Pangea – Nocturnal Challenge 18hr

On August 25, 2014August 26, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure RaceLeave a comment

The Pangea Nocturnal Challenge was going to be our first race as a 2-person team. Why have our first race be something like a sprint when we can just sign up for an 18-hr race? Off we went to the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park and we didn’t have Stu to blame for being late this time. The pre-race meeting started at 1PM so we, of course, roll in about 1:10PM to sign in, collect our maps and start the planning. I swear, one day we will get to a race before the pre-race meeting.

25 teams had signed up for the elite race and the Start/Finish line was crowded with teams getting ready. Click on the links below to check out the Instructions, maps and our GPS track.

Instructions-Nocturnal-Elite

Foot 1

The race largely followed the Suwannee River with multiple transitions through the Start/Finish TA. Having multiple transitions through the S/F allowed us to not carry a lot of gear during the race, unlike the Atomic AR where we had to carry our gear, food and water along the entire course. The race started at 3PM with a 7-mile death run in 95+ temperature. The run went well, except for a 0.5 mile detour that took us nowhere and allowed a few teams to pass us.

Boat 1

The end of the run had us transitioning to the canoe for an 8.5 mile paddle down the Suwannee river. Along the way we were to encounter Big Shoals, the only Class III rapids in Florida, and it’s sibling, Little Shoals. We had just run the Class II rapids at Coosa River so we had our game faces on for the Big Shoals.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain, the river was down and instead of Class III rapids, we found ourselves doing the bump and grind over submerged rock formations. But, that wasn’t enough to keep us from earning style points. Just look at us taking the rapids backwards. All I remember is Ana telling me, “But, I don’t want to go backwards!”

rapids5

rapids1

The Boat 1 section was uneventful and, like usual, we were passed by a number of teams that put in after us. I don’t know why we are such slow paddlers. 2 hours and 44 minutes later, we finish Boat 1 by arriving back at the S/F with aching backs and sore butts–ready to start Bike 1.

Bike 1

It was starting to get dark as we geared up for Bike 1. Of course, we were completely prepped in advance for the dark…I mean come on, it’s called the Nocturnal Challenge…who would show up without any batteries in their flashlights for the “Nocturnal Challenge”. So, after putting batteries in our lights, and eating a Heater Meal, we headed out for Bike 1. The first checkpoint, CP11, turned out to be a real B*&%%^$*&! We searched and searched and other teams showed up and searched too. Someone finally found it, not us, and everyone rushed to get the punch and move on. Continuing onward to CP12 and CP13, the thunder we had been hearing since the end of the canoe leg started growing louder and by CP14 all hell broke loose. The storm was right on top of us and the flash of lightning was immediately followed by the booming thunder. We could hardly make out the trail in front of us and we ditched CP14 for the trailhead, hoping to take shelter. At the trailhead, we found a small sign post with a roof that we huddled under with another team.

trailhead sign

We had no idea there was a large pavilion a few yards away, where a couple of teams were already huddled, until Brendon from Team America rode over in the storm and told us. Adventure racers are awesome people!

While the storm raged, a couple more teams showed up and the next thing we know there were almost 15 people crowded together under the pavilion. And that’s when the party train began. Once the rain diminished, we all headed back for CP14. With the gang of people, it took us no time to find it. We all then headed off to find CP15-CP20. Since the CPs were all on one single track there was no reason to push ahead only to be caught by the train as your team went looking for the CP. If you opted to stay behind to hunt the CPs on your own, you risked being killed in the standings because the large group would find the CPs much faster with so many people searching. I thought it would be fun to stay with the group to get a feel for how other people orienteer, especially since I’m new at it and the group had much more experienced racers such as Ron Eaglin and Craig Sheriff. Craig was leading the pack and I think he did a fantastic job. We were going so fast that I couldn’t keep track of where we were on the map and with as many twists and turns in the trail, I would have definitely gotten turned around and taken much longer to finish this section. Night navigation is tough, night navigation on a bike going down a single track is extremely tough. Great job, Craig.

The party train separated at the trailhead after finding all the CPs in Bike 1. Ana and I watched the taillights of the other racers quickly diminish in the night as we wondered aloud, “Why are we so slow on the bike.”

Boat 2

Back at the S/F for a transition to Boat 2 we saw Aargh Maties packing up for the night. This was one of the teams that kicked our butts on the Boat 1 section with regular canoe paddles. Such strong paddlers and runners, we hope to see them again in future races.

Boat 2 had us paddling 5 miles on the Suwannee in pitch darkness with steam rising from the waters creating such a mist that you could hardly see the river banks on either side. We were on the River Styx paddling straight to the underworld and Ana was NOT THRILLED. Ana had already seen one alligator during the day and now at night, with just the two of us in a small canoe in this pitch black, we were a little concerned. Ok, I may have been poopin’ bricks, but I was putting on a good show of bravery. You have to recall, we’re the same team that dumped our canoe at the launch a few months ago, so we’re not really experts here. We crawled down the river, trying to stay calm knowing that once we had launched, there was no turning back. There was a little freak out moment when a pair of eyes came off the shore and into the middle of the river, right where we were heading. I didn’t think the gator was ever going to dive below and I ended up hitting the water with my paddle, hoping to scare it. It finally dove underwater and I thought to myself, “I don’t really feel any better knowing it’s below us.”

alligator eyes at night

We finally found CP21 and had just started approaching the shore to look for CP22 when Team America came upstream looking for CP22. We decided to band together to hunt for CP22 and continue the canoe journey together. Let me tell you, it is amazing how having one or two other people can take the scare right out of the situation. Everything was once again right with the world. We had gone from dreading the canoe to almost enjoying it. We were buzzed by bats a few times and ended up seeing 3 gators before finally finishing Boat 2.

Foot 2

Foot 2 was an amazing night hike along some of the prettiest sections of the Florida Trail. Team America was with us and we were finding the checkpoints without too much trouble. By this time, our pace was a moderate walk but I was ok with that. Night navigation is really tough when I try to go fast. We found CP24, CP25, and CP26 without many problems and were going to attempt CP27 until we ran into Florida Xtreme/Hunter and they said they had looked for CP27 for an hour and couldn’t find it. If they couldn’t find it, I’m quite sure that I wouldn’t have found it. So we gave it up and pressed for the others. We were hoping to find CP28 but after looking for a while, we gave it up as well. Looking at Google Earth, I think we were close but my bearing and distance are off a little. If someone knows the GPS coordinate of it, please send it to me. I’d love to know how far off we were.

We found the remaining CPs on Foot 2 and discussed whether we were going to try for any Bike 2 CPs or not.

Bike 2

Team America decided to try to pick up CP31 and CP38 before calling it a day and since we still had a little over an hour, we decided to tag along. The newly forged Team Disoriented Americans was doing pretty good so far and so we decided we might as well go for a few more points. CP31 and CP38 were right on the bike trail so we found them easily. I also found that I can throw myself off my bike while swatting my helmet off my head when I decided to catch a 3-inch Banana Spider with my face. Oh yeah, I definitely squealed like a little girl. It’s okay Ana, you can laugh now.

bananaspider

We tried to pick up CP37 but time was getting short, and the trail was getting more difficult to follow, so we packed it in and called it a race.

Conclusion

We really liked working with Team America but didn’t enjoy the Party Train experience of Bike 1. Having so many people congregating on the same path took the fun out of the race. Although it was nice not to have to navigate, we felt like we were just following the herd. And, in the end, it almost feels like cheating when other teams are finding the checkpoints. That’s why, even though we may have come ahead of the Canyoneros in points on this race, we didn’t beat them. We only got lucky enough to fall into the herd for CP15-CP20.

Oh, and precooked bacon at 2AM is a blessed thing!

Many thanks to Greg, the Pangea crew and volunteers. Another excellent race! And thanks to all the racers that make these events so much fun.

Stats

17 hours 23 minutes

55 miles covered trail running, mountain biking and canoeing

5500 calories burned

15th place out of 25 teams

1 hell of a good time

Boom! Team Disoriented gets off it’s lazy arse and commits

On August 17, 2014August 17, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure Race, Inspiration, Tough Mudder, TrainingLeave a comment

If these 3 events aren’t enough motivation to get out there and start training, I don’t know what is. Click on the images for dates and locations and get signed up. Ana will be dragging my old tired ass around these events like usual.

Race Video

On August 3, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure Race, Inspiration, VideosLeave a comment

Stu put together our first race video. Great job man, it makes me want to get out there and go race.

Pangea – 2014 Atomic Adventure Race

On June 6, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure Race3 Comments

Sometimes, life likes to give you a swift kick in the ass to show you who’s boss and knock your pride down a few notches. That pretty much sums up our experience at the Pangea Atomic 30-Hr Adventure Race.

First let me say that Pangea did another amazing job. We loved the course, what little bit of it we saw. The single track was amazing, the views were spectacular, and the volunteers were awesome as always.

The day before the race, we drove up to Camp Skeenah Creek. The final 40 minutes of the drive were so twisty that Ana was getting car sick in the backseat and we made her drive the rest of the way hoping that would ease her equilibrium.

Camp Skeenah is a neat place to stay, although we didn’t see much of it since we arrived after 10PM. Martha set us up in a room in the big house with 3 beds and no indoor plumbing. There, we met The Derailleurs who were settling in for the night. We went about getting our gear packed and ready before dropping off for sleep around 11:30PM. For some reason, I can never fall asleep before a race and the 2 NyQuil tabs I took didn’t help either. Next time, I’m doing shooters until I just pass out. The next morning, after some last minute prep, we headed off to the staging area

Of course, we were late getting to the staging area, but we had enough time to get somewhat setup before the maps were passed out. And that was OK. On the ride up from Florida, we talked about what our goals were for this race. Having only completed 4 races with a combined duration of 29 hours, we knew we weren’t going to do very well on this race. Plus, looking at the lineup of All-Star teams that had signed up, we knew where we were in the hierarchy.

Elite_AtomicAR_ControlDecriptions

We got our maps and Stu and I started forming our plan. For the first time, we were using topographical maps and not Google Earth snapshots of the course. It took us awhile to get our bearing and figure out our course of action, but we decide on a plan to head north, pick up Hwy 60 and then get on Rock Creek Rd. Well, as soon as the race started and all of the racers head south instead of north, that plan was shot to hell. You see, everyone but us had decide to catch a shorter trail that would take them to Rock Creek Rd. I, of course, never saw the trail on the map.

The good thing about following other teams is that you learn something new, you sometimes are shown shorter paths that you never knew existed. The bad thing about following other teams is that sometimes they have no stinking clue where they’re going. Luck for us, everyone knew where they were going, so we just tagged along. And that’s when we discovered Georgia’s little secret, they have hills…big ones…some might even call them mountains. And the magical thing about these hills is that they always seemed to go up. I don’t recall a single downhill. Maybe they were there, but we were probably so lightheaded from sucking wind trying to reach the apex of the hills that the downhills didn’t register.

We found CP11 and CP12 without any difficulties and from there we started on some amazing single track to pick up CP13-CP23. Not having much single track experience and even less hill experience, this first bike section almost completely wiped us out. I don’t think that I’ve ever pushed a bike so far in my life. We basically got in the mode of pushing the bikes on the uphills and riding the flats and downhills. let’s just say that I’m pretty sure this was an 80% uphill to 20% downhill ratio. It took us 9 hours to complete the bike section. NINE! Aargh! We were the last team pulling into Bull TA. But, we did clear the first bike section even though we had to do some backtracking to get the CPs that we missed.

At Bull TA we realized how dehydrated we were and stocked up on ice cold water. There are many sources of water on the course and I regretted not picking up a water filter or Life Straw for this race, it would have really helped. After Bike 1, we set off on Foot 1, taking the checkpoints in decreasing order. I thought it would be easier to attack them going clockwise. CP30 was straightforward and we bushwhacked straight to it.

We then hit CP29, finding it without difficulty. From CP29, we bushwhacked straight north to the trail that ran along Lance Creek. After getting on the trail, we decided to stop for the first time and eat some food. We knew it would be a long time before we made it to our gear bins so we settled down to eat before it got too dark. We had packed some self-heating meals and I thought they were pretty good. Unfortunately, before that, I couldn’t really stomach eating any of the other food that we brought and the thought of consuming another gel almost made me puke. Our nutrition plan had failed us and no one was hungry for anything that we had brought along.

After dinner, we headed for CP28 and here is where things got really interesting. It started to get dark, really dark. Like, go in your room at night turn off all the lights then go into your closet and close the door and throw a shirt over your head, dark. The sky was overcast and the fog was rising from the mountains so there were no stars or moonlight. It was just black. On the way to CP28, we came across Crew Zen and they said there were a couple of teams looking for CP28 and they hadn’t found it and that they had lost their map for this section. They decided to move on to the next section and we went to look for CP28. While looking for CP28, we found Crew Zen’s map and also the checkpoint but we never saw Crew Zen again to return the map.

CP28 was a real high for us and we pushed on to CP27. Our plan for CP27 was to find CP17 and then follow the jeep trail north 550m before attacking due east for 400m. At first, we couldn’t find CP17 again. Once we did find it, we lost count of our paces going north and had to go back to CP17 to begin our pace count over. After counting the paces, we headed due east for 400m and looked around for the CP but never found it. We went in further and still couldn’t find it. Then, another team came past us in about the same area looking for it, so we were pretty sure that we were in the right area. By now it was starting to rain pretty hard and we couldn’t hear each other talking. Ana was on top of a hill serving as a beacon so we wouldn’t get too far off track and Stu and I continued to look for the CP. After awhile, I went in the direction that the other team went and came across them. They had found the CP, a little farther NE of where we were looking, and pointed me in the right direction. If it wasn’t for them, we would not have found it.

I regrouped with Stu and Ana and here’s where things went crazy. We knew we had to bushwhack due west to hit the north/south trail we had come up. However, looking at the terrain we could have sworn that the compass was pointing us in a direction we did not come. We felt that we had come almost 90 degrees to the left of where the compass was telling us to go. It was really hard to follow the compass west rather than the direction our minds were telling us to go. But in the end, the compass was correct. We headed west and thought we found the trail and began following it, only to discover that either we were never on the trail or had lost the trail. In the dark, things get really confusing and following a faint trail is very difficult. We knew that if we kept going, eventually we would come out to the main trail. So we bushwhacked in the rain looking and hoping that we would pop out of the woods at any second. It was raining hard, it was dark, we were confused and really tired. It was a real low point for me as I knew my navigation had failed and I was beginning to get worried that we were lost.

Eventually, we found the main trail. We were relieved but at the same time I knew the race was over for us. We decided to give CP26 a try, if we could easily find CP16 as the attack point. We halfheartedly walked towards CP16 but never found it, so we headed back to Bull TA to pick up our bikes and call it a race. Of course, we couldn’t find the red trail that was a shortcut back to Bull TA. I was absolutely pissed that we couldn’t find it I knew that I had seen the south exit of it when we were close to CP30 but I couldn’t find the north entrance of it. So, we had to walk the winding yellow trail going south to Bull TA. So frustrating.

Foot1

By the time we got to Bull TA, I handed Drew our punch and asked him if he would give us a ride back to the S/F. He agreed and for the first time in the entire race I was scared enough to almost poop my pants. I don’t know who taught that guy to drive but Oh My GOD! does someone need to take his license. I swear we were going to die in a fire ball at the bottom of some cliff that he had sent us careening off of. White knuckled, shaking and scared completely awake, I told Drew thanks for the ride and we slinked back to our vehicle for a couple of hours rest before the long drive home.

So, what worked and what did we do right?

Planning/Orienteering: Overall I think our planning and orienteering went pretty well. Yes, we did a lot of backtracking, especially towards the end, but we quickly realized our errors and found all of the CPs that we attempted with only 1 giving us some difficulty.
Goal Setting and Expectations: Given the course, the duration and the competition our expectations were pretty low to begin with. We discussed the race beforehand and decided that we would attack it like a challenge and not a race. Could we push ourselves 30 hours, could we navigate in the dark, could we handle single track and hills, could we not end up killing each other? This is what we wanted to find out and use the knowledge in preparation for next year.
Having Fun: My motto is racing at the speed of fun. In the end, if it wasn’t fun we didn’t do it right. No one is winning a big pot of money for doing these things, there are no medals handed out, so the only true reward is adventure and fun. Make sure that you’re not sacrificing 50% of your reward just to get points.
Gear: I think for us, we packed well and I don’t think that we over packed.

What didn’t work and what did we do wrong?

Nutrition: Our food and hydration plan completely failed us and we struggled immensely for it.
Training: We were not prepared to handle the terrain of Blue Ridge, GA. We were also not skilled enough to handle the single track with any speed.
Blow ups: I had two blow ups directed towards Ana during the race for which I am immensely sorry. It isn’t acceptable and I will try my best to not let it happen again. I don’t find it acceptable to blow up at your teammate and especially if that teammate is someone you love with all your heart.

Conclusion:

Some might wonder why we continued with Foot 1 rather than moving on. The answer is that by the time we started Foot 1 it was already dark and given our lackluster performance on the single track during the day, I didn’t think it would be wise to do Bike 2–even more single track–at night. Since we were already night orienteering, there wasn’t any reason to quit Foot 1 to do Foot 2, which was more night orienteering. The only thing that would have made sense to move on to was the canoeing section. But, we would have to bike from Bull TA to the canoe TA at night. Then, we would have to take Class II rapids in our already tired mental and physical state. This didn’t seem wise to me or the team, so we called the race and went to Waffle House instead.

team_photo

Pangea – Dixie Conquest AR

On April 22, 2014April 23, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure Race, GearLeave a comment

WE CLEARED OUR FIRST COURSE! YEAH!

WE FORGOT ICE FOR THE POST-RACE BEER! BOO!

For those that don’t like to read–who needs all those words anyway–you can click on the link below and see a short video of our course. I recommend clicking on settings and watching at 0.25 speed to slow down the video.

For those that actually enjoy reading my blogs, well you are obviously above average in intelligence and attractiveness so you shall be reward by a blog post full of information and wit. It’s full of something for sure.

The 2014 Pangea Dixie Conquest was hosted at the Bayard Conservation Area, a beautiful area that is above water 364 days out of the year. However, once a year the entire area turns into a swampy mess, and that’s usually when Greg schedules the Dixie Conquest. This was the toughest race we’ve done so far. It took us 9 hours of constant effort to cover the 36 miles by running, biking, and canoeing. And I’m pretty sure we could have cleared the entire course with just a canoe. I have never seen a race as wet and swampy as this one and I have pictures to prove it…oh wait…no I don’t because we forgot the GoPro. Boo! But that’s okay because I can just hijack the Canyoneros YouTube video…

For those not familiar with adventure racing, clearing a course means that a team has found all of the checkpoints and checked in prior to expiration of time. This is our 4th race and the first time that we’ve been able to clear a course, a big milestone for us.

For those interested, here are the course maps and instructions:

DixieAREliteInstructions2014

Start:

Jeff Leininger, course designer, had the teams gather in a small circle prior to the start of the race. In order for us to get our first set of maps, each team had to find 4 hidden Easter eggs and turn them in at the Start/Finish table. This was a great way to break up the racers and a lot of fun.

start

Foot 1:

We gathered our eggs and were off with the front of the pack. Our original plan was to first go to CP2 then CP5, but when we saw the leaders heading off towards CP1, we decided to follow. I actually don’t like following other teams except in the beginning of a race. For some reason I have the hardest time getting oriented right at the start and I’ll usually follow the herd for the first checkpoint or so. This first foot section was straight forward and we didn’t have any issues finding the CPs. Our order was 1, 3, 4, 6, 5, 2 and then back to the Start Finish where we got our bikes and paddles and headed to the Boat TA.

Boat 1:

Since canoeing is our worst event, our plan was to go SE towards CP8 first so that we could maximize our points. If we decided we were taking too long on this section, we would bail out leaving CPs 13, 14, 15 and 7 behind. Given the pre-race forecast of high winds and rain, this approach made sense. But, when we got to the Boat TA, the water was calm so we decided to go for it all and headed towards CP7. On the way, we got to canoe under a number of piers where we had to duck to make it. You can tell Ana is a little nervous as she’s already in full tuck mode.

One thing that worked well for us on this race was measuring distances between the canoe checkpoints and converting the distances to estimated times between CPs. Had we not done this, we would have had a much harder time finding the CPs. This was my first time using the Scale Master Pro Digital Plan Measure. This tool is awesome.

You can set up a custom scale and then just roll out your measurements. I’ve found it to be extremely easy to use and very accurate. If you don’t have one, get one. And if you’re going to get one, do so by clicking on the pic above and Amazon will send me a quarter. You’ll get an awesome tool and be supporting the awesomest adventure racing team at the same time.

After CP7, we hit CP8, 9, 10, 11 without any problems. CP12 was further into the creek than we imagined and we were passed by Team BikeWorks / Gecko when I took an offshooting creek. We quickly got back on track and found the CP. For CP13, 14, and 15, we planned to beach near the trail by CP13 and do the remaining CPs on foot. We never saw the trail from the water but beached where a number of other canoes were and bushwhacked south until we found the trail. We quickly picked up the CPs and made our first major blunder returning to the canoe. We couldn’t remember where we came in and so the plan was to find the trail leading to the water and then follow the shore to the canoe. We found the trail but there was no way to follow the shore south without a major swim. So, we headed back to the loop and picked a point of reentry. This detour probably cost us 10 minutes. Back on the canoe, we “raced” back to the Boat TA having cleared our first canoe section without capsizing…double bonus points. Team BikeWorks was right behind us and they caught us at the take out point. I swear they had an outboard or something.

Bike 1:

Finishing Boat 1, we were given new maps at the Start/Finish TA and began Bike 1. We first attacked CP16 and I made a big navigational error that cost us another 10 minutes. CP16 was along a utility line easement and I had measured the distance from where the trail branches away from the easement (Point A) rather than where the easement crosses an adjoining trail (Point B). We started down the easement at Point B and so we paced out 300 meters placing us 120 meters shy of CP16. The clue was “Cypress Swamp” which was useless since I couldn’t tell a cypress if I ran into one. Don’t the race guys know there are two types of trees in Florida, pine trees and everything else. Anyway, we almost gave up on CP16 but stuck around a little bit longer and finally found it. I felt relieved as I really wanted to clear all the CPs.

We then hit CP17, 18 and 19. We found these without any problem although I believe they were not marked correctly on the map. Post race analysis showed that they were plotted about 150m more westerly than they actually were (see the Canyoneros blog post). Since I assume my measurements are off, we started looking for a creek once we got close to the estimated attack point. This worked well for us on this race. At CP18 we ran into BikeWorks again. They decided to bushwhack or swampstomp from CP18 to CP19 while we decided to bike around. Both paths proved to be about equal as we ran into them just as they were coming out of the swamp on the trail just north of CP19. From CP19 we hit CP22, 20, 23, 24, 26, 25 and 21.

Our path choice proved to be a bad decision because the path from CP26 to CP25 was completely underwater. It was a 700m trudge through knee-deep algae filled muck that had us cursing for 15-20 minutes. After finally reaching the fork, we stopped and had to clean our deraillers, chains, and brakes of swamp slime before we could proceed. A better route from CP19 would have been CP24, 26, 20, 22, 25 and 21. Aah, the beauty of hindsight.

Right after clearing CP25 the Canyoneros came upon us as I was struggling to figure out which way to go on an unmarked fork in the trail. Eventually I will realize that not every trail is marked on the map and to not be distracted by this. The Canyoneros sped off to the west and since I didn’t know where they were going, we went off to the east until I got my bearing. Luckily it didn’t take long as we ran into the train tracks and had to turn around. Crisis averted, we collected CP21 and were off to Foot 2.

Foot 2:

Our plan for Foot 2 was to hit CP27, 28, 31, 29, 32, 34, 35, 33, 30 and then exit to the main road for a quick run back to the Bayard TA. We stuck to this plan and cleared most of the CPs without much issue. CP28 was a little difficult as we went up the wrong creek and had to backtrack to find the CP. The whole course was flooded so it was pretty easy to chase up the wrong creek. My biggest mistake on this section was right after punching CP29. We were supposed to head back the way we came from CP31 and then follow a new trail to CP32. However, we ran across another team and for some reason instead of stopping to consult my map at the intersection I just followed them. They were heading to CP 30, which we were saving for last. Once I realized this, we had to make a decision to continue on to CP30 or backtrack to stick to our original plan. We decided to backtrack and probably lost 5-7 minutes here. The other major blunder on Foot 2 was at CP34. We found the CP without any issues but I got turned around coming back to the trail. I think my brain was exhausted by this time and I couldn’t figure out how to get back to the trail from the CP. Another wasted 5-7 minutes here.

CP35 was true adventure racing for us. Ana usually punches the card so that Stu and I can review the map before taking off again. Once we spotted the marker for CP35, Ana went to punch it. After a few seconds she called for us to come over because she needed help. We came over and saw that the marker was across a creek that had turned into a river due to the flooding. I took the punch card and started to go across the creek and it kept getting deeper and deeper. The water was up to my armpits and my feet were sinking in the mud and I’m thinking, “Dear Lord, I don’t want to be eaten by something!” I’ve watched ‘River Monsters” and I could imagine Jeremy Wade fishing for whatever had decided to eat “that poor adventure racer from Niceville, Florida.”

Finally, I was able to grab hold of a cypress knee and pull myself out of the water just as another team found a much shallower way to get to the checkpoint. Well, I bet you can guess which way I took to return to the other side. It was fun. I don’t want to do it again. We collected the remaining CPs and hit Banyard TA where we transitioned to bikes for the mad dash to the Start/Finish.

Finish:

At Bayard we turned in our punch and I see the Canyoneros finishing Foot 2 as well. Oh crap! Race On! We scramble to get our bikes and head out. I want to beat these guys to the finish but I don’t have my maps arranged and shortly after hopping the fence to get on the trail to the Finish TA, I have to stop when I come to a fork in the road and am unsure of which way to go. I hear Hien in the background yelling at me, “Why are you stopping!” and I yell back, “Because I don’t know which way to go! I haven’t been here before!”

Once they pull ahead I say screw it and decide to follow them in. There’s no way we’re going to pass these speed freaks anyway, so we just follow. We’re pedaling our hearts out to stay with them and they’re pedaling their hearts out to make sure we don’t pass. It was funny in a twisted kind of way that I can laugh about now but not then with my legs cramping. Well wouldn’t you know it, they took a wrong turn and I followed them right into it. My teammates had stopped at the correct turn but I didn’t know it. Too bad I didn’t just follow those stupid red arrows pointing us back to the finish line. In the end, the Canyoneros beat us by a few seconds but we didn’t care, we had put on a good race and had about as much fun as possible. We met some really cool racers and had a lot of fun laughing it up with them while trying to perform our best. We learned a lot and improved from last time. Who could ask for more?

Post Race:

During this race we learned some new adventure racing terminology that we thought to share for the novice racer:

“Large Pine” or “Large Oak” = average sized pine or oak that will look like every other pine or oak in the vicinity of the CP
“Faint trail” or “Old trail” = forested area that will not look like a trail by anyone’s imagination
“Clearing” = swamp
“Creek” = swamp
“Cypress swamp” = swamp

In conclusion, I was really pleased with the way the team performed. We stayed better hydrated and fueled during the entire race. We didn’t capsize. We pushed pretty hard throughout, except when we got chatty with the other racers, and some of our navigation was pretty decent. Below is a capture of the split times for the teams above us. Yes, I know, it is a kaleidoscope of colors but take a moment and let your eyes adjust to the rainbow and I think you’ll be able to see what I was trying to capture. Each team has its own color and each section is arranged in order of time (least to greatest). So, Primal Instinct (Purple), finished 8th overall, completed the foot 1 with the 4th best time, Boat 1 with the 9th best time, Bike 1&2 with the 8th best time and Foot 2 with the 7th best time. See, now wasn’t that fun and easy? Team Jax was first in everything but those guys are on crack so I don’t really count them 😉

Pangea – BOAR AR (aka: Damn You Canoe!)

On March 3, 2014March 3, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure Race5 Comments

Team Disoriented made the 6.5 hr trek to Christmas, FL to race the Pangea BOAR Adventure Race. Unlike last time, we actually showed up to the Main Transition Area (TA) prior to the 7AM registration time so that we could get our maps and instruction booklet as early as possible.

Boar AR Elite Instructions

We even had a gear bin rather than having our stuff scattered in the back of the SUV. However, as we tried to map out our course using the top of the gear bin as a working surface, we quickly discovered how nice it would be to have a table (next item on the gear list).

Planning

The funny thing about Adventure Racing is that I can never get it in my head what we are allowed to do and not. The Main TA was right next to a cow field and Checkpoint 1 (CP1) was located within the field with real, live cows and I’m asking Ana and Stu, “Are we supposed to go through the cow field? Are we supposed to hop over this fence or somehow go around?” Well the answer became evident as soon as Greg directed us to stage our bikes on the other side of the fence, in the field. OK, game on, let’s go play with the cows.

The race started with a short sprint to spread the field prior to getting on the bikes and getting CP1-CP4. We hit CP1 by following the pack, and headed toward CP2 where we started encountering our first cows. I hear Stu shout, “That dude just got attacked by a cow.” It seems that Nate from the Canyoneros did something to piss off one of the bovines and it decided to charge him. I don’t think the cow actually did anything but that charge would have been enough for me to add my own cow patty to the field. And speaking of poop, there were cow patties a plenty in Christmas.

We picked up CP2 and the on our way to CP3, the terrain got worse. At one point, I hit a hole that just swallowed my front tire and I did a beautiful pirouette over my handlebars. The terrain had us moving so slowly that my flip looked like one of those slow-motion clips from the Matrix. There was nothing I could do. Of course, when I put my hand down to catch my fall, it landed right in the middle of a cow patty. Somewhere in Christmas there’s a 12-inch high pile of poo with my palm print in it. After hopping the fence between CP2 and CP3, the ground got so rough that we couldn’t pedal our bikes and ended up running with them for about 200 yards. Pedalling again, we picked up CP3 and CP4 before heading to the Boat TA.

Hike_a_bike

We got to the Boat TA and I thought we were doing pretty well. Of course the fast teams were already gone but I thought we were solidly mid-pack at this time. But then it all started to fall apart. Our transition to the boat was slow as we trepidly launched, trying not to capsize at the start again. Of course Ron heckled us by saying, “Let me know if anyone plans on capsizing so I can get my camera ready!” Well, we didn’t capsize but we didn’t break any speed records either. Realizing that canoeing isn’t our strong suite, our plan was to go east and pick up CP5 and CP6, then head back to the Boat TA where we would head north to pick up CP14, 13, and 12 since these looked easy enough. We figured that CPs 7-10 could get tricky given all the twists and turns of the river and we would have to make the call on the fly, depending on how settled we felt in the boat and how much time we had been on the canoe.

canoe portage 4

From the Boat TA, we zigged and zagged across the large lake towards CP5 and joked with the canoes behind us that we were maneuvering to keep them from passing. Of course, being so slow, there was no way we could keep anyone from passing us. We got CP5 and CP6 without issue but then saw other teams portaging east from CP6 to pick up CP7. This made us reconsider our plan and we decided to follow suite. Stu practically yanked the canoe across the wetlands by himself while I had to keep pulling Ana out of thigh-high muck. We got to CP7 by following the SW bend in the river, while other teams simply cut across. We then headed down to CP8, which we got without issue. From CP8, we started running into issues. I hadn’t measured the distance between CP8 and CP9 so I wasn’t sure of how far it was and we ended overshooting CP9. We paddled all the way to CP10 where we ran into other racers and learned of our mistake. At least we picked up CP10 while we were there. We then decided to pick up CP11 since it was so close, skip CP12, and head back down to pick up CP9 before returning to the Boat TA. We landed where we thought CP11 was and hunted around for WAY TOO LONG before finally giving up. That was totally my fault as I didn’t want to give up on the CP. Taking a look at the GPS track, you can see we weren’t anywhere close to CP11. We had once again overshot our target.

Giving up on CP11, we started to head south to CP9 but then got turned around in the numerous channels between CP11 and CP10 We were frustrated at this point and ready to get off the canoe and I am grateful for not being smacked with a paddle. We finally got to CP9, made the punch and headed north again to hit the east-west channel just south of CP10 that would take us to CP14. Once again, we overshot our target and went all the way back to CP11 and picked up a channel there that ended up taking us to CP14. Not measuring the distance between checkpoints and estimating paddling time was plain stupid on my part and cost us. We picked up CP14 then CP13 without incident and headed to the Boat TA.

From the Boat TA, we went to the Foot 1 TA to begin the orienteering section. We decided to hit these in order, CP15-20, after some gentle coaxing from Ron. We found 15-17 without incident but lost some time finding CP18. We did find a snake basking on a palm frond, but didn’t get close enough to identify the type. I’m sure it was poisonous, probably the deadliest snake in Florida because, well, that would just make my blog post cooler. Anyway, CP19 and CP20 were found alongside a trail straight out of Tough Mudder and I’m proud to know that my shoes and socks aided the demucking processing going on at the Orlando Wetlands.

From Foot 1, we went to the Main TA and decide to hit the final Bike Segment picking up the CPs in reverse order. Here I almost made another stupid mistake, thinking that CP22 was our last checkpoint on this segment. Luckily, we checked the punch before heading back to the Main TA and noticed that one punch was missing. We picked up CP21 and then headed back, arriving at the Main TA at 2:55. Not wanting to give up without a fight, we decided to try for at least one if not two Foot 2 CPs. I knew we should be able to get CP31 and return before time expired, so off we raced. Thinking that I had seen CP31 from the road earlier in the race, we ended up overshooting it. We backtracked, read the Instruction Booklet and realized it was buried in the woods off of the blue trail. We finally found it but had no more time to lose and raced back to the Main TA, checking in at 3:07 and just missing a 1 point penalty. (Post race note: If you’re used to Pangea races you probably realized that if teams are 1 second over the stop time they are docked 1 point. During the race I was recalling another AR that we did where racers had up until 10 minutes after the stop time to check in without being docked. So in the end, that extra point we raced off for was fruitless since it was subsequently taken away because we came in late. Another stupid mistake but at least it didn’t really cost us anything.)

In summary, I thought we had done really well in all the segments except the Canoe leg. I was really proud of how the team pushed to get that one extra CP at the end. I know that I made quite a few navigational errors that cost us time but in the end we did okay for our 3rd race and we had a great time. I couldn’t find two better teammates.

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Pangea – Sea 2 Sea Adventure Race

On February 18, 2014February 19, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure RaceLeave a comment

We didn’t race the Pangea Sea 2 Sea, so I can’t offer much from a racer perspective. For a race report, you’ll have to check out Ron Eaglin’s blog or the Canyoneros. Plus, I’m a noob, so what do I know anyway. However, since we hope to race it next year, I thought I would be a race volunteer so that I could get a better appreciation of a 72-hour race. I did come away with a few tidbits that may be of use…maybe not. So, if you’re interested, read on.

#1 Grab bikes by the handlebar and seat POST

If you’re a volunteer loading bikes and a racer passes you the bike that they have been riding for multiple hours, don’t grab it by the seat pad as one might typically do. That seat has been sponging up butt sweat for the last few hours and is just waiting for your hand to splash down onto it. But don’t worry, if you forget this rule, it’ll only take one or two incidences before it’s committed to memory for life.

#2 Florida can get cold…really cold…and wet…and sometimes it is really cold and wet, and that sucks

Adventure racing in Florida, “The Sunshine State”, how bad can it get. Well, it can get really bad. There is something about the damp coldness here that can chill you to the bone making it almost impossible to warm up. So, don’t let the moniker fool you, sometimes this isn’t the sunshine state so don’t be fooled into not packing adequate cold and wet weather gear.

#3 Chill dude, it’s going to be OK

If your bike, paddle bag, gear bin or whatever is not ready at a transition area (TA), relax, don’t get upset. Sometimes, because of the way the racing field is spread out, racers get to TA’s before the volunteers can set it up. Just make a note of when you arrived at the TA, the race director will be informed and concessions will be made. The delay will not negatively affect your outcome and you can and should enjoy the moment to grab extra food, a little nap, or some friendly team bonding. And, please don’t get upset with the volunteers, we don’t have any control over when we are sent to set up a TA.

#4 Lose the love for your bike

We all love our bikes, especially if you’ve sank $6k into a carbon fiber masterpiece. Volunteers understand this and we really try to load the bikes in such a way as to avoid damaging them. But, if getting a scratch on your bike is going to give you an embolism, it may be better for you to bring a trash bike that you don’t mind getting damaged.

#5 I’m not stupid, just really tired

Volunteers probably don’t know as much as you would hope, or perhaps I should say this volunteer may not have known as much as some racers would have hoped. For the Sea 2 Sea, some volunteers are there for the whole event and not getting much more rest than some of the racers, so they may not be as mentally alert as one would hope. In addition, this may be the first event they have volunteered for so, unintentional mistakes will be made. Just know that all volunteers are trying their best.

#6 Herding cats

Getting 24 teams and all of their associated gear across the state of Florida is not an easy task. The race director, the staff, and volunteers are working very hard to make your race go as smoothly as possible. If the race seems to go smoothly, believe me that it is organized chaos behind the scenes.

#7 Mark your shiznit

It’s your stuff, you’d probably like to find it quickly, especially in the dark when it’s cold and raining. If your stuff is marked well, the volunteers will try their best to put all of your gear together. What do I mean by marked well? Each team member’s bike should have the team name clearly marked in a conspicuous location. Gear bins should have large markings on them. In addition, I would suggest using geometric shapes to mark your bins so that you can quickly find them. See the bin marked with a large X below? Super easy to spot, right.

#8 Dude, where’s my crap?

Bring all of your team bikes and bike bag to the drop off location together. If you bring all of your gear to the drop off location as a team, you won’t have to worry about your stuff getting separated. In addition, it will probably be loaded and unloaded at the same time, meaning that all team bikes and bike bag will be placed in the same area. If you bring gear separately, it may not be unloaded and placed together, and worse yet it may get loaded on separate trucks and delivered at separate times. Note, this didn’t happen at the Sea 2 Sea because the volunteers were so awesome.

#9 Make it a quickie

Teams train very hard to increase their endurance and speed and then they waste minutes in the Transition Area (TA). Yes, some transitions will be slow but most can be sped up. It’s hard to make up 10-15 minutes on the bike or canoe, but it is super easy to waste that time in a TA. Make your transitions as quick as possible when you are planning on moving out, especially if you are cold and/or wet. If you are already cold coming into the TA and your transition is slow, you will get increasingly colder the longer you hang around the TA. When you come in, your body is still warmed from the physical exertion but as you linger around, that heat dissipates and you may find yourself too cold to continue.

#10 Can we cuddle?

Florida can get very cold and wet, see #2 above. With this in mind I would make 2 recommendations, keep a small tent in your gear bin and carry multiple emergency blankets and don’t hesitate to use them. There may be times when you have access to your gear bin and need to rest your team. Maybe the weather is particularly crappy, or a teammate needs a break before going on, wouldn’t it be nice to have a small tent that you could set up quickly to get out of the weather and rest a little. Remember this is a 72 hour race and things happen. A small tent is a nice luxury, especially since you won’t be carrying it. Also, have multiple emergency blankets. They are small, easily stored and you should have more than one so that there is never any hesitation to break one out.

#11 Be somebody’s beyotch

Volunteer for a long race. It is almost as fun as being in one and you will learn a lot. Plus you get to scope out the competition’s gear and see if there are any ideas you like. The other cool thing is that you get to meet many of the racers, and believe me Adventure Racers are the coolest people you’ll ever get to meet.

#12 Easy? I got your easy right here!

Don’t be fooled, the Sea 2 Sea is not easy. While most of the teams will finish, most of the teams will not clear the course. Many will skip sections in order to make it to the finish in time.

Finally, I’d like to thank Greg, all the Pangea staff and the other volunteers for allowing me to be a part of this event. I’d especially like to thank John and Jamie for sharing their sandwiches with me on those desolate TAs. I had a great time and learned a lot.

Pangea Resolution AR

On January 20, 2014January 22, 2014 By DavidIn Adventure Race, Videos7 Comments

North, South, East, West…we don’t know which way is best!

Team Disoriented’s first adventure race of 2014 is in the books and I think we’re all very happy with our result. We placed 9th in the Pangea Resolution AR, not bad for our second AR ever, and let me tell you the competition was fierce. If you want to check out how real AR teams roll, check out the Canyoneros Race Report or Honey Stinger Race Report. If you want to see how the amateurs do it, keep on reading…

Good race performance starts with some top notch prep work, and we are masters of that. Since Lake Apopka was the venue for the Resolution AR, a 6-hour drive for us, we wanted to leave around 1pm on Friday–which is really hard to do when Stu leaves work at 2:30. No worries, Stu showed up at our place and I asked where his new hitch-mount bike rack is that we’re going to use, and he replies that he thought we were using my new trunk mount bike rack. You see, we were going to fit check “the bike rack “on his Ford Edge the night before, but we didn’t.

We arrived in Clermont, FL at 11PM, allowing for plenty of time to sleep before our 5AM wake-up call to make the 6-7AM registration. Lake Apopka is a 20 minute drive from our hotel but we weren’t too concerned about time since the pre-race meeting was at 7AM and the race didn’t start until 8. We arrived around 6:30 and I think my first words were, “Holy crap, people are already camped out here. They have tents and tables set up.” Actually I think my first words were, “Damn it’s cold, I thought this was south Florida.”

Lesson #1:There are some really serious competitors that race Pangea events

We stroll over to the registration table where we find out that teams are given maps at check-in…Oops. At our first race, teams weren’t given maps or instructions until the race started. We haven’t even put our bikes together or packed our gear and the other teams already have their transition areas set up and have been looking at the race packet for 30 minutes.

Lesson #2: Get to the race early, set up, and be prepared to receive your race packet as soon as registration opens.

Race Planning

Race Packet and Instructions

Elite Passport

FOOT 1:

There didn’t seem to be much difference on how to attack Foot 1, so we just went to CP1 then CP2. When the race began, I was surprised to see the field split into two with more than half going to CP1 and the remainder going to CP2. What a weird feeling to have people run the opposite direction as you at the start of a race. In hindsight, perhaps the top-ranked teams wait to see which CP most teams are going to first and then they choose a CP that less teams are going to so that they don’t get bogged down waiting for their turn to punch their passport…maybe not.

BIKE 1:

After CP2, we went back to the Main TA and began Bike 1. We chose to stick to the yellow trail and pick up CP7, CP6, then CP5 on the way to the Boat TA, leaving CP 4 then CP3 for the return from the Boat TA. We slightly overshot CP7 but quickly recovered once we saw the east-bound trail. We backtracked and picked up CP7 and then moved on to CP6.

Lesson #3: Calibrate your bike odometer, it’s probably incorrect.

While heading south on the yellow trail towards CP6, it seemed like the hard-packed trail was deteriorating and becoming more overgrown. So, when we shot onto the east-bound white trail to pick up CP6, we made a decision to continue east straight toward CP5 rather than backtracking to the yellow trail and continuing around. Half-way between CP6 and CP5, I realized my error. The white trails were much more difficult for us to traverse and we decided that in the future we would stick to the yellow trails as much as we could. We finally made it to CP5 and made our way to the Boat TA.

BOAT:

You might find this hard to believe after watching the video, but we’ve actually been in a canoe before. I don’t know what the hell happened. I’m almost positive that we frightened a submerged alligator and in it’s hasty retreat it overturned our canoe…at least that’s my story.

In the end, we capsized our canoe right in front of the launch area. Ya know, if I’m going to look like an idiot I might as well do it in front of a crowd. The water was frigid and it was like falling into a toilet. Waist high in green swamp water and when I stepped, I would sink in the muck up to mid-calf. The thought of being the first team eaten alive at a Pangea event had us out of the water pretty damn quick. We had just been warned about a nesting alligator before the start of the race. We got back on shore, emptied the boat and headed back out, wet, stinky and embarrassed. Since we aren’t the best at canoeing, we planned to head towards CP10-CP13 and pick those up and then make a choice to get CP8 & CP9 on our return. I thought this was a good strategy for maximizing points if we needed to bail without completing the leg. A strong wind out of the north made paddling up to CP10 really difficult, especially since our confidence had been shattered with our capsize. We paddled slow and hard, trying to keep the boat very stable. Since we were soaked and the temperature was in the 50’s with a strong north wind, we were very cold. To try to keep the boat stable, and since Ana only had a canoe paddle rather than a kayak paddle, I asked her not to paddle. This made it very hard for her to warm up since she was just sitting there. Luckily, Team Honey Stinger came by and loaned her a jacket. We picked up CP10 and then planned to get CP13, CP11, then CP12. Unfortunately, during the planning phase I didn’t realize that CP11 and 12 were in a canal, separated from CP13. I realized this once we hit CP13 and we had to back track to get 11 & 12. After that, we knew we were going to skip CP8 and CP9 as we were all extremely cold.

Lesson #4: Always carry an emergency blanket.

Lesson #4b: Members of Team Honey Stinger are awesome.

BIKE 1 Cont:

We finished up Bike 1 by picking up CP4 then CP3 on the way back to the Main TA. It took us a few minutes to find which of the many “Large Oak Trees” the CP was on, but we did find a geocache, which was pretty cool. Post-race I evaluated our path and realized that we didn’t choose a very efficient route to CP3 from CP4. We should have taken the blue route, rather than our red route marked below:

Lesson #5: Measuring distances on a map and then choosing the shorter and easier route can be a good thing.

FOOT 2:

We returned to the Main TA and put on a new pair of socks since our feet were still frozen and numb from the water. While taking a few minutes to defrost, we met our TA neighbors and found out their support crew had grilled chicken for their team. GRILLED CHICKEN! Between slurps of Double Expresso Cliff Gel, I asked if their team was accepting new members as our support crew was failing miserably. We hit CP14-17 in order and made a quick return down Ranch Rd to start Bike 3.

BIKE 3:

We haven’t been able to do much orienteering practice and thought this would be our weakest event so our strategy was to pick up all of the bike CPs before heading to the O-Course, if we had time. Our attack plan was CP18, 19, 24, 23, 22, 21, and finally 20. We stuck to the yellow trails whenever we could, which means we hit CP18 from the east.

When we got to the north-bound trail to CP21, we saw that it was flooded. Not knowing how bad the trail would be and running short on time to hit the orienteering section, we passed on it. Afterwards we found out that only the first few meters were flooded and we probably could have picked it up and still made the cut-off.

Lesson #6: Don’t give up on a path too quickly.

O-COURSE:

We hit the O-Course last and with not much time to spare, but we thought we could pick up a few CPs. Our plan of attack was CP29, 28, 25, 26, 27, and then 30. But once we heard that some teams had taken hours to complete the course, we changed our plan to just getting CP30, 29, and possibly 28. No problems picking up CP3o or CP29. But from CP29 we chose to follow a path that took us somewhere between CP28 and CP27 and much too far south. It was very frustrating during the time and more so once I saw the GPS plot of where we were. But, we were getting short on time so we had to give up the CP and head back to the Main TA.

FINISH:

We should have done a better job estimating how much time it would take to get from the O-Course to the Main TA. We knew that we would stay at the O-course for as long as possible and then make a straight run to the finish. We ended up having almost 18 minutes to spare, arriving at 7:42:35. We were exhausted, but we had a blast. This was our toughest event to date and we can’t wait to do another one. Big thanks to Pangea and the many AR teams that we met for making this event a great time for us.

Lesson #7: Post-race beer is good, next time we should bring some.

Team Photo Finish

2013 Backpacker Bushwhacker

On December 30, 2013December 30, 2015 By DavidIn Adventure RaceLeave a comment

Maybe it was the Arctic Enema or perhaps the Electroshock therapy, I’m not sure but something happened during the Tough Mudder that made me want to find another event that would provide that same kind of thrill and physical challenge. I knew that I wanted something team-based that my wife and I could do together and I wanted it to be adventurous, but not too adventurous. I don’t mind a little thrill but I want to keep my shorts clean. So, we looked into Adventure Racing and decided to sign up for the first one closest to us, the 2013 Backpacker Bushwhacker in Lafayette, LA. Stu, always up for a challenge, completed our 3-person coed team. This was to be our first adventure race. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we had a kick-ass logo and team shirts and that’s all one really needs.

Team photo (2)

Since we didn’t know if we were going to like adventure racing, we didn’t want to spend much money gearing up for one. Stu picked up a pretty nice Giant mountain bike from his buddy for $150 and we had a couple of Schwinns that we bought from Wal-Mart in ’03 that had been sitting around unused since then. A few days prior to the race, I noticed that I had broken 3 spokes while training and my front tire was rubbing on the brake pad. So, I ran my bike down to the local shop to get it fixed. The morning we were leaving for the race, I picked up my bike and threw it into the back of Stu’s car without test riding it, and we hit the road. The 6-hour drive was uneventful and we arrived at The Backpacker in time to register. The volunteers at registration were awesome and we picked up some really sweet pre-race swag. Score!

Race morning, we wake up and the first thing Ana says to me is, “I’m really dizzy. I think I might have to go throw-up.” I suggest she might need to eat something and that with luck it might just go away. She agrees and we all grab a bite and head to the bike drop-off area. We assemble our bikes but it’s early in the morning, the sun hasn’t risen yet, and we can’t really see what we’re doing. We get the tires on and go for a test ride. Stu’s front brake is sticking and mine won’t stay in gear. Not knowing anything about bikes, other than most have 2 wheels and a couple of pedals, I was at a loss for what to do. Luckily, there was a volunteer at the drop-off who showed me how to adjust the rear derailleur so that it would stay in gear better. Unfortunately, it would still pop out of gear if much torque was applied so I couldn’t quickly accelerate the whole race…how frustrating. The guy also showed Stu how to adjust his brakes. By now, time was getting short for us to get to the mandatory pre-race meeting , so we left the bikes as they were and jumped in the car to leave. Stu turns the key and all we hear is click…click…click, the battery is dead! I guess in all of our messing around, we had left the interior lights on and forgot about them. We asked a few people around us for a jump and once again, the bike repair guy comes over and saves us. Thanks, Bike Angel Dude, for helping out and not making us feel like idiots!

bike fix

At the pre-race meeting, we start scoping the competition. Everyone seems to be in full triathlon gear. You know the tight fitting shirts with the padded bike shorts and top of the line running shoes. One guy has a super deluxe backpack with hydration system built in and a hip belt into which he has tucked numerous gel packs. I call him Batman. We start recollecting the Cannondales, Treks, and other nice bikes that we saw at the drop off area and the intimidation factor starts creeping in. We jokingly refer to ourselves as Team Wal-Mart. Of course, Stu is never intimidated, and I appreciate his confidence no matter how unfounded. We talk with a few people and everyone is really nice. You can feel the pre-race vibe in the air…everyone just wants to get going.

After a few delays, we are given the race map and told not to look at it until the official start. Everyone sets 5 hours on their watches and the countdown begins, 3, 2, 1…Go! We rip open the package and see a Google Maps printout with 3 checkpoints (CPs). We have to hit all three in a specific order (Boudreaux, Guidry, then Thibodeaux). At the final CP, we’ll be given a new map. We start running to the first CP, but mainly we’re just following the crowd. The racers pretty much stay together and we all end up at Thibodeaux at the same time. We’re given map #2 and the real race begins.

Race Instructions

On the run to Thibodeaux, we spotted where they staged our bikes and decide to run there first. We get to our bikes and I start looking at the map for the first checkpoint to attack (that’s cool Adventure Racing lingo for those that don’t know). I tell the team that we’ll head north and pick up CP26 before heading off to CP13. Stu and Ana are cool with that and we get on our helmets. Being total noobs, we aren’t even sure if we can ride across the park area to the main road. I think we even asked someone if it was okay to go that way. While we’re trying to figure this out, I notice that EVERYONE is going south. Hmm, hold on guys, let me take another look at that map. I look again and see, for the first time, CP12 just to the south of us. Ok, I guess we’ll get CP12 first and then CP26.

We find CP12 in a creek bed along with a few other people and we’re almost ready to make our first punch when someone tells us that it is not CP12 but rather CP8. Hmm, ok CP8 then. We make the punch and then head north to find CP12. We quickly run into a road, get our bearings, and realize that it really was CP12 and we’ve made an incorrect punch, oops. So we head back to the CP and punch our passport correctly. Then I start thinking, if this is CP12 then where is CP8 that everyone was talking about. I look on the map and don’t see CP8 listed. What the hell! We overhear other teams talking about taking a bearing from CP12 and I see them with a different sheet of paper. Then we remember the instruction sheet we got with the map. On it is a table of unmapped checkpoints that we had completely disregarded. CP8 is 360ft at bearing S51W from CP12. I quickly shoot a bearing and the hunt is on. After carefully measuring our steps, we locate CP8, punch our passport and get going.

After picking up 2 checkpoints that we would have completely skipped, we are off to pick up CP26 as originally planned. For the first time during the race, there are no other racers around. I’m somewhat glad but a little nervous too, wondering where they have gone and why they aren’t going after CP26 as well. We have an uneventful ride to where CP26 is supposed to be, but we can’t find it. All I could say was, “It should be right here!” which didn’t help at all. I think we wasted 10 minutes looking for it before realizing that the CP was accidently marked incorrectly and it was on the opposite side of the road. Unfortunately, since this was our first race, it made us wrongly assume that checkpoints weren’t necessarily inside the circled area on the map. So, to compensate, we allowed our search area to broaden beyond the circled areas which increased the amount of time we spent finding subsequent CPs.

After CP26 we hit CP13, CP15, and then tried to attack CP16. On the map, CP16 is clearly shown west of a creek but given our previous issue with CP26, we thought the CP might be on either side. We decided to attack it from the east since we are already nearby. Unfortunately, the “creek” turned out to be a fenced off, impassable culvert and the CP was definitely not on the east side. Stu was ready to climb the fence and go across the culvert—bikes in hand mind you—but I absolutely refused. Instead, we left it for later and attacked CP14 and the unmapped CP9. Another team had been close by us during this time and although we were all looking for the same CPs, they were finding them before us. We weren’t trying to follow them, but when one team signals that they’ve found the CP, what else are you going to do besides go over there and get your passport punched? We felt a little bad and so we decided to let them know about CP26 and how the map was wrong and it could be found hidden on the other side of the road. I don’t know if they ever got to CP26 but it made us feel better.

After CP9, we attacked CP16 again and found out that it was at the Rok Haus, a rock climbing gym. In order to get your passport stamped your team had to harness up and climb to the top of a wall. That was awesome and completely unexpected. We then went to CP10 where we could finally get off our bikes and do some land navigation. CP10, was at Red Lerille’s Health & Racquet Club where we had to do lunges for 50 feet, 20 squats, and run around a small track while carrying 25lbs to get our passport punched. Not so easy after biking all morning. Off we ran to CP5 where we had to swim 3 laps of 50 meters to get our punch, and I discovered that I am the worst swimmer ever. Both Ana and Stu finished well before me as I flopped around like a gorilla trying not to drown. It was horrible.

CP1 through 7 could only be accessed by foot. They were all hidden in a forested area and it took us a long time to find them. We ended up skipping CP2 due to time. CP6 was unmapped and could be found by taking a bearing from CP4. We took a bearing and measured our paces from CP4, but didn’t find CP6 at first. I began to question my orienteering, since it took us to the middle of a field, and I thought that all checkpoints would be hanging from something. We finally found it lying flat on the ground in tall grass and I was really happy. At CP3, we found the ropes section of the course where teams had to harness up and pull themselves across a small gulley to receive their punch. It was fun, but I was hoping for a little more rope work during the course.

After CP3, we knew we would never make the paddling section of the race and decided to hop on our bikes and pick up as many additional checkpoints as we could in the time remaining. We hit CP17, CP18, CP19, and CP20 without any hiccups. We skipped CP21 as we weren’t sure how we were going to get there and didn’t want to get lost. We then had to decide if we were going to go for CP11 and CP25. Both of these were south of the Vermillion River and the only way to get there from CP20 was to ride on Hwy 182 and cross at Pin Hook Bridge.

We decided to give Hwy 182 a try and pick up CP25 since it was worth 2 points. I will say that for the first time during the race I was scared. I don’t like riding on busy streets and I definitely don’t like crossing bridges on busy street. We pedaled fast, stuck together like a big train and prayed that we wouldn’t get hit by some idiot texting “Wassup!” to his buddy. We were a blur of green and silver. We hit CP25 and decided to skip CP11 since time was really close and it was only worth 1 point. Being late to the finish would cost us 3 points per 15 minutes.

We left CP25 and rode like mad to the finish area. We arrived at 5 hours and 5 minutes, giving us 9 minutes to spare. We were very tired but really excited. Our biggest regret was not getting to the canoe section since we were really looking forward to trying that. Overall, the race was great. We had a blast. The organizers and racers were super cool and the event was challenging and fun. We learned a lot about adventure racing and I think we performed pretty well for our first time. We definitely plan on going back next year and we highly recommend it for first timers as well as for those with more experience. Oh, and did I mention swag? Not only did we get stuff during registration, but post-race there was a massive raffle of some really sweet stuff. I’m talking really nice stuff like North Face bags, hydration packs, ski goggles, etc. I don’t know how the organizers did it, but everyone went home with something nice

swag

As for Ana and her morning dizziness, she only got worse during the race. In fact, she spent the 6-hour car ride home throwing up every hour or so. Under some overpass on I-10 there is a Ziploc bag containing the remnants of the Bonefish Grill sandwich they gave us at the post-race party. What a waste ’cause those sandwiches were AWESOME! She’s fully recovered now and ready to do another one!

Pangea Resolution AR

On December 12, 2013 By DavidIn Adventure Race, OrienteeringLeave a comment

I can’t believe that it has been almost a month since the last post. Guess I haven’t had much to say. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make the Pangea Turkey Burn AR due to injuries. I was a little upset by it all, especially after reading the Canyoneros write-up. But now I’m over it and we’re about healed so on to more training and more racing. Our next race will be the Pangea Resolution AR. That’s right, after a month of fattening up on Christmas eggnog and figgy pudding, we’re going to do an 8-hour Adventure Race. This time we’ll have Super Stu with us so I know it will be a good time.

One cool development is that we may have picked up another teammate or two. My 14 year old niece, Taylor, loves this sort of stuff and wants to run some races with us. Did I mention she is a cross-country track star? When I found out she runs a sub 7 minute 5k, I had to step up my game and now I have included a sub 7 minute 5k into my weekly training regimen and call it the Taylor Challenge. For some of you speedsters, this may not be a big deal but for me it’s pretty tough. Our other new teammate is Coop, who is probably the fastest guy at our daily pick-up Ultimate games. He’s also a fan of hiking and land navigation, so I’m really excited about having him on the team. But, he just had his first baby so I’m not sure when he’ll be able to start racing with us.

Lastly, we might attempt a permanent orienteering course this Saturday if the weather holds. I definitely need some practice before our next race. Check out the link to find a course or orienteering club near you.

Foot 1

Boat 1

Bike 1

Boat 2

Foot 2

Bike 2

Conclusion

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