See us here in the boat -
http://megrobertsgalleries.com/Adventure-Racing/Superhero-2010/Superhero-2010/13831447_eWyPx#1013576424_rdoob
http://megrobertsgalleries.com/Adventure-Racing/Superhero-2010/Superhero-2010/13831447_eWyPx#1013808972_m62uP
and Green Paw - hot on our tail
http://megrobertsgalleries.com/Adventure-Racing/Superhero-2010/Superhero-2010/13831447_eWyPx#1013811429_MN7RU
The race started at King's landing, my worry was that we would have super-hot weather, but it looked like the temps would barely crack 90 (which for Florida summer weather is quite cool). The race started with a little navigation course with some dead reckoning bearings all taken from a common start location. After the first one I could see that we would be able to hit 2 of them without having to return the the bearing point, since the clue on one was "along river" - another one was going to put us real close to the river - and that worked quite well, simply hitting the one close to the river and then following the river to the other CP. These did require somne getting wet (it was on the far side of the river - no problem). Since we only had to do 4 (of 5) we headed back to the bearing point and used the road and some pace counting to get us the the 4th control.
We were the first onto the next leg of the race - though I knew we would have teams very close on our tail. CP8 was easy (on the river), but CP9 had us taking a bearing and heading inland. The bearing quickly took us back to the river - where we could see the control dangling over the river on a tree. Instead of punching we headed back to the boats. One team (Florida Xtreme 1) avoided the dead reckoning on land and simply stayed on the river - which gave them a solid 5-10 minute lead. That was fine - I do not like to lead early in the race - it uses a lot of energy for potential mistakes that other teams behind you can learn from.
We headed for the long control of the out and back paddle - which gave us a chance to see where the teams were. It looked like it was Florida XTreme out front - then about 6-7 minutes back was us, followed by Green Paw, and then a large group of solid teams just minutes behind Green Paw.
We passed the take-out to get CP 10 and CP 11. We blew by CP10 (we'd get it on the way back) - and headed for CP11. Just before this CP was a real tight log crossing, where Green Paw passed us. We got to CP11 within seconds of each other, and actually passed Green Paw again, but they were able to get over the log on the way back quickly. There was a huge cluster of teams here making the crossing on the slick log challenging. We did fine, and were soon in the TA.
For all racers who want to move to elite and be competitive - here is where you can learn a lot to make up time. As we approached the dock, we had already planned out how we would stow the boat and handle the gear. As we got close paddles were thrown to shore, one person was out - packs were tossed to shore, 2 of us pulled the boat up - while the third gathered the paddles and handed the packs to each of us. Time from being on the water - to running to bikes was right around 1 minute.
At the bikes we simply donned helmets and hopped on - we planned to do the trek second. 2 reasons, (1) run while it was still cool, (2) no need to change to bike shoes. We flew to the trek (with a little fun biking on the way) and headed out on the orienteering.
Here you can refer to the scanned map. I planned to attack CP20 from the north and except for a Sport course control that was along the route - this worked well. Team Green Paw was real close and they saw us going in for the control (they were attacking from the east) - and it helped them a bit with this one. My plan was next CP21 - I wanted to go via CP13 - so I would have a mental picture of this when I came by on the bike (it was a bike CP). CP21 was pretty easy, simply attack as the berm north of the trail ended, spot the thicket and follow around to the control. We were keeping a light run and this area was shaded with very open woods. CP25 was essentially run to the N-S trail, follow to the attack point (fence on west side of map) and go due east. As we saw both small depressions that were mapped - this worked well and we nailed it. CP24 was going NE around the thick area and then due east to the small hilltop. The hilltop was very obvious, and we corrected to the depression and the control as we approached.
CP23 should have been the easiest of the controls - simply go NE to the backstop trail and follow to the earth berm. The backstop trail was however almost gone and we went right over it. I realized the mistake within about 150 yards and doubled back - spotting the berm within seconds - but still having to bushwhack through some nasty palmettos to get to it. From CP23 it was a trail run in, with one easy control (CP22) along the route. The attack was the obvious trail bend NW of the control and we found it quickly.
As we came out of the woods - we found out that we were the first team out. I knew we needed to build a little time on Green Paw here - since they are very strong on bike, and orienteering is my strength. I was not sure how Florida Xtreme was going to be doing - but I knew Mark Roberts would pull them through the orienteering quickly also. We got back to the TA, switched passports, put on bike shoes and headed back out - it felt good to make it out before any other teams showed up in the TA, that always provides a mental boost. As we got to Kelly Park we crossed paths with FL Xtreme, and got a kind of "rats" comment from Mark as he calculated our lead time. Green Paw and FL Xtreme were pretty much neck and neck and we had maybe a 8 minute lead. We would need it - as the navigation on the bike would not split teams, and Green Paw is a very fast bike team.
We headed for CP12 and overshot it by about 150 meters, we doubled back and as I stopped in the spot that I calculated it should be spotted it about 10 meters off the trail and a little bit hidden. Mental note - flags will be off trail a little bit. We also overshot CP14 a bit, as the mapped triangle was not really as mapped - though we did not lose much time. CP14 to CP19 was a bit sandy and slow, but ride-able. The same went for CP19 to CP18 - sandy but still firm enough to ride. We gained some time at CP18 as I sent Dave over the berm and ran parallel pushing his bike while he got the control.
The next move was a strategic choice. The road with CP17 and CP18 seemed to be alternating sandy and solid. I had scoped the trail near CP16 while doing the orienteering and new it was fully ride-able - so we cut over and took that trail north picking up CP16 and CP13. My thoughts were simply the single track hiking trails would be more solid than the road. As it turned out that trail, had more elevation change, but was very ride-able the entire route.
We blasted past the gate, got our punch, and started the sprint back to the TA. I felt my energy go low as we pushed through the thick sand just past the gate - but it elevated once again as we headed down the hill after turning right. Once we hit the road we moved into a bike line and pushed with everything we had left. We did not know how far back - the other teams were, we were pretty sure we had the lead. I knew from experience that they would be close. As it turned out - as Green Paw exited Kelly Park - they could see us on the road about 300 meters in front of them.
In the end the times were FIGJAM 4:33:02, Green Paw 4:33:37, Florida Xtreme 4:49:59, Hoof-hearted 5:10:10, and Florida Xtreme II 5:18:36 - with 9 teams clearing the course. This race turned out to be a great warm-up for the Coast to Coast coming up in 2 weeks. To track that race go to http://floridac2c.com/ - it starts Sept. 30 and should at least have some tracking info for folks wanting to follow their teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment