Part 3:
http://suffersweatsmile.blogspot.com/2014/09/trans-north-georgia-adventure-tnga-race.html

Here's the beginning of my race report covering pre race and gear in the first part and day one in the second. More to come soon.

Part 1:
http://suffersweatsmile.blogspot.com/2014/09/trans-north-georgia-adventure-race.html

Part 2:
http://suffersweatsmile.blogspot.com/2014/09/trans-north-georgia-adventure-race_15.html

Just finished Trans North Georgia with a Brooks B17 Champion Select...awesome saddle, was great from the get go, and just got better and better.

He made this framebag for me:


Made of Cuben Fiber, ultra light at 350g, features a heavy duty velcro divider between the upper and lower sections, three small inside pockets for organization, custom fit to my frame, attaches via the bottle cage mounts. It has been bulletproof so far in my testing. Top notch stuff.

I'm selling my 2013 Salsa Fargo 2. It's in great shape and has a few key upgrades. I installed SRAM S700 Hydraulic brake/shift levers. I already went through the recall process, and installed the new, fixed levers, I have about 2 rides on them. It has a nearly new Brooks B-17 on it. I rode it for about 2 weeks on my primary bike, then got a nicer B-17 and put the standard one on this Fargo. I'm including a Revelate Designs Tangle frame bag with the bike. Drivetrain is 2x10 with an X9 rear derailleur and X7 front. Tubeless Ready, rims are taped and I will include valve stems.

Asking $1700 With hydraulic brakes.

I can replace the Hydraulic brakes and brake shift levers with SRAM Force levers and BB7 Road mechanical discs, Asking $1300 in that configuration.

Edit: Buyer pays actual shipping cost, likely between $70 and $150, depending on where it's going and how small I can safely pack it. Located in Central PA.

For Sale: 2013 XL Surly Pugsly, mechanic owned with upgrades. $1100, buyer pays actual shipping. Located in Central PA, Bike is available for inspection at Earl's Bicycle Store in Lewisburg, PA.

Shimano XT 10 speed long cage rear derailleur
SLX Cassette 11-36
Deore Shifter.
Set up 1x10 with Race Face NW 30t chain ring on a triple crankset.
Shimano Hydraulic Disk Brakes.

Drivetrain Options, not included but available, and I will install prior to shipping if desired:

XT Cassette 11-36, Almost brand new. +$40, installed

Absolute Black 40t cassette adapter, 4 cog version precision machined from one piece of aluminum, very trick gear, lighter than an XTR cassette when set up with the XT Cassette! +$130 installed, includes XT Cassette and special lock ring from Absolute Black.

SLX Triple Front Derailleur and shifter, no chain rings. +$70, I can get you chainrings and install them for you at cost.

Surly 21T Single Speed Cog and PC1091R chain. +$20 installed

Ok, so anyone who may have raced this route before. Is a suspension fork recommended or is this stuff all pretty doable on a rigid fork? I'm trying to figure out which set-up to run. Here in PA, stuff is pretty darn rocky and a suspension fork is almost mandatory for single track riding. I can ride my rigid fork here, but slowly and for shorter rides only, it's too much punishment for anything over a 40 or 50 mile day. I've heard that the singletrack on route isn't too gnarly from friends that have ridden in that area before, I'm just curious what people who have actually done the route have run in the past. If I can get away with rigid, I'd rather do that. less stuff to break, less spares and tools to carry.

Ah you were up in my neck of the woods in Bald Eagle. I've been thinking of having a go at the N-S route you plotted.

Hi Adam,

Welcome to the site and welcome to the bikepacking community. I think the answer to your question lies in how we arrive at bikepacking as an activity to pursue. I believe that there are a lot more people out there like you that just want to go out and enjoy the experience and do it their way and aren't motivated by competition, either internal or external. On the other hand, there are many of us that are motivated by competition, be it racing or just trying to find what our personal limits are.

I feel like a lot of cyclists come to bikepacking from an endurance background out of necessity. I had to learn bikepacking because I started wanting to go on rides that would result in me not making it back home or to the car before I needed to sleep. What I was doing wasn't touring, I knew that, but it wasn't just endurance riding anymore either.

Through those experiences I discovered that just riding out into the wilderness and camping out was fun, even if I didn't have to do it. I started doing a lot more sub 24 hour overnights and shorter rides to camp out and then ride again in the morning. What I found was, I suddenly had friends that were interested in joining me. 20 miles of mountain biking to a cool scenic place to camp and then 20 miles back is appealing to a lot more people than doing 130 miles a day for 3 days. I found that I like both types of bikepacking and that the things I learned from one type of bikepacking benefited me in the other. There is room for both mentalities for sure but it is good for you to give us all a little reality check during this time of year when Tour Divide and Trans Am are both running and everyone seems to have ultra racing fever. I think we can all agree that the people participating in those sorts of events are inspiring but it's important to remember that those sorts of rides do not appeal to many people.

I'm in. Was 68 on the list when they bumped the start number up to 70. I haven't really trained that much because I didn't think I was going to make it on the start list. I guess I'll do the best I can with the time I have and see how it goes. A 3 week bikepacking trip in July should help my training out....

If you still want to carpool down there PM me.

I have a 2013 XL Fargo Frame and Fork that I could be persuaded to part with. The paint has some wear marks from frame bags and cable rub but is otherwise in great shape. It was used as a gravel bike in PA.

Close enough. I could make a detour.

Trans North Georgia group start is a go as of right now. Search for the facebook page, as all official updates are done through there. They just raised the cap from 50 riders to 70. As of last post of the full list there were 30 or so riders on the wait list. Best of luck to you, I've heard it's not uncommon for many people to drop off the list closer to the start date. If you end up doing the group start, I'll see you there!

Alright, I'll do it. Some of you have to be training for this. Perhaps there are some vets around too. I figure I'll open this up for now for questions/answers/strategery/whatevs. For now though...roll call? I'm at position 51 on the 'list' right now, so taking this seriously. This will be my first Ultra greater than 24 hours (I'm not Eddie O'Dea). My goal is just to finish and evaluate if a GDMBR run is in my future.

I'm driving to TNGA from central PA. It would be pretty neat to have some company for the trip down there, and also to split gas money or something. Planning on using the services provided by Mulberry Gap MTB Getaway for the race. If you are interested let me know. I only have room for one extra person/their gear and bike.

^^^ whole new meaning to 'anything cage'. Wow.

haha. I was doing a little touring, fit one of those on each side...was way too difficult for offroad use. this is a more typical set up.

Still waiting on SRAM to send me my new Hydros.

El Mariachi Ti:

Rigid Geared Mode


Rigid Single Speed Mode


Single Speed Hardtail Mode


Geared Hardtail Mode - full set up

Fargo:

Thanks for the info. That makes sense. I don't recall seeing a sign for the trail and I certainly wasn't looking for it. I've read about Fishermans Path on some ride reports. About how long is the trail? It looks like it connects to rail-trail.

Another course question: near the top of Stilhouse Road, the trail crosses a creek and the bridge is out. I crossed the stream to the right of the bridge. I assume this is what the course does on race day.

If we're thinking of the same bridge, then yes that is the way it is on race day.

Maybe consider having the mounts under the down tube made for a Salsa Anything cage(basically 3 holes instead of 2). That would allow some flexibility down the line. You could mount a regular water bottle cage using 2 of the holes, or you could mount an Anything Cage to carry a larger water bottle, fuel bottle, etc.

an Anything Cage is a stretch in that location on a bike with a normal width BB shell. they are very wide and loading it up could compromise clearance down there with the crankset. Might work on a fat bike though with the wider BB shell. Great place for a bottle cage though. I recommend going for all three cage mounts, you lose nothing by having them really. When not in use they are a great place to store a spare set of cleat mounting bolts.

Hi, I'm Mike. I live to ride my bike, if only I could find a way to get paid to do it. I'm from central PA, surrounded by some of the best mountain biking and bikepacking terrain on the east coast. Bald Eagle State Forest is my home away from home with 300,000 acres of land to explore with camping permitted pretty much anywhere with no permit. I'm gearing up for my first Ultra-Marathon Mountain Bike Race, Trans North Georgia and depending on how that goes I may do the Allegheny Mountains Loop in October. I pushing my limits and exceeding them sometimes so I know where they are. I also race 100 milers and Endurance XC. If pressed I will admit I do a fair amount of road cycling as well  .





My wheels: Salsa El Mariachi Ti custom build