Monday, August 29, 2011

Part IV - To the Finish Line

Continued from Part III - Water at Last

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.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Expedition Idaho Part III - Water at Last

Continued from Part II - Heart of Darkness

After the long trek and 30 minutes of sleep in 2 1/2 days we needed a little bit of rest. We dragged into the Transition just after dark - we saw Team NYARA heading out on the big bike. Our plan was to eat, prepare bikes, and then get 2 hours of sleep before heading out. It felt good to sit and eat, but it also grew cold very quickly and we were not prepared for the sleeping conditions. Luckily we were able to sleep in one of the back of the trucks that were used to haul bins - and an enclosed, flat and warm area was very good for sleeping. Just shortly after midnight we got word that no more teams were to be allowed on the "Big" bike leg. The story was simple - Mike Kloser (2 times world mountain bike champion had completed this course in roughly 10 hours in the day with a GPS and riding on fresh legs. The top teams were over 20 hours out and had not arrived at the next TA. It was estimated (and a good estimate) that slower teams would easily take 40-50 hours to complete the bike, thus putting them at jeopardy of not making mandatory cutoffs later in the race. We wanted to head out - but were convinced that it was a better idea to accept a ride to the next TA over 135 miles away. We weren't able to arrange for this until the next morning when Rick drove us to race central in Kelllogg (an apartment in Kellogg) and then went back for Team Topo Adventures. We made ourselves at home, Jeff prompty hit a couch and proceeded to snore loudly. I laid all the maps out on the nice warm asphalt and raided the fridge (with permission). I noticed Marghi curled up in the grass outside the apartment, but did not wake her as she was sleeping so nicely. A couple hours later Rick came back and said that Topo Adventures had found another ride - he would drive us to the next TA on the Northeast side of Lake Pend Oreille. This turned out to be a 3 hour drive - and was a lot of fun chatting with Rick about the race and what was going on with all the teams.

When we arrived at the next TA - the lead teams had finished the big bike ride and had already headed out on the lake. We geared up, picked out a boat and headed out on the water. The lake was pretty awesome and as we headed west - we had great water conditions. I had been warned that the wind would get bad in the afternoon and that we would be hitting whitecaps as we passed Windy Point and headed south on the lake. Sure enough - it got very windy and very rough. Since Mark and I both had experience in canoes in open ocean water - this was not really a big deal. We wanted to be very careful not to capsize the canoe though since the water was quite cold and would make for a very unpleasant swim to shore. We reached TA5 near 5 PM where we would face an orienteering course and then the rappel and drop into the water. Before we could do the O course - we had a free climb scramble from the boats to the top of the cliff - I took the rope on the right up the cliff that had one spot that was quite challenging.


View Expedition Idaho in a larger map

We posted the second fastest time (just at 2 hours) on the orienteering course and beat the cutoff to do the rappel. The rappel was amazing - we went over a rocky cliff and then dropped about 10 feet into the water where we swam to our boats. It was just getting dusk as we did the rappel - unfortunately this is where I lost my GoPro in the water where it promptly sank into the depths of Pende Oreille. Bummer - we spent some time looking for it, but no luck so we moved on.

This first hour of the paddle was essentially battling wind and waves, which was even more exciting after dark. As it got darker - the wind eventually died down and the moon came up. The last part of the paddle heading into TA4 was quite pleasant, though I did make the team divert a little bit towards a light that turned out to be a houseboat. Around 11 PM we paddled into TA4 where at least 6-7 other teams had set up camp and were roasting hot dogs and heading out on the orienteering leg that left and returned from this TA. We also nicknamed this the Stoner TA - pretty much from the humorous philosophizing of Corey the volunteer manning the TA. The entire TA atmosphere was quite laid back and had a feel like it was planned out by "The Dude" (watch The Big Lebowski if you don't understand).


View Expedition Idaho in a larger map

Having had nearly a full night sleep the previous night I was well rested and also highly motivated. I estimated this O course would take about 5 hours and was determined to do it faster. Mostly because if I returned to the TA while it was still dark there was a chance of getting more sleep, and partly by seeing the times posted by the lead teams which I knew I could beat. We nailed every control and finished easily in under 5 hours. Jeff even used pace counting to nail one particularly challenging control ensuring that the entire team knew that he was "dead-on". We returned to the TA while it was still dark, I pulled out my space blanket/sleeping back combo and plopped on the ground for a couple hours of sleep. The ground here was nice and soft (unlike the rocky hard ground we had slept on up to this point). I slept soundly until the sun crested the horizon (less than 2 hours) and then got up and mapped out the next leg of the course that would take us to Farragut State Park and the Survival Quest leg of the race.

The rest of the team was up shortly after me and it was not long until Jeff was bugging us to get out of the TA and onto our bikes. I still had to prepare my bike and gear. I had switched to 100% Perpetuum after the previous trek so food was pretty easy for me. The team was waiting for me as we left TA4 and headed uphill starting the long bike to TA5. This started with an uphill and pretty much kept going uphill. We were on logging roads (with active logging) slowly making our way to the top of Baldwin Peak. A couple of CP's along the way gave us some remarkable views of the lake. We reached the highest point on this leg at Baldwin Peak and then had a little issue (my navigation and some literal map reading with an incorrectly mapped trail) finding the trail down. Once we did find it we had an amazing treat.Trail 37 downhill from the top of Baldwin Peak was the most incredible downhill I have ever done - and I've done some great downhills.

This trail hugged the side of the mountain at a nice (but not overwhelming) slope. After about a mile we had a switchback and got to do the entire thing in the other direction. I lost count of the switchbacks after about 12. It was fast, with a nice drop on one side and a steep slop on the other. Skill level was mostly "blue" with a couple of tricky spots. By the time we reached the bottom after almost a full hour of downhill my legs were literally vibrating and shaking. Mark and I slid down the final sandy section towards the CP at the bottom and then we pedaled to Farragut State Park and TA6. Along the way we passed a few teams out on the Survival Quest who gave us the advice to bring extra food and water.


View Expedition Idaho in a larger map




When we reached Farragut we knew we needed to head out on Survival Quest as quickly as possible to make the most of the light. After a couple of easy Survival Quest tasks we headed out on another orienteering course - this one on a real O course map. As soon as the orienteering map was in my hand I wanted to run, this was not really feasible as a team - but I did have a great time doing a real Orienteering course. When we returned we were given the next task (go to a location, make a Travois, and carry a wounded team-mate through a short course). The next task was really nice - go to a local restaurant and eat an ice cream cone (I had Huckeberry). We arrived at the next task (called Michael Phelps) right at dusk and since I am the most cold tolerant person on the team I got to swim out and around a buoy - it was starting to get cold and dark. I really did not want to go into the water... After retrieving the clue we trekked to the next task where we had to make a raft and use it. It was quite dark as we arrived at the next challenging and Team Idaho has just dragged out of the water. As it turns out the raft really only had enough lift to float one person and the other 3 had to swim. This did not look too appealing to the team - and Team Idaho had lost their map so we instead decided to head back to the TA. It was still over a one hour walk back to the TA and it was a lot of fun chatting with Team Idaho. We passed a few campers on the way and they gave us some soda's (a little treat). Jeff navigated the tail end of the trek and we dragged in a little after midnight.  After some food and warming up I created a little cubby and wind shield to help me sleep using the bike boxes.I felt great after a few hours of sleep and joined the navigator from Team Topo Adventures to map out the rest of the course to the dark zone around 4 AM. A few hours later the rest of the team was up and we headed out on the next to last leg of the race.


Here are some great pictures - Marks wife (Meg) joined us at TA5 and got some awesome shots. http://www.megrobertsgalleries.com/Adventure-Racing/Expedition-Idaho

Here are some images from TA5

 Marghi's little sleep cubby
 Navigators marking maps around fire
 Plotting the next section as the team sleeps
 No the map is not on fire
 The team is up - time for breakfast
Marghi is all smiles on the bike

Next - Part IV - To the Finish Line


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Expedition Idaho Part II - Heart of Darkness Trek

Continued from Day 1 Expedition Idaho

Our transition from biking (for about 24 hours) to trekking was pretty quick, we took about an hour to rest and refuel and get our gear and we were off on the "Heart of Darkness" trek leg. This trek had been modified when the race director could not get a permit for us to trek through the 2 mile long tunnel that was originally planned. For those visiting Idaho in the Kellogg area - this is a very popular bike ride through the tunnel and yes it is dark and unlit. We instead had a few checkpoints that left us after a few hours on the west end of the tunnel. From there we would go through the other shorter tunnels and over the bridges. This was an old railroad track, and we had lots of bikes go by as we trekked the entire length of the bike trail.

We arrived at CP15 about 9 PM and decided to take a quick nap/rest. It was very cold so 3 of us tried sleeping in the restroom at the parking area at CP15 - this did not work out so well and we really did not get any sleep. We decided to continue on. As we trekked I started working out the time and the distance left to cover. I had determined that it would be very challenging to meet the cutoffs necessary for us to complete the next leg (130 mile mountain bike ride) and get to TA4 before the time cutoff. We considered skipping the next CP (CP16) which was going to add about 8 hours to the trek. In the end we decided to go for it since the rules said we had to get the first 35 CP's to be officially ranked. As we reached the trailhead for the trail leading to CP16 we had a wide water crossing - the water was ice cold and we wanted to stay dry so we all crossed barefoot - challenging as the rocks were quite slick.

We had been carrying our heavy climbing gear the entire trek. Since this was an out and back to CP16 - we decided to "stash" this gear to lighten our load and pick it up on the return trip. We headed up the trail around 1 PM. The trek to CP16 was essentially an UP for about 4 hours. On the way up we passed Team NYARA on the way down - this was a very welcome sight since they were the only team we had seen for about 14 hours.

When we got to the top around 2 AM Tuesday morning, having not slept since the start of the race (Sunday) - we were starting to get tired. About an hour into the return trek Marghi started babbling incoherently and walking aimlessly - we decided to stop and sleep. Sleep was instantaneous - and 30 minutes later we were back on our way again. We also saw Team Topo Adventures heading up at this point. By now we had pre-dawn light and this made the downhill trip a lot easier. It was down back to the water - a very cold crossing, refill water bladders, shiver for a while and then head to CP17 and CP 18 which were just preludes to the real climb to the top of Stephens Peak (6600 feet). This was where the real action of the trek would occur - a rappel into a double bowl where teams would split up and get different CP's. Marghi and Mark rappelled about 600 feet into one bowl while Jeff and I climbed a knife ridge (and yes Jeff was very nervous) and dropped into the other bowl. The climb into the bowl was challenging as we kept getting cliffed out - but we finally made it down to the lake. As it turns out the entire east side of the lake (where we were) was a cliff into the lake. We found a way to cross to the west side where we easily traversed to the north tip of the lake and the CP. From there is was a 3 km path down to CP22 where Mark and Marghi had been waiting for us for about 15 minutes. They had their own sets of challenges getting their CP.

From CP22 it was a simple 9K flat trek back to the CP where we would prepare for the next leg of the race, the longest I have ever seen in any expedition race ever. It would be a 135 mile mountain bike ride with nearly 50,000 feet of climbing - the "Big" ride. As we came into the TA we passed NYARA heading out on the bike. It would be the last time we saw them until the dark zone on Friday night. As we reached the TA we knew we would need some real sleep and be fully fueled before we tackled the ride - so we got out the tents and bags and took a rest.



Enjoy this video of the trek. Here is a map (CP's in red of the trek.


View Expedition Idaho in a larger map



Next Part III - Water at Last

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Before the race Expedition Idaho

Here we are before the Expedition Idaho Race at a pre-race interview.

Preparing for an expedition race is not like getting ready for a sprint or even a one day race. There is all this GEAR that must be shipped or taken with you to the location and usually coordination among 4 different team-mates usually from different locations. I was happy to have a strong team with 2 Expedition Newbies (Jeff and Mark) and one PQ veteran (Marghi).



As you can see we were having a great time as we planned, packed, prepped, went through interview, and simply got everything ready to go.

The Start of the Race

We started the race at 10 AM with a very short prolog which was a scavenger hunt. The purpose was to spread the teams out a little bit before we hit the Silver Mountain Gondola with our mountain bikes and rode the Gondola up the mountain. That was the easiest elevation gain we had in the entire race - it would only get harder from here.

Once we got to the top we had 3 CP's in the ski area. CP3 was located at the base of Lift 3, CP4 was located at the top Kellogg Peak (6300 feet) and CP5 was at the top of Wardner Peak (6200 feet). This involved basically pushing our bikes up a 25% slope (up the ski slope) and riding down incredibly steep and rocky downhill ski runs.  Here is a nice ski map of the area

http://www.silvermt.com/pdf/silvertrailmapweb.pdf 

Now here is where it starts to get hard. The next few CP's were located back of the ski areas in the backwoods areas. CP 6 was the most challenging as there were no mapped road sections leading to it. My idea was to try to contour to a saddle heading to the southeast - with no marked or mapped roads. Most of the teams in front of us had taken a route the went to the base of the hill at 3700 feet and then climb back to 5700 ft. We ended up taking the latter route - with only two teams going to the saddle route. The downhill from 6200 feet to 3700 feet was one of the most challenging technical rides I have ever done. Every racer has crash stories for this section. It was rutted, rocky, and steep. It was also grades ranging from 6-15% with no chances to stop easily. Jeff hit a bush, flew about 10 feet through the air and landed on a small mannequin doll that was the mad hatter. I went down sideways and bloodied my knee quite well (it is still very swollen).

We were going so hard and fast my right clip pedal sheared off and went flying into the woods - so I ended up riding most of this leg with a stub of a pedal. Oh well - we chugged away. This was an all night bike ride with the most incredible spot being CP10 - which did involve pushing/carrying/coaxing our bikes about 1/2 mile up a 30+% slope. We also had to bomb them down the other side - which was walking them downhill.

After hitting CP11, we rode into the small town of Mullan and stopped at a convenience store and got some supplies before riding to CP12, and then finally TA1.


View Expedition Idaho in a larger map

Here is a little chatter of us as at TA1



Here are some video's of Day 1 and 2 in chronological order.

Saturday Evening - Pre-race briefing - http://youtu.be/5nCE1GCzTCY
Sunday Morning - Preparing gear - http://youtu.be/tp9ziSrfT2Q
Sunday Morning - Prolog to Race - http://youtu.be/R_lDDVn_U4A
Sunday Morning - Up the Gondola -  http://youtu.be/eFKIR3z0-mQ
Sunday Evening - At TA1 in the evening - http://youtu.be/-di0iH-5BTw

Up Next - Day 2 Trek - Heart of Darkness

 

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Expedition Idaho Update

This is copied direct from the email from Dave Adler about Expedition Idaho - 10 days and counting, the email really gives an idea of the excitement of the course

Only 10 days to go, and things are in high gear here getting ready for the team's arrival.Only two checkpoints remain to be placed, and several truck loads of details, but we will be ready to help these amazing athletes in what could be the most amazing race ever.

Please enjoy the update! We are still in need af a few volunteers, so if you want to be a part of something pretty special, please contact us! We'd love to have you!

We are also trying to help folks without teams find some one to race with, and are still accepting new teams who want one more great challenge!

I have attached a couple of pictures from the course for you to enjoy!




Expedition Idaho Update
August 4 – 10 Days till the shotgun goes off!
We can tell teams are getting excited – we’re getting lots of calls and emails about shipping gear, final equipment details etc…
Best bet for shipping at this time is to ship it to:
Expedition Idaho
Attn: Dave Adlard
Silver Mountain Resort
610 Bunker Ave
Kellogg, Idaho, 83837
Bios – Please send us your bios and do the CPT form, so we can get the race site ready!! Thanks!
Okay, here’s what you’ve been waiting for…
“Tales from the Trails,” V 2.0
Over the last two days, we have now completed over 94% of the course, with just a couple of semi-out-of-the-way CP’s to put in on “SQ,”and Mike is going to be “forced” to ride one of the most world class, beautiful stretches of single track on the planet. Poor guy. By this Sunday, the course will have been 100% scouted/marked/manicured for the racer’s arrival, which is no mean feat on a 420 mile “one loop” (more or less) course.
Yesterday, Mike and I, and Rick McCharles – editor of http://besthike.com completed the entire “Heart of Darkness” trek from start to finish, and today we spent several hours on the lake paddling and in the hills finalizing our magnificent ropes elements with our expert riggers. These are some of the coolest ropes stuff you will ever see.
Here’re Mike’s thoughts and impressions from the last two days of adventure…
Mike here again...
Trekking: This is the real deal. From the terrain, views, trails (or lack thereof!) cliffs and sheer vertical gain and loss, the ExpId treks have it all. There are many route options, and the accompanying risk/reward, which, in all honesty, can go both ways pretty easily. Some of these risk options require substantial ‘whacking, which is not to be taken lightly here. Don’t leave home without your long pants (and possibly shin guards!). There are nettles, poison oak and other assorted joys, such as the seemingly endless alder that you will be walking on in spots, if you choose to take the “road less travelled!”
Your shoes will take a real beating – my new Solomans are trashed – holes punched through, busted Kevlar laces etc. Bring shoes that are built for battle, not solely light and fast.
Other things to remember – Shoe gaiters are highly recommended. Thin gloves for ‘whacking. LOTS of insect repellant with TNT or Cyanide or something in it. Also, your sunblock and sunblock lip balm.
Fluids and electrolyte replacement could determine survival for teams, as the weather is hot, and at the high altitudes, water is scare at best. Don’t shirk from taking extra water when you leave the TAs, and fill up when you have a chance at streams, springs, etc, as it may be hours between refills. Make sure to bring your (mandatory!) purifying method. I use Klearwater, and have had nothing but success.
I HIGHLY recommend trekking poles. I found mine extremely useful, especially on the big climbs and descents. Even Rick McCharles, a non-pole user was a convert by mid-day, and is ordering his new BD ultralight “Z”pole – I know Dave had a link posted.
As in most expedition races, sleep strategy is going to play a crucial part in a team’s success – maybe the most crucial. There are for sure places you don’t want to be in the dark, and if that means a few more hours rest and tackling them at daylight, so be it – you may very well end up further ahead – and safe – by being rested and being in daylight. Don’t just always push ahead – sometimes racing smarter ultimately is faster.
The ropes – I am truly a fan. I think Dave has set out some exciting and fun ropes elements. There will be some heart flutter more than once. I had a blast rapping off the rope today. The elements range from fast and fun to majestically huge – upwards of 400 feet.
Plan on (count on) getting wet. The water was very refreshing, and with the expected warm temps, it will be a welcome respite. The water is very warm compared to when I have been here before, so no wetsuits needed.
Paddling – The paddling is all flat water, but it’s pretty darn spectacular flat water. Some of the most scenic I have ever seen. The paddles, while long, are nicely broken up with other surprises, so you won’t just be in the boat for 10 hours at a stretch.
While the paddling can be downright pleasant, speaking from experience here two years ago, if Mother Nature get’s uppity, this can be some of the roughest lake water anywhere, and the storms come up quick – we went from calm and 82 to a lightning storm, 3 foot waves, whipping winds and 68 in less than 30 minutes. Be prepared for the best and worst of both.
I started as a technical consultant, but I am fully caught up in the excitement now. I have really fallen in love with this course and the race concept. This will be a true test of your expedition racing skills, and is among the toughest and most exciting I have ever seen or raced on. No one is going to leave here feeling slighted by the course or the total race experience– this will be one of the most memorable races ever, in my humble opinion. Addenda: I went out and rode a trail we had raced on here a couple of years ago at Adventure Sports Week, and back then, I had commented on how I thought it was perhaps the best single track ride in all of AR – well, I wasn’t wrong! It was almost perfect – right up until I almost ended up in the hospital after hitting a root and “endoing” 15 feet down the trail… that said, the trail was still awesome, me, not so much.
Someone asked how would I compare it to PQ or Eco, and I have to say it could be as demanding as any. Kind of scary, in a way, but the “sport course” options and the finish format will make it a wonderful experience for every team. For a total race experience, this could be the best I have seen. Honestly, you can all complete the requirements to be official finishers – you have more than enough time, if you take care of each other and just keep moving forward. If I was able to race, I would be super-excited about this course, though, to be honest, it’s tough enough for Mike… after 6+ days of racing on this course, no matter your pace, I think everyone will be pushed to your limits, physically and mentally, and will come through the better for it.
Four more checkpoints tomorrow, and we will be ready for you to come and challenge our baby. I will be out on the course with you throughout the week, so we’ll have plenty of time to chat and compare notes, and I can’t wait to hear your impressions of Expedition Idaho.
FYI, I’ll be making the drawing for the winners of my new “OutThere USA” AS1 packs at the pre-race briefing for all the teams who were paid up in full in advance! See you next week!
Dave’s notes…
Like he said.
“Be prepared to suffer. Be prepared to succeed. Be prepared to LIVE!”
~A soon-to-be famous quote from DA
I feel like I’ve just done a 400 mile adventure race… oh, wait… I did! Let me tell you that vetting a course with Mike is really RACING a course with Mike. We did about 22 hours of trekking with TWO 5 minute breaks and a stream dunking. Halfway up one of the wee little climbs we have for you, we were pushing so hard and were so focused I actually looked back down the trail to see if another team was catching us! (There’s no way they could have caught us!)
Anywho, we are almost done. We have just a handful of CPs to put out for “Survival Quest” (You’re going to LOVE this!) and we’ll be ready for you. Here’s some of the news you’ll need to know:
No snow gear (crampons etc) are needed! You’ll be on snow a bit, but nothing you can’t handle in your trekking shoes, IF you have at least one, and better yet, two trekking poles. We couldn’t have completed some of the trek without them anywhere near as fast or as safely yesterday.
I am so excited about our “extra” activities, besides just the usual three disciplines. Our ropes are awesome fun, “SQ” is going to be a blast, the “O” portions are challenging… hopefully you will leave this race as wiped out and as excited as you have ever been about AR.
I think the trek will be, um, fulfilling… sometimes the downs aren’t easier than the ups – no one ever falls UP the mountain!
Thirst is going to be a factor. We started “light”yesterday, but by ½ way through the trek were low on water, soaking hats and shirts and dunking heads in one of the very rare water sources out there. We actually flagged a natural spring along the trail so you can fill up there. Take every chance to drink and fill your bottles, as you could literally be hours without. Mike and Rick were laughing when I took an extra liter of Gatorade and a 2 liter bladder, but they were both drinking it a few hours later!
As with any project like this, we are fully expecting – and are preparing like mad – for the surprises, challenges, disasters etc that can happen, and I think our race crew will do a magnificent job in helping everyone through– similar to when you’re racing, when you’re running an AR expedition of this magnitude, it’s not “if” you’re going to get lost, it’s just when and how bad, and most importantly, how quickly can you get back on track. Our main goal, besides the course itself, is to make sure some of the things that matter most to racers – getting your gear on time, communication, support etc – are done as well as we can physically manage. You are all our top priority.
My team is racing without me next week, and though I am immensely jealous, and a bit sad, I am excited for them, as I am for all of you. Reading Mike’s comments, and having now completed the entire course at near race pace, I look at scope of the challenge and I’m daunted by the sheer scale, but when I started to break it down into the smaller segments, and from there the even smaller challenges right in front of us, I was able to focus on what I needed to do next, and, as long as I kept moving forward, was able to get through.
Please trust me when I tell you that we fully expect to see ALL of you cross the finish line on Saturday. We WANT you to finish! You have more than enough time to get there, as long as you are safe, smart and above all, take care of each other! Rest when you need to (of course “need” and “want”are different!), eat when you need to (need/want very similar – just eat while walking!), but just keep moving steadily forward. Don’t be daunted by the course– even “Big” and H.O.D (Heart of Darkness) are manageable by all if you take them one step at a time. Don’t get wrapped up in how far there is left to go –it will be over when it’s over, and you will get there when you get there. Focus instead on the next climb, the next CP, and the secret treats you have stashed at the TA! Left, right, left…
Not everyone will travel quite as far over the 6+ days, but the effort and commitment will be the same from every one of you, and to us, you are all winners just for taking on such an immense challenge. We know that, and we want to make sure you are rewarded for the huge sacrifices you are making, financially, time-wise, emotionally, physically, spiritually… we race too, and we understand. We want you to feel fulfilled. We want you to leave here saying this was the most beautiful, friendliest, toughest suffering you have ever loved!
Get some sleep… you’re going to need it!
Dum du dum dum…