A brutal 321-mile bike ride turned into a bike walk to the finish for one competitor and tested the mettle of dozens more between Georgia’s borders with South Carolina and Alabama over the past week.
Five riders remained on the course by the middle of the day Thursday, five days after they set out to tackle the Trans North Georgia Adventure, which takes participants through Dalton, Ga.
Forty-eight riders began the trek, but race director Derek Kozlowski said Thursday that he expected the number of finishers to be about half that number.
Among them was Brad McLeod, whose bike broke just before he reached the 300-mile mark. Rather than call it quits, McLeod walked the final 28 miles of the race, reaching the finish line just west of Rome, Ga., late Wednesday night.
“That was the highlight,” Kozlowski said. “He wasn’t ready to quit. He’s an ex-Navy Seal who wanted to finish what he started, and he wasn’t last.”
Shane Hagerman wasn’t as lucky. The Blairsville, Ga., resident, making his second attempt at finishing the TNGA, had to call it quits west of Dalton on Tuesday after his bike broke near the parking lot for the Snake Creek Gap trailhead of the Pinhoti Trail.
“I considered walking the last 55 miles,” Hagerman said. “But I had counted on that next section taking about 10 hours. I had enough food for that, and one more place to get water. But, looking at 20 hours, I was going to be a very hungry camper.”
TNGA riders are not allowed to have aid crews, and there are no official aid stations. But they are allowed to obtain services that any other mountain biker could along the route. Some even choose to stay at hotels and do a little sightseeing along the way.
Others, like James Dunaway, fly through the course as quickly as possible. Dunaway, a 22-year-old from Griffin, Ga., took first place, finishing in 49 hours and 16 minutes.
Sara Dallman, a 47-year-old from Wilmington, Ohio, was the first female finisher, completing the course in 75 hours and 59 minutes.
Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway between Ellijay and Chatsworth and Bear Creek Bicycle Co. in Dalton stay open overnight to cater to TNGA riders, many of whom come through those stops exhausted, filthy and needing a bike tune-up if they want to make it to the finish.
Hagerman, who has raced around the country and the world, was several hours past Bear Creek Bicycle when a mechanical problem cost him. He said he was fine physically and would have finished the race if not for his bike problems.
“I didn’t quit because I wanted to. It’s not like I was feeling bad. I was actually at a pretty high point in the race. That was the hardest part about the mechanical issue. You have so many highs and lows throughout a race like this. But to have it come at a high so close to the end, that was a tough pill to swallow.”
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6249.