Bonk Hard Chill 2012

As you may know, Robin has been on a doctor mandated 6 weeks off due to a broken tailbone, this past weekend was the end of the 5th week. Because of this, Chuck had to get a new partner, which would be me, who wishes to stay anonymous, so to protect the innocent, I will be known as Lula for this post.

So this is how the adventure starts, I meet Chuck at the same park and ride lot that he always meets Robin at. As I load my gear, he says, where are your bike shoes, and I of course answer, why they are in my van back at home 45 miles in the wrong direction. No worries though, check-in is at a bike shop and I need new mountain bike shoes anyway, I will just buy a pair. As we head onto the highway, Chuck says “you have your paddle, right” and I say, why no, it’s back at home with my bike shoes. Now Lula never forgets anything, but today she has forgotten two important items. It’s just a good thing that the paddle is optional, if you don’t have one, you can use one of the crappy canoe company ones, so that is what I would have to do. So I sat there for a while and mentally ran through my gear, luckily I had not forgotten any other gear.

So we make it to the Ozark MO, and to the OZ bike shop to check in. When we go into the store we find out that they had been robbed just a few days earlier and they only had two pair of size 10 men’s bike shoes. Time to go to plan B, I bought a pair of used platform pedals for 5 bucks and Chuck and I tried to put them on, but were unsuccessful because my current pedals were on too tight. We took the bike into the shop where the mechanic finally was able to loosen the pedals up and get them swapped. That was a load off my mind. So we got checked in and then drooled over the rack of Swiftwick socks, they must not have been out when the robbers were there, because it was one of the few things left in the store.

After some dinner, it was time for the pre-race meeting. Gary the race director was throwing out prizes into the crowd of racers, when all of the sudden a water bottle was flying right towards me, just as it was about to drop in my lap a guy across the aisle from me jumps over and grabs it. Man, it was just a water bottle, but I think someone saw what happened, and just after that I caught a flying rubber chicken. Well the rubber chicken is the best thing you can catch because you get to trade it for a really nice prize, so I got a Kuat water bottle lock, a very cool prize. Next the maps were handed out and we found out that we had to plot 29 points, that’s a lot of points. We also were told that we had a bike drop, but needed to keep our helmets with us. Chuck and I took that to mean, we would be caving, and guess what for once we were right, I mean Chuck was right, this was my first time racing with Chuck, so I never guessed about this stuff before. You will hear more about that later.

So bright and early Saturday, we dropped our bikes at the bike drop and headed for the start, where we parked in a muddy field, we were pretty sure we would be pushing the adventure van out of the mud at the end of the race. I was just hoping I would have enough energy to do that, otherwise, we were sleeping in the van. We grabbed our gear and headed to the starting line, stopping first at the Johnny on the Spot, while standing in line, Chuck says “oh, I have to run back to the van” and he takes off, when he gets back, I ask, “hey what did you forget” he says “nothing important, just the map”. I could just see us at the start, the gun goes off and we are standing there looking at each other, not knowing where to go.

The first few legs were trekking, they were pretty long, but the orienteering was simple, I think Gary planned it that way just to spread the teams out. The terrain was beautiful, there were so many places where we were trekking though giant rock formations, it’s too bad we couldn’t take our time and look around more.

We had no problem finding any of the checkpoints, as we headed to the first canoe CP, we came upon Team Orange Lederhosen, we passed them just before the water and from there on, I think it became a race between ROCK Racing and Orange Lederhosen. We went back and forth all day long, discussing the finer points of life, like how thick bacon should be, what kind of priorities a girl should have if she wants to have an adventure racing boyfriend, oh and if farting during a race will draw or disgust potential girlfriends. It was all very important stuff.

As I tried to get my wet hands into my canoe gloves, it wasn’t going well, Chuck just watched me, wondering just how many teams would pass us before I finally got those gloves on. Of Course Orange Lederhosen passed us, and Chuck finally took charge and pulled my gloves over my hands for me. So into the water we went and we stayed dry, but that didn’t last for long, at least not for me, every paddle stroke Chuck splashed me with water, I had to put up my hood, just to keep my head dry. It’s a good thing there was a rescue boot in the area, because we had so much water in our canoe, I thought we might sink.

We paddled our way to the next CP where we found out that we would be doing some caving, it was in the Bridal Cave, the name right there scared us, there was no way Lula would be marrying anyone in that cave. So with our helmets and head lamps on, we headed into the cave. It was about a quarter mile back in some really small areas and as we went, my headlamp kept getting dimmer and dimmer, I knew I should have changed those batteries. I was navigating with the light of Chuck in front of me and another team behind me. It’s a good thing I am short or I might have smacked my head on one of those stalactite rocks, like Chuck did, good thing he had a Hardnutz helmet on to save his head.

We made it back out of the cave, grabbed a honey stinger and ate it on the run back to the canoe. We then headed to CP 10, which was back near where we originally put the canoe in, as we rolled up to the floating dock, Chuck could see an orange jeep in the parking lot, he just knew it had to belong to Orange Lederhosen. Emma, who is either, the girlfriend, wife or groupie of one of the Orange Lederhosen guys was there taking photos, so Chuck yells is that your jeep. Chuck can’t help himself when it comes to Jeeps, he is one of those Jeep guys. It didn’t belong to Orange Lederhosen, but to another volunteer who was on the dock, so Chuck yells, “man that’s a nice jeep”. About 30 minutes later we made it to the canoe take-out and had to carry the canoe over a wall and up a hill, I think that was the hardest part of the entire race, but what made it worse was after huffing and puffing and almost killing ourselves to carry it up to the parking lot, one guy sitting in the parking lot, walks over, picks up the canoe, puts it over his head and carries it to the trailer and throws it on top, show off.

We head out to CP12 when we get to it, there is a note that says it’s at the top of the stairs, they were stairs that climbed up the side of a long rock face, there were 316 steps with some long walkways to get to the top. It’s a good thing I was Chuck’s teammate and not Robin, this would have killed her tailbone.

Soon we were at the bike drop, I was ready to go in no time since I had platform pedals and didn’t have to change shoes, Chuck was taking a little longer to get his shoes on, so while I waited, I ate a turkey sandwich, I was so hungry, it was like having king crab legs. We took off down the road, which was a good choice, we cut off the road and crossed a field, where we ran straight into the CP. Next we had to ride through some tough mushy terrain and then bike whack to the CP, we were passing teams that took another direction to get to the first bike point and of course we ran smack into Orange Lederhosen again, we just couldn’t shake them all day. Once we got back out onto the gravel roads Chuck stops right in front of us and jumps off his bike yelling something that we couldn’t make out, then he grabs a hubcap laying on the ground and says, this is the hubcap like the one missing on my van. Orange Lederhosen said they had duct tape and could tape it to his pack, but he declined saying we would drive back and get it after the race. So he throws it in the field and Derrick says “hey put it against the tree where you can see it” and Chuck says “no way, someone else might get it”. I’m pretty sure no one was going to drive by and take that hub cap. Then as we rode further I saw a Red Solo cup, oh and I bet you can guess what happened, that stupid Red Solo cup song was now stuck in my head.

We continued through the bike CP’s riding gravel and hills, it was almost all hills, We ran into a few dogs, they didn’t really chase us, just barked and ran in front of us mostly, except for the three dogs laying on the chewed up truck seat that was sitting in the front yard of what I would have thought was a condemned trailer, but someone was actually living there, it was just east of GOA WAY rd. The dogs barked, but I’m guessing they had chased enough adventure races that by the time we got there, they were too tired to chase us.

We also came across a few horses and one in particular did not like bikes or maybe he just didn’t like me and Chuck, but he was just jumping around making all kinds of noise, I’m glad he was in a fence, all the other animals we passed weren’t. By the time we hit CP29, both Chuck and I were ready to have our butts off those bike seats. We had figured that we would be given another O section and then a bike to the finish, but once again, wrong. The O section led us to the finish on foot. I have never been so glad to hear that I didn’t have to get back on the bike.

We quickly plotted the points and chatted for a minute with Orange Lederhosen, they had missed one CP on the bike, I guess they were riding too fast to see it. We headed out to the next O section and found ourselves trekking across some burned terrain, it was very rocky and black from fire, and it reminded me of the terrain that the tributes were competing in, in the book Catching Fire. If you haven’t read the Hunger Games series you should, so much of it will remind you of adventure racing. I’m glad I had on Swiftwick socks, if I hadn’t my socks would have been full of rock dust, but with these socks when I take them off my feet are as clean as when I put them on.

We picked up the first CP without a problem and headed to the next, it was a reentrant and there were about six teams all looking in the same place, it took about 10 minutes to find it, but we did. This was the only CP we had any problems with at all. It was starting to get dark as we headed to the next CP, so we pulled out our headlamps and I changed my batteries, since they had just about died while we were in the cave.

Another team was near us and we were all watching the time and contemplating if we could pick up both CP 34 and 36, and still make it to the finish line in time. Even with my newly bright headlamp I was having a hard time seeing, that usually happens when I get really tired. I had really been conscious of eating all day, I usually forget to do that enough and then end up bonking, but that wasn’t the case in this race, in fact, I had eaten two turkey sandwiches, HS waffle, HS Rocket Chocolate, Kind bar, two peach cups, and two V8 fruit juices. I probably ate more calories than I burned, but still I was body tired, but at least not bonking. We chose to go after CP 34 and then head in, the CP was out on a spur and we had to climb over a very large downed tree that was completely rotted out in the middle. After getting the CP and heading to the finish, I tried to get over the tree, but ended up just rolling over it on my belly. Chuck looked back, I can’t imagine what he was thinking, but he said, “what are you doing” I said “trying to get over this tree and I’m stuck” instead of pulling me over, he just says, “don’t fall into the rotted middle of that, you don’t know what could be living in there”. Shoot, here I am in the dark, I’m dog tired, stuck on a tree and he has to tell me something may be living right under me. Well, I did roll off that tree pretty fast after he said that. As we made our way down a jeep road headed for the finish a team came up behind us and Chuck asked them if they thought there was still BBQ left at the finish line. They said “We hope so, that’s why we are trying to pass you, we want to get to the food before you do”

The team passed us and finished and we were just a few yards behind them, then we turned in our passport and had our photos taken, we had finished! Oh and the food, Chuck and I both had some BBQ, but it was the bottom of the bucket and Orange Lederhosen got the rest, we barely made it in time for the food and it was totally worth it. Emma was looking for Orange Lederhosen and asked if we saw where they went, we said nope, they just got their food and were gone. Emma says “You give them whiskey and they just disappear”, we are still laughing about that.

We look pretty spiffy in our new Team Cyclery jerseys, I mean I (Lula), look pretty spiffy wearing Robin’s new Team Cyclery jersey. I know, I look incredibly like Robin, we might be related somehow. And we didn’t go get the hubcap, because Chuck is trading in his adventure van for an Adventure Jeep. Which is a whole ‘nother story……

Swiftwick Review

I was just sitting at my desk thinking random thoughts, when I noticed that the guy next to me was wearing Swiftwick socks. Of course my first thought was where did he get those, the only people I know that wear Swiftwick all the time are my adventure racing friends.

So I blurted, are those Swiftwick you have on, and he told me that a friend of his got them at a race and they were the wrong size so he gave them to him. I went into a rant about Swiftwick and how I love the socks. How I have 3 pair and wear them every time they are clean. I have the Performance 4, 5 and 7. I’m not a fan of think socks but the Performance 4 and 5 socks I have are thicker than what I usually wear, and I have really grown to love them even though I told my teammate Chuck, “there is no way, I’m going to like these socks they are way too thick”. I got into the compression sock game a couple years ago, but I had to buy the socks that came to my knee to get compression, but now I love the shorter version of compression socks, when I wear them my feet never swell like they used to after long runs. These socks don’t slip around when I’m running through creeks and I have never once had a blister from wearing them. The Performance 7 socks I really like for the higher compression on my legs, I sometimes even wear them to bed the night after a long workout. Plus they were a special run for Bonk Hard, and are really cool looking with a BH on them.

And socks isn’t the only thing they make, I also have a great pair of arm warmers with all the same qualities of the socks.

When I write a review, I like to use the real world experience I have with the product, and my opinion of course, to talk about gear. My teammate Chuck is just the opposite, he will dig around and find all the technical reasons why he likes his gear.

Because that’s what matters! No one cares about all that touchy-feely stuff.

I have been a fan of Merino wool socks for several years. But the big-name brand I used to wear has problems. They are expensive and they wear out way too fast. The fibers get ‘packed’ and ball up. Also the fibers just plain fall out leaving you looking at daylight through a little bit of nylon mesh right where my heel rides, and on the bottom of my feet. On top of that, it always seem like they are made overseas. Oh sure they have a lifetime guarantee that clearly says *Normal wear and tear is not covered by the guarantee. What’s the point of a lifetime guarantee with exclusions like that!

Enter Swiftwick. I first heard about them at the 2010 National Championship race where all participants were given a pair. I was impressed because 1-they were free, and 2- they were merino wool. Maybe these would be the socks I have been searching for. I didn’t wear them during the race but was determined to check them out as soon as we got home

First thing I noticed was the Made in USA decal. Gotta like that. Check out this quote from their website: We decided to make all our products in the USA. Not some. Not most. All. Yeah!

Second was the materials, I already knew about the benefits of Merino wool. Soft feel, less stink, cool in summer, warm in winter, no blisters. It also has extraordinary wicking, you can run or ride in them all day even when wet. But Swiftwick takes it to a new level with 21 micron Merino wool in a 200 needle count, and a 3 inch minimum staple length.

The thing that was new to me was the compression. I was skeptical but tried them anyway….And was totally sold. I’m sure you’ve all read or heard about the benefits of compression on recovery and race performance. But here’s something I noticed on top of that. The compression of these socks holds so perfectly snug against your feet, that any relative motion between your foot and sock is non-existent. That means NO blisters. The same compression seals out trail debris, sand, dirt, and vegetation bits. And that means NO blisters. The Pursuit 4 socks that I prefer run up a little higher over the ankle where the Swiftwick double welt compression cuff never slips or slides down. I even think it helps prevent rolled ankles.

I’ve worn these socks for a year and ½ now and they are still in like new shape. But after experiencing the failure with the big-name brand socks I thought I’d at least look into the Swiftwick guarantee. Plain and simple:

Purchase a pair of Swiftwick socks and put us to the test. It's the best performance sock you have ever worn, or we invite you to mail the laundered socks and request a replacement pair of equal value.

We want you to be happy!

We will send a pair of black or white socks to you, even if you request a competitor's product (subject to availablility).

Nice to know, but I don’t think I’ll ever need it. These socks are awesome. That is exactly why Swiftwick socks are the preferred brand worn by ROCK Racing.

2011 Checkpoint Tracker Championship Race

Team ROCK racing was looking forward to this race all year.  We had adventure raced in LBL several times before and are somewhat familiar with this great wilderness area.  The race was being produced by Bonk Hard.  They are top-notch race directors, so we knew this was going to be the race of the year.  We signed up the first day registration was open.

About a month before the race the UPS guy showed up at my house with a box from Swiftwick.  It contained two pairs of socks, and two pairs of arm-warmers.  All registered racers got the gift box.  Very cool.

Unfortunately the best made plans go astray.  Robin was injured during the Warrior Dash only 4 days before the race start.  She begged, pleaded, and probably threatened the doctors, but bone breaks of that significance are not something to mess with.  She would not be able to compete.  Her injury story is here.

Luckily, my wife had spent most of the summer cycling and was in great shape for her first adventure race.  The original plan was for her to continue training the rest of the year and make the Castlewood-8hr her first race.  But, we made some last minute changes and Lori was on the team. (Lori added race comments throughout the report in red). We loaded up the adventure van and made the drive to KY with Robin following in her own car.  She decided that even if she couldn’t race, she wasn’t going to miss all the fun.  So she was going to be a race volunteer. You can read her Championship Non-Race report here.

We checked in at race HQ and then checked into the Lake Barkley State Park Lodge.  This place was perfect for a race HQ.  Nice rooms, a restaurant, workout rooms, racquetball, and Wi-Fi.  My kids would be able to keep themselves entertained and fed while the parents raced.   
p.s.  they are teenagers, it's not like we left toddlers running around, unattended to get into trouble... oh, yeah, they're teenagers, nevermind...

One of the women at check-in mentioned something about driving to the race start, so we delayed unloading bikes and gear.  Pre-race dinner was scheduled to begin at 5.  I’ve learned at other races to never be late for food.  So we got to the dining room right at 5 and checked out the awesome looking buffet as we found a place to sit.  I looked around the room some and seen lots of racers I recognized.  Then at the table next to us I saw Ian Adamson, the world famous adventure racer!  This was going to be a great event.  The food turned out to be fantastic.  Best pre-race food I ever had, and plenty of it!
Chuck forgot the most important part of the meal...dessert!  They had apple and cherry cobbler w/ icecream, yum... 

After eating way too much, we went to the pre-race meeting. Robin said it was ok to eat 2 desserts because I was racing tomorrow. It started at 8 and I got there early too.  I think this is the only time I’ve remembered to bring a paper and pencil with me.  So I made a few notes like: 

Red trails at Energy Lake are not correct.

We are allowed to portage at CP35.

The Trace highway is off-limits except to cross

Jason answered all of the racer questions and ran through the race rules and gave us some safety cautions.  Then he called for team captains to come up to the front and get maps and cluesheets.  We picked up two 1-24,000 maps and a cluesheet with 37 checkpoints.  As other racers were still picking up maps, I was checking mine out.  Whoa, this was going to be a long paddle.  Then I spotted a 10hr limit on the second orienteering leg.  That is the longest one I’ve ever seen.  At least it wasn’t all reentrants like last month’s Berryman.
Now I have been to some of the pre-race meetings before, but never as a participant.  Always tying to figure out where Chuck and Robin were going to be and try to get some good pictures of them.  That's what I know how to do, try to find them at one checkpoint or another and take pictures.  As I sat there looking at all the checkpoints, I was really wondering how I was going to survive?  I can do this.  He knows how slow I am going in, so no surprise there.  I just had to stay awake and on  my feet and just keep moving.  No problem, right?  I can do this... I was hoping that I would soon believe what I was telling myself.  It helped as other racers who knew what had happened and how I got there, would offer words of encouragement.  They said I would be fine... 
Jason told us we’d be getting more maps and checkpoints at the bike transition.  We were told to be ready on the start line at 6:45, with a race start at 7:00.  The race crew and volunteers would transport our bikes to the TA at CP37 for us after the race started.  We left the pre-race meeting and went back to the room to do last minute gear checks and plot maps.

I showed Lori the plotting method that works so well and we made quick work of plotting the points.  Then we busted out the highlighters and planned the route we would use to attack the individual points.  Once we started plotting the big second O-section it was obvious that we would not get all the points.  I plotted a route to about 14 of the 22 points, taking in the most concentrated areas and easiest to get.  The canoe points would be easy to find, but there was a lot of distance between them, not much route choice there.   Once all the maps were plotted and folded up in the map-case, we tried to get some sleep.

Both (haha yeah I know) alarms went off right as planned.  I hugged my kids and told them not to burn the place down or anything while we were gone, and drove down to the start line at the lake Barkley State Park Beach.
I was starting to get a little nervous, I mean I knew I would return because Chuck had to have a partner with him to finish.  I was fairly certain that he would not leave me in the woods.  I mean he would drag my body back across the finish line if he had to.  DNF really isn't in his vocabulary... 
We parked bikes and gear in the designated area and went over to the start area. 

Jason gathered us all up for the National Anthem and a prayer.  All of the Bonk Hard races start like this, very cool.  I’m not sure who did the prayer, but it was great and started like this:  “Dear God, thank you for bringing us all together to this beautiful lake that was created by you and the Army Corp of Engineers….”

Jason had us all line up under the start line, it was about to start.  The photographers came out to get some last minute pictures.  Then, the evil race directors pulled a last minute change on us.  “Everyone grab paddles and PFD’s, then line up again.”  Haha, only in adventure racing!  We grabbed the gear and re-lined up.  We were being sent out for a short fast paddle leg around the beach swim area, then run into the first O-section.

The race started and it was chaos, racers dodging all over to get in the boats and then frantic paddling to make the small loop and get back on the beach. O
Ok, all was going according to plan.  We had not capsized, still fairly dry and made it back to shore! Yeah!  Then it hit me.... I still had 30 hours of this fun to go!

I bet they got some great pictures.  We paddled past Ian Adamson in one of the course marker canoes and I swear he was sitting there laughing at the madness.

Once out of the water we trekked into the O-section and were rewarded by running directly into all three of the CP’s.

Lori was impressed.  Her old man really can find checkpoints.
I really do have to say that I was impressed with his navigational skills.  He led us straight to them as if he had been there before, this is kinda funny because he gets lost in the Mall!

We came out of the woods and found a good canoe.  A couple of them had broken handles, and a couple other had broken seat backs, so it was good to be choosy here.

Navigating on rivers is easy, you just follow the water.  It gets more difficult on lakes, especially big lakes.  From water level, islands can look like a shoreline, and a peninsula can look like an island.  But this was early in the morning with bright sun so we didn’t have any trouble, except for the wind.  10mph and straight on in our face for the whole 8K paddle leg into the LBL wilderness area.  We made good time and only got passed by one 2p male team.  When we were about 500m meters off the western shoreline we crashed into a sandbar.  It was a surprise and seemed totally out of place.
I had noticed another canoe heading south and thought "why are they going that way?"  Once we hit the sandbar that was only under water by about 6 inches it became clear.  I wasn't about to question the master...

We paddled around a little and found a way through the shallow areas without having to get out and push.  Then we crossed energy lake cove to the canoe takeout, we dragged the canoe out of the lake, stamped our CP, and trekked to the TA to begin the second O-section.

The TA for the second O-section was at the guest center for the Energy Lake campground.  They had a lighted building with water and tables and chairs.  Team Virtus was there volunteering, they punched our passport and gave us our time to be back. Those guys were really funny  This section had a 10 hr time limit, we would have to be back by 9:06 tonight or take some wicked penalties.  We headed out and found the first 2 CP’s right where we plotted them.

The attack plan for the third point was to follow a bearing across a wide low area with no contour in the land.  It was kind of risky following a bearing that long, but it was the only reasonable option.  The bearing led us through the thickest brush and thorns we seen the entire race.  After what seemed like forever we climbed up onto the road we were shooting for and turned East.  I was suddenly so hungry.  The kind of hungry you only get during long adventure races.  Lori took my picture when I found a perfect snack.

So right after my snack we another team heading West on the road.  They hadn’t found the CP yet and were convinced that we were too far East.  I had a different opinion, and after comparing maps we separated.  A few years ago this would have really messed with my navigation.  I guess I’ve gotten confident enough now to go my own way.  This time it paid off, we found the CP right where it was plotted about 5 minutes later.

We were close to the next CP when we ran into Bill from Mid Rivers Adventure.  He is a fantastic adventure racer and navigator.  He was racing solo this weekend because his teammate had a last minute injury. 

After gathering a couple more CP’s we started the long trek back toward the TA.  We stopped on the way and picked up CP 13 just after dark.

When we arrived at the TA there were a bunch of teams putting on rain gear, eating and filling water bladders.  We got through transition quickly and trekked down to the canoe put-in.

The canoe was amazing.  LBL is dark, no lights anywhere, the sky was clear, the moon wasn’t up yet, so we could see all 100 billion stars.  The paddle was straight forward, about 6 miles, with two CP’s before the take-out.  We got them both and even managed to stay dry during the short portage.

It was about midnight when we got off the water and started a 2.5 mile trek to the bike transition.  We had to carry our paddles for the next couple legs of the race.  I was a little worried about this part, because they are two-piece paddles.  I strapped them up in my Osprey Talon pack, and it was like they weren’t even there.  They carried perfect.

About halfway through the trek we heard several packs of coyotes howling across the hills to each other.  It was totally cool.  I tried to record them with my camera, but it didn’t come out.  It really made you feel surrounded by the ‘wild’ and helped make the adventure.

The bike TA volunteers were from team Orange Lederhosen.  They had a giant fire going and were keeping busy with all the racers coming through.  We armed up for a few minutes and got the bikes ready to go.  We rolled away from the TA at 1:30.

The long hours and miles were starting to put a hurting on Lori.  She had really toughed this race out so far.  She had been road riding all summer, but had not trained for a race of this length.  She is also pretty new to mtn biking and had never ridden in the dark.  We decided to cut the bike leg short and not risk injury or a DNF out on the LBL single-track.  We were back by the Orange Lederhosen fire by about 3:00am.  We ate some more, warmed up, and Lori got in a short nap.

By this time it was really cold, my bike computer said 37 degrees, and we were still wet from the canoe leg.  I pulled my Icebreaker gloves off to dry them by the fire a little and was surprised by how cold my hands were without them.  They had been keeping me warm even though they were wet from paddling.  Wool is amazing!  We were both wearing Icebreaker base layers too.  It worked so perfectly.  Over 65 degrees and sunny in the afternoon, wet and 37 degrees at night.  That’s a huge temperature difference to expect one baselayer to handle, but the Icebreaker does it excellently.  Lori was wearing an Icebreaker hat and baselayer.  I’m glad her hat was such a bright color, made it easy to keep track of her in the woods.

We rode out in the dark toward the canoe transition.  The paddles rode nicely in the pack again.  I wont be so worried about carrying them in the future.  When we got close to the ramp we could see the fog.  We got off the bikes and stacked then in the designated area.  They would be transported back to the finish by race staff.  We decided that it would not hurt our race results to wait out the fog and dark until the sun came up.  We waited by the fire for about a ½ hour, then there was some light getting into the sky.  We loaded up the canoe, checked the map, and headed out on an East bearing. 

This fog was so thick, we couldn’t even see the side s of the cove we were in.  I’d guess we had about 20ft visibility.  Staying on the East bearing was difficult, each time I checked the compass we were off.   We eventually caught a 2 person female team.  They were trying to find a way through the mid-lake sandbars.  We worked together with them and found a way through without getting out to push.  They were on the same heading as us so we kind of stayed together. 

A four-person team caught us.  They were paddling hard.  It was Bushwacker.  They are awesome racer, so I thought it would be best if we did this foggy lake crossing in a little group.  We paddled really hard to hang on to Bushwacker and the other 2p team.  Lori thought her arms were falling off.  When the sun came through in little patches I spotted the state park marina.  Finally!  After an hour of paddling I found our first landmark.  We lost Bushwhacker, but continued on into the finish line just fine on our own.

Robin was the first one there to get our picture with the foggy background and give a congratulations.  We had our picture taken by this pro photographer, and made out way over to the food.

Game faces

Smiles

I was glad to see the Bonk Hard baked potatoes under the finish line canopy.  They always taste so good after a long race.  Then the volunteer scooped a couple of spoonfuls of chili in there and I threw a handful of cheese on top.  Man it was great.
 

After a short afternoon nap we met Robin and my kids for the post-race banquet and award ceremony.  It was top-notch, white table cloths, waiters, waitresses, bartender, and giant buffet.  The food was great.  There was some gear giveaways, that I wasn’t lucky enough to win, but they were great prizes.

Ian Adamson showed some race videos and answered questions.  I learned a few race tips from him that we will have to try out.  Then the CEO of Swiftwick came out and gave away some socks to everyone with a tattoo. This was a great weekend!  Lori completed her first adventure race, my kids didn't destroy the lodge, and ROCK Racing scored some points for the 2011 series.  I can't wait for next year!  They announced that the race will be in West Virginia and will include ropes and white water rafting.

CPT Nationals the Non-Race

So why do I call it the non-race, because for me that’s what it was. If you have read my previous blog post you would know that I broke my tail bone, just six days prior to Nationals. So for six days I laid on the couch taking pain pills and crying every time I thought about missing nationals. If you know me, you know the entire time I was crying I was trying to find a way to go to nationals, and I finally found a way. No there was still no way I could compete because I could barely walk, but I did find a way to be at the race.

I emailed Jason, the race director, and asked if he would have a volunteer spot open where I would not have to walk much, and he quickly replied that he had a spot for me at race headquarters, which was the start and finish line along with CP 4. Next I had to find a way to get there, I couldn’t ride with Chuck because his family was going and there was no room, so we planned on him stopping at my house and me following him, and if I couldn’t drive, we would pull over and he or his wife Lori would drive my van. It was a good plan and it worked out well.

We made it to Lake Barkley in Kentucky and although I had tears in my eyes a few times because I wanted to compete so badly, I keep thinking at least I’m in the middle of all the excitement. Lori was my stand-in for the race and this would be her first adventure race and it was 30 hours to boot. So I would be the cheerleader and team photographer at this race.


We all signed in Chuck and Lori for the race and me as a volunteer. We checked into the hotel which was fantastic, my room looked out onto the Lake, it was beautiful.


We all headed to the pre-race meal it was the best meal I have ever had at a race.


Next we went to the racer meeting where the racers got their maps and instructions, then were sent off to plot points before the race start.


I stayed for the volunteer meeting where I got my instructions and found out that I would be working with Jollett and Beth at race HQ. We would be recording times as the teams came through CP4, and then when they finished. We were also in charge of making the coffee, hot chocolate and chili for the racers when they finished the race. Lucky for us, Beth’s husband Martin helped out also, so we had plenty of backups if anyone needed to leave during the race.

At 6:00 on race morning I was at HQ helping with setup and strategically placing my lawn chair to see all the action. I was sitting out on the beach with the bikes to the right of me and the canoes to the left of me.






The race would start with a run across the beach to grab the paddling gear and run out to the canoes where they would do a quick paddle and land back on the beach to start a trekking section. The racers took off and made the first paddle loop really quickly then headed out on foot.




After an hour teams started coming back in, so I had to put down my cold diet coke and get to work.


I would yell the time and team number, while Beth would document it.


Jollett was busy using the cow bell to try and lead the racers to the tent, so she could punch their passport.


A few hours later we sent the last racers out on the second paddle, we tried unsuccessfully to call the lodge to turn in times so we had to change the plan and start texting the times in. Since that was one thing I could do without much movement, it became my job. Once we had all the times reported, we had many hours of nothing. Jollett took a drive to the airport to pick up one of the racers girlfriends, and Beth and Martin took their son into Murray to do some skateboarding. I had nothing pressing to do, so I just hung out at HQ and watched the guys move truckloads of bikes to the bike drop. I also spoke with random people who wondered what was going on. I spent a lot of time explaining adventure racing. Most people thought it was crazy, but they wanted to know everything about it. I might have even converted a few non-athletes into adventure racers.

At almost midnight I went back to the hotel for a few hours sleep before the racers started finishing. When I came back to HQ at 6 am Saturday morning, two teams had already finished, Wedali, a four person team and I soloist, who I happened to know, Bill Stevens.


So I went back to sitting and waiting, my tail bone was killing me so I also spent some time laying on the picnic table.


It was really foggy out and we could hardly see the water, but we kept ringing the cow bell hoping the racers in the canoes could hear us.


Soon a few more teams came in and then I saw them, it was Chuck and Lori and they were smiling, I was so happy for them, I thought I might cry. They ran up through the finish line and I knew they had fun, they weren’t yelling divorce threats or anything, they were just two happy racers, finished with a long hard race.


While Chuck and Lori ate baked potatoes and chili, I continued logging in times and reporting them via text messages. Chuck and Lori headed to the hotel for a much deserved shower and nap, while I stayed and waited for the last racers to appear. The fog had finally cleared early in the afternoon and I took a few pictures of the beautiful scenery.


So race day ended and I got some really great schwag for volunteering, actually more than the competitors got. I was given a pair of HI-TEC running shoes, a cool fleece jacket, a pair of Swiftwick socks and a really great Checkpoint Tracker ball cap. I made out like a bandit. Maybe I should think about being a volunteer instead of a racer in the future. Well… maybe not, I could never give up adventure racing, no stupid broken tailbone will stop me.