Berryman Adventure Race 2013

Two Thumbs Up

This was my first time competing in the Berryman Adventure Race in 4 years, so I was excited that it fell on a weekend that I had free and could join in on all the fun.  Usually Chuck and I do adventure races as a 2 person coed team, but this race we did as a 4 person coed team because Chuck’s son Jacob wanted to do it and our friend Keith also wanted to try a longer race. 

Chuck (Master Orienteerer)

Jacob (Unruly Teenaged Boy)

Keith (Fast Grandpa)

Robin (Slow Girl)

Just a few weeks before the race Keith was hospitalized for a health issue and wasn’t sure he was going to be able to race, but luck was on his side and he was well enough on race day to make it. 

Chuck’s wife Lori came along and was our personal photographer, we would be seeing her a lot throughout the race, which I love because she takes great photos. 

We also had a group of friends, Jenny, Jim, Travis, and Trent, otherwise known as Team Jenny’s Angels, who were doing this as their first Adventure race. This was their first adventure race and first time as a team, so this was going to be interesting.  I just told them to take their time with the navigation and have fun.  

Jenny and her Angels at the start of the race

We hit the pre-race meeting then both teams gathered in Chuck’s room to plot the checkpoints and do some preliminary route planning.  Our plotting went well, and we helped the other team with plotting to make sure they were going to start off on the right foot. We were in bed by 10:30 with plans of leaving for the race start by 5:15 am the next morning. 

Plotting the night before the race

The next morning seemed to come fast, but I slept well.  Jenny and I shared a hotel room so we made sure we were awake on time and ready to go.  We met our teams in the lobby, grabbed some breakfast and were out the door.  It was a 30 minute drive to the start and it was way out in the deep woods. 

Team ROCK Racing

We parked, filled our drop bags with food, staged our bikes and got ready to start, the gun went off and we headed out.  We had decided to take a different path than most teams, there were only about 3 teams who took this line. 

Which way should we go

I think it was the right decision because we did not have to wait in line to punch our passport when we got to the CP.  As usual Chuck was our map guy and I had the passport and clue sheet.  This is how we always work as a team, so we kept it this way even with a 4 person team instead of a 2 person team, like we usually race. 

Jacobs got this

As we headed for CP2, we ran into Team JA, they were also looking for CP2, so we found it together.  We headed off South for our last CP before the bike, while they headed North for their two remaining points. 

 

Team Jenny's Angels

As we ran into the HQ / TA to get our bikes Lori was standing there taking photos and giving us an update and what teams had already been through.  We talked to some guys from Arkansas while there and ate deer sausage that Keith brought along.  We also took off our adventure pants, since we would be on bikes and we were so covered in beggar lice that they were weighing us down. Keith had shorts on in the woods, so the hair on his legs were covered with beggar lice, at least we could just take our pants off, he worked all day to get those lice off his legs. 

Beggars Lice

TA 1

Getting ready for the first bike leg

We started out on the first bike leg and it was mostly all single track.  It was really tough, with lots of sand, gravel, roots and boulders.  We weren’t too far into the bike and I turned a corner and came to a dead stop in the deep sand and crashed into a downed tree.  I was so tangled in the tree that it took a while to get out and I had to pull tree limbs out of my spokes and my brakes.  I finally got back on my bike and rode up to where my teammates were waiting, wondering what happened to me. 

We were back on track and soon arrived at a cave where a CP was inside.  We ran in to stamp the passport, but none of us had a head lamp on so we were just trying to guess if we were checking the right box or not.  We headed out thinking there was a trail around the cave, only to find out that we had to go though the cave, at least this time we had our bike lights to get us through.

The Boys coming out of the cave

We were back out for more single track and then we came out to ride hill after hill of loose gravel.  We did hit some pavement for a while and it was one of the few places that we had some really good downhill.  In fact we hit 41 mph on the downhill in this section.  I was just hoping that we didn’t have to ride back up it. 

Jacob and Chuck

Keith

Robin

I kept getting dropped off the back, every uphill I would fall behind and the guys would stop to wait, but as soon as I got close they took off again, so they were getting a minute to recover while I never had any recovery time, so I kept falling further and further back.  They couldn’t just take off and leave me because I had the passport they needed me, but I got to the point where I felt like I was the 4^th wheel and the only reason I was there was because I was the girl and they needed one to be a coed team.  As the day went on Chuck fell back closer to me and Jacob and Keith were off the front, usually waiting at the top of each hill, taking it easy catching a breath, so that they could stomp my ego again when I caught up.

Taking a nap while waiting for me to catch up

We made it to the canoe put-in and thankfully we had the light canoes, there was a lot of canoe carrying to get in and out of the water.  

The hardest part of the race

Lori was there taking photos, and it was nice to see someone who wasn’t in race mode and wasn’t thinking what a slug I was, and constantly stopping and waiting for me. 

Lori taking our photos

We got in the canoes and headed out.  

 

Jacob and Chuck

Robin and Keith

This race had a little bit of an interesting twist, there were optional points thrown in that could be picked up by any transportation mode as long as they were picked up before a designated CP.  On the map it looked like there was a rock road that we could use to get close to the points. So we picked up a couple canoe CP’s than beached, unloaded bikes and headed out for points, 41 and 42.  Oh and these points were worth 2 points each. 

 

Jacob and Chuck

Robin and Chuck

The section of road we had to cover to get to these points started out uphill in deep gravel, oh and that was after you got out of the sand.  It was tough but we made it.  At the first CP we had a gear check and after some digging in our packs we came up with all the needed gear, so we stamped our passport and headed out. We picked up the next point quickly, and we were really surprised to see how many people had chosen to trek to the points. It would have taken us at least an extra hour to trek it instead of bike it.  We headed back to the river and we were looking forward to some downhill to get back, but the downhill was in deep gravel which made it very scary, at least for me.  At one point I was flying down a hill, fish tailing in the gravel, I couldn’t brake or I would have gone down, and to top it off, bikes were coming toward me, all I could do was yell, “look out”.  I am so glad everyone scrambled out of my way.  I mean I wanted us to do well, but taking out the other teams with my bike just didn’t seem right. 

Just before the river on the downhill I saw a giant copperhead snake and it had it’s head up striking, I went as far as I could to the tail end of it to get around, I was really scared I kept checking to make sure it hadn’t jumped on my bike. I would have a photo, but there is no stinking way I would have gotten anywhere near that snake to take one.  Back at the canoe everyone was talking about the snake, at least I wasn’t the only one that it scared. So we put our bikes back in the canoes and took off again. 

Loaded down with bikes

As we paddled down the river, we came upon a team that had their canoe stuck under a log, they were taking bikes out to try and dislodge it, we asked to help, but they said they had it under control, but a paddle and helmet was floating down the river.  We started paddling harder to try and catch them, we grabbed the paddle first it was lodged in some trees, then we went after the helmet.  Once we had both we stuck them on a sand bar where the racers could see them and we paddled on.  

It didn’t take long to get to the TA after the gear rescue, we pulled our canoes out of the water and carried them up the hill and of course Lori was waiting and took some more photos of us.  It’s really nice having an “in” with the photographer.  

We ran up to the CP and picked up the next map. Chuck and I sat down and started plotting the maps while we ate and Keith and Jacob talked to Lori to get the scoop on all the teams while they ate.  

Plotting the second map

Chuck Plotting

We headed out to for the next CP’s planning on only picking up the CP’s that were close to the road and on the way to the canoe put-in because we only had 2.5 hours before the cutoff time at the canoe.  

As we headed out we were running the down hills and flats and walking the up hills.  I started to fall off the back again, which was just normal for me for the day, and Jacob let me grab the loop on his pack and he started towing me, when he got too fast, I grabbed on to Keith’s pack and he started towing me. For a while I kept up only because of the tow.  

What I looked at most of the day

We quickly realized that we would be trekking through some really tough hills and that we would also have to ride some of those same hills on the next leg. It was so frustrating to know that we were going to have to ride up those awful hills.  In fact as we started the second canoe leg I was so disheartened by the fact that we were going to have to ride up that giant hill, that I started thinking to myself, “this hill will not beat me”, and you know what, it didn’t.  And then if worrying about the hill was not enough, it started raining.

The rain just kept coming and it got really foggy out, then Keith started singing the oldies, which Jacob knew none of, and I started feeling old, because I knew all of them.  I was starting to feel a little beat and then we saw a rope swing in the distance, it was like we were just out on a float trip.  I said we should jump off the rope and Jacob said, “I will do it” so Chuck paddled up to the rope and Jacob grabbed it then jumped off the log onto the rope and into the water.  It was exactly what we needed to pull us out of a tired funk and the rest of the paddle went pretty well. 

 

Jacob jumping off log

Fun on the rope swing

We reached the TA, and saw Team JA there, they were having a rough time, but seemed to be in good spirits even though they had been doing a bit of swimming during the canoe leg.

Travis and Trent

We were back in the TA, doing more plotting, this time in the rain, we checked our time and made a plan on what CP’s we should shoot for to make sure we finished before the cutoff.  

Plotting under a campers tarp, he was very nice to let us use it

Loading up for the next biking leg

We headed out for CP 25, it was dark by then and I had to tell the boys that in the dark they couldn’t ride with me off the back because I might miss a turn, they said no problem we would all stay close, ha….ha, that didn’t work out to well.  We had a little issue of Keith and Jacob getting ahead and me and Chuck at the turn for CP25.  We figured sooner or later they had to look back and see we were not behind them. 

We got back together and punched CP25, but as Chuck got to the bottom of a hill heading out to the road, he flatted.  This is a really unusual occurrence for our team because we all ride Schwalbe tires.  Chuck's front tire was a Nobby Nic with the snakeskin protective layer.  He has a tubeless setup, but the cut was too big for the Stan's sealant to plug up.  We stopped to put a tube in and used a CO2 cartridge to air it up, but the CO2 got stuck open and he blew the new tube.  Jacob gave him his tube, but it was the last 29’er tube we had, and with the gash we worried about another flat.  Just about the time Chuck finished putting in the second tube a team stopped to talk to us.  They were nice enough to give us one of their 29 tubes in case we needed it. I don’t know the team’s name, but Thank You!   Luckily the Nobby Nics are tough enough that the cut didn't tear any further and the tire lasted out the rest of the race.

Next we headed to CP29 it was in the single track section, but before we got to it we somehow missed the turn to the single track and ended up at an old silo, we knew it was wrong because we had not seen it earlier in the day when we were on that same section. We turned around and found the trail head.  Just before the turn to the ridge that CP27 was on we stopped to eat something and another team rode up, they said they were done and riding back in, but we wanted to get 27 so we let them go.  

When we made it to the ridge, we realized that 27 was really a long way out on the ridge, so we decided to skip it and headed back to the finish.   

 

Riding in the dark

As we rode into the finish we saw Lori taking photos and Travis, from Team JA waiting for us.  We were looking for the big finish line but it was gone. The generator went out so no finish line. It was kind of disappointing, we really wanted to ride under the finish line. 

This was long gone when we finished

We turned in our passport, got a team photo and headed to the food, which was really good, especially the cheesy potatoes.  Then we all changed clothes, I had to use a water bottle to pour water over my legs and arms to try and get all the sand off before I put on clean clothes. I think it took 3 showers to get all the sand off me. 

Now 2 days after the race, I am covered in chiggers, and my ego is bruised because I kept falling off the back. I have no excuse, I felt good, I just couldn’t keep up with them, but I did ride up every one of those stinking big hills, the ones that most people were pushing their bikes up.  It’s hard being the slow girl with 3 fast boys. 

Three Fast Boys

Photo Credit: Lori Vohsen.. click here to see all photos

Indian Camp Creek MTB Race

So what if its 95 degrees and it hasn’t rained in so long that there is 4 inches of dust on the ground, how would you spend your day?  Let’s see, you could stay in the house and watch TV, hang out in an air conditioned movie theater, go to a nice cool mall, or even spend it in a restaurant eating pasta and drinking wine, but is that what you really want to do on a hot summer day. 

Well, if you are me or Chuck, you would want to spend the day with a few of your closest friends, even if they smell like a rotting dead animal, rub chamois cream on their private areas right in front of you, have no problem stopping in the middle of a conversation to blow a snot rocket, don’t think twice about sticking their dirt covered hand in your chip bag, sit their stinking body in your chair, or even beg for a bite of your sandwich. You know where I’m going with this, don’t you, yes Chuck and I spent our Saturday racing mountain bikes at one of the most awesome venues in the Missouri/Illinois area, Indian Camp Creek. What’s more fun than 12 hours on a mountain bike when its 95 degrees and the ground had turned to dust. I know… right… nothing.

 

So that is just what we did, we spent the day as a 2 person co-ed team racing around an 8 mile loop of single track trails at Indian Camp Creek. I’m not sure on the number of riders, but I bet there were well over a hundred, and that included our friends SuperKate, Daryl, Judy and JP, they all hung out with us at our base camp. There were tons of other friends there also, too many to list, but it was a really fantastic group. I have to say, mountain bikers and adventure races are some of the friendliest and most encouraging people I have ever met. It doesn’t matter if they are faster or slower than you, when they see you on the course they always give you encouragement to keep going and they make every event fun. Let me give you an example, one of the riders, stopped during the race to help someone change a tire, then got back on his bike and finished the race for the win. Now, I’m not putting down road bikers, but I will tell you, this would never happen in a road bike race.  You know how in Sunday school they always taught you, that to have more you have to give more. Is this an example of what we were taught, he stops and helps someone and he wins the race, maybe he was just super fast and a nice guy or maybe… I’m just saying.

If you’re not familiar with this race format here’s how it works, Chuck and I ride for 12 hours, covering an 8 mile loop of single track, trading off each lap.  Chuck took the first lap so he had to ride and extra mile or so at the start. 

We both estimated how long it would take us to ride a lap based on our previous training rides at ICC.  Chuck thought he would be in the low 50’s and I thought I would be closer to an hour. Well I guess Ironman training is getting us in better condition than we thought because we both rode all our laps faster than estimated. Chuck’s averaged 50 minutes, I averaged 52 minutes. Although, I was happy that my lap times were fairly close to Chuck’s I was unhappy that Chuck was getting a couple extra minutes rest more than I was. I know you are thinking, 2 minutes big deal, but in my mind I thought that the 2 minutes would give me the strength to blast out of transition rather than chug off like a steam engine. In reality it would not have made a difference, when you’re hot and tired your mind can make you believe just about anything though. 

As I got ready for my first lap, I grabbed my Trek Superfly, only to find out that something was wrong, the back wheel was locked up.  I ran the bike over to the mechanics tent, but it wasn’t a quick fix. Chuck was going to arrive for the hand off any minute and I wasn’t on a bike.  Lucky for me I had brought two bikes, it’s a long story why I had two bikes, but it's just a good thing I did.  I quickly grabbed my Trek Top Fuel and rode over to transition, as I was standing there, I realized my number was still on my Superfly, so I ran back to the mechanics tent and got the number. Just as I was tying the number on my Top Fuel, Chuck rolls in.

So Chuck finished the first lap and I took off, since the 12, 6, and 3 hour races all started together the trails were pretty congested for the first 3 hours of the race, then by the 6^th hour the trails got pretty quiet since the 12 hour racers were pretty spread out. My first lap, I was riding with a bit of caution not knowing the route or what was in store for me.  I still finished the lap in 53 minutes, but I got passed by 8 guys. 

I like to think it was because they were 3 hour racers and could expend more energy because they were riding fewer miles than we were.  Really they were just faster than me.  The good thing was they all gave me time and space to move over before they sped around me. 

Chuck went out for his next lap and while he was gone I used the time to wash the dirt off my legs and my face, clean the mud off my water bottle, refill it, and eat something, oh and I made sure to take some enduralytes, I think the enduralytes kept me going all day without any leg cramps. I would also pull off my wet and slimy bike jersey and put on a dry t-shirt after each lap.  I know most people think, “what a waste of time”, but I felt so much better in a dry shirt and by the time I put the jersey back on for the next lap, it was dry.  I really hate sitting around with a wet shirt clinging to me.  I work hard enough to keep my fat rolls out of sight from others, I don’t need a wet shirt showing them off for everyone to see.  

I went over to the mechanics tent to check on my Superfly, he had fixed it, but he had to drain some brake fluid and move the pads, I have no idea how the pads seized up, I mean, I was riding it around before the race started and had no problems.  At least it was fixed.  I have to say thanks to the bike mechanic, I don’t know his name, but I’m grateful.

I think it is much more fun being on a team, because when you are on an off lap, you get to cheer all your friends on as they come around, and chat with them about the course and how they are feeling when they stop for water. I was there to cheer Daryl on during the 6 hour race and Kate all day long since she was riding 12 hour solo.  I even had a chance to talk to Judy and John after they finished the 3 hour race.  

As I was standing waiting for Chuck to finish the lap, Wendy Davis walked up, I asked if she was racing and she said no and patted me on the head saying “you aren’t either unless you get a helmet on”, haha. I was just standing there thinking wow, it feels cooler than earlier, well sure it did, I didn’t have that hot helmet on.  I quickly ran and got my helmet thinking what a dork, I’m glad she caught me before anyone else did. Thanks Wendy! I went out for my second lap, this time I was riding my Superfly, and really enjoying it, keeping the pace up and just having a great time. The first 4 miles of the course are smoking fast, between miles 4 and 6, there is a lot of uphill, not horrible uphills, but enough to make you work just a little harder. As the day went on those uphills seemed to grow longer and steeper though.  I would fly through the first 4 miles, then really work the next two and cruise the last two miles. That was my strategy for the day and it seemed to work well.  So I finished my second lap two minutes faster than my first.  I love my Superfly and it just rolls though everything, but I have to work harder to push it up the hills, so I decided since I would be getting slower from fatigue as the laps progressed, I would ride my Top Fuel for the rest of the day.  I don’t know if that was the right decision or not, but I was still a little worried about the brake problem popping up again, so the Top Fuel it was. And it kept Chuck confused, with me changing bikes and that’s always a plus for me. 

Daryl finished sometime just before six hours and hung out for a while and then headed home, John and Judy headed home too, so our base camp got a little quieter as the day went on. 

The 12 hour race was still in progress, lap 3, then lap 4 then lap 5, then lap 6. Now we originally said we wanted to finish 12 laps total, but after I finished lap 6, we still had plenty of time, so Chuck headed out for lap 7. While he was out we got the news that if he came in after the 11 hour mark, I did not have to go out again, but if he finished before the 11 hour mark, it was mandatory I go out. Lori, Chuck’s wife looked at the standings and it wouldn’t matter if I went again or not, we had 3^rd place tied up and would not be able to make second and the 4^th place team would not be able to catch us. Although I hate it when Chuck does more than I do, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to do another lap.

Now with this rule cropping up, Lori and I should have thought about stopping Kate before the finish line, but it didn’t pop into our heads until we saw her come around the corner, and then it was too late, she came through the finish line in just under the 11 hour mark and was told that she would have to go out for another lap.  She really didn’t want to go, but they said if she did she had 2^nd place tied up because the second place girl stopped riding already, and even though she had more laps she was considered DNF because she stopped before the 11 hour mark. 

Kate was all banged up from an earlier crash and she was tired, hot and covered in dirt, but she went out again. 

Chuck came in at around 11 hours and 15 minutes, so instead of me going back out, we got on our bikes and took the road around then hopped on the trail in the opposite direction and rode it until we found Kate.  We noticed that she was all dirty, I mean dirtier then when she left and her elbow was giant and ugly, she had crashed in the dark.  We rode with her until she hit the big hill, then left her to finish and took the road back to wait for her at the finish line. 

The results were posted, when we arrived at the finish line and we wondered how they could be posted since Kate had not finished.  We noticed that she was 3^rd, so we questioned the official. There were conflicting rules being voiced between the race director and race official and once it was cleared up, we found out that Kate did not have to go back out and there was no way even if she did do a last lap that she would move into second place.  Chuck, Lori and I felt so bad for her, at that point there wasn’t much we could do.  The race director went to look for her in his car and hoped to catch her at one of the road crossings to bring her in. Another rider, Karen, volunteered to ride the course backwards to find her and ride her in, but it was too late on both accounts she was already on the last section and showed up at the finish 10 minutes later.  She was tired and upset and on the verge of tears, but Super Kate is a tough girl and she held on through the weariness and frustration.  The race director was very apologetic and he did all he could to make it right, she came away with a cool 3^rd place trophy and some really great schwag.  I think all is good and I bet if you asked her now, she is happy she stuck it out for that last lap, because she always pushes herself to take that last leap of faith and do what she didn’t think she could do. This is the short story on the Super Kate debacle, but you will have to read her blog to get all the details  

As for Chuck and I, it was a 3^rd place finish, and even better, we both rode faster times on all our laps than we thought we could do. Chuck and I had a great time and so much fun, I know we will do this race again.

 

The Cyclery Race Team (aka: ROCK Racing) had a good day, and not just me and Chuck, some of our other teammates too, Daryl, Andy and Ross. Ross placed in the 12 hour race, but now I don’t remember what category it was in, I think he got 1^st. Congrats to all!

As for Lori, well she is AWESOME! Not only did she spend her entire day with us crewing and taking photos, but while we were out riding with Kate, she broke down camp and loaded all our gear in the adventure jeep and the adventure van.  It would be hard to find a support crew better than her and we owe her big time!  Yes Chuck… I know she’s your wife, but you owe her too. 

Thanks to the Race Director, Volunteers, GORC and St Charles County Parks for putting on such a great event.