Kevin Bilbrey

0230 Wake Up. Nah, my body said let’s get up at 0150. Ha ha. So, that’s what we did.
Put my sails in the wind and headed towards The Store. Got to The Store, the start of Dirty 130 around 415 a.m.
Caleb Young and I had planned to start at 5 a.m. so I could get back home by the time my wife got off work. Spoiler alert, neither one of those plans came to fruition. Ha ha. Sorry Caleb and wife.
Anyhow, Caleb called and said he was running a little bit late. I was sitting on G waiting on O, like a dog waiting to be let off its leash. And I knew Caleb was quick enough to catch me so, I figured it would all work out and maybe I could give myself a little more cushion to get home on time…nah.
0449 Wheels rolling on my Salsa Timberjack SS
Annnnd of course, I realized pretty quickly that I went the wrong way to start, even after talking to Caleb about it. Spun the ship around, and headed down highway Kimsey Mountain Highway. Duh.
Kimsey Mountain Highway threw me a little curveball. I didn’t realize it was slightly downhill for a few miles. I thought I would be climbing right off the bat. I didn’t bring any lights. I was hoping the moon would be bright enough for slow climbing. Nah again. But of course, I didn’t check the moon phase. Didn’t check the weather either. Ha ha. I used my phone flashlight for the first hour until about 0545 when gray light starts. That was interesting… By that time, I was getting close to the top of Kimsey Mountain, I reckon? Ha. It was perfect. I felt great. Beautiful sunrise just in time to send it down the back side. The back side was nice and chonky. I was definitely thankful to have a suspension fork! Got to let’r rip pretty much on down to Webb Brothers General Store around mile 30ish.
I bypassed the store. Was still good on water and nutrition.
Crossed the creek into the jungle. Fun times. A lot easier than when I did this on the Vista route at 2 a.m. previously this year though! Ha ha. A story for a different time and place.
Spinning my little legs off, headed towards Starr Mountain I believe, is when I passed Polk County Fire Station 4. I’m only noting this because this is where the dog gauntlet starts. I usually don’t pay dogs much attention, but the dogs living in this area are in their prime and are ready. Right after you pass the fire station, there are 2 pretty serious hounds. Thankfully I had the jump on them, but they ain’t playing around. Next, maybe a mile or 2 before you turn off to Starr Mountain, there is a huge pack of medium-large dogs, I’m talking at least 10. About half of them were waiting in the road for me. I tried my kamikaze approach, which I don’t recommend (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. ha ha) and steered directly at each one. This worked for the most part. There were dogs tripping all over each other as they chased and tried to bite me. This even started a fight between a few. But, on my single speed going slightly up hill, I just couldn’t out run them. Soon they had me circled. So, I got off my bike and swung it around in a circle in the middle of the road. Yelled some expletives, and they finally eased up. All of that had to at least burn 1 match. Ha ha.
Starr Mountain. It wasn’t as bad as I imagined. It was exposed for a little while, but luckily it was still kinda early. It is loose, and has a fair amount of fairly steep kickers though. The gravel is like marble size, with sand mixed in. Different terrain than I’m used to for sure. Tough climbing on a single speed. I just kept saying to myself, “just enough to get up the hill. If I spin out, it’s all good. I bet there’s an awesome downhill on the other side.” Nah. Not really. It’s beautiful of course, but not a bomber like I had hoped.
Coker Creek. Finally made it to Coker Creek General Store. I didn’t even go in. (Dumb) Just refilled my water at the water hose and kept trucking. My average speed was still looking really good, so I was feeling really good about myself. Ha ha. I still had plenty of nutrition (carb mix in flask) and had refilled water a few times. I think I had drank at least a gallon by this point.
Buck Bald. Was feeling really good here. It’s a really good climb. Not loose or chunky that I remember. Just some good dirt to grind up, and the decent is a bomber. So much fun. Like riding a bucking bronco. Ha ha.
Powerhouse Climb. I love going across this bridge. I don’t know what it is about it, but it just makes any route with it involved so much cooler. After the bridge. I really don’t remember much. I bonked hard. It got pretty hot. My stomach was in knots again. (I know, I know. One day I’ll figure it out. Maybe.) I just told myself to just keep drinking water and it will work itself out. “It” kind of eventually did, but I was in zombie mode for the rest of the ride. I finally had to get off my bike and walk up one of these steep kickers coming up the backside of Kimsey. I can’t remember which one, but I just told myself to keep moving. It felt like I was in the Bermuda Triangle. It felt like this climb would never end. I just kept using my body weight to turn the pedals over, like a very very slow walk on my pedals. I had to look pitiful. Lol. I finally make it over the top and get some momentum. Praise the Lord. The back side to the finish isn’t quite a bomber, but was able to keep it mostly between 20-25mph so that was relieving. I’m honestly very grateful that it wasn’t a steep downhill. I was wrecked. Everything from my feet up to my head was hurting. I felt like a bag of bones trying to finish this thing. Ha ha. Finally, back to The Store, I went HAM on some groceries. I instantly felt better. Caleb came rolling in shortly after. We gave each other bro hugs and called it a day.

Bike: 2018 Salsa Timberjack 32x20, 29x2.2 Racekings Front and Rear
Nutrition: Formula 369 highly concentrated in flask. 24 scoops all together (Dumb). I was maybe able to consume 12 (scoops). Not sure. (wouldn’t suggest this method. Ha. I was trying to be light, and the least amount of stops as possible)
1 honey stinger waffle, 1 cliff bar
Around 400 0z of water
Lesson learned (maybe?):
Trying to save weight by carrying all my carbs in super-concentrated flasks wasn't worth it. My stomach revolted, I bonked, and I spent the last part of the ride in survival mode. Live and learn. (I’ll prob do the same exact thing next ride?)