Wisp Bike 125M

2013 sunny and warm , 2014 rain and cold , 2016 cloudy and perfect
How cool is the race!!

13537788_1090104871036495_2086575716445784719_n

set

Results are at the end  This year I came across a wolf  that almost took out my riding partner. I know you will not believe that but it is true.  Not my photo

redwolf

I also came across a eastern timber rattler and saved its life by stopping traffic with my bike and helping it to cross the highway – it was a little annoyed as it rattled at me a few time .  My photo

IMG_6756

Also I was almost hit by a flying turkey As written by an IRONMAN finisher  “I can’t tell you how many times during the ride I asked myself why I was doing this ride and why I didn’t just quit. There was no finishing medal, this wasn’t even a race. In the end, just like with the Ironman, it’s about pushing yourself to your limit and then exceeding it. When you do that, there aren’t many other things in life I have found that give you that sense of gratitude.  I don’t know if I will ever do the Diabolical Double again, but I am definitely glad I did it once and can proudly say I did the entire thing”.  The friends doing this over the past 3 years included: Brandy, Charlie, Rob, below

IMG_6737

Mark and kathy below

IMG_6747

Ted, Rob, Mike, John, Tim and Jim all warriors below

IMG_2222

The feature event of the Garrett County Gran Fondo, the Diabolical Double is a true, extreme epic on par with European climbing classics such as Etape du Tour, la Marmotte, and the classic Italian Gran Fondos. It si rated a top ten biking event in North America.

The Garrett County Gran Fondo includes seven timed KOM hill climbs encompassing a total of 16.2 miles and 5700 feet of elevation gain.

Here are the different courses offered below

  • The “Diabolical Double” – the feature event of the Garrett County Gran Fondo, the Diabolical Double is a true, extreme epic on par with European climbing classics such as Etape du Tour, la Marmotte, and the classic Italian Gran Fondos. At 200K (124.6 miles) and over 16,800 feet of climbing, the Diabolical Double is an extreme challenge for even the most fit rider. Virtually all who have completed the Diabolical Double have considered it the hardest single day ride they have ever experienced.
  • The “Savage Century” – the Savage Century is an extremely challenging century ride, and with 100.4 miles and over 12,700 feet of climbing likely the hardest 100 mile ride in North America.
  • The “Masochistic Metric” – the Masochistic Metric is one-half the distance with one-half the climbing of the Diabolical Double at 63 miles and over 8400 feet of climbing. An extraordinary challenging ride itself, if you want to experience a true climbing epic, but 100 miles or 200K of it seems a bit excessive, then the Masochistic Metric is the ride for you.
  • The “Fabulous 44” – The Fabulous 44 is an excellent option for anyone looking for a longer, more challenging ride than the “Garrett’s Greatest 25” and wants a taste of the extremity of the three longer rides, but does not want to undertake the extreme challenge of the 100K, 100 miles, or 200K distances. The Fabulous 44 includes 43.8 miles and over 5800 feet of climbing.
  • The “Garrett’s Greatest 25” – A beautiful 25 mile ride along Deep Creek Lake and through the rolling Garrett County farmland, the Garrett’s Greatest 25 includes no major hills and none of the seven Timed KOM Climbs.

We started from the Wisp resort an amazing place.  Wisp’s 172 acres of ski terrain provides snowsport enthusiasts of all levels a stellar winter playground. There are three other seasons that offer just as much adventure! I would recommend it

AIMG_4572-wisp-resort-10-2011-LOGO-MARKUP-2A-cropped

An almost endless list of recreational activities provides families, adventure seekers and nature lovers a respite to disconnect from every day life and reconnect with mind, body, spirit and soul.  

From 3 different Canopy Tours to Segway Tours; Downhill Mountain Biking to the Mountain Coaster; Disc Golf to 36 Holes of Golf, Whitewater Rafting to Flatwater Kayaking; and the list goes on. We welcome you to come discover what a real mountain destination Wisp Resort truly is.

We arrived on Friday night at the Wisp resort and missed the blue grass music and fun party and food provided by the event. We signed in grabbed a nice meal of salmon, and garden potatoes and vegetables before heading to sleep for the what we thought would be a fun adventure. We arose at 5 Am and unable to sleep (because of the excitement) to prep and were at the starting gate at 6:30 for a briefing. Wow at that time I knew this was serious. Everyone that signed up for the Diabolic double was very serious riders and they spoke about equipment, gearing, nourishment, heart monitors, speed potential and stuff I was unfamiliar with –they were the real deal. Ok we were off at 7Am sharp (finished at 6:50 – 12 hours later = 2013) and I wanted to quite at mile ten. Yes I am not ashamed to say I wanted to quit out of the box – wow this was going to painful, ugly and miserable and that is all I can say So to get pumped I had to take my “Pills”

IMG_0316

Ok so after breakfast of pills we went to the start to the D.D.

The feature event of the Garrett County Gran Fondo, the Diabolical Double is a true, extreme epic on par with European climbing classics such as Etape du Tour, la Marmotte, and the classic Italian Gran Fondos. At 125 miles and with16,500 feet of climbing, the Diabolical Double is an all-day affair that is an extreme challenge for even the fit rider. Rapha Continental calls this one of the Top 25 Epic Rides in North America, and called by the Rapha riders “one of the most demanding and stunning rides of the summer”, the Diabolic Double is destined to become a true North American cycling classic.

The Warnings in the Sign-up sheet

* Many riders find this race significantly more difficult than anticipated, therefore we recommend and encourage riders to back down and do the shorter loops.

* One should plan on a 50% longer time to finish as compared to a rolling course, it took me 100% longer

* Make certain you have appropriate gearing for the severe and extreme hills and good brakes for the extreme descents

* Beware of the Steep and Narrow and twisty descents in hard turns with loose gravel

* Beware of the hard-packed dirt and gravel road

* Beware of the off camber switchbacks on the descents into traffic

* Beware of the metal gate bridge,  it is dangerous especially in rain

* Watch your brakes for over- heating

* There were 6 King Of the Mountain sprints “KOM”

Here are some of the KOM climbs:

5 miles @ 5% grade

3.1 miles @ 7% grade

1.5 miles @ 10% grade,

They were all difficult and the ride was not fun but was a challenge. The reason it was a challenge is that you were either squeezing your brakes to the fullest and trying not to get killed on the descents and then with out any rollout you went directly into a climb. Every climb was incredible long, steep and difficult. You could not get any mojo for the uphills because at the bottom of the downhills there was a turn with gravel that went into the next uphill immediately. Some phtos below – there are not many because I was fried. between the hills, incredible dangerous downhills, no rollouts and sun baking us I was to tired for the nice scenery. But here are a few and some I goy from the web

13502141_1090104767703172_4736298273804874399_n

13528170_1090104684369847_7035599371960036481_o

We rode past meandering streams below

13458627_1084821704898145_1725853187903154374_o

IMG_3820

 

There was this guy on this 3 wheel uni cycle above wow

485597_530722833641371_1981298872_n

Rob and I did the race 4 years ago and he is a bad ass and looks as cold as ice but is bringing the heat below

The only fun part was the last 15 miles but you were so exhausted that was difficult. Robby above an incredible person and frined!!

As written by an Iron man : I completed my first ever Gran Fondo ride this weekend, the Diabolical Double.  I knew going in that this was not going to be an easy ride.  Dave, who trained with me last year for Ironman Louisville, had done the ride before and convinced me to sign up with him this year.  He told me on multiple occasions what a b!tch the hills are on this ride are. Still, until you actually see some of these monsters for yourself, words just don’t do them justice.

By 7 a.m., we crazies were lined up to begin the long day’s ride. After the National Anthem, we were off.. My plan for this ride was to take it one aid station at a time. I wasn’t going to dwell on the 125 miles rather I would focus on the next 18 miles. This seemed to be a pretty good mental strategy though it didn’t help knowing about the killer hills yet to come!

It wasn’t long where we hit our first really big/long hill. Some people choose to walk up it, but mostly I kept on riding.  For those of us doing the 125-mile ride, we had our first major challenge ahead of us. The next stretch included “Bowman” and “Killer Miller.” Either of these hills would be a challenge on their own but having them in the same segment made this one of the toughest portions of the course. The only upside was at this point, I was still feeling ok. Had this segment been at the end of the course, I am not sure I would have made it.  I spent most of the downhill segments riding my brakes and trying to avoid any major bumps. Of course, one of the things you learn on these rides is what goes down inevitably goes back up so (I hate downhills).  

13528363_1090104674369848_2550535006665890051_o

Sun was baking down below

Sun baking down on us,  Once back on the road, it didn’t take us very long to reach the first monster hill, Bowman. This thing seemed like it went on forever. Besides the fact that going up these big hills is just plain tiring, they also take forever to get up. Distances that normally take 20 minutes now take an hour, and your mind starts using the extra time to mess with you. You start asking yourself “Why are we doing this?” It’s as much a mental game as it is a physical one when you do these things.  Once you finally make it to the top, you start to remember why you’re out here at least until you get to the next hill. Then came “Killer Miller”

Wow Steel bands at the first rest stop and good grub but wow the smoking hills killed us. 

The hardest part of the slow trip up the hill is controlling the little voices in your head asking “Why, oh why are we doing this????” As we approached the top of Miller, we found a timing mat and a group of volunteers screaming “You did it, you’ve made it to the top!” which was music to my ears. Of course, I was still trying to tune out that little voice now saying “Great, but we aren’t even half way yet.” It killed me!!

One of the portions of the course did incorporate was about a mile and a half on a gravel road. The first year I did that route the others I did a longer detour on pavement to avoid a potential for a flat. Because I tend to lean forward with my weight on the front of my bike when going uphill, my back tire started spinning out more and more, so I opted to walk the rest the way up the hill.

stone dirt road but there is a detour!!

The garvel stone dirt road above with Robby Burch in yellow.  This year we went around it for more hills and a longer ride-wow are we crazy!!!

Once at the fourth aid station, we headed out of town, crossed the border into West Virginia, and immediately start pedaling up. It is long and continuous. Something like seven miles of just going uphill not to mention much of it is in the direct sun.  After that, we had some ups and downs to about the 4-mile mark from the next aid station where we found another incredibly steep and long hill. These hills really pushed me to my limits.

13522823_1090104821036500_2216699332110892228_o

13510816_1090104651036517_1731455838968874449_n

 

cool rides above but very few at all as we mostly went up or down huge hills. Exhausted below

10256280_699932983387021_7373070839514823232_o

( Robby Burch  and I got lost one time) This year I made a wrong turn again for 2 miles in total!!  For 2016 the last 15 miles was fairly flat and easy rolling hills and ended at the College.  It was a relief and took me 10 hours and 30 minutes.

In 2014 The hotel we were staying at was even at the bottom of the hill, so there was the added temptation of just stopping and calling it a day.

We made it past the Team Z cheering section, and my knee was really hurting. I looked down at my Garmin which was telling me I had already ridden over 125 miles thanks to that extra hill I rode up when I got lost, so I decided I was entitled to walk. I told Dave I would see him at the top and got off the bike and started to walk. It was really only a short distance before I arrived at a stop sign and a bit of a flat area in the hill. I didn’t really want to walk over the finish line, so I decided I would ride the rest of the way in. Dave actually waited for me before crossing and we rode over that final timing mat together, which was a really cool thing for him to do.

Ted’s time above and Ted below for photos

DSCN2381

Ted finished in 9 hours and 40 some minutes and Robby took second but first place in King of the mountain below

DSCN2387

Robby finished in some 10 hours and 25 minutes

DSCN2389

Bt finished in 11:05 minutes above and various shots below of our group

IMG_6750

 


DSCN2382

DSCN2395

Other photosDSCN2392

I can’t tell you how many times during the ride I asked myself why I was doing this ride and why I didn’t just quit. There was no finishing medal, this wasn’t even a race. In the end, just like with the Ironman, it’s about pushing yourself to your limit and then exceeding it. When you do that, there aren’t many other things in life I have found that give you that sense of gratitude.  I don’t know if I will ever do the Diabolical Double again, but I am definitely glad I did it once and can proudly say I did the entire thing.

Joe’s bike shop the one and only below

13522823_1090104821036500_2216699332110892228_o

13497615_1090104731036509_2430893050308038139_o

13502959_1090104717703177_4085683672128433171_o

13502003_1090104901036492_7006115979308863149_n 13510816_1090104651036517_1731455838968874449_n

DSCN2376

IMG_2225

RESULTS BELOW 2016

Brandy Kaschenback 8th overall in entire race for female and total of all climbs = 1:51:31 and 1st in or group 

Bob Travers 197 overall, time for all hill climbs = 2:08:27 came in first this year from a time perspective at 10 hours and 30 minutes

Mark Sullivan 202 overall and 2:10:08

Charlie Bezilla 272 overall  First climb did not register

Rob Wray came in 339 overall , first climb did not register

 

2014 results for our group

KOM over all for all 5 climbs total time

Robby Burch: 136 place 1:24:46

Ted Peddy: 145 Place 1:25:57

Bob Travers: 243 PLace @ 1:35:39

John Mosmiller: 296 place @ 1:40:23

Mike Borisky: 404 place @ 1:55:43

 

127 mile 16,600+ vertical= Diabolic Double

1st. Ted Peddy 9:45 hours, 2nd. Robby Burch 10:23, 3rd. Travers @ 11:05

 

102 miles 12722 vertical = Savage Century

John Mosmiller @ 8:40,

Mike Borisky @ 8:56

Fabulous 44

Jim Halle and Tim Mcquillan = tie

My Salvation for success for 2014 and completion is an interesting story (I am not religious) for I would have quit if not for the SALAMANDERS and my promise. I wanted to share with you this crazy thing and it is what kept me going with all of the pain and suffering of this adventure- It kind of happens each and every time when I go to the extreme: climbing, biking or whatever.

So after mile 60 when I wanted to quit, there were these ochre colored salamanders with cream colored spots in the road and I stopped to see these beautiful creatures and hold them, no one else did but me. I thought I would have to save them rather than having them killed by cars and bikers (bummer as all creatures are so special) So I started throwing everyone I saw off the road and made a promise to God to save as many as possible, Every Salamander I saw I stopped to throw in the woods. There were at least 20 over the many miles. In addition, I actually picked up a few of the dead ones and said prayers and them placed them in the woods as well for proper burial (I am not crazy). Some of the riders ask me “what the hell are you doing” and I said saving these awesome creatures and they looked at me like I was crazy!!. So saving these wonderful creatures became my duty to God and it gave me a purpose that I could not abandon. Also at the same time I was traveling through beautiful fields of red clover, flowing fields of grass lands with multi floral rose that perfumed the air with the wind caressing my face like a lovers hand and or the canopy was dark green with birds singing sweet melodies of happiness and all of this took my breath away as well as all the pain. All of this let me feel the presence of God (I am not religious) and it gave me a purpose and took my pain away and transported me into a dream like state and the next thing I new I was at 80 miles just like that and I just showed up and I was rejuvenated and took off with no hunger or thirst needs nor any pain at all.. Wow just to think, these awesome little creatures I held them in my hand, I saw the little dots of cream in the ochre colored skin, their little webbed feet and I really connected to those creatures that have a link to the first life on earth, Placing them back in the woods and away from harm – that thought will last with me to my grave where the race is now like a dream . There is something far more meaningful than out there than we know and far grater than all us can possible contemplate