The Long Journey of ‘Hard Miles’
Northwest Arkansas native R.J. Daniel Hanna directs Matthew Modine in new cycling movie out this April.
By Kody Ford | Photography Courtesy Pensé Productions
WARDING OFF BAD LUCK: Riders “charge” gremlin bells, ringing them as they walk around their bikes prior to Doom.
Doom is not for the faint of heart.
A brutal but beautiful bikepacking race conceived by Ozark Gravel Cyclists founder Andrew Onermaa wrapped up its third edition on Easter weekend.
The rapidly growing event saw 100 riders toe the line at the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Jasper. The Doom route is 408 miles of relentless climbs (nearly 44,000 feet of climbing) and rugged downhills. There are very few resupply points along the route. It is truly a backcountry tour of the Ozarks.
This year Onermaa added a second distance option: Despair. The Despair route is still no small feat. It comes in at 196 miles with more than 21,000 feet of climbing.
And, because Onermaa has taken to mountain biking of late, in addition to gravel riding, he added two sections of singletrack to the route. Because it wasn’t hard enough.
“‘It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.’ I think that really sums up this event and route,” Onermaa said. “It’s ridiculous, and we all know that. But for whatever reason, we can’t stop smiling and laughing.”
On the morning of the grand depart, this year on Good Friday, Onermaa dons a ghost mask like the one from the Scream movies and hands out gremlin bells to each rider. Gremlin bells are a tradition in motorcycle riding. The bells are supposed to ward off evil spirits along the route, but not before they are charged by the riders ringing them and walking around their bikes before the start.
Once the bells were charged and attached to their bikes, the riders took off to tackle the brutal course with some amazing conditions. A group of eight riders were still together as night fell on the first day, unusual for races of this ilk.
As that front group of eight, all men, settled in for dinner at Hillbilly Slims in northern Pope County, Canadian Meaghan Hackinen took the opportunity to move into first place all alone.
She held the lead for a while. She was eventually overtaken by Dexter Kopas about 6 hours after taking the lead. Kopas, from Arizona, never looked back. He decided to finish the race on no sleep and his advantage over the others ballooned.
He crossed the finish line first, returning to Horseshoe Canyon 45 hours and 42 minutes after he left.
“It’s only natural I would get my proudest biking achievement during the best biking event I’ve been lucky to be a part of,” Kopas said. “At some point on Friday I decided not to give the concept of sleep the slightest attention, which really paid off. It was as if the sleep deprivation was an advantage instead of an obstacle. I got to play in my mind, body and spirit for two days uninterrupted in the process learning about my different selves and the world I get to inhabit.”
RIDING AWAY: Meaghan Hackinen crosses a creek on day one, shortly before overtaking all of the leaders as they stopped for dinner.
Hackinen maintained second place for much of the second day. She was passed on the second section of singletrack at the Buffalo headwaters, where a majority of riders came unraveled. She was passed by Kuya Takami, who later relinquished second place back to Hackinen after he realized he had forgotten the bags he had dropped at the start of the singletrack and had to come back for them.
Hackinen was the first of the remaining riders to make it to the Mountain View Bistro in Oark. She was on her way back onto the road as Takami was ordering dinner.
Takami was later joined by three other riders who arrived just before the restaurant closed.
Bryan Dougherty, a previous Doom finisher, was one of the three who joined Takami. He eventually passed Hackinen that second night and made it back to the ranch second in 51 hours, 36 minutes.
“My second Doom was just as amazing of an experience as my first was, perhaps even better,” Dougherty said. “Andrew took an already extremely challenging route, and upped the ante by adding two different loops of singletrack. At mile 250 the second loop proved to be one of the hardest mental barriers of the race. The old school, hand-cut trails with punchy climbs and creek crossings galore had me cursing out loud.”
Dougherty said the group of four at the bistro in Oark were all in rough shape. None had slept. There were 110 miles to go and they all thought they were racing for third with Hackinen up the road.
“Somewhere during the night, I managed to pass Meaghan, and while I was pumped to move into second, I had been really excited watching her lead the race earlier and was hoping she would take the win,” he said. “That second night was a hard one. The sleeplessness really got to me, as I had to take many short breaks to try to stay awake. This route does not get any easier at any point, and you are pushing yourself all the way to the end.”
Hackinen managed to hang on for third place overall and was the first female finisher at 2 days, 4 hours and 15 minutes. Another Canadian, Zach Delgreco, spotted Hackinen and was attempting to chase her down before crashing out.
“Doom was everything you’d expect from a ‘beautifully evil bikepacking route in the South,’ and more,” she said. “I’d shown up ready, or so I thought, for the impossibly steep pitches, rollercoaster descents and long hauls between resupply. What I didn’t anticipate — or couldn’t possibly fathom from the outset — was the magic of Arkansas’s backcountry, incrementally revealed as sleep deprivation, muscular fatigue and exhaustion set in. Unfamiliar places in the dark feel even stranger. Down in the hollows, I entered another world of fireflies and frogs, water crossings and armadillo. This — testing myself in unfamiliar surroundings with only the night noises from the bush and my gremlin bell for company — is why I was here. Overall, I’m grateful for the opportunity to race hard, overcome some personal challenges and experience a little bit of the great terrain and bikepacking community that Arkansas has to offer.”
Corey Krosner was the first single speed finisher at 2 days, 6 hours and 54 minutes. He led a packed field of riders who decided to tackle the route with just one gear.
“Doom was everything you’d expect from a ‘beautifully evil bikepacking route in the South,’ and more.”
“With a name like Doom, a high bar is set, and this event did not disappoint,” he said. “The climbs were steep, the descents were a blast and there was no shortage of creeks to go splashing through. Throw in a little singletrack to keep things spicy, beautiful weather this year, a great location for hosting an event and an amazing race director, and it was everything I could have hoped for and more. Andrew treads the line beautifully between designing a course that is challenging and rewarding and one that is truly heinous. If you haven’t heard, single speeds are in. It was a blast to see so many fellow one-geared visionaries out there on the course this year.”
Jesse Smith of Indiana won Despair in 20 hours and 12 minutes. Carter Persyn, a former runner at the University of Arkansas, was second at 21:53 and Conway’s John Hoffmann finished in 23:55.
“I got to ride with many wondrous souls and to ride solo for hours on end, culminating in a welcoming party of sharing and connection at the finish line,” Kopas said. “Organized self-supported challenges like this have immense potential for personal growth, bringing out the very weirdest, purest, darkest and most joyful parts of ourselves when we open up to the experience. I’m so glad to get to be a part of this community as it grows.”
In all, 34 riders finished Doom and 34 finished Despair — more finishers than had started each of the first two editions of the race. The one constant as each rider finished back at the ranch was the smiling face of the man behind the race. Onermaa has created a truly devious route, but there’s no one happier to see so many riders successfully navigate it.
“Doom and Despair isn’t for everyone, but damn, it’s certainly for a group of people that bring me an absurd amount of joy,” Onermaa said. “I don’t even know how to begin to say thank you, but thank you. This 2024 edition was one of the best things to ever happen to me.”
