Odyssey One Day Adventure Race

The race we have been preparing for since early Spring came calling for us this past weekend. The 21st edition of the Odyssey 24 hour adventure race took place in Craig County, near New Castle, Virginia. The exceptionally rugged and unforgiving terrain of Jefferson National Forest was our constant companion and often times, our nemesis. Race director and Adventure Racer extraordinaire, Ronny Angell, described this particular course (which he set up) as "old school" Odyssey. That comment made me cringe a bit because Odyssey has long held a reputation for races that only the most elite and fit of teams could come close to completing. The last few years Odyssey had eased up a little and made the races more "doable". Go figure that we'd pick this one as our inaugural race together and Ronny would decide to go "old school" on us. Of the 36 teams who started the race, 3 finished in 24 hours or less. We were not one of those teams. Since there is so much information to cover about this race, I have decided to make two posts. My second post will cover the actual details of the race. Kris and Steve drove together from Northern Virginia and Gary and myself drove together from Luray. We caught up with them on I-81 and blazed a path together into base camp like a mini caravan, complete with bikes, gear, food, drink and copious amounts of testosterone. Record breaking heat was forecast for race day and the day before (our arrival day) was apparently on the prowl for it's own record. After a quick check in, we were off to set up our micro "tent city" and make final preparations for the next day. Kris broke out the Dutch Oven, cut up various vegetables, added some sirloin and kielbasa and proceeded to serve us up massive helpings of stew worthy of a King! As if that were not cool enough, he followed the meal with a blueberry cobbler that he also made in the Dutch Oven. Needless to say, he secured his place as the "team chef" for all future events. We washed all that gourmet food down with a couple beers and headed off to our tents for a good nights sleep. The sweat soaked details of the actual race will follow tomorrow.
"Thrive Outside"

Adventure Race Gear Shake Down

Two weeks until team "Appalachian Outdoors Adventures" competes in the Odyssey 24 hour adventure race in south western Virginia. The team consists of Gary Drum, Kristopher Hayne, Steve Lindsey and myself. Because Kris and Steve live and work in northern Virginia, training together on a regular basis has been difficult. The required gear list for the race is fairly extensive and we all realize the importance of making sure we show up prepared. A decision was made for the four of us to meet at our shop and head out to the George Washington National Forest for a night mountain bike ride. In addition to the night ride through rock gardens and across ridges, we would be checking our light systems (mine failed in the end!) and taking note of other items we may or may not want to bring. Our ride began while the sun was still up and we made pretty good time on the Massanutten trail, navigating our way through rocks and crossing the occasional creek. Three miles in the trail intersects with Peach Orchard Gap, where we pushed and carried our bikes a half mile uphill to the Duncan Knob trail. It's safe to say that the "least favorite" part of the ride was the uphill "hike a bike". No pain compares to whacking your shin on your clip-less pedal, while pushing the bike uphill, swatting gnats that are incessantly dive bombing your eyeballs and simultaneously removing thorny vines that reach out and grab at your flesh from the side of the trail. After the "barrel of laughs" we all had climbing up to Duncan Hollow, we made the pleasant side trip up to the top of Duncan Knob, where the breeze rapidly cooled our upper bodies, still clad in sweat soaked jerseys. After removing the wet jerseys and hanging them in various surrounding trees to dry out, we all relaxed on the warm rocks and entertained ourselves with stories that only four guys in the middle of a remote forest, on a mountain top, completely removed from polite company would have or even begin to appreciate. After the sun fell completely behind the distant ridges of West Virginia, we began our rock scramble descent back to the mountain bikes and mounted up. The majority of the ride back out is either flat or downhill, so we made great time through the darkness, bombing downhill at points and ultimately back to our starting point. The best part is that there were no injuries and no major gear malfunctions (other than my bike light). Time seems to be flying by and in less than two weeks we will be spending 24 hours together, testing our bodies, minds and equipment under less than optimal conditions. Nothing makes us happier! "Thrive Outside"