Six Gap Century, September 24, 2006

[Nanci]

Ok, everyone who's entered, raise their hands!!! What, BF, you haven't entered??? I already have my hotel reservation, and have also asked for vacation the 21st-26th. It would be so cool if we could take the OTHER bike up there, too...

Three Sisters Winery, here we come!!

[Pedal Wench]

Nanci, I just did Hogpen, Jacks and Unicoi this morning. The Hog says it's waiting for you...

[skibum]

BF & I are registered. I haven't hit "Hogpain" yet this year but regularly ride some combination of the others. I love to ride up there, it's so beautiful.

Nanci, have you hit Wolf Mountain Vineyards yet? I've been wanting to try it out because I've heard some good reviews. Just curious what your opinion is if you've managed to give it a try.

[Nanci]

I think I'm just doing Three Gap, unless we stay overnight and I don't have to drive home. I made the cut off last year, (to go on and do all six) but at the time it was my longest road ride ever, and my first mountain ride. (But now I've done 3 State 3 Mountain- but don't know how that compares in difficulty to Six Gap- do you guys know?) So Three Gap was the best ride ever (until 3 State) and I kind of just want to do that, instead of torturing myself...

We went to a couple other wineries, Habersham and Walasiyi, although maybe we just bought Walasiyi at Habersham.

Three Sisters has my all-time favorite- Dahlonega Gold. Mmmm. I still have one bottle left from last year. Some day they are going to run out and I will be very sad. We even won a bottle in a bet with some girls from New York we met at the winery the night before Six Gap last year. (We didn't even eat dinner the night before- just went to the winery and ate cheese and boiled peanuts and drank wine- it was excellent pre-ride preparation.) I can't remember what the bet was- but I think it was related to who orginally sang some song the guitar duo was singing while we were there. There was also an artist drawing cartoons of people. That was cool. I had Dillbird with me in a mesh purse- he got to meet lots of new people.

[Pedal Wench]

Whoo..... wait a second, here. We can visit vineyards during the ride? No one ever told me about that! That would certainly reduce the pain - especially on Hogpain (I LOVE that - can I borrow it?)

I'm signed up, and I signed up my BF, but he doesn't know that yet.
Aiming for all six, but of course, only if I make the cutoff on top of Jacks. I made it last year, so I'm thinking I shouldn't have a problem, especially since I know what I'm facing this year. (I did 6-Gap last year without ever pre-riding a single gap - ooops!)

[skibum]

(But now I've done 3 State 3 Mountain- but don't know how that compares in difficulty to Six Gap- do you guys know?)

I've never done 3 State 3 Mountain so I can't say from personal experience. Most people would say that Six Gap is harder. I think it has about 1000 ft or so more of climbing and some of the climbing is tougher. I would say that the big difference between the two would be Hogpen -- it's long (about 7 miles) and it's steep. It's a Cat 1 climb for the Tour de Georgia. But, if you tackle it with some nice low gearing and take your time, you'll be fine. Heck, they even have a rest stop half-way up so you can break it into manageable chunks. And, once you're done, you get rewarded with an awesome descent. If you like going fast downhill, you can easily hit 50 mph The adrenaline rush from accomplishing that climb and flying down the other side pretty much carries you through to the finish of the ride.

Hogpen is calling you, Nanci. You know you want to do it!!

[Nanci]

I'll never forget BF calling me from halfway up Brasstown Bald (he was tricked by his friend into thinking it was part of Six Gap, and going for a practice ride) saying his HR was 200 and his average speed was 2.5 mph, walking his bike for the last 45 minutes...

Six Gap was the first mountain _anything_ I'd ridden!

I love descending- I'm good at it.

Nanci

[ariliontiger]

I am signed up for this ride. Am I crazy? I live in the flat part of Ohio, I have 3 centuries under my belt this summer including one hilly one but no "gaps". I have a hilly metric and century the next two weekends. I'm coming down with a subset of my bike team, 3 guys, I'm the only woman. Hope I survive. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Pedal Wench]

I copied this from another forum. It's from a guy in Tallahassee, hence the reference to their local 'hills'.
It's very accurate. Things to add - the ascent of Hogpen has two downhill sections. Use them to drink alot of water/gatorade (the ascent is too steep for me to let go and drink...) and take every precaution on the descent of Hogpen as true. I've never been able to get up to 25 mph on that descent, but easily hit 38 mph on the descent of Jacks and Unicoi. If you can stay with your group, you'll appreciate it on the sections before the first climb, and the section from Wolfpen to Woody's, which is late in the ride and when you'll want/need all the help you can get.

Enjoy!

A DESCRIPTION OF THE RIDE

The course consists of an "approach" from Dahlonega followed by six climbs
with some rolling hills between the gaps. Each climb culminates at a "gap",
or mountain pass. The climb is named for the gap. There are refreshment
stops at each gap and an extra one about half way up Hogpen (gap 4). (There
may be more, but you won't need them.)

The approach is rolling, with some very sharp (but short) hills. It's
roughly comparable to a loop around the Havana Hills race course in Gadsden
county. You want to be very careful with your energy on these first few
miles. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and push hard enough to
effectively ruin the rest of the ride before you even get to the first
climb. Forget the group - ride your own pace and get warmed up. You
absolutely have to ride your own ride on the climbs anyway. Keep in mind: a
ride like 6-gap is more about energy management than anything else. You
have only so much, and you're going to need a lot of it on the latter part
of the ride.

Gap 1: Neels

This is a seven mile climb of moderate grade. Use it to get your legs and
CV system running well and to get the feel of what it's like to go up hill
for an hour. Watch your energy output rate (preferably with a heart rate
monitor) and keep it moderate. There will be plenty of opportunity to push
harder later in the ride, should you find the workout inadequate.

The descent from Neels is fast but straight enough to be relatively safe,
with good pavement. (For the 3-gap folks, the left turn to Wolfpen Gap is
easy to fly by if you are not looking for it.)

Gap 2: Jacks

After some fairly good Havana-hills-like rolling terrain, this climb goes
for about 3 miles at a moderate+ grade. This is where you get the
experience of making a long climb that is not the first long climb...

The descent from Jacks is long and moderate - let it fly. Beautiful scenery
and lots of free miles on this one. It takes you all the way to the start
of the climb to Unicoi Gap, no hilly stuff in between: just descend and
start the next climb.

Gap 3: Unicoi

Unicoi is about 3 miles of moderate++ climbing. The main problem with
Unicoi is that it is unshaded and can be very hot facing into the sun.

The descent from Unicoi is great. While the climb is relatively short, the
descent is over 10 miles all the way into Helen. The grade is steep enough
to be fun, but the pavement is good and the curves are well banked so again
this is not particularly dangerous. There may be a lot of traffic, the only
"down side". But the roadway is wide enough to accommodate autos and bikes
in most places. Stay aware of the traffic behind you.

At 1445 ft above sea level, Helen is the lowest elevation on 6-gap, thus
explaining why the descent is so long. (Dahlonega is 1880 ft.) And you WILL
pay a price...

Gap 4: Hogpen

This is the big one. Seven miles at a steep grade, averaging around 7% but
with some sections well above that. There are also a couple of false
summits. There's a rest stop at mile 4, with 3 to go. (The mile markers on
the highway actually correspond to miles on this climb.) Try to skip the
intermediate rest stop. If the weather is hot, though, you may need to just
get some fluid here.

The descent from Hogpen is dangerous. It is very steep. There are sharp
blind curves at the end of steep strait sections. The pavement is bad: old
chip-seal, broken in places, and loose gravel possible anywhere. The road
is narrow, and the camber of the turns is not adequate. The grade is such
that speeds in excess of 50 mph are possible just using gravity.

Someone said that if you don't brake, you won't flat: well, tell that to
all the people who have flatted on, say, our St Marks Trail. You can also
come up on wildlife, potholes, stopped leaf peepers, wet roadway, loose
gravel, pavement cracks, hickory nuts, crashed motorcycles, motorcycles
ascending in your lane, and any number of other hazards that require a very
rapid change of plans. Bad stuff CAN happen. I have personally seen
everything in my list above on the 6-gap course. It is unwise to descend at
a speed that allows for no margin of correction.

It is also unwise to brake too much, especially to ride the brakes. You
want to avoid heat buildup in your rims - eventually, this will cause a
blowout by melting your tube. (If you have plastic rim strips, failure will
occur at a much lower temperature. Change to cloth rim tape before 6-gap.)
And keep in mind: the heavier you are, the faster gravity will accelerate
you and the more heat you will put into your rims when you slow down.

There's no simple recipe here, just make sure you control your speed to
something that gives you some wiggle room in case of unexpected events.

Gap 5: Wolfpen

The second toughest climb on 6-gap. About 2.5 miles (depending on where you
define the beginning) with grades on par with Hogpen. The roadway is shady,
however, which is great if the weather is hot. (It's been known to sleet up
here, if the weather is wet.)

The Wolfpen descent is twisty but on good pavement with good camber to the
curves, so not too dangerous. It is often damp, though. Stay out of the paint.

Gap 6: Woody

The descent from Wolfpen takes you only down to Suches, home of the highest
elevation school in Georgia. Consequently the climb up Woody is a paltry
1.5 miles of moderate grade. From the top of Woody it's a 15+/- mile
descent of mild grade all the way back to Dahlonega. Try to have enough
energy left to enjoy it.

HOW TO SIMULATE A CLIMB IN FLORIDA

IMO: The only way to get a feel for climbing in Tallahassee is on a flat
road. We do not have seven mile hills. Hills around here are great for
building climbing strength and technique, but they can't give you a feeling
for the long sustained effort required for the climbs in the mountains.

Here is how to "feel" the climb to Neels Gap:

On a 20 mile stretch of relatively flat road, assume a climbing position on
your bike (hands on the top of the bar, loose grip, elbows out, chest open,
head up) and start a 20 mile time trial. Using your heart rate monitor,
maintain a steady heart rate at a sustainable level for the entire 20
miles. Let's say 85% of your maximum sustainable effort. OK, that's Neels.

Hog Pen: 30 miles at 90%

Wolf Pen: 15 miles at 90%

Etc.

The entire 6-gap effort can be simulated by riding about 130 miles in
Florida, making long sustained efforts of appropriate length. (Except, this
simulation is harder on your butt than 6-gap, and it's a lot less fun.
Plus, there's essentially no way to simulate the descents.)

ADVICE

It's all about energy management.

Stop at the top just long enough to get supplies. Rest on the bike going
downhill.

Be prepared for weather. I guarantee there will be some.

You can't have too low gears. Take all you have.

DISCLAIMER

Descending is never safe. Any time you are going 30+ mph in traffic there
is danger to be assessed and managed.

[ariliontiger]

Does an online route map for this ride exist? thanks

[Pedal Wench]

http://www.atlbike.org/modules.php?o...download&sid=4 has two different views.

For some reason, the official site doesn't seem to have the map up at the moment: www.dahlonega.org

[Nanci]

Here's my little trip report:

Many Gainesville riders chickened out after the weather report. My friend Barb came up, but went home Saturday. Others just didn't come up. I planned for warm rain and cold descents and hot climbs. I wore a sleeveless tank, bolero, sandals, socks, Pearl Izumi Calientoes- semi-waterproof toe covers worn over my socks but under my sandals. I carried my Showers Pass rain jacket, and extra dry gloves. I _should have_ carried a big ziplock for my bolero to keep it dry when I wasn't wearing it.

I think it was 70F at the start. It started raining almost immediately, but slow and steady, not pouring. The ride starts out with rolling hills, about 15 miles worth, trending upward, then an eight mile real climb. I made this climb at an average speed of 5.5 mph. The top of the first gap (Neels) is at 25 miles- most of that climbing- so I wasn't cold- though wet. As soon as I stopped, it began to pour. I grabbed my jacket and helmet cover and ran under an overhang. I ran into Pedal Wench from TE there! The really hard rain only lasted a few minutes. I did the descent with my jacket on- it's cold anyway even if not raining because of the speed, but I really didn't get going too fast because I was afraid of the wet roads. I had my usual Michelin race tires and never had a traction problem, even on paint. I also had the new cassette which I think allowed me to climb about 1 mph faster, plus spin faster even in my easiest gear. I averaged about 22 on the descents. I got up to 38 at one point, but my bike, I thought, made a weird noise, so I never went that fast again, and never heard the noise again. I usually descend with my hands on the hoods, on the brakes. I felt like I couldn't brake enough. I had the revelation that if you are in the drops, the braking power increases quite a bit- enough to feel in control again, although I didn't feel like I had nearly as much control over the bike, since I never ride in the drops. Before I figured that out, at one point on the first descent, I had to stop to let my forearms rest from braking. I ended up riding with my hand on the left drop for the front brake, to get the most braking power, and my right hand on the hood, and the rear brake, so enough to keep from skidding, but not much stopping power, but enough steering control to be somewhat comfortable at 22 mph. It's kind of scary when you see speed limit signs for cars that say 15 or 20, and I'm having a hard time holding the bike down to that...At one point on this descent, the wind was very, very strong- I could see it blowing the trees sideways! I comforted myself with the fact that I was already more than halfway done.

I would have made the time cut off to do Six Gaps, but continued on with three as planned. I had thought, Saturday, that the storms would come through about noon or one, and I wouldn't have to deal with rain. I was wrong, and it rained from the start till the second descent. I took my rain jacket off for the second climb, Wolf Pen, which is the second hardest climb of the six. It starts immediately after the descent from Neels Gap. It is only a couple miles, but as steep as Hogpen, with numerous switchbacks, even the hairpin turns! It's gorgeous and shady, though. My average speed on this climb was about 3.8 mph. It was raining, again, but I thought, well, I'm not cold, I'm not hot, my feet are a little cold but not bad, I am not hungry, not thirsty, my legs don't hurt, I can ride the climbs without stopping to rest!! What more could I ask for? Who cares about the rain??? On the second descent, it was so foggy I could only see about 100 feet ahead. Cars were VERY courteous. At the top, I stopped to get some pretzels. The first hundred milers hadn't come through yet. I put my jacket back on for the descent. I still wasn't cold, and my feet were wet, but not cold. On this descent, the leaders of the hundred mile ride began to pass me. I can't believe how they can _pedal_ descending like that!! Just about every single one had encouraging words for me.

After the second descent, there are about 15 miles left, trending down. I stopped to remove my jacket for the last time, and take off my toe covers and socks. My feet were like prunes- they liked being out in the sun instead of cold wet shoes. I was happy I chose sandals. The climb to Jacks Gap is not bad. Then there are about 10 miles of mostly descent back into Dahlonega. My riding time was five hours, and my total time was about six hours. My average speed was 10.5 mph. I think last year I did 9 mph. BF did the hundred in eight hours total. Since we were parked right at the finish line, I had a nice nap in my chair with Dillbird while waiting for him to finish. (They have showers and spaghetti dinner at the high school, too.) Oh, the weather cleared up about noon and didn't rain again until we were leaving at 4:30 PM. There were still riders out...

Friday evening we went to a winery, then out to dinner with BF's chiropractor who moved up there, in Helen, which is in the middle of Oktoberfest.

Saturday, we went to the expo, and two wineries. (Brought home ten bottles of wine!) Ran into a few of the hardier Gainesville people at the expo.

It was tough driving home at 5PM Sunday. I'm glad I had today off.

Here's a pic of me and Pedal Wench!

[stacie]

I've trained like mad for this event. I just wanted to improve on my time from last year. It's the hardest ride I've ever completed. In fact it's the hardest event I've ever completed. Having a new bike would be exciting enough to shave a few minutes. Well, I"m back and that new bike still isn't here. I nearly froze to death. I was folding my rain jacket when my dh and friend convinced me it would be a burden to bring along. I shouldn't need it. At the start, I saw the weather report calling for thunder storms and hail. Three hours off and many riders were opting for the 3 gap ride. I wasn't convinced yet, but rain started as soon as we pulled onto the road. It was almost 2 hours before I reached the top of Neels Gap. It seemed so hard. I was very discouraged as last year I didn't even stop at the first stop. I was shivering and miserable. Felt a little better just getting back on the bike and working. The rains were steady. I was soaked to the bone. The thought of being this cold for several more hours and the idea that the weather would worsen was eating away at me. When I got to the 3 Gap turn off I was a little surprised not to see any of my friends. I decided to press on. Shortly, I heard thunder. I decided to turn back and complete 3 Gap. I immediatly felt relieved and happy with my decision. The next Gap was beautiful and the descent was fun if a little scary in the fog. The weather began to clear and I felt my heart break. If I'd just held on a little while. I honestly don't know if I could have tolerated the cold any longer. I was desperately looking for any way to get some warmth. My friends all completed the 6 and we celebrated at the Lodge where we were staying. My husband managed to improve on his time from last year. That's just amazing in the conditions. I"m feeling a bit down. I've never not finished an event. I was sure I would get a DNF when the bad weather moved in. I gambled and took 3 Gap and regret it sorely. I was prepared for this event and I knew I needed my rain jacket. I should have trusted myself. Lesson learned. Once at the end of the ride, I had no way to get my clothes or a ride. I wasn't expecting to finish for hours. Soaked and freezing I ate my spaghetti lunch. I stepped outside to try to warm up when I saw I guy I had briefly ridden with in a ride in Florida a few weeks ago. He and his traveling companion gave me a ride even though I repeatedly got lost trying to find my cabin. Cyclists are such nice people.
The location for this ride is amazing. Great riding and a cute little town center. My son and one of our friends hiked on the AT while we rode. We stayed in cabins which had nature trails all around. My son was able to wander around in the woods which was a real treat for a city boy. I didn't regret taking my son out of school once we took him on the tour of the old gold mine. The tour guide was amazingly informative and we got quite a history lesson. My son thinks he found enough gold to pay for our trip!

[skibum]

Adding my ride report too...

The sky looked pretty ominous at the start but I was trying to be optimistic. It had been overcast in the morning the day before and turned out to be a beautiful day. No such luck... as others had mentioned, it started raining about 10 minutes into the ride. At first the rain was light so I was thinking no big deal, I can do this. Then it started coming down heavier. I started thinking I would hang a left instead of a right as we approached Neel's to head back to the start when the rain eased up. So, I headed up Neel's, debating in my mind whether to do Six Gap as planned or bail and do Three Gap. At that point, the skies just opened up. My decision was made... I played my "weather weenie" card and opted for Three Gap.

Right around that time, my BF (who had gotten a late start) pulled up next to me. Woohoo! He was holding the car keys. I could get them from him and not stand around wet at the end waiting for him to finish all six. He told me he was playing the "I'm a local, I can do this sometime when the weather's nice" card (sounds so much better than weather weenie, doesn't it??). He opted for Three Gap too.

I always skip the rest stop at the top of Neel's... too crowded and early enough in the ride that I don't need a break. In this rain, I just wanted to get finished so I continued on. The descent wasn't bad... not too many people around me so I felt okay letting myself get a little speed and not having to try to brake too much in the rain. I did slow up well before the left turn onto Wolfpen. That's a tough turn even when it's dry.

Wolfpen wasn't bad. Either the rain had eased up a little or all the trees were shielding me. I stopped briefly at the top but really wanted to just keep moving so I didn't get cold. A bit chilly on the decent but warmed up pretty quickly on the rollers through Suches valley. The rain was coming down so hard through there that it felt like pin pricks all over my face and was really hurting my eyes. I had taken off my sunglasses since the lenses were too dark but put them back on to protect my eyes. They immediately fogged up so I had to take them back off. I think I rode a couple of miles with one hand on the handlebar and one hand shielding my eyes. Thankfully, the hard, hard rain didn't last too long.

Finally made it to Woody's. This climb is just a bump in the road compared to the other two (only about 2 miles) and it seemed to be over fairly quickly. I knew that the remaining 10-15 miles was mostly downhill so I decided to just keep moving rather than hitting the rest stop at the top. I love the Woody's descent and the rain was pretty light by that time so I felt okay taking it pretty fast. Then, just hammered through the homestretch to the finish.

I was so surprised to see my time when I crossed the finish line. I was pretty miserable during the ride and pushed hard because I just wanted to get it over with. Even though I was slower and more cautious than usual on the descents, I had my fastest Three Gap time ever... just under 3.5 hours.

I saw Pedal Wench after the ride. She mentioned that she ran into you Nanci. Sorry I missed you. I think I saw your BF at some point during the ride. Someone pointed out his jersey and said that we should all wear something like that while riding the gaps -- maybe that would keep motorists from treating us like sissies in lycra

[Pedal Wench]

We bailed. And, are still kicking ourselves for doing it. We ended up with a nice 50-mile ride, just not the one we planned!

I'll start by blaming the whole thing on the Weather Channel. All night Saturday and still on Sunday morning, they were predicting the weather getting worse and worse on Sunday. 8:00 showers, 11:00 strong thunderstorms, 3:00 Strong storms with damaging high winds, 5:00 severe weather alert.

When we got to the top of Neels, the sky just opened up and we thought that it was just going to get worse. Ken, my BF had gotten ahead of me on the climb up Neels, and I couldn't find him right away at the top. By the time I did, I figured I should use the potty too. (I know - NEVER stop at the first rest stop, but I had to find the guy, right?)
We tried to wait it out for a bit, huddled under a little overhang in the parking lot, getting wetter, colder and colder the longer we waited. I could feel Ken shivering next to me. That's when a face that looked vaguely familiar huddled up next to us. Yup - I recognized Nanci from her avatar picture - how bizarre is that? Since we thought it was just going to keep getting worse than this, and this was pretty miserable, we knew that we weren't going to do all six. It just didn't seem like a smart decision at that point. We were both really dreading descending in the rain, being as cold as we were. I was having real problems seeing too - glasses kept fogging up, so I would take them off, but still couldn't see because of the rain hitting my eyes. Arghhh. At one point, I was wearing them, fully aware that I couldn't see, and I realized just how stupid and dangerous this was turning out to be.

Ken asked if it would be quicker to just turn around and go back the way we came. I knew it was 25 miles back either way, but we would only have one descent if we turned around, and three if we proceeded to 3-Gap. In a classic case of a couple trying to figure out what the other really wants to do, we ended up turning around. (I thought Ken was leaning that way, he thought I was, and both of us really wanted to do all three, but was trying to do what the other wanted...)

The descent down Neels was awful, because we were both so chilled (waited WAY too long on top of Neels figuring out weather, looking at maps, discussing what was safe and smart) and at one point we both had to slow down because we couldn't control the bikes because we were shivering so much. However, the temperature was warming up as we were descending, which helped. More than a few other folks had done the same thing as we did. Towards the bottom, the rain started to let up. And, we instantly regretted not continuing on. We STILL regret not continuing on.

Two things kept coming into our heads. Although we tend to always to do more difficult things - take the longer trail,hike the harder route, add more miles to our rides, etc., our choices are still always safe, and smart. Sitting in a downpour with a forecast of it just getting worse, we made what we thought at the time was the smartest and safest choice. Do we regret that? Heck yeah! The other thought was something we had talked about the night before while looking at the forecast. Ken had said that if I got hurt because we pushed on against our common sense, he would never forgive himself, and I felt the same way. I think if we were riding alone, things might have been different. Actually, I know it would have been. We were both worried too much about each other. Ain't love grand?

I had really trained for this, desperate to beat my awful time from last year (massive bonk and about 30 minutes of waiting for water at two of the rest stops...), and I'm so bummed that we didn't even do three, let alone six. No one is proud of doing the 1-Gap 50! But, a bunch of us are planning on a re-do, make-good, do-over redemption ride on October 8th, starting at the rock pile and doing all six gaps. Anyone is more than welcome to join us. Rain date is tentatively the 14th.

Skibum - I'm still beating myself up for wussing out. I'm going to take your boyfriend's comment to heart. I can do this ride any time - and I will!

This was the funniest thing I've heard on a ride. Picture 2,000 cyclists lined up for a mass start on a slight downhill. We're lined up way back in the pack. Over the loudspeaker, we hear them start us, knowing it's going to be a good 10 minutes until we even think about moving. A friend of mine shouts out, "On yer left!!!!!!!" Cracked up the whole crowd.