Stuckey's Valley of the Giants

Hello there!  I haven't written in a while.  Not that I haven't been riding - I've had all kinds of great adventures since my last report, like the MACC One Love Century, A Century of Brevets to commemorate the first brevet in France 100 years ago, mountain biking at Kolomoki Mounds during a weekend trip to White Oak Pastures, Pumpkin Peloton (October precursor to Peach Peloton), and lots of regular rides after work and on the weekends.  I've just been super busy at work and trying to keep the house in decent order whenever I'm not riding.  But I simply have to write about the Stuckey's Valley of the Giants gravel race.

A new race promoter has teamed with Stuckey's for a series of gravel races, Stuckey's Gravel Roll.  Yes, that's the same Stuckey's with the iconic stores along the interstate throughout the South that sell pecan log rolls.  Stuckey's Valley of the Giants race was last Sunday in Blairsville, GA.

They had three options: short (37 miles), intermediate (75 miles), and pro (117 miles).  With considerable trepidation, I signed up for the pro option.  Robert, thinking I was crazy, signed up for the intermediate option.

Blairsville is about a 3-hour drive from my house, and so I needed to find lodging for the night before the race.  However, I didn't think about it much until about a week before the race.  It totally didn't occur to me that fall is the busiest season in the mountains of North Georgia.  There were no motel rooms available in Blairsville or any town within an hour's drive.  Eek!  Fortunately, Robert reminded me of Airbnb.  We found a nice place to stay in Brasstown, NC, about a 30-minute drive from Blairsville.

We drove to Blairsville on Saturday afternoon and picked up our race packets at Grandaddy Mimm's Distillery, the race staging location.  Blairsville was our best option for finding vittles, and so we ate dinner while we were in town.  A quick Google search yielded Lucky's Taqueria.  It was great!  It wasn't the typical Speedy-B-combo type of Mexican restaurant.  It tasted fresh and authentic.  Not that I have anything against cheese, but the key to good Mexican food in Georgia seems to be finding a place that doesn't cover everything with it.  Robert's tamale and my pozole were both excellent.

We drove north through the early evening sunshine to our Airbnb in Brasstown, NC.  It was clean and comfortable - just what we needed for the night.  The owner also left some homemade cookies and scones, which were delicious.

Then next morning after a quick breakfast, Robert and I loaded up at 0'dark thirty to head back to Blairsville.  I was ready to ride well before the pro start at 7:30 AM.  We lined up in front of Grandaddy Mimm's.

One of the race promoters, me, and a volunteer

I was the only woman in the pro race.  There were 15 men.  We had a police escort as we rode out of town.  I stayed with the group for about the first 10 miles, which were paved.  Not long after we turned onto dirt, however, most of the guys dropped me.  I wasn't worried, though; I knew it would be a long day in the saddle.

It was an interesting race in that the whole course wasn't timed.  Only certain sections were timed: one for the short course, two for the intermediate course, and three for the pro course.  The intermediate and pro courses had the same first timed segment, which started about 12 miles in.  It was nearly nine miles long, climbing Duncan Ridge Road to the top of Wolfpen Gap.  I've climbed Wolfpen on the paved road several times, but this was my first time climbing it on this unpaved road.  I'm a good climber, and I'm used to endurance events, but this was extra tough because the road was covered with rocks.  I'm so glad I experienced the rocky conditions on Robert's and my mountain bike ride in Costa Rica a few months ago, even though that didn't have nearly as much climbing.  Otherwise, Valley of the Giants would have been much more of a surprise to me.  I discovered that my cyclocross bike was undergeared for this type of climbing.  I had to grind, grind, grind the whole way in my lowest gear.  My lower back was killing me, which I had never experienced.  It was all I could do to get to the top.  At last I made it!

There had been an aid station at mile 12, just before the timed section, but I didn't need to stop then.  However, I did stop at the second aid station at the top of Wolfpen at mile 21.  While I didn't wolf down my food and drink, I don't think I stayed very long, either.  Surely, it wasn't more than about five minutes.

The purpose of the timed sections was to encourage people to enjoy the surroundings rather than having nose down 100% of the time.  I tried to follow this intent, descending Wolfpen and riding the next 20 miles or so at what felt like a moderate tempo pace.  I don't think I could have ridden much faster regardless.  The climb up Duncan Ridge Road had taken a lot out of me.

Even in the middle of a race when I'm toast, I can't help but mug for the camera.

Then I got to a stupid steep climb that wasn't timed.  It was a few miles long - less than Duncan Ridge Road - but it was much steeper.  In fact, I had to walk up a good portion of it.  I don't think that slowed me down because I couldn't have ridden it any faster.  It was crazy!

Although I had gotten something to drink at the second aid station, I had forgotten to fill both my bottles.  I thought I could eke by to the next aid station.

I reached a crest, got back on my bicycle, and started climbing again.  I knew I was close to the turn for the extra 43-mile loop for the pro race.  The rider packet had indicated that making the time cutoff assumed an overall speed of 11 to 18 mph.  I was averaging a little over 11 mph, and so I figured I was OK.  I started looking for the timing mat; you had to roll over the mat at the beginning and end of each timed section.

I saw some volunteers.  One had a large, orange flag.  He waved me through the turn.  I saw a sign that said "Intermediate Course."  I stopped for a moment and called out, "This says 'Intermediate Course.'"  The volunteer called out, "You have to go that way!"  I didn't know exactly where the split was between the intermediate and pro courses, and so I rode in the direction I was told.

A couple of miles later, I saw another aid station.  Great!  I needed water, and this way I could fill up before the big, extra pro loop.  The friendly volunteers greeted me enthusiastically and said that I was the first one through.  Incredulously, they asked if I had just finished the 43-mile pro loop.  Confused and somewhat in a panic, I said, "No!  Did I miss a turn?"  Their faces fell, and they said the turn was about two miles back.  As I mentally started preparing to ride back as quickly as I could, I also got angry.  I told the volunteers that I had seen a sign for the intermediate course, and the guy with the flag said I had to go that way.  Then, these volunteers realized what had happened.  I had missed the time cutoff to continue on the pro course, and so the guy with the flag had me continue on the intermediate course.  My stomach dropped.

I felt terrible that I had missed the time cutoff.  It couldn't have been by much.  At the same time, I hadn't been lollygagging.  Had I stopped too long at the aid station at the top of Wolfpen?  Surely not.  And my only other stop had been for about 30 seconds for a nature break.  Well, there wasn't anything I could do about it now.  As a consolation, I didn't have any more difficult climbs like the two I had already done.

I asked the volunteers if I might be included in the scoring for the intermediate race.  They weren't sure.  So, I headed on and decided to make the best of the remainder.

Can you believe that I forgot yet again to fill my bottles at the aid station?  I guess I was too focused on having missed the time cutoff.  At least I drank a Coke while I was there.  And fortunately, it was only about 10 miles to the Coopers Creek Store.  We stop at this store on the Secret Gaps 200K brevet, and so I knew that I could get water in the outdoor restroom without even going into the store.  I was in and out within a couple of minutes.

The second timed section was approaching.  (It would have been my third timed section if I had done the extra pro loop.)  I felt energized after refueling and from the adrenaline of my frustration.  So, I decided to keep racing.  I crossed the timing mat at the beginning of the section.  This one was about three miles long and didn't have much climbing.  Zoom!

The last aid station was right after this final timed section.  My cycling buddy Donald was the volunteer here.  I told him that I had missed the pro time cutoff.  He sympathized but said that the extra pro loop was a death march.  Remembering how hard the two earlier climbs had been, I started thinking that maybe I was better off for having missed the time cutoff.

It was what it was.  I rode the remaining 13 or so miles back into Blairsville.  I felt surprisingly strong, all things considered.

Riding into the middle of town, I entered a roundabout and exited toward Grandaddy Mimm's.  This street was closed for the race.  The finish was on a downhill.  I whooshed across the finish line, rode a few hundred feet, and turned around to take my timing chip back.

One of the volunteers congratulated me enthusiastically, informing me that I was the first woman finisher.  I thanked her but noted that I had missed the pro cutoff time.  She said, "But you beat the intermediate women!"  I replied, "That's because I started an hour before they did!"  "Oh...yeah," she said.  Still, I was grateful for a safe race and that I felt OK.  Plus, they gave me a Stuckey's pecan turtle at the finish line :)  It hit the spot.

I changed clothes and got something to eat.  Then, I claimed my free post-race beverage at Grandaddy Mimm's.  They make various types of moonshine and vodka.

I got a Dirty Hillbilly, which includes Mimm's Blackberry Moonshine, Owltown Raspberry Guava Vodka, and cran-blackberry juice.  I can't think of a better way to relax after being wrung through the wringer.

Robert crossed the finish line about an hour after I did.  I was perfectly content to keep chilling while he had his post-race meal and beverage.

Later I found out that I had missed the cutoff time by only 7 minutes!  Only 9 of the 15 men in pro made the time cutoff, and 8 of them finished.  I was the fastest on both timed sections among all of us who missed the pro time cutoff.  Also, I had the fastest women's time in both of the intermediate sections, but I didn't get any credit because I had registered for pro.  It was a great (if tough!) learning experience.  One of the volunteers at the end noted that they underestimated how long it would take everyone.  It sounds like they will increase the cutoff time for next year.

I think this was the toughest single-day cycling event I have done.  Even so, I still had a good time.  Robert has already ordered me a new crankset that will give me a higher gear ratio on my cyclocross bike.  It's too early to decide if I want to go up against the Valley of the Giants again next year.  In the meantime, I'm gearing up for the next Stuckey's Gravel Roll event in a few weeks: the Bird Dog 100.