Race Day - Part Drei

So, where were we? Oh, that's right..........exhausted and weary! At least we weren't lost. We faced a big decision at checkpoint 4. Trek for 26 miles or get back on the bikes and pedal 15 more miles to the next checkpoint on the "short course". As unappealing as the idea of getting back on the bikes was, humping 26 miles up and down hill, with one team member nursing a sprained ankle, was even less appealing. Begrudgingly, we decided to subject our sore backsides to 15 more miles in the saddle. After a quick meal and rest, we filtered water and headed out for checkpoint 9, following winding back roads. Some time around 4:00 a.m. I began to fear that I might fall asleep while riding my bike and either go burning into the woods, or take out one of my team mates riding near me. Neither would be good or remotely beneficial. We pulled into a church parking lot and made ourselves cozy, right there on the asphalt, using our packs as pillows. By this time in the morning, it actually began to feel a bit chilly, so the asphalt felt great. We managed to sleep for about 45 minutes before getting up and finishing the ride to checkpoint 9. The sleep was very good and very necessary. As we checked in at checkpoint 9, we changed into our regular shoes and pulled the map out to plot our way to the next checkpoints. While we were doing this, we witnessed two of the three teams that would eventually finish officially run into the checkpoint and exit just as quickly, leaving us all feeling just a tad demoralized. It's also probably safe to say that those "Premier Teams" didn't stop and take a 45 minute nap on the course. The morning sky was just beginning to show signs of daylight breaking as we stared at the map and tried to figure out how we were going to bushwhack 10 plus miles to the next two checkpoints by the 7:30 a.m. cutoff for the canoe leg. As we were pondering this dilemma, we noticed another team, who was down to three members after dropping one man in the middle of the night, sitting there. They told us that they had already gone out on foot in search of checkpoint 10, bushwhacked up and down hill, got lost and decided to return to 9, where they threw in the towel. As the four of us stood there with the knowledge that we could find ourselves in the same boat, possibly out of food and water, exhausted beyond belief, and lost in the woods, we made the ego crushing decision to hand in our passport and remove ourselves from the race. Our race was over. As we all stood there, looking at each other for a long while, we finally agreed that our decision was sound and right. None of us are "quitters" by nature. We wouldn't have been there together in the first place, putting our minds and bodies to that sort of test if that were the case. DNF are three letters that none of us are accustomed to seeing on race results. Considering the difficulty of the terrain, the crazy heat and the fact that only three teams of thirty six officially finished, we're actually okay with that. The whole experience only made us better and stronger, and we will no doubt return next year. I will finish this post by saying that I have nothing but respect and admiration for my three fellow team mates. Great job guys! "Thrive Outside"

Race Day - Part Deux

After Gary read yesterday's post, he reminded me that I had overlooked the fact that our team had to cross a calf-deep stream with our bikes, less than a half mile into the race. The stream crossing was easy and unremarkable, for the most part. The down side to the crossing is the fact that your bike shoes get soaked, increasing the chance of hot spots (blisters), early in a very long race. Fortunately, that never became an issue for us, and that certainly would not be the last time our feet got wet during the hours to come. As we made our way down the ridge with checkpoint 2 in our sights, Gary limping and Steve bleeding, the realization of how difficult this race would be began to sink in for all of us. We paused briefly so I could tape Gary's ankle and clean Steve's shin digger. After picking up checkpoint 2 at 4 p.m., we were off on a winding, single track, downhill descent toward the small town of New Castle. At this point, we had all pretty much depleted our personal water supplies and the creeks near the bottom of the descent were looking very refreshing. A quick stop to filter and refill a couple bottles and we were off for the short trip into town, where we found a small convenience store. We all downed Coca Colas and water, and scarfed down Fig Newtons, Slim Jims and bags of chips. For anyone reading this who may be appalled by our junk food intake, trust me, nutrition goes out the window when your body is burning up calories like that. The sugar in the Coke and salt in the Slim Jims and chips was just what the Doctor ordered for us at that point. We also carried an assortment of Pro Bars, Clif Bars, etc., but the immediate satisfaction from the junk food was pure wind in our proverbial sails. While at the little store, we also purchased 4 gallons of water and topped off our reservoirs and bottles for the long haul to checkpoint 3. Just as we left town, another quick pit stop was in order to repair a flat on Gary's bike. Luckily, that would be the only mechanical issue we would face for the entire race. Once back on the bikes, we began the long grind on secondary and gravel roads toward checkpoint 3. In order to get to 3, we had to pass through checkpoint 4 on the way, finally arriving there around 10:30 p.m. Checkpoint 4 was one of a couple manned checkpoints and the volunteers there advised us to filter water, if we needed it, because it would be a long, tough haul to 3 before turning around and returning before the 2 a.m. cut off. Since we were all still good on water, we headed off toward checkpoint 3, up a steep Jeep trail that climbed relentlessly to the ridge. Of the 4 miles or so up to checkpoint 3, we probably pushed our bikes for 3 1/2 of them. At 12:25 a.m. I punched our passport at checkpoint 3 and we turned around to head back to 4. We arrived back at checkpoint 4 at 1:35 a.m., the last team to make it by the official 2 a.m. cutoff, feeling exhausted and a little weary. Over 12 hours spent on the bike saddle was starting to take it's toll on all of us, and we were eager to transition to the trekking phase of the race, until we realized that we had approximately 26 miles on foot ahead of us, before reaching the transition to the canoes. Decision time. To be continued.......again. "Thrive Outside"

Race Day!

Okay, so it took me more than a day to get this post up..............My previous post talked about the day and night before the 24 hour adventure race. The morning of the race we were all stirring from our tents around 6:30 a.m. Race packet pick up (where you get the course maps) was scheduled from 8 - 10 a.m. Fortunately, we were on the early end of the packet pick up because the line grew long rapidly. After securing the maps, we headed back to our base camp, plotted our course and made final gear checks. A final race briefing began at 10:30 and lasted over an hour, giving us just a few minutes to assemble our gear and bikes at the start line. The race begins with a mass start and in order to spread the field out some, there was a prologue, which consisted of a two mile trail run. The temperature at noon was already approaching 100 degrees and Ronny Angell (Race Director) warned us all to take the first few hours easy and closely monitor our water intake. To quote Ronny: "You won't win this race in the first six hours, but you can certainly lose it". That comment, along with the "old school" Odyssey course comment, followed by the assertion that less than half the field would even finish the race stuck in my head for the first six hours. The four of us managed to stick near the front third of the pack for the trail run. Considering that there were close to 200 people starting the race (Sprint and 24 hour racers) we felt like we were off to a pretty good start. A couple of times I actually asked Kris to slow down, because we were so close to the front. At one point on the run, Steve shouted out that we only had 23 hours and 45 minutes left! We made our way back to the bikes, mounted up and headed out to checkpoint 1. After a couple miles on back roads, we were climbing steadily up a curvy mountain road, in search of the first checkpoint. The heat was already oppressive and only getting hotter by the minute! I should point out that this race is unsupported, which means you carry all your food and water for the entire race. We all had 200 oz. reservoirs filled with water, in addition to extra bottles on the bike or in our packs. After plotting our course earlier, we realized that we would need to stop and filter water from a stream after passing checkpoint 2, high on a ridge. After bagging checkpoint 1, we were off to track down checkpoint 2. Here is where it starts to get ugly! A fairly easy going ride on an overgrown fire road led us in the right direction, parallel to a ridge that we would eventually have to make our way toward. Another check of the map and we made the decision to start bushwhacking uphill toward the ridge. The grade of the mountain was obnoxious and covered in a tangled mess of undergrowth, making what would prove to be one of the toughest parts of the bike leg. After what seemed like forever, we made it to the overgrown ridge trail, soaked with sweat and legs and shoulders burning. We paused for a few minutes on the ridge to eat, drink and conduct minor bike maintenance before heading off down the ridge, still in search of checkpoint 2. The ridge was an unpleasant mix of semi-riding and pushing our bikes, while getting intimate with thorns, vines, rocks and spoke busting sticks. Somewhere along the ridge I heard Gary scream out in pain. He had just twisted his ankle pretty badly. We were less than three hours into the race. Just a few minutes later, Steve took a dive into the pedal of his bike and picked up a nice, deep gash to his shin. The real fun was about to begin in earnest. To be continued....... "Thrive Outside"