Pisgah Stage Race- Day 4
Raw Revolution’s Promised Land Loop
September 20, 2013
25 miles (or 20 for some), 5970 feet climbing
Written by Jess
Video and photos by Joël
This stage has been described as the race staff’s
favorite loop. The entire course took
place around Mt. Pisgah, which is why the route has been named “The Promised
Land”; a reference to the peak in which Moses is said to have seen the Promised
Land.
Day four was a rude awakening. Waking up the in the morning Joël and I were moving slow and both of us commented that everything hurt. Not only were we tired; muscles were sore and
achy and we were mentally spent also. Neither of
us really wanted to even get on our bikes, let alone do a race. In talking to other racers around the hotel,
everyone felt the same. Three days of
racing was catching up to everyone.
Today's stage started and ended at Wash Creek
Campgound. A nice little area for a race
venue but the bathroom was less than desirable; a single-toilet outhouse that
was filled just about to capacity. It was clean but stinky! For those of you that race (or have family
that does) you know how important a bathroom can be on race morning.
Most racers ended up using a tree or
bush over the outhouse.
The race started off fast with a two mile gravel
road climb. Wow, did it hurt, my legs did not want to turn the pedals. Joël and I had
been starting off just behind the lead group the past few days, I told him that
would not be happening today. We kept a good pace but didn’t push too hard. The
course soon turned onto single track that meandered its way up the mountain for
another two miles. By the time we hit
the single track I had worked the kinks out and was feeling good. We were
riding with two other duo teams so I picked up the
pace and told Joël that I wanted to drop them.
The trail was a nice mix of packed dirt with areas of loose, chunky
rocks and roots, something Joël and I are good at riding on so we used it to our
advantage. Pushing the pace the other
teams were soon out of sight.
After climbing we were rewarded with a fast,
steep, technical descent. Once again
thank goodness for my dropper seatpost.
Joël and I hooted and hollered the whole way down, enjoying every minute
of it. I love it when I get to say
“rider back” to multiple men who are all off and walking.
Once at the bottom the single track twisted and
turned through mountain laurel, ferns, and crossed many creeks. It was
beautiful and fun riding. Joël and I
(along with a few other racers) got stuck in a swarm of yellow jackets. Each of us got stung, which for Joël can be
an issue due to insect bite allergies. He carries an epi-pen but
thank goodness didn’t need it. After a stop to take some antihistamines we were
on our way again.
As we recovered from the bee incident, we
realized something was not quite right.
Joël and I, along with another racer, were riding on a gravel road.
There were course markings on the road indicating it was part of the course.
But we weren’t supposed to be on a gravel road until mile 12. We questioned a spectator, who told us yes, we
were in fact on the race course and would be getting to the aid station soon. What!? The aid station was at mile 12, our
cycling computers indicated we were at mile seven.
Upon arriving at the aid station we found out
there were multiple people (by the end of the day about 15-20) who went the
wrong way. The course had a four mile extra loop that came off of the main loop. Course marshalls were not there yet to direct
racers early in the race so many people went straight by the extra loop. A group of us waited around at the aid station for 15
minutes or so to wait to be told what to do.
It was decided that anyone who went wrong could continue and would just
be given a time penalty later. So off we
went.
After leaving the aid station, the trail
descended for about a mile. It was extremely washed out, thus some more walking
with our bikes. Rumor has it no one rode this section. Following this was a short section on road
and then the climbing began again.
The first few miles of the climb were on a gravel
road. We were passing people but also
getting passed. It was tough to figure out what was going on due to so
many people missing a turn. Who did the correct course versus who did
not? We still were trying to race but it
was mentally difficult and frustrating to know who to worry about and how much
time was there between us and the other duos. This manifested in some tension between
Joël and I, each of us calling the other grumpy and miserable at times.
After the gravel road we turned onto Trace Ridge
Trail. It pretty much went straight up the mountain. Using even the granny gear did not work at
some places…time for more walking.
Luckily the steepest parts, ie the walking parts, were over shortly and
we began riding again soon.
After reaching the top, the downhill was a repeat of what we rode up in
the beginning. Much more fun going down than going up. This trail took us all
the way down the mountain and then onto a gravel road. After a short grassy double track climb we
descended a technical, fun, rocky trail to the finish line.
So after talking to the race director, the
decision was made to add time to everyone who missed out on the extra loop. The race staff would get our minute per mile
time, and add on the time it would have taken us to ride the four miles we
missed. Sure, not the most accurate but
fair enough.
Joël and I finished with a “corrected” time of 3:34 for 8th in the duos and keeping us 5th overall. The mistake today really cost us. Only one more day of racing tomorrow. Due to loosing time for a wrong turn on day 2 and the mishap of today it really is going to come down to racing on the last day. We can't move up in the placings but the 6th place team is only 20 minutes behind us; so anything is still possible for tomorrow.
Finish line
Waterfall along the course
Stickers of each stage profile with mileage, aid stations, and type of riding (road, gravel, trail, etc). Useful to put on the bike top tube or handle bars to know what to expect when riding. I added some extra motivation and hints to mine.
Video recap of stage 4, not the best video quality due to Internet difficulty.
Dirtwire.tv collaboration with Land of Sky media highlights Stage 3- Joël makes a tough water crossing look easy