Pisgah Stage Race week, hard to believe it’s here already. 5 days of bike racing in my big backyard with some of the best company around and these really cool video’s. It’s really cool to have this kind of event in my hometown and a major thanks to Sycamore Cycles for the opportunity to participate. I think I’m kind of ready, as I’ve noted in my last post preparation hasn’t gone exactly as planned but with kids and life I guess that is pretty much the best I can hope for at this point. It’s ok, I chose this route and wouldn’t have it any other way, just the opportunity to participate in an event like this is pretty much a win.

Bike

My ride is pretty much dialed in, with a little help from Sycamore Cycles this past week the brakes are bled, pads checked, creaks addressed, new tires, new grips, new bottle cages, pedals overhauled, new bottom bracket, cranks swapped from another bike. She’s ready to roll…this is way more prep on my bike than I was able to get done last year and I’m excited to have it done. I even unrolled my spare tube to make sure it still held air (I’ve been burned by this too many times). I went ahead and cleaned up the BackCountry Research strap and reloaded it with C02, tire lever, and DynaPlug Racer.

Other Stuff

I got a new shipment of CarboRocket Half Evil and ReHab which will make up a majority of my on bike nutrition for the week. A couple of new pairs of socks from Stoke Signal which is one of the best things that’s happened to my feet in a while. I’ve got a few more things on the way that should be here early this week but otherwise I think I’m as ready as I’m going to be. There are a few adjustments to stages this year which should be interesting. None of the changes are groundbreaking or really crazy but they are different from what they have been for the past couple of years.

Stage 1

I think the most notable change is the adjustment of Stage 1, which now includes the famed Farlow Gap. Last year I broke my axle about 25 minutes into the first stage, this year we have to descend Farlow so I’m going to be focused on keeping it rubber side down. I will say I am a little excited about the stage, it’s going to be tough but I think it should suit me pretty well. With most of the climbing being doubletrack there is some room for passing after the start that’s pretty unfriendly to a singlespeed. Then so much of the descending is pretty steep and technical which I’m fairly accustomed to. Oh, and it’s just the first of 5 days.

The stage starts and finishes at Cove Creek Campground, Right out of the gate is a quick downhill and at the bottom you’ve either got to bottleneck it over the bridge or hit the creek crossing. Then you head into the single speed killing 1/2 mile or so flat section on 475 before heading into the Daniel Ridge loop Counterclockwise. However instead of climbing up the bottom we’ll stay on 5046 which gives us a good bit more doubletrack climbing that isn’t overly steep. Should be good for making passes. Then we hang a right onto a steep section of the Daniel Ridge Loop and start the trail. Down the rocky side of Daniel Ridge back to 475 where we’ll climb the gravel up to Gloucester Gap and start up 229 to get to Farlow Gap. 229 is a pretty long, pretty steep doubletrack/gravel climb that leads to Farlow. At the top there is some trail to climb but not much. Then into the steep gnarly descent of Farlow. Then instead of heading down Daniel Ridge we’ll take a left and climb a little bit back up to the 225 connection and take it over to Cove Creek. We’ll descend down Cove Creek to the finish. Should be a fun day.

The logistics for the week are a little challenging since I’m only taking half days off of work. I will work for an hour or two before the race, I get up at about 4:30 am most days so there is some time. Then each day after I get some lunch I’ll get back to work for a few hours, it’s not quite as “relaxing” as I’d like but it allows this to happen without as much interruption to work. All of this happens while still trying to be helpful to Katie with the kids since I know she’s working hard to help me make this work. We did go ahead and get an extra meal ticket for the week to try and help with dinner’s so Katie and Lizzie can come join in on the nightly dinners that the race provides.

Hard to believe we kick this thing off tomorrow but man I can’t wait.