How many times
have you heard from at least one person you know: "Why do you do that
stupid stuff? You run or bike all the time. You're always working out.
You're hardly any fun to be around anymore." I haven't heard it in a
while, since I've surrounded myself with people who have come to
appreciate why I do what I do, and a lot of folks who are right there
with me. Yesterday, I was saying those words to myself. As I was
ascending Hogpen Gap, the most brutal climb on the Six Gap route, I just
blurted out "I am having a serious case of "I don't give a crap!".
Yes, there I was, 60 miles into the 104 mile century, just out of my
mental game. I've done the climb several times. I've run it as well as
biked it. My brain wanted to melt down. How many times do you have to
climb Hogpen before you stop caring about getting to the top of
Hogpen? How many times? You never stop caring. You watch your buddies
suffering with you. You turn the cranks or put one foot in front of the
other and you remember who you are. You are the one who gets things
done. You may be different, but you are the "white sheep" of the
family. You know that the pain is temporary. You know that the climb
will end and you'll never forgive yourself if you give up for any reason
other than physical. You keep turning the cranks.
* * *
I was up at 4:15. Coffee was brewing and I was loading the truck by
4:25. It was a perfect day for a bike ride - with arm warmers. Lenka
and I drove to pick up our friend, Ann, and drove to Dahlonega... there
around 6:15. The parking lot was already full. Amazingly, Chad and I
parked just a few cars away from each other, so we could talk shop early
and get the day going. We prepped and were on the line in plenty of
time to be near the start line, but not at the line, since this year,
they corralled us into "sub 6 hour expected finish" and "more than 6
hour expected finish". We planned to finish in around 7 hours, clock
time, including stops/breaks (mind you that means off the "race/ride
clock", not our bike computers, which measure ride time). Chad, our
buddy Benny, and I were lined up together. Six Gap starts are kind of
home town, since it's not a race, per se, but it's just fairly laid back
if you're not in the "sub6" group. So, we got off to a good start and
picked up our ringer for the day, Craig.
We kept a nice, relaxed pace for
what I'll call the prologue. Chad led our pack and was our team leader
for the day. He called the shots, set the pace, and was the overall
motivator to keep us going all day long. I had to stop and use the
restroom at an unexpected point on the way... the corner before we begin
the ascent up Blood Mountain to Neels Gap - first ascent of the day.
But, you can't climb well if you can't use your ab muscles without
having an accident. Craig, Chad, and I kept a tight pack up to Neels.
Benny caught us in no time at the top, and we headed out to Jack's Gap.
Again, we held a tight 3-man formation, but the climbs weren't so easy
for me; at least they didn't feel as easy as they did last year. Benny
caught us on Jacks, and I took a turn to pull, though it was was mostly
downhill, to the base of the climb to Unicoi. I had a few
"challenges" from other riders, who were "inertially enhanced", but for
the most part, we kept a great downhill pace in the high 20s and low
30s. The climb up Unicoi was a struggle, but we enjoyed it, like we
always enjoy Unicoi. When we reached the gap, we recovered, but Benny
told us to go on, that he'd take things at his own pace... which was
really not much different from ours, but just slightly out-of-sync
enough to make him choose to send us on our way. Chad had 3 rules: 1)
Have FUN 2) Try to break 7 hours clock time 3) Don't let rule #2 get in
the way of rule #1. We may have a chance to break 7 hours on the clock
if we pull the now smaller pack into order.
As expected, we flew down Unicoi. Chad was on fire. He has such
grace on the bike, I had to keep my head straight because I knew I
couldn't keep up with him AND maintain safe control of my bike. I also
still felt skittish about my crash a few weeks ago. I had a post-Goose/
Maverick feeling when I hit hard downhill curves. But, I still kept
Chad within my sights.
HOGPEN
What can you say about Hogpen? At least it's not Brasstown? Be thankful you have the ability to climb?
As we began the primary ascent, I had a mental meltdown. I didn't
care about Hogpen anymore. I have climbed it on foot and on bike. I
think I had more fun on foot. But, today, we're on bikes. This is
where Craig's year of training and racing has really paid off. After
the primary ascent, I got my head right. I had no choice. For the past
5 years, I have been the guy who does stuff outside his comfort zone
on purpose. I was not going to let a bout of the "I don't give a craps"
get me. So, I downshifted to my 28 cog and just spun my way up with
Chad... while Craig pulled away until he had at least 30 seconds on us.
We kept sort of quiet. Nobody wants to huff and puff because it does
you no good. No one would dare complain... we're salty veterans on this
climb. So, we just kept turning the cranks until we got to the top and
were greeted with cheers and some of the best food on the ride. But
then I got that sinking feeling about the descent. Last year I hit 67
mph on the back side of Hogpen. This year, I held a VERY conservative
pace and got it to around 50 mph and held steady. The curves were not
nearly as in-my-face as last year. There was no snap decision on
when/how to execute a curve. I saw everything coming and had plenty of
reaction time. My stomach settled just in time to turn the corner and
realize...I was completely out of gas. We still had to climb Wolfpen Gap,
which is the "Winding Stair" of road riding in Georgia.
Again, Craig was looking great, and he took a pace that was
comfortably faster than me and Chad. Chad had his nose to the wind for
us 95% of the time. He gave the rest of us the option to take it easy
while he pushed a great pace on the flats and rollers. We were both on
the suffer train. But, Chad had an extra joy... a full-size (39/53)
racing crankset, while I had a compact (36/50) crankset. Those three
teeth in the front make a HUGE difference when climbing. But, Chad,
just kept turning those cranks. I know he was suffering right there
with me, with an even more difficult climb on the bigger crank. My hat
is off to Chad. Wolfpen was our toughest climb of the day. Chad led us
out from Wolfpen to our final major ascent, Woody's. We had to take it a
little easier. Although we ate well and hydrated well, we were just
wiped out compared to Craig, who was still as froggy as a SEAL on his first
mission. We cranked it up Woody's without a wasted moment. By then, my
wits were gone, I started blaming the bike for not shifting right, I
had not completely bonked, but I was on my way.
Then an angel appeared before me.
I went to the refreshment area and said "I have an odd request.
There was this angel who saved my skin last year with an ice cold Coke
Zero. Is she here this year?" They pointed me to the lady in her blue
jacket... she waved her hands at me "What else have you got? OK, I'm an
angel, I've heard that before". So I showered this lady with every
compliment I could muster from my oatmeal brain. I think that when I
started getting incoherent, even to myself, she went to her truck, and
pulled out a Coke Zero from her PERSONAL COOLER and gave it to me. I
offered her cash. She would only accept my gratitude. Finally, after a
few minutes of chugging the coke, the caffeine kicked in and I started
feeling like a person again.We pushed our way down Woody's, again with
our captain, Chad in command of all the turns... which made it easy for
us, since we could follow his line. We caught up with a young lady who
was also flying down the mountain. But, we got stuck behind some cars
who were waiting on other cyclists who didn't have our "sense of
adventure". On one hard curve, there was a cyclist down. He lost it in
the curve, a left hand curve with a cliff.... JUST LIKE MY CURVE. My
stomach was a little sick looking at him at the side of the road. He
wasn't going to be riding home like I did. I felt such a mix of luck
and sadness and gratitude in my heart. We held pace until the traffic
fixed itself and we went back to our high 30s pace down the mountain.
There was another crash on the road into the "offshoot development"
turn we had to make. So, we had one last moment of excitement before
the "worst part of the ride".
The last 10 or so miles of the ride is the kick in the teeth. We had
constant high-pitch rollers the whole way. We had a few miles of open
road, but even that was on an uphill grade. Otherwise, we were either
downshifting or upshifting. Then we finally got onto Black Mountain
Road, and received our last kick in the teeth of the day. We passed the
7 hour clock time and tried to just shrug it off. We had done more
than 100 miles within 7 hours on the clock. No one got hurt. We shared
our suffering. And I got another day of cycling with my brother Chad.
So, we eased the pace and cruised in to a 7:04 finish. We changed out
of our very used up gear, and went into Lumpkin County High for what is
always one of the best meals of the year.
I was extra thankful that Lenka and Ann drove with me, so Lenka could
drive us home. I fell asleep in the back seat of the truck, before we
even pulled out of the parking lot, and didn't wake up until we dropped
Ann off in Toccoa. I am truly grateful for my friends, for the ability
to ride, and for the underlying mental persistence that refuses to fail
me, even when I wish it would.
David
2012 Six Gap Century
Benny Bohannon
The bike ride today
was a lot of fun, but I sure am tired! It's called the 6 Gap Century, and takes
place in the mountains near Dahlonega.
I started out this AM meeting up with 3 of the guys from Habersham Cycles. Chad
Hayes, David Shabat, and Craig Tinsley. Those are some of the guys I ride with
on Tuesday Nights. I do good on Tuesday nights just to stay in sight of
the lead group. We even had on our matching jerseys.
Their goal was to
finish the 104 mile ride in less than 7 hours.... I told them I knew I couldn't
do that, but they insisted I could, and that we would all hang together and
"Have Fun". So we hung together. We left the start at the school at
7:30 this morning. We got there at 6 AM, so we could line up at the front and
get a good start. There were almost 2800 riders lined up behind us! When they
opened the gate, we lit out flying, like the Tour de France! We were the
fastest of the fast, right up there in the front.
Occasionally I would
catch a glimpse behind me, as all the other riders crowded the road, their
shoulders undulating as they moved in one big mass, like a river of
multi-colored jerseys. Pretty cool stuff. We probably averaged over 26 mph for
the first 18 miles before the first Mountain, Neel's Gap. I knew I couldn't
keep up that pace for very long, so I let them lead up the first mountain.
After a while, I dropped into my own pace, and they slipped away. They got to
the top about 5 minutes before me, but were all waiting on me, and said it was
no problem. We all rode together again until the next mountain (Jack's Gap),
where they waited about 7 minutes for me. I knew they wanted to finish in under
7 hours, but they kept saying to stay with them anyway. On the way up the 3rd
Mountain, Unicoi Gap, I started cramping. My muscles were letting me know I was
going way beyond my abilities. When I got to the top, I told them in no uncertain
terms to go on, and finish, and that I would have to ride at my own pace to
finish the 104 miles. So we all did the fist-bump, and they went on. I didn't
see them again until the end. I enjoyed the rest of the ride, talking to
people, suffering up the climbs, and flying down the mountains. The other
mountains include Hogpen Gap, Wolfpen Gap, and Woody's Gap. Hogpen is the
granddaddy, with over 8 miles at up to a 16% grade. Whew!
I finished in 7:35, which was about 45 minutes
faster than last year. I guess the fast start really made up some time. The
other guys came in at 7:05, which really wasn't too bad either. I saw some of
the guys from Apalachee Cyles in Dacula, the other group I ride with. A couple
of them finished in 6:34-6:39 ! That's an hour faster than me! Wow.
Others finished after I did, so that was fine too. Everyone was just happy to
make it in. It was a lot more fun after it was over, that's for sure.
They fed us a big spaghetti supper afterwards, so now I am full, sore, and
sleepy. And I also got a cool "T" shirt out of the deal.
Benny
______________________________________________________________________________
Thanks guys for taking time to write it down! I look forward to seeing you at all the rides coming up for the rest of 2012. Check them out at the top of the page.
And now here's some crazy facts about the Six Gap Century:
- There were 2,595 cyclists that
participated in the Six Gap Century & Three Gap Fifty Bike Ride this
year!
- An estimated 4,000 man hours
went into the planning and execution of the Ride by Chamber staff and over
350 volunteers.
- Almost 3,000 gallons of water
and Heed/Gatorade were used at the 9 rest stops.
- Over the course of the Ride,
cyclists consumed 1,200 lbs of bananas, 300 lbs of apples, 250 lbs of
grapes, and 200 lbs of oranges.
- Our rest stop volunteers made
an estimated 8,500 PB&J sandwiches.
- The Lumpkin County High School
cafeteria staff fed our riders over 2,600 lbs of spaghetti
When we started our decent of Hog Pen there were about 6 guys with ice picks climbing the ice on the back side rocks. They looked at us...we looked at them...and we just smiled at each other. No doubt an exchange of some sort of screwed up understanding.
