The Snake Creek Gap TT - 34 Mile

In its typical fashion, the February edition was brutally cold and sloppy.  Heavy rains in the week leading up to race day made me change my mind from resting and attempting a fast time to continuing a build week and treating the race as another day of training.  I knew I would be tired, but my goal was to stay warm and have a healthy mix of type 1 and 2 fun.

I wore ALL the layers for the 21 degree start, including my finger/hand saving SealSkinz electric gloves.  Although bulky, they kept my hands happy for the first half; I switched to HandUp Colder gloves and chemical inserts for the second half.  Although shifting/braking wasn't an issue with the SealSkinz, they were too bulky to pull nutrition out of my pockets, so I opted just to shotgun two gels at the start and rely on Skratch hydration for calories and fluids.  

The 2 mile gravel road lead-in to the climb was full of huge mud-holes, most of which had no ride arounds.  I managed to stay dry by tip-toeing around or riding slowly along the edge.  It probably cost me a few minutes, but I was happily warm and dry. Fortunately the 2 added sections of the temporary Dry Creek bridge made for a dry crossing; that was probably the most swollen I have seen Dry Creek.

Climbing up John's Mountain double track and on to the single track, I could feel the past week's strength training ... ouch.  Granny gear kept my legs' whining to a minimum. Fortunately most of this section was frozen. After crossing pocket road, the mud games began.  Pretty much, after the short initial climb, the next 2 miles were under water.  And I managed to submerge my left foot in the creek crossing. 

The Horn Mountain climb felt a mile longer; what a grind!  My derailleur froze, but luckily I had the three easiest gears to use.  Lord, those 3 kickers to the tippy top hurt!  I sailed down into the Snake Creek Gap parking lot and took my time swapping out gloves, sucking down 2 more gels, and ditching my CamelBak for a bottle.

The sun was out and the temps had risen into the 30's.  I never knew the 30's could feel so warm.  I ground my way up the Mill Creek climb and enjoyed the ridge riding.  It was finally warm enough that I tempted fate and used my dropper for the first time on the Swamp Creek descent.  Past memories of dropper issues in sub-freezing temperatures led me to stiff post the first 17.  It worked and popped back up when I asked ... whew! 

The creek crossings were super deep, but I was glad to have reconned them last month.  Knowing the smoothest and shallowest lines kept me from submerging my feet, again. The climb up to the final section of single track was not as bad as I expected. 

The final 8 miles of trail was its usual brutal self:  my favorite part!  Although slow going, I was in my happy place rock-crawling through the gardens.  I believe the rocks (and roots) are growing!  On the final tricky climb in the last half-mile or so, I was at the top when I ran out of gas and could not push over the final pedal stroke.  I tried to unclip, couldn't, and ended up going down off the trail a few feet.  Turtling around in the rocks, with my bike on top of me, it took me a few seconds to free my foot from the pedal.

Fortunately my bike never hit the ground; I took the full force of the impact.  Both the bike and my body were ok; just a bruised ego. I was able to recover enough to clean the "gunsight pass" section and then cruise down to the finish.

I finished in 4:46:08.  My second slowest time, but I did not mind.  I achieved my goals today: finishing with a smile.  And with fingers crossed that March will be its typical self:  warm and fast!

That smile is genuine! Is Ray checking for a motor?

Reflection

Tomorrow I will be racing The Snake Creek Gap Time Trials for the 19th year in a row.  I really have raced it close to 50 times as there have been anywhere from 2 to 5 opportunities each year to set your best time. 

I remember the first year, 2005.  I can't put a finger on how I found out about this race. Up until this point, I had only been on tame lap courses, racing cross country.  The Snake was where I first cut my teeth on rocky terrain. I was on my aluminum Specialized S-Works Epic, with 26" wheels, rim brakes, triple chainring, a squiggly SID fork, and a stiff post.  

The course was run in the opposite direction, starting at the gravel road on top on Dug Gap.  I was redlined from the git go.  I rode down "The Wall" white knuckling my skinny bar, pulling on the brake levers with all I had, belly on the saddle.  The finish was not at Dry Creek parking lot (it did not exist then), but where the Pinhoti crossed East Armuchee Road. Bodies piled up in the ditch along the road as we waited for enough of us to collect and be shuttled back in volunteers' pickup trucks.  I can still remember lying flat on my back looking at the blue sky, heart pumping and lungs gasping, trying to bring life back into my thrashed body.  My first coherent thoughts were A) that was F'ing hard! and B) sign me up for next month.

Even though the trail has remained virtually unchanged since then, each year has its own character.  Be it the weather, where I am on this journey of life, or what bike I am riding, this course is brutal and indifferent to you.  While we are timed against others, the true race is against the trail and our own inner demons.

Like February 2013, where there was no bridge at Dry Creek and it was thigh deep and 22 degrees. Somehow I managed to keep my legs dry with large animal OB sleeves.

February 2020 was the closest I came to ever having a DNF at this race.  I was so cold and so miserable at the 1/2 way point, I came up with half a dozen excuses to pull the plug.  But fortunately my good friend Dave was there, racing alongside and helped get my mind right.  Besides the conditions of the roads out of there looked a whole lot worse than just trudging on through the trail.

January 2008 I almost didn't even make it to the start.  I was on "that bus."  As I was riding the school bus over to the start, the driver got behind this slow poke Subaru on the descent off Dug Gap.  She lost air pressure to the brakes, almost plowed over the Subaru, but managed to save it by passing the Subaru on a blind curve.  We were all so fortunate no one was coming up the mountain as well as the drivers' mad skills.

March 2010 was my third fastest time, on a single speed, 3:27.  My second fastest time was March 2009, on my 26" Stumpjumper.  3:26, and just 13 minutes behind Willow Koerber.  March 2014 was my fastest time on my Niner Jet 9, 3:21.

I am not sure why the memories have flooded my thoughts, so much this year in particular. Perhaps it is because I have recently turned 27 for the 27th time.  And have been thinking about my own mortality ... alot. As I have gotten older, the days of the butterflies and the nervous poops are mostly gone.  But I still look forward to putting on that number and tackling the challenges that race day brings.  I feel grateful that I still have these opportunities to play bikes and push my limits.

So as long as the good folks of Northwest Georgia SORBA put on this race, and I am amongst the living, you will see me toeing the line.  This is one tradition I cannot break.