On Sunday, November 2nd, I completed a human-powered (foot + bike), self-supported 51-mile link-up of Peaks of Otter and Muddy Squirrel with about 10.5K+ ft of climb in 9h12m. I visiting 16/20 CPs (including the 3 summits of the Peaks of Otter). I started/finished from Bobblets Gap on the BRP.
These two courses/routes had been on my radar for a while, but I couldn't justify the 5 hour roundtrip drive to do them separately, so I thought: why not link them via 30+ miles of scenic multi-surface bicycling for a challenging workout? I put out feelers for others to join: no takers... No worries.
The weather was fantastic! The fall foliage was absolutely stunning. I enjoyed camping out the night prior at Bobblets Gap Shelter nearby the S/F along the BRP. This facilitated an early start. I was hoping to finish in 8 hours, which was ambitious, but I wanted to get home to help with bedtime.
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| View near Bobblets Gap. |
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| Preliminary profile. See true track data: https://caltopo.com/m/D31059K |
After waffling on a name, I dubbed this challenge the Fall Frenzy 50+ in honor of the free Muddy Squirrel orienteering event in which I would be participating. By design, the orienteering would come in the latter half of the workout. My body and mind would be tired. I broke it up into five stages.
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| Sunrise start: Sharp Top looms to the left, my first target. |
Stage 1 (ride): Bike Intro, 7.3 miles, +1,126', -722', 0:38
I packed my gear at the shelter and made some pour over coffee. I was happy to start biking before 7 am. This was aided by the end of daylight savings. I budgeted 0.5 hour for this first stage, but the BRP climbs are no joke. This would be my wake-up call for what to expect moving forward.
Stage 2 (run): Peaks of Otter, 11.3 miles, +3,979', -3,979', 2:42
After locking my bike to a tree, I charged (AKA hiked with intermittent jogging) up Sharp Top Mtn. There were a few other people on the trail, but no crowds. Harkening Hill was especially charming and quiet. I was happy with 2.5 hours for my "FKT" split (apparently it omits the return to starting point).
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| Looking towards Harkening Hill from summit of Sharp Top |
Stage 3 (ride): BRP Transit, 15.5 miles, +1,456', -2,814', 1:46
The three peaks received a careful, but honest effort from me. To this point, I was keeping up with snacks and fluids. But I was also happy to take a sandwich and ginger ale break midway along this stage at the car. The gravel road off Blackhorse Gap was bomber, albeit a bit bumpy and leafy in parts
Stage 4 (rogaine): Fall Frenzy, 8.8 miles, +2,251', -2,251', 2:59 13/17 CPs
I locked my bike to a tree and started the orienteering course right about noon. I had a counter-clockwise route in mind, but got sloppy around CP 10. I made a couple other mistakes. Naively, I budgeted only 2.5 hours. I decided to stretch that to three, but could've probably cleared it in four.
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| CP 16. |
Stage 5 (ride): Bike Outro, 8.2 miles, +1,538', -584', 1:06
By the time I got back on the bike, I was absolutely dreading the climb back up to Blackhorse Gap! But, there was nothing I could do at this point other than just suck it up. Pretty much granny gear all the way. I'm pleased with my effort especially with lingering injury.
TOTALS: 51.1 miles, +/- 10,350', 9:12
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