Snake '08 - Version 1.0

This is a time trial series where they take the best time of three attempts. There is a 17 mile and a 34 mile option. The trail is so tough that they expect you to have serious mechanical problems for at least one of the attempts I guess. This is the only 5 star difficulty trail in GA (according to Kurt's book). I registered for the 17 mile option which puts me onto the back 17 of the 34 (the ‘impossible’ half).

I had never ridden the Pinhoti before and from what I had been hearing, the trail was impossible. I wasn’t intimidated by the trail, but I was a little intimidated by the 250 bikers there. Everyone looked really tough…

So – I went out really hard with three goals in mind.

1- Ride as hard as possible until I get to the ‘impossible’ parts. Make up time where it’s possible.
2- Always have a rider in sight and work on passing them. We were let out of the gate ~1 minute from each other.
3- Finish before my 2.5 hour playlist.

The ride was fast in sections and very technically difficult. I’d pay money to watch someone clean a couple of those climbs. I ended up with 2 crashes, 2 hikes and several dabs.

Result – I did not get passed. I passed probably 40 riders. I finished with 9 songs left on my playlist.

http://www.nwgasorba.org/Snake2008/Snake08_JanuaryResults.htm

Now I have to go back for Snake2 and 3 in Feb and March to try to improve my time and defend my standing. So far I’m the only rider that has broken the 2 hour mark. I’m fully expecting some competition from some unfortunate riders who may have been dealing with a series of mechanicals.

This is what a sub-2hour effort on the Pinhoti looks like:
(**it's not pretty**)



I should mention that I rode up to Dalton with three of my ‘bros’. My accountibilibros… We have ridden a ton of miles together over the past year and have watched each other improve. We each have our own style but somehow we always finish a trail at the same time… [Example: We rode in the Fool’s Gold 50 mile event (http://55nine.blogspot.com/2007/08/fools-gold-100-50-mountain-bike-race.html ) last summer and after 6 hours of riding we finished within 10 minutes of each other.] We are shooting for taking spots 1-4 once the series is said and done… after January we are sitting in 1,2,4,and 14. Aaron had three flats in Snake1, so we expect to see him up top next month if he can keep his bike healthy.