He said...Five o'clock came mighty early on Saturday morning, and after a quick breakfast provided by the folks at the Hiker Hostel, it was off to the race start. By 5:30 we were sitting in the grass field at Camp Wahsega wandering around in the dark waiting for the 7am start.
After the 100 mile class took off the line, Lauren and I worked our way to the front off the start line only to be greeted by the antics of the Faster Mustache race team. After much anticapation Eddie gave us the count down and off we went!
The Terrapin Beer squad immediatly took control of the front of the race and set the pace for the rest of the day. Throughout the day there were ups and downs, rocks and roots, mechanicals, and gravel road climbs - in the end, the Terrapin Beer squad emerged with riders on the podium in every class.
Jafer took 4th in the 100 mile open men behind Chris Eatough, David took 5th in the SS 100 mile, Bill had a strong start and was leading the 50 mile race until a mechanical threw him into 3rd overall in the 50 mile open men, and as for me, I ended up 2nd overall in the 50 mile open men.
At the finish we were all greeted by beer, bars of soap, and food. On a side note Lauren Paquette (The Hammer) finished strong in 8th in the 50 mile open women. I had a great time and will be coming back next year!
She said...
Oh man, first solo race ever plus my first 50 mile mtb ride...and it was awesome!! Considering how bad my nerves were for a full week and half before the race, I still can't believe how UNscary it ended up being, and how smoothly everything went.
Preparation began the night before with a pasta feast at the Hiker Hostel 
followed by a quick lesson in supplements and race day nutrition.The next morning we got up for a 5am breakfast with the rest of the bikers staying at the hostel, and I had a funny conversation with someone while waiting in line for french toast.
Lady: "Oh, hi! Nice to meet you, are you the paralegal?"
Me: "Yes! Wow, what are you, clairvoyant?"
Lady: "Well, I'm from Tallahassee."
Me: "..."
So anyway, then we headed off to the camp and on to the race.
Since I had never done anything like this before, I had no expectations and my only goal was to merely finish, that's it. Kept it slow but steady, and by the time I reached SAG 2, I had worked out the kinks in my lungs and my seat, and by mile 22, I was like, holy crap, why do I feel so good?? Yeah! And began passing people for the rest of the day.
That isn't to say of course, that by mile 40 my body didn't begin to fall apart. My neck muscles began to rebel against having to hold my head up, and my hands lost the will to hang onto my handlebar grips. But then I finally reached the last cut into the woods and a friendly volunteer informed me there was only one more mile, and my legs suddenly felt like I hadn't done anything all day! Well sort of, but I high tailed it to the finish, got my soap, and SAT DOWN.
Tons of support from Edge, Hostel Cycling, the SAG volunteers, millions of butterflies in the woods, and all the nice bikers who helped make time on the trails fly by. I was definitely spoiled by having my first solo race experience be such a great one.
Awesome!
What? You're a mountain biker and you hate riding up hill? Welllll, don't get mad, but it turns out we may have "accidentally" climbed 4,000 extra feet, past the trail we were looking for...
But don't get discouraged, look at this cool chimney we found:
That doubles as a bomb shelter!
And don't worry, this is way steeper than Dahlonega, and after three hours of going up, we get to coast downhill, easy peasy: 
Fwoo! By the time you get back to the car you'll feel confident you've got next weekend in the bag, because no matter how bad Dahlonega is, it won't be as difficult as today. Right?
ORAMM, what a weekend! Showed up to the race Sunday morning not knowing what the mountains had in store for me.
Needless to say, 6 hours, 62 miles, and 11,000 feet later I finished my first assault and all I gotta say is, "Man what a wild ride!" 
After the dust settled and the beer was flowing, I checked the results to find out that I had finished 27th overall and 12th in open men. All in all a great event and I would suggest it to any mountain biker wanting to test their might or just get a great and up close look at the Pisgah National Forest---I will be back next year!
By the time he finished the parade lap, he took the corner with noone even close to riding his hub, and was first into the woods. 
Well it turned out the Edge was far enough ahead when his tire popped, that he was able to sit down, have a beer, hang out for a couple hours...and still place third in his class.
