👻 DOOM 24 (29th March 2024 - 2nd April) 👻

“A beautifully evil bikepacking event in the south.”

656.5km with 13,301m of climbing

Over the Easter weekend 2024 I took part in Doom, a race by Ozark Gravel Cyclists in the Ozark Mountains, Arkansas, USA.

Below is my account of the race, for a personal account, as well as some of the race info and logistics.

Race account

THIS IS NOT A BLOG POST, JUST SOME NOTES AND MY SCRAPPY ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE EVENT/TRIP

27th March

After:

• an overnight train from Denver, CO - Omaha, NE;
• a very cold early morning cycle to the car rental in Omaha, where I had to sleep for 90 minutes because no one was there to sort the car out for me
• a 7 hour (plus stoppage time) ride from Omaha to Horsehoe Ranch, AR

I finally arrive at Horseshoe Ranch and it’s absolutely gorgeoues. I’m kinda tired and want a good night sleep so book a cabin for the night.

I buy a couple of burritos, eat a burrito and head out for a quick spin to checkout the ranch’s trailsystem that I know is being extended atm.

Head back home to find my second buritto with some live ants in it and the lodge shop shut so I can’t get it replaced. I guess I’m having ants for dinner 😅

28th March

Amazing night sleep ~10.5 hours, well worth it getting that cabin.

My plan is to chill as much as possible, eat as much as possible and sit in the restaurant all day to sort out logistics for the race that I’d not managed to do yet.

I stay there for all 3 meals of the day and eat plenty, I am so full.

People start turning up and I get chatting to a few who’ve done the race before and are able to advise me how to handle aggressive dogs that we expect on the course.

1700: finish off getting bike ready and chat to my neighbour who is super anxious. Makes me feel better to see that I’m not the only one nervious. Plenty of bike chat.

1900: rider briefing. Advised to not judge the whole route on the first downhill singletrack section 😂

2000 get back to car, last couple of finishing touches

2100 try to get sleep

29th March: Horseshoe Ranch to Richland Campground (176.23km, 4,219m, 16h04m)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11105419406

0545: Get up after bad night sleep. Should have spent more time getting the car setup for a good night sleep, silly mistake. Kept waking up every hour or so.

0645: Handing out of the Gremlin Bells.

0655: Charging of the Gremlin Bells, to ward off any bad luck that they may have in them.

0700: Start of race, climb out of ranch.

—-: Steep gravel climb ~45 min or so, some people starting to walk, smart move tbh.

—-: Ponca singletrack. People had been worried about this. Those who had come on relatively narrow tyres or without suspension were walking a lot of this 8km single track section. I was laughing my head off as I bundled through on my 2.2”s with my recently installed suspension. This started off with a slight downhill and then some level bit that was rough AF then turned into a really chonky downhill that went on and on and on. I got a puncture from the sharp loose rocks of the downhill. The puncture was a bit of an awkward-shaped slash and my first plug didn’t manage to stop it. Was I going to have to use my emergency tube already?! I got a plug to stop the sealant streaming out and thought I’d try riding to get it to seal. It did eventually seal over the day once I was riding on drier trails, which was a huge relief.

—-: Exiting the singletrack meant climbing back up that first huge hill up to my first spigot experience at a local church.

—-: I top up my bottle, wolf some food down and head on with a couple of other guys who leave at the same time. We chat about how we need to take it easy to manage to get through the whole thing, they mention they are doing Despair instead of Doom (half the distance) and just as we’re getting into the flow of the chat, my Garmin starts to beep to tell me I’ve gone off the route; apparently this is where the two routes split and I’d missed my turn. I turned around and head back to my turn, suddenly I’m on my own and wondering if I’ve somehow managed to have the wrong route on my computer? Eventually I see someone else behind me take the turn and I stop worrying about being in the wrong place.

—-: I’m riding for a fair while by myself on some lovely gravel roads through some forests, past a dead rotting tortoise.

—-: The come across the first water crossing and I’m unsure whether to take my shoes off or just try to ride through. A lady is on the other side who lets me know some people have been “ratcheting” across it. A technique where you keep your cranks level and just flick them gently to propel you forwards rather than doing full revolutions. I attempt it and don’t manage to keep my feet dry. I didn’t mind too much because the weather was hot and the sun was shining, damp feet would not stick around for long.

—-: Somehow I end up riding with Eli for a bit and we pull into Osage Pottery Works where we grab some drinks and fill up water again.

—-: Stephanie and Jamie pull in while we are there. Jamie leaves impressively quickly, no faffing.

—-: Stephanie, Eli and I all leave at the same time and as the road begins to turn up, Eli drops back and Stephanie ploughs on ahead.

—-: JB Trading Company. I arrive into the last resupply for the day and there are plenty of people there, arriving or leaving there. I’m not really sure what I should be picking up from here, there’s basically only biscuits and bars whereas I really would have wanted something like a sandwich.

—-: A few of us leave together and continue on.

—-: We meet another rider on the route and their Garmin mount and light broke off from their integrated stem and exclaims that they need to go “buy some gaffer tape”. I’m able to help them out with the emergency bit that I carry around with me. They plan to go off route to buy some more supplies and make a more permanent fix; I never saw that rider again sadly, I think they must have scratched.

—-: The rest of this day was super hilly, eventually adding up to being my most elevation climbed in a day according to strava, all with the heavy loaded bike. Eli and I generally stick together and catch up to and then get droped by Jamie and Stephanie. I wanted to carry on further than the campsite that we end up staying at, but I’m very aware that if I push hard too early then I will not make it to the end at all.

2300: A group of us finish off a big climb and descend down to a campsite, Richland Recreation Area campsite. We discuss plans for the following day. There are some crucial resupply points planned for tomorrow at the end of the day, crucial because there will be nowhere open on Easter Sunday in this religious area of the country. Eli and I agree to set off at 5am…

30th March: Richland Campground to Horseshoe Lake Campground (152.43km, 3,123m, 16h09)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11105419661

0430: I get up and pack away my “sleep system” (camping gear). I don’t see any stirring of Eli at this point.

0505: I set off from camp without Eli, who hadn’t seemed to move at all and was fully asleep.

—-: It’s dark. This part of the route, near Mulberry Mountain, is sung about in an Arkansauce song and was a part I really wanted to see in the daylight, I was sad to not be able to see it.

0630: After about an hour of riding I pull up to a church area and another rider, Joe, had been sleeping there and was prepping for the day of riding. He tells me he’s from St Louis, Missouri, and I tell him I’d been speaking to someone from there the night before, to which he replied “She’s my wife” and he’d been wondering how she was doing, so it was pretty cool to be able to let him know how far she’d gotten on the previous day of riding. Joe leaves and I spend some time filling bottles and getting ready for daytime riding.

0700: I set off riding and immediately, unsuprisingly, the climbing starts. It’s long ups and downs for quite a while.

—-: I reach the second water crossing and this time I am not going to be able to ride across it so I remove my shoes and socks and don my sandals. I carry my bike across and take this opportunity to wash my jersey and shorts from the previous day. I decide to cycle in my sandals for a bit to dry my feet off instead of getting my towel out to tie my shoes onto my bike.

—-: After climbing over some pretty big hills and descending down a very chunky loose gravel hill, I realise one of my shoes has come off the back of my bike, absolutely gutted. I see a car driving down the hill I just descended so ask them if they’ve seen a shoe. They had quite broken English, say they saw a shoe and apologise for not picking it up. I ask how far it is and they don’t quite understand my question.

—-: I was already tight on time to get to a shop at the 6pm many kilometres ahead and know that this hold up will make it impossible for me, which really kills my mood and morale, but also cycling in sandals for the rest of the race is risky given my history of knee issues. I need to find that shoe.

—-: I cycle back up and over some hills for approx 20 mins to find the shoe but have no luck so decide that I will need to carry on with the remaining 300km/240miles of the race in sandals.

—-: Very low on morale.

—-: I cycle on slowly and weigh up my options. The TAT shack is coming up, a donations-driven hut travellers are welcome to rest at; I know I can fill my water up there and someone may have left some snacks, but that wouldn’t be enough to get through to Monday. After the TAT shack is an outdoor gear rental, Moore Outdoors, that we were told would probably not be open and to only have snacks if it is; if Moore Outdoors were to be shut or not have enough food, I would have to take a 30km detour off-route to make sure I could have enough food to get through Sunday.

—-: TAT Shack. I arrive and there are no other riders. There’s no food there either, which is fine as I wasn’t expecting anything really. It’s an interesting place, kinda run down but obviously a place that’s used by people passing by and I can see from the log book that it’s been used by riders who made it there last night. I fill my bottles and have a sit down for 5 minutes to chill out and think about what’s about to happen, coming to terms with the high likelihood of requiring a detour. I toy with the idea of using the hot shower but decide against it as I may have to take that detour, which would be taking up a lot of my time anyway.

—-: As I leave the TAT Shack, I see Eli and another rider, Dustin, riding a bit further back along the road, a welcome sight as I could do with talking to someone. Turns out Eli has enough food to get him through to Monday already as he finds it difficult to pick up food he can eat in remote places. As we cycle on a little bit it does turn out that Moore Outdoors is open and we take a break there. They have nuts, crisps/chips and chocolate bars in stock; which become my main source of food for the next couple of days. So I wouldn’t have to do that big detour after all.

—-: Would it be possible to make it to the Ozone Burger Barn for a hot meal before it shuts at 7pm? About 45km to do but the speed would be determined by the number of climbing and we knew that there was Pilot Rock included in that.

—-: I keep a careful eye on the time as Dustin and I ride to gether chatting and pushing on, Eli wasn’t feeling great and had dropped back a little bit. There’s some super rowdy chonky downhill singletrack that Dustin and I are absolutely loving, even though there are rocks flicking up at my toes and there are twigs hitting my face. A quick break at a creek follows to filter some water and then keep on moving towards the burgers.

—-: We made it. I order two burgers, sadly no veggie options but they are really really juicy and declicious. I rest up. It’d been a very hot day, my Garmin reading 39C at one point up on Pilot Rock. I was not feeling great.

—-: Eli and, soon after, Dave turn up at the shack with enough time to order some burgers before closing time. We discuss planning to get to Horseshoe Lake Campground in 29km, where there is water an potentially a shower.

—-: I head on before everyone else as I want to take it super easy and know they will catch up soon.

—-: Eli and Dustin catch up and overtake.

—-: It gets dark, I turn off tarmac onto a gravel road and the frogs are so loud that it rings in my ears.

Video actually from another night, just given here as example.

—-: The gravel road gets rougher and hillier as it turns away from any houses and into a forest area. There are rustling noises in the trees which are kinda spooky. An armadillo runs out in front of me, I swerve to try to avoid it and end up clipping it with my foot, sorry mate!

—-: The road flattens out again as it gets closer to some farmhouses with lots of shouty dogs. I try my new whistle to see if it will shut them up and it has no effect 😂

2200: I arrive into the campsite and get settled into bed as quickly as possible, aiming to get a good 7 hours sleep to recover from a rough day. Eli kindly gives me 2 Tamales as he knows I’d been anxious about having enough food and he had more than enough.

31st March: Horseshoe Lake Campground to Oark General Store (151.70km, 3,189m, 16h00)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11105419567

0630: Woke up slightly damp in my bivvy again.

0700: Out from the campsite is chilled but it quickly becomes obvious how humid a day it’s going to be.

0730: The first climb of the day is a steep, hot, 350m climb. I decide to do it topless to try to cool down a bit. There are flies everywhere; one bites me and draws blood.

—-: Eli is feeling strong and takes off along the route.

—-: Dustin and I are riding together at a slower pace and pull up to a campsite to top up water. There’s a cat (trail angel) there, who really lifts my spirits. The campsite shop was shut, as expected, so no miracle resupplies here.

—-: I see a big brown bird with a white head. Bald eagle! and there were 2!

—-: All of devices with charge are beginning to get low and my power bank has almost drained, not holding as well as I thought it previously had done. I know there’s a charging station later on today’s route at the Headwaters School just before the Buffalo Headwaters Singletrack section.

—-: Dustin and I arrive at the Headwaters School and manage to catch up with Eli for a little bit, he’s filled his hydration pack already from the rainwater collected by the school, but he didn’t realise it needed filtering. It was lucky that Dustin had noticed it needed filtering as I would have done the same 😂. I gave Eli a water sanitation tablet so in a few hourw it’d be safe to drink. Sadly the power was not working, which meant no possible charge until Oark General Store in approx 80km, and that wouldn’t be open when we get there (estimated for about 10pm) so maybe no charge there until morning. I needed my safety devices charged, i.e. Garmin for route and lights, so sent a message to Tilly to say I needed to conserve charge then turned my phone off once the message went through.

—-: On the way to the bufallo headwaters singletrack section, Dustin realised his gremlin bell had come off of his bike, he cycled back to the school to find it and I went on to stash some bags before taking on the loop of the singletrack.

—-: Just as I finished stashing a bag of items to lose some weight, Joe was coming out of the singletrack loop. He’d broken 4 spokes but the wheel was still holding togeher and not rubbing. I was able to let him know that Jamie had pulled into the Horseshoe Lake Campground a little after us last night, as he said they hadn’t spoken and he wanted to not distract her.

—-: I start riding the loop by myself, taking it easy. Dustin catches up after not long and we ride together. The trail is rowdy, steep ups and steep downs. Approximately 20km overall, which I thought was going to take about 2 hours but took 3. It was beautiful though, with plenty of creek crossings when reaching towards the bottom of the valley. Dustin and I agreed we were happy to be in there together as riding some of those trails on your own could be dangerous.

—-: After 3 hours we made it out of the loop, pick up my bags, regather ourselves for a few minutes then head on for the next 40km or so of riding towards Oark where I would hopefully find something to charge from!

—-: The small hills are feeling massive at this point. There’s not really much going on in my head, I just want to get onto Oark tonight, find somewhere to charge devices and get some sleep.

2300: We arrive at Oark and Oark General Store, the store is shut, as expected. There’s a pavillion and we see another rider asleep on a picnic bench.

Dustin and I chat about getting breakfast at 8am at the general store after a good night of sleep, but realistically this would mean a really late start to the day so we decide to sleep for 4 hours and get started by 4am. I plug EVERYTHING in to charge.

1st April: Oark General Store to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch (187.03km, 4,432m, 17h21)

https://www.strava.com/activities/11105420006

0330: Slept well on a picnic bench without bivvy, everything’s charged and I’m feeling ready for a big day.

0355: Big day ahead. Storm forecast to come in early evening so likely I would get wet even if I push hard. Quick picture at Oark General Store. This was a cool moment for me because since I heard about the race a couple of years ago on the Bikepack Racing Podcast, this had been an iconic place in my mind and I was STOKED to be here.

0400: We head out and immediately Dustin needs to pop into the bushes. I try to find a spigot and do some stretching.

0410: We head on and pull into the car park of a local restaurant where we find a spigot to fill from. Now fully charged and with full bottles we can get on with it.

0930: First proper resupply at Rays Grocery and Services. I am absolutely gagging for some real food that isn’t some kind of cereal bar or crisps. Buy some bread and cheese and wolf down 3 sandwiches and an iced coffee. Also stock up on plenty of sugary things to get me through the rest of the day. 45 minutes stop overall. The staff at the store loved hearing about what we are doing and they’re concerned about the storm coming in, telling us to look out for dead trees in the area we’re camping in. I assure them that I’m going to do my best to not have to camp tonight 🤞

1015: Head off hoping that there would be no need for any stops for the rest of the day…

Happy about something!

The only traffic jam on the whole route.

1200: Big Piney Creek crossing. A bridged creek crossing and opportunity to filter some water. One of the event photographers spotted us here and came to snap some photos and chat with us. It was fun to hear about the experience of a photographer on the event, it also sounds pretty tiring driving around the whole time. He told us about some of the experiences that others had, like another guy losing one of their shoes then putting three socks on that foot and cycling back to the ranch to go climbing for the weekend instead of carrying on with the race.

Photos from https://www.instagram.com/p/C5RCWywuyqC

1400: 85km from the finish, we reach a junction with a nearby grocey store and my body is feeling a stop. I try to get my wallet but cannot find it, I end up emptying almost all of my bags and being super upset with myself for leaving my wallet at the previous resupply. How did I manage that? Oh wait, there’s one pocket I haven’t looked in, and that’s usually where I keep it, and it was there. Omg my mind is frazzled. The Top of the Mountain Grocery have hot pizza, I grab a couple of slices and the staff warn me about baseball-sized hail due for this evening. They assure me that the drive to the ranch is short and we should reach it before the storm comes in; I haven’t got the energy to discuss how that’s not how this event works 😅 There is another rider, Matt, at the store and he seems pretty focussed, I think he was a little anxious about the incoming storm, too, I wasn’t really able to get a conversation going with him and didn’t want to force it because that’s not good for some people’s mindset. Matt sets off before Dustin and I.

1445: Another 45 minutes stop, I’m now really worried about the time and the storm so I set off earlier than Dustin as he’s riding super strong today and I’ve been fading the last couple of days. Dustin was at the end of a 3 month tour so his endurance is super strong.

1455: After ten minutes or so Dustin hadn’t caught up but I can see him behind in the distance. Could it be fun to race? My legs are kinda feeling ok atm, maybe we can race? OMG is this a race now? How fun! 85 TT being chased by Dustin. As soon as the road turned up towards the sky, my legs stopped feeling okay and I realised that this wasn’t going to be a race 😂 Dustin caught up soon and I wished him best of luck as he zoomed past.

1315: I am flying down a hill and come across Matt on the side of the road adjusting his bike. I ask if he’s okay and he says his brakes are screeching like mine and he might need to replace the pads. I was pretty sure mine were just a bit off centre and just wanted to get home at this point, I wasn’t going to be spending some time adjusting them and just wanted to get home with as little storm as possible.

1630: The gravel road turns to tarmac for a while, it’s a welcome relief for a bit but soon turns back to a level gravel road going past lots of farmsteads; I’m loving it, it’s chilled but I know it’s going to turn soon. A quick chicane through a group of houses and BAM! the road turns up like a wall. This was the hill that Andrew (the race organiser) had warned us would feel like it would “go on forever”. At this point I knew that I was going to make it to the end of the race, I was determined and there wasn’t really anything that would stop me. I put some music on for the first time in the race and settled in for the last few hours or riding alone, I was emotional knowing that I was going to finish the race and also had the emo bangers on.

1714: I receive a text from Eli with a cabin name and code with a bed for me that night. That was pretty uplifting knowing I’d also be able to have a shower there and not have to have another bad night sleep in the rental car.

1745: After an hour of pushing my bike up the hill and singing my exhausted I am at the top of the penultimate climb. Wowza, this is getting real. One last big climb and I am done!

1840: A ride through a bridged creek starts the final climb! I didn’t bother taking my socks off because I know I am close to home now. It’s been getting moodier and moodier over the whole day and now the darkness is beginning to creep in. This last push and I’ll put my lights on and roll in home.

1930: Another almost hour of hiking my bike up, I had made it to the top of the last big climb. I AM BUZZING, but also very tired 🫠 I stop to put my lights on, chug a load of water and eat some stuff that I can’t even remember what it is now. It starts to drizzle very lightly; is this about to fucking chuck it down and be the storm I’d been waiting for? I put on a thin jacket and get ready to leave. I can’t find my glove, where’s my glove? It’s nowhere to be seen, I’m gutted. How could I be so close to the end and lose that? I look around for a few minutes but literally cannot see it anywhere. I decide to cycle on but I am angry at myself; I want my glove and I do not want to litter. I decide to cycle back to look for it, but now I can’t remember which tree I’d lent my bike against 😭. I have to get over this and carry on and enjoy the rest of the ride and arrival back into the ranch.

—-: 20km to go, but I know this isn’t going to take me 2 hours like the 10 km/h average of the rest of the ride. The tunes are blasting and I know I’m coming home so I cannot feel fatigue in my legs anymore. It’s dark and I’m enjoying riding the final ridgeline into the drizzle which doesn’t seem to be getting stronger just yet.

2050: I am coming down the hill into the ranch and I swear I can hear bells ringing, am I losing my mind again? I was expecting there to be no one around because it was getting late and there was a storm forecast, but there was a group of peopple waiting at the finish line, some had finished in the days preceding (Meaghan who won the women’s crown was there having finished two nights ago in a super impressive ride) and some had finished earlier that day. I was touched that there were people there. They ask me how I am, I stop and take my helmet off and my glove falls off the top of my head onto the floor; “That’s where my glove is!”, everyone laughs as they’ve definitely been in a similar position before.

—-: I’D DONE IT! I FINISHED A BIKEPACKING ULTRA!

—-: I get to write my name on the finishers board and get to have a beer and some food with the other riders.

—-: Not long after I arrive Matt also comes in so we all cheer him into the finish.

—-: After about an hour hanging out the rain started to get a little bit heavier and people started to retreat knowing there weren’t going to be anymore finishers that night.

—-: Dustin and I headed up to the cabin that Eli had booked to take showers and get some sleep.

2300: Clean and getting to sleep.

April 2nd

0200: I’m woken by a phone alarm in the room. FFS, someone has left their ultra-racing alarm on 😂 I check my phone for the time and SHIT, it’s not someone’s alarm, it’s a county-wide tornado warning. I’m concerned about the couple of riders still out on the course but just hope they are somewhere safe, there’s nothing I can do that I know of. I try to get to sleep but am a bit confused by the whole thing, tbh.

0210: There’s a loud knock on the door. I’m already basically awake so bound out of bed to answer. “There’s a tornado warning, we’ve opened up the main lodge basement and you can go there.”. I ask if it’s mandatory or just informational. He says we can go if we want but don’t have to. I check that everyone in the cabin heard and reiterated what the lodge manager had said, as well as saying that this is my first tornado warning rodeo and I don’t know what to do. The others all agree that we should go to the lodge basement so we grab a few things (including Eli from the master bedroom) and head over there. As I was running over there the skies opened and I got soaked in about 20 seconds, but we made it to the lodge basement. I tried to sleep in a cinema-style chair for 30 minutes until the warning was over and went back to our cabin.

0900: Everyone in the cabin is stirring and Eli is about to leave to head onto Bentonville. I pack up my shit and treat myself to another shower 🚿 which was delightful.

0930: The ranch shop is selling some cakes and breakfast burritos so I top myself up there along with a couple of pints of coffee and sit out the rest of the morning chatting about the race ang general bike nerdery for the next couple hours. It was great to hear about what the ride meant to so many different people, for some it was their first and for some it was their redemption race, like mine, where they really needed to finish it to prove to themselves that they could.

1130: I received a message from Tilly asking if I was going to be able to make the train in Omaha, Nebraska, that night, which I hadn’t really considered, tbh. I wanted to cheer in the next rider, Jamie, whose husband, Joe, I’d been hanging with that morning and I really wanted to hear how the storm was out there, but when I realised that I could realistically get that train and get home the following day, I went for it, got my bike cleaned to not mess up the rental and started to say goodbyes.

Race Takeaways

Feed plan should have been better.
I should have had some non-bar/real-food with me from the start. Even just some flattened bread or something like that would have been good. There was no option to resupply with real food until the 4th day, and I think it really would have helped mentally.

Sleep system faff slows me down.
Getting sleep system out and putting back in is super slow, in particular the bivvy bag, which I feel pretty restricted in anyway.

Professional Photo Galleries

• https://www.kateaustinphotography.com/Browse/Gravel-DoomDespair-2024
• https://kaicaddy.passgallery.com/-2024doom/gallery

Info

• Official site
• Tracking Trackleaders
• Caltopo custom map and live tracking - Contains POIs, route and just my live tracker.
• My stories/updates
• Strava uploads will be available

Route

• Full route - Ride With GPS - Cuesheet
• Split 1 - GPX - Cuesheet
  
• Split 2 - GPX - Cuesheet
  
• Split 3 - GPX - Cuesheet
  
• Split 4 - GPX - Cuesheet
  
• POIs - GPX