Buck Dellinger (3)

Not sure that this ride report can help anyone. If my ride buddy and I were going to complete the trifecta this year, we had to do the DMR on September 28th. It just so happened that the morning of September 28th was within 24 hours of East Tennessee and West North Carolina being devastated by Hurricane Helene with remnants of rain and wind still in the area. So the weather was really bad and the route was soaked, slick and in places (Big Frog 2nd half) unrideable with mud.

I rode a Specialized Epic Evo MTB on 2.3 tires. Thank Goodness for the wider tires and full suspension. Ran 26 lbs of pressure in the tubeless tires. Carried two bottles and a two liter camelback (probably too much for the conditions). Extra batteries and a rain coat and an extra pair of wool socks. For food, I had 900 calories of tailwind and GU roctane. 1200 calories of Oreo rice cakes; and 1500 calories of SIS gels and Huma Chocolate Caffeine gels.

Before we departed, we knew there were a lot of unknowns with the route (Big Frog may or may not be closed) and the weather forecast was all over the place, so we had a conservative approach from the start. We departed from the campground/powerstation at 6:30, made the climb up at a careful pace in a steady rain using lights. Headed down to the first campground at Tumblecreek and the water was flowing 10 to 12 inches over the route, we hiked the bikes 25-30 feet through the stream, and started the chippy climb out of the bottom. The slanted rocks coming out of the bottom were slick as crap, and we knew we were in for a long day. About half way up the 4th climb, the rain kept coming and the fog set in as we started to gain elevation. Visibility due to fog, was down to 30-50 feet, which kept the descents slower than normal. The wind was still gusting 20-30 knots which only kept us soaked with the rain and the water coming off the leaves. I expected more trees to be down due to the winds, but probably only had to maneuver over/ under or around about 25 trees and they were all before Jack’s River campground. Made it to Jack’s River already about 45 minutes behind my projected worst time, and hypothermia was becoming a problem on any descents as I was completely soaked. I was trying to wait on putting on the rain coat until the long descent to the Ranger Station because once you put it on, it will be soaked for the rest of the ride. We made it to Potato Patch and did the descent to Mulberry Gap and started to feel a little better as we probably gained 10-12 degrees in temperature as we came off the mountain tops and into the valley. Ate a sandwich at Mulberry Gap in the Barn, but as we left, the rain started steady again. Probably stayed too long in the Barn trying to get warm…, human nature. Climbed back up to Potato Patch completely water soaked, but warming up due to the effort. Did the two climbs before the long downhill to the Ranger Station. I put on the rain coat and enjoyed the best part of the day down to the Ranger station… and the fog was even gone, so the visibility and the warmth and gravity were finally on our side. Grabbed some water at the Ranger Station and pushed on with speed to Big Frog. Big Frog road was open and Big Frog 1 (first climb) was awesome, best roads we had been on all day. The descent to Big Frog 2 was even good, BUT Big Frog 2 was a bleeping quagmire. The road/ bog was under repair, so it was churned up in some places and the hurricane amount of rain had turned the two mile climb into an extreme test, with some sections completely unrideable. If it was dry, it would have been normal Big Frog hard, but the mud made it really tough. Even the descent off of Big Frog was under repair, rideable, but slow and holding water and mud. The last two climbs were generally uneventful, just required a lot of patience to pedal up and over. The final descent seemed to take forever and it was really great to get back to the campground/ powerstation. All in all, the rain, fog, downed trees and mud added a lot of character building opportunities to the ride.

The DMR is a hard, and it’s even harder when you’re stupid.