double dare dfl

When Lee Simiril asked me at the top of Pilot Rock if we were headed up Mt. Pisgah I lied and said we didn't know. He then he said they were planning on it but were worried it was going to take too long. I told him I knew how long it was going to take. He had been told an hour and a half round trip and I said that was ambitious unless they were running. We were thinking it could take up to three hours round trip and knew we would really be pushing it to get there and still make it back to Cove Creek before midnight. The Simirils did the correct thing and skipped the six mile hike while we went for it.

The question was how many checkpoints do you need to win the Double Dare? Based on previous years we knew you need at least 19, if not 20, to win. When we got the passports at noon on Saturday we knew we couldn't get all 12 cps. We could easily get 7, probably 8, and maybe 9. But seven would never be enough to win and eight probably wouldn't cut it either but if we could get nine we would be in good shape come daybreak on Sunday. So, nine it was. Sometimes you have to take the gamble and that is what we did.

We lost the gamble. While it is disappointing to only have raced one of the two days I have no regrets over our decision. It is sort of strange when I think about it: I used to do these races with my goal being to simply finish but now I find myself actually trying to win. It is strange because I'm not a very competitive person but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. It used to be that just going for the finish really pushed my limits, which is what I am after, but now that I have done the race five times it takes more than just finishing to test myself like that. This year it was about the gamble. We took a chance and lost and that is it.

It was still a great day in the woods - some of the most fun I have ever had! Just 60 miles with 18,000' of climbing on single speeds made it more of a hike than a bike ride. Add some freezing temperatures and a late night of drinking and raising hell and it was an Adventure in Pisgah for sure! Full details and pictures to come.

Here is the head honcho at Farlow Gap on Sunday. I'm never riding a bicycle up there again!