2022 Delta Epic Stories
Super tips from Super G
So, I thought about this....instead of a "ride" report (I surely didn't race it..26hrs), I am going to go w/ a "LESSONS learned from a first time "solo" rider...but a relay finisher in 2020 and a DNF in the 2021 Mud-Apocalyptic year. I will do a ride report on my strava/fb if you want to see that. Hope this helps a future "solo" effort.
Have a great "get ya' to the line and bailout person"->@Josh Sheets.
Boy, how do you find that start line? "see #1 above".
Don't wing it, map out time/temp/water/food (where ya' getting it..what town...what time)....rest (and expect rest to be 2x what you think). Oh, and have a backup plan if option #1 for water isn't open (i.e. Bassie Service Station)....option #2, Rosedale@121.8 has water/food.)<---had to use this option this year.
Know your lights/computer/ and how long they last and carry at least a 10,000mah charger...expect the worse...i.e. I am only going to need lights for 12hrs....well, have juice for 18. Carry the necessary mini-usb, usbc, iphone..whatever cables (saw it first hand w/ a rider not carrying the correct cable...I let him use my cable and Anker charger). A wall plug for cables wouldn't be a bad idea either in case you need to charge from electricity.
The weather will change...be prepared...I find hand/toe warmers are great for putting anywhere on the body...ok, almost anywhere. (small and compact...warmt for 2-4hrs)
Riding w/ a group or someone ensures a better chance of finishing. Power in numbers...you may need their battery charger, they may need your extra co2 or tube. Plus, finishing in the dark...(or in general, riding in the dark), you will start to see things...I surely did.
Trust your training but be prepared to adjust course and adapt.
Know how to work your bike computer....and how to use it if you need to go off course for supplies.<---know how long you get on your battery...note: backlight will run the battery down more...so test it!
Carry more than less, but don't go ape #$##$ crazy.
Know there will be some dark spots you will go into mentally...so do some long solo rides in training.
Me: "I am one and done after finishing"...a day later, "I can improve my time."...hope this helps.
Thanks to Jason Shearer and Wendi Shearer for this grass roots event. Maybe see ya' next year!
Joe was also interviewed by The Vicksburg Post. You can read it here:
https://www.vicksburgpost.com/2022/10/09/sports-column-bike-wheels-on-a-gravel-road/
Clarksdale party time with Jason Cash
So night time in Clarksdale got interesting again this year. In 2019, I stopped at the same gas station, the one just past the turn to stay on course, it was 4am this year, and one person out of the 4 I was riding with wanted to stop. I remember in 2019 it was 5 or 6 Delta Epic riders, and you could tell the register worker was thoroughly intrigued at how quickly these spandex clad humans were purchasing snacks and drinks in the wee hours of the morning. Well, it got more interesting for me this time, and maybe overwhelming for the register worker considering what I saw go down. All I needed at this stop was the bathroom, and to fill my hydration bladder, in the bathroom sink. When I got in the store, there was a group of 4 or 5 young people provisioning party supplies for a night of fun, buying drinks and smokes and pickled eggs and talking excitedly, mind you this is at 4am.
I try both the Men's and the Women's door (which has a hand written Employees Only sign taped to it) and they are both locked, and someone from the party group laughingly says "Oh, they trying to go to the bathroom", ummm, ok, interesting observation, I'll just sit on the crates and wait for the bathroom. The Women's door opens, and out walks a man and a woman, the earlier comment suddenly makes more sense, and I head in to take care of business. As I walk out I notice there are now several cars and groups of 3-5 people gathered, people smoking cigars outside and the after party is HERE! It is a spectacle to take in, and the two dusty bike riders are part of it. And I didn't catch the name of the rider that was also here, I hope they chime in because we rode together well for much of the beginning of the race, and also to get their side of this story. But they are putting on leg warmers and have an extra water for me, no thank you, and everyone is milling about, and I'm about ready to roll, and the police start showing up, lights flashing, everybody outta here!
Good as time as any to roll out, I pull out as another squad car pulls into the lot. It ain't a real party till the police show up y'all, what a time!
Adam Lownik - NOLA by way of Wisconsin
Truly you put together an incredible route man. I came into it knowing that it would absolutely whoop my ass, and it certainly did; but I did not come into it expecting to experience the sublime. Being out on that levee the first night with our lights off riding in the moonlight was absolutely surreal.
To me, the whole purpose of gravel bikes is to get to reach places that you just can’t really get to any other way, and this route is an absolute gem of the genre. Me from 6 hours ago was saying oh hell no never again, but I’m pretty sure I’m already scheming up ways to make next year’s ride even better…
Words by Devin Carr - First Timer from Memphis
On my water stop notes next for Rosedale I had put “long stretch to Indianola”, assuming carrying enough water would be the thing to worry about. We’ll I don’t know if the wind changed or what but it damn near broke me. Sitting in Indianola I was texting my wife that I was about to call it. Knowing a ride was a couple hours away I decided 200 was the goal for the day and headed toward Sharkey. I guess when enough things become uncomfortable it’s hard to focus in on one alone and feelings overwhelm you. Maybe that’s for the best and getting past that is where the good stuff is. I started picking it up some and my legs let me do it which helped build back up some confidence I could finish. Some quick math made me think it would be in under 24 hours and that really motivated me to keep pushing. From there it took coming up with new reasons to keep pedaling every thirty minutes until I arrived in Satartia, where the zebra cakes at the snack shack perked me up enough to ride the rest with Allison Blythe to Bentonia. Lotta great roads out there and feel very lucky to have been able to ride through with no issues.
Words by Alison Harkey (3x Finisher & Team Dicksy Chicks)
2022 has been a very on-again, off-again year with regard to cycling - probably the least miles I have ridden in a year since becoming a serious cyclist back in 2010. Life can get in the way and priorities change ( back surgeries for Louis, a new grandchild, 4 children living all across the globe and a wedding to plan) and I’m happy with where I am ( maybe….). So when Jim Wynn brought up the idea of doing a relay team for Delta Epic 2022, I was rather dubious and not very enthusiastic. Louis and I did Delta Epic in 2019 as a two person relay and then again as a duo in 2020. We also had a team in 2021….. enough said about that muddy debacle.
After much discussion and changes to the team, we set off on Friday evening to begin the race. Our team - Alison, Louis, Lisa Smith and Jim Wynn - decided to change up the usual 4 person team format, which is to ride 4 legs consecutively and instead to each ride two legs with a rest period in between, except for the final two stretches from the Delta National Forest to Bentonia. We thought this would be better for us since none of us has been riding too many miles recently. The conditions this year could not have been better - favorable temperatures, clear skies with a full moon and packed down gravel and for some riders, amazing tail winds.
I did the first two legs from the start to Friar’s Point (53 miles). I was able to latch onto a nice group of riders and benefit from the draft. I stayed with a group until about half way through the levee when my front light died and I had to stop to put on my spare light. Louis picked up from Friar’s Point to the Shack Up Inn; Jim took the next leg to Rosedale and then I rode to Pilgrim’s Rest. Jim and Louis took the next two legs and Lisa rode from the Delta National Forest to Bentonia.
Things I love about this race:
The respect for all - from the fastest to the slowest rider. The fact that you show up to do this is all I need to know about you. There are no egos here - everyone is trying to do their best; everyone is going to suffer; everyone is going to wonder at some point why they are there; everyone is going to marvel at the beauty of the Mississippi Delta; everyone is going to be glad its over and everyone is going to be planning to be there the next year and to bring their friends.
The gravel community - a group of likeminded, crazy folks who think riding for 300 miles might be a fun thing to do.
Seeing the Mississippi Delta - the farmland that stretches for miles - cotton fields and furrows and everything in between; the farmers in their huge vehicles who wave; the small, economically depressed towns with their share of beautiful and dilapidated homes and amazing convenience stores that are life savers to those who riding solo and to their community; the locals who think we are crazy but love we are there;
Meeting and visiting with old and new friends. We sat with other team riders at the various transition points and talked about everything - our bikes, kits, equipment, team members, how tired we are, the head winds and the gravel conditions, our lives.
Seeing new riders begin their delta epic journey - I have enormous respect for Debbie Watkins Jarman and Lisa Smith. They were both new to this race and both rose to the occasion with aplomb.
And so here I sit on Sunday nursing my aching body and already thinking that maybe I need to do this solo next year before I get too old and decrepit. The other team member are already thinking about possible team names for next year and perhaps having two teams (male and female).
This is the magic and pull of Delta Epic.
Forever grateful to be able to participate.