95% of the reason I did the Bootlegger this year was because Türd asked me, "Hey, are you doing Bootlegger this year?"
When confronted with the decision in this manner, I couldn't think of a reason to say no. Peer pressure at the age of 55.8333 isn't really a thing to me, but ticking off boxes still is. My single speed DNF in 2019 ("I tried to do the 2019 Bootlegger and all I got was this lousy hypothermia" t-shirt still on backorder) and the geared "I just want this done and how do gears work anyways?" 2024 left me with a need to finish this on a single speed. Granted, the course was shortened to 85 miles for '25, but race is race.
I made some bad or mebbe good decisions, depending on how you looked at it. I went with a 32X16 gear based on nothing but guesswork and the lack of a 17 tooth cog in my possession. I didn't want to be spun out in the flat sections (at least terribly spun out like I was in '19), but I had no clue if it would be too tall of a gear for a wee man like me to turn over when things went up. I'd swapped my tires to 45mm Reavers*, and once again, I hadn't any time to test them out or determine what would be a "good pressure." I did use the Silca gravel pressure calculator (albeit Friday afternoon), and I'm pretty sure I ended up too high... which is probably better than too low? I forgot that when I swapped the Vertigo Meatplow V.8 into garvel mode by stealing the wheels off the Crux like I did for Pisgah Monster Cross, the rotors are thicker than the ones on my MTN wheels. Thus, on the first descent when I yoinked back on the brake levers... well, it was exciting. Thank my lucky stars for external adjusters.
Oh, and I added a tiny handlebar to my regular handlebar.
The most interesting part of doing this event on a single speed is the fact that it predetermined my fate. I would end up alone most of the day, as I'm spun out at 17-18MPH, so I can't play paceline games with the geared folks who are easily making 21MPH on Brown Mountain Beach Rd.* Also, if I'm staying on top of a 32X16 on 4%+ climbs, I'm not gonna find any company there either. After the first ten or so miles, I never really had a travel companion to pass the time with or share the wind. I rode in a most solitary manner, but to be honest, I probably needed some alone time in my head.
When I bought my Wahoo like six years ago, I thought I'd pissed all over the spirit of single speed. Modern accoutrements like suspension and electronics were not what it was all about, at least to me... back then. How can you be in the moment if you have any information such as distance, time, temperature, elevation, or even a clue as to where you are going?
But here I am now.
I pulled up the map page and zoomed in real tight. It was much easier to eat an elephant like Maple Sally Road in tiny bites. Granted, you start the journey by eating its whole ass first, but then it's just an ear here and and half-tusk there, and before you know it, you're done. I just wanted to see the next nibble one at a time, and that made the whole 18 mile, 2,600' up, 1,600' feet down pachydermial meal a bit more manageable. Munch on some yellow arrows, gently masticate the greens, and chomp down on the oranges and reds and swallow. Bon appétit.
I'm not disappointed with 6th place SS. The top three from last year came back and took the podium again. I'm surprised to see how close the top six were, and in the back of my head, I'm thinking "what ifs..."
Like, "What if I hadn't stopped to wad my mouth full of bacon?"
"What if I didn't slow down to stuff an entire handful of Clemmer's tater tots inside me?"
"What if I had lowered my tire pressure enough that my ass cheeks didn't jiggle about every time I hit a washboard?"
"What if I didn't get lost in my brain thinking about the futility of existence while solo'ing NC-90 and staring at the retracing of a black line back to town on my computer display?"
Regardless, good times, great course, delicious tots, yummy beer, and frands.
Anyways, the main motivation is, as it always is before PMBAR, preparing for PMBAR. Just as the time after PMBAR is always about getting over PMBAR, both physically and emotionally.
Two weeks to go.
* Which the HYPR version just became ironically available to consumers like me this past Monday. Meh.
** Wow. I was a whole five minutes faster on a geared bike down Brown Mountain Beach Road last year when I didn't even care about "performance." There might be something to this whole "gear thing." I'll probably never understand it tho.