Kelly's BIG adventure!
I rode 200 miles with 16,000’ of elevation this past Sunday.
Here’s why
In the chaos that has been 2020, it’s felt like all of my cycling plans slipped away. After facing a bunch of personal health challenges that had me searching all over the place for a diagnosis, I began to accept that my year was just going to keep getting worse and there wasn’t a point in making goals anymore. It may be a bit morbid, but I really had started to give up on feeling normal or being well.
But then, on August 8, I finally got a diagnosis/treatment for my health struggles, and since then I have been on a trajectory of improvement and healing. As of this past Saturday, I am 80-90% recovered from my impairment and am so over-the-moon happy to be feeling more and more like my old self.
When I finally accepted that I was getting better and it wasn’t a fluke, I decided I needed to do something big to celebrate! Hence, my 200 mile adventure!
The longest mileage ride I’d done before this was last year at the 1st edition of SBT Gravel - 140 miles of amazing gravel around Steamboat Springs, CO. So of course, I had to go longer than that. And why not just go for the big 200?
So I made a route, decided I wanted to finish on Skyline Drive as the sun was setting, and set the date. September 6 was perfect because there was going to be just over 12.5 hours of daylight, the weather forecast was AMAZING, and the shop was going to be closed the next day for Labor Day, so I’d have a full day to recover before heading back to work.
Gear and Food
Bike:
Tarmac Comp SL5, updated with Ultegra di2 and 28c Roubaix Pro tires; I decided to ride my Tarmac for this because it’s my lightest bike, and I was only going to ride 3 gravel roads total during the whole day.
Bags:
Specalized Burra Burra Frame Bag 3
EVOC top tube bag small
Specialized Seat Pack
Pack: Nathan Hydration Pack - I’ve had this pack for years and like how lightweight it is; I originally didn’t want to run a backpack as I knew the pressure on my back would become a thing later on in the day, but I wanted to carry as much water as possible because I couldn’t be totally sure of how my day was going to go… Better to be prepared for as much as possible, especially on solo adventures.
Food/Drink:
In my frame bag I had several fig and nut bars, a “shareable” bag of SourPatch Watermelon candies, a bunch of gummy-type candies, salt tablets, and for breakfast LEFTOVER PIZZA SLICES, I ended up consuming all of this except for 2 bars
During the ride I also grabbed some snacks from 2 gas station stops - 2 sodas, 1 orange juice, 1 giant chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, and 2 chocolate bars.
GPS/Lights/Miscellaneous:
Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
Cygolite Hotshot 150 taillight and Dash 600 headlight
Small battery pack for charging lights/phone/gps if needed (more on this later)
Mace - kept in an easily accessible pocket
Tiny travel bottle of sunscreen - WEAR YOUR SUNSCREEN
Benadryl - I’ve had some crazily timed allergic reactions to random things
Clothing (I don’t normally include this specific type of information about what I wear, but everything I wore worked so perfectly, I thought it was worth it):
Jersey - currently my favorite, Velocio UNITY Jersey SE
Bibs - also currently my favorite, Velocio LUXE Bibs
Socks - Velocio Signature Socks - lightweight and feel amazing
Helmet - Sworks Prevail II with MIPS - the airflow through this helmet feels so good and it has one of the highest safety ratings
Shoes - Sworks Sub7 - stiffness index 15?! please and thank you, haha
Jacket - Specialized SWAT Jacket (super packable!)
Gloves - POC long finger - comfortable, not super heavy, easy to take on and off
Sunglasses - OAKLEY EVZero Prism, Trail lens (just dark enough for the daytime but not so dark that it’s difficult to see in the shady areas of the forest)
The Ride
At first I thought I would be starting my ride around 3am. After some anxiety about being in the dark for 4 hours (sunrise was at 6:50am), I decided it was best to leave an hour later - that helped lower my anxiety about being alone in the super early hours, and I felt like I could still finish the ride before or right at sunset.
Riding in the dark with no cars, a clear sky, and a bright moon is amazing. It was somewhere in the high 40s/low 50s when I left the house, and actually felt like it got a little warmer as I made my way towards the George Washington National Forest. As I rode further into the forest, it got a bit windy and I could tell the temperature was dropping just slightly.
My first stop for the day was about 35 miles in, and it was just so I could grab my breakfast pizza out of the frame bag to eat while I rode. It was then that I realized that my hands were on the cold side - dexterity was lacking, so keeping hold of my pizza slices was quite amusing and a bit stressful.
I was very grateful I had my SWAT jacket on. I got to see just the start of the sunrise right before I turned onto Marble Valley Rd, and was then plunged into a foggy cloud that lasted for the next 25 miles. By the time I was 60-ish miles in, and at my first actual gas station stop, I was pretty soaked from the fog. My torso was warm, and the jacket did a great job of repelling the water droplets, but my hands were even more numb than earlier, during Operation Breakfast Pizza.
I ran my hands under warm water in the bathroom sink for a while. They came back to life, I ate some more snacks, texted Chris and my parents how I was doing, and set off hopeful that the fog would let up soon.
Thankfully, it was only another 5 miles or so before I was in total sunshine with blue skies and WARM air. :)
I really enjoyed the miles between Goshen and Lexington. It was beautiful, the roads roll along and feel secluded even though there’s a city not too far off, and some of the mountains look especially interesting.
Lexington was just over 90 miles into the ride, and I was feeling GOOD. I was almost halfway through, It was only 11am, and I was STOKED.
So off I went to cross over the valley and head to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had two fairly large climbs within 30 miles of each other for this section. The first was 13-ish miles with only a 3% average grade and paved until the last few miles. The second was after my last gas station/store stop and was just over 4 miles with 7% average grade; it also turned to gravel in the last 2 miles.
It was from the gravel section of that first climb, around mile 125, through the entirety of the second climb, and all the way to mile 142 at the Three Ridges Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway that I unraveled a bit. My pack was putting pressure on the middle of my back (which I knew would happen) and I was at the point in the ride where I had to force myself to eat or I would truly fall apart and the ride would be over. I also just had to sit down and stop pedaling for a hot minute.
This is me, in the middle of “unraveling”. Just had to push through it!
The Three Ridges Overlook shows part of the Wintergreen Resort. You can see radio towers. So I figured if there was a signal for cell phones, it was probably going to be here, and I was right. I called Chris and had a bit of a moment while stuffing my face full of those Sourpatch watermelons (the sour taste was AMAZING - nice and different from the sweetness of the other things I had been eating). I’m not sure why I was so upset by this, but I had noticed before I called Chris that the mile markers for the BRP were missing, and I couldn’t remember how many miles it was until I reached Skyline Drive.
** SIDE NOTE: To save all the battery on my Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT possible, I used the Route feature from mile 60 to mile 128. Before and after those miles, I am familiar enough with the roads to not need gps directions. I wanted to see how long my computer would last on one charge.**
Chris looked it up and said, “you have 13 miles to Skyline.”
This was far fewer miles than I had thought, and made me so happy! Haha. Especially because I knew the pavement would get waaaaaay smoother on Skyline - this particular section of the BRP was recently redone with “chip-seal” and that is not a smooth or nice surface to ride on.
What also got my spirits up was knowing that at some point on Skyline Drive, Chris would meet me on his bike to finish the ride. I couldn’t wait to see him after so many miles alone!
On I pedaled, watching the miles go up, calculating how far I had to go to the entrance of Skyline.
Then I realized that somewhere along the way in creating my route on the computer, the mileage became incorrect. At the southern entrance to Skyline Drive, 155 miles in, it was only 40 miles to the next entrance - where I had planned on finishing. That only added up to 195 miles!
“Oh my gosh, whyyyyy,” I literally said out loud.
Taking in that I still had 44 miles and another 4000’ of climbing left
BUT I was in good spirits, I was feeling SO much better than when I was at that Three Ridges Overlook, and I know that section of Skyline super well. So I just kept pedaling along looking ahead for Chris. He found me just before I reached the Blackrock Summit parking lot, and I asked him how many miles he had ridden, just to be sure I had done my math correctly.
“22.5 miles,” he said.
“Ok, well I have 27.5 miles to go to reach 200… Sooooo, we’re going to have to do at least 2.5 miles beyond the Swift Run entrance before turning around and reaching 200.”
The only thing was that 2.5 miles for the out-and-back was another climb. I was grumpy at first, but knew I’d be fine. I’d made it this far, another 2.5 miles of climbing was basically nothing at this point.
Those last 27.5 miles were my favorite of the day. It was the golden hour, every single overlook was absolutely beautiful, I was so happy to feel good enough to do this, and I KNEW I was going to do it. Finally, for this year, nothing had stopped me or prevented me from completing a goal I had made.
I finished my 200 mile adventure just as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the mountains. It was perfect.
Some STATS/Extra Info
So grateful to Chris for riding those last miles with me and relieving me of my pack!
Ride Info: 200.70 miles, 16,122’ of climbing, 14:29:42 moving time, 15:42:28 elapsed time
I finished my ride with 10% battery left on my Wahoo. This is pretty incredible because Wahoo says the ELEMNT Bolt battery only lasts to 15 hours.
I had 2 taillights with me, one ran out prematurly for some reason, so I was grateful to have the second one. I did charge the one that had died just in case I ended up getting darked on.
Things I’ll do differently for my next longer ride: Hopefully my other frame/handlebar bags will be here by then and will omit the need for the hydration pack, pack MORE PIZZA, and find a non-messy way to transport pickles (I had really been wanting a Claussen’s pickle by the end of this ride)
Overall, I’m very pleased with how my day went, and other than those three things above wouldn’t change anything else about the day if I could.
If you’d like to see my ride on Strava, you’ll find it HERE.
Chris' Pivot Mach 4 SL Custom Build
Right before first ride.
It’s been a few years since I’ve really gone mountain biking, or mountain biking as much as I used to. For the past few years I had a Specialized Epic hardtail, then a Chisel for getting out on the trails and doing the occasional race. As it were, I wasn’t doing much riding or racing. More on that here.
As a return to riding and hopefully racing, I wanted to get back onto something capable, fun, and fast. Having brought on Pivot in December and getting some rides in on our shop demos, I knew it would be a Pivot Mach 4SL. The next question was what to order/how to build it. Pivot has a lot of great builds, but I had a handful of parts from my hardtail, and definitely couldn’t go for the XTR or AXS level builds.
Being particular about all the different bits is something I find myself doing frequently too, so I ordered the frameset that came with a shock and Fox Stepcast 32 100mm fork, too. Great parts to start off with.
The goal of this build was to be light and capable, without totally breaking the bank. I can always get a dropper down the road, or quickly install one if a race or ride calls for it. The new S-Works tires are certainly light, and not the choice for mountain biking around here, but I want to use them for certain races, and the redesign has me wondering how much I can get out of them.
I put some fun parts and bits in there that might not be the norm. Most of the steel hardware that could be swapped out for aluminum (bottle cage bolts) or titanium (brake hardware, lever hardware) has been. The headset has an aluminum bolt for tension and a lightweight topcap. The 11 speed group was something I’ve had and saved me some money. It does’’t have quite the range of 12 speed, but it gets me by. Running a GX rear derailleur fits into that category as well as helping me not care as much when I drag my derailleur through some rocks. I did take the pulleys apart, clean the bearings in the ultrasonic parts cleaner and greased them with Kogel high performance grease.
Treating the chain with Molten Speedwax was fun. I’ve used paraffin wax in the crockpot before, but Molten actually makes a formula for bikes. It has stayed on past my first mountain bike ride but it probably won’t be my normal as it requires heating up the crockpot, cleaning the chain in the ultrasonic, then treating. My go to is Rock and Roll gold, which is super clean- if Gold is dripping, or making your drivetrain dirty, you’re doing it wrong- it really likes to be wiped down and dried.
The saddle is an older Specialized Romin. I love these saddles and have a stash of them from when they stopped making them.
The brake setup, SRAM Level TLMs are fine, but I will probably swap them out for some (OLD!) SRAM Elixir XO models that I’ve had forever. I just like the lever shape of the old carbon levers better, weight is about the same. I have rebuilt the XOs more than a few times and done some things to make them a bit smoother than they were new.
An (almost) complete parts list is below, the complete weight as pictured without pedals (XL frame) is 21.67lbs.
Frame- Pivot Mach 4SL XL, with shock, remote lockout lever and cables: 2,610g
Fork- Fox Stepcast Factory 32 100mm, uncut: 1,417g
Handlebar- Raceface Next SL 35mm 10mm rise bar: 191g
Stem- RaceFace Turbine R 35 Stem - 70mm, 35 Clamp, +/-0, 1 1/8: 148g
Crankset- Raceface Next SL 175mm: 375g
Chainring- Wolf Tooth 32t 6mm CINCH: 62g
Bottom Bracket- Raceface pressfit 90 for CINCH: 69g
Headset- Pivot factory: 66g
Wheels- Specialized Control SL: 1,378g
Front Axle- Fox Kabolt: 36g
Rear Axle- Pivot factory: 46g
Rimtape- DT Swiss Tubeless Tape: 12g (both wheels)
Tires- S-Works Renegade 29x2.3: 580g (each)
Valves- Muc Off Pink: 8g (pair)
Chain- SRAM XX1 11 Speed cleaned and treated with Molten Speedwax: 244g (length on bike)
Cassette- SRAM 10-42 11 speed XO1: 266g
Shifter- XX1 11 Speed: 110g
Brakes- SRAM Level TLM, metal pads: Front: 188g (no pads) Rear: 208g (no pads)
Rotors- 160mm Magura Storm SL.2: 101g (each) Titanium rotor bolts 8g per wheel.
Derailleur- SRAM GX 11 speed: 257g
Saddle- Specialized Romin Pro 155mm: 164g
Seatpost- Thomson Elite 30.9x410mm: 262g
Seat Collar- Stock: 22g
Grips- ODI Vapor: 67g
Pedals- XTR I’ve had these for over 5 years and rebuilt them almost every year just to make sure they work well, but they probably don’t need it. They’re incredible pedals: 305g
Highland Co.
Pedals ready to be rebuilt after some parts cleaner action!
Don’t lose these tiny guys.
MidSouth Gravel 2020
Lindsey and me before the start of the race! Rain!
Here’s a blurb about my MidSouth race this year. Enjoy :)
- Kelly
The MidSouth Gravel (104 miles) was a race for the ages this year. Lindsey and I left Harrisonburg Thursday afternoon and drove all through the night to get into Oklahoma around 10:30am on Friday. Stillwater had wonderful, dry, 70 degrees, and sunny weather the week of the race. Friday night, that all changed. A front moved in, it rained a bit overnight, and then poured with thunderstorms from 6am until 8:30am. The race start was delayed 30 minutes because of lightning. The rain kept on even after the lightning had gone, and I remember looking at Lindsey before we started moving and saying, “Today is about survival.”
Small backstory - a week before leaving for MidSouth, I experienced a very scary and horrible allergic reaction to a medication I was prescribed for a sinus infection. I thought my chance of going to this race I had been training so hard for was gone. Chris and friends were very encouraging, and as my body returned to its normal status, I felt hopeful of at least finishing the race. My dreams of placing better (I was honestly hoping for a top 5) this year were gone, but I was determined to still show up and do my best.
So leaving that start line, I knew I was not going to quit. Whatever mechanicals, weather conditions, or physical challenges came my way, I was going to deal with it, overcome, and keep pedaling (or pushing) forward.
It was a hard day. Riding through the rain, dirt, and mud in the first few miles I realized that I wanted it to keep raining. If the rain stopped, and worst case scenario the sun came out, we were in for a sticky, gloppy mess. Around the time I hit mile 30, the rain did stop, and with it came dealing with the mud tacking up. It did not “dry up”. It turned into a just soft enough surface to sink into, steal momentum, and still come up and stick to your bike and components and YOU as you rode through. Puddles became our oasis - riders (myself included) were purposefully riding through even the tiniest pothole full of water with the hopes of it washing the mud off our drivetrains and/or tires.
About 7 miles from the midpoint aid station (mile 54-ish), I experienced my only mechanical for the day - my front derailleur wouldn’t shift into the small chainring. My mindset for this was “well, I’m doing ok right now, I’m over Brethren Hill, and the aid station (with pavement) is coming.” I decided to just stick with what was working (stay in my big chainring) until I couldn’t turn that high of a gear over anymore. My rear shifting was flawless still, so I wasn’t too worried. A few miles later though, I hit a bit of a wall and new it was stupid to keep trying to stay in the big ring. However, no amount of kicking or hitting the thing would budge it from that position. So I had to pull out my 2mm allen wrench, clear the mud to the limit screws, and manually set the front derailleur down in that little ring. There was so much mud on everything - my bike, my hands, my derailleur, the ground… I couldn’t make out what was wrong. I was just glad to have an easier gear range.
So on I pedaled to the midway checkpoint, so stoked to finally see the main street of Perkins, Oklahoma, and with it the neutral aid support of SRAM. Thanks to those guys, they discovered the rocks jamming my front derailleur, set me right, and even washed my bike off for me.
Photo courtesy of 241 Photography - I’d been waiting 3.5 hours for this bridge. Once I was over that, I would be in Perkins and able get some snackz
The mud before and after the stream crossing (stream in the middle of the picture, not well seen). Photo courtesy of 241 Photography
A little bit further down the street was the Skratch aid station, which not only had their own nutrition, but also Coca-cola, espresso, bananas, candy,… this place had the works! I chugged a coke and an espresso at the same time, ate some salt tablets, grabbed some Skratch chews, and rode back out of town. Life with 2 chainrings was so amazing… for about 15 miles (but hey, I’ll take that over never having it back). We returned back to the mud, and by mile 70 my front derailleur had jammed again.
I was fine though. Quitting never entered my head, and I was thankful to not experience some of the mechanicals I had been seeing. Everyone out on that course that day is freaking hardcore. We are a special group, haha.
With the mud tacking up, though, the day was getting harder. There were a few sections with walking and carrying my bike because there was no line to ride and the mud wanted to gather between my tires and frame. The most difficult section for me was the walking before and after the stream crossing at mile 80. Yes, it was nice to be able to wash my bike off for the last 20 miles, but my shoulder is nice and bruised from carrying my bike.
Mile by mile. I watched the course elevation on my Wahoo Bolt instead of the time because it gave me relief to see I was over halfway through. Mile by mile we all pushed on and encouraged each other, knowing we were going to eventually reach the finish line. I could feel my eyes tearing up with 7 miles left, knowing I was actually going to finish, but I had to hold them back - I was still afraid of some freak thing happening.
We hit pavement at mile 101 and it was all I could do to pedal as hard as possible and get to that finish line. Turning onto 7th avenue was the absolute best homecoming/finish line crossing I have ever experienced at a race. I could hear people cheering/screaming, the announcer yelling, and see Bobby (MidSouth Race Director) jumping and yelling… It was CRAZY. Bobby makes EVERY SINGLE Midsouth racer feel SO special. Having him cheer me into the finish line is a moment I will never forget.
Photo courtesy of 241 Photography
Photo courtesy of 241 Photography
Photo courtesy of 241 Photography
Walking into the finish/expo area I’m sure I looked like all the other racers I was seeing - dazed, tired, so happy to have finished… to have survived. I called Chris and immediately started crying. It was one hell of an experience and that’s just how the emotions of the day came out. I calmed down and asked if he could see from the timing on the internet where Lindsey was. He said she’d made it through the midway checkpoint, and would probably be in within an hour.
I tried so hard to wait for Lindsey without going back to the hotel to shower/warm up, but I couldn’t. I started shivering after getting off the phone, so I “rushed” back to the hotel, cleaned up, and literally as I was rolling next to the finish line chute, Lindsey’s name was being announced! I dropped my bike and sprinted towards her, knowing that we both had just been through one of our most difficult bike races to date. I was so happy to see her - to know that we had both conquered and finished this race.
We celebrated later on, after pulling ourselves together, by loading up on Chipotle. I also found out that I had actually placed in the Top 10 for the women’s race! I couldn’t believe it! I’m so excited to have finished and placed 10th overall for the women. After the difficulties I had leading up to this race and during the race, I’m still the most stoked to have pushed through and finished.
I would like to offer up a HUGE congratulations to everyone that participated, volunteered, and helped put at the MidSouth Gravel event. You all are so amazing, and I love this race, and I am planning on being there again next year.
Full results can be found HERE
If you’d like a glimpse of what our day was like (beyond the photos I have), watch the video below:
Pictures of my bike post - MidSouth, haha:
Rocktown Roller-Rama 2020!
The 2020 edition of the Rocktown Roller-rama was one for the books! So many close races, our largest number of participants ever, and an awesome crowd made for one amazing night!
Thank you to everyone that came out to race or cheer! And a BIG thanks to Three Notch’d Collab House for hosting us three years in a row!
Pictures from the event are posted below. Racers/friends, feel free to save and post them.
Rocktown Bicycles and Pivot Cycles Part 1: The Story
We decided in November 2019 to bring Pivot Cycles into the shop as our second main line (we carry All City, Surly, and a few others but more on a special order basis). This decision was years in the making. When I took over as shop manager in September of 2014, the shop was only a year and a half old. Rocktown was a Specialized dealer and having worked with almost all major bike lines in my 14 years (at that point- Gt, Jamis, Diamondback, Trek, Giant, Cannondale, Felt, Fuji, and Scwhinn to name most), I was surprised by the level of customer support, durability, attention to detail, and performance of the line compared to most of what I was used to.
I frequently thought it was necessary to have a second line in the shop to compliment Specialized and to simply have some more choice for our customers, but in looking at many, many companies out there the questions that would always remain were: Is it the same quality or better? Are the price points reasonable? Are parts readily available?
Over the years I have seen many lines that have a particular model that people get really excited about for one reason or the next. What was extremely important to me was that the whole line was solid, with a legacy of creating great bikes.
Having a different suspension from Specialized was also a consideration. We get many questions regarding suspension design in the shop, and it’s always fun talking about it, as it makes or breaks the bike!
Without going too deep, Specialized and Pivot both use a variant of 4 bar suspension. This maintains an independent drivetrain that can remain fully active but at the same time is not power robbing. But many companies use a type of 4 bar linkage, so it isn’t just having a certain type of squish, it’s how the linkage is set up, shocks are tuned, and frame geometry works into it all. In my experience having a company that understands these complex relationships and puts the resource into solving the issues that can come up yields a far better bike than those who do not.
The most important parts in the decision were though, do we like them and would we ride them? Are they exciting? Do they represent something different? Are they durable and built to hold up/ replacement parts are easy to get if needed? Yes!
We’ve been riding our Trail 429 bikes for a month now. They’re so much fun- (we’ll address the ride in a different post though). We have had some customers with older Pivots come in for some work. One of these customers wanted a suspension linkage part that they had beefed up to make the bike stiffer about 6 years ago. After an email we had that part on the way, which is really nice considering many companies do not keep parts around that long.
Part 2 of this ‘series’ regarding how the bikes ride will hit the website shortly.