Broke Off at the Wall

After realizing that I had become "That Guy", the crushing sense of distance from the car set-in. As my mind gripped around the situation, my energy level was zapped from the heat, and over-exertion from pushing a six-inch travel bike through the mountains, without a granny ring (destroyed at PMBAR and overlooked until this point.) The battle ensued within my own will to find the finish.
My role as "That Guy" played out as I was responsible for 4 flat tires, only 3 of which were on my own bike. I ripped off the nozzle of Eric tube, when pumping up the air pressure in his rear tire. Repairing this flat left the group with one tube and 16 miles to go. Sure enough, I used that last tube in the final stretch.
It was a long day in the woods. I found the wall, and pushed through. Thats what big rides are made of.









Long live long rides.

From Dawn...
To dusk.

Snake Creek Gap Time Trial

BIB#: 332
Start: 10:42:41
End: 15:23:07
Elapse: 4:40:26
LastName: Gaines
FirstName: Thomas
Middle: P
Category: Men Under 40,
34 Mile
Finish: 17th out of 34

Those trails are are awesome! That is a very difficult ride, but very rewarding. The ridgeline was unrelenting, brutal and beautiful. I struggled hard, which made the finish so awesome.

December

Stanley Gap
Blue Ridge, GA
The drive from Knoxville took us on winding back roads, through the mountains and past Coker Creek then Ducktown and into Blue Ridge, GA. From there you take Aska road to Deep Gap trailhead.
We started the ride on Flat Creek, which proved to be anything but flat. The trail winded through rhododendron and crossed Flat Creek several times. After a technical descent through baseball-sized rocks we had a steep climb back out of the creek. From there we started up Stanley Gap. This was a long climb with several steep sections that pushed my heart rate to the max. Managing several tricky rock climbs, we made it to the top, which had a great view thanks to the fallen leaves. The long downhill trail started narrowly hugging along the ridge. When it finally opened up a bit, the trail became a slalom course, diving in and out of trees. It was one of those downhill’s where you stop and take a rest, smiling ear to ear, then continue on. It felt like we dropped forever.
After climbing up and over the mountain, the return trip followed the same trail back. All that we descended, we would now climb back up. The trek to the top was a struggle, which assures an awesome downhill ahead. The Stanley Gap Descent into the Deep Gap trailhead proved worthy.

Digging Deep in the Night

24 Hours of Adrenalin at Georgia International Horse Park; Conyers, GA

Team Meatbats dug deep into the night, pulling some hard laps.

High noon marked the start and Duey got us going with an impressive first lap. However, team Meatbats started to crack as it got dark. The team captin voted on turning the race into a 24 hours of cold beer, and if we were all in agreement, thats how it would have gone down. Well, I wanted a beer, and I know there is something inherently wrong about sitting around a campfire without drinking beer. But not this night.

The moon was full and the sky was clear, and if those guys wanted to hang out and drink beers, then let them. In fact, let me open it for you. I just want to ride. So me and Duey pulled the graveyard shift grinding out super fast laps through the night. I felt twisted and deranged riding at 5:00 in the morning after powering out a tough evening. I slamed a double shot of esspresso waking my mind up in full, but my body was destroyed. I kept going in this twisted state of mind, and riding through the slickrock was like riding on the moon.
We finsihed off the race with a series of laps that included the rest of the team. My final lap was a thing of beauty, and well executed precsion. I was in the zone, riding with a purpose. I cleaned every line with ease, like dancing on the pedals. At the end of it all our team finished in the top ten, but I know that Duey is smiling with a sense of accomplishment today, as I am too.


Duey the Meatbat, crushing it by the camp.