Clovis's story: Six Gap Century

BaseCamp athlete Clovis Pitchford shared his experience at the 2026 Six Gap Century bike ride in Georgia.

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This past weekend, with the blessing of my wonderful wife, Bett Pitchford, I traveled to Dahlonega, Georgia, to take on Six Gap—a cycling odyssey in the North Georgia Hills (104 miles, 11,600 feet of climbing), which happens to be where the Appalachian Trail (AT) begins (or ends), as well as near where Mountain Phase of Ranger School occurs.

The morning started with perfect weather—clear skies, minimal winds, and temperatures in the lower 50s that would later climb to 79 degrees. Fellow BaseCamp cyclist Jess Davidson, who I have logged hundreds of hours with on Zwift over the past 3-4 years, happened to randomly be in the same hotel (same floor), so we decided to ride this one together.

Shortly after the race began, Wildman and BaseCamp alum Buddy Mixon passed me on his fat bike, which is always a riot to see. Inspired by his courageous spirit, we set out on a steady zone two pace as we approached first (Neel) Gap, which we took on in low Tempo. At the top, the historic 1930s CCC built Walasi-Yi Center and a bunch of worn-out hiking shoes decorate a “shoe tree,” where the AT crosses literally through the building (see photo).

After descending into a valley, the next climb, Hogpen Gap, required a bit more power, as it is roughly 2 miles of 10+ % grade. I hit my peak 20-minute power (286 watts or 3.6 watts/kg) on this section some 3 hours into the ride. The rest of the day was filled with fun but long, steady climbs (Unicoi, Jacks, Wolfpen, and Woody) and mostly winding descents, which helped me with my subpar descending skills.

I ended up finishing in 397th overall (of 767), 104th in gender-age, and had a normalized power of 219 W (2.8 W/kg) for the 6:54 moving time, 7:29 chip time.

Shout out to Coach Brig for getting me ready and the ride plan.