Rockstar Trail 270 - Day 1
PC: Chris Blankenship Holy shit! That was intense! I've finally rested my mind and body enough to attempt this write up. The Rockstar Challenge is an annual event put on by the Virginia Endurance Series (VES). There are three route options: pavé, 165 miles with 10k feet of vert, gravel, 250 miles with 25k feet of vert, and trail, 270 miles with 40k feet of vert. All routes are a point-to-point from Harrisonburg (Rock Town) to Roanoke (Star City). The 2022 grand depart was held 6 days ago on April 23. Several months back, I had dangled this race in front of the Bad Idea Club and, to my surprise, I actually got a bite. Justin Mace decided to just go ahead and sign up for the race and then tell me the ball was in my court. Well, I happily obliged, opted for the team category, and preparations began. As April arrived, and several bike trips/races had come and gone, Justin realized his life schedule was just too busy and he didn't have the time for the full event but ...