As we left TA 5 we knew there was not much racing left. Of course that is a pretty relative term, it was Friday morning and we knew that we would be racing until at least Saturday afternoon - but in our minds we were approaching the end of the expedition with less than 48 hours to go. Our plan was to ride up and over the mountains to TA6 at Lake Couer d'Alene. We knew that there were 2 legs that could be completed there, a paddle and a long trek - our plans were to get a few paddle points and then bike the 4-5 hours to the Dark Zone for a good night of sleep before the restart Saturday morning.
There was a little bit of downhill before we started the climb up and over the mountains. This climb - though one of the easiest we had done, seemed very long and it was taking a bit of a mental toll on us. we crested the top and started the long downhill. This felt great - it was a long straight and beautiful leg. we spent a good bit of it riding along the shores of a nice stream. There was a second climb in the leg - which was tough on the team, eventually we had a fast downhill and arrived at the Lake. I worked on the paddling map while the team prepared the kayaks.
Heading out on the water felt great. Though most folks consider long paddle legs the greatest challenge of a long race - if you are from Florida, you are used to long flat water paddles. This one was not going to be long as we had been told we could only keep the boats out until 5 PM (about 2 hours). We had enough time for 3 more checkpoints. This should have been easy - however the person who set out the paddle points was not an orienteer and the points were well over 200-300 meters off. Luckily they were quite visible from the boat, so except for the first one we tried (Paddle Point 14) we were expecting them to be off. We saw Team Bones trekking in while we were out on the paddle. When we arrived back at the TA - Bones was there. Our gear bins were not, so we were pretty low on food - luckily Team Bones had plenty of food and tossed us a few bags which was a real treat. In fact, it might be a good idea to have teams trade food bags along the way - as we got a new complete variety of food. I really thought the squeeze applesauce was awesome - (THANKS Team Bones). The TA was also out of fresh water - but this was not a real issue as we would be heading up the mountain and could purify water along the way.
It was here at this TA that we had the only real team breakdown. I was tired of being pressured to hurry out of the transitions - and I explained to the team that instead of rushing me, it would be better to see what I needed to move faster. Watching Team Bones and how they supported their navigator I knew we needed to provide better support too. (They got food and boats ready while their navigator was marking the maps and preparing the course). I try never to complain during a race - but I also wanted to make sure the team knew that the time they had to do all that other TA stuff - I needed to prepare maps. Anyway, having spoke my peace - we were back in action and heading back on bikes uphill. It would be a 4-5 hour ride to the Dark Zone which would have us there shortly after nightfall.
When we were coming down to the Lake, we had passed Team Seagate going up to the Dark Zone. They were taking a longer route, but with more conservative navigation. I decided to take the direct route - which appeared to have some challenging navigation. As we approached the top of the pass to the dark zone we ran into a couple of ATV riders. At first they were astonished we were riding without guns as there had been a lot of fresh wolf kills. There have been no documented cases of wolves attacking humans - so that was not really a worry of mine. More of a concern was navigating the maze of trails leading down the mountain to Honeysuckle Campground. They gave us some navigation advice (left at the Y intersection and then stay right along the edge of the mountain) and told us it was a pretty long way to the campground. It was all downhill and fast, and we even came upon another team as we headed down. Upon arriving at the Dark Zone, we found a spot to camp, cooked some food on the fire, and bedded down for what we hoped would be a good nights sleep.
I was the first one up (in the entire camp) the next morning. The fire had burned down so I went and got some firewood and tossed it on. As the fire started to blaze folks from various teams roused and we got it going quite well. I also heated some water and made coffee which was very effective at getting my team out of bed. Around 6:30 AM - Dave gave out instructions and let the navigators see the maps for the final leg to the finish. We would be starting in reverse order - with the slowest teams starting first and the faster teams following in 15 minute increments. As usual the ride was going to be a climb, followed by a downhill and then a flat ride to the Silver Mountain Resort where we would transition to foot and climb to the top of the Gondola.
My goal was to not be passed by any of the pro or elite teams until we had completed the climb. We were in the second group which means we would have a 15 minute lead on Bones, Light & Motion, Yoga Slackers, and SOG. The next wave 30 minutes behind us would be Seagate and Thule. We pushed hard on the climb, leaving the other teams in our group behind and passing three of the teams of the previous group before cresting the pass. Just as we got to the pass Team Seagate passed us and we also got to observe their downhill technique. Where we brake or coast down the steep downhills - they actually pedal to go faster ! At the top of the hill a sign stating "Road Closed Ahead" had me apprehensive about our chosen route. Was it a washout or other major issue. As we looked at the sign - that was when Seagate went by (not even pausing to read the sign) - and I figured if the top navigator in the world could ignore the sign - so could I. As it turned out a forest gate at the bottom of the hill was closed and we did not even need to stop, we simply rode around the gate.
Once we hit flat ground we formed a bike line - after some team griping about how we would run the bike line. A quick 10 miles we were in Silver Mountain Resort and then trekking up the incredibly steep trail up the Gondola Line. The finish was amazing, about 3000 people were watching the finish line as Dave Adlard announced our arrival. There were high fives, hugs, beers, and congrats as we walked through the crowd. I was pretty fatigued and really in need of some quiet, so after a beer and a little food I headed back to our room at the resort, did some laundry and rested until the awards ceremony.
After all the excitement and adventure - I was happy to be done, and very tired. This was a great team - we worked well as a team and even though we had our moments, we always bounced back together and did great.
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