Chilhowee Outdoors Dirty 130
Many much thanks go out to Kim Murrell, with Chilhowee Outdoors, for putting her blood, sweat, and tears into this route, as well her other routes (Vista 300/Mountain 420). This is one that I've ridden in two halves as well as an overnighter with Joe Urbanowicz several months ago, as some TNGA heat training. But I've yet to give it a go in one ride.
The Grand Depart was scheduled for 10/19/19 but, unfortunately, had to be cancelled due to numerous people backing out for various reasons. I swapped a shift with a colleague so I could attend the GD, but unfortunately, life happened and we had to swap back, making it impossible for me to make it anyways. But that was okay. Two days before the scheduled grand depart, the weather was looking prime (albeit, a bit chilly), I was off work, and Melissa had plans and gave me the go ahead to knock this thing out. YESSSS!!
So, I notified Kim of my Independent Time Trial (ITT) intent the day before and began studying the route. I quickly realized, I didn't need to do much studying. There was a resupply option at mile 32, 64, and 95...how perfect is that?!? And, as I stated before, I've ridden all of these gravel roads before so I felt very comfortable with where I was going. And I had just had a retul bike fit on my OPEN U.P. gravel bike and was excited to take it on it's first ride longer than 60 miles...more than double, but who's counting?
My alarm went off at 4:15 am on Thursday. Man it sure is easy to spring from bed when you have a big adventure planned!! Tiptoed around the house, chugged my espresso, and rolled out to Hardee's on Highway 411 because, why not? I'm not making food that time of morning, hah! Frisco breakfast sandwich for then, and later.
As far as gear goes, I went with two feed bags, a tank bag, a Nathan trail running pack without the bladder in it, two 33 oz. bottles, and a Light & Motion Trail 1000 light on my helmet. In the tank bag, I had a small power pack and micro USB for garmin charging. I also had my eTrex 20x mounted on the bars next to the garmin 820, for navigation of course. For clothing, I wore a nike dry fit T-shirt under my kit, insulated arm and leg warmers, a puffy vest, a neck buff, and showers pass thin gloves under my trusty handup gloves.
The route begins on pavement for a couple of miles. Flat, then slowly starts to pitch up, then it's steep. Passed the huge Pyrenees who let out a loud WOOF! but was too lazy to give chase that time of morning. I knew he'd get another chance though. See ya later big buddy.
Hung a left onto Kimsey Mountain Highway and it quickly turned to gravel. The initial climb is about 10 miles and gains about 2000 ft. or so. It sounds kind of bad but it's very easy as the grade never really gets steep. And I knew I'd be rewarded with a beautiful sunrise soon.
I began seeing the early morning glow through the woods. I rounded a corner, about half way up, and boom! There was the most amazing pink and purple horizon. Of course I had to jump off the bike for an impromptu bike photo shoot.
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| Sunrise from Kimsey Mountain, 10/17/19 |
Around an hour and fifteen minutes in, I hit the summit. I had been watching the temps hover around 31-32 degrees. My little fingers and toes definitely were not ready for this, as they were throbbing in pain. The cutting 15mph wind did not help. I didn't care though. It was so amazing outside! The sun came on up and I turned my headlamp off. Of course I had to stop for another snack and photo op before the long descent off the back side on Smith Mountain Road.  |
| Smith Mountain Road |
I arrived at Webb Brothers Store, right on the banks of the Hiawassee River, around 9:30 am. The sun was glistening off the water and the air was crisp and cool. This would be my first of three resupply stops. Admittedly, I had forgotten to check their hours so I'd been hoping they opened at 9, and, sure enough, they did. I grabbed some water, coffee, pop tarts, mini doughnuts, beef jerky, and who knows what else. I sat outside in an attempt to not get TOO warm. I enjoyed the company of Mr. Webb's dog who apparently has about 15 lives and counting, after all his run-ins with moving cars and whatever else he'd gotten into over the years, per the nice lady working. After 30 minutes or so (which is too long), I rolled out.
The next section was a lot of fun. A small country road parallels a passenger rail line called the Hiawassee River Rail Adventure. And just so happened, as soon as I was on the road, I heard the loud blow of a train horn. The passenger train was going the opposite direction and I got to wave back at all the kids staring and waving out the windows. There is a river crossing a couple of miles in. I won't say how I opted to skip wet feet with temps in the 30's, but I did. I hung a right on Spring Creek Road and passed Spring Creek Campground. This is a fast, flattish 2-3 mile gravel section with an abundance of potholes so you have to pay attention.
A few miles of pavement on Tellico Reliance Road to hang a left onto Star Mountain Road. This took me to another 1200' climb which tops out on a ridge line of rolling gravel that quickly turns in to a ripping gravel descent. Here, I almost had a day-ender. At about 25-30mph, my front tire washed out in a slight right hand turn. It probably slid a foot or more. In that split second, due to my experience with crashing, I had already felt the impact and anticipated a broken right clavicle. To my surprise, the tire hooked back up, the bike stood back up, and I was still living. I took a huge sigh of relief and immediately slowed down. Just kidding. I laughed and let off the brakes and returned to wide ass open, hahaha. I don't learn from my mistakes.
The miles ticked away, riding small country backroads and gravel alike. Between the Vista 300 twice, and several partial rides on the Dirty 130, I've ridden all these roads a lot, and they just never get old. There is beauty in every direction.
Around 1:00 pm, I arrived at the Coker Creek Welcome Center. This was my second resupply which was near the half way point, 63 miles in. I was 6.5 hours in. I had an initial goal of 13 hours but realized it was going to take longer with my previous 30 minute stop. So, I took my time here too. I chatted with the pleasant lady working, ate all the wrapper foods, drank a Dr. Pepper, got some water, played on my phone sending annoying photo updates to Melissa and my friends that were in their cubicles. After another 30 minute pit stop, I was on the road again.
From Coker Creek, I had maybe 15-18 miles to get to Buck Bald, which is about a 5 mile climb to a 360 degree view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. But to get there, I got to ride one of my favorite sections. It's Unicoi Turnpike to Shulers Creek Road which is a short climb to a long ripping descent to a long flat or false flat section with a negative grade for at least 5 miles. I'd say combined, the descent plus the flat section, they total 10 miles or so and it is FAST.
After this, a hard right on to FR 322 and a 30 minute climb up to the bald, where I had to take a mandatory selfie for my ITT to count for the recorded times. The climb is rather benign but a little chunky on 40c tires but it's uphill so it's totally fine. Descending it, like in the Vista 300, would definitely beat me up. Once at the top, I ate, took my selfie, and chatted with a couple of engineers who were out enjoying the gravel on their dual sports. They were proud of the 75 miles they had already covered for the day. I was at mile 80 but just smiled and agreed that it was a beautiful day to be out, without disclosing the nature of my ride. From here, only 15 miles or so to Reliance Fly & Tackle, my next resupply. They closed at 6:00 pm. I had plenty of time, as it was about 3:30 pm, but I still felt that I needed to get going.
Leaving Buck Bald, it's another blistering enhanced gravel descent back down to pavement. There are plenty of small to medium sized rocks that are glued into the hard-packed dirt, so you have to stay aware or one of these guys can send you flying. I hopped on Highway 68 briefly, then hung a quick left onto Duckett Ridge Road. This is a steep one, but it is paved. I managed to sneak by the menacing gang of small dogs that resides at the first house on the right. Win! Once I was to the steepest part, I opted to just walk for a few minutes. My gearing was a 32 ring with a 11/32 cassette so it's nice to just rest the butt and use the leg muscles in a different way, briefly.
At the top, I took a left on Fingerboard Road, which is a long rolling gravel road. I've ridden this one TONS of times and am very familiar with it. Going the other way, it seems to just stair step up, so this direction is super fast and fun.
About half way, I came upon a man and his son in the road. They were tracking their lost hunting dog with what appeared to be a 1970's TV antenna with a wire attached to a box that was making noises like a Geiger counter. He said the dog had been lost for a week! But by the sound of the "Geiger counter" the dog was near by and moving and roaming around. I offered a whistle but he declined and opted to just shout for the dog. I wished him luck and went another 50 yards and stopped by the creek to eat. A few minutes went by and I saw him driving towards me with a massive dog galloping down the road behind him. Did you find your dog fella?? He told me he did find his dog, but that wasn't it. His dog was in the dog box in the back of his truck, and this massive black great dane had come out of no where. He drove on and, yep, the great dane stayed right there with me. He was SO nice and playful, slinging slobber all over and sniffing me. We shared a slim jim and I headed on...and so did he. He followed me uphill for the next mile or so. I felt so helpless for him. I was worried I might be leading him further from his home. I topped the climb and hit a fast descent to get away from him. I looked back and he was running as fast as he could down that hill and it broke my heart. I thought about him the rest of the evening and night. There was nothing I could do but get away so he would stop following me.
I swung through the Towee Church for some delicious sulfur water from the pump. I had aqua tabs but didn't feel like using them. I just sucked it up. It was 3-5 miles of pavement to the Reliance Fly & Tackle. It was just a 1/4 mile or less off course. It was 5:00 pm and I had kind of talked myself into skipping this stop for time sake. I had enough food. But, maybe I have learned a thing or two from mistakes, because at the last minute, I decided to turn off route and go there, thinking that a little extra time now, for some real food, might save me a lot of time later. I had a real turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo, and mustard. I drank a pepsi and grabbed a red bull for later. I asked the lady about a lost pets page; she handed me a post-it note and pen to write down the info: "Black great dane, Fingerboard Road, 10/17/19 at 4:15 pm". Well, that's never going to work, but I sure hope it does. I walked through the gang of locals congregated outside, drinking cases of natural ice, answering their inquiries about my doings. I bid them farewell and hit the road.
This was mile 95 and there was a symbolic feature coming up. The suspension bridge by the powerhouse at the end of Powerhouse Road. Strategically, Kim has placed this part of the route, in the Dirty 130 and Vista 300, to have two totally different values. In the Vista 300, the bridge welcomes you as you come off a long descent, after over 310 miles of riding and 35,000 feet of climbing, to usher you down a long flat section of pavement to the finish line. On the other hand, in this route, it means you are about to start a 20 mile climb (with a few nice descents) which is, in my opinion, the most difficult climb on the route.
I loosely set a goal to get to the top of Kimsey Mountain by dark. I was now starting to feel the fatigue and neck pain and knew this was going to slow my pace significantly. I walked several of the very steep gravel pitches but kept forward momentum. The sun was going down quickly, especially under the canopy cover. I watched the horizon to the west turn to a bright orange glow then go dark. I was only a couple of miles from the summit. My belly began to growl. I finished the chunky jeep road section of McFarland Road and came to the intersection with Kimsey Mountain Highway. I turned my light off and sat down in the darkness in the middle of the road. I like the solitude but HATE when things make noises in the woods! Something moved and scared the shit out of me. I called Melissa to say hi and update her on my progress and snacked on my cold, soggy frisco melt that had paper wrapper stuck all in it. She asked why I was taking so long. Ha! I love her (spoken with my teeth gritted together).
I wrapped up my picnic, put on my warm clothes that I had shed hours ago, finished the couple of easy miles to the summit, and then started the 10 mile descent to where I had started from over 13 hours ago. It's great to finish with a descent like that but after being out there all day, on a rigid bike with skinny tires, and darkness to obscure my ability to differentiate between embedded rocks and leaves, I had to take it slower than normal. And my wrists still took a beating. I came up on the house with the Pyrenees and this time, he wasn't lazy. He bolted out, sprinting along side of me. I just laughed and watched him slow and turn around and mosey on back home. He's harmless.
I rolled up to the end of Greasy Creek Road at 8:53. By the time I could get my phone out, my watch had rolled to 8:54. I snapped the picture and then pedaled the remaining 10-15 yards to my car. I stopped behind my bike rack, started to lean to the right while unclipping my right foot. Didn't happen. It wouldn't budge. I fel over like a damn redwood tree, slamming into the ground. I rode 127.5 miles without a crash, and then slammed in to the ground at my car. A predictable ending. Come to find out, a loose cleat bolt was the culprit. My official time was 14:20. What a beast this route was and I'm so happy that I got the chance to go do it. Thank you again Kim!! Thank you Melissa for letting me do what I love. Thank you Rescue Racing and all of our sponsors.
Also, I'd like to acknowledge the true grit of the guys that tackled the route two days after me, in extremely different conditions. It rained on them from the halfway point on. It was cold, dark, muddy, and so foggy they could barely ride their bikes down the final descent. They stuck it out and got it done. Huge congrats to Chris Manis, Michael Rash and his friend Chad, Graham Skardon, and Jason Vance. You guys are bad ass! Bring on more adventures!
Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy it. I know I am enjoying these write ups a lot, as it lets me relive it all again, sequentially.
This is wedding week and I am so excited to see all the friends and family, eat, drink, and be married (and merry). The Georgia Gravel Grinduro is the weekend after. I'm going down with a good friend, Will Boulware, and we will have a grand ole time and I'll do another write up after that because I hear it's a GOOD one! Take care.
Awesome write up and great ride. Love all the pics
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