Adventures and Such

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 ...

After the inaugural event was initially halted by the nuisance that is the pandemic, the long-awaited  Appalachian Journey has finally come, and unfortunately gone. This gravel duo event created by accomplished endurance racer and single-speed jedi, Gordon "Quadsworth" Wadsworth and was comprised of 35-, 65-, and 110-mile options. Read more at  TheAppalachianJourney.com . After winning an entry to the event at the Mulberry Gap Turkey Shuffle raffle back in November, Justin Mace and I decided to team up and make the journey up to the rolling hills of rural Floyd County in the (debatably) great state of Virginia. In addition to our attendance, there were several friends from Chattanooga heading up as well: Chris Joice, Tyler Martin, Spencer and Ali Whittier, Thomas Turner, Monica Desjardins, Melanie Blake, Ed Kulbis, Carey Lowery, and John Switow! Hope the only person I missed is my lovely wife who unfortunately couldn't join us for the weekend because she was working.  Fri...