Thunder Rolls, Part 2

Go to part 1

DISCLAIMER:  It is very, very long!!!

About 11:30 we lined up, got first O map, slapped some asses (I think I still have a hand print from Bob), some needed to make last second bathroom breaks, and some were needing to use the bathroom but just stunk us out instead.  Looks like a 2ish mile run to the first cp then into the river for about 3 miles of "coasteering," picking up the first 9cps and 10 is a TA at bikes.


Bob wound up and put all he had into that one...and Leisha got a pic right before the SMACK!



First O map

 After the National Anthem Gerry counted down and "GO!" 



Racers behind the start finish line for Anthem



WTF, Tardy Rooster and Virtus are not known for running but you know at the start of the race you feel the need to get moving like everyone else.  I thought that we would run/jog for a while then walk, but no one wanted to be the one to suggest the walk so we kept jogging.  I thought it was great until I realized that all the glow sticks tied to packs were disappearing ahead of us.  At some point one of us looked back  and saw ONE team behind us.  What the hell, we were running and everyone still was blowing us away!!! 

We hit cp 1 with no problem and were into the river.  The water felt pretty good, not too warm and not too cold and I knew I should enjoy it now, it was projected to be in the mid 90s we were going to get hot later.  I don't know if we talked about it but Virtus and WTFARTR stayed together nearly the whole time.  I absolutely love racing with others.  I think it keeps it light and fun.  We had no problems finding he first 4 cps all in the river but I couldn't believe how slow we were able to move.  Someone was constantly falling, tripping, and cussing from stumbling in the river.  The actual physical act of this part of the race sucked because it was difficult, but ended up being one of the best part of the races just because of the company. 

We did notice at cp 4 we caught a couple teams that had walked past it and were coming back.  We grabbed and got moving.  At this point, I don't know if it was me pushing the pace or what but we lost Virtus on the way up, up, up to cp 5.  We grabbed it and I said lets go back down.  Should have taken more time to study the map.  We made it all the way back down to the river and I said, I may have just made the first navigational error.  I said lets try and fix it by going down river some more and trying to get up to cp 6 from the back.  Well that didn't work so I was really mad at myself and I am sure Brian and Todd were questioning me now.  I said we have to go back and climb back up past cp 5.  It cost us about 30 minutes, but the worst part was we never saw Virtus and I knew that Luke led them the right way.  I think we all realized that we had to pick up the pace to catch back up to them.  We hiked about as quick as we could.  Walked right to cp 6 once back on top of the cliff after a minor side track looking for the compass I dropped (which was Todd's back up because I left mine in my pants that were with my bike at the TA).  

After cp 6 we had to scramble, slide, free climb down a pretty steep hill/cliff.  But we knew where we were headed because the clue was cave and we have all been there before.  We moved quickly to the cave where WTF donned helmets (I am not to big on my own safety so I bypassed mine).  I didn't remember the cave being so long but would estimate it to be about 150 meters straight into the cliff and was about the size for one guys to stand/stoop in all the way.  Some sections we had to crawl but it was pretty easy.  After punching all of our wristbands to prove we were all there, we knew we had to keep pushing because Virtus was still ahead of us and the repel was next.  We MUST get there...this is where the golden speedo is supposed to come out.  

It looked like a pretty easy route to get there so we pushed the pace.  There was a path from most of the other teams but somewhere we lost it and we were doing some serious bush whacking.  Not too bad but when finished I was completely covered in burrs.  They were even tangled in my leg hair.  I couldn't get them off and I was having a bit of a panic attack about it.  I was brushing and brushing but they would not come free until I grabbed them one by one and I am not exaggerating when a I say there were hundreds and hundreds maybe even thousands on me.  I knew I didn't have time to pick them so, screw it. We kept going.  The good news was we made it!  The first thing I saw when the brush cleared a little was a pasty white Bob in his speedo and harness.


Brian in awe of Bob

We geared up, got some photos with Bob and got on the rope for a awesome repel in the dark into the river.  I loved it.  Bob and Brian ended up repelling next to each other.  Bob owned it.  He lost the bet and maned up...first of all I would never have bet something like that, but I would have said heck no and not worn it.  I felt a little bad for him, but I guess it is his own fault for the bet and loosing.

Todd getting to the bottom

We all got down the repel without incident.  Special congrats to Kate for her first ever repel, a 100' repel in the dark with a free fall overhang about half way down into the river.  All 6 of us were back together again.  Bob kept his speedo on and we were on our way to cp 9, then off to cp 10 which is the transition to bikes.  No problems with navigating we just kept walking along enjoying the night air, with friends and good conversation.  This was actually the first time I felt sleepy.  We made it to TA at 3:56am.

TA: everyone changed clothes but me...didn't have any.  I did take time to refill by Perpetuem bottle and wash out my shoes (lots of sand, and brought one pair).  We did pretty well. We were out of TA at 4:12, 16 minutes isn't too bad.  We took off ahead of Virtus thinking that they were stronger on the bikes and would catch us anyway.  Little did we know this was the last time we saw them...they had some issues and never caught back up.  You can read about their race at Virtus or SuperKate.  We enjoyed our time with them thanks guys!!

I measured the bike from TA 1 to TA 2 with cp 11 in between to be about 11 miles.  I knew it would be mostly gravel with hills but I was hoping for about a hour.  All of the navigation was straight forward but Brian was having some issues.  His stomach was hating him.  He had mentioned eating too much dried pineapple at the TA and though he was going to puke.  He was also fighting the sleep monsters.  At one point he went through a ditch of someones yard and hopped back onto the driveway by the culvert.  I thought he was just messing around but he said he was feeling tired.  He thought he was falling asleep.  At this point Todd was leading us and I dropped back to keep Brian on the road and to try and get him to speed up.  We were crawling.  Then Brian goes off the road again and almost got sucked into another ditch.  I kept talking to him and trying to get him to chase Todd but no luck.  We finally rolled into the TA for a huge O course.  I can't see my bike computer with my map board on but I knew we were slow.  Todd asked what the heck was going on...we were only doing about 5 mph nearly the whole time.  Well we made it but check in time was 5:46, 1:36 not too bad but we made it.  

We grabbed a Monster drink and headed out.  I had studied the map a little and knew I could get us pretty easily to the cps but I was concerned about the first one, cp 13 it was pretty flat without any good landmarks.  So I measured up and asked Todd and Brian pace count so I could get us there from a certain attack point and about 3 minutes into the hike they lost count and didn't know how far we went.  Not too big of a deal, we figured out another route.  We picked up 13 pretty easily and had some trails to 14, then trail to creek for 15.  Then I got us to a hay field where we could move quick.  We took slightly longer route but moved well.  As we gathered 16 and 17 from the hay field then to a road and trail right to 18, we noticed we started seeing teams everywhere.  We had not run at all but our route had us catching many teams.  From 18 to 19 there was a power line to follow which I think most teams did.  I had raced here before and knew it was extremely hilly there and looked for another option. I noticed if we went back into the woods we could stay low and go around all the hills except for one up hill.  We took it.  

I did not want to sound cocky but I said to Brian see those 4 teams climbing up and down the power line cut?  We are going to pass them all right now.  I wasn't sure but if we could keep up a pace that wouldn't be a problem.  My adrenaline must have kicked up a notch because I was dragging Todd.  Brian and I noticed that he had fallen behind a little on the one up hill.  We stopped and waited.  Todd asked for a break.  We all agreed to take about 2 minutes.  When we got back moving, we got to the top and adjusted course to walk the top right to 19.  We didn't see any teams around.  I was thinking crap we didn't catch or pass any of them...too much talking.  Or we had passed them and were ahead enough not to see them.  We didn't know.

At this point some of us were pretty tired and Brian and Todd were very low on water in their bladder.  I was ok because I was still sipping my perpetuem and hadn't used my water too much.  I told the boys to keep pushing.  I knew that cp 20 was at a camp ground and I was betting there was water there (I hoped).  Back down the big hill we just climbed and follow creek to the camp grounds.  Once there we noticed people were just getting up and were making breakfast.  I had noticed it was 8:09 and I said man it seems like it was the end of the day, but everyone we saw was just getting up.  We had been racing for over 8 hours without stopping or sitting.  We found a water hydrant and I said lets watch our time but take about 10 minutes to sit and refill and eat.  We all refilled water (and perpetuem again) as I was pulling out some ibuprofen and succeed caps when I realized oh man I had to get rid of all that pasta I ate the night before.  I was so relieved to see a bathroom right behind us.  It was the nicest bathroom I had ever seen in a camp ground.  Plumbing, tiled walls and everything.  After dropping a bunch of excess weight, back out to get moving again.  We threw the packs back on and were off.  

Not too quickly. But we were moving.  20 was easy, no hills just walked right to it.  Then I knew we had a monster hill to climb but we could do it on the road.  Part way up we grabbed 21 .  When we got to the top we were going to attach them all from the top trying to flatten things out but making it longer.  22, 23, and 24 were pretty easy terrain.  Then we had to climb down to the bottom of the cliff to 25 at a spring, which we were going to use to fill up but noticed a sign that the water was not safe to drink.  So we got wet a little to cool off and stayed low to 26. Had a minor navigational error but only cost probably 5 minutes. Then off to 27 where the ascending was.  We got there and were all kind of dragging a little.  I wanted to keep us moving so I harnessed up quick and asked who needed help.  The guys were also pulling theirs on and were almost ready.  So I said see you at the top.  The ascend was huge I think it was about 3 times as high as the practice.  I made it 2/3 of the way up very quickly then my body said no more!  I had to hang there for a few moments and regroup then push slowly the rest of the way up.  It was pretty tough.  

At the top my hands didn't want to work so I really struggled to get my harness off but I knew if I hurried I could get more rest while I waited for my team mates without making them wait for me.  I got all ready to go and sat down to rest.  After a little bit Brian made it to the top.  I think it was about 30 seconds after he sat that we both were sleeping.  Todd made it up to find us passed out.  I got up and pulled out my surprise for my team mates.  I packed 3 donuts in Ziplocs, in a plastic container.  The were pretty excited but my stomach didn't want any food.  So I threw mine away and kept sipping my perpetuem.  We were slow to move on but we got going. I decided to head back to the TA to attack 28 from the trail near there.  I think that this cost us a little.  We all wanted to stay and sit and hang out with all the volunteers there.  They are great!!!  

I was not very nice to Todd at this point but I had to get us moving to get the last three.  While looking for 28...I was off.  Kim, a friend from facebook, and her team showed up.  I know Todd and Brian were surprised to see them.  We all thought they would be way ahead of us.  They found 28 before us but we saw them getting it so of course we had to follow.  Sorry guys.  Then to 29 another cave.  We tried to find on top but no luck our two teams decided to go down the re entrant to the road and look from the bottom.  We were all looking and once again Kim's team found it first and we followed again.  We got to the cave and jumped right in.  It was incredibly cool in there.  I wanted to stay.  I bet it was 30-35 degrees cooler in there.  This cave was much shorter so we weren't in very long.  When we got out I realized that we jumped right in front of the other team.  I really truly felt bad (Kim if you read this I am really truly sorry, please forgive me it was my fault).  I hate it when people do things like that to me.  We then took off to 30 the last one before the TA.  

The navigation was easy but the terrain was tough.  We eventually made it to 30 and out to the TA.  12:41pm.  It took us 6:55 for this orienteering section.  Vounteer Chad said that he thought we passed 9 teams in that o-section.  We knew there was a ton of race left but it was only a little over half of the time gone. 

On the bike for a 1.5mile bike ride to the canoe.  It was flat and/or down hill the whole way.  We moved pretty quickly.  When we got to the bottom of a huge hill, almost to the canoe put-in, I had pulled ahead a little and all of the sudden I heard Brian yelling at me.  He said that Todd's bike had a problem with the brakes.  I went back to check it out.  His brakes were rubbing bad enough to almost lock up the wheel and were burning up his pads.  I spun the wheel a couple times and realized that his wheel was bent very badly.  I didn't know what to do...I didn't see any broken spokes or anything obvious, so I disconnected his brakes and said we would have to limp the last couple blocks to the TA.  We pulled in at 12:55 only :14 minutes for that bike section.  

After checking with volunteer Trent about Todd's wheel,  (He knows way more about bikes than we do) he dug a little deeper and found that there was a broken spoke and there was no way to fix it.  We may be screwed.  We decided to move on to the canoe and worry about it later.  

There is a big history about canoeing for all of us.  WTF is know for tipping a time or two and not keeping the canoe straight.  The Tardy Rooster team, on the other hand, does pretty well in the canoe but we don't really like water.  We have dropped out of races or skipped canoe sections before because of water conditions.  

We got started and I have to admit I was scared to death.  Our three fat butts in one boat on the main channel of the Mississippi.  The wind was blowing about 20-25mph up river.  We had to travel up river about 3 to 3.5 miles.  So we had current against us, wind behind us, and dozens of boats flying up and down the river.  The waves were pretty big so we choose to stay as close to shore as possible.  We struggled at times to stay in a straight line.  I usually paddle in rhythm and use a j stroke or reach and pull in rhythm to correct but it was not working at all.  I think it was the weight in the boat and all the wind and waves.  So I decided to paddle less in rhythm basically steered only.  The guys pulled us along at a good speed.  We got up to the first canoe cp #32 and collected after a hike up a creek to a bridge.  

Back at the boat I knew we now had to go around some islands and cross the channel.  I was pretty nervous about this.  We made it around the islands and just got started out to the channel when the wind was pushing the waves over the left side and front of our boat when I tried to steer into them.  Todd was pretty vocal at this point about getting wet a lot.  We were struggling to move and stay stable so we chose to pull back to hide behind the island and decide what was next.  We were debating if we should continue on or turn back.  The problem with that is we have to get the points in order.  If we skip one we would only be ranked as high at the last sequential point.  If we turned back we were quitting and done.  

We all agreed to turn back to head for home.  I was seriously sick to my stomach but all I wanted to do was get off this stupid river.  The way back took forever. The wind was very bad on the side of the channel.  I would estimate about 45 minutes to an hour to get back.  When we got back we knew we were finished but had to bike about 12.5 miles back to the finish on Todd's broken bike and no rear brakes.  It was 3:30 when we got out of the boat but since we knew we were done we sat around and sulked.  We didn't leave until 4:25. 

Todd had to walk some of the down hills because of the soft gravel and no rear break to slow him down.  But our pace wasn't terrible.  We pulled in to finish at 6:15.  We collected 32 of 55 cps and QUIT with nearly 6 hours to go.  I feel totally responsible.  I think that I could have talked the guys into going through with the canoe but I chickened out.  I am sorry team.  I know we all agreed but it shouldn't have happened.  

I keep trying to justify quitting.  We knew that we were well ahead of the only other team in our division.  So we knew we would get first in our division, we also didn't know how Todd's bike would hold up if we did try and continue, and to be honest we were all getting pretty tired.  But leaving all those cps and 6 hours out on the course is still eating me up.  We were 1st of 2 teams in 3 person all male, and 16th of 26 teams overall.  It was pretty cool because we were the very first 24 hour team to cross the finish line.



Finished!

 After finishing we took photos, turned in passports and wrist bands, and were able to cheer in all the other teams finishing.  We also got our gear put away took a shower and had a blast eating pizza and sharing stories.  Most of the people associated with adventure racing are incredible and very fun to be around.  Thank you so much to the volunteers and everyone involved with putting the race on.  We got great swag from the sponsors and won a free pair of Solomon shoes.  I chose to give mine to Leisha as she needs them right now more than I do. 

Results for the food.  Perpetuem seemed to work great!  I mixed the drink in a 20oz bottle, half full of powder then topped off with water and mix. The down side is that I had to carry the powder with me.  I had 3 small gel flasks that I carried to refill when needed.  That worked ok but I have since found that Hammer sells a chewable solid that I will also be trying.  I had a small about of licorice as my only solid food all day.  Drank one Starbucks frapachino left with my bike, about 10 oz of gatorade, 4 20oz bottles of perpetuem, and water.  I felt good all day.  I was tired at times, which I expected but I did not ever really have a fuzzy head or felt "done."

Also, a big thank you to Brian and Todd.  I had a great time racing with you!!!  
I do regret quitting, but is not a huge deal.  I regret more not staying the night after the race for more social time.  Sounds like I missed out on some fun times.  

Overall an absolutely awesome experience, way better than I could have dreamed.  My first 24 hour race was a success and I am ready to take it on again!

Here are some random photos:

               

Thunder Rolls, Part 1

Written by Dave:
Well, I was not going to write a post on the TR this year because I knew my teammates would come up with a far better version than mine, but I decided that I would document things the way I remember them too.

The highlight race of the year for me (every year) is the Thunder Rolls.  This is one of the hardest best organized races in the country and it is fairly close to home.  I will not be missing it until I (or Gerry, the race director) are physically unable to do the race.  Well as it turns, out my favorite team mate was physically unable to race so that left me out. 

At first I was scrambling, wondering who would race with me, but then had many unfortunate events (including some one stealing my bike) happen in a short time that caused me to accept that I would not be racing in my favorite race.  After a couple weeks I had been talking with Tim "Time" Adams, who raced with me at the CAC non-race, and he was trying to come up with ideas of how I could race (none of which included him by the way).  He suggested asking Brian and Todd of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.  I didn't think that they would want to race with me so I kind of dismissed it and went on with life...later that week I was talking with Tim again and he said that he ate lunch with Brian and said that he had mentioned me racing with them and Brian seemed open to the idea.  So...after a couple emails and checking with MIA Beau of WTF...it was on!!!  WTFARTR was born!!!

I believe we decided to race about a month prior to the event and for some reason we all agreed to do the 24 hr race.  None of us had done more than a 12 hr race before and it scared the crap out of me.  I had so many concerns, mainly how to navigate in the dark, how to stay awake for about 40 hours straight, being physically able to race that long, and how to take in the nutrients I would need. 

In the back of my mind I knew most of the concerns would work themselves out but I was seriously concerned about food.  Now I know what you are thinking...a 5'11" 200lb guy is not going to starve.  But I have been known in 12 hr races to race hard and not eat enough and by about hour 8, not be mentally all there.  This is not an option since I knew that I would be navigating for much of the 24 hour race.  I had said to Leisha about 100 times "what am I going to do about food?"  I am sure she got tired of hearing it.  While thinking, I remember Gerry telling me one time he rarely eats in long events.  He drinks Perpetuem and it is all he needs.  So I jumped at it.  Ordered Caffe Latte flavor and was only able to try twice during a couple hours of training.  Seemed to taste ok and no stomach problems so I was going to roll with it.

So for the next month I had received some of the best emails of my life.  I was laughing with the WTF guys nearly everyday about what we were expecting and fearing.   I was definitely wondering what I had gotten myself into.  Race week had come and I was getting so excited I could almost wet myself.  I wanted to race bad, but I also couldn't wait for the social time.  I would be with the WTF guys of course but we would also be seeing friends from other teams too.  Our friends Mike and Amy Paustian were racing (her first AR), Kim Chou (FB friend), and of course Team Virtus, they are like celebrities in the AR/blogging world.  Not always because of their race prowess (they won't be beating Wedali any time soon) but because they are very funny, fun to be around and just great people who would do anything for anyone out there.

Mike and Amy got first in 12 hr division

Finally, Friday, race day.  I woke up at 5:30 am because I was excited and couldn't sleep (not good, I would start racing at midnight Friday and not be done until probably Saturday midnight)...oh well maybe I would get a nap.  Yeah right!

Leisha and I left at noon because Leisha was volunteering at the registration.  I was so glad that she would be going to be part of the event.  I didn't want her to miss out.  We got there about 2, I got registered, got a incredible swag bag and started to organized my gear a little to kill time.  WTF would be there soon so I was just waiting for my team.  When they arrived I helped them move stuff into the cabin we could use for free, awesome!  I was not staying though, Leisha was planning on driving me home after the race on Saturday night so I left my things in the truck.  When settled, we didn't have too much to do, we were going to practice ascending but Todd didn't want to waste his stored energy so Brian and I agreed that sounds like a good idea. We did however decided to walk around the camp and check things out. 

Before too long Team Virtus shows up and the smack talk began about the tetherball death match.  All I know is that I wanted nothing to do with it.  The biggest reason is all of the bets that come from such competitions.  Probably the most common is the one between two Virtus team mates.  The loser had to wear a speedo for a leg of the race.  Bob ended up being the loser and he would be wearing a sparkling gold speedo for the repel section. 

After talking with the Virtus team we decided to join them in ascending practice.  Brian and I would practice and Todd would rest.  Just goes to show how much Brian and I are followers and will do what ever the crowd wants to do.  Practice went very well for us not too tough, nothing really to worry about. 

Next, supper at 6.  We had a great meal included in the cost.  The food was pretty good but it was very interesting to think about my last meal before I start a 24hr race.  Following the meal, we had the prerace meeting.  I love Gerry's meetings.  He is giddy with excitement about how hard the race is going to be.  I was not sure what to expect.  I knew the area a little bit so I didn't feel to intimidated.  I knew it would be very hilly but that is normal for almost any AR.  Last thing of the meeting is grabbing the 6 maps and course book.  We would also be getting two more maps later on for the trekking sections.

After the meeting WTFAR, Kim Chou and Virtus

After stealing the registration table from the volunteers, we used it to plot and plan routes.  I think I may have scared my team mates a little with my obsessive concern for details.  Special thanks to Leisha for helping to laminate the maps.  I think I said 3 or 4 times I try so hard because I always like to know where I am and where I am going (I know, I know, profound, but isn't that the name of the game?). 

When finished we made a last gear check and planned out clothing strategy.  Gerry said that the first leg we would basically be swimming and we could put what ever we wanted at the TA following.  So everyone had a second set of clothes shoes etc. for after the "swim".  Well everyone but me.  This is the only race I have ever done where I didn't bring back up everything.  I had no extra shoes or clothes, only socks.  My thinking was based on what Gerry has said in the past.  This is "old school racing," we will have not access to gear, must carry everything with you.  When finish preparing, we had about 2 hours before start time.  Tried to nap...yeah right.  I was super excited, nervous, scared and ready to get started. 



courtesy of John Morris

Here we are we are in the back right, I think that Luke and I got cramps in our calves standing on our tip toes so that we can be seen. 

To be continued...

Race for the Cure

 On June  9th, I ran the Race for the Cure with Lexi and my friend Ann. It was so much fun. 
Lexi and I trained pretty hard for a 5k.  I was training for an AR too so I would run 3 or 4 miles with Dave and we would run with Lexi too.  For a while she was doing 1 mile at a time, then working up to 1 and a half miles and then 2 and finally 2 and half miles.  No matter where we would run in town, when we turned off of Main onto our street, she would pick up the pace steadily until she was sprinting with Dave.  I couldn't keep up with her.  (Sigh) I know in my head my 10 year old is faster than me.  But watching her beat me every time is a little hard:)  Oh well.

So on race day, we ran our hearts out.  Well, until mile 2 anyway.  Lexi doesn't have the endurance to do 3 miles.  (Not many kids do.)  I know that.  So at mile two, I pulled jelly beans out of my pocket and slipped them to her.  Just one at a time.  It helps to keep her mind busy so her feet can keep moving.  Well we got to where we thought we were done, but we had to go 2 more blocks to go!  So we turned left and kept running.  Lexi was really hitting the wall at this point.  Her feet were slapping, her arms were flailing and she was breathing like she was taking her last breath. I was holding her hand and literally pulling her along. Ann was being so helpful. She was like Lexi, let's just get to the finish and you can have a popsicle!  Lexi shouted, "No sugar!" (Ok, so you are like my sister, Tracy, when you exert yourself you can't handle the thought of sugar.  I didn't know this about you.)  So Ann starts backpedaling, ok how about some water. Do you want some yogurt?  I love my friend Ann;) So we turn last corner, to the right and all of sudden Lexi sees the finish line.  She lets go of me and says (in the perkiest little voice ever) "Bye Mom, see you at the finish!" 

I had a dream...

Written by: Leisha
Dave and I have been talking a lot lately about navigating.  I keep saying that some people's brains just aren't set up to be good navigators. Dave wants me to practice navigating so that in a race, we can work on it together and not always rely just on him.  I get that.  I really do.  But it seems like the more I work on it with my directionally challenged brain, the harder it seems.  I'm not saying it can't get better with practice but I'm definately not there yet.  All that to say, I had a dream last night.

I was doing an adventure race without Dave (shocking in itself).  I was racing with my friend Amy Paustian (who just did her first race, The Thunder Rolls, with her husband), my sister Tracy and one other female who I couldn't quite place.  So it was the four of us and we started off the race biking.  We went a long way, like 12 miles, when we ran into some kind of a street fair and decide to stop for a Coke.  We knew we were in the right place because we saw some other teams. So as we are sitting there resting, my teammates look to me to tell them how to find the first checkpoint. This is where I realize that I am navigating! But it didn't feel weird in the dream, just normal.  So I pull the maps out of my backpack and the first thing I realized was that I didn't laminate them.  (This cracks me up because this is usually the only time I actually touch the maps in an actual AR.  I'm the laminator.) We all decide that it isn't a big deal since the maps are printed on waterproof paper.  But then I look at the map and can't find any dots.  I had forgotten to mark the checkpoints!  What I great navigator I am. We can't even mark them on the fly because none of us brought the course outline booklet.  We realize the only thing we can do is go all the way back to the beginning and start over.  But here's the kicker, as we are leaving, we see a ton of teams just rolling in.  If we could have kept going, we could have been in first place!

Maybe this is why I don't navigate.

The Saturday Training Ride

Written by Leisha
We went for a training ride last weekend.  We were planning on riding from our house to Sunderbruch park, ride the single-track, and then ride back.  It's about 12 miles from here to the park so that would be about a three hour excursion.

We decided not to get up at 0'darkthirty because I'm a little possessive of my Saturdays.  It's my only day to sleep in.  As it turned out, Dave got up at 0'darkthirty and ran 10 miles.  It is part of his training for the 50 miler he will do in the fall so he had to, right?  He wasn't quite sure it was a great idea when we got on the bikes and his legs were toast.  He drafted me all the way to the park:)

We wanted to get on the road at 8:00 so we could get down to the park around 8:45 and have 15 minutes to relax before we started the single track.  Well that was Dave's plan anyway but he didn't really articulate it to me so I had us leaving here at 8:15 instead.    I felt great on the way down there and was looking forward to seeing my friend Lori who was going to meet us there. 

 She loves single track so she was anxious to meet us there to practice.  I was looking forward to getting to practice the single track but I was dreading it at the same time.  Since I'm not very good at it, I figured I would just go slow and steady and it would be fine. 

About 10 minutes after we started, I hit a big root.  My tire went one way and my body went the other way.  I flew through the air and hit the ground face first.  The first thing that flashed through my brain was that I  hit my face and I would be all bloody and have to go to the hospital and would scarred forever.  So I said, "Oh my gosh, I hit my face."  What Dave says happened was that I partially sat up and said something about my face and then laid back down on the ground in the mud.  He still laughs to this day when I bring it up.  I don't see what is so funny.  Here's what happened to my eye.



The bruising eventually spread around my eye.



My sunglasses gave me a black eye.  I guess all the dirt on my face was just dirt.  Not all the abrasions I imagined in my brain.  The first thing Dave said to me was, "That dirt in your mouth is bothering me.  Are you going to get it out or should I?"  Well excuse me!

After I sat up, and I will say that Lori sounded very concerned about me, Dave said, "Oh wow, can I take a picture of that?"  Darn blogger anyway.

So after I got myself back together, I was able to continue on the ride.  When I landed, I felt something go in my neck and knew it would hurt later on.  But I wanted to continue, so we did.  We kept riding and I kept falling over and we rode about 5 miles, all in all.

Dave and Lori rode over this bridge but I chickened out.

I think Dave was wanting me to ask Lori for a ride back to Walcott but I thought we could make it back home.  So home we went. 

That night, my neck started to hurt a little bit.  By the next day, which happened to be Mother's Day, I was hurting pretty bad.  By Monday, when I could finally be adjusted, I could barely move my neck.  Turns out I had given myself whiplash by landing on my face.  I told Dave I needed to learn how to tuck and roll since I have now landed on my face twice.  (The other time is a story for another day.) But now, a week and three adjustments later, I am feeling pretty good.  Finally.  That was pretty bad. 

Bushwhacker-IRVOC race report

Posted by Leisha and Dave
Weather!!  The week of the race it rained nearly everyday.  Some of the storms dropped huge amounts of rain so we were nervous about the amount of mud we were going to encounter, especially on the single track.  But by Friday, they had taken it out of the forecast.  The weather was perfect.  We got a little warm but I'll take that over rain. 

As I mentioned in a earlier post, my sister joined us for her first race ever.  She came over from Iowa City the night before to bring her bike and discuss last minute strategy and packing ideas.  Race day we picked her up at 5 in the morning from my mom's house, then to Lori's house to pick her up.  We got all four bikes on the bike rack (barely) and then we were off!  I will be getting a new bike rack very soon.  Don't have the extra money laying around but I hate cramming our pretty nice bikes on that POS bike rack.  Looking to get the Kuat NV, with the add-on. 

"Before"

We were all a little nervous at the start.  Tracy's first AR.  Lori's first race in two years.  Dave having to race with 3 girls:)  Didn't know what to expect here!  And me because I always get nervous at the start.  Mostly because I fear the unknown and if I'll be able to handle what is required.

So just prior to the start, they walked us to the start line.

I thought it was strange that we didn't just start at HQ but whatever.  So the first thing we did was trek. We had to get 4 CPs in order, then the next 11 could be in any order. 

All 5 of my team mates...sorry it's blurry I was walking backward

 As the navigator I love it when we do a race with the orienteering type maps.  The detail is incredible and makes my job almost...shall I say...easy?!?  We were flying by our standards.  We had the first four CPs in about 20 minutes.  From the beginning and through these four points it was pretty obvious that we were about the same speed and on the same strategies as team C2.  Chad and I decided that we should just team up and work together.  Chad and Cortny were great!  It made it so much fun hanging with them and I think that I said about 20 times that day that it is nice having another navigator to bounce ideas off of.  All 15 points went pretty smooth and quick.  Split time 1:14 in 8th place at 10:14am

Then we transitioned to the bike. I was extremely nervous because we all assumed this would be single track and I hate single track.  Actually, that is putting it mildly.  I am terrified, horrified and really wimpy about single track.  So we start going on the bike and I insist on being in the back.  But what it turned out to be was a wide grassy trail.  I was totally fine with it.  In fact, I was feeling a little silly about making such a big deal because it was fine.  I kept saying to my sister, "By the way, this isn't single track. I'll let you know if it turns into it, but this isn't it."  I'm sure she wondering what the heck my obsession was with it because she had never done it, but I really hate it.

Courtny and Lori waiting while we punch

 No problems with this section, we had some slow going in a couple spots just because it was wet soggy grass due to all the rain but we just kept chugging along.  At the end of this section we would find a TA and get another map and clue sheet.  We had no idea what to expect.  At the TA with clue: "end of road" it is at a rather swollen river/creek.  The volunteer said take everything off you don't want to get wet, put on a PFD, and grab a caribeaner.  We had to hold onto the short webbing attached to the caribeaner that is clipped to the rope and wade/swim down the river about 30 meters to punch our e-punch before we could get out map and clue sheet.  At one part I couldn't touch the bottom so I was floating in my PFD.  It was SO cold that it took my breath away...literally.  I was breathing very short, very quick breaths, the only thing I can compare it to is the way they teach women to breath through labor.  It was fun though!!  Split time: 1:26 at 11:41 am we had lost a ton of time here 10 of 18 teams already through that put us 11th and 12th. 

We don't know these guys but this is what we did!  About 3 steps further for the front guy and it drops off, I couldn't touch the bottom!

We got our maps and clue sheet and found that we had a huge section of trekking/biking. We could get the CPs in any order and could decide which parts we wanted to bike and trek. 

Obviously route choice and travel method was a huge key in the next section.  We had a few minutes of confusion about what to do next.  The team didn't know whether to put trekking clothes back on or wear biking gear...I said yes.  I didn't know what to tell them we would be doing both.  Chad and I finally formed a plan and said we would be doing a short bike, short trek, short bike, short trek, short bike then a longer trek.  So we kept with the bike gear until the longer trek section.  In hind site I think we lost some time here and I take the blame for that one and not pulling the trigger faster.  

The short bikes and treks were pretty easy and quick.  The longer trek section went well but our moving speed was slowing just slightly as some.  The only other issue that I can think of is when we were about half way through the long trek I was running down a steep hill after punching the cp when I heard a very loud bang and a sharp pain in my ear.  I went down and was feeling a little light headed.  I quickly realized that somehow a stick made it right into my ear and hit my ear drum.  (I am pretty sure that it ruptured my ear drum.  When at home, Leisha checked it out with her otoscope(the ear thingy doctors use) and said she saw some bleeding but didn't notice anything major.  Maybe because as soon as she got into my ear far enough I screamed like a girl and pulled away and said that is enough looking.  Today is Thursday, 5 days later, and the pain is getting better except when I burp, cough, sneeze, blow my nose or anything else that puts pressure on it.) 

At the top of a huge hill.  Click on the picture and check out the little dude on the sign. 

The trek ended up with us on the same grassy path we biked before but we had to work our way back to where we left our bikes.  We attempted to do some jogging and towing but we soon realized that too many of us were out of, or very low on water, and beginning to hurt a bit.  It was way hotter than I had anticipated.  We still kept a quick hike going and made it back to our bikes.  Once there we had 4 quick cps to get on our way back to the TA for some kayaking.  Only 7 teams now ahead of us!! Trek/bike split 2:39 done at 2:32 pm.

I know that some of us were a little nervous about the kayak section, myself included.  I don't think any of the four of us from Tardy Rooster have kayaked before, only canoe...I don't know about C2??  We had to stick to our teams of 2 and do this like a relay.  One kayak, the other run to a relay point, then the second one kayak while the other runs back to the take out.  While kayaking, we had to go to the cps and look at the letters on the cp and report back what the word was when we get back.  I was really confused when the letters I got were  C, then VO...what the heck?  

Leisha was going to go first in kayak and said she wanted me to boat at the same time, and Chad also decided to boat first, so that put Lori, Tracy, and Cortny together on the run. Actually, Tracy, wasn't into running in her bike shoes. I also heard that the first leg of the kayak was longer. So I figured I should go first and do the longer section and then run in my bike shoes. Didn't much matter to me at that point so I did it for my sister:) I helped Leisha get into a kayak and sent her while Chad got in his.  I turned to the "safety boat" and asked which one is fast?  He pointed to one and I took it.  Stupid me didn't realize that meant it would be longer and narrower...more easily tipped.  It was very wobbly (no I didn't tip...unlike "the six pound burrito brothers" and "team parking lot" in previous races) I figured it out and started digging a little bit, he was right by the way, that boat sailed like crazy, although my wife will point out that she beat me because she was the first out of the boat (only because I helped her and by the time I found a boat and paddle and got in she was literally out of site...then at the take out I let her get out first...but she won!). 

At the end I was helping Lori get out, Courtny in background

The first leg of kayak only took about 12 minutes then we portaged and partner two took over and the first group ran back.  The other three girls did a great job and I heard that Lori found the letters I, and R...DUH the "word" is IRVOC.  I thought that this was a excellent way to do this section great job IRVOC it was fun!  Kayak split was :28 it was now 3:07 only 1:53 til cut off.  Side note:  The safety boat guy followed me the whole time on the kayak and Chad and I got to talking with him and somewhere in there I ask if he follows every group and why he followed us.  And he said something along the lines of he heard me talking about it being tippy and saw me almost loose it, so he wanted to be close...NICE!

Chad and Cortny had to leave after the kayak.  Childcare issues, I think.  We were really bummed because we had a ton of fun with them. We've already connected with them on facebook and hope to race with them in the future.  Loved racing with you guys, thanks!!

We got our third map and clue sheet only to find out it is a single track section with 10 cps none of them marked on the map.  We were to just follow the route marked on the map and you will come to them on the track and must collect in order.  I asked Rachel from Bushwhacker how long it has been taking teams and she said about an hour.  Crap!  I mentioned that we are very slow especially on single track and she said you can come back any time to make the cut off.  No way!  We have to finish...lets GO girls!

To get to the trail head we had about .5 miles in an open field and I didn't know what to expect.  I had one girl excited to do single track (Lori), one who is dreading it because she knows she HATES it (Leisha), and one who has not been on a mountain bike much let alone ever been on single track (Tracy).  For me I couldn't form a opinion, I was focused on trying not to mess up the nav and push the pace so we don't miss the cut off.

Within the first 100 feet of single track we had stopping and looking to see what was ahead.  I was trying to keep my cool and make it very clear that I don't care how you do it, but the bike must keep moving.  Walk or ride but don't stop!  I hope my team mates didn't think I was too hard on them I was trying to be patient yet motivate at the same time...(not always a strong skill for me).  I think that we were all getting nervous because it took a very long time (I would guess 20 minutes) to find the first cp.  We had nine more to go and we would not make it at this rate.  I was struggling to keep track of our position on the map so I couldn't tell how far we had come and how far we had to go, but I was hoping the later cps were closer together.  I think that all of the walking made it much, much slower.  About a third to half way through I noticed that we were riding much more and picking up cps a little quicker.  At one point we had about one hour left and 4 cp and I realized that the 4th cp was at the trail head at the finish...ONLY 3 LEFT!!  I mentioned it to the girls as we crossed a open field and picked up the pace to the last loop.  We took a right and started the loop and had to walk a pretty good hill.  At the top we met another team.  I don't know who they were but I am greatful we met and thankful for the help.  After looking over maps together he said that we had made a wrong turn that was obvious when pointed out and I also realized that I missed a small section all together. 

Turn around girls we are goin back!  I don't think that I had too many fans at that point but I knew it didn't cost us too much time.  We went back and picked up the small section missed got a cp then headed to the point where we took the wrong turn.  It was tough becase the path had 4 or 5 turn offs.  We hit the right one and rode really well.  Found a cp and now we were down to 2 left (one at finish).  We made our turn at the back of the loop and were heading back hopeing to see the last cp.  We made it back to where we started and it was obvious we miss something.  Another wrong turn at the back of the loop.  To fix it though we could ride the correct path backward to find the last cp.  When I figured it out I took the lead and was going to hammer ahead.  I got around the bend about 100 feet and slammed on the brakes with everyone coming up behind...FOUND IT!  Turn around and get us home!

I figure it was only about  a mile or so of double track, pretty flat and easy to ride.  I mentioned to Leisha at one point that we had better get going because Lori took the lead and in past races she has almost dropped me at the end when she knew we were done.  We managed to make it back punch the last cp and get to the finish line.  Finish time 4:33...we had :27 to spare. YES!  That put us in 6th and 7th place of the 18 teams.  I am extremely proud of my team.  The teams that were ahead of us were very good teams.  We had a great race and great time doing it.  The single track that seemed to take for ever took us 1:26 and was actually about :07 faster than the two teams in front of us 4th and 5th.  Great job ladies!!

A huge thank you to all of the volunteers and IRVOC/Bushwhaker folks.  This was a great race, very well organized with incredible route.  I will be keeping this one on my calendar!

"After!"

The Boonecrusher Race Report

Written by Dave with comments by Leisha

In the days leading up to the Boonecrusher we were doing normal prerace planning.  Looking at gear, equipment, food, but now that we have started blogging our race reports I was feeling the itch to take pictures to go with the stories.  We don't have a camera suitable to take racing with us so we decided to by a disposable waterproof camera.  Man that thing took me back to before junior high school.  You had to look through the hole, wind it manually, and when you take the picture it is just a click and nothing else.  Really hard to get used to in this world of technology. 

So I was allowed to leave work one class period early, Leisha had just gotten home from a field trip with our oldest girl.  On the road for about a 3 hour drive.  The plan was to arrive at Seven Oaks Recreation area about 6:30 check in, get maps, clues, etc and find a restaurant back in Boone to eat and plot maps.  We didn't know where we were going to eat so we found what looked to be a main road through town and would try and find good food and maybe a beer.  As we drove we saw all of the typical fast food places but nothing was looking like what we wanted, until I saw this big building that looked like a bar with a parking ramp next to it.  As I rolled along I saw the name and that it was a bar and grill I said, "this is it!"  Then I attempted to parallel park our Ford Excursion aka, "The Bus," with the bike rack on the back.  Leisha got out to help me not hit the other cars.  I think it only took 3 tries and we made it.  We grabbed our map gear and went into the "Giggling Goat" bar and grill after a photo op with the Tardy Rooster member with the looks.

Perfect place to eat for the team with the rooster name.

I don't know if I had ever been in a race where we had to plot every single point but we did for this one.  I like plotting but I also get a little nervous because my error could cost us lots of time and effort if there was one.  Knowing all of that, I knew plotting 32 points was going to take a while because I was double and triple checking most of them as I went.   Anyway it took about 2 and a half hours to eat, plot, plan routes and laminate the map.  Then we were off, back to Seven Oaks to set up camp.

When just Leisha and I race, we use the back of the Excursion to sleep in. With the seat folded down the area is about 7 feet by 5 feet.  Very spacious compared to some tents.  Man I am glad that we have that option because it rained, poured and stormed like crazy that night.  Before lights out we double checked packs for gear, laid out race clothes and made a morning check list.  It was around 9:30 or 10 when we laid down.  We were glad to have the opportunity for lots of sleep.  Then the storms rolled in.  I woke when the rain started and I don't think I slept much after that.  Oh well another AR on little sleep.

We got up about 5:15 finished last minute preps, took bikes to bike drop and did our prerace rituals (see CAC report, "Race day" for details).  There was a meeting at 6:30 before the 7:00 start time.  One big thing in the prerace meeting was the option to do the single track.  Because of all the rain that week and especially the night before it was really muddy and we could ride/push as designed or we could do it on foot.  I think I heard my wife sigh out loud.  She HATES single track!!!  I knew that we were going to trek it because of this and it would have to be way faster. 

Race started at 6:55 and we had some options.  There were 2 smallish trekking sections and the single track/trek section.  We could do either trek first but must do the single track/trek in the middle of the two.  At the start we started in a jog because it was flat and on road.  We all are passing a team that is very adamant about walking and not wasting energy, our friends, Orange Lederhosen.  I believe I heard Kyle yelling to everyone to "slow down we have all day!"  Those two are great!  We get to the woods and many teams are in front of us. We are somewhat just following at that point...which I don't do unless I am lost.  So I stopped, oriented and checked the map.  My brain must still be fuzzy at the beginning of races because the first point is always tricky for me.  But anyway, Leisha, who is just beginning to learn navigating says something along the lines of, "what is so tough, there is the trail, there is the creek, we are facing North we have to go to the right not left."  Alrighty then!  I don't know if I was more proud of her for figuring it out or more pissed off that I didn't see it quicker!!  Well we found the first and knew we wanted to use the road to get to the next two, because of preplanning and scouting the road the night before. 

One big hill then all flat or down hill.  We were able to run lots of it.  Right to those cps and back to TA for the single track/trek.  Plan looked easy and again were able to avoid all hills except one major hill that we had no other option.

Then TA for next trekking section.  Long flat road run to the woods found first right away then we over shot our second and lost about 15 minutes wandering for it.  Stumbled across the pond that was given as the clue while back tracking (we went too far).  

IN the pond...of course!

Then to the last cp of this section and back on the flat road to the cp.  First trek took 1:10, single track/trek, :34, and trek 2 1:50.

Next a section of biking on soft gravel and some paved roads.  There were a couple crazy hills but no walking...yet.

 It took 1:29 to get to the canoe section, very middle of the whole group.  Upon arrival of the canoe section  we see that we are using the orange life vest around neck and canoe paddle (could bring own if we wanted to carry it).  But the bigger issue is the 300 meter portage to the water down a fairly steep hill.  I am pretty sure that Leisha was thinking that she couldn't make it to the water with the boat, but I immediately was thinking how the heck are we going to get back up when we are done (we will worry about that later).  Leisha made to to the water without stopping once to adjust carrying the canoe but she was pretty close to tears. 

Side note:  nearly every race we have done, the canoe portaging brings on the moment that Leisha has her "soup sandwich."  For those of you who don't know it is a term coined by the best woman adventure racer in the world, Robin Bennincasa.  We have used it ever since we heard her talk in person at a camp.  The soup/sandwich refers to the point in a race when you reach your limit and break down.  You are exhausted or hurting or both and you just want to be done.  Usually involves tears.  Just to be clear, I DID NOT cry about carrying the canoe down the hill.

Anyway the canoe was pretty easy for us and straight forward.  We gathered the 3 cps and hammered away on the paddle.  I knew that the end was near and we were going to have to carry that boat up that hill.  I was feeling pretty good at that point.  So, like I always do leading up to a transition I verbally went through everything we needed to do.  I said that she would grab our packs and paddles and get her butt up the hill, I would get the boat.  I think the biggest problem for me was getting the thing onto my shoulders, but when I did, I started up the hill about 50 steps and realized I was on my own and I couldn't see.  I was yelling for Leisha but I got no answer for the first couple attempts.  I finally tipped the canoe way back so I could see, realized that was more comfortable anyway, and I hammered to the top.  Later come to find out Leisha was worried that I would beat her to the top of the hill so she took off.  Canoe time:  :54 only 9 minutes slower than Wedali, one of the best teams in the country, too bad they were 2 hours ahead of us already.

Then to the bikes for a 8ish mile ride to another trekking section.  We hammered it out passing 2 teams and taking :36 to get there up and down some more big hills, still no walking though.  This trek looked pretty straight forward on the map and we could stay on the flat top until dropping in for the cps clued creek and, draw.  When we got there we were in 11th place and doing well.  As we were heading in we were seeing some very good teams coming out and they looked to be in rough shape and had nothing good to say other than, "have fun"  (and I am no genius but I don't think that was "good").  But my confidence was still high and I was planning on nailing it.  Holy crap was I WRONG!!!  I messed up something going to the first point and had to do the up down and all around looking for it.  No luck!  It is very deflating mentally when you realize you have to move on and were not going to clear the course.  I decided maybe I was one ridge too far south and decided to go north up and over the next and if no luck then it was toward the direction of the next cp anyway.   At this point I was becoming very intimidated by this park.  The hills were bigger and steeper than any I had seen or raced on.  I don't know how to describe it but I would guess there was 600 to 800 feet in elevation change in a very short distance in some of these places.  If anyone says that Iowa is flat and that racing here is easy I would love to take and show them this place.

I have to add here that we had heard 'rumors' all day of a guy doing this race barefoot.  There were two guys in Jesus-type sandals (just a flat sole with leather straps) and I thought that was what they were referring to.  But no, there was actually a guy barefoot on this course.  Barefoot. I was in awe because I have embraced the barefoot running method but I still wear shoes. I think I could imagine going barefoot on the road but this was woods. Thick brush.  Sticks poking everywhere. So at one point, I was resting with another team when the barefoot guy showed up (with pink toenails).  I will call him BG and he had a conversation with another guy. 
Other Guy: Dude, are you barefoot?
BG:  Yep.
Other Guy: Let me look at those things.  (You know I had my head in there gawking at his soles) Don't they hurt?
BG: No
Other Guy:  How long you been running like that anyway?
BG:  Forever, I was born this way.

Anyway after the up and down to the north we found another team coming toward us looking for the  same cp coming from the one we decided to skip to.  They gave us a clue or two and we had nothing to offer other than, "good luck."  We did find the cp in the creek without any problem other than the hills.  Then off to the 3rd and final cp for this trek.  In the back of my brain I was still considering taking another shot at the first one if this one doesn't take too long.  I don't know what my problem was but I got completely lost.  I was trying to use the compass and take a direct route so that I wouldn't but it didn't work.  The flat top was so big (bigger than I thought) and very thick that I didn't have any reference points to move across it so when we got to the next re entrant or ravine I didn't know which one it was.  At one point I stopped and said to Leisha, "I don't know what to do."  I don't know what she was thinking but I seriously started to get scared that we were going to get seriously lost and not make it out for a very long time.  When I got it together I decided to get a compass reading and head in the direction I knew there was a jeep road and a fence intersection.  I held the compass in front of me and made a bee line for it.  I didn't vary from that compass heading at all only move slightly to go around a tree but other wise I was going over and under everything in the way.  The good news is we made it back right to where I wanted to but the bad news was it had been 1:45 and only 1 of the 3 cps.  I again considered going in again with a different attack plan but we were both mentally and physically drained from those crazy hills.  Plus we knew we had about 16 miles of biking and another trekking section left.  So we agreed to hit the road and get away from there.  Official time 1:50 and 2 missed cps.

We had about 5.5 miles to the next trekking section that was again very hilly.  We actually had to walk one monster.  It seemed to take FOR EVER but our time was :45 and the best teams were around :30-:35 so we again were not that slow.  The last trekking section we knew was also very hilly will 6 cps scattered quite some distance apart.  We were beginning to feel wiped out and knew it would be tough to make the 13 hour hard cut off.  So we made a plan that involved cutting off the two furthest cps.  By that point we had already missed 2 so we didn't seem to care much about missing 2 more.

We started off on our plan and crossed a gate which we didn't think much of it because the race director said everywhere you will be going will be public or we have permission.  The camp for that trek has lots of private property signs but we are ok to be there.  Evidently, we didn't take a route he was expecting because the property owner we came across wasn't mean but made it clear we were not supposed to be there.  He gave us the go ahead to continue but said come back a different way, so we walked a little faster.

After we left the home owner we thought we saw Big Foot, that rock is about 17 feet tall   ;)

We heard about 30 seconds later that he turned two other teams back.  We continued down a scary big hill and found one cp quickly and headed to the next by following a creek. 

It was pretty flat but very rocky and not very quick but found the next one about 500 yards off the creek straight up another monster hill.  Our plan then had us go back down to the creek and back up the other side to the camp, another huge climb!!!  When we got there we were going to grab one that was up on top on the opposite side of the TA.  We were so tired when we saw the TA we said screw it one more miss won't kill us.  So we checked in and geared up for the bikes again.  Official time 1:15, 6 minutes faster than the leaders but we skipped 3 cps.

On the bikes we had to ride down the monster hill we walked before into the valley and then back up one just as bad down the road after one cp.  Another side note:  When transitioning there were a couple other teams there, one we had talked to earlier the guy said they had not gotten 1 of the cps but when they checked in the girl said yep, got them all so far.  We were wondering what was going on.  Well at the bottom of the monster hill and around the corner were the two cps that we cut off because they were about 1.5 miles from the TA.  We saw them there with there bikes on the shoulder.  I said I bet they got a flat.  Wrong...they were changing their shoes to run up to get the two that we cut off.  I was then getting mad. 

We continued on with 3 cps on the bike back to the finish.  By the way, we walked for the second time on the monster hill back up out of that valley.  We managed to pass two teams along the way and were stopped at where we thought the last cp was, off by 100 meters.  But when the cheaters flew by us Leisha swears the girl said, "your loss."  I thought I heard, "on your left," If you know Leisha you know that she is NOT confrontational and not too competitive in general.  But she was about ready to throw down!  When ARing, she is worse than me.  She often gets frustrated with me for sharing info with other teams.  I checked the results and I remember this team was 911 and was 4th of 17 teams in our division and 10th of 30 overall.  Disappointing...

Riding to the 2nd to last cp we just passed team as spec in back!! 

After punching the last cp we had a mostly downhill or flat 4.4 mile course so we hammered home.  We were glad to be done.  I am not exaggerating when I say this was the hardest, most hilly course I have ever seen or raced on.  We ended up getting 27 of 32 cps in 12:04, 12th of 17 in our division and 20th of 30 overall.  I am still kicking myself we left 5 cps out there with 56 minutes left.  I always go out wanting to clear a course and if I had been on for that 3rd trek we would have made it because we would not want to have missed those in the final trek.  Any weekend racing is a good weekend, but I will always have that pit in my stomach. 



At finish