The Snake Bite!

Well my apology's to all my avid readers about how long it has been since I posted I was being lazy. Anyway Saturday was the big day my first and only attempt, this year at least, at the Snake. I arrived in Dalton on Friday wanted to be well rested for the ride, and ate at Red Lobster, the meal was on the house but that is a story for another day. Anyway Saturday morning rolled around and found me cold at a brisk 37 degrees out and feeling a little off from the prior nights meal but we load up anyway and away we go 32 miles down the road to the trail head where we would began this epic adventure. Along the way I start talking to another rider who just so happen to be from AZ (Gods Country) and had ridden a epic 66 miler in the White Mountains the same year I did to which he compared this ride and said "This trail is tougher than the 66 miler was" didn't sit well with me - it took me just short of 10hrs to complete that epic which was by the way my first ever. Anyway we arrive at the trail head and unload where I run into Grant (who had written that outstanding review after his first ride making me question my sanity for attempting the 32 miler!) Anyway it was nice to know I had friends out there even though I would not see him again until I finished the start wasn't to bad a couple of creek crossings that were cool to say the least but for the most part the trail was dry and steady climbing, and continuing to climb, and then climbing some more, about two miles into it my ill prepared leg muscles( I say this because they must have been to start burning this early) started feeling the climb, not a good sign and relates back to aforementioned dinner at Red Lobster. Anyway I start working through that and the trail kinda winds and climbs some more with minimal downhill for the first 8 miles during which I was passed by all those starting after me. At the first good downhill one of the event workers was there so I chatted as to the direction of the trail and how nice it was that they reversed it this year to create a better "challenge" for the riders to which he informed me that in his vast experience, the last 8 were some of the most technical he had ever ridden, oh happy happy joy joy! So it is off down the camping road for a short stint and then up the climbing single track again not sure how long that went for anyway there was about 2 miles of single track downhill to the first Sag point where Debbie, Grants wife greeted us with powerade, bananas and cheese and peanut butter crackers, also with the relieving news that the second half wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. With this in mind I took off again, climbing once more and wondering how funny she thought she was?! Shortly though I began to see her point as it leveled out and even had a nice two mile of downhill single track through the woods and when it did climb not all that bad on a fairly steady level area. Now as I approached mile marker 8(that is 8 left) I started looking for the forewarned nasty trail and while it was somewhat technical and challenging I would have to say it was some of the more enjoyable part of the ride good rocks and challenging lines with some level and downhill parts as well as climb. The last downhill segment of mile 28-29 was steep and fast and had a great 6 foot drop into a rutted section of trail that you just had to point and go glad I enjoyed it because that was soon coming to a end! Mile 29 and here comes the epic part climbing out on a steep hill up to the rocks, which weren't suppose to be bad until mile 31, well lets just say when mile 31 hit I began suffering from a major case of tourettes syndrome! Good thing I was one of the last ones out there- no one to offend as the rocks passed so did one foul epithet after another from my lips this continued right up until mile 32 where I was dumped back out on a road for a two mile down hill, which was nice but I would have preferred a nice single track downhill as reward for all this effort! Anyway crossing the line 5hrs and 32 mins after I started and behind someone who had a flat on the first 16 and broke a rear derailluer on the second 18 was kinda demoralizing but it was a victory just to finish on my first attempt so I took that small victory and vowed that if possible I would ride all three time trials next year!