Ridge Runout Gravel '26: Edition Uno

Kinda sorta like when I got my Optimus built up days before Pisgah Monster Cross 2024, thus making it not an exciting time to have a new mountain bike, I faced a similar but different situation last week.  My frame and sundrious parts all showed up for my new garvel bike, but I was never going to get it built by Friday night... and I'd committed to doing the Ridge Runout Gravel thing-a-doo Saturday.

It woulda been a fine day to ride my "dream" garvel bike, but since it was sort of a race (kinda), my brain only races single speed (but down the road... the garvel road... who knows?).

I put aside fantasies of getting this bike race ready, tossed the Aspen STs back on the 32er, and headed to WNC avec Türd.

Flashback to Wednesday night...

I was doing all the easy build stuff on the garvel bike as soon as I could get to it.  The Pie had Boppit preoccupied, so now was a good time to mount the gravel tires as well as shod the 32" with Aspen STs for Saturday.  He hates when I work on bikes, and the thing he hates the most is seating up tubeless tires, bike pumps, air compressors, and the pssssssssssst sound in general.  I swear, I swear, I swear I took my time to make sure I did it all perfectly.

Türd shows up at 6:30am to pick me up...

"You know your front tire is on backwards."

Unnngh.

At least when we get to Wildhaven, Bad Brian had a compressor and whatnot, because I'd rather not look down at a backwards tire all day long.

There were more riders than at the pilot event last year, and something like six single speeders... a few that I didn't know.  We did the neutral rollout, some climbing, and then the mega-long descent fifteen mile (not a typo) garvel descent.  At least one single speeder had gotten away from me, and somehow I wasn't catching him with my big wheels (obvs slow acceleration and handled like a tractor).  Once again, I mistrusted the Wolf Tooth tire pressure calculator... even tho I specifically said to myself "TRUST THE WOLF TOOTH TIRE PRESSURE CALCULATOR" after the Bootlegger 100 just a month ago.  I got the ever-loving shit beat outta me on the descent with too many PSIs, but lolz.

I spent my only time with one other rider for a short bit after Barlow caught up to me... after stopping to pick up his ejected bottle and smartly dropping his tire pressure. 

Once we got to the bottom and hit the pavement, it was all adios muchacho as I watched him ride off into the distance.  I got to the flat-ish gravel of Brown Mountain Beach Road... and that's when I finally dropped my tire pressure.  

Oh.  Totally shoulda done that sooner.

Now comfortably pedaling down the road, I could see that I was catching the lone single speeder ahead.  I woulda rather caught him on the nine mile climb back towards the finish, but whatevs.  Rode all the way up by myself for something like an hour... to finish first single speed.

Sorta.

It's a race but not a race but podiums last year but this time?

Dunno.

I'll take it as a first.

And, yeth.  I woke up Sunday and spent way too much time building a bleep bloop bike with internal through the headset routed brakes, and I didn't throw any tools or parts across the room or cry (on the outside).  Got to head out on a test ride at 4:00pm, and... it rides like a bike.