2013 Atomic 30 Hour Adventure Race Report

Atomic 30 Hour Adventure Race, May 18-19 2013

Location: Blue Ridge, Georgia

Team: Rev3/MK Masters

Racers:Chris Spiller, Julie Lee, David O'Rear

Report by: David O'Rear

   

This year’s Atomic race promised a very different race for 2013.  Most notable change was a Night Orienteering course in the very remote, steep, and rugged Rich Mountain Wildlife Management Area. This part of the course would ultimately end up being the most influential segment in determining which team would take the top spot honors.
Julie and Chris were to drive down from Knoxville Friday night, and I ended up linking up with them at the Race main TA/Finish Location Saturday Morning. After unpacking our gear and bit of race prep, we checked in and received the map and race information. All CPs were pre-plotted once again this year. I understand why Race directors do this however I believe it takes away a major dynamic in Adventuring Racing. Map reading/plotting accuracy! Pangea get’s a huge pat on the back from me for using waterproof maps produced by mytopo. Not only are they waterproof, they are usually very accurate and print race information directly on the map. I really hate managing all those little supplemental paper maps which are common place. So race directors and race companies out there, get with the program. We racers spend entirely too much money on these races, so the least you can do is spend a little more of our entry fees on decent maps. Great job Pangea!  Additionally clue sheets and passports were also printed on tyvek type paper, which was huge since the weather prediction was for the typical North Georgia spring monsoon type rains which would end up greeting us at about 2am Sunday morning.

We were  bused to the start which was located at the small but picturesque Skeenah Creek Campground about 30 minutes away.  After another short briefing at the start, some pictures, we were off. The race was broken down into six segments. A seventh single track biking segment was unfortunately cancelled due to trail conditions. This was VERY unfortunate for us since Julie, Chris and myself are all very good technical riders, especially at night. Regardless of the impact to us the director made the 100% right call.

Segment 1: Day Trekking over Tooni and Rocky Mountain (9 CPs). The first segment went very well. Especially since we watched nearly every team to blow past us at the start and we ended up clearing this segment 17 minutes ahead of the next team. This was a great opening segment with challenging daytime navigation. Our time: 3:49:00         

Segment 2: Day Paddling the Toccoa from the Deep Hole Rec Area to the Dial Area (3 CPs/11 river miles).

We rolled into the transition area in the lead which enabled us to have first choice of the race boats in the TA. We opted to grab the only Mad River Adventure 16 canoe over the other standard canoes. Our thought process was the pronounced keel and stiffer bottom of the Mad River Canoe would be faster in the water. It also had back rests seats and a third seat in the center which would be much more comfortable for Julie. In retrospect we should have opted for a standard open top canoe. The Mad River was indeed faster, but since it is slightly closed at the top, it is much more difficult to recover after capsizing which unfortunately we are prone to do. Unlike last year, the paddle segment avoided the most difficult rapids on the river however due to the recent rain, the water volume was significantly higher than usual. This made for swift paddling however turned the usual Class I and II shoals into raging upper Class III’s. We cleared this segment easily in 2:16:00 and maintained the lead despite capsizing twice. Only two teams were faster.

Segment 3: Day Bike Segment: Paved and Forestry Roads (5 CPs)

The day bike segment was also smartly selected by the Director. With travel on both gravel and paved roads the routes was swift but challenging to navigate, hilly but not the blistering climbs we expected. Although we cleared this segment, this was where we made the first tactical error. We opted to do an out and back on one of the points only to realize that I plotted a segment of our route in error. Although not a navigational error it did cause us to backtrack a bit losing our time lead slightly. This would come to haunt us later. We were still in the lead overall since at this point we were the only team to have cleared the course up to this point. Day Bike time: 3:14:00

Segment 4: Night Bike Segment: Big Bald Mountain (4 CPs)

After checking into the mandatory TA we were able to exchange passports and quickly grab some food. The sun was beginning to set and we had lost our time lead slightly. We still thought our best chance was to clear the course. We choked down our food, refilled water, fixed lights and we were off. This part of the race would include gravel roads, a bit of double track, a brutal forestry road climb and some god awful trekking. We tackled the first CP quickly and then started the brutal climb up Big Bald Mountain. It was at this point I began to feel a bonk coming on. The road turned so steep that I believe we were all glad to be pushing not trying to ride. It seemed to never end. We had met up with our buddies the Howler Monkeys who were also pushing up this beast. Once we reached the saddle we were looking for, we grounded bikes and began trekking up the beastly Big Bald Mountain to grab the CP at the top. The walk down to the bikes and the ride down the mountain allowed me to recover slightly however I was still feeling less than fully recovered. We then back tracked and grabbed the third point which was challenging. We decided that we would skip the last point figuring with the night orienteering course our strongest area we could make up both time and maintain our lead. Big Bald Bike segment took 4:15:00.

Segment 5: Night Orienteering Course : Rich Mountain WMA, Cold Mountain Complex (8 CPs)

At this point in the race we were tied with Rib Mountain Racing, They departed the TA only minutes ahead and we crossed paths with them several times. Our strategy was simple, clear the course. We decided clear CPs 24 and 25 on the way to the most difficult point, CP 28. Our navigation was near flawless. CP 28 was located halfway up Cold Mountain around a series of intersecting creeks. As we were nearing within 500 meters or so the bottom fell out and it began to rain and visibility was only a few feet. Poor visibility combined with rain turning nearly every draw (re-emergent) into a raging torrent turned navigation on this terrain near impossible.  We searched for about an hour for the point deciding to finally bag it and move along.  I imagine we were probably on top of the point but visibility was so poor it was impossible to see. We were to discover no teams found that point. Of course no team looked as long as we did either. We quickly bagged two easy points on the way to the two difficult points on the steep and boulder strewn Cold Mountain. This would involve an elevation increase of over 1000 feet in the most rugged and steep terrain I have ever been on here in Ga. This would take several hours. Once again hats off to the Pangea Staff. We were one of the few teams to clear the points on Cold Mountain despite a few fumbles, a bear sighting, and a few strange hallucinations by Chris along the way. On to the TA we decided to drop the last point. We knew we were tied with Rib Mountain and thought they were only a few minutes in front of us and we would make up the lost time on the bike. Unfortunately we spent too much time on Cold Mountain. With the Single Track bike segment cancelled  we were ultimately unable to make up the time deficit.

Final Segment: Sport Race Course including Lake Paddling and short Day Orienteering Course.

Once we arrived back at the main TA we were issued new race information on the final segment. The race info seemed confusing and was proving difficult frustrating for Chris and I.  Here is where I made my biggest mistake of the race which was pointed out to me by Julie after the fact. Apparently during my frustration as I lashed out. This unfortunately was probably interpreted by the race volunteer who was helping us, as being directed at her. For this I am deeply sorry. This volunteer I am speaking of treated our team with nothing more than kindness and helpfulness so if it was interpreted as being directed at her and the Pangea Staff, I publicly and humbly offer my apologies.  The confusion can more appropriately be attributed to our fatigue than anything else. The last segment turned out to be a great finishing segment. The flat water paddling along with the orienteering made route selection as important as navigation. We cleared the segment faster than any other team, unfortunately not quickly enough to take the lead back. Segment 6 time 4:51:00. Great job to Chris and Julie taking the lead on this segment!

Overall: This was a great race from start to finish. Much improved and better flowing course than last year. I can’t say enough positive things about the Pangea Race Staff. They got this one 100% right. Pizza Hut Pizza a great post race choice, Cheese burgers, beer, prizes all good. Plus, the most original race trophy idea ever.   As far as our team is concerned we needed this race. Congratulations to Rib Mountain. I can only hope we haunted you guys every step of the way!

Looking forward to next year’s Race.