After having so much fun last year at the Gravel Grovel, I couldn't wait to give the Death March a go. Put on by the same people, Sub9 (<9) in the same area of Hoosier National Forest, it promised to be a lot of fun. After trying to get some of the guys who did the Grovel with me to sign up as my teammate, I finally got a team together with Asher.
The Death March requires visiting ancient cemeteries as checkpoints, spread throughout the area, and no published route is provided. You can take MTB trail, roads, etc. Whatever you think will be fastest for you. No order is given for visiting them, and most are option, resulting in time deductions.
Since my route had us passing back by the van at about half way, I planned to eat there and keep extra tubes gels and such there, traveling a bit lighter than I did on the Grovel. But after my rather disappointing ride on Combs "Road" last year decided to beef up the tread a bit. Maxxis Beavers. Barely heavier than the Kozmik Lite II's from last year, but in a fuller, rounder, knobbier mud tread. These roll pretty well, have a very supple casing, and are the fattest tyres I can fit. They were very secure on Combs "Road", never slipping and offering great control. They were slower everywhere else.
Okay, we start! After waiting for a large portion of the fast guys to roll out, we start out from the camp, rolling up the hill and turning right. Our first goal was Fleetwood, a plan that was quickly crashed by it being one of the chosen mandatory stops. Overran with people trying to get photos, we opted to get it on the way back on the first loop and head straight for Combs "Road", as that was the shortest way to Elkinsville Cemetery for another of the required checkpoints.We get there in about 54minutes. One hour in, one checkpoint down...hold on how many are there again? We get our photos, eat drink and head to the next required checkpoint, Lutes.
Lutes is new to the Death March this year and is quite far to the East compared to the rest of the cemeteries. Our route had us going from Elkinsville, through Story and around following Mt Nabb Rd. Notice the Mt. in Mt. Nabb...one of the longer (planned) climbs for the day. We're now another 1:38 in with only 2 checkpoints...this isn't going as planned...and unbeknownst to us, it's about to be going less well.
Leaving Lutes, we get in with a pack of mountain bikes and follow, thinking they're going to Hanner, the next required checkpoint...well, they weren't and before we realized it were about six uphill miles off course, nearly completely doubling back to the top of Mt Nebo Rd!!! Turns out the guys on the squishy bikes were heading to the trailhead for the mtb trail to head towards Elkinsville! Not good. After consulting our maps, and pulling out our phones to confirm we weren't where we wanted to be, our only choice was to back track to where we wanted to be.
With another 1H24M wasted, we're still only 2 checkpoints complete and have been at this for about 4 hours! Last years winning team took 4.5H to do the whole thing. We decide that we should complete our loop and enjoy some tacos. This means we'll still get in 3 more checkpoints, but be short one of the required spots. Getting there requires going over Buffalo Pike, a climb that averages over 10%, peaks around 27% and is just short of a mile. Walking ensues. Even with that, a rather short 36 minutes later, we're finally bagging our 3rd checkpoint. We talk with other riders for a few and head to the next, Cornett.
Hanner to Cornett takes a short 19 minutes, and we're then heading back to finally get Fleetwood and tacos. 30 minutes later, we're back at the van. 5 checkpoints. 42 miles. 3426' of climbing. DNF.
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