Camecow Cowboy Tough Expedition Race -- Pre-Race

Rev3 Cameco Cowboy Tough Expedition Race

Cheyenne to Casper, Wyoming

July 18-21, 2013

Rev3/MK 4-Person Team: Britt Mason, Greg Voelkel, Fritz Pameijer & Emily McDonald

Rev3/MK 2-Person Team: Dusty Reppuhn & Cory Mason

Race Report By: Emily McDonald ... with input from the team!

A year ago, if you had told me that I'd be heading out through Wyoming's back-country for a 3 1/2-day, 300+ mile adventure race, I probably would have looked at you like you had a serious case of the crazies. But now, fast-forward a year, where I stumbled through my first 24-hour adventure race - I've now completed said 3 1/2 days of over 400 miles through some of the most beautiful, rugged and yet unforgiving country I've seen. My Rev3Adventure/Mountain Khakis teammates and I are all, officially now Cowboy Tough.

Pre-Race all smiles for Rev3Adventure/Mountain Khakis!  (L-R: Greg, myself, Fritz & Britt)

Dusty & Cory smiling as well!

We arrived in Casper, Wyoming (elevation 5,240ft) on July 16th to prep gear, tune bikes and make a few final Wal-Mart runs to stock up on Starbucks Double-Shot, Gatorade, Pop-Tarts, pre-cooked bacon [yes] and other obvious necessities for surviving 3 1/2 days out of a pack and a 35-liter Rubbermaid  bin. July 17th brought check-in, our race bibs, numbers and maps,  team photo and nervous energy as we plotted the 100+ checkpoints that would see us from Cheyenne to Casper over 3 1/2 days. Mark, Mike & Vanessa kept us informed and entertained at a brief team meeting, complimented by some Power Bar goodies in the early evening. Then it was time to load the bikes and bins, make final checks to our packs and try to sneak a few hours of restless sleep before we rolled out at 5am on the 18th for Cheyenne's Curt Gowdy State Park.

Ladies Rev3/MK shirts -- 'cause we're CowGIRL tough don't ya know!?

Fritz and Greg expertly plot our route through Wyoming's back-country

With 3 1/2 days of racing to  try to put into words - it's going to come out easiest in days and then in segments of where we went and how we got there. Some of the details are fuzzy - sleep deprivation is a nasty beast, some of the details I don't want to remember (blisters and nosebleeds) but we made it through and we made it through with smiles on our faces and an eagerness for the next adventure. So hang on over the next few days as the recap of our adventure unfolds.

Up Next: Cowboy Tough Day 1 - Curt Gowdy to Medicine Bow