I've had a countdown timer on my Google page since December '08 for ORAMM. That's when I decided ORAMM was going on the race calendar this year for me. It has been a constant reminder that July 26th is fast approaching. I look at it every morning for at least 2.37 seconds before diving into the days work. I remember when the number was over 200 days. "I've got time to train" I told myself...and training I did. The Winter Challenge, 6hr Grind, and the Riverfront Classic have all led me to today. Today, the countdown reads 20 days. 20 DAYS!!! How did that happen? Knowing that my training time was coming to an end, I was looking for a last test of mental and physical strength.
There's an infamous gravel road climb in the middle of the ORAMM course. It's called Curtis Creek Road(CCR). It's about 9 miles in length and climbs over +2,500ft in elevation to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Over the past 200 days, I've read a lot about the CCR climb which was moslty all negative. "Gravel Road Pukefest" was the latest reference on MTBR and someone sent me a note saying " Are you sure you want to do it?" after reading my route on MTBR. Honestly, the negative press on CCR made me want to do it more. I need help!
The reward for all the climbing is the Heartbreak Ridge trail. Heartbreak is one of the best downhills in Pisgah. Heartbreak is the trail everyone wants to ride, but unless you're shuttling, you've got to put in some serious climbing to get there. I've ridden Heartbreak twice before, but both times, I took a lesser travelled route up through Ridgecrest/Montreat. It's about 10 miles shorter than CCR. Since this was my last major training effort before the big race, I decided to test my mettle by hitting CCR.
I spent Friday night getting my ride ready. In the last month, my bike and myself have taken a beating so it needed some TLC. I'll skip that story for now. I swapped out my front rotor and replaced both sets of brake pads. I'd also be sporting my new Maxxis Crossmark as my rear tire choice for the day. After all that work, Sunday didn't start out all that well. As I was loading the cars, the rain started to fall. It rained all the way into Old Fort and I got to thinking....Do I really want to do this ride today? I actually pumped myself up the entire hour ride over by jamming to XM radio. Somehow it helped and I was all business as I pulled into Andrews Geyser.
As I'm getting ready, Asheville YetiRider(MTBR) shows up to join me. I figured I was going solo with the weather conditions, so it was nice to have a little riding company. We set out at 10am in the steady rain from the Geyser. I hadn't taken the route through Star Gap, so there was a small sense of "I hope I don't get lost" in the back of my brain. I had the maps and GPS route as backup, but as I've learned before, that stuff can be useless when you are in remote wilderness. It's funny how the mind works. Something simple at home becomes a total disaster on the trail.
The first part of the ride goes up lower Heartbreak. It's steep with lots of switchbacks. I was regretting my tire choice under the wet conditions, but we walked the slippery stuff and finally made it to trail that heads to Jarret Creek. The rain backed off a bit as we headed down to Star Gap. The never ending road finally spit us out onto CCR and although the rain stopped, I was soaked.
And so it began. CCR starts mildly before slowly sucking the life out of you. I don't remember much of the climbing because I entered a zone with one purpose. Get this over with ASAP. After the campsites, you are on a death march up to the parkway. I rode everything, but spent a considerable amount of time moving in an out of granny gear and standing up to avoid cramps. As the elevation backed off near the top, I knew I must be coming up to the Parkway. What a relief to finally be there. 5 miles on the Parkway felt good knowing that Heartbreak was close. After the hike-a-bike up to Heartbreak, we shot down Heartbreak at a good clip before returning to the Geyser.
The Verdict:
33.58 Miles
+10,258 Elevation Gain
CCR certainly lives up to its reputation. Ok, I didn't literally puke, but figuratively there was a lot of puking going on in my mind. Hmmm, come to think of it, I did also have a dry heave feeling in the stomach at the beginning of Heartbreak. Anyhow, I would never take a recreational ride up there since there are other ways to get to Heartbreak. It should be interesting to see how this climb feels during the race. At least I'm mentally prepared for it. Next up...the race itself.
-Mike
