PMBAR 08
Way back in 2003 (or thereabouts) Pisgah Productions started a race in Pisgah National Forest called the Pisgah Death March. It wasn’t your typical mountain bike race. Rather than a set course you receive a passport at the beginning of the race that lists a set of checkpoints scattered throughout the forest. You then have to reach at least 4 of those and return as quickly as possible. Choose your own route, bring your own food/water/supplies, and of course a partner to share the fun/pain with! Oh - and of course Eric (the brains behind it all … AKA Evil Genius) will block off many of the easy routes (roads, fire roads, etc.) as “off limits” so you get to experience the maximum effect of sweet Pisgah singletrack.
Well that race has grown steadily each year and switched names to the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure (Just a wild guess here but I’m betting the folks at the forest service didn’t like hosting the “Death March”).
So this was my 4th attempt at PMBAR. My first time I barely knew any of the trails in Pisgah and was in it more for the fun of it. But this time Alex and I were out to see what we could do. Our stretch goal was top 10 out of the 75 teams.
We rolled into Davidson River Campground Friday evening to sunny skies and warm weather. Ran into Jeremy who was heading back to his place in Asheville - he had just tacoed both of his wheels on a ride that afternoon - bummer!
6:00 AM Saturday rolls around and the sky is just starting to lighten up. I take in my standard (quick and easy) pre-endurance race breakfast of cold scrambled eggs, apple sauce, and a banana and honey sandwich. I know it sounds like an odd combination but it’s quick to eat and works for me. Now Alex on the other hand whips up some gourmet breakfast - french toast and coffee! I then split over to the start line to check the out of bounds map and see what Eric might have in store for us this time.
8:00 - After a brief race meeting Eric gives the signal and we get our first glance at the passports and the checkpoints for the day. They’re the same as last year! Now some people may be let down by that but I was pretty stoked. It meant we would be hitting some of the best trails Pisgah has to offer. Lots of sweet singletrack and not too many roads/fire roads. Now if only we worked in Laurel/Pilot into the ride - now that would be the perfect Pisgah route of all time!
The checkpoints were:
- Turkey Pen (in field near South Mills River and Mullinax) (Mandatory)
- Laurel Creek / Bradley Creek
- Squirrel Gap / Cantrell Creek
- Club Gap
- Daniel Ridge / FS 225
- Farlow Gap (Mandatory)
- Kissee Creek
We had to make it to 4 CP’s, including at least one of the mandatories, and return by 10 PM. And there was a 5 hour time bonus for each CP beyond 4.
There’s another interesting thing for those not familiar with this race. Ideally in a long endurance event like this you would ease into the race. You know, a moderate level effort to help get the body warmed up. Well not in PMBAR. No that would be way too easy! You have to start by climbing up the Black Mountain trail. Now Black Mountain is one of those famed trails in Pisgah - lots of technical climbing, roots, rocks, water bars, and about 2000′ of elevation gain from the base of the trail up to the intersection of Turkey Pen. So the bottom line is you’re pegging the heart rate for at least 40 minutes to start the race. It’s the first big climb in the elevation plot below.
Eric or Brado (sorry - don’t remember whose idea this was) threw in another interesting twist this year - they had a series of signs to encourage and taunt you on your climb up Black Mountain. Perhaps they drew their inspiration from Burma Shave or the Demotivators with sayings like “They’re gaining on you”, “Spin, Spin, Spin”, and “The beer is the other way!”. Thanks guys - it made for something to distract from the pain of that climb.
8:40 - Alex and I take a few minutes at Presley Gap to double check our plans. Decision time - do we head West first or East? Decided to take the Eastern side first. Planned route:
- Turkey Pen trail -> S Mills -> CP #1 (Mandatory)
- Mullinax -> Laurel Creek -> CP #2
- Laurel Creek -> Squirrel Gap -> CP #3 (Cantrell Creek)
- Squirrel Gap -> S Mills -> Buckhorn Gap -> Black Mountain -> CP #4 (Club Gap)
- Take stock at that point and hopefully knab 1-2 bonus CP’s depending on how we’re doing
10:10 - All is well as we arrive at CP #1. We had a great ride down the Turkey Pen trail - it was mostly clear and in great shape. After the race I was talking to the guys from Smoke Bikes - they did Turkey Pen backwards on single speed fixed gear bikes - INSANE!!!! In the elevation plot from about mile 3.5 - mile 8 - that’s the Turkey Pen section. Way more downhill the direction we did it. Well those guys did it the other direction on fixies … wow.
10:40 - We head up Mullinax and down the Laurel Creek trail to knab CP #2. Next we headed back up Laurel Creek - it turned out to be a great opportunity to see who was close behind us in the race. We were feeling good at this point - looked like we were possibly top 10. Right after we turned onto the Squirrel Gap trail we came across Matt Lee and his partner flying down the trail the other way on their Cannondale F29’s. Those dudes are FAST! Not quite sure what they were doing heading the other way though.
11:40 - We pull into CP #3 at the intersection of Squirrel Gap and Cantrell Creek. The weather is starting to threaten a bit but so far just a few sprinkles (They were calling for a chance of severe thunderstorms that afternoon). We filled up on water in Cantrell Creek and headed on.
1:30 PM - We make it to Club Gap, CP #4, and it’s decision time. Do we call it a day and head back in with 4 CP’s? Or do we forge on for one or more bonus CP’s? If we head west for more CP’s we’re committed to at least 2 more hours on the bikes. While we were debating a few more teams started to roll in - so we decided to get moving. We’re going for more! We took off but had flat while descending Club Gap and 3 teams past us … doh!
We caught up with one of the teams that past us, Mike Brown and his partner. Next up we were on 475B fire road headed over to Daniel Ridge. I knew we’d be on the fire road for a bit and so we had an opportunity to break free. I put the hammer down, Alex fell in, and we put the other team out of sight. We drafted and set a fast pace until Caney Bottom and some sweet downhill on our way to CP #5 on Daniel Ridge. But as we’re climbing the Daniel Ridge trail we see Mike and his partner heading back the other way. Turns out they knew a better route and passed us back without us even knowing it! Oh well, such is the fun of PMBAR!
3:45 - We reach CP #5 on Daniel Ridge. At this point my legs are starting to feel toasted and so we decide to call it a day and head back with 5 CP’s. We still have about 2 hours of riding to get back.
4:55 - We’ve crossed back over Hwy 276 and start climbing FS 477. My legs are total jello and I’m just trying to turn the pedals. Meanwhile Alex was super strong - he went ahead a bit on the climb and got the next team in his sights. “They’re only about 2 minutes ahead!” he says. I try to kick up the pace but my body is just screaming. Back hurts, quads on fire, neck is sore … not a good sign ;-(
In a few minutes it’s time for some payback on all that climbing as FS 477 turns downhill for a long, twisty, 1200′ drop fire road descent. We’re letting it all hang out on this descent, controlled slides in the turns, trying to make some time. We make supersonic time down 477 then its time for more climbing up Clawhammer and then Maxwell Cove. After what seemed like an eternity I finally get to Presley Gap and the final Black Mountain downhill to the finish.
6:23 - The finish! 60 miles and lots of climbing. Time to relax, eat, and grab a brew. We were psyched when Eric told us we placed 9th out of the 75 teams.
Thanks to Eric and crew for putting on another great event! Looking forward to 2 big days of Pisgah fun at the Double Dare in October!