2015 Hogback AR

Hogback Adventure Race - 8/8/2015

Race Report by Mark Harris

We originally signed up for the Hogback, an inaugural adventure race in Ocoee, TN hosted by BDAR/Adventure Capitalists, as a three-man team way back in March.  Greg had never done a 24-hour race before and Chris and I had not raced together for a few years and were looking for something to do together again. The timing was right. But Chris unfortunately had other commitments arise, and so Greg and I finally managed to recruit his wife, Julie, about 4 weeks out from the race. She’s another newbie to the 24-hour AR scene. Both Greg and Julie had 6- and 12-hour ARs under their belt, so they knew what they were generally in for. We talked a bit about the husband and wife dynamic on the team and everyone seemed OK with it, so the three-person coed team was all set. We had no great aspirations; we were just out for the adventure and the main goal was to have an official finish.

After the 8-hour drive from Virginia to Ocoee we checked in, picked up maps, and began prepping for the race.  All points had to be plotted with UTMs, which we made quick work of.  The course had four main transition areas and these were the only mandatory points on the course.  Everything else was optional.  Stage 1 was a Class III-IV guided whitewater paddle, stage 2 was a 30-40k biking leg with mixed road and single track (CP1-10), stage 3 was more biking on gravel fire roads (CP11-15), stage 4 was a foot orienteering section where we would plot the points once we arrived at that TA (CP16-22), stage 5 was another gravel fire road ride (CP23-31), stage 6 was a flatwater paddle with provided canoes (CP32-38), and the final section was a road ride back to finish collecting 2 additional points. A lot of biking, which is great as we had only spent a day paddling on the river together and Julie and I are not great fans of big trekking sections but we all love being in the saddle.

Starting order for the white water was creatively determined by teams collecting a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle and then putting it together. First to finish went first, and last started at the back. Nice little challenge to start the weekend out.

When morning rolled round, we boarded buses and headed to the rafting put in.  The Ocoee is dammed, and daily releases provide the water for the rafting companies.  The section we were running was used in the 1996 Olympics and had some tasty class IV drops and hydraulics. The river bed is almost dry most of the time and so had trees and undergrowth in sections.  At the beginning of the paddle we worked our way through wooded sections in fast flowing water, which was pretty interesting.  The paddle took just over an hour and we were treated to some big water—a great way to start the day and the race. Most of the rafts stayed together, so the real race did not start until we got through the pull out.

We had a relatively quick transition to bike at the take out and started biking up the road toward the first section of single track.  Up is the operative word.  We would eventually climb around 10K’ over the duration of the race.

Before the race I had tried to set up a bike computer.  I don’t usually ride with one, but it is always handy to have when racing.  The guys at the Bike Stop in Warrenton had given me a free computer that just needed batteries, which was super nice of them.  The issue was finding a 1620 (no at 2016) battery was almost impossible.  After ordering on Prime and paying for expedited shipping the batteries finally arrived on Friday when I was on my way to TN. Lucky Julie and Greg had a plan B. They had bought me a nice, shiny new bike computer that I installed on Friday night.  As we headed up the hill out of the TA, speed and distance read 0. I had checked the computer the night before and everything had been working fine.  I thought that maybe the magnet had been knocked during the bike transport that morning and I would check it when we got to the first few CPs. Next between CP1 and CP2 I looked down and the bumpy single track must have knocked the computer loose and it was gone.  Probably the most short-lived bike computer ever and now the calculated distanced between the bike CPs I had worked on that morning were moot.

Computer loss downers were soon replaced with single track high.  The riding though the first section was great.  All points were just off the trail and we hit most of them straight off.  I overshot a few and at one point we merged back with a big pack of racers. Our goal was to keep clearing all the points along the course until we got to the trek section and then reevaluate how we felt. I overshot/undershot a few points but did not lose any great time.  At one point we were swallowed up by a large pack of racers but managed to pull back away and ride and navigate on our own terms. We rolled into TA2 feeling OK. Julie had succumbed to the heat a little on the trail but after a quick rest was up and riding again. We took 10-15 minutes in the TA to get water and eat and then we headed out on the next section, which we had been warned had a killer hill to start with.

The hill was steep and never ending. We did a mixture of pushing and granny gearing to finally get to the top. Julie developed a cramp in her calf and was set to throw in the towel at the next TA. After a quick pep talk and deferral of any decisions we were off again and heading toward the foot O-course.  All the biking points were just of the road but still required navigation to locate.  Greg did a great job being the runner and getting torn up in undergrowth as he punched the points just off the side of the road.

We had not seen anyone for a while and then all of a sudden we came across 5-6 teams hunting for CP14. I pulled up short, Julie rode into the back of me, and then she cramped up big style in the calf. A few e tabs and water helped clear up the immediate issue and she got to rest a bit as we joined the hunt for CP14.

CP14 Punching

Teams had been there for 40-50 minutes looking for the point. I never really like to join the crowd, so I found a good landmark at a T intersection and then followed features and terrain back to where the CP should be off the road. At this point all the other teams had moved on without finding the point. After a quick review of the exact location and a check of the plot, we found the point within about 10 minutes. Kudos to Josh the RD and his crew for his consistent placing of points.  I had no doubt that the point was there and in the right location.  This meant we had a few teams in front of us that had not been able to clear the course so far, and we started putting podium ideas in our head.  But I knew there were at least 3 teams ahead that would have found and cleared the course up to this point.

Refuling

Refuling

CPsomething

We grabbing CP15 on the way to TA3/4 and then had a nice downhill into the TA. We had a gear bin waiting for us with food and supplies. We quickly plotted to foot O-Course and the majority of the points looked off trail and difficult to navigate too. We decided to head out on the O-Couse and make the call on how many we would get after looking at the terrain.

Heading out on the foot O-Course

CP16 was tricky. When we arrived in the vicinity there were probably 6 other teams looking for the point.  This is never a good sign. We scoured the area working off an old single track that was marked on the map and match the clue “Spur on west side of old trail.” We hunted for a good 30-40 minutes and soon the light was fading. I decided to head back to a known good trail by bushwhacking east.  As we set out we lucked out and ran straight into CP16. The point was in the right spot; it was just that there were two old trails and we were on the one that was not marked on the map. In hindsight I should have taken a bearing from a known good point on the main trail. The bushwhack was dense and made me think that the other off-trail points would be hard to navigate to. 

CP17

We hit CP17, and then as darkness became complete, we decided to head back to the TA and head out on bikes.  Looking back we should have tried to hit the next CP to see how hard they were to find, but that is not the decision we made at the time.  We got back to the TA to find Checkpoint Zero had gone unofficial and TOC/Rock Creek was having mechanical issues.  These were two of the top teams on the course.

We looked at a possible shortcut back to the next TA to help save Julie’s legs, but Josh (RD) advised against it.  Much thanks to this advice as the next road section was, after a relatively painless climb, a great gravel road with mainly long downhill sections. We picked off points and after a missed turn and a 2-mile climb back uphill (sorry, Greg and Julie) we arrived at the paddle put in at around 1:30am.

None of us are a big fan of paddling and we decided to just get two of the nearest points and then call it a day.  The boat seemed super unstable and we probably should have rearranged some seating.  Greg is the heaviest and he was up front, which made steering difficult.  The boat continually bore toward the right and I struggled at the back to keep us straight.  We missed the first inlet and tracked around to a further point. Greg did a heroic scramble out of the boat to get the point, realized he left the passport in the boat, and after another heroic scramble, bagged the first water point. We made our way back around the shoreline and grabbed a second CP before heading back to the TA. There was a great mysterious feel to the lake and the steam rose off the water in front of our lights, making for a very eerie paddle.

We were on the lake for just over two hours and only snagged two points so I think we made the right call to head back in when we did.

The final ride was on road and we were back at the finish and punching in within 40 minutes.  We rolled in exactly at 5am after getting all the bike points, two foot points, and two paddle points. Everyone was in good spirts, and after a quick shower we managed to get 4 hours’ rest before awards.

We ended up taking 4^th in our division, which was well above our goals and expectations. Having two of the top teams drop helped with that ranking but we were still really happy with the results. As a married couple, Greg and Julie did a great job.  Not sure many other couple would have the same experience.

BDAR/Adventure Capitalists put on a great event and thanks to Josh and his crew for hosting. More impressive, this was the first event they produced. It was nice seeing lots of faces that were out at the Cowboy Tough. It’s always great to actually race alongside people who come out and support the Rev3 Adventure events.  If our calendar is clear, we will probably be back next year.

Shenandoah Epic 2015

Run 45:00   2.5 mi

Epic with Jeff, Fritz, Chris. At the start, there were 6 CPs in Andy Guest that could be gotten either at the beginning of the race or at the end on bike. Had to get at least 2 at the start. We opted for the 2 close together near the cabins. Took a different route than other teams but ended up at the canoes at the same time.

Paddle 2:20:00   15.0 mi

Hopped in a boat with Jeff, and we squeaked out of the put in in the lead. Water was just low enough to allow us to paddle, so the current was moving. This was a new section for Epic but looked essentially the same. Saw some eagles. Stopped halfway through for a ropes challenge which was actually a decent diversion, running through bluebells and around obstacles following our tagline. We were warned of the rapids immediately below the challenge, but they were uneventful. Came off the water with CPZ right behind, and I saw TERRI! Love her. She was volunteering. Big hugs. Such an awesome surprise.

Run 1:00:00   4.5 mi

Picked up a Google street map for an urban-o. Hot, sunny, and long. Included a Civil War challenge where we dressed Fritz for battle. Came into TA just ahead of CPZ, with Goals and No Boundaries in as we were leaving.

Bike 50:00  10.0 mi

Road ride out of town to Fort Valley Road and Elizabeth Furnace. Solid pace line.

Trekking 2:15:00  5.5 mi

Buzzard Rock Overlook Trek. We attacked the loop in a CCW fashion, collecting the cave CP first and promptly soaking our dry shoes. We hit 2 high points via trail and then began the technical bushwack through the boulders and scree fields. It was sunny and 80 without a cloud in the sky. Fritz and Jeff were feeling the heat but compensating well. Fritz nailed this O course. We were in and out of TA without seeing anyone else.

Bike 4:45:00  22.5 mi 

We left Elizabeth Furnace via Mine Mountain Trail on our way to Mudhole Gap. Mudhole was much easier than I remembered, although it's still plenty of hike a bike and chunky water crossings. Guys were cramping and overheated, and my quads were a lil grabby off the bike. Kept pushing fluids and electrolytes in anticipation of sunset. At Little Fort Valley, we started and out and back section for 2 CPs, one on the Tuscarora Trail and the other on a tower. Not a fan of out and backs like this at all. Mostly uphill to the tower made for a bomber downhill back to Mudhole that was full of puddles and very refreshing. Chugged fresh spring water then headed toward the infamous Massanutten. An hour of on the bike off the bike spit us out at Woodstock Tower. Selfie time. Took a short break here as the guys still felt hot even though the sun had set. Little did we know that the weather was wreaking havoc on our competition. We headed down to the Peter Mills Run TA to transition...back onto our bikes.

Trekking 50:00  2.0 mi

For this big O course, you could retrieve points via foot or bike. 3 trails paralleled each other along the course. There was an ATV trail that was very rideable down low. The Massanutten ran the north ridge, and another trail ran the south ridge. We didn't feel the ridge trails were rideable enough so we used the ATV trail as a thoroughfare and would ride up towards the ridge trail until we couldn't then drop our bikes. We rode down to the ATV trail and hiked up to the first off trail CP. I should add that none of these CPs had flags. They were made of pink streamers, and most had no reflector.

Bike 1:30:00  4.0 mi

We biked along Peters Mill to a rootstock CP on the Massanutten side. We were warned that the trails were almost impossible to see from the ATV trail. We found some yellow signs that could have signaled a trail. Decided to go past and bushwack in after finding something else that looked trail like. Used a clearing as the attack to find the actual trail and CP.

Trekking  3:40:00  7.5 mi

We headed back up the ridge, saving the high point CP to the north for the return trip. Next up was "picnic table sized rock". The ridge trail on the map is straight, but in reality, the trail winds along the ridge. There is no attack for this CP, as it's just on ridge, about 1k from the intersection and 100m off trail. We pace counted in and attacked. No dice. Lots of big rocks. We decided we needed to go to the high point and recalibrate altimeters (1k further down the trail.) In doing so, we also continued past the high point and grabbed the next CP, which was the last one on the ridge line. Heading back towards the picnic rock, we finally saw headlights. We had seen no one other than Silent Chasers all night. We entered the woods earlier and walked along 2280' that the CP was on. I eventually spotted it lying on a rock, THE ROCK haha. It looked like it could have been ripped off the tree. I hope it wasn't placed on the rock for teams to not find. We rehung it. NYARA and local Rev3 guys were behind us looking for it. We came out of the woods right where we initially attacked. Perfect. Trekking the entire ridgeline was slower and not what we wanted to do, but we got the CPs. Grabbed the other high point and dropped down to our bikes.

Bike 1:00:00  4.5 mi

We grabbed 2 more on the way to the point furthest south, crossing paths with NYARA again. It looked like they turned around after the Outfall CP.

Trekking 1:30:00   2.5 mi

Took a direct route up to Waonaze Peak and a longer looping trail back down. It dropped us below our bikes but was kinder on our beat up feet.

Bike 5:35:00  30.0 mi

Time to reverse down the ATV trail back to the TA. At this point, everyone's feet were trashed from being wet so long. I should have relubed. Didn't. My feet hurt so bad it was hard to stand up and pedal, and my butt etc were so bruised/chafed I could barely sit down. Hurt so good. I now have a staph infection from saddle sores. TMI? Good. It got better once we passed the TA and got on roads. We chose to skip CP38 on the other side of the range at the bottom. I had traveled to that bridge in 2012 for a CP, and it was a 45min/1200' climb on fresh legs. We traded places with No Boundaries for a bit on the way to the well-traveled Veach Gap. Trekked to CP41 from the bottom of Veach in bike shoes. Then up and over. We hiked the majority of it then bombed down the other side. Chris and I stripped off layers before the road ride to the low water bridge. After we hit the end of the downhill road section, Chris realized he didn't have the E-punch. He took it off when he changed shirts. Back up to the Veach gate. Once retrieved, we made it to the finish, just under 2 hours before the cutoff. We had 4 CPs left in the park. Piece of cake right? This is where the wheels fell off. After the river CP, we climbed Allen's Mountain instead of going to the loop further north. We had to bushwack down/up/down/up to the CP we missed. Less than an hour and still 2 CPs to go. From Allen's Mtn, we needed to bikewack over to the final CP. Nav had fallen apart, and we were in trouble. Things got desperate, and we had to bail, wack to the road, and sprint the gravel to the finish, crossing with 9min to spare. We missed 2 CPs total, while NYARA and No Boundaries left 3. Rev3 FTW! Dramatic finish for sure. I pushed Fritz super hard to get us to the finish from that missed CP, and he answered. My teammates are awesome. No more Epic for me. With all the hike a bike, Epic was definitely the more challenging race. I'm less sore after this one but more worn out immediately after. Could just be residual fatigue from back-to-backs :)

2014 USARA National Championships Race Report

2014 USARA National Championships Race Report 

By Dusty Reppuhn

Click the comic book cover to discover the trails and tribulations of the REV3/ Mountain Kahais team as they endured the 2014 USARA Nationals.

The Longest Day

The Longest Day 24h AR

Cold Spring NY

Sept 6-7, 2014

Rev3 Team: Joe Brautigam, Jeff Woods, Greg Voelkel, Britt Mason

Report by: Britt 

The Friday before we made the drive to beautiful Cold Spring, about an hour from NYC, for The Longest Day AR. This year, the race would be a 24 instead of the 18 hour race it was the previous year. With nothing to do that night besides ready gear, we got a full night's sleep for once! At check in the next morning, we received pre-plotted maps. It looked like a good mix of mandatory and optional points. We received the entire course except the first foot and bike section. After some planning, we loaded buses and headed to the start at Depew Park in Peekskill.

Game face?

Prologue 2 miles 25:00 CP1-5 OCP A-F

At the start, we were given an envelope w/2 passports (1 mandatory and 1 optional), 2 maps, and instructions. For this section, we could split up to pick up CPs. Greg and I went for mandatories, while Joe and Jeff grabbed the optionals. We cruised through the park and made it to TA1 before Joe and Jeff, who had 6 CPs to collect versus our 4. By the time we readied their bikes and shoes, they were in. We left TA without seeing another full team in yet.

Nice outfit.

Bike O 10 miles 2:30:00 CP6-10 OCP G-L

We received another LIDAR map for this section, which had lots of CPs up for grabs. We headed out, immediately hitting sweet singletrack. The park was fantastic riding. As we neared the first CP, Joe asked for the clue. Jeff asked, which CP? 10. Nuts. From here on out, all mandatories had to be collected in order. We headed back towards TA, doing the ride of shame past the other teams there. Back on course, Joe worked his MTBO magic, whacking to points when it was faster. As we neared the end of the bike, Jeff ran over a stick on some 2track and mangled his rear derailleur. Not functional. Options were convert to singlespeed or try for a bike shop in town. No way to be competitive with singlespeed, so we opted to remove the derailleur and chain. Jeff and Greg took turns running and kickbiking the rest of this section. Back in TA, we found a shop called Herb's Bicycle and Auto a few miles out of our way that would be our only hope and headed there. "Auto" in the title should be the first red flag. We roll up to this place that is literally floor to ceiling, wall to wall junk and parts. We ask about derailleurs, and he unearths a few. Meanwhile, Jeff takes 2 steps in the door, makes a 360 and knocks a pile of stuff over. Herb then tells us not to touch anything. Long story short, we haggle over price, use all our cash, and end up with an Ultegra road derailleur. After installing it, Jeff had 6 gears. We'll take it. Time to get back in the race. We headed to TA2 in 3rd place.

Herb's. Seeing is believing.

Paddle 12 miles 2:45:00 OCP M

We hopped in 2 tandem sit on top kayaks and paddled upstream on the Hudson. Luckily the tide was going with us. I've never been on a river controlled by tides before. The paddle had some great views, and we even paddled past West Point. We also passed some luxury yachts and drag raced some speed boats. Around noon, it started raining and didn't stop until 9 or 10pm. At the end of the paddle, we picked up CP M located in an old mine. Joe tried to knock himself out twice on the low ceiling. 1/4 mile portage got us up to TA3. 

Low clearance in the mine

Trek 5 miles 1:55:00 CP 13-14 OCP N,P,Q

This was a linear trek 1400' up from the Hudson to Bald Peak. The fog and rain obscured the spectacular views. 

Bike 8 miles 1:15:00 CP 15-16

This was a short ride that was part road, part multiuse trail. We stopped at a gas station for water. Not much in the way of water throughout the course, at least not when we needed it.

Trek 4 miles 1:25:00 CP 17-18 OCP AA-DD

There were 2 trekking sections left, and you could divide the CPs up however you wanted. We chose to do a short loop here and save the rest for the end of the race after we got back to our vehicles. We got our first taste of the blueberries and laurel that would be the theme of the night. Returned to TA just as it was getting dark.

The look on my face is priceless. I had just restrung both of his lights, but 1 still didn't work.

Bike 31 miles 5:45:00 CP 20-22, OCP Y,Z

It was still raining as we hit the roads for some big climbs. We chose the shorter, hillier route early on, which included the dreadful Long Hill Road. It lived up to its name. We got no relief on the downhills, as the rain and fog were blinding, and the temps were dropping. Eventually, we got onto the multiuse trail again, which was very slow going due to the wet and slippery rocks. Rodney and Amy said afterward that the trail was almost all rideable in normal conditions, but with the rain, we did plenty of hike-a-bike. We grabbed a few mandatories and then bushwacked to CP Z to avoid a 2k switchback in the trail. Finally, we dumped out onto dirt and pavement for the remainder of the ride.

Dusty's first solo 24!

Trek 15.7 miles 7:40:00 OCP EE-UU

Final trek. I switched from Altras to Cascadias here in anticipation of the rocky terrain. My right Achilles was sore, and I wanted some more cushion. Laurel and blueberries were super thick, mainly on the north (first) half of this trek. Any time we got into a marshy area, the pace slowed to a crawl as the laurel and eye-high ferns closed in on us. I grabbed a nap on my feet for awhile before downing some caffeine that brought me back. I've barely been getting any sleep at work, and it showed this race. Joe came alive and put the hammer down an hour or so before sunrise. On the southern half, the woods opened up, and we were able to move faster. We realized we had a good chance to clear the course and picked up the pace, running whenever we were on trail. We hit the last 6 CPs in 1:40, and Joe went for the crush, pushing hard to the finish. We were the only team to clear the course, and a win for the final race of the regular AR season felt good. Goals and AAS finished right on our heels, but they left 3 and 4 CPs, respectively. I love love racing with these guys! Big thanks to Rodney and Amy of NYARA for putting on a stellar race. Their course design and layout is second to none. Also thanks to our sponsors Rev3Adventure, PowerBar, Epic Paddles, Pearl Izumi, and Honey Stinger for your support!

Black Bear Adventure Race 2014

Race Report for Black Bear Adventure Race Sept 6^th 2014 By Jesse Tubb

           

Fellow Rev3 teammate, Chris Meewes, and I had a solid plan for the day; hope that by combining our relatively limited experience we could pull off a successful race.   Maybe not so solid, but we figured we’d have fun trying at any rate.  That ironclad plan disintegrated when an old injury resurfaced and sidelined Chris, which left me to decide whether to team up with one of other Rev3 teams racing that day or plunge into the race solo and hope that I could manage on my own.  I love a challenge and the thought of experiencing an Adventure Race solo excited me and if nothing else I’d walk away with more knowledge and experience.

            Of the many things I learned, one of the most important is to make sure you stick around during the race brief and to keep your ears open and get clarification on anything you might have questions about.  If you’re unsure about something then, it’s not going to become any clearer during the race.  Information was trickling out weeks before about various aspects of the race and many of those were changing by the minute during the two-hour check-in and race brief.  Check points were taken off the course, new cutoff times were added and the ropes course was eliminated among others.  I also happen to hear some questions posed to the RD by individuals while plotting points that ended up saving some precious time and energy during the race.  Knowledge is king in these races and when you’re out on your own in the middle of the woods, you never know what nugget of info will save you.  One of the Rev3 teams took off shortly after checking in because it wasn’t clear if and when there would be an official race brief.  Luckily for them the other Rev3 team and I stuck around and was able to relay valuable intel.  They would later be able to more than return the favor to me. 

            I arrived into the area earlier that day and secured several maps of local parks, trails, and roads to supplement the maps given at registration for all four of the Rev3 teams racing.  Some proved to be more helpful than others.  Still, better to have too many maps than be missing the one you really need.  In previous races I had been using a teammates map holder and since he was racing as a two man with someone else I borrowed his other, much smaller, holder.  This turned out to be a much worse idea than it sounds.  We had used this on our first 26 hour race and had decided it was too small and I forgot just how small it was.  Time to get one of my own.  I had also failed to bring several key items like sunscreen and fixin’s for PB and J among others and having some teammates to “borrow” from helped tremendously. 

             Once at the house we clarified as much as we could and debated route choices; head straight for the water and paddle on calmer waters then backtrack several km to hit the land CPs, or get the points in relative order which meant hitting the single track O course then hope you can make it to the water in time then pick your path on roads from there.  Several of the experienced teams decided to hit the water first including two Rev3 teams; the 3 man and the co-ed 4 person team.  But swayed by the logic of the 2 man team, which consisted of my good friend and fellow Rev3er, Travis Siehndel and one of his friends he dragged into his first AR, I decided to go in order and go straight to the trails.  This ended up being a wise choice as a lot of the teams that went to the water first had a difficult time in the O course doing it reverse and ended up having some trouble finding some CPs.  This was also helpful because we had stashed food and water with the boats hoping to resupply a little ways into the race.  The teams that headed straight to the water ended up getting there 30 mins into the race and had no need for anything there.  Those of us who opted to hit the water later found it helpful having sucked down a good amount of water and food by then. 

            The morning of the race was cold and very dark.  I pulled into the parking lot and realized I didn’t pack my head light.  Add this to the growing list of gear to bring next time.  Especially when driving to a race, you can’t bring enough gear I’m learning.  This race was 78% bike, 20% water and 2% on foot so I lubed up my chamois, rode my bike a bit to give it one final check and headed to the start of the race ready to feel the burn in my legs and see what the day would bring.  Beautiful weather and a fun and challenging course is what awaited me and I enjoyed most of every minute.  Racing solo brings a new set of challenges including a lot of silence.  I’m used to training by myself on long runs/rides so this wasn’t too much of as issue but I was glad this was only a 12 hr race. 

There was a ½ mile prologue on foot to spread things out and I set out nice and steady knowing that the day would not be decided by the outcome of this stage.  At the same time I know that running is where I’m strongest so I made sure that I was near the front when we got to CP1 so I didn’t get too bogged down in the bottle neck there.  I jogged back up to the bikes and felt like I didn’t expend myself too much and was one of the first people out on the bike.  I ended up being the first person to the bike O course since the others teams decided to head straight for the water and made my way into the trail system to start knocking off some CPs.  Easier said then done sometimes.  I had mistakenly plotted the CPs in the actual trail system thinking that since the clue for two of them was trail intersection that they must be in the maze of trails just inside the park, not the trails paralleling the main gravel road and intersecting with unmaintained trails not marked on the maps.  Assume nothing.  I rode for about 10 mins and decided to head to CP3 which was in a rock climbing section clearly marked in the park in hopes that I would find some CPs along the way.  I followed signs for the climbing section and when I got there I couldn’t find CP 3 on top of any of the boulders there as indicated by the FB pic posted earlier in the week.  I spent another 10 mins looking and finally decided I needed to head to the park trailhead and attack the park with a different game plan.  I ended up running into the 2 man Rev3 team on the trail opposite the gravel road and they informed me CP4 was just ahead and that it was indicated not by the standard white and orange box, but by a red tube.  This was the case for a couple of other CPs, which would’ve been helpful to know before hand but in the end it didn’t make that much difference.  We teamed up for a bit and spread out to search for CP 5 which had eluded several teams and after several minutes of bushwhacking I found it and called my fellow Rev3er’s over to punch in and we went our separate ways since we had other CPs to find.  I ended up finding CP 2 on the way to CP 3, which was located just to the south in the climbing area of where I had just been.  Thanks again to my teammates for clueing me that there was another trail access to the climbing area from the gravel road. 

            From there I rode the sweet single track up to CP 6 on the bridge and ran into my buddies once again as we headed up the river to punch in at CP 7.  The three of us continued up to where CP 8 was and at a fork in the trail they headed right and I decided to try the lower trail despite my lack of success so far, I was reasonably sure that I should at least try the lower trail which would probably end at the river in less than a mile and back track if necessary.  About ½ mile down trail I ran into the CP and tried to head back to let my friends know to repay the earlier favor but there were several turn offs and now way to know which way they’d gone.  I found a small single track that lead up the where I thought CP10 was and ended up crisscrossing back and forth trying to determine which direction I was supposed to go.  After 15 mins of this I finally realized which way was correct and rode out.  On the way I ran into, you guessed it, my buddies again and we rode up to CP 10 together and headed down the roads to hit CP 11 and CP 12 where we got into our respective boats.  I was able to secure a kayak from another teammate instead of renting one supplied by the race, which the 2 man team ended up doing.  This, in the end, would cost them 20 mins on the water.  The added strength gained by having two guys paddling was greatly outweighed by having a sub standard boat.  Add that to the ever-growing list of lessons learned and applied going forward.  I got back onto the bike after 2 hours on the water and headed to the next park, which is where the only long section on foot would be.  I got a nice jog in and hopped back onto the bike to continue to get CP 15 and 16.  On the way to securing the only CP in West Virginia I ran into, no, not the 2 man Rev3 team, but the 3 man ARMD A team.  I had meet one of the team members on a previous race and we chatted it up while enjoying the beautiful views from the valley.  We rode out to the road and it looked like we would be parting ways since they had planned on back tracking into a residential road to hit the next park entrance when I reminded them that it was a gated community which was one of only two areas off limits and actually impassable for us.  So we continued on together and I had planned on riding around the mountains to enter the park from the north but they had decided to bike whack straight up the hill.  Two of the guys on the team have years more experience than me navigating and racing so I decided to try it with them and see if I could learn a few things from them.  What a lesson it was.  They were rock solid on their nav and hit the saddle right in between the two peaks that both had a CP on top.  We dropped the bikes, which I never would’ve done on my own, and were able to spread out and find all the CPs in the park.  All but one…CP 19.  This will haunt the RD and the race for years to come.  Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but we had been warned by other teams not to even bother looking for it.  Some teams with reputations for excellent nav skills had spent more than an hour looking with no success.  We had to at least try.  There was still plenty of time left in the race and nothing to lose.  When we got to the area there were four teams, ten or more people, all of whom had been there attacking the hill from numerous angles with no luck.  We spent 20 minutes looking and decided that with this much man power and hours at work that the odds were not in our favor and to hit the finish in time to drain as much of the keg waiting for us as possible.

 

            The roads were wet but the descents were fun and steep so we cautiously cruised down and enjoyed the stunning back roads and nasty climbs out of the valley we just rolled down into.  We found ourselves back at Mountain State Brewery where there was indeed plenty of beer left since we were the third and fourth team back. 

            Out of the 21 teams only 2 found CP 19, which they admittedly found by accident since it was misplotted.  CP 19 was worth 3 pts when combined with CP 18 while only having CP 18 was worth 0 and thus sealed my fate.  I ended up finishing 2^nd in the solo cat and 3^rd overall, finishing behind the only two teams to stumble upon CP 19.  All in all, I was really happy with the outcome and felt like I had learned as much as I had hoped for.  I’ll definitely race solo again but it was sure nice having friendly racers to help you out on the trails. 

2014 Krista Greisacker Memorial AR

Krista Greisacker Memorial AR

REV3/MK

John Courain & Aaron Courain

There’s nothing quite like waking up at 4:15 in the morning inside your minivan to suit up for an Adventure Race.  This weekend my brothers Dodge Caravan brought us to Kempton PA for the Krista Griesacker Memorial Adventure Race. This race would take us through a 50 mile course with 12 hours on the clock. 

The race started with a prologue designed to spread out the field so as to not bottleneck the start. The race directors sent one of the team’s members up a trail to get the racing passport while the others gathered the mountain bikes together to get ready for the first leg of the race, an epic mountain bike course through the coal country of PA. If you've ridden mountain bikes in this area you know that this is some of the best and techiest riding in the mid-eastern US.

Being no Slouch on foot Aaron quickly snagged our passport and we made our way through town to the start of the MTB course.  A winding, fast, and tight course that was pre-marked. The course spun us in circles for 90 minutes as we moved toward our first CP. At the end of the course we climbed our way on to an amazing ridge line, through a pitch pine forest and up to the cell tower to CP1.

From CP1 teams could chose to either make their way on the high ridge line trail to CP2 or double back through town and find their way onto a valley road.  Although the road was definitely more mileage we thought it would be a good chance to really open up on the cranks. We chose speed over the direct route and it ended up paying off. We made it to CP2, a small culvert which was guarded by a couple of foxes, punched our ticked and headed to our first TA. 

This next section held in store two ‘O’ Courses, both high on hill tops on either side of the TA down in the valley between.  Teams would have to bag one side, check in, and then bag the other. We opted to start with the slightly shorter ‘B’ course.  This ended up being the popular decision because of time constraints. Moving counter clockwise along the top of the plateau, we bagged all the points with relative ease, aside from taking a few minutes to navigate a rhododendron maze that held an OP inside it. The ‘B’ course had lots of steep ups and downs throughout but also some really fun terrain and some really cool lost trails that brought you around. Once we finished our loop we made our way down a steep reentrant and really got bummed out when we found ourselves crawling through a complete mess of slick rocks and dense undergrowth.  After what felt like an eternity we made our way back to the TA and quickly went after the ‘A’ Course.

The ‘A’ Course definitely had more distance involved and some really daunting climbs and descents but we really had the most fun on this course. The highlight was finding a strange, forgotten old road that cut through the trees and brought us straight out to the furthest out OP at the base of a cliff.  Always a treat to find these hidden routes through the forested areas of races. We made our way back down to the TA, Hopped back on our bikes and made the short journey to the paddle put in.

Our canoe made the hour float down the river finding most of the high water but still coming up short on some of the rapids.  After a handful times wet-footing it through the shallows we finally got to the take out and began the final leg of our journey.

The last leg was a trek up and over a final big ridge.  3 OP’s were hidden on the northern side before the big climb up and over. F2 was a quick trip up a reentrant right off the road from the paddle. F3 was on the corner of a vegetation boundary in a large mowed field.  Lots of teams seemed to have taken the road over to the field but we stuck to bushwhacking and got lucky on a pretty direct line.  The last OP, F1, was a miserable whack through a super thick hedge, changing from trees to brambles to rhododendrons.  We moved directly down a Property boundary line and after what felt like an eternity we found the flag. After grabbing it we decided to whack our way to the top via bushwhack instead of making our way back to a trail that was on the map near F3 (which evidently didn't exist in the end anyway). At the top of this final climb was the AT and if you’ve ever done a race in the northeast you know that there is NO travel on the AT.  We found CP 9 on the far side of the ridge overlooking the finish somewhere down in the valley.  Our final descent was in front of us so we found the shallowest descent of the ridge that we could and made our way to another old forgotten double track trail. We grabbed CP 10 on the way down the trail and ran it out to the road where CP 11 was. From here we made a final road push of about 4k or so to the finish line.

And what was at the finish line? An obstacle course…. Hooray! We had plenty of time to do this without injuring ourselves so we went ahead and finished strong, our friends from NYARA cheering us on as we lept over puddles, climbed ropes, and crawled through tunnels.

We Managed to get out front and stay out front for the duration of the race. No Easy task with the likes of GOALS, NYARA, and TOG on your heels. We ended up taking the overall win and can write another great race from 2014 into the books.

 

Untamed New England

Untamed New England AR

100 Mile Wilderness, Maine

June 18-22, 2014

Rev3/MK Team: Britt Mason, Jeffrey Woods, Greg Voelkel

On Monday before the race, Greg and I traveled to Jeff’s home in Connecticut and made the road trip to Maine together the next day after some last minute gear prep. We would be carrying packrafts, PFDs, and paddles for the majority of the race and made sure we all had quick, easy, and secure systems for stowing and carrying it all. Talk about heavy packs! Tuesday night at the prerace brief, the excitement was palpable as the course was revealed in the flyover video. The course was definitely all it was hyped up to be and then some, from the mountain summits, to the Abenaki Lost World bushwack, to the packrafting sections. Once we received our maps, we headed back to our cabin tent to start planning our adventure. There was still a handful of maps we would receive out on the course, including maps for both packraft sections. It was the biggest race yet for Greg and me, and the first race for us against an international field.  Jeff was a UNE veteran with a lot of expedition experience. Our goal as a team was to finish the official course, gathering all CPs along the way. Around midnight, we called it a night and went to bed.

Leg 1- Northern Moosehead Lake traverse and island hop

After last minute gear bin weigh ins, we loaded buses to the start at the Birches Resort along Moosehead Lake. It had been a rainy night and morning, but it set us up for gorgeous weather for the next 4 days, cooler with not a drop of rain! The race started with a quick 3 point prologue on foot. After that, we grabbed a canoe and headed across Moosehead Lake to Little Kineo Mountain. Because of the potential for having to carry all paddle equipment for long distances, I borrowed a 3^rd sling seat from my brother that his friend and teammate had created. Weighing in at a whopping 323 grams, it was more comfortable than any commercial seat I’ve used. Definitely need to get one of these!  At the summit of Little Kineo, we were treated to amazing views, which we really had a chance to savor in our hour+ wait for the rappel off the other side. We got there early, and there were 8 double lines. The system wasn’t working well though, and a ropes section 2 hours into a race is sure to have a backup. We took a break, ate lunch, then hustled back down to the boats when it was our turn to get on a line. After that, a 3 mile paddle took us to Kineo Island for a trek around its perimeter. Back in the boats for the final 16 miles of paddling in Leg 1, we had a fantastic tailwind that allowed us to surf a lot of waves. I think Jeff was happy to not be getting lapfuls of water from my paddle from the crosswind earlier in the day! We pulled into TA1 not long after dusk, where we enjoyed some delish vegan chili from Good-to-Go as we transitioned to bike.

Leg 2- Biking through the Barren Range and the 100 Mile Wilderness

We headed out on bikes on a mix of roads and trails for 75 miles of riding. At this point, we had a solid lead on teams we regularly compete with and were making good time. Early on, a young moose came out of the woods and raced Greg down the road for a couple hundred meters. First of 7 moose sightings! After grabbing the first CP of the section, we continued on grassy doubletrack intermixed with lots of big puddles. Greg rode through a deep puddle, hit a log, and went over the handlebars, coming down hard on his drivetrain. Snap! Broken derailleur hanger. We had a spare, but it was about 65 miles away in our gear bin. We quickly went to work making his bike singlespeed, and it held for the next 30ish miles. The chain integrity was compromised, and Greg burned a lot of energy both mentally and physically. Good thing he’s a beast. He ran up most of the hills, and we pushed him on the flats when we could. This section also included a gnarly bikewack through the Notch that seemed to never end. Untamed takes place right around the summer solstice, so it was fully light out at 4:30am. I have the hardest time staying awake in the dark, so a short 7.5 hour night was fantastic. As the sun came up, we ran into the road we were looking for and got back in the saddle. After one more bikewack through a clear-cut section of forest, we arrived at the Gorman Chairback Lodge and the site of the orienteering relay. Oh, and PANCAKES. This was the low point in the race for me. I felt like we weren’t even able to compete now due to a mechanical, and we still had a lot of biking left. As it stood, we were in danger of missing the first cutoff. Jeff gave me a good pep talk and snapped me out of it. We would keep racing our race and make the best of it. I grabbed a quick nap after running the first O leg. Greg pushed hard on the 2 long O courses, and we regained our position on several teams who had passed us. Meanwhile, Jeff spoke to his friend Mike Sarnowski who runs Madathlete.com. He was volunteering for the weekend and happened to have his bike at the lodge. Without hesitation, he agreed to trade bikes with Greg for the rest of the race. New life! We can’t thank you enough, Mike. We set up Mike’s bike for Greg as he finished up the final O leg. With the huge boost in morale, we headed back out on our bikes for another 30 miles. At one point, we dragged our bikes through a rather swampy area created by an elaborate beaver dam. We also saw a female moose and her calf, who ran in front of us on the road for several minutes, with the calf even stopping to nurse. Greg managed to keep his bike rubber side down, and we rolled into TA2 in the late afternoon. We had been going back and forth with Checkpoint Zero, Odyssey, and Raidpulse, and that would continue to be the theme throughout the race.

Leg 3- The Abenaki Lost World trek and packraft

This was the make-or-break section for teams around us in terms of making the first cut-off, which would be at 1900 on Friday. Leg 3 was about 40 miles total. The first third was a mix of packrafting and trekking, and last 2/3 was trekking with a bushwack that didn’t disappoint! We received the map for the packraft section, and Greg and Jeff made a plan of attack. The plan was promptly changed when we got a look at the water and the large whitecaps of the lakes, called The Roach Ponds,  we needed to cross. Instead of paddling from point to point, we ended up paddling out and back to the first 3 CPs and trekking in between. It was time consuming but necessary with the wind and waves. Greg and I were sharing the 2 person Alpacka Explorer 42, while Jeff was using the Alpacka Denali Llama. These boats were fantastic, even though we never got to use them quite as they were intended, either due to weather or darkness. You can bet by the end of the race we were pros at set up, tear down, and storage of these bad boys! The sun went down before we grabbed the 3^rd CP of the section, and with it, the wind and waves died down. We paddled into a creek with some small whitewater that was a fun challenge at night with fog. We basically let the current take us down, steering whenever we got breaks in the fog.

Finishing the packraft, we transitioned quickly and pressed on to head for the 3 mountain summits. Number 4 Mountain (that’s really its name) was up first. It had a nice trail including rock steps that led us all the way to the top. Piece of cake, right? The sun had just risen on Day 3 as we headed down the other side enroute to Baker Mountain. We caught a trail nap before heading into the woods again. To give you a sense of the bushwack, take two young pines shoulder width apart, then move them 6-12” closer together. Now swim through those for hours. Our packs were set up well enough that all we had to pay attention to were paddles. The forest ate a lot of other teams’ gear that day. I wore 2XU tights, North Face shell jacket, ExOfficio hat, and glasses all day. Both my gear and body came through unscathed. After Baker, we headed to Lily Bay Mountain. Once we got up on the ridge line, we could see Lily Bay, which was northwest of our position on the ridge. The great visual from that spot made it easy to navigate to, albeit painfully slow going through the forest. From the CP, there was a flagged trail down the backside that took us to the established trail and eventually to the road. Such a relief to leave the woods for good! Jeff said he has never had a tougher bushwack, although he has had some equal to the Lost World Trek. All were in Maine. Trekking into TA3, we made the first time cutoff with about 30 minutes to spare. We were informed that the ensuing 25 mile paddle was cancelled due to water conditions, and the cutoff was extended until midnight. This allowed a few more teams to continue officially and kept the competitive juices flowing for us. We took advantage of the Kelty tents in TA to bank an hour of sleep. From there, we had a short ride to the town of Greenville for some urban orienteering. We arrived too late to visit the town’s finer establishments (pizza, ice cream, CREPE TRUCK), but we hit up the convenience store across the street for a feast of whoopee pie, BBQ chips, Coke, Starbucks, and hot chocolate. After a tour of Greenville, we continued out of town on foot to a trailhead that took us into the Moose Mountains. This was a beautiful technical trail (one of those you never truly appreciate in a moment due to sleep deprivation and darkness) that took us past bluffs and lakes enroute to Big Moose Mountain. Once again, Day 4 dawned with gorgeous weather and mild temps. We ascended Big Moose from the back side, using a trail often cut out of the rock. This was the first race I got to experience sound hallucinations, and they were in full affect as we topped out and started our descent to Big Squaw Area. Here’s a sampling of things I heard over and over for about 2 days: my text message alert, people’s voices, and a vuvuzela in the Kennebec Gorge. Anything can happen when you sleep less than 3 hours in 4 days. The descent was on ski slopes all the way down to TA4. Ski slopes are much more fun on skis…

Leg 5- The Whitewater Wilderness

Next up was a 30 mile ride through a maze of logging roads and old trails along Indian Pond, ending at the Kennebec River whitewater section. It took some time to ascertain which roads/trails on the map actually existed, but once Greg ruled out a possible route or two, he nailed the CPs. It felt like we made good time in the section, but somehow CPZ came out just ahead of us. Nuts! We had been leading them for over 24 hours. While waiting in line for a raft, we were informed that we had been ranked Unofficial since Day 2 and the bike swap. This was news to us. It is fairly common in AR for racers to get replacement gear, especially bikes, and still continue as a ranked team. There was nothing else for us to do at that time but hope we could get it sorted out at the finish. We were paired up with CPZ in the raft and had a great guide. He thoroughly soaked us on our trip down the guided upper gorge. That woke us up! We dropped off the guide and headed down the lower gorge unguided. We chatted and took a welcome break from the race, paddling occasionally. They had bumped the water levels up on both the Kennebec and Dead just for the race, so it was really moving.

At the takeout we received a map for the final trek/packraft section. The wheels really fell off for us here. Morale had taken a bit of hit due to the unofficial ranking, we were very tired, and we would hit the packraft after dark. We spent a long time in transition, and it took us awhile to get moving and warm back up. We had already decided that due to the speed of the river and that fact that we would be paddling in the dark, we would portage across to the CPs but trek the rest of the way. It was a 10k trek up to the first CP. The other 2 points were on the opposite side of the river. The first was not visible from the water, but the second was. We were moving so slowly that at one point when we thought we should be nearing the CP, we realized we were only halfway there! Time to pick it up. We took a short 10 minute sleep. After the first CP, we prepared to cross the river to get the next one. I was very worried about the crossing. Greg was having a hard time staying awake, and we were looking rough as a team. There were reports of teams being rescued via helicopter, and a lot of teams had gone overboard. The river was pretty much a yard sale of gear, boats without racers in them, and racers without boats. Unbeknownst to us, they closed the packrafting section not long after we left the TA. Worries aside, we made it a short distance downriver and across with no problems. We found the CP after a short search and got back in the packrafts. We wanted to paddle downstream about a kilometer to a place where the trail dipped close to the river. We abandoned that plan after getting pushed around by some hydraulics and settled for the steep hike up to the trail instead. Greg gave up the map and got some sleep on his feet on the way to the final packraft CP. The guys were battling sleep monsters, but I was wide awake for a change. We passed several teams in various states of hypothermia warming up on the trail or looking for gear downriver. At one point, I looked back to find Greg and Jeff talking about the cabins they saw down in the gorge. Ahh, the fun of group hallucinations. Catching a glimpse of the CP from our side of the river, we crossed and punched it.  While tearing down our paddling gear for the final time, we took advantage of a large campfire to dry out. From there, we shuffled back to the Forks campground, the guys taking turns falling asleep and running to catch up. Finding the campground was surprisingly difficult, as none of us could remember what the entrance looked like. Eventually we caught sight of the Kennebec and our turn. We saw Grant in the campground and spoke with him about our race status. Jeff posed a very articulate argument in our defense, and we were able to get our official status reinstated, provided we not place before any other team who cleared the course. We appealed to the spirit of adventure racing, people helping each other and being resourceful when necessary to continue on a course of this magnitude. It meant a great deal to us to be considered official, as we had worked very hard despite some setbacks to get the chance to travel the full course.

With that weight off our shoulders, we cruised the final 12 miles in good spirits. We had not anticipated the packrafting leg to take us 11 hours, and we had been rationing food the entire night. Stomachs growling, Jeff found 2 Pro Bars to split with us. At one point, Jeff stopped for a bathroom break while Greg pedaled ahead to see if the next intersection existed. I had had this weird feeling for most of the race that we had a 4^th teammate. As I was riding Greg’s direction, that mystery teammate pedaled past me going the other way. I turned around to follow him, stopping where Jeff was. I looked at his bike, facing the opposite way I was headed, and said, “I’m going the wrong way, aren’t I?” Wow, I just followed a ghost. Greg deciphered the map with its phantom roads with ease, and we crossed the finish a bit before 8AM on Sunday.  We officially finished in 12^th place as the 4^th American team, as well as 1^st in the Open Division. We accomplished our goal of completing the full course and had a strong showing against a tough international field. Even better, I had a great experience with Greg and Jeff and  made a lot of cool memories. Hats off to Grant Killian and the rest of the staff of Untamed New England, along with the host Northern Outdoors. We couldn’t have asked for a better race experience! We would like to give a shout out to our sponsors, Rev3Adventure, Epic Kayaks & Paddles, PowerBar, Honey Stinger, Pearl Izumi, The Right Stuff, and Sawyer. Also, a big shout out to Dusty and Jacque for catching us after the race with a feast, showers, and warm beds (I only made it to the couch!) and for packing up all our dirty, smelly gear. You guys are the best!