I Did the Big Blue 12hour Lake Tahoe race with budding future avocado Sharon Houck and her friend and local lake tahoe resident Timothy Pfafman. Somehow i talked Sharon into writing the race report. Here it is.

Halfway through the two and a half hour orienteering section on CP8, I figured it was time to break out the first aid kit and staunch the flow of blood from my left shin. The Manzanita bushes were in wicked form and there was still much scrambling to be done to get the flags high on the nearby peaks. Tim and DP were in shouting range, if not visual, and after tending to my wound, I bouldered over a nice class IV section (if you fall, you may seriously injure yourself…) and found them impatient to sprint to the final hill. Where do they get the energy?

We were in second place in the co-ed three person division and had had a very straightforward race thus far. After the mass start and requisite one mile jog to the kayaks, we’d launched our double and single into the semi-choppy waters of Tahoe and pointed generally toward Tahoe City, about mid-pack. DP, being the skilled paddler he is, immediately invoked the well-known adage that the more creatively you swear at the rudder, the more likely it is to cooperate. At times, I wondered who would win that battle, but fortunately we only nearly capsized once and after about 1:45 found ourselves on the beach, sprinting to the TA.

Now allow me to point out that we girls get vast hassle for the time it takes to look beeeeaaaautiful, but after a full clothing change, stop at the restroom, and reload of the backpack, I’m standing around tapping my foot and watching the clock while “my boys” get their sh*t together. Hair look good? Check. Bike shorts non-binding? Check. Is my backpack on straight? Yeesh. How do these guys ever get out of the house?

Okay, enough harassment. I may have won the TA times, but thank goodness for the bicycle tow package and the leg strength of Tim and DP or I’d still be out there trying to get up that last 1000 foot climb.

From the TA, we bike to CP3 for the first orienteering section and nabbed three of four points with no problem and almost perfect bushwhacking. The difficult one cost us 20 minutes of thrashing around (we overshot in a major way), but fortunately, everyone else was having the same issue.

The bike to CP4 was the longest scheduled climb (more on the unscheduled stuff later…) and we opted for the scenic single track route rather than the pedestrian fire roads. Now, I say “opted” as if we made a conscious choice rather than a wrong turn, but, ahem, we did arrive at our appointed destination in good form. DP introduced me to bike towing (I’m no longer a tow virgin) during this climb and even got me to the advanced level of downhill single track tow. Whoo hoo! Definitely sporty at times.

Biking to CP5 nearly caused a team divorce. Now, regarding the “teams must stay within 100 yards of each other” rule, the guys were switching the tow package to Tim’s bike and I went on towards the CP, getting about “100 yards” away, which involved one left turn. Bad, bad teammate. Of course, the guys turned right instead, and while I victoriously got the CP, they burned their legs chasing a phantom. When we finally reconnected (they came back), I was appropriately chewed up and spit out while meekly pointing out that we could continue on without any loss of time. Sorry guys.

CPs 6 & 7 were pretty much non-events and we biked to CP8, thinking that there’d be the usual smattering of teams still working through the orienteering section. When we arrived at the staging area, to our surprise and dismay, virtually ALL of the teams were still there. A few had come and gone, but it was clear that this was going to be a long section. In fact, it took so much time that the race organizers had decided to eliminate CP9. When we plotted the (only) three points, we found that they had been strategically placed at the tops of the three nearest, highest “hills”, which were spread out over a couple of miles. Trails were pretty much nonexistent for most of the course and woe to you if you weren’t wearing long pants. Tim and DP’s great nav got us to the three points directly, but even with awesome trekking, it still took us two and a half hours to finish.

Now, playing the grand crescendo music, all we had to do was Get To The Finish Line! How hard could it be? Downhill and to the left ‘til you hit water. At this point, we’d joined up with another team who had done the race the year before and assured us that they knew the route home. And what does Rule #8 on Ken White’s Guide to Good Nav say? Never, ever trust another team’s nav. At one point during the supersonic downhill, the fateful words, “oh, it’s just another 10 minutes to the finish” were uttered and our fate was sealed.

The long version of the story requires beer, but the short version has us perched on our bikes at a bit above lake level, maps in hand, realizing that we are far far to the west of our desired destination and with about 1000 feet of climbing between us and there. After a bunch of heavy sighing (at least on my part), we pointed the bikes back uphill and pressed on, with Tim towing me and DP pacing us. On the plus side, we passed a few teams and eventually got back on track. Thanks to a little nav assistance from three guys in a garage with Buds in their hands, we found the fence leading to Tahoe Vista Park, and from there it was the final victory lap to the finish line.

10:17, high-fives all around, 4th in the division, 17th overall, and wow, did that shower feel good.

Race Report Donato Polignone King Oscar Presidio Trails 10K Run, 5K Run/Walk Sunday November 19, 2006.
Put on by www.OutsiderPR.com : Race Director Gordon Wright.

Intro: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1307068

Brief Description: A Rare chance to race on the beautiful trails of the Presidio. Hailed by the SF Chronicle as “an instant classic.” Each racer gets a technical running hat from Magic Headwear and lots-o-schwag!

Gordon Wright puts on a great Race/Run/Walk in the SF Presidio. The Course is a mix of Road, Trails and Dirt Paths. So, as an AR guy much cooler and more enticing than a boring, flat all road 10K.
My Lead-up into this race:

One week earlier I raced the 2006 Gold Rush Adventure Race (Blog coming for that one too) about 100+ Miles of Trail Running, Mountain Biking, and kayaking. Saturday spent the day at the Velo Swap. (Galen thanks for finding that sweet single speed mountain bike for me). Saturday night was spent in my garage working on all of my bikes until about 2AM. Yeah, I knew I had to run a 10k Trail run the next day but hey it’s a 10k, short distance for an AR Racer.
Up at 6:30 am for my drive from Petaluma to SF. Already tired but hey is just a 10k right? I get onto 101 and Adam Doti calls to make sure I’ve left and am not going to be late. I go to answer my cell phone and knock over my 20oz Mug of Coffee right on my lap and car seat. Ouch, that was hot! Great way to start my day. Luckily my running shorts are blue/black else they would have had a very nice/strange brownish color all over them especially in the back were most of the coffee settled to as I drove down the road rushing to get to the Start on time before the gun went off. I arrive in the Parking lot dressed and ready at 8:10 or so. Walk up get my Bib #, and tape up my right ankle (just to make sure I don’t re-sprain it). Say hello to everyone else (all the other Dirty Avocados and AR racers) and next thing you know we’re are lined up at the starting line.

Gordon lets everyone know that after the 1st 100 yards the course turns sharply left and UP the Biggest hill on the 5K loop, ~350 feet up and those are fast and think they are fast should get up to the front quickly b/c the trail up in Single Track and wet. Today I fell into the “think” I’m fast group. I shot right up to the front runners on the flat before the hill. Before we even got off the road (~50 vertical feet up) we ran straight at Ken White who I swear was screaming “there is nothing to see here please disperse”. By this point my legs were burning and I had nothing no power no more energy…it was gone? At this point I realized 1-2 minutes into a “10K” that I should have gotten more sleep, should have warmed up, even stretched a little. Too late for that now the race was going on with or without me. I suffered up the first hill, running slowly. 2-3 guys went by me on the uphill. I would have been ok with these fast guys running by me on the flats or downhill’s but I’m small and light going uphill is supposed to be my strength. I knew at this point it was not going to be a good day. Somewhere about the 3k point I was running along hoping that my legs would recover and my energy/power would come back. I’m all ready now running on cruise control just praying for this “just a 10k to be over”.

Next thing a girl (actually a women) but when you are running with mud on your legs, I’d assume to call any women at that point a girl, pulls up to pass me. I say this more as a compliment but it seems to get misconstrued often. I look at it this way “women” dress up and go to cocktail parties, where “girls” go out and play in the mud. So, I turn my head for the first time today and say just as I’m getting passed “Mari, that better be you.” She turns sees me, slides me a low five and keeps going (she ends up winning the Women’s 10k buy what I’m sure was a huge margin and coming in 6th overall. Yep, that’s right fella’s she is most likely faster than you are). That should have been enough get me going a little faster and help me hang on for a little while. But, that was not to be. I couldn’t stay with her not even for 1k. After Ken White Course Marshal #1, we would come to the rest of my AR Buddies on the course: Galen Pewtherer, Will Gilmore, Jen Klafin and finally Oliver Pohl.
OK, I make it to the Start/Finish line right with the 12 year old runner with Green Shoes who placed 3rd overall in the 5k. Do I need to state the obvious here. That kid is going to be fast, as if he isn’t fast already. Gordon Wright yell out to me, something like “you’re doing great and don’t even look like your working hard.” I guess looks can be deceiving, or he is just a good liar. I was sufferin’! At this point I wasn’t even coherent enough to hit the lap counter on my watch and check my time for the 1st 5k. I didn’t really care at that point. I was just worried about how to get through the next 5k.

2nd Lap and right back to the wet single track up the 1st hill again. I was passed again by another guy, tried to chase him and had to let him go. I was apparently slowing down and didn’t even realize it. As I ran, for the 2nd time, buy my 5 five AR race buddies (Course Marshals Today) I just wanted them to tackle me and put me out of my misery. Not gonna happen they race AR therefore they love to suffer and love to see my suffer perhaps even more. The 2nd lap was pretty uneventful with the exception that I got passed by too many other racers. At the bottom of the 1st Hill Ken white told me and the guy next to me (who just happened to finish 1 spot in front of me) that we were currently in the top ten. Again, I’m not sure how I actually did finish yet. But, it certainly was not in the top ten. Sorry Ken, I just couldn’t hang on. The whole 2nd lap I was expecting/hoping that I would “warm-up/loosen-up” and be able to shift into a higher gear. That never happened. I felt like I was dragging a concrete block behind me the whole 10k and it only got worse. After passing by Oliver’s section on the course it was about 2K or less to the finish. The guy who finished in front of me was a few steps in front of me and we had changed positions all race. He passed me on the flats and downhill’s and I returned the favor when we went uphill. At that point I just went into cruise control and basically followed him right to the finish line. Dude, I don’t remember your name but thanks for the pull to the finish.

“just a 10k” a walk in the park. Yeah, right not today! Perhaps I won’t bust on my short distance running friends after that experience. Nah!

STATS:
Start Time: 8:30am
Distance: 10K, but I logged 5.97 miles not 6.2.
Total time: ~44min, LAP 1: ~21min and LAP 2: ~23min. Unofficial of course and I’ll try to update once the actual results are posted. I forgot to stop my watch when I crossed the finish line.
Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 500 feet per 5K lap was reported I logged 1,044 ft total.
AVG heart rate: No Data. Couldn’t find my HR Strap the morning of the event. Turns out it was under my gear bag in my car.
Weather: 57F, 88% Rel humidity (it was a moist one!), 3MPH winds, Overcast skies. Perfect/Normal SF morning weather.

GPS TRACKING: I tracked my race using my GPS device a Garmin Forerunner 305. This is posted on my activities page at www.MotionBased.com, or you can just go to http://donato.motionbased.com and look for the event.

Gear Testing: Sole Custom Footbeds - http://www.yoursole.com/ - (Model - SOLE Ultra SOFTEC) in my Asics road shoe. Don’t ask me why I wore a road shoe to a ‘trail’ run but hey is was in SF so I expected a little more pavement. The Footbeds were awesome and comfortable as well. Every time I put the shoes on I can feel the extra support and cushioning from the Sole’s. I will be putting these bad boys to the test over the next few months. So, far I like them a lot.

[RACE REPORT] With Mt Tam looming in the distance and the rain, fog and mist burning from the night’s rain, Stinson Beach bustled with runners like racehorses in their starting gates. It was a cool and clearing Saturday morning and the 2006 Stinson Beach 50K (along with a 20K and 30K) was about to start.

A shout from the race director and off we went. Like the running of bulls, we raced to the Dipsea Trailhead with hopes of beating the horde of runners to this very single singletrack. I didn’t really know what was ahead of me, except for a long climb to start the race. And it was a long climb…a really long climb.

The start continued up the Dipsea Trail and then onto the appropriately named Steep Ravine Trail. Yes, it was steep. And yes, it was a ravine. A wet, mossy, dark ravine. And when I thought it couldn’t get any steeper, it did. So steep a ladder was there to get me over a vertical section of the trail.

As I topped out, I hit the first aid station at Pantole Station. With lots of sugary and salty snacks from which to choose, I grabbed and gobbled all I could stomach and carry. Off I then went down the southeast side of Mt Tam to Muir Beach. There was another rest stop. More food! This was the only section of the course with an out and back. What that meant to me was a chance to size up whom and how many were leading the race. It was then I realized that number was small. Not thinking too much about that, I put my head down and keep plugging and plodding along.

As I headed back up to Pantole Station, I thought about the many times I’ve run these very same trails. In fact, past that point I could have run the course blindfolded I had run these trails so many times.

After topping out again at Pantole Station, I headed back down to Stinson Beach via the Matt Davis Trail. This was a fun run down. All down and all fast! A mix of gradual descents in and out of shade. And loads of switchbacks. There was one switchback I blew straight through I was running so fast. I missed the course marker and kept running when I should’ve switched back. After a few minutes of running on what seemed more like a game trail than a foot trail, I felt the situation was all wrong. Finally, it was at the point when the trail turned so steep I did all could–with all fours–to keep from sliding down the side of the hill. As I slipped and slid back to the course, I cursed myself for loosing the trail…and worse, loosing time! What hurt more was knowing a few runners that were behind me were now AHEAD of me. Feeding off that fury, I found another gear, smoked past them, and made up the lost time; finally arriving back at Stinson Beach.

The race was over for many (the 30 and 20Kers), but not for me. I had another 20K to go. And that meant another trip up the Dipsea Trail and the Steep Ravine Trail. Ugh!!

As I struggled to keep running (rather than walking) back up, I kept thinking about what awaited–food. Yum! By the way, I was also past the point of turning away the race provided drink, Conquest. It tasted OK going in, but I felt twinges of something inside signaling it would not be so good going out. So I stuck to water and electrolyte tablets for most of the race.

At Pantole Station, I set out on two 4K loops linking the Alpine, Bootjack, TCC, and Stapelveldt Trails. I had hoped this loop would be relatively level and easy—and it wasn’t. It started and continued going down and down, and then further down. That meant—ugh!—having to climb up and up, and more up. My legs were toast at that point.

Then finally finishing those loops meant one thing–all downhill to the finish. With that in mind, I sprinted (literally) down to Stinson Beach.

I finished 5 hours and 50 minutes after the start. Good for 5th place overall!

Good times!

“I don’t like easy races.” That’s how Dan Barger, this years USARA Finals Race Director started his pre-race briefing at the Santa Barbara Double Tree conference center Thursday night. Dan continued to cover the race logistics, rules and answer racer questions. He described that the race would consist of 30,000+ foot elevation gain and 110 miles in length! 30,000 foot elevation gain seems impossible as even after plotting the checkpoints later that night I was still skeptical. Did he actually mean 30,000+ foot elevation gain AND loss? We were lucky that this year race was held so close to home. The course would take racers up into the Santa Barbara Front Country and surrounding wilderness as well as a bit of urban travel as well.The team requirements were 3 person co-ed teams. So the racers would be me (Adam Doti), Adam Armijo and Aja Cook. Or as Brian likes to refer to us, “The Triple A”. We were going to miss DP our usual 4th. Who was going to keep us awake with his stories?

A few other odd noteworthy specifics about this race. We were required to carry all of our gear and food and clothes for the entire race. Something that is not typical for 24 hour races. There were no official Transition Areas (TA) at all. We would not be able to refuel on water or food as we normally do. All water would need to be found on the course. In addition Friday morning before the race start we were required to stage our kayak on the beach and leave only paddling gear. We then had to take a duffel bag on our bikes and ride 5 miles east down the beach to Lookout Beach Park to the race start. We were going to run to the kayaks at the start of the race down the beach and kayak back to our bikes. It was at this point that I realized I had forgotten my TrackStick GPS! So no Motion Based reports or graphs for us! Bummer!

After a few finals words from Dan and Troy at 7am sharp the race started. To spread out the teams they had us briefly run east down the beach around a flag and then turn back west and head back to the hotel’s beach to our kayaks. Along the coasteering route there were a series of sea walls. This caused a bottle neck and allowed the teams that were upfront and nimble on the rocks to gain even further distance on the rest of us that got to the wall late and were stuck in the middle of the pack. At one point we reached a stretch of beach with a high sea wall. The waves were crashing at the wall but would retreat to a decent distance allowing for what would look like if you really ran hard you could almost clear the beach and wall before the next wave came in. I knew we were going to get a lot wetter during the rest of the run and kayak, so was eager to pull the rest of the team down onto the beach and try and make up some time. After some quick inter-team debates, off we ran passing a few teams that were traversing the wall top. We got hit by one wave up to our knees, no big deal. We ran with the other DA Pits for a bit and then they eventually pulled away from as we regrouped and made sure we didn’t violate the distance rule.

As we approached the kayaks we caught up the other DA Pits again and launched our inflatable Sevelyor kayaks into the ocean. The surf wasn’t bad at all and made for an easy entry. Waves must have been one to two foot. I took one kayak as a solo and “A-Bomb” Armijo and Aja took the second as a double. These things were maddening to try and steer. Because they do not have a rudder or a keel, either the wind or the current would take the boat and immediately spin it around in circles. We made out way west towards West Beach for CP1. After CP1 we paddled 6 more miles past the kayak start back to Lookout Beach to transition to our bikes. The total kayak was about 8 miles.

We changed out of our wet clothes and transitioned to our bikes. We departed the TA just behind the DA Pits and made out way up Ortega Hill. At the top of the hill the DA Pits turned right and headed north down Ortega Ridge road. I decided to take us down the hill and up Sheffield Rd to Romero Canyon Rd. I guess we’d see which way was faster soon enough. We eventually caught up to a couple other teams but no Pits, weird. We transitioned onto Romero Trail. This small trail was 90% hike-a-bike and 10% rideable. At a river crossing A-Bomb recommended we refill on water since we did not know when we would come across another source. Turns out there would actually be more water sources than we thought and probably only need to stop for water about half the time we did. At about this time up come the DA Pits from down trail! Guess Sheffield was faster

We made our way hike-a-bikeing up Romero and finally down onto the Romero Saddle for the next CP3 / TA 2 at 3050ft when we would transition to the run/trek. For the next batch of CPs we had the choice to hat CP 4, 5 and 6 in any order we wanted. We opted to do it counter clockwise and in order 4, 5 then 6. We took off as one big group on foot down Murietta Juncal Road to the valley floor. On the way down we caught up to a team that was running with Robin Benincasa, world renowned adventure racer. As I ran past the team and Robin I said “This may be the last time I pass Robin in an race!”. We made our way down to the valley floor and then up onto the ridge line just before Blue Canyon Pass. We traveled northwest along the ridgeline towards CP4 which required us to scramble and bushwhack to the peak where the CP was located. We then made our way over to CP5 which was just an easy hop over to the next peak.

At this point we had the decision to continue along the ridge line North and West and circle around south west to hit CP6 from behind, or to continue back the way we came about .8 miles to the trail junction and then down Blue Canyon Trail. Robin and her host team decoded to take the ridge line. Turns out later I found that they had not returned yet. Looks lie it took a lot longer than they anticipated or they got lost. We were all feeling really good on the run/trek running and jogging most of the leg.

We made it down off the ridge and into the Blue Canyon. Along the Blue Canyon Trail we passed about a dozen teams that had decided to do the circuit in the opposite order. About half way don the trail we stopped again to refuel on water. While refilling we came across Mark manning and ARNavSupplies as well as Jan Klafin who was racing with her friends from back east as Wicked Pissah. They were remarking on how hard it was to find CP6 and insisted it was in the wrong spot. Mark had found it but Jen did not. Because of this we decided to remain on high alert and really pay special attention to our location and where the CP should be. We paced our travel and watched our elevation and surrounding features closely. We descended down off the trail where we felt the CP should be. We fanned out about 20 feet apart and canvassed the river bad until Brian spotted Galen and Oliver at the CP! It was great to see familiar faces!

After CP6 we headed about .25 miles back down Blue Canyon Trail to Romero Trail. At Romero Trail we made our way back up to the Romero Saddle and the Trek/Bike TA. By this time it was very windy and cold! We transitioned back to our biking gear and put on all of our available layers of clothes. Our transition was a bit too long. Because if this I because very cold. We took off on the bikes down East Camino Cielo again still with the DA pits as one big happy family. The sun had set about an hour or so ago so it was dark by this time. Probably about 7-7:30pm. When we reached Cold Springs Trail we took it down to the valley floor at Forbush Flat. It was a rocky semi-technical single track that caused two crashes by Aja. Luckily she’s a tough as nails and there was nothing serious. But after her second crash her shoes poped off the back of her bike! We back tracked to her last fall only a few hundred feet back and lucky we found them. We finished the decent down to the valley floor and back up towards Gibraltar Trail. It was somewhere around the start of the Gibraltar Trail that we split up from the DA Pits again.

We made our way on a double track and fire road westward on the south side of the reservoir past the Gibraltar Mine and towards the intake tunnel on the far west side of the reservoir. At this point we were exhausted and decide to catch a brief nap before we would continue on. We grabbed a nice spot beneath some trees off the side of the trail and pulled out the space blanket and lined up like sausages to stay warm.

20 Minutes later my watch alarm woke us and we quickly got on our bikes to get warm because we were freezing! We continued along Gibraltar down to Red Rocks campground and to a nice paved road. We took this windy road west through Live Oak, Falls and Lower Oso Campgrounds. At Lower Oso we turned north and made our way up to Upper Oso to CP. Finally! We again toped off our water and discussed the route that layed ahead of us for CP9 and CP10. There was another team here as well. It looked as if they were contemplating continuing on as well. They were lying on the pavement side by side getting some rest.

CP 9 and 10 was a gnarly bike loop that was to take us about 4-6 hours. It was now about midnight. We were worried we would not make it out of this back country in time for the race cut off and would have along way to go just to get back home. Finishing with all CPs wasn’t our main concern. We wanted to experience most of the course we could. Scratching 2 measly points in exchange for not getting short coursed so we could continue onto the rest of the course was our goal. We were confident if we decide to try for CP 9 and 10 at this point we would for sure be short coursed at CP12 thus missing 5 CPs not 2.

We decided to head straight for CP11. The hike-a-bike up the hill and own to CP 11 was brutal! Turns out after the race talking with Mark Manning, there was a trail that went around the hill and all the climbing was not necessary! We tagged CP11 and ate a Tina’s Burrito and continued back towards Lower Oso Campground. It was here that Aja because exhausted and requested we stop to sleep again. We all needed it. We found a nice spot under a pine tree in the campground and took a 1 hour nap. This was plenty to recharge our batteries. It was now about 5:15am and was getting light.

We hopped on the bikes and made our way back to the Arroyo Trailhead and up the Arroyo Trail Fire road to the top of the saddle on East Cielo. We discussed briefly heading straight down toward CP 15 at the Orienteering section, but in the end opted for the nearest CP which was 12 to check in and see what the story was with the latest race cutoffs, short courses and general race status. Luckily we did because we made it to CP 12 2 minutes before the short course cut off! At 9:30am teams were being redirected directly down Gibraltar Road to the finish line. We were allowed to continue on to CP 15/16 and the O-Course. We rode west along the ridge on Camino Cielo to Painted Cave Road and bombed down Painted Cave onto Old San Marcos Road and down into the city. We rode along side Highway 101 and up to Lake Los Carnero Park. It was here that a quick 10 point orienteering course was set up. We made very quick time of the course hitting every point dead on and finishing the course in about 22-24 minutes. Apparently one of the fastest times.

We transitioned back to bikes and rode down through Goleta by the airport and UCSB to CP17 on the bike path. We then turned east and rode the bike path towards Hope Ranch and Santa Barbara Point. We grabbed CP18 at the intersection of Cliff Drive and Las Positas Roads. We continued on toward State St and to CP19 where again Oliver Galen and Kent were waiting! They had us drop our bikes and do a mandatory gear check. We were required to show our space blanket and survival mirror. Turns out Aja threw away her space blanket at the O-course! We were going to get a 2 hour penalty! What were the odds that the one thing we needed to show was the one thing we doidnt have. I quickly recalled a mountain supply store just up on State Street. We ran back to the store and bought a space blanket and then returned to the gear check and successfully passed! Whew!, because not far back I knew there were couple teams we had passed on the O-course and they’d be catching up soon!.

For the final push we ran down the lawn of the hotel and across the finish line to about 4 people and some random vacationers eating lunch on the patio. Was very anticlimactic. Not even a camera in sight to take a team picture! Turns out we were one of the few team that got stiffed on the team crossing the line photos due to the photographer having to go get all the previous photos developed.

In all we did 15,674 feet of elevation gain and about 105 miles in 31 hours and 4 minutes getting a total of 15 checkpoints and taking 16th place out of about 50 teams from across the country.

Photos: http://www.uinaction.com/arafinal.html
DA Photos: http://www.dirtyavocados.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1026
Checkpoint Zero Photos: http://checkpointzero.smugmug.com/gallery/2106742
National Geographic Topo! route file: Download

DP and I teamed up today’s ROGAINE (Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance) in San Jose.

It was good times! We bagged 2020 points out of a possible 3400. Not bad for a couple of team mules!

Full race report to come…

[RACE REPORT; Mike Chastaine]

For me it was exciting to be returning to Moab for the 2006 Moab Expedition race. The 2005 version had been shorted after about 40 hours due to a storm that dropped 2 feet of snow in the La Sal Mountains. That storm was accompanied by very scary lightening, hail, and rain. I figured that there was no way this could happen again. I returned to Moab on a Mission to complete the entire course.

To my good fortune I was adopted by the Dirty Avocados. After some preliminary meetings and work outs, I felt like we had a good fit. I was very excited to be racing with Jen, Will and Brian and was extremely optimistic at our chances to do well.

After much discussion and the fact that we couldn’t find a crew, we decided to do the race unsupported. This reduced our logistical concerns. In the end, however, being unsupported was made significantly more difficult by the weather.

The race was set to start Thursday evening at 7 pm. We left California on Tuesday morning. I had strongly encouraged taking a more leisurely travel so that we didn’t get to Moab tired. As the race was set up, we will have been up for 12 or so hours before the race even started. If we showed up tired, we would really be in the hole. Our game plan was to go through the first night and day then get a sleep on the second night. We were unsure how this would manifest it’s self but we figured we would hit a TA sometime that night and get an hour or two of sleep.

We arrived on Wednesday and took a short ride at the famous Slick rock. After driving 800 miles I wanted to test the bikes and get some blood pumping. It was a good thing that we did, as Brian’s bike needed a new derailleur. On the other side, Slick rock is a very technical place to ride and is different then almost any other type of riding. I have ridden there a couple of times so knew what to expect. Will, Jen and Brian had not, so when they saw the extremely steep down hills and tight turns near cliffs, I think that they were a little unnerved. After ridding the practice loop, they adjusted and I think everyone enjoyed the ride. We made a quick trip to the bike shop and a very gracious mechanic at Slick Rock Bikes got Brian’s bike up and running.

We spent an uneventful night at the Red Cliffs Lodge, going over gear and discussing possible race plans. We had to be out of the room by 11 in the morning, so we were going to be stuck, just hanging around till the 1:00 check in time. After breakfast, we hung around in the lobby as teams began to show up. I spent some time talking to other teams and just meeting people. Teams came from all over the country and Canada. It was nice to be racing new teams, rather then the local teams we normally race against.

The weather report showed that a storm was going to be passing through. However, nothing in the report made the storm seem like a big deal. A little rain never hurt any one and I wasn’t too concerned about it. Little did we know how big this storm really was or the impact it was going to have on the race.

At 1:00 we got our maps and Will and I quickly set down to plot the points. Many of the CP’s and TA’s were in the same location as last year. Although the course was set up differently, we would be going to many of the same places, Gold Bar, Gemini Bridges, Poison Spider, and Warner Lake. The general lay out of the course was as follows. We would ride our bikes up into the La Sals and do a rogaine style trek. We were not given the UTM’s for CP1 and 2 until 6:30 pm and would pick up the map for the trek at CP2. After the trek we would ride back to Red Cliffs to start the paddle. The trick here was that we could not get on the river before 7 am (daylight) and had to be on the river by 11 am. We were told numerous times that we might have to miss CP’s on the trek in order to make the cut off. There would be a 2 hour penalty for each missed CP on the trek.

We would paddle about 25 miles to Gold Bar (same location as last year) then do a rappel. This was to be followed by a long bike ride up Long Canyon to Gemini Bridges, through Golden Spike and Poison Spider (same course PQ went through and the opposite direction we did last year) then back to Gold Bar. From there we would jump in the kayak for a 5 mile paddle. We would then do a 6-7 mile trek, climbing Jacobs ladder and back to the boat. A short 1 mile paddle to cross the river, then run/trek/walk back to Gold Bar with our paddles and PFDs (about 6 miles) From there it was a long (60+ mile ride) back into the La Sals and down Onion Creek back to the river. Another 10+ mile trek and then the final 28 mile paddle to the finish.

There were various cut off along the way. Will Newcomber (race director) told us that he only expected 10% of the teams to finish the entire course. He told us that he had set up the course so that everyone would be able to finish a shorten version even if we missed cut offs. We had come to do the entire course. However, with the projection that only 2 or 3 teams would do so and looking at the cut off times, I knew that we would really be pressed to make the later cut offs. I kept this information to myself and just figured that we needed to press hard and see how things worked out.

Before starting the race we all agreed that we needed to make sure we were on the river as close to 7 am as we could so that we could beat the later cut offs. The gun went off and we started the 4000 foot climb up Castleton Valley to the La Sals. This was the first time that we had ridden together as a team so it took a little work to get our rhythm. We did some towing and settled into a pace that worked for us. We could see the long line of racers and their lights coming up the mountain. The weather was good and it was not yet raining but I could tell the storm was coming.

We rode on the paved road to CP1 and then cut over on a fire ride the rest of the way to CP2. It was rocky and technical in a few places but we just kept pushing on. We were back and forth with several teams but it was way too early to be concerned about our placing or what other teams were doing. Finally, after about 3 hours we got to CP2, just has Jen’s rear tire flatted. She quickly set to doing the repair as I checked in with the staff. About this time it began to rain. I got the map and quickly plotted the CP’s for the rogaine. We were at 7800 and were going to have to go to at least 11,000 feet. It was clear to me that we would not have time to get all 8 CP’s but I wanted to get 5. No teams got all 8 and only 2 teams got 7 CP’s. 4 of the CPs were in an obvious circle. The other 4 branched out like a bicycle spoke. We choose to go clock wise although about ½ of the teams went counter clock wise.

As soon as we left the TA/CP2 – the rain started to come down hard. It poured pretty much the entire trek. We climbed as fast as we could given the pouring rain and altitude. Jen was suffering from the altitude but showed real grit and determination. She never once complained and actually seemed to get stronger as the trek went on. Brian towed her up the mountain while Will and I were keeping a close eye on the maps to make sure we were going the right way. We got to the first CP without any problems (beyond what climbing 2000 feet in 2 miles in the pouring rain causes) and headed for the next CP in our route. This CP was in a saddle and at around 11,000. We, along with several other teams, had trouble finding the right trail. A number of teams, including us, took a parallel trial up the mountain side. Here we were trekking over snow and scree. At one point the trail took a clear easterly course. This was great but we needed to go west. After scratching our heads for a few minutes we determined that we were on the wrong trail we tried to bushwhack across the mountain to the correct trail. The first spot we tried was too steep and sketchy. We then dropped down a hundred or so feet and cut into the woods. We finally got some good luck and ran right into the trail. This really lifted everyone’s spirits and we were able to quickly find the CP. We met up with a team from Texas at the CP. We started running down hill and made real good time all the way to CP10. CP10 was manned with a fire. I got a hot cup of tea and we headed off to CP4 – 800 foot elevation loss and gain. Despite the strong wind and constant rain we made good time through CP 4 and 5 and got back to our bikes. Now a quick 4000 foot decent on bikes back to the river.

After the long decent, we were all pretty cold. Jen especially was frozen to the bone. We got out the jet boils and heated up some water to get some warm liquid into her. I made some cup of noodles and got some thing to eat. This is where being unsupported was a real drag. Our boxes were up in the upper parking lot, exposed to the elements. The only shelter was about 50 meters down a stair case. We would grab gear and then run down to the overhang/picnic area to change, cook and eat. This was very inconvenient and slow. It took us about an hour to get out of this TA. Even with this delay we were the 4th team on to the river.

The river was swollen and running fast. It just kept raining. There were waterfalls coming off the cliffs in a way that I’m sure no one had ever seen before. It was beautiful, but I knew that the trails were going to be a mess. The good news for us was the river was moving fast. The bad news was that Will and Jen were having trouble keeping their kayak going straight. For some reason, it kept pulling right. I could tell this was very frustrating for them. Brian and I would paddle ahead, and then wait for them to catch up. In hindsight, we should have switched boats. Never the less, we actually made good time, doing the 25 mile paddle in 4 hours and 45 minutes.

As we paddled, Jen was getting colder and colder. I could see that she was shivering. When we pulled out of the river there was a micro burst of rain. It just came down in buckets. This was just want we needed, more rain. This got me shivering also. Here is where we lost focus. Again our gear was out in the open exposed to the rain and wind. My only criticism of the race management was their failure to provide some kind of shelter. It turned out that they had a large tent that they later erected. That should have been put up right away. I know we were unsupported, but being exposed like that put us at a real disadvantage. The upshot was we got involved in moving our extremely heavy boxes (full of gear, food and water) over to a picnic overhand, pulling gear out, only to be told that we had to move our gear out from under the overhang because someone might want to use the area. We were caught up in trying to get warm, organize our gear and just busy work. Before we knew it an hour and ½ had slipped by. I am normally very focused in the TA. This usually results in very quick transitions. I felt that it was important to move through the TA quickly in this race. It was my job on this team to get in and out of the TA. The cold and rain really threw me off my game in this area. We weren’t any warmer, just slower. Finally we got our heads back into the game and headed up for the rappel.

As usual the rappel is the highlight. Even though it was pouring rain, the climb to the rappel and the decent it self were super cool. We went off the backside of an arch with a waterfall (that isn’t suppose to be there) pouring down the rock right behind us. The trickiest part was the climb. Even thought the rock is very grippy , with all that water running down it, it was a little unnerving.

When we got back to Gold Bar from the rappel we were told that the race was put on hold. The roads that use to go up Long Canyon had been destroyed and the conditions had become dangerous. Of course, as soon as they said that the sun came out. It was hard to believe, with the sun shining that we could not go on. Then I would look around and see 8 or 9 waterfalls pouring off the rocks and knew the trails had to be in real sorry shape.

At 3:30 we were told that we would meet at 6:30 and be given new instructions. We were also told that the 2nd and 3rd kayak and trek had already been cancelled. So it was clear to me that we would be riding back to the La Sals. During our 3 hours, with the sun shining, we tried to dry out gear. I had only 1 dry shirt left. We ate, hydrated and sat around tying to get gear cleaned up or dried out.

At the 6:30 we were told that at 7pm we could proceed by bike to CP 25 – high in the La Sals up the Kokopelli’s trail. We took off with several other teams right at 7. We quickly joined into a pace line and powered along for several miles. The speed was a bit too fast so we fell off and settled into a more comfortable pace. At this point the weather was good with a full moon. We rolled through the town of Moab and started up Sand Flat hill. All of a sudden there was a loud noise like a cannon going off. Shortly after that the wind picked up and all at once the rain started with a microburst. Jen and I were together. We stopped to put on our rain gear. It was raining so hard that we got soaked before we could get everything on. I’ve never seen in rain so hard so quickly. For the remainder of the night it rained on and off with high winds. At points the wind was so strong it would actually push us up the hill. As we slogged along the moon would come out and we would get beautiful views of canyons and spires. Then the clouds would roll back in and the rain would start again.

The Kokopelli trail out of Moab is a fire road for many miles. Along the way there was lighting – so close some times that it caused us to stop and take shelter till it looked like it was clear. After many miles we turned off on single track. This began a long hike a bike. The trail was too rutted, wet and/or steep to ride most of the time. As we went along the trail got more and more muddy. Soon the bikes were covered with mud, the wheels wouldn’t turn and the bikes weighed so much I could lift the bike over my shoulder. From this point on we were moving extremely slow. It took us about 2 hours to drag our muddy bikes the last 2 miles to CP25.

When we finally got to the CP we were told that the race was over, all of the other CP’s were closed and we were to straight back to Red Cliffs. This was very disappointing but at this point, not really a surprise. I figured that Onion Creek would be a mess and closed. This would have closed CP 26. I had hoped that the trek and last paddle were still available. As it turned out, the TA’s for those disciplines had simply washed away.

After knocking as much mud off of our bikes and getting the brakes to work we headed down the mountain. Another long cold decent and we arrived back at Red Cliffs at 5:42 am. It was still raining.

After only 35 or so hours of racing we were done. I was very proud of how the team performed and everyone continued on in such adverse conditions. They called this the Storm of the Century. It was certainly the worst conditions I had ever raced in.

Officially, we finished 10th in the 4 person Co-ed. I am certain that had the race continued we would have moved up. We needed sleep but we were still strong and as soon as the sun came up, I’m sure we would have been fine. As it turned out the next day was sunny and warm. A beautiful day for a trek and a paddle.

Mike Chastaine

Apparently moab got more rain these past few days than they had in long time. Some were calling it the storm of the century here.

Outside of that it was a tough and sometimes brutal course. And Moab and the La Salle Mountains are amazing! We ran through some canyonlands, ran and biked the La Salle Mountain peaks and paddled the Colorado River! And the crowning moment was a 150 ft rappel off a desert arch… with a waterfall in the background and hundreds of miles of sanstone meccas in the foreground!

The race was cut short due to the extreme weather. It was stopped on Saturday morning.

The final results are unconfirmed but it looks like we did well!

Race report to follow.
-Brian

Race Day!

[Adam] This just in via phone from Brian Schmitz…

Yesterday (Wednesday) we went on a ride to a well known local area called Slick Rock. Brian had a few mechanical problems and needed to replace his derailer and middle chain ring! Luckily this happened before the race and not during!

In addition to his mechanical problems Brian had clothing issues. His AXIS team shorts blew out in the butt! Apparently Will was following Brian and spotted the gaping rip around the shammy. Unfortunately Brian did not have a spare and needed to purchase another pair of shorts along with his above bike parts. Boy, its turning out to be an expensive race so far!

To exasperate the issues, Brian succumbed to a mild case of food poisoning last night. He thinks it was either the vegetable lasagna or the spring water he drank on the Slick Rock trail.

The weather is mildly overcast with threatening storms. They are located very near the Colorado River at the Red Cliffs Lodge.

They have spotted a few teams around town, but not many. They suspect most will be arriving today from nearby rest stops enroute to the race briefing and start tonight.

1pm PST is check in and 3pm PST are pictures and 7pm PST is race start.

This will be the last Blog from the Dirty Avocados Pits before the race start tonight at 7pm PST. Please check in with www.checkpointtracker.com for further details.

Good luck!!!!!
-A

The Pits have arrived in Moab!!

As we approach Moab the sight that hits us first and hardest is the La Salle Mountain Range. Wow!!

Miles of snow capped peaks, one toping out at 12k! Intimidating to think about considering well be trekking through that fun stuff soon. The surrounding canyon lands and high desert is also an amazing sight!

The weather is not bad. 70s and overcast with chances of t-storms through Friday. This should make for not so hot conditions. The nights will likely be cold. But at there’ll be a full moon. Nice!

More to come later.
Good times!
- Brian

Pits Tag Salt Lake!

It’s 10 pm on Tuesday and were approaching Salt Lake City. This is where well crash for the night. Given our good time today, tomorrows drive will be an easy one to moab.

Once we get to Moab well kill some time before Thursday nights start with some riding, running and relaxing.

More to come on Wednesday!

- Brian

The pits hit the road!

It’s noon and were loaded up and on the road. It’s the four of us and no crew! Were doing this unsupported. This means we need to get everything including water into our gear boxes.

So we’ve got 4 boxes 4 bikes and a bunch of random bags packs and things. Not bad for 72 hours of racing!

8 or so hours of driving ahead of us. More to come later!

- Brian

Pits are ripe for Moab!!

The Pits are ripe and ready to race at next week’s Adventure Xstream Expedition race!!

The start is at 7pm Thursday, October 5 and ends the following Sunday night. You can track our progress at http://www.checkpointtracker.com/. Check out that site now, as there is already some cool info on the race and the teams.

You can also get more details on the race at http://www.gravityplay.com/expedition/index.htm.

I’ll be blogging from the road starting Tuesday, when Will, Jen, Mike and I leave for Moab. I’ll blog up to the start and then following our finish. Check out our blog at http://www.dirtyavocados.com.

Wish us luck. We’re ready to represent BIG TIME!!!

Brian

This report was written by Aja Cook. Enjoy!

*** *** ***
Who finished first?
Four big Avocados and one baby Avocado went to the Presidio early morning Sunday to participate in a challenging, fast paced orienteering course. The three big Avocados went to a BOAC advanced pre-course training clinic, jam packed with vital information. The baby Avocado, along with daddy Avocado, headed out on the orange course (4.4 km), one of the four courses available, while the three other Avocados watched, and waited patiently in anticipation for their departure time. Unable to handle the waiting, the three big Avocados bottled up from the clinic and headed to the start line. With maps of the long orange course (6.6 km) in hand and clock ticking, the big Avocados headed out in search for the first of eleven CP’s .

Teams scattered in all directions, on all different courses, some looking like they knew what they were doing, others not so confident. One thing that all the teams had in common was constant chatter and laughter associated with having fun. By the time the team of three big Avocados gained their bearings, they found themselves at the location of CP1. The big Avocados had all been under the impression that the course would be used that day for skills training. Dependent upon others in the past to lead them through races, they decided it was time to learn these navigation skills for themselves. Each Avocado carried a map in hand and listened to one anothers suggestions about where they thought the upcoming CP would be found.

Group naving proved to be successful for CP 1-6, although it became apparent that certain Avocados had stronger skills than others and were being relied upon for their strengths. Together the Avocados decided the remainder of the CP’s should be naved out individually. The least experienced naving female Avocado took the first challenge of locating CP 7. All went well until she cut the trail short, costing the team about 7 minutes of unnecessary searching. With CP 7 located, the short ultra fast Avocado set out to find CP 8.

Up and over obstacles, down steep embankments, bush waking through shrubs of all sizes, the team of Avocados finally made it to the CP that proved to be the hardest to find on the course. A half hour out, the team had time to make up if they planned to arrive back at the finish before the father/son Avocado duo. The giant organic Avocado was placed in charge of finding the next CP, which was found less than a mile away. With only two CP’s left, the team decided to revert to naving together, which had proven to be a much more effective strategy for the first set of CP’s.

Within a few short minutes, the team of three Avocados had their finish line in sight. They sprinted off to cross the finish line with assurance in their eyes that they had arrived before their friendly Avocado competition. Just as they were crossing the finish line, the infectious sound of a baby’s laughter could be heard. The baby Avocado had been hiding behind a tree with his father awaiting the other team’s arrival. The baby Avocado looked up at his dad and said, “See dad, two smart heads are better than three strong heads…our wits proved to be stronger than their physical strength!” before running out into the field to greet his fellow Avocados.

[RACE REPORT] September 18, 2006.

This was my second year at a classic that’s existed for more than 45 years–the Mt Tam Hill Climb! (I plan to hit this race as long as my climbing legs will churn.)

This year I was out to better last year’s time of 52:28. A far thought was breaking 50 minutes. Lofty–but doable.

I started with the Cat 5 group from Stinson Beach and headed north on Route 1 for about 4 miles. Basically it was a pack ride. Everyone stuck together to efficiently get to the meat of the race–the climb! During this stretch, though, I thought the pack traveled relatively slowly. Looking back, I would’ve made the break with a few guys that broke from the pack early. But would that move have come back to hurt me later on? Who knows. I plan to give it a try next year, if it feels right.

We then get to Bolinas-Fairfax road and the pain–I mean climb–starts. That tight pack was now shattered by Madam Tam. It’s at this point I put my head down and…HAMMER!!

My heartrate boils (my AVG HR for the race was 180)! Luckly the air temp was manageable, so I wasn’t boiling. For the next 40 minutes I delicately managed my pain, HR, and the course itself.

Most of the climb was a steady–sometimes steep–climb, until you hit the ridge. Then it’s rollers known as the Seven Sisters–some refer to them as the Seven Bitches. Either way, they will tease and hurt you like the best of ‘em!

Finally I roll over the Sister #6 and hammer up Sister #7–a short climb to the finish.

I finish in 50:17–bettering last year’s time by more than 2 minutes!!

Good times.

Madam Tam, see you next year!

Place: Second place coed premier division. (Uno Avocado, 6th in solo cat.)
MotionBased Data: View Digest
National Geographic Topo! Route and Waypoints: Download
Google Earth Route: Download
Team and crew photo links from ExploreCa.com:
Karen and Paul’s Photos
Team Feed the Machine’s Photos (thanks Mark Richardson!)
Team Feed the Machines’ Photos (thanks Kristen Francis)
Team Dirty Avocado/BAARbd’s Photos (thanks Adam Doti)
Team DART / NUUN Photos (thanks Ryan Van Gorder & Welcome Back!)
Carl Davis - Volunteer Photos (thanks Carl!)
Team Wild Burro (thanks Chelsea and Tony!)
Race Results: Excel | PDF

THE PREP
About this time 2 weeks ago, we got that fateful, and somewhat expected notice from CSM Events. The next installment of the Cal Eco series to be held in Downieville was cancelled! Argh! (…among a few other profanities…) was our gut reaction of what had just happened, communicated by all in our virtual conference room. As we were firing off emails and voicemails vigorously tying to regroup, we explored our options as to what we could do to fill this void and get our AR “fix”. You can read more about the ethics and bickering of the west coast trend of directors cancelling races here: http://www.baarbd.org/community/forum/view_topic?topic_id=155
We had wanted to do Karen and Paul’s Explore the West – Southern California race since it was announced, but because we had committed ourselves to the Cal Eco series and wanted to participate in a multi-day race this year, we were holding out for Cal Eco’s Downieville. Now that it was cancelled, we had an opportunity to take Karen and Paul up on their offer.

We had one week, the race had virtually started!

It was going to be tough and we needed to scramble, because in exactly 1 week to the day, we needed to be in Big Bear with our team intact, all our gear, a 4X4, and most importantly, a crew! A-Bomb was MIA, goofing off in Tahoe on his mountain bike, and I was on the home front with my 2 year old son for the holiday weekend while my wife was visiting her sister. That left me and Donato, via hundreds of phone calls and emails, to pull together a team, crew and logistics at the last minute. Were we going to make it? Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to find racers out of the ever-growing network of DA’s ‘n friends. Everything was in place, except for that one minor detail…mandatory crew! Talk about make it or break it…I must have made 50 calls and emails, and came up empty every time. Seems like this is *the* weekend for weddings, funerals, and Bat Mitzvahs. Long story short, the frustration continued until Wednesday when we were lucky enough to hook up with Jen and Galen from baarbd.org. Jen would race as our female to round out the team, and Galen would be our star crew, to form Team Dirty Avocados – Skins/baarbd.com.

With all the pieces in place, all we needed to do was make it to Big Bear Lake by 6pm Friday. This also proved to be challenging, due to the fact that I was working in Seattle all week, and on top of that, organizing the logistics of this event. I landed late Thursday, went home, packed, loaded the truck, went to bed. In the morning, I hit the road to pick up A-Bomb and our kayak from CityKayak (www.citykayak.com) and then we high tailed it to So Cal! Whew! We were finally on our way.

We rolled into Big Bear at about 5:30pm after caffeine fueled, Mario Andretti paced roll down the highway. With time to spare, we picked up some last minute groceries and made our way to the pre-race meeting at a local Italian restaurant. After stuffing our selves with our final meal, Paul and Karen handed out the maps and went over the race rules.

The race was to start at 6am, with a check in time of 5:15, in a small town east of Big Bear, in the desert valley called Pioneertown. Approximate ETA, 1.5 hours. By now, it was already almost 10pm. A drive to Yucca Valley would put us to sleep between midnight and 1am. We were reassured there would be plenty of motel rooms in Yucca Valley, so we loaded up the truck with our gear and pizza and high tailed it down the hill so that we’d be closer to the start in the morning. We always like to get to a race early and avoid the rush of a long drive hours before a race. As Jen drive down the mountain, I vigorously plotted the CP’s on the race maps, knowing that once we got to the motel, I was going to need to get as much sleep as possible.

We arrived in Yucca Valley, and the first motel we checked was sold out. The desk lady said that actually all motels in town were sold out! What happened to wide open availability!? We got a bit frustrated at this point. Couldn’t we have gotten some amount of notice ahead of time so we could secure a room? A campsite? Couldn’t a block of rooms been reserved? Anything to avoid the aggravation and the hassle that is eating into our much needed rest only hours before the race start.

Did I mention the race already started?…

We finally found a vacancy and quickly filed into the room and crashed as soon as our route was plotted.

4:15am came quick. Again, it was hard to wake up DP, but when isn’t it. We geared up and loaded into the truck and made our way to the start. It was still dark but teams, were scurrying about with their headlamps preparing their bikes, packs and other race gadgets.

We gathered at the start line around Paul and Karen, and after a few final words the race had officially started at 6:05am.

THE RACE

The order of events in this race was to be; bike, run, bike, run, bike, kayak, run. Paul estimated it would be 90 miles and 11,000 ft elevation gain. This turned out to be an “estimate” alright!

We started biking west by north west towards a little town of Rimrock. The roads turned form paved to dirt to gravel. Eventually the road made its way through a canyon, which was nice as it provided shade from the rising sun. On this first bike leg, whatever could have gone wrong, did. First I experienced one of the important lessons in bike maintenance and racing. Never get your cables replaced just before a race. My derailleur was ghost shifting all over the place. I could not stay in a single gear no matter what I tried. It sounded like popcorn coming form my bike. This proved to be very tiring as I tried to maintain forward momentum. We managed to keep our place in the pack in the front quarter. Jen also sprang a leak in her camelback and was loosing all her fluid quickly. Armijo’s seat and post didn’t want to stay up and he had to keep retightening it.

As we shook out the bugs, we picked up CP1, which was a quick run up and around a “lollypop” loop above a bike drop. On foot proved be faster, so we jammed up the hill, got the checkpoint and headed back down to our bikes. One down, and it was off it was to the first TA. We transitioned very quickly and set out on the trek/run. Not sure what team we were behind, but they were wearing blue. We entered a large reentrant with what looked like a trail that disappeared. We decided to let the other team gain some distance on us and we watched them as they tried to make their way straight up the reentrant. From prior experience, that would prove to be very slow moving. We decided to back track just a few yards or so and Jen found the trail we were looking for behind a clump of bushes. This trail took us up to the ridgeline where we caught a 4X4 road down to the next CP. We were just behind Team Fuzzy Logic (I think). After checking the point, they continued up the path out the backside of the CP. Again the maps did not represent the trails as they were, so we had to scrap our plans of catching the Pacific Crest Trail and wing it up and over the ridge to the TA.

We ran down to the TA and transitioned to bikes again. Galen had fixed my ghost shifting problem whule we were on foot and it rode like a new bike again! Overall, our transition times were very fast for this race, which is something that we’re constantly working on. Sub 5 minutes!
We hopped on the bikes and made for Heart Bar Camp.

*And now a brief word from our sponsor… (Jen adds a piece)
Upon departing from TA 2 Paul said that we had a “short” hike-a-bike section which he followed up with, “if I were a race director I’d NEVER put a hike-a-bike in a race” and if that wasn’t enough sarcasm from one source, he later said that Karen had done the whole section in her big ring! I don’t know about the boys, but my mind was hung up on the word “short” despite the other warnings… for the next hour we humped our bikes up loose rock at pitches you could have skied down! Paul alluded to the fact that the reward was worth the price, so we kept trucking until we topped out around 7k. Now, to resume the mechanicals we began with, my bike decide to take part in the festivities. My bottom bracket started to seize. On a bike just over a year old I was shocked - ok, pissed - this was happening. DP greased her up and she held up to the next TA. Felt like I was riding with my brakes on. *

We passed a small gate up initially, and had to back track to locate the next CP and the start to the Santa Anna River Trail (SART). The SART, as you probably have read in other race reports, is a fun little trail. It was a rolly-polly trail with an average loss in elevation. We took this trail west for a while, and then down a technical rocky trail that never seemed to end. Armijo and DP loved it! But I shared Jen frustrations in the extreme amount of concentration needed to stay upright, many times almost resulting in an endo. After what seemed like hours, we made it to the end of the trail and to the general vicinity of the TA. At the end of the trail was a TA location update sign. The sign stated “…follow road - turn left and cross bridge and look for TA on left” (…well, something along those lines). So we turned left, uphill mind you, and crossed a white bridge. There was no TA to be found. We rode almost half way to Road 38 with no TA in sight. We headed back to the sign to get a better read of what it was telling us to do. After a second look, it appears we zigged when we should have zagged and headed RIGHT down the hill, and into the TA. Turns out we weren’t the only ones to make this mistake.

When we pulled into the TA we caught a glimpse of Mark Richardson, who was racing with Feed The Machine, bound off into the bushes and across a river apparently attempting to make a b-line for the SART up on the ridge in front of us. We decided to take the conservative quick moving route and following the paved road back around and up to the trail ahead. We hit the trail running, turning our headlamps on and off as we spotted teams down in the valley below us working their way up, so that we wouldn’t give away the location of the trail. We ran by moonlight for about a half hour until no team was close enough to pick up on us. We continued trekking and running up to the next TA where we were once again united with our bikes.

We were consistiently holding 6 – 9th place throughout the race, which fluctuated as the race progressed due to solos and the unranked. We had a feeling we were doing well. We were feeling strong, transitions were short and we continued to move quickly.

Now here’s where things got interesting. We set out west on 38, and started to look for a trailhead which was supposed to take us down to the SART. We stopped in a strip mall parking lot under the parking lights and checked the maps. As we did, we caught a glimpse of another team, I think it was Team PETA, emerging from behind the building and headed off down an alley. We rode over and it turns out they had been trying to locate the trail head for almost an hour. As we discussed our plan with the other team, I looked over the shoulder of a PETA and noticed a guy on a smoke break under a light in the alley behind the buildings we were now behind. I rode over and asked him if he knew where the trail head was. He said that he believed it was down at the end of the alley, and then up the hill. PETA had tried this earlier, but didn’t make it very far before turning back. We decided to check it our further.

I later found out that Mark and FTM crossed the road and made a B-Line down to the trail. The trail took us more west than we wanted to go. I soon realized we were on a different trail, but it would be ok as it would eventually take us to the SART crossing which would eventually take us right to the CP. This trail was pretty nerve-racking to ride. On the right was a cliff wall going up and on the left was a very steep drop off. The trail was loose gravel and sand in places making it difficult to maintain total control.

Once we emerged onto the fire road that would take us to the base of Clarks Grade, we came up on a couple other teams. Hey, it was Richardson! We rode down to the valley floor with Mark and then made a slight right and pulled away. Turns out he made the correct turn to the left and started up Clarks Grade about 10 minutes ahead of us.

Clarks Grade was tough! We rode about half way up, and then it just became too steep for us to ride. On the way up we passed a team wrapped in their space blankets taking a nap on the side of the trail. When we finally made it to the ridge crest and checked in at the CP, the temperature dropped drastically! What was left of the bike leg was a single track down to the road and through the neighborhood to the kayak TA. On the way down we froze! When we reached the TA, Galen had the truck running with the heat on. Jen was frozen to the bone. She he got in along with A-bomb and DP and warmed up while I changed, put on warmer clothes and got the kayaks and kayak gear ready for the paddle. Frost covered everything.

*Jen again. The decent from 9k on bikes breached freezing temps - frost bite started to set in on my fingers, unfortunately I’ve had it before so the pain was familiar. Albeit, we made it otherwise unscathed where Doti led us, seamless like a mouse through a maze to the TA. A 30 minute power nap was a long TA, though it thawed the team enough for us to motivate and put on enough clothes to pour ourselves into the frosty boats. The most painful part of the kayak was not only the perimeter course we had to take, but the fresh scents of biscuits and home-made donuts wafting over the water. It was just before 6am, the sun was rising and we had been going for 24 hours, with another 4-6 to go… Cliff bars lost their essence.*

After an extremely long transition Galen and I woke up the rest and got them moving. We had a race to finish guys! We squeezed into our frost covered kayaks and took off on the paddle. The water was completely calm and glassy. We were required to stay between the 5 mile per hour buoys and the shore the entire leg. This was painful, as it added a lot of distance on what looked like a straight shot to the CPs. We found CP14 with ease on the dock by the meadow. CP 15 and CP/TA16 were also easily attainable, and before we knew it, we in transition for the final leg of this ever increasing epic adventure.

We left the TA at the exact same time as Team PETA, as well as Dean from Team Baja who was now solo. He asked if he could travel with us and we gladly accepted. We let PETA enter and start the steep scramble to Greys Peak ahead of us so they would not see our route choice. Once they were out of sight, we continued across the road and up the hillside a few house down from where PETA began their trek. We found a very fast ascent route on an exposed ridge/boulder field. This was a much better route than bushwhacking through a reentrant again. We needed to climb 1000+ feet from the lake shore to the top of Greys Peak. Every time we thought we had the peak bagged and the CP near, we saw just off ahead of us another peak which was higher. We descended, and then climbed…decended, and then climbed, and so on. We peaked out on about 4-5 peaks until we finally reached Greys Peak. Tears of joy slowly began to blur my vision.
Descending from Greys, we found the trail and thought we were home free! We followed the trail down and as it started going more east than I would have liked. It continued heading east and we never came across the fire road that was shown on the map. We decided to take it further and eventually we did pop out on the fire road. This was much further east than we had aimed for. We regrouped and found a single track that would take us right to the finish.

We came up over a hill and saw the finish! There were the volunteers, other teams, crew and Paul and Karen all waiting around a bonfire. We all crossed the line as a group, Dirty Avocados Skins/b