Snake Finale!

I don't think I ever saw dsquared without a smile on his face.

99% of the folks there are not really racing, just there to have fun, and maybe go a little faster than they did last time. Very few people actually trying to get on the podium.

Best way to train....ride a lot. Ride up hills a lot.

There's nothing around here to prepare you for the Snake really. Both the climbing and the 5-mile rock garden, there's just no terrain around here like that. You just need to be ready to spend up to 4hrs on the bike if you do the 17, and 5 or 6hrs if you do the 34.

EDIT - this race really puts things into perspective. I'm not slow. I'm not really fast, but I'm certainly not slow. My best time to date on the 17 mile is 2:37. Yesterday someone set a new 17-mile course record of 1:48.

Local North GA pro Thomas Turner rocked the 34 mile again, with a time of 2:45. WTF.

Results are up. I got DFL in my classes yesterday LOL. I finished 77nd out of 124 overall in the 17 mile. Lota fast folks out there yesterday.

In the "trifecta" (all 3 race times added together) I finished 6th out of 7 in my class, and 38 out of 59 overall.

I told you I wasn't fast ;D

snake.nwgasorba.org/

So is the Dalton chapter not as adamate about the wet trail policy, or would it just be too difficult to reschedule an event of this size?

+1

Completely different tread up there. Next week you won't be able to tell that 400 mountain bikers rode that thing wet yesterday.

Worst mud was on the doubletrack road sections as DG said. That was actually were I wiped out, not on the hard singletrack. Doubletrack was slimy and slick. Just leaned a bit and down I went.

No comparison to the trails around here.

MH

Let me offer my experience, as the accidental racer, of the Snake Finale. I’m still shell-shocked and, to appreciate my perspective, you need to know that I hadn’t planned on doing a race anytime soon - if ever. However, last Tuesday morning I was generously offered an opportunity to race the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial. My 3-day training plan consisted of...well, there was no training plan.

Friday afternoon I met up with TedS, his buddy Toby, mhanna, and dgaddis and we headed off to Dalton. A huge thanks to mhanna for doing all the driving and the whole group for allowing an outsider/noob to tag along. We arrived at the hotel, checked into the race, and went out to dinner. As I got the swag and number plate, my excitement was palpable.

During the night and into Saturday morning there was a steady but light drizzle. We got to the staging area for the race shuttles and my excitement turned into awe (so many nice bikes and lean-looking folks who were gonna race them), then concern as an official boarded the bus to offer encouragement, warn us to be careful because the “Snake can bite you”, and, oh yeah, “if you’re riding a steel frame make sure you’re off the ridge by 1 or 2PM.” I guess there was a chance of thunder. Fortunately, the drizzle stopped just as I started. The trail was so hard and rocky that the only real mud was the nasty peanut butter scattered along sections of the fire roads/double track.

Similar to my training plan (none), I also had a time-tested race strategy (none). Rather, I used the shuttle ride to the starting area to set several impromptu race goals. In order of increasing reality they were: to finish close to dgaddis (yeah, right), finish ahead of Toby (I had been training 3 days and he hadn’t ridden in a while), don’t get passed by a trail runner carrying a child’s bike, finish ahead of TedS (he was doing the 34 miler and I thought it was a good omen that I had finished my hamburger before him the night before), not finish last in my age group, not finish behind the course sweeper, finish under my own power, don’t get hurt, and have fun (after all, it’s not a competition...uh, I guess this is a competition).

I had received and read several descriptions of the 17 mile course, including the start, where the first mile or so is uphill. I’m pretty sure they emphasized uphill, but I didn’t fully appreciate that it was UPHILL. They told me there were rocks but I didn’t understand how many rocks there would be. They told me there were rocks as you ride uphill but I didn’t know there could be so many rocks going uphill. Did I mention that there were ROCKS and these ROCKS were UPHILL? There were a few nice descents, one hairy, white knuckle descent, some rocks going downhill, a few small creek crossings, and, you guessed it, more ROCKS going UPHILL. So many ROCKS. I was told that most mortals walk parts of the trail, I must have walked/pushed my bike for ~2 miles - UPHILL, over the ROCKS, and up and over the UPHILL ROCKS.

Early on, I got passed a few times, I tried to chase a few riders (big mistake), and I passed a few riders (they had flats, mechanical breakdowns, or were riding back to the start line). After a few miles of trial and error, I settled in and started to race my own race. I never did catch up to dgaddis (big surprise) and Toby passed me a mile or so after the SAG stop (he was going strong). I knew that my training plan failed me when I got passed by a trail runner. This was no ordinary trail runner, this guy had a Snake TT number plate and a child’s bike (red) strapped to his back so I’m pretty sure he was racing the same race. I passed him as he stopped to adjust his pack, errrr...his bike. He passed me back and I never saw him again. He said hi to me, and I to him, so I think he was real.

The whole ridge line was in a cloud. It wasn’t raining, but the visibility was limited and riding up there alone was surreal. After a few more miles, along one of the rockier, uphill sections, just when you thought it couldn’t get any steeper or rockier, I got passed again. This time it was different. Over the next mile or so, as I was walking crazy steep uphill rocks, the next 10 or 12 riders to pass me were flying effortlessly up the steep grade and through some of the gnarliest looking rocks gardens I had seen so far. I wouldn’t have believed that some of these gardens were rideable, let alone at speed, if I hadn’t seen it myself. After a while it occurred to me that these riders might be the elite riders coming off the first 17 miles of the 34 mile course. Wow!!! They had already done 20-something miles and were flying passed me like they had just gotten out of bed. Uh oh, that means TedS and mhanna might not be far behind.

By this time I was a psychological wreck. Just when the uphill flattened out and the rocks seemed to be fewer, there were more rocks and the trail went uphill again. When are these rocks going to end? How much higher can this trail go? Why are there so many rocks? I was told that once you see the top of the radio tower, the rocks are almost over and the rest of the way to the finish line is downhill (a mile or two). It was so cloudy up there, I couldn’t be sure whether I had seen the tower or not. Off in the mist, I would see something that could be a radio tower, but then I would ride more rocks. Several more possible sightings of the tower (wishful thinking), but then more uphill with the ubiquitous rocks. Oh yeah, I think I may have seen a sasquatch. Finally, I get to the tower. I couldn’t see it from the distance; only once I was on top of it. The end is near.

Down some double track, a small section of single track, and on to the rain slick pavement. The road was a twisty, mountain-steep grade going downhill. I tried to stay off the brakes and thought I was going pretty fast (judging by clenched gluts and local puckering) until another rider, in an aerodynamic crouch (I think his nose was resting on the stem cap) flies passed me. Bike computer said I had a max. speed of 34.9 mph. It was a good thing this guy was in front of me because I saw him look over his shoulder for traffic (we were on the far right of two lanes on our side), then swing left across the yellow line into the third oncoming lane, and set up for a super wide approach to the final right turn and the finish line. I did the same and am sure that, if I hadn’t, I would have skidded passed or wiped out trying to take that right hander at speed.

At the finish line, the cowbell was ringing, an announcer called my number, and the paparazzi took my picture. Unlike with the faster moving riders, she had plenty of time to frame the shot, focus, review, and maybe even take a second picture. I finished my first mountain bike race. I was momentarily overcome with emotion. No major crashes. No bodily damage. Only minor psychological damage and some extra wear and tear on the drivetrain. I rode up to the parking lot and found dgaddis and Toby hanging/changing at the truck. They asked me, and I very candidly told them, how it was. Fortunately, this forum won’t allow me to repeat what I said. In the end, 17 miles, 3:25:37, and I wasn't last in my age group. I think I can do better next year.

Did I have fun? I’m still not sure. I am glad that I ‘raced’ and got to ride/experience a new trail - really, a whole different world of trail riding. It was definitely fun before riding up to the start tent and after crossing the finish line; it’s the in-between that I’m still sorting out. So many ROCKS. Ironically, my youngest son asked me if I was going to race next year (specifically, all 3 races) and my knee-jerk response wasn’t “no”. I said maybe. At least now, I know what to expect.

FTW. Best post in years.

MD

+1!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome recap!

The race gets a little bit easier every time, and you'll ride more of the rocks every time. There's a few sections I still haven't cleaned, even after 7 tries....

Looking forward to putting on my big boy pants next year and doing the 34!

And....the trail runner....holy freakin' cow! He came into the finish area as I was heading up to the truck to change. I too thought I was seeing something.

I guess he carried the bike because it's a bike race, and you have to have a bike, so.....he had one. And at the finish, he was RUNNING! Not jogging, but running, like something was chasing him. Unreal.

excellent post dsquared, very entertaining....it almost has me thinking I may want to torture myself next year. i would like to train for more than 3 days though, I'm not that tough!

"As you can see in the first photo, their post race shower facilities are second to none as long as TedS doesn't beat you back and get to the water before you do. ;D"

Sorry Mark, after all that I just couldn't resist grabbing that jug of water and rinsing off. kind of inconsiderate, the only thing I can really say in my defense is welll.. "last one to the truck is a rotten egg"

Gentleman had a great time, Thanks

Big thanks to the folks from NWGA SORBA!!

Mark thanks for the use of the Yeti, I bombed those hills with ease that bike just loves to go down hill and soaks up everything you can throw at it.

I was really impressed by the 2 first timers that came along D squared and my Buddy Toby who flew down from Syracuse to do the race. In order to get him here I kind of over sold the fun factor and under explained the difficulty. Considering that Syracuse is still under a few feet of snow and he hasn't ridden in about 5 months I thought he put up a pretty good time. D squared well done my friend, you are much stronger than you make out to be, but the secret is out now, no more sand bagging.

I had my best time to date 4:34, 23 minutes better than snake one and about 12 minutes better than snake 2. Improvement makes me feel good but I KNOW I can do better, thank god you get three chances every year, I will definitely be going back.

I hopped off the bus and got right in the front of the start line, I was the 3rd or 4th guy to take off. Which meant being passed pretty consistently by the money class, speedsters and fast women through out the first 10 miles or so, very humbling to get passed going up a steep grade, like I'm dragging an anchor and the s.o.b. passing me is conversational not breathing hard and smiling and being encouraging. WOW !! Very impressive.I saw a lot of great athletes, men and women powering up and over, some on rigid single speeds none the less.

The trail how ever is the star of the show and I encourage everyone,if ya can find the time,head up that way and ride that chunk of the Pinhoti trail.