:: Gravity Demons, Devil's Elbow ::

:: hardest...ride...ever... overview by the numbers: 6:40 hours, 4384 calories, 80.2 miles, 8110 feet of climbing,~20 miles of gravel roads, ~2000 feet of gravel climbing, 4 water bottles, $5.80 at unimart, $1 emergency tire boot, 1 tube, 16g of CO2, 2 bags of sport beans, 1 bag of sharkies, 1 reeces fast break, 16oz amp tall boy, 20oz gatorade (lemon lime). r-lee (aka dieter) suggested this ride to me about a month ago, and i've been itching since to try it. i did black mo on friday and it's 4300ish feet of vertical, and was feeling a bit skeptical. heck, i would have been skeptical had i had an easy day before. but i figured i'd give it the old college try (with 10 years of it, i should know what that's all about). so i grabbed the camera, gps, phone, food, water, tube and tools, and headed out, with my jersey pockets looking like an obese chipmunk....

... and before i am out of town i run into the biggest black bear i've seen this side of a zoo fence...

... i should have known what was in store...

... after 3.5 decent climbs, it just kept going...

... and going, now with gravel...

... this sign says it all...

... r-lee's 'gravel' road...

... the 'gravel' road turned out to be 20 miles of freshly graded boulders that ate the sidewalls of both tires. used an old mtb trick, i wrapped $1 bills around the tubes where the casing was cut. this was between hours 3 and 4, so my memory is rather foggy, but i do remember trying to call r-lee to come pick me up, but my phone was dead. and i had no idea where i was even with a gps... so in synopsis: bear, climb, climb, climb, gravel, boulders, gravel climb, boulder climb, gravel descent, scarry redneck town, bonking at unimart, cut ride short and ride along highway, climbing, sleeping, and aching. epic. ::