On Sunday, I had a day off from working at the residential boys camp that Zeb and I live/work at, and it lined up perfectly with the first race in the “Pisgah Triple Crown” series from Blue Ridge Adventures. Shoutout to my local bike shop, Sycamore Cycles, for supporting me at this event! June 13th, 2021 was the first ever “Woods Mountain” race in Marion, NC. With 36 miles and 5400’ of elevation, I knew it would be a good challenge, but I didn’t realize the intensity of the test that awaited me during the namesake climb up Woods Mountain!
This race was held in what some people call, “the other Pisgah.” Brevard is near what is arguably the most well-known part of Pisgah National Forest – home to the Pisgah Ranger Station, the Cradle of Forestry, Looking Glass, the Fish Hatchery, Mt. Pisgah, and more. Most of the “Pisgah bike races” I’ve done have started in that area of Pisgah Forest. Head over to the Boone/Lenoir area, and you’ll find yourself in the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah, which is lush, remote, and one of my favorite places to explore (especially when I was going to Appalachian State and was so much closer to that side). The part of Pisgah that Woods Mountain took place in, was in the Marion/Old Fort area between the two. It’s one part of Pisgah Forest that many people typically overlook, myself included.
In fact, the only time I had ridden the trails around Woods Mountain before was with my dad on his birthday years ago (which I wrote about here.)
I arrived at the race about an hour before the start, so I would have plenty of time to change, warm up, etc. The parking area was a quick ride away from the start line, and I was able to do a short warmup on a trail adjacent to the staging area. The morning was misty from the previous day’s rain, and I knew there was plenty of mud waiting for us on the trails. As I lined up, I was excited to see several familiar faces in my category. Bianca Tries is always fun to race with, and I’ve been lucky to line up with her since I was first able to drive myself to races in high school. Madison Maloney was just ahead of us, who is a very fast (and friendly) racer that I’ve only competed against twice so far, but have enjoyed trying to chase her. Jen Nielson and Beata Wronska were on the front row – both have different racing backgrounds, but are incredibly strong and great bike handlers, especially in demanding Pisgah terrain.
I wasn’t able to see all the women who were racing in our category ahead of race day, but I was glad to see so many there as we lined up. One of my favorite parts about mountain bike racing is how you feel like part of a cycling community – especially with the other female racers. They’re always kind and friendly, even if you just met and you’re exchanging hellos on the start line. When the race begins though, they mean business!
Gathering at the start line (photo by Icon Media Asheville) 
As we took off, Madison and I were next to each other, chasing Jen’s wheel. Traffic was stopped so we could fly down the Green Mountain gravel road, across Hwy 221, and up Bald Mountain Trail, another gravel road. Madison set a blistering pace up the gravel climb, and I never saw her again until the finish! Jen chased after her, and I was left trying to keep up, and wondering if I should burn one of my matches so soon with so much ground left to cover.
Eventually I settled in and found a good pace, and after the first gravel descent, I caught up to Jen again. I wanted to stay with her since we were coming up to a brief paved section, and I was hoping we could work together and draft. I wasn’t much help though, as I was still trying to catch my breath from the initial climb, so she did most of the “pulling” until we caught another racer and added him to our pack. By the second gravel climb, Jen dropped me again, and I knew I needed to save my energy for the big climb up Woods Mountain.
By this point, we were 9 miles in, and we had finally reached the singletrack trail. The trail felt like peanut butter after all the rain the day before, but I was relieved to be off the pavement and gravel! There were two rest stops on the route: one at Mile 14 and one at Mile 29. My strategy was to take two bottles of water at the start, drink one before the first rest stop, and drop the empty bottle there without stopping. That way I would only have one bottle weighing me down up the big climb, not spend any time at the rest stop, and I could decide if I needed to stop after the long descent. I’m not sure that it was the best strategy though, since I ran out of water at the top of the climb as expected, but was pretty thirsty during the descent until the second rest stop.
The biggest challenge of the course by far was the climb up Woods Mountain. It began shortly before the first rest stop at mile 14. The climb was almost all single track for just over 3 miles, and climbed 2000 feet straight up! I tried to spin at an easy gear and pace myself, but there were several spots where the trail was so steep I had to push my bike. I felt pretty cracked around mile 17, but I knew that a long descent was waiting for me. I lost two places during the steep climb, getting passed by Beata and Nell, but was just in “survival mode” at that point. Keeping my nutrition up on this climb was difficult, since the grade was so relentless. The thought of eating was pretty unappetizing, but I knew I needed calories, so I would take tiny bites of my Clif bar and hold them in my cheek so they could dissolve (gross, I know), and my brain would at least get the message that some glucose was coming. Next time, I would try to not go so hard at the start of the race, so maybe I’d have a little more left in the tank for that long climb.
Cresting the summit of Woods Mountain was a welcome relief – the hardest (and most humbling) part of the race was over! The descent down was 10 miles of mainly downhill gravel road and doubletrack, with some fun and steep singletrack trail at the beginning. I stopped at the final rest stop and was so glad to have a full bottle of water again. I was also thankful for the shot of pickle juice and sip of coke that I grabbed. The people who volunteer at rest stops are truly trail angels! The final 6 miles were tough but short – my legs were toasted as we repeated a climbing section of the trail that we initially did around mile 11, but the final descent across the finish line felt so good.
I finished 4th in the Open Women category (5th female overall). The course was marked extremely well by the Blue Ridge Adventures crew, and having a hot meal waiting at the end was awesome. Finishing Woods Mountain made me even more excited for long, tough, mountain bike races in the near future – just maybe after a couple days with my feet up on the couch 🙂
4th in Open Women 
Mud lines! 
Strong podium!
So far this year, it’s been really exciting to have events starting back up. However, we’re also much busier at work than we have been in the past, so I’m not traveling to race as much as I was in college. Even though I didn’t write full blogs about them, I have been able to do some fun new events this year!
Such as…
- “The Snake” Time Trial in Dalton, GA, hosted by the Northwest Georgia SORBA – 50 miles along the Pinhoti Trail, and 7000’+ of climbing (this was one brutal event!)
- A couple Southeast Gravel races (a 70 mile one in Sumter, SC, and a 65 mile one in our backyard at Falling Creek!)
- Cane Creek Cup XC races in Harbison State Forest, and at “The Sledgehammer” (as my first XC races in over a year, this style of racing felt way faster than I remember! It’s always fun catching up with my friends and Sycamore Cycles teammates though.)
Next on my schedule?
- ORAMM (Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell) – 60 miles and 10,500’ of climbing – I’m honestly a little intimidated by this one, but it will be a great challenge.
- I’m also planning on some big mountain bike races in the Fall, and might continue doing some gravel races here and there.
Annie Rides Bikes 