We were not told of the start location until the night before the race. All 70 racers had to attend a meeting at the Nashville Bicycle Lounge. Dan Hensley was the race promoter and is the owner of the Lounge. They gave out some schwag and then informed us that the start would be in Gladeville, TN, near Lebanon. I had heard that the course would be weaving around the Cedars of Lebanon State Park. That got me excited as I have competed several times in that area this year and have become somewhat familiar with the main roads.
Pre-race meeting at the Nashville Bicycle Lounge
Race morning was October 1, and it was the first chilly morning of the year. The wind was stiff, making it feel cold. The weather forecast was for a steady breeze all day and temps in the mid- to upper-60s. It was hard to decide what to wear. I ended up going with arm warmers and an undershirt under my normal Maxxis jersey. I went naked on the legs, figuring it would be too warm for knee warmers once we were hammering at race pace.
We got the cue sheet literally about a minute before the start. I strategically folded mine so that I could read it easier. I read over all the directions as we rolled out for our neutral start. I tried to get an idea of where we were going. I had a few people come up to me and say that they didn't think I would do well to day because "you don't know how to ride this kind of stuff." Guess everybody has forgotten that I'm a mountain biker.
The cue sheet only featured the first 51 miles. There was a 50-mile option and a 100-mile option for the race. Everyone would do the first loop, which was the one on the cue sheet. Should you choose to go back out for the full 100, the second cue sheet would be given to you after you finished the first loop. The classes were Open Men, Open Women, Singlespeed/Fixed Gear, and 700x23C for those of us wanting to run road bikes and skinny tires. Mot people were on cyclocross bikes with fat tires. I raced my old Trek 2.3 with 700x23C Maxxis Refuse tires. I've abused the Refuse tires in the past with no problems so I thought they could hold up to whatever gravel could be found on a public road.
The first 2.5 miles were neutral. Dan wanted to be sure we didn't miss the first turn. There was a photographer with us during the neutral section. He was cruising by the group on a motor scooter, then just decided to stop in the middle of the road, nearly taking down the front half of the group. It was crazy! Bruce Dickman made an awesome move to avoid the crazed scooter driver. I was thinking oh crap is this how the day is going to go?!!
Neutral start
The first turn was a grown up fire road. I see now why Dan thought we would miss it. There were boulders sitting across the road to stop cars from going in. We hopped off cyclocross-style and went over the boulders. A few feet after remounting, we found a nicely graveled road with a steady climb ahead. This first road was almost 6 miles long. It was a gentle climb the entire way, with some steeper sections thrown in every mile or so. A few spots had deep gravel, but mostly it was just your standard gravel road. The pace was intense as soon as we hit the gravels. I did little to warm up due to the distance. I haven't been riding 100 miles so I was a little scared of the length of the race.
I did my best to hang on as the pace kept cranking up. The little hills began to seperate the group. By 6 miles into the race, we were down to seven riders in the lead group. And two of those were yo-yoing on the climbs. I led the last part of the gravel road and was surprised to see there were just four of us left when we reached pavement. We crossed Hwy. 231 and entered Cedars of Lebanon State Park with a four-man breakaway. In addition to myslef, Sharp Emmons, Pumptrack Jim Simms and Bruce Dickman made the break. I was so surprised that Dickman was there. He has really picked up the pace this year.
We quickly developed a good navigation system. Pumptrack Jim had his map attached to his stem so it could easily be read. He yelled out the road names and distances. I used my knowledge of the area to assist. We lost very little time looking for roads. Dickman was pulling the most, but it wasn't really helping the group. He was going all-out up the hills, getting a gap and then just sitting off the front about 20 yards ahead of us. It was weird. He also was not using his map so he missed several turns. We would yell at him to come back then he would kick on his rocket bruceters and pass us back.
So Dickman dangled off the front forever, while the other three of us rotated through in a paceline. There was another long gravel stretch at about mile 15. The deep sections were hard on me with my narrow tires. The other three of my break companions were riding cyclocross bikes. They really made me work a few times to stay on a wheel.
Some of the backroads were freaking awesome! One was so narrow that we passed it up thinking it was a driveway. The backroads wound through beautiful open fields, across creeks, and over wooded hills. There was only one big climb on the loop and it came at mile 26. It was a narrow, paved stretch though the woods that got rediculously steep in one spot. Dan was saying that they paved it just a few weeks before the race. It would have been a very difficult climb if it was gravel. I doubt I would've made it. The road gear would've been too big. We all took our time up the climb, trying not to waste too much energy with still so many miles remaining. The descent afterwards was awesome! I hit 45 mph down it.
My favorite road on the whole course
Dickman sat off the front until about mile 40 and then we caught him and got him to work with us a little bit. I tried to give him a break, but he didn't want it. Dude only wanted to be on the front. I was pulling at 28 mph and he came by and upped the pace even more. The plan was for all four of us to refuel after the first loop and then go back out since we were all signed up to do the 100-mile route. We knocked down the first 51 miles in 2:50 with a 17.8 mph average speed.
Sharpie, me, Pumptrack Jim and Bruce Dickman pose for a shot at the halfway point of the race
There was no second cue sheet. The second loop was just another lap of the first 51-mile loop. That would be easy since we now knew the course. We had no idea what our lead was on the peloton, but we didn't plan on getting caught. Everybody filled bottles and grabbed some food then we were back on the road. Dickman quit and did not go back out with us, so we were now a break of three. We passed by the pack on our way back out. They finished the loop in 3:13, so we were 23 minutes ahead at halfway. We didn't know it, but only four other riders went back out for the second loop.
We knew the pack had seen us and we thought they were all doing the 100, so we kept the pace up, determined not to get caught. Sharpie and I worked hard on the first gravel section, then I put in a big effort for miles 60-75. Pumptrack Jim was hurting, and Sharpie was slowing down, so I came to the front and kept us going. I was feeling good at the time. We caught Scott McConnell, who had to start late and was still on his first lap. He was riding singlespeed and hopped onto our train. I started to fade at mile 75, just before the big climb. Sharpie was the strongest up the hill. Jim and I got over the hill using our body weight to push down the pedals.
Crush & Run course
We lost Scott somewhere after the climb and then Sharpie flatted. It was a slow leak, so we just stuck in one CO2 cartridge of air and hopped back on. The three of us pushed hard through the headwind that tortured us on the way back to Gladeville. I was done pulling by mile 80. It looked like we were doomed, but then Sharpie took over my work duties and did the majority of the work the rest of the way. He was by far the strongest at the end. We were all in different classes, so there was no need to sprint. We let Sharpie cross the line first as he was clearly the strongest at the end and deserved the win. That gave him the Industry win. Pumptrack Jim won the Open Men and I won the 700x23C class. Our second lap took us a lot longer. Our time for lap 2 was 3:16, giving us a final time of 6:06. Our ride time, however, was sub-6 hours, which was our goal. We rode the 102.4 miles in 5:56 with 17.2 mph average speed for the whole ride. The pack never caught us because there was no pack. Only seven riders total would complete the 102 miles. That counted Jim, Sharpie and myself. The pack had been over the 30 riders and all but four of them quit after 51 miles.
The winning trio: Pumptrack Jim, Sharpie and me after the race
No number plates here, just a name tag with your race number written on it. You could stick it anywhere on you or your bike.
Final stats of the day
It was a great race. I loved how you had to be able to navigate and ride various road surfaces. That makes for a very cool event. Dan plans to make this an annual thing, with the promise of a bigger event, better schwag and tougher course for next year. And a new location. It will definitely be worth checking out so keep your eyes peeled for the date and details to be announced early next year.
Crush & Run video produced by Stumbling Towards Greatness
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