad our ride was over. I was very tired and sore (read Charlie horse) but I knew I had a decent drive ahead of me. Luckily in our haste to get off the trail we’d made very good time and were only slightly late. In the end we made it back to the camp area with an hour to spare. I helped the others take down and clean up what was left of the festival camp site and then I bade everybody farewell and headed on down the long road back to Huntsvegas!

I want to personally thank all the Asheville Mountain Unicycle Festival organizers and sponsors and everybody who made my first experience of riding with multiple like minded unicyclists a truly special one. We need to plan to all ride together again really soon. If anybody gets a wild hair and wants to see what kind of riding Alabama has to offer, I’ll play host and I promise you’ll be surprised by the quality of riding there is to be found around here. Until next year…

(Good times on Heart Break Ridge)

If you've read this far, congratulations! I apologize if I left out any crucial details or messed up peoples names and place, so feel free to point anything out to me in the comments and I'll fix it right up! Thanks!

Product Review: Nathan Synergy Hydration Pack

I've been a fan of Nathan products for a while now, however my experience has been limited to the hand held bottles and light weight waist packs. I recently acquired the Nathan Synergy Hydration Pack.

I chose this particular model because of it has a fairly large capacity (750 cubic inches) which I like for long distance runs in the mountains as it allows you more than enough room to pack an extra layer, food and equipment etc... Even better, it has pockets in the front for quick access to gels and electrolyte pills. Another nice feature is the two large side mesh pockets which allow you even more quick storage for gloves and maps or ditch the hydration bladder and just carry a couple of water bottles in these pockets! Lastly I ditched the waist packs a long time ago because I just don't like that constant pressure around my midsection (too each their own) and what is great about the Nathan Synergy Hydration Pack is that it is actually a vest. No waist strap; you put it on like you would a vest and it has several adjustment points on either side and in the middle of the front. I thought it might bounce around quite a bit on steep, technical downhills; I was wrong! It fits very well and doesn't bounce a bit! Now this particular model comes with the unique dual chamber Synergy bladder that allows you to carry two different fluids at the same time and included is a potency dial that allows you to manually adjust the blending of the liquids before they reach the end of the tube (and your mouth :) ). This is pretty ingenious technology, but with all the tubes and parts it is a bit complicated. I personally prefer a much simpler bladder. However this pack is great and a welcome addition; my new favorite pack!

I recently rode my mountain unicycle (MUni) down the Mount Elbert East Ridge Trail. At 14,433', Mount Elbert is the second tallest peak in the lower 48 (Whitney is the tallest). Very Short Video Clip. The Trip Write Up.

Dirt, Sweat and Gears 12 Hour

This past Saturday I competed in the Dirt, Sweat and Gears 12 Hour just up the road in Fayetteville, Tennessee. This would be the 2nd 12 hour mountain bike event I'd participated in on my off-road unicycle! Unfortunately the weather over the past two weeks had been mostly rain, rain and more rain. I think it was truly wishful thinking to expect the course would be "dry" but we all hoped it would be at least rideable. Boy we sure were in for a surprise!

First the good news: I finished 12th* of 17 in my divison (solo single speed amateur male), 47th* of 78 solo riders and 92nd* of 175 overall (including all the relays). * means that this is of those starters who actually finished at least one 10.6 mile loop (there were many who didn't even complete one lap). But more on that in a minute.

Now the bad news: I only completed two loops (21.2 miles) and it took me 8h 20m to do so! And there was very little riding involved!

So what happened? As we all feared, the heavy rains we've had in this area (over 30 inches over the past two weeks) made a complete mess of the trail system the race course covers. And unlike nice, slippery mud, that is still rideable albeit very carefully; we had the peanut-butter <-> cemet consistency type "clay" soil to contend with for the majority of the 12 hour event! Ironically I did a little pre-riding of the course the afternoon before (Friday) and probably rode more in that warmup that I did during the race! So I ended up placing fairly well simply because it was far easier to carry/push a unicycle around the course than it was to do the same with a bicycle. It was pure chaos. We all started out right as it started to rain. If the rain had held out, the course was dry enough to have been tricky but still rideable that day. But luck wasn't on our side and within a few miles most everybody but the fast starting pros were left alternatively pushing their bikes or else stopped on the side of the trail trying to clear out enough mud with a stick to let the tires roll for another 100 yards! It was very bad! The mud was so binding that you couldn't push any type of wheel through the muck! At one point I just held my unicycle by the seat handle and just dragged the whole stupid thing through the mud as my wheel wouldn't even turn! Finally I sobered up the situation and realized my riding was over so I stopped and cleaned as much mud off the tire as I could and then just shouldered the beast and began to hike for the next 7 hours or so!! At the earliest opportunity, around 4-5 miles, a large number of racers abandoned the course and cut back to the start finish area. Of those who toughed it out one loop, most didn't even start, let alone complete a second loop (this includes relays!). It was quite possibly the worst case scenario. I think the only reason this event was even held was because it is on private property and the owner is a mountain biker himself who built all the trails and this is the only event (or only time to even get to ride these trails) all year. The lack of riding didn't seem to dampen most people's spirits as most folks were well along in their imbibing by the time I finished my first loop; and totally tossed by the time I came around again. Thank heavens the race director, after seeing what lap times people were churning out, decided to not allow anybody back OUT THERE with just 3 hours left in the event. I technically could have started a third, but the fact that my second loop took roughly 4 1/2 hours there was no way I'd finish in time as all loops had to be completed UNDER the 12 hour cutoff. No worries I really didn't want to go back OUT THERE! I actually did get to ride some... The following photo is about the only rideable part of the course; just before the finish!

So it's pretty lame that I didn't get to ride, but I think I still won a lot of respect for sticking out two loops when most didn't. I think I even aggravated a few folks because I got a lot of remarks like, "Well it's a lot EASIER to carry THAT around than this &*(*#!!! bike!!!" HA! Who would have predicted a unicycle would have an unfair advantage at a mountain bike race! Well my reply to all that, which I used several times was, "Well that's why you always need to carry a unicycle around in your trunk; you'll never know when it might just come in handy!"

Here are the obligatory "before" and "after" photos. You can judge for yourself the conditions!