Atomic Adventure Race Part II

Atomic Adventure Race Part II

We finally made the Stage TA at 10:30 PM. It was raining and we he had to plot all the points for the second half of the race. I told the others to do everything they needed to get ready and started on the maps. I was able to finish plotting by about 11:15 and got a route strategy for at least the next trekking leg. I grabbed a cup of noodles, a piece of pizza, threw some food in my pack, grabbed my trekking poles. Unfortunately I did not grab a new pair of socks (though I did grab my trekking shoes) so would have to trek in my biking socks (not good padding). Following the second rule of adventure racing, “If you don’t have it, you don’t need it” we all got together – listened to the pre-race and got ready to go. All in all it felt like a regular transition with point plotting to me. Hey – if we had gotten there sooner we would have had too much time !

The next trek started with a pretty long leg to CP17. The original route had us crossing the Etowah – but the rain had made that too dangerous. We would instead cross at a bridge, but would have to cross another creek that was likely to be swollen. As we approached Shoal Creek we could see it was 20-30 yards across and we saw another team trekking along it on the other side. They shouted that they had been swept downstream, and warned us the crossing was dangerous. We had 6 teams – so we linked arms and headed across. Even with at least 20 racers linked arm in arm – we almost got swept up in the current – luckily we had some pretty tall guys that kept us on the track.

The navigation was not terribly difficult approaching CP17 – though the location was pretty challenging. Luckily a lot of the faster teams were leaving as we approached and we were able to easily follow the lights down the gulley to the waterfall and the CP. From there we headed west and north towards CP18. This one looked easy (it was near the TA) and sure enough, except for wandering off the blue blazed trail –it was. My feet were getting hotspots from the long wet trek in bad socks, but we were heading off onto the bikes. The team had done a great job on the trek – but we were now heading back onto the bikes and the first ride had left most of us tired and a bit sore (in many places). It was going to be a long, but mostly road (not trail) bike ride.

I warned the team that we would have a relatively easy ride (some low hills) until the last few miles which would be a massive climb. We all got a burst of energy as the sub came up and we had been traveling with some really fun teams. Jim was towing Wanda and Kim was riding well even though she was really sore. The final hill started to spread us out – and Jeff decided that Florida Xtreme 1 would hit the next CP and last mandatory control and head to the finish line. That left Florida Xtreme 2 (Jim and I) to finish and clear the course). We were heading out on the Foot Rogaine as FL Xtreme 1 made it up the hill and checked in and headed back down the mountain to the finish. The ropes (ascent and rappel) were open as we passed by so I quickly geared up and did that before we headed out.

My strategy was simple – hit CP25 (on the south peak) first, then go due north to the CP26. I had plotted it a little too far south off the stream. We saw another team leaving it and they told us it was on the stream (it would have been a good clue for the passport). We gave them instructions to the indistinct trail that was on the map along the stream. From CP 26 we contoured up back to the trail southeast of where we went in and headed to the confluence and CP24. We also were able to help a couple of teams that were wandering around that area. The next leg would require us to climb up to the other peak – so we just buckled down and climbed the trail all the way back up. It was easy navigation (only 26 was challenging) – and 8 minutes after finding it, we crossed south across the double peaks to the TA.

It was just Jim and I for the descent back to the main road and to Amicalola Falls. We simply opened it up and coasted the entire way down. My legs were starting to toast as we approached the entrance to the falls. We knew we had one thing left to do – and sure enough we guessed correctly that the final finish line was at the top of the falls. Only a couple miles and 1000 vertical feet were between us and the finish. I was definitely tired, the foot rogaine had toasted me and left some pretty blisters. We achieved the goal – clearing the course and finishing strong. I was very happy with our performance and look forward to racing with FL Xtreme. Just for note – this was Wanda’s and Kim’s 3rd 30 hour race, their first was Swamp Stomp (4 months earlier!) pretty good for 4 months of racing long races.