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.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
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 6th
2014 By Jesse Tubb
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 2nd in the
solo cat and 3rd 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.
Friday, August 8, 2014
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.
Monday, July 14, 2014
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 3rd 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 3rd 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 4th 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
12th place as the 4th American team, as well as 1st
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!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Sea2Sea 2014
Sea2Sea Adventure
Race
February 13-16, 2014
Rev3/MK: Britt Mason,
Dave Ashley, Dusty Reppuhn
Rev3: Joe Brautigam
and Jeffrey Woods
Report by Britt Mason
The Rev3/MK team started off its AR season by traveling down
to sunny Florida to take part in Pangea’s Sea2Sea 72 hour race. 2014’s course
would take us from the Gulf side to the Atlantic. We were racing as 2 teams but
planned to stick together unless 1 team was forced to slow significantly or
stop. Joe and Jeff came over to the dark side this year from Checkpoint Zero,
so this was an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other. What better
way to do that than spending every moment of the next 3 days together?!
Pre-Race
We met up at the host hotel Coral Sands Inn on Wednesday
night for check in, dinner, and the pre-race meeting. A storm came through,
forcing everything indoors.
We received an overview map showing all of the TAs and our
passport with the breakdown of each leg of the race. There would be 6 paddle, 7
foot, and 7 bike legs. That’s right, count ‘em 19 transitions! A race like this
could literally be lost in transition. We made some last minute changes to gear
bin organization and then loaded our bins, paddle gear, and bikes into the
U-Hauls that would transport our gear from coast to coast. With no maps or gear
to tinker with, we got a full night’s sleep!
Race day dawned cool and rainy but still warm compared to
the winter the northerners on our team have had. At 0630, we loaded charter
buses for the trip from the finish to the start of the race, where the
Withlacoochee River meets the Gulf of Mexico. We were given our first set of
maps (18 total) that would get us through what looked like the first 24 hours.
We spent the ride route planning, getting excited for what the next 3 days
would bring. When we reached the coast, we were greeted by high winds and big
waves. Our first CP was on an island along the shore, which would require us to
paddle in the Gulf. For safety reasons, the start of the race was moved inland
to the first TA, Inglis. The paddle would be shortened to an out and back from
the TA.
Day 1
After relocating and hearing last minute announcements, we
were off! A 1 mile run took us to the canoe put-in. We made great time paddling
downstream to the bridge turnaround. The 3 of us felt strong in the boat together.
We love our Epic carbon wing blades! The return trip was slower as we paddled
against the current. Next up was a 5 mile O course ending at the Lock TA and
our bikes. A fast 15 mile road ride took us to the next paddle put-in on the
Rainbow River. By now, the sun was out, and it had turned into a beautiful day.
The river was crystal clear, and for once we were able to enjoy a river’s
beauty in the daylight. We took out at Rainbow Springs State Park. For this leg
we were required to walk through the park to gather 3 CPs. You could not leave
earlier than 25 minutes after your arrival time. Basically, you had no choice
but to enjoy the gorgeous park, including the CP at the base of Seminole Falls.
It was a nice break from the usual rush of racing. Back in the boats, we
paddled back downstream an hour to Blue Run. From there, it was a short road
ride to Pruitt, where we had access to gear bins and could hop on the Florida
Trail. During the run, we didn’t attack one of the CPs cleanly, and Checkpoint
Zero (CPZ) caught back up to us.
At the Ross TA, we geared up for a solid mostly singletrack
section of 35 miles on the OMBA singletrack. It’s rare to get this much
singletrack in an adventure race, and these trails did not disappoint. With the
recent rains, the early trails had plenty of flooded sections to splash
through. Once we got into the Vortex and Santos sections, the trails were in
great shape and a blast to ride. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been on
dirt trails. Where’s the snow?! Early in the evening, CP16 was a sticking point
for us. It was located just off the trail near an old farm plow. We spent 30
minutes or more here, mostly within 200 meters or so of the right trail. Once
found, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the section. I seemed to have a
knack most of this race for locating the CPs whenever we got within a couple
hundred meters of them. “Hey guys, it’s over there.” “Got it!” “I see it!”
Maybe my eyes are just younger J
At the Marshal TA, we refueled and set out on a 10k trek
through Silver Springs State Park. CP25 was a challenge. It was located just
off the Florida Trail; however, this portion of the trail was hardly
recognizable as such. It was mostly a swamp, and the only way to follow the
trail was to look for streamers on trees. We initially thought it was the wrong
trail and tried to reattack but eventually realized we were on track. It was
interesting to watch 2 accomplished navigators in Dave and Joe team up. Each
has his own style of navigating, so route choice was no necessarily the same,
but in the end, they were able to nail almost all of the CPs. After punching
CP25, we headed back to the road, which took us to another set of trails and
the rest of the trekking CPs enroute to the Silver TA.
We entered transition around 0400 on Friday. Temps were
hovering around 40. We layered up for a cold 16 mile paddle down the Silver and
Ocklawaha Rivers. I used plastic bags and full rain gear but still got very
cold in the last hour of the paddle. Dusty wrapped herself in her emergency
blanket and was much warmer. Since this race, I’ve also acquired some Pogies,
which are mitts that that go over your paddle shaft. Joe and Jeff each have a
pair and swear by them. The fog on the water was very thick, with near zero
visibility when using our lights. Luckily, it was a clear night, and the moon
was almost full. We paddled in darkness the majority of the time, using the
treetops to anticipate curves in the river.
Day 2
As the sun started coming up, we paddled into TA. Here, we
received our 2nd set of maps, which would take us up to the big
orienteering section that evening. We basked in the sun while route planning
and gearing up to bike. This leg was a 30 mile ride on paved and sandy trails
that took us through Ocala National Forest. The first point was CP32, which was
a bearing from this beautiful magnolia tree. The passport stated the CP was in
the forest 90m at 33 degrees from the tree. We searched and searched. No dice.
After 20 or 30 minutes, Dave decided we should search 90m out from the tree in
all directions. Sure enough, the CP was actually 30m away at 90 degrees. Nice
one, Greg! The rest of the bike was uneventful.
At the Farles TA, we switched to trail shoes for 12 miles
along the Florida Trail. Everyone except for Dave. He left his shoes at the
last TA. Ouch! It made for a long trek in bike shoes. We got through it and went
back to the bikes for a ride to Alexander Springs. We dropped our bikes at the
Mud TA, where we would start the bigger trek, and ran down to the put in. This
next paddle was fun. I’m glad we did it during the day, though. The river was
full of vegetation and various islands and would have been much more difficult
at night. We finished a bit before sunset. Then it was back to Mud for our last
set of maps.
The race’s main foot-O was in Ocala National Forest. We were
given 2 LIDAR maps with a total of 20 CPs, ~18 miles redline. Many trails
crisscrossed the map but were unreliable, as we found out early in the evening.
We essentially wandered for about 2 hours without finding a CP before getting
on track and clearing the course. For the most part, we set bearings and stayed
off-trail. The clue for all but 2 CPs was either depression or distinct group.
So many distinct groups in one place!! Night 2 was a struggle for me last year,
and this one was no different. I took a solid nap on my feet sometime in the
middle of the night. Trekking poles are great for sleepwalking! When we got
back to TA, we found CPZ already there. They had erased our 2 hour lead and
were hustling to get on their bikes once they saw us. We inhaled a delicious
pasta meal courtesy of the volunteers here as we packed up for the rest of the
course. Game on again!
Shoveling a delicious pasta meal in transition
Day 3
The sun came up as we rode away, and just like that, I was
wide awake again. As we approached the first CP in this section, we entered the
woods two or three hundred meters too early. We realized our mistake and went
back out to our bikes. We continued on the road to the correct attack point and
passed CPZ’s bikes in the process. They, too, were short of the point, so we
retook the lead. Once we hit pavement, we hit a good paceline to put as much
distance as possible between them and us.
We rolled up to the put in for the St Johns Backwaters and
found…nothing. No boats, no volunteers. We double-checked the map. Definitely
the right place. Started a timer. After about 20 minutes, the canoes arrived.
At this point in the race, teams were very spread out, and they were hustling
to move boats up the course. We wanted to get in and out of TA before another
team arrived, and we made it happen. In the middle of the paddle, we had to
traverse a pretty treacherous lake. We were getting hit by 1-2’ waves from the
front left side of the boat as we crossed. It felt pretty hairy at times, but I
can’t say enough about Dave’s expertise in a boat. He maneuvered us across with
no issues. When we reentered the backwaters, we all caught our breath for a
bit. The lake and wind had taken a lot out of us. (Dusty also discovered an
alternate use for the bailer, since there was nowhere to beach onshore!)
We hopped back on our bikes for a sleepy ride on paved and
dirt roads, picking up a few CPs enroute to the beach. People kept falling
asleep in the pace line on busy roads to keep things interesting. At the final
TA (#18 or 19?) we headed to the beach for a 12k run down the coast. I chose to
go barefoot because it felt better than being in shoes by that point. We kept
the pressure on since we didn’t know how far back CPZ was. Turns out they ran
the road and finished less than 20 minutes after us. Our two Rev3 teams managed
to cover the course together and cross the finish line as champions. We even
had family at the finish to welcome us back! This race was a great start to our
season and even better way for us to get to know each other better as
teammates.
Hats off to Greg and the rest of the Pangea crew for putting
on another fantastic race. It’s no small feat to move gear that much in an
expedition! Also, thanks to our sponsors Rev3 Adventure, PowerBar, Pearl Izumi,
Honey Stinger, Epic Paddles & Kayaks, and OutThere Packs for supporting us
along the way. You guys rock!
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Atomic AR
Atomic 30 Hour AR
31May-Jun1 2014
Rev3/MK
Team: Dave Ashley, Dusty Reppuhn, Greg Voelkel, Britt Mason
Report by: Britt
At the last minute, I was able to open up my schedule and do
this race. Exciting because I had to miss the MISSION a few wks prior. It made
for some long travel days, but it was worth it to spend some time in Blue Ridge
w/some cool peeps. Got in Fri night. No maps or registration til morning, so
planning was minimal. We were told to drop off bikes prior to registration, but
when we arrived in the morning, we found the bike drop was cancelled. Track
shows over 20k of climb. I don't think that's accurate, but it was a lot of
climbing nonetheless!
Bike 4:32:00 29.8 mi (6.6
mph)
Course was modified
to get us on the sweet singletrack before the rain came in later in the day.
Instead of an early foot prologue and paddle, we started off on bikes, taking
forest service and gravel roads to get to the SORBA trails. It is rare to
experience a race with this much dirt and almost no pavement. FUN! Hit some CPs
on the way to the singletrack. Bobbled the first one, allowing the teams who
made a wrong turn in the beginning to catch back up. Once on trail, we were
leapfrogging teams and going too fast for the heat and humidity. We backed off
a bit and let CPZ go. Good call. They were only a few min ahead of us for most
of the day. Rolled into Bull TA in 3rd. Times include transitions.
Run 4:33:00 9.0 mi
(30:20 / mi)
O course #1. Attacked
this CCW. More off-trail than not. Nailing CPs until we got to CP28. Clue was
short fat spur. Our bearing was a bit off after a long bushwack, and we ended
up reattacking several times, essentially checking every spur in the area. CP
was really on more of a hillside. This point was a common issue for teams. Even
w/a 30min attack, we didn't gain or lose time on this leg. Overshot 29 or 30 by
quite a bit and ended up backtracking 2k or more. Rain started towards the end
of the trek. Refreshing.
Bike 5:54:00 19.5 mi (3.3
mph)
Tough section. Greg
warned us before the race that one of the bike legs had CPs on original trails
while the main singletrack had been rerouted. The trails on the map were the
original trails. Made a couple of the points pretty challenging. We were
relying too much on distance and not enough on topo and elevation. After we
cleared the singletrack section, we went south for some time looking for a
trail that would be easier riding to the last CP and then to the TA. Ended up
returning to the end of the singletrack and going north. From the final CP, we
climbed Winding Stair Gap for ~6k, sometimes walking, sometimes riding. Slow
slog up to Frying Pan TA, where we had access to a gear bin.
Trekking 9:35:00 14.9 mi
(38:35 / mi)
O course #2. Brutal.
Lots of thick bushwacking, azimuths, and long pacecounts. Spent a short time on
the Benton-Mackaye and Appalachian Trails. When we got up on the ridge where
CP39 was located (cool dead tree), the downpour began. Wind, rain, fog made for
low visibility. Track shows we were all over around it, but we started the
attack too far west. Rather than go all the way down and reattack, we moved on
to the next CP. Saw an incredible amount of salamanders. The rain really
brought them out. Nailed the rest of the CPs we went for. Skipped the 44 and 45
due to time constraints and significant bushwacks.
Bike 2:50:00 19.2 mi (6.8
mph)
Received the CPs for
this section back at Frying TA. This leg was the bike portion from the Sport
race. We were all experiencing some good chafe from being soaked through for
the past 24 hrs. Not a clean section for us, even though it appeared straight
forward. CPZ gained an hour on us here. I would venture to say this was the
most challenging course navigation-wise we have seen in a long time. It kept
the pressure on navigators virtually from start to finish.
Paddle 1:33:31 7.0 mi
(13:22 / mi)
When
we got to the put in on the Toccoa, we discovered there were no boats available
to use. We received a time credit while waiting for the trailer to haul more
boats to us. At this point, we felt we were solidly in 3rd, and it would be a
leisurely paddle downstream to the finish. The Toccoa River is gorgeous, not to
mention a blast to paddle. Lots of small rapids. Both of our boats came very
close to dumping in the big set of rapids, but we managed to stay dry. Enjoyed
the company and scenery all the way to the take out and finish. Upon arrival,
we discovered that the 3male team in front of us cleared the O course but
didn't make it to the paddle, which was worth 3 points. We tied for points but
came in 10 min sooner. 2nd place OA to CPZ. The rivalry continues! I enjoy
racing against them...they run 2 females most of the time like us too. Great
race. Hats off to Pangea and their hard working volunteers for a challenging
course. Perfect UNE tuneup! Thanks to our sponsors Rev3 Adventure, PowerBar,
Honey Stinger, Suunto, Epic Paddles & Kayaks, OutThere Packs, and The Right
Stuff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)