2021 was my 4th Trans North Georgia Adventure, with one finish and two DNF’s I returned to get some redemption on the mountains of North Georgia. TNGA is the kind of event that takes every rider along a very special kind of journey of self discovery. The week leading up to the ride I got asked a lot of questions about why would someone put themselves through something so challenging? For me it's to find out where my edges are and how I handle myself despite surmounting adversity. When the rain, heat, humidity and countless other grueling physical challenges lying ahead start to break me down how will I respond? TNGA has become my litmus test each year for how much I have grown as a person and as a rider.
Every year after TNGA I come away from the bike forever changed. These changes go beyond the superficial physical scars caused by chafing and briars to personal self discovery. After the last two DNF’s I took a deep look at my reasons for calling it quits and how I could come better prepared. First call I made was to sign up for the shuttle service and hotel combo offered by Mulberry Gap Adventure Basecamp. Logistics can be exhausting and overwhelming when taking on a big adventure so this year would need to be a solo mission. I drove from Asheville to Northern Georgia leaving at 5am the morning before the race to make it to Mulberry Gap on time to park the minivan and load up on the bike shuttle to Clayton, GA. Being a part of the shuttle experience this year was one of my favorite parts of the adventure. The scene at Mulberry felt like a family reunion, I had to smile seeing all of the veteran riders mingling with rookies as everyone's bikes were being loaded up.
On the shuttle I got to exchange stories with other riders and got to hear some of the original days of TNGA of sleeping in group yurt and Andrew cooking. These days the logistics are much more streamlined and we would all be sleeping in the Days Inn the night before the ride and eating at one of the local restaurants. Arriving at the hotel so early gave me time to look over my set up one more time and even top off my breaks. Earlier in the year I raced the Rockstar in Virginia, after losing my front braking ability in the first 10 miles so I wanted to make sure I double checked that they were working optimally. With all things feeling dialed in it was time to grab dinner with some of the usual suspects to fill out bellies before some much needed sleep.
Race morning I did my traditional 5am commute to the local Waffle House to get a few thousand calories in. After breakfast it was back to the hotel to load up on the shuttle. The shuttle vibes were a mix of stoke and nerves before heading off to battle our way across the North Georgia Mountains. Due to Covid restrictions the grand depart was split into three different start times: Friday 8am, Saturday 7am & 8am. I was a part of the Saturday 8am group roll out. After a few quick photos with friends it was time to line up time on the bridge that serves as the dividing line between Georgia and South Carolina. Honcho gave us a two minute warning followed by a few inspirational words then released us into Georgia.
My biggest goal this year was to race my own race so I had lined up in the middle of the pack on the bridge but it wasn’t long before I found myself leading the pack up the gravel climb. I kept the throttle back to make sure I didn’t blow up in the first 100 miles where we would climb over 20,000 ft. Between dad life and being a small business owner my training this year has been very spotty. I did a ton of running the first 3 months of the year to train for my first 100 mile ultra run and since then I have tried to get consistent rides each week. Bouncing back and forth with fellow rider Chris Joice, both of us riding our own paces kept us together off and on in the early miles. I enjoyed these moments riding together as it kept my spirits high when the rain set in around mile 50. Little did any of us know that an unpredicted rain storm would join us off and on for the next 24 hours leaving us all soggy and chafed. Chris and I reached the top of a climb around mile 70. I started the charge on the descent but I was halted almost instantly due to a black bear cub. We decided to give the cub a few minutes to move on before we came plowing down the mountain. At the bottom of that descent Chris who had bounced his Spot Tracker off a few hours earlier thought he had lost his tracking device again so he turned around and started back tracking up the mountain. All racers are required to carry a tracking device called Spot Tracker, without it there is no way to show where we are in real time. This is the last time I would see Chris or any of the other riders before Helen.
After descending Tray Mountain, the longest section of single track on the route 10 miles and 2,400 I arrived soggy to the gas station on route just outside of Helen. I quickly resupplied and made my way over to some picnic tables next door. This was the last opportunity of the day for me to talk to my family so I called them up for a video chat while I ate my dinner that consisted of a can of Campbell's Soup, Snickers, potato chips and a Coke. It wasn't long before the picnic area became party central with 7 other riders joining me for dinner. Trying to take my time I was the 3rd rider to head back out on route and into the darkness of night fall.
There were two large climbs coming up with little to no resupply for another 30 miles. After the first climb I decided to go off route to refill on water at Vogal State Park. After getting back on route I was now behind several of the riders who pushed past this refill and as I started the next big climb I heard “McHone” called out from a pump house off to my left. Chris knew of a better water resupply than I did and was refilling somewhere in the darkness. I continued to climb and passed another rider or two on my way up to Bear Pen. Luckily the rain had held off on this section of climbing but once I turned off onto gravel it was obvious that it wouldn’t be long before we would be getting hit again. I stopped for a moment to put my rain jacket on when Chris caught back up. He told me that he was going to hold off for a little longer before putting his jacket on. I thought this might be a good idea also since climbing in a rain jacket gets hot and sweaty real fast. Chris may have misguided me on this one because it wasn’t long before we all got hammered with another storm right as we started the descent. It was around this time that I had also bumped into Joe Rinehart and I had realized that my lights were struggling from all of the rain. One of the two lights was almost dead and would only stay on for 5 seconds at a time. Trying to conserve the other light I played a game with the dying light which helped to pass the time into Coopers Creek by turning the light on and counting down from five. When the light turned off I would turn it back on and begin the countdown again 5,4,3,2,1....
In previous years when I came by Coopers Creek I just rolled on due to it being so late that everything was closed but this year they hooked it up and held their word staying open 24/7 for the TNGA racers. I put in my order for a slice of lasagna and a burger to go. With a little down time while the food was getting cooked I decided it was time to check out the feet and give them a little TLC. I took off my shoes and socks and gave both feet a heavy dose of Gold Bond powder. The same group of us that had collected outside of Helen were all chowing down at Coopers. Jason and Jon who had taken off first from Helen were the first to set back off just before another wave of rain set in. With my rain jacket failing me by only drying on the outside I made the call to take a little nap under a nearby lean to shed and see if the rain would pass in the next hour.
This was the time of night that normally I had just used my grit to push through struggling to stay awake while riding. Sticking with riding my own race I watched a few more riders roll out into the wet night while I curled up on two camp chairs. The hardest part about naps is that it drops your core temp and the 65 degree damp air felt much colder but it was time to get going. Joe was getting ready to roll out also, little did I know that this would be the last time I would see him on route as a rider. Knowing it was just 20 miles before rolling through a little rafting town of Iron Bridge on Toccoa River I set off cranking to warm up and knock out the easy miles while they lasted.
Next on the checklist of walls that had hit me hard in previous years was the two sections of single track where historically I stumbled and hiked my way through the darkness. This yeah due to my nap I was feeling alert and fresh when I arrived at the Aska Trails Parking Lot. The sun was now coming up and after a few miles it was lights off but right as I started to feel the sweet relief of daylight I looked down to see my front tire about to roll over a rattlesnake. Without thinking I pulled up on my handlebars and cranked hard on the pedals causing me to ride a wheelie over the snake. I didn’t look back as I continued to panic pedal away as fast as possible. Next up was another section of single track climbing up to Stanley Gap where I got another wake up from a bee stinger in my left thigh. After this rad descent I rolled into the Cherry Log Community where I found Chris posted up peering through to small slits in his eyes mostly closed from sleep deprivation. I refilled my water and chatted with Chris who had decided this would be his final destination of his ride due to trench foot setting in on him throughout the night.
I had 30 miles to go to get me to Mulberry Gap with the Cohuttas looming in the distance separating me from a shower and a burrito. This section was one of the most demoralizing for me with what always seems to be an endless climb followed by several sections of technical single track trails. Close to the top of the gravel climb I rolled up on Joe Warton who informed me that he believed that his journey would be over once he reached Mulberry Gap. Joe, like Chris and Joe Reinhart was a veteran to the route and even though he was ahead of me and keeping up with me he shared that he was cooked. Joe and I kept each other company as we slogged through super saturated trails that at times were un rideable due to the mud and fallen trees. Hanger started to set in the closer we got to finishing Pinhoti 2, I wanted a warm meal so bad! My original plan was to see how I was feeling when P2 dumped out onto Mulberry Gap Road to see if I would pass up the Mulberry Trap which can eat up several hours of down time. My decision had been made for several hours, Mulberry here we come!
For funsies Joe and I raced up the steep paved driveway to The Barn where Joe would be finished for this year's ride. I walked inside and was greeted by Kate who is use to seeing(and smelling) the likes of TNGA riders. Trying to honor riding my own race that included self preservation I asked Kate for the works, it was time for a quick shower and nap while my riding gear got laundered. Next stop was to get all of my electronics set up and charging before flopping onto one of the camping cots in The Barn/dining hall. I set my alarm for a 90min nap hit the feet with another round of Gold Bond then it was lights out. Upon waking I put down two burritos and ordered one to go as I exchanged my robe for my riding gear. Feeling fresh, fat and sassy I got the bike dialed back in and gave a round of high 5’s to some of my fellow riders who wouldn't be heading back out.
As I crested the top of the Mulberry gravel climb I took a moment to call the family for a quick check in before heading down to P3 where I would be climbing up into the void. Feeling stoked to start P3 feeling freshish I started the climb with confidence which was soon shattered by my chain dropping down. WTF? I played with the cable tension and tried to continue but it just kept dropping off of the top two cogs of my 11 speed drivetrain. I must have been messing with it for a few minutes because I started receiving texts telling me to keep going. After taking a moment to look my cassette over I realized that the teeth had been worn down to the point I could no longer use my top climbing gears(granny gears). I thought of bailing and heading back to Mulberry to hang with my friends who had ended their journey but the voices in my head grew louder telling me to keep going. WWCJD(what would Chris Joice do?) A few months back Chris and I had been on an epic ride together and he, a dedicated single speed rider, picked on me for sitting in my granny gear so much. Well it was time to see what I had in the tank. Would the last 150 be easy this way? Heck no! Could I continue? Yes, so I pushed on.
Crossing over onto P3 & P4 put me in the place of no easy way out once I started the descent on P5. I looked down and WTF? My light was already blinking orange which shouldn’t happen for another several hours. I tried turning on my other light and it was dead dead. Going for it was only one way to find out if I could make it through the next two sections of single track with my current scenario so I put my light on strobe mode(lowest setting) and continued on. It didn’t take long before my light was almost dead so I stopped and plugged it into my backup battery while I had my burrito. To give the light a little time to charge I decided to continue by using the flashlight function on the back up battery so that I could charge my light and still ride. This got real sketchy. With only my right hand on the bars and my left hand holding the battery flashlight I continued to make my way through the Pinhoti’s. By the time I reached pavement I had enough charge to go back to strobe mode and start cranking out paved miles. The combo of boring flat paved road, sleep deprivation and staring at a strobe light made my eyes grow heavy. I needed a short nap before the last couple of miles into Dalton.
I made a deal with myself that the first church I rode by I would scope it out to see if a short nap out front would be worth the stop. Coming across a small while country church with a small awning and two benches outside of the main entrance looked so luxurious I made myself at home. My feet were still talking to me so I felt this would be a good time to air the shoes, socks and feet so that I could give them another round of Gold Bond before taking a nap. I woke up just before my alarm went off due to a large pick up truck across the street sitting idle with its high beams on. This didn’t seem like the most friendly gesture at 3am so I loaded up and put myself back together before hitting the road for Dalton. The burrito I had eaten hours ago was burned up by now so I headed straight to Waffle House. After a few hundred calories and an awkward 30 minutes of the late night Waffle House experience which I'm never sure who is the most odd character in the room, is that character me? A bit delusional I set off to a 24 hour gas station at the edge of town that would serve as my last resupply for the next 87 miles. Real food was sitting much better than snacks and sugary things at this point in the ride so I went with an old favorite, the gas station frozen burrito. An old bikepacking trick is to buy a frozen burrito for the road and eat it hours later once it has unthawed. Yum!
The sun was starting to rise as I pedaled up the road to Snake Creek Gap. This climb serves as the approach climb to a section of the Pinhoti Trail that traverses 15 miles from Snake Creek Gap to Dug Gap, affectionately known as The Snake. The Snake is a section of trail that alone would be a big day on the bike, luckily during the TNGA you get to start it at mile 255. The next 80 miles would consist of many hike a bikes, downed trees, and few water resupplies. I surfed The Snake for the next 13 hours. It was full on sweat fest, a 90 degree 100% humidity in Georgia kinda of day. Two of my highlights were seeing two bikepacking legends on the trail. First Linda Sledge who is 74 years young. She was walking some of the rock tech when I rolled up but she was moving fast on foot. I didn’t see anyone for several hours after passing Linda and her riding partner. Just after filling up at a creek crossing several hours later I decided it was time to check in on my burrito. The Georgia sun had cooked it propper so I propped up my bike on a tree and took a squat, it was lunch time. A few bites into my meal I heard another rider pushing his way up the hill. Eddie O’dea, former TNGA winner and FKT record holder came rolling by my trail picnic. Confession...Eddie you and some of the early ultra riders are what made me want to get into the sport.
Getting close to mile 300 at the hottest part of the day, pushing my bike up a mountain I had one of those this is why moments. I began looking back at the year that had led up to me being on this adventure. I saw my friends and family's faces as I pushed on towards the sun. All the work and time spent training in any spare time that I had. Training in 2021 started off with 3 months of running culminating in my first 100 mile ultra. Since then my biking came back into the picture but there was still the struggle for time and getting the most efficient workouts possible. Dad life, small business owner and endurance athlete doesn't leave time for any other hobbies. The blessings that allowed me to be here took over and I found a new energy, I felt the love and support of all those following along my journey. In the middle of nowhere I had y’all.
The Pinhoti flowed along high ridges covered by grassy fields with a tint of gold from the setting sun. This was one of my favorite sections. The route then crosses highway 27 before a stout gravel climb up to a water tower before reconnecting with the Pinhoti Trail again. I had charged my one half working light as much as possible and the back up battery pack was now dead. I knew I didn't have much daylight left so I put the hammer down again blasting through single track and racing the sun. It was a fiery sunset on that third evening. The trail connected back with a dirt road along the ridge before dropping back onto single track. It was now too dark to see so I turned on the light to blink mode and continued as fast as I felt safe to travel on what was now steep, rocky, tech single track. Imagine riding a bike at night and blinking slowly, things got a little weird after dark that last night.
Finally I came out into the trailhead parking lot and it was time to crank out some easy flat paved miles. My feet were not feeling the best so I decided to air them out by keeping my shoes clipped in but took my feet out and placed my feet on top of the shoes and kept pedaling. My light was now blinking red indicating that it wouldn’t be long before it died again so I looked at Google maps to see if there was a nearby gas station. Just off route one mile was a gas station so I booked it to get there just 5 minutes before they closed. I loaded up on any food that didn’t make me nauseous when I looked at it. I also bought batteries for the headlamp I had brought in hopes of using it as a backup. Outside of the gas station I plugged up my charger and light to get a little charge for the next stretch. It was going to have to be a sprint to Cave Springs, the next stop where I would need to charge again. While things were charging I treated myself to a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and took care of my feet one last time. The couple that owned the gas station turned to me on their way to their car and asked “are you ok?” I smiled and said yes before going back to my ice cream.
It was a little over 20 miles to Cave Springs, all of which were flatish and paved. I was feeling good knowing that the worst was behind me and it was just cranking out a few more miles and the adventure would come to an end. I passed the miles by following my blinking light with amazement of the amount of random things that collect on the sides of the road. Rolling into Cave Springs a little after 2am I needed to charge one more time before the final push to the border. The town was silent except for 2 teenagers in the park. I leaned the bike up against the outside of a closed gas station, plugged my light in to charge and laid down with my legs up the wall for my last nap of the 2021 TNGA. 30 minutes was all I needed for me and my light to charged up enough to finish the route but there was still no time for slow rolling it. I quickly cranked out the paved section before the last bit of Pinhoti. This section of the Pinhoti is super trippy at night especially when you're riding on blink mode. Feeling good I popped out onto the last section of dirt feeling strong and capable of still standing up and charging the last few hills before entering the Silver Comet Greenway. With just a few flat greenway miles left I started to feel the enormity of this ride begin to lift. Someone's flashlight off in the distance let me know the end was in sight. As I rolled up to the archway that separates Georgia and Alabama two figures in the darkness cheered me though. TNGA 2021: 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes.
