Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
The RockStar Challenge is a 250-ish mile race from Rocktown (Harrisonburg) to the Star City (Roanoke) with three route options to choose from. This year, both Caitrin Maloney and Britt Mason set new course records on the trail and gravel routes, and they put together a pair of short ride reflections. Read their stories here…
2024 Rockstar Challenge: Trail
Words by Caitrin Maloney
It was a pleasantly cool morning in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as more than 80 racers gathered at Black Sheep Coffee for the 2024 RockStar Challenge. As we set out through the city, the stoke was high. I was only one of 22 racers on the trail course (three of which were women), while others were riding the gravel or paved routes. We quickly made our way through town and popped out into some of the most beautiful rolling farm country anywhere.
Those first paved farm country miles were mellow, which I now know to be cruel foreshadowing. As the trail route broke from the gravel route at Union Springs, the track soon became a steep gully. It was so steep that I was resorting to heaving my bike a few feet up and holding the brakes as I hiked up to it. This was the RockStar Trail race.
Meadow, Flagpole, and Reddish Knobs offered some stellar views, and the descent off Reddish was fantastic. I enjoyed some rare purpose-built singletrack before Stokesville, and then after chugging through chunky trail at Lookout and Hankey Mountains, I discovered my favorite descent of the race: Dowell’s Draft. Smooth, swoopy, fast trail; it was lovely to ride! After refueling in West Augusta (ice cream, Coke, and sandwiches), I was treated to more sweet singletrack past Braley Pond.
At sunset, I passed Matt and Micah—the father and son duo I would leapfrog for the rest of the race—and climbed the doubletrack section of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail (SMT) in the waning light. SMT became fairly brutal as it turned to singletrack. It was very overgrown with narrow tread that sometimes faded into the Appalachian abyss. I grew tired of bushwhacking and side hilling and chose a marginally flat and open site to pass out for a few hours.
The next morning, I set out before dawn to finish the SMT and schlep through the wicked Little Mare re-route to Douthat State Park. I continued to Covington, arriving after dark. Another quick resupply and hot food in my belly, I cruised the next dozen paved miles in the moonlight, making my way to Rich Patch and the singletrack at Roaring Run.
This is when my Wahoo died unexpectedly, and I realized that my charging strategy for this race was seriously flawed. I should not have relied on Dynamo power (with no external battery backup) for such a slow-moving race. I coaxed my device into turning back on and rode a few more miles before resigning to camp. I was able to get my Wahoo to charge the next morning as I descended the Hoop Hole section, another of my favorites of the route. It was a beautiful jungle-like tunnel with lovely dry feet stream crossings. Price Mountain was up next, and I was right to be suspicious when I started to see inspirational quotes posted in the trees.
After surviving Price, I cruised through rolling gravel and mellow trail. Looming ahead was the infamous Dragon’s Back, 10 remote miles of punchy, unrelenting ridgeline trail. As I started up the last gravel climb before turning onto Dragon’s Back, I looked up and saw a woman sending it down the hill toward me with a cooler lashed to her bike. She stopped to offer me a cold beer (I politely declined) and bid me well on the next section of trail, which she said was her favorite. I learned later that this kind woman was Laura Hamm, the previous women’s FKT holder. I was grateful she sent me into that section with good vibes, because I hit a low point of the race there.
Fast forward to the last climb of the race – up to the star above Roanoke. It’s past 1 a.m., and at this point, I was banking on finishing this race. I had one eye on the clock because I needed to finish before 3 a.m. to beat the current FKT. This was when my Wahoo died again, unexpectedly (it had 20% battery?!). I pulled out my phone to navigate, and it was at 1%. I hopped off my bike, plugged my phone in, shut off the light to direct all power to the USB, and started run-walking up the trail in the moonlight. Would I be able to generate enough power to keep my phone alive? Without navigation, I’d have to camp. My heart jumped when I saw a light behind me. Matt Lind had caught me! He lent me a battery block, and after some wonky moments navigating via my phone and repairing a pinch flat, I finished at the Texas Tavern with a time of 67 hours and 43 minutes, besting the previous FKT by a mere 18 minutes.
Overall, the RockStar Challenge was an amazing experience. It was beautiful, truly challenging, and filled with lovely people. I’ll be back. I can’t help but to think about all the ways to shave time off that finish!
2024 Rockstar Challenge: Gravel
Words by Britt Mason
On April 20th, I took part in the Grand Depart for the Rockstar 250-mile gravel route. Coming from a background in adventure racing and endurance off-road events, Rockstar was my first foray into ultra-distance biking. The route traverses Virginia from Harrisonburg to Roanoke on a mix of gravel, pavement, doubletrack, and trail. The weather was clear and mild with crosswinds throughout the day. Spending all day on the bike in solitude in the Appalachian Mountains was simply incredible. Cynthia Carson set a blazing FKT in 2023 as the first woman to go under 24 hours, and I set out to see what I could do on the Rockstar course. I was on a mission, but there was plenty of time to savor the scenic and remote places the bike took me that day.
Leaving Harrisonburg, we meandered through the foothills to Union Springs, which included some slabby hike-a-bike on the way to the top of Reddish Knob. I was looking forward to dropping down the Death March, the gravel descent off of Reddish, only to discover it was in various stages of harsh fresh grading! It made for a bumpy, wild descent that kept me on my toes the entire time. The daylight hours passed uneventfully, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sun was shining, and spring was in full bloom.
My high point on the route came as I was heading in to Covington. The gravel descent into town was a treat after grinding through some intermediate climbs passing Douthat State Park. I stopped for my main resupply, grabbing some hot food and preparing my bike and lights for the night ahead. After climbing out of Covington at golden hour, I descended Rich Patch into a rolling valley at sunset and enjoyed the moonrise as the peepers came out in concert. The miles flew by with gorgeous mountain views, and this section put me in a great headspace heading into the overnight hours. Once darkness fell, whippoorwills started occasionally perching on the ground along the gravel roads and would fly away as I rode past. I can’t positively say I’ve ever seen a whippoorwill before, but I saw dozens overnight on the route. It was one of those unique experiences you can only have when doing a wild adventure like this.
As night settled in, the real work began. My body was feeling the many water crossings, bumpy doubletrack, and loose gravel in the Patterson Creek and SR66 area, and the final hours were a hard push. All the gravel dust had made my vision hazy, and once I entered Roanoke proper, the city lights played tricks on my eyes, making for some challenging navigation. Once I made it to the Star on top of Mill Mountain, I breathed a sigh of relief as I rolled down to the finish at Texas Tavern. I finished in 21 hours and 58 minutes, lowering the FKT by two hours. If you’re considering an East Coast bikepacking route, both the gravel and trail versions of Rockstar will not disappoint!
Further Reading
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