In just one year the Atomic Adventure race has turned into one of the premiere races in the Southeast so of course when I got a call to join a team, I said yes. I would be joining Florida Xtreme and racing with 5 people (1 three person team and 1 two person team). Since we were going to get maps at check-in we made a point to get there early. I did all the marking while the team prepared gear – we would be marking the first stage, and get another map and points for the second stage. There weren't too may points to plot – though some of the maps had a really weird scale (1:70K and 1:whatever).
The race started with a very short prelude, one team-mate running about a mile and then we started to the top of Amicolola Falls to our staged bikes (CP2) with one CP on the way up. From there it was onto the mountain roads for the frst nice long bike leg. CP3was relatively easy to find, and after chunking uphill to the forest tower, Jim and I were rewarded by being able to scream down the washed out road (we bot enjoyed that downhill immensely – thanks!) . As we left I noticed some teams taking a route north up over Black Mountain. They were obviously planning on attacking CP4 (on Bearden Creek) from the north. Here are a few reasons why that was a bad idea (1) The southern route is on the way to the next CP, (2) The only way get to the attack point was the AT, (3) it would involve a bike bushwhack through very steep terrain, and (4) the southern attack point had a very obvious attack location. From CP3 we dropped down to road 28E. At the end of the road all the bikes from the teams in front of us were on the ground, but we could also see lead teams running down the hill from the CP. One of the lead teams said it was bikeable almost to the control and sure enough after crossing a stream with our bikes it was. We rode up to about200 yards from the CP and climbed the steep and now slippery slope up to the CP on a pretty waterfall. We were with a lot of other teams here - and our team was talking and joking. Mim's the Word had dropped their passport at CP3 and was looking for it – luckily someone (Melissa Scott) had found it and they were back in action.
The ride to CP5 was uneventful and easy navigation – we were starting to get our flatlander Florida legs used to hills. From CP5 we had a bike Rogaine with 5 control of which we could visit 4. We went by paved road and turned left on the first bike trail (223F). The girls (Kim and Wanda) were a little uncomfortable at first with the narrow single track and hills – but adjusted to it very fast. CP6 was right on the trail – so we got one of the 4 controls within 15 minutes of CP5. Wo hoo! Our next control would be CP7. It was on trail 223C – we could take trail 223 straight to it, ut it involved a very steep climb, instead I chose to take trail/road 223F. That allowed us to tow (our team was still adjusting to the hills) a milder but longer slope. We would still have a one steep but much shorter climb as we would approach the control from the north on 223C. That trail was bikeable up, but we pushed up it, found the control. It was a LOT of fun on the way down (I love biking down washouts). Our original strategy had us going to CP9 and then CP10 – I decided to change it and instead hit CP8 (we had heard from a team it was pretty easy travel). We got to the creek, dropped our bikes and started to bushwhack up the hill. That did not work out, Jeff smartly asked a local group camping (where our bikes were dropped) – and was informed that “That there trail will take you right to the waterfall”. That turned out to be a bit easier than a bushwhack along the creek bed. All along this route we would pick up teams and then split off from teams, so this section had a lot of collaboration. As we headed back towards CP10, we ran across some horses. They asked how to get to the dam – as the rain had destroyed their map. That was straight where we were headed. I gave them verbal instructions (take this trail to 223D, to 223F to the 5 way intersection). They were able to follow us on horses most of the first part since it was uphill, we did run into them again as we left the dam and CP10. This next section was everyone's favorite – the long bike up Bull Mountain was tough, the screaming downhill back down was awesome. With a little pumping I was able to get over 60 km/hr. I also took some video of this section holding my camera while flying downhill that turned out pretty good. CP10 was easy. On the rollers on the downhill to CP10 Kim was riding in front of me and got some good air (and then nearly bit it !). We rode back out to CP5/CP11 just in time to see some guys out the church across the street washing out paintbrushes with a hose. After filling our bottles and bladders we headed to CP12. From CP12 to CP13 was one of those navigators nightmares. I was never quite sure where we were – but there was always at least one road going the correct direction. We did enjoy the riding in this section, and we did end up at the bottom of the hill at a small gas station. Jeff treated us all to anything we wanted – after a quick lunch consisting of Hershey's bars, Mountain Dew, Apple Pies, Pork rinds, etc.. we headed to Quick Shoals a solid hour before the cutoff (remember our goal was to clear the course – not win).
Since I had the most (read this as only) experience paddling whitewater – I put Kim and Wanda in my boat. Jeff and Jim were in the other boat. Kim and Wanda loved the little Class I and II rapids – as did I. We took a couple of hard bumps (lots of rocks) and Wanda and I both discovered the boat had a cross board in front of us designed to stop us by our shins. My shins still have indentations in them as I write this. I made sure Kim (from of the boat) knew that the only rocks I could NOT see were those directly in front of us. She developed a technique of calling out ROCK! about ½ second before impact. Which was at least enough for us to brace for impact. The were both worried about tipping over. I made sure they understood that if the boat tipped it was because I wanted to to. We did have some close calls where we wedged and almost put our upstream draft in the water – but a few hard leans downstream side corrected us in time. (If you paddle whitewater you know exactly what I am talking about – if not get out there and do it!). Etowah Falls was a lot of fun – we portaged the main falls but still got to do a few fun drops downstream of the falls.. We got to the tunnel where we were supposed to go about ¼ mile down an old mining shaft (pitch black whitewater). Unfortunately the race had to close this section as 3 of the 7 team that went through had capsized or gotten stuck. One team wedged their boat in the narrow tunnel and ended up wit a crushed bow. By now Jeff and Jim had cracked the hull of my fiberglass Mohawk and had to stop and dump water about every 15 minutes. We paddled about another hour and not having a map of the area or any idea of the length of the paddle was pretty sure we were done. We paddled another hour and it starting raining. Lightning was striking all around us and it got pretty cold. Since it was warm when we went into the water the girls had on tank top shirts. I could see they were shivering, we kept paddling to stay warm. About 8 PM it was dark, pouring rain, and cold. Every road we passed got our hopes up and then dashed them as it was not the take-out. We finally got their about 8:30 PM. The girls were shivering, and there was a covered pavilion. Jim and I were both pretty warm – so we prepped the boats and gear and put the girls under the cover and told them to get warm (as best as possible). A few other teams were under the cover too – trying to stay warm. As soon as we got te boats set for pick-up (all the gear and paddles had to be secured in the boats) we rousted everyone out of the pavilion into the rain. We needed to get to the next TA to get the coordinates and maps for stage 2. We also knew there was a fire station along route that would allow us to warm up. The fire station was less than ½ mile from the take-out and the firemen their knew just what to do to help the girls warm up. Jim did not get a break, I had left my camera on the boat and wanted it so we ran back to the take-out. As it turned out I had dropped it near the boats – luckily it is bright yellow. We ran back to to fire station where Kim and Wanda were now warm. We were informed there was no cover at the next TA (it was still drizzling) – I was not worried about cold, but I would have to plot the next points in the rain. Ugh... We finally dragged into the TA at 10:30 PM. Nearly all the teams were there, the race leaders having arrived around 4:30 PM. I had plotting to do and the second stage was going to start at midnight. The race was about to get even more interesting as the night sections always are.
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