The Southern Cross Race is a 52(ish) mile gravel race in the Dahlonega area in North Georgia. It starts and finishes at Monteluce Winery and winds through some incredible gravel roads in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This was my fourth time participating with my first time being back in 2012. This was also the first time I’ve ridden it on the singlespeed which I was pretty excited about. The course for Southern Cross is one that should fit pretty nicely into my wheelhouse however last year was a pretty rough day for me. 

Pre-Race

I race most of my mountain bike races on a singlespeed however I’ve done a good amount of gravel events with a geared bike. When I started thinking about it this year and with how close the event is to the Pisgah Stage Race where I plan on riding SS I knew I wanted to go with the SS. My go to bike for that is a 4 year old Vassago Verhauen that I now have a rigid carbon fork on and some Teravail Sparwood 2.2″ wide tires. Picking the gear to run was pretty easy, I know the hallmark of the course is the first major climb up winding stair. This climb gets steep and is pretty relentless for 4-5 miles so a climbing gear was in order. The only thing I was struggling with from a bike set up point of view was the tires. The tires I had on there are a good size for this kind of event (in my opinion) however these particular tires are extra durable which means really heavy. When it came down to it though inaction won over and I just ran with it.

On race day we had it planned out that Lizzie would spend the day with my Dad and then due to some family things Katie was going to head down to Macon with Chris and spend some time with her parents. I had made peace with the idea of not racing but in the end with my Dad’s help it wasn’t really going to change much if I didn’t go. I did my best to make sure I took care of anything Lizzie I could take care of before I left, which of course had me leaving later than I wanted. I’m still trying to learn how much time it takes to get out of the house when dealing with a toddler. That is probably a topic for a book or something.

By the time I got to the venue I had already felt like I won the day. I drove all the way there with the music up (my music), nobody bugging me about needing to use the potty, or wanting a book it was like I was a kid again. I went up to registration to get signed in and when I got back to the truck I stumbled somehow and smashed my hand against the metal bike rack….crap, it’s pretty bloody and kind of swelling….oh man I hope this isn’t how the day is going to go.

I finished getting ready, had my pre-race mix, grabbed my pre-race snack, and headed out for a quick warm-up. After a quick warm up I caught up with a few folks and got spot in the starting area.

The Race

Lining up for the start of a gravel race with a flattish rollout on a singlespeed is kind of tricky. I was geared for climbing so unless the rollout stays pretty neutral I’m going to be watching geared riders fly by me. However If I go to further back in the group I’m caught up in traffic. So I lined up near the front with Art and Christian and just hoped I could spin my legs off and let the group pull me along. The other SS rider, Chris Joice, who I figured was probably the main threat for the day was also lined up close. There were also a few guys who had played hockey at Georgia Tech in the years right after I graduated, so it was kind of cool to see some GT Hockey Alumni on the line.

Then we got started, the rollout was a little more neutral than it had been in the past, I was still pegged but Chris and I didn’t get shuffled too far back. After the race goes live the terrain rolls a little bit for a few miles. Last year I stayed really close to the lead group through these and I think that hurt me a bit. Fortunately with the SS that wasn’t really an option. I was also seeing a number of water bottles strewn about, fortunately after my water bottle debacle at MonsterCross I had made an adjustment to my bottle cage based on a suggestion from Brad Cobb.

Once we started into the course I noticed a few things, Chris was strong, he was running a much bigger gear than I was, and he was descending like a cannonball. Keeping pace with him on the rolling terrain was a lot of work. I figured any chance I had at beating him was going to come from getting a good sized gap up Winding Stair. I stayed close until we started up Winding Stair. As soon as we got there I started to ramp up my pace a little. I started picking up riders pretty quickly and I was able to get away from Chris. Getting away was only part of it, I knew that I needed to keep my foot on the gas to open up any gap I could before we got into the 2nd half of the course.

Over the top of the climb and onto the first ridge, I managed to ride with a few geared riders for a little while here which was good and kept my pace up. I was still feeling pretty good but couldn’t match them on the low grade downhill parts so they got away and I was by myself for a little bit. Getting close to the road section where I really wanted someone with gears to help me through it. This almost worked out to perfection. Just as I got to the bottom one of the Hockey Alums, Dan, caught me. I was thinking we’d hit the road and I could hop on his wheel. Unfortunately he dropped his chain and had to stop. So I got going, I kept looking back, and finally some geared bikes came along and I was able to hop on the back. Right as we finished that section a big group of geared guys had caught up and we all started up the next climb together.

The dynamic up this climb was a little annoying, any rise and I would end up out front, as soon as it went back down a little they all came by. We would do this for the next 40 mins or so. Finally it sustained a little and that back and forth stopped. At the top I rolled into the aid station to pick up my bottle of Carborocket, but they couldn’t find it…I think this was my fault for sending it to aid 1(although I thought aid 1 and aid 2 were the same). Fortunately I had a backup plan this time. I had some food in my back pocket in case something happened with a bottle. The only downside was that I spent about a minute and a half here. 

Starting onto the ridge I went ahead and ate my food and the group we had climbed with mostly came back together. We made pretty short work of the ridge and when we got to the last rise before the big descent I went ahead and started to push on whatever I had left. I knew Chris couldn’t be too far behind and I wanted to get clear of some of these guys before we headed down. Up near the top a familiar face showed up, Art, who had some troubles early on had found another gear and passed me like I was standing still. I was hopeful to keep him in view but he had other plans I guess.

Over the top and down the Cooper Gap Descent, so much fun. Then Past the Ranger Camp, 4H camp, and into the final stretch. A few geared folks just in front of me kept me honest and working to keep them close. Finally make the turn into the winery and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get caught here. Over the creek and start the finishing chute and I hear “go daddy, go”. Sure enough my Dad brought lizzie up and she was waiting there yelling. Coming to the line with the little one there yelling is one of the best things ever.

When it was all said and done I was the first Singlespeed and a little over 2 minutes faster this year. It was interesting when I look over the results most everyone else I look at was around 5-7 minutes slower this year than last year. I think I can attribute a lot of that to just being in better shape and better prepared this year than I was last year but I always find it interesting that my times on geared bikes vs single speed bikes end up that way a lot.