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 :)
