Team: Captain Hefner
Team members: Matthew Abbrecht & Kirk Zeringue
Results (place/#of teams): 7/13 (2-person any gender), 22/42 (overall)
Time: 11 hours 54 minutes
Pre-Pre-Race
On Friday morning, we (Matt & I of Team Captain Hefner…and Lori & Paul of Team Bunny Pie) pile in to my truck along with an abundance of gear and headed to Natchez Trace State Park in Wildersville, TN. We didn’t have lodging reserved for Friday and Saturday night (busy weekend at the Park with an adventure race, duathlon, and triathlon), which bothered some people (Paul), so we were prepared to camp if need be. 8 hours of driving later, we arrived at the park, immediately asked the folks at the lodge if they had any rooms available…they had 1 room with one bed and we took it! Some people (Paul) were extremely relieved because they weren’t looking forward to camping in the cold (upper 30’s). We then checked in for the race, and went to the transition area (TA) to set up our gear for the next morning.
Content with our TA and gear set-up, we headed to Lexington, TN for some supper at Sparky’s, stopped at the grocery to stock up on food and liquid supplies, headed back to the lodge, made one last mandatory gear check, and went to sleep.
Pre-Race
We all awoke around 5:15-ish to the pulsating sound of Paul’s coffee pot. We didn’t have much to do before the race since everything was set up the night before. There was a pre-race meeting at 6:30 at which we were given practically no useful information other than the assurance that there was not a time cut-off. At the 6:50 the team captains, went to retrieve our race packets. Inside was a topo map, the coordinates for all the checkpoints (CP) in the race (or so we thought), and the order in which your team was to complete the different legs (2 treks, 1 bike, 1 paddle). Our order was Trek1-Bike1-Trek2-Paddle1. Other teams had to complete them in different orders…I really like this concept.
Leg 1 – Bike/Trek/Bike (5km/6km/5km)
We quickly plotted the 6 sets of coordinates (TA1, TA2, CPs 1 – 4). Our instructions required us to bike to TA 2, trek to CPs 1 – 4 in any order, and bike back from TA2 to TA1. It is important to note that TA1 was located right next to the lodge at Pin Oak Lake (low point) and there was only one road in and out. The first half mile of that road was steep and winding up from the lake (great fun in one direction, not so much in the other). We mounted up, climbed up from the lake, followed a couple of rolling roads for about 3 miles to TA 2.
At TA 2, we noticed we were the second team to arrive (Lori and Paul were first). As we pulled in on our bikes, Bunny Pie darted off on foot. There was a race official at this TA doing mandatory gear checks…he asked us to show him our watches, we flashed our wrists (thrilled we didn’t have to dig anything out our packs!), consulted our maps, and head off toward CP 1. We found CPs 1, 2, and 4 (in that order) with relative ease (navigationally speaking) but I was losing blood with every step…since I had shorts on, my legs were being torn to shreds by thorns for nearly two hours. Matt’s legs were mostly spared the bloodshed, but his long pants were often times no match for this fierce bushwhacking. CP 3 unexpectedly proved to give us (me) a little more trouble than planned…all we needed to do was follow a creek upstream from the lake for about 600 meters. Unknowingly, we ended up in a branch (that wasn’t on the map) of the creek that basically paralleled the mainline less than 100 meters away. As we got farther upstream, it became evident on the topo that we had gone too far. We headed back downstream to start over at a what we thought was the Y shown on the map. At this point, a couple of other teams come up behind us which was somewhat reassuring since we hadn’t seen anyone in over an hour. From the Y, it should have been less than 300 meters to the CP. I pace counted up the creek, but we still couldn’t locate the CP. A 3-person team in the vicinity appeared equaled confused by the situation and was all spread out searching. I looked toward the girl and noticed that the ground fell off behind her. Immediately I realized we were probably not in the right creekbed, because according to the map, the correct creekbed should be the lowest point in the area. I quietly got Matt’s attention, conferred with him, he agreed, and we attempted to head that way without drawing attention to ourselves. Once in the correct creek, we immediately found the CP, looked back, and saw that team bushwhacking toward us…they were on to us!
We then plowed our way through the thorns to get back to a road and followed the road back to TA2. In the end, CP3 took us about 45 minutes longer than it should have and my nav mistake bummed me out a little, but my spirits were quickly lifted when we got back to TA2…there were a lot of bikes still laying on the ground there (including Bunny Pie’s) energizing us and making me feel a lot better about that trek. We jumped on our bikes, hustled back to TA1, and turned in our passport.Leg 2 – Bike (45km)
We quickly plotted the 15 CPs for this leg, refilled camelbacks, inhaled a couple of snickers, retrieved our passport and rode away…I was pretty pleased we were in the TA only about 17 minutes (would prove to be our longest transition of the day). Our instruction required us to retrieve the CPs in order. We quickly punched CP 5 & 6 with no trouble. CPs 7 – 10 were located along a pipeline. When we arrived at the spot where we intended to bushwhack from the road, there was trail (not on the map) awaiting us…Great! The trail led straight to CPs 7 & 8 and split at 8. We stayed to the right and continued to follow it on our way to CP. Unfortunately, the trail quickly ended. This didn’t seem to phase a team right in front of us and they just plowed down the hill…we followed…they quickly disappeared (we never saw them again). The vegetation quickly got too thick to ride through but we forged ahead down to the lake. At the lake, we were able to determine exactly where we were, so we adjusted our route, to follow the lake to the pipeline. On our way to the pipeline, we expected to cross a small creek. Instead we were greeted with marsh created by a beaver dam.
We discussed whether to turn around (neither of us were crazy about this idea…uphill bushwhacking with bike in hand) and agreed that we prefer not. Matt dropped his bike and scouted the beaver dam to determine if it was crossable. His extremely unconvincing ruling was we could cross on top of the dam. He went first, I followed. We wove our way through the thorny brush while balancing on top of the dam and made it to the other side…whew! More bike bushwhacking and we finally reached the pipeline at CP 10. 
We still needed CP 9 though…2 ridges over on the pipeline. We biked to the top of the next ridge where I planned on changing my tire (heard a pssssss sound while crossing the dam)…matt continued on foot to top the next ridge to retrieve CP9. The psssss was no longer audible so I couldn’t find the leak and I didn’t appear to be losing air anymore. Matt returned, we rode to CP10. We followed a trail (not on the map) along the lake to CPs 11, 12, & 13. We followed a dirt road (not on the map) uphill CP14 where Matt realized he punched 13 in the wrong place on the passport. We (matt dejectedly…me, unphased, it happens) rode back to CP 13 and re-punched…headed back to CP14, punched it…followed a road (actually on the map) to CP 15. We then followed a series of roads (dirt and paved) and an hour later Matt changed his now flat tire somewhere between CP17 & CP18…oh and by the way we hadn’t punched CP16 & 17 yet! In short, let’s just say I screwed up royally on what might have been the easiest section of the bike leg! Not sure how or why, but I know it was my fault. In that previous hour nothing seemed to make sense on the map anymore. While changing the tire, Lori and Paul rode up, showed me where I went wrong (Thanks), and Matt and I back tracked (this time I was the dejected one…still pisses me off). Luckily we were only about 2.5km (5 roundtrip) out of the way. After punching 16 we had to push our bikes up a massive hill (for the second time) back to the paved roads. We followed the paved roads back to TA1 picking up CPs 17, 18, & 19 along the way.
Leg 3 – Trek (8km)
Back at the TA, Matt asked to plot this set of coordinates…works or me (I took that opportunity to down a Coke, yes, a Coke…I love Coke 8 hours into a race partially dehydrated). He quickly plotted the 5 CPs on this leg, asked if I wanted to double check his work (nope), we refilled camelbacks, matt inhaled pretzels, retrieved our passports and headed off on foot. While leaving, we asked the race officials how long ago Bunny Pie left the TA…about 40 minutes. We could do this leg in any order and CPs plotted in a fairly straightforward loop. We assumed Bunny Pie went to the nearest CP first so we decided to go after the farthest CP first in hopes of crossing them along the way…always fun and uplifting to see friendly faces! A few minutes from the TA we here another team behind us…we’re basically side by side for a few minutes until they dart off to the right down a trail. I think my exact quote was “where the hell are they going?” They ran off in a direction completely opposite of where our points were plotted…hmmmmm? I secretly thought that maybe I should’ve checked Matt’s work. Matt vocally thought we should stop and check his plotting…so we did…I concurred with every point. We continued on our way, while I pointed out that sometimes when you think you’re on you last leg, you’re greeted by the race officials with an evil smile another set of CPs…maybe that was the case this time. Anyway, we got CPs 24, 23, 22, 21, & 20 (in that order) pretty easily.
There was only minimal bushwhacking involved (compared to the first trek leg) in this leg and spent most of the time on trails (not on the map) and roads. We never saw Lori and Paul…we probably passed each other while bushwhacking a mere 50 feet apart. We finished this leg in about an hour and a half.Leg 4 – Paddle/Trek (7.5km/1.5km)
While plotting the five CPs for this leg, I started questioning my plotting skills because the coordinates were falling unbelievably close to each other and not on the water’s edge. I double checked every point …same answer, oh well. We made our way down to the boats where our rented canoe was located…we had a little pep in our step since it was the last leg (or was it?) I picked up my end of the canoe first and shout some over-reacting expletive. Matt picked his end up and said it wasn’t that bad (only because my reaction prepared him to expect a 600 pound canoe). We settled into a nice paddling rhythm on our way to the first bundle on CPs. About 20 minutes in, we spotted Bunny Pie across the water heading the other way (back to the TA). We came ashore in the vicinity of CPs 28 & 29, jumped out of the boat, continued on foot up the hill to CP29…somehow we missed 28 on the way up, but matt quickly spotted it on the way back down to the boat. For some reason, matt got all excited and was running as if it were the start of the race. My running was exactly as expected after 11 hours of racing…relatively non-existent! We got back in the boat (Matt jumped in nearly flipping us...calm down Matt!) paddled over to the east shore of the lake to retrieve CPs 27, 26, & 25 (in that order). During this short paddle stretch I notice a 3-person all-male team ahead of us paddling horribly. While trekking up hill toward CP 25, I attempted to run (but admittedly my ankle was starting to bother me…sprained it two weeks earlier). It must have looked pretty sad because Matt insisted that just walk while he sprinted ahead to punch CP25. On the way back down, I stubbornly started to run again, tripped over something (I think it was my left foot) and found my self lying on the ground as Matt runs up with that “I told you so” look on his face (and laughing, of course). Nothing hurt but pride though. Back at the boat I spotted the spastic paddlers off in the distance, told Matt they we had to catch them. We busted our buts and caught up to them shortly before reaching the take out. While attempting to pass them they rammed us…twice…not intentionally, they just suck that bad at paddling. We reached the canoe take-out barely ahead of them, knowing we were probably going to be in an all out sprint to beat them to the finish line. Mandatory gear check…darnit…headlamp…dig in pack…got it…sprint away toward finish line…hear some rumbling behind me about somebody dropping something…Matt dropped his gloves…darnit…he caught up…over a bridge to the finish line. We beat 2 of their 3 team members to the finish, but it didn’t really matter because guess what was awaiting us? Yep, we were greeted by the race director with an evil smile and another set of 5 CPs. He instructed us to retrieve as many as possible and be back by 7pm…if you missed the 7pm deadline you would be disquailified!
Bonus Leg
We regrouped at our tent and plotted the CPs. It was about 6:25pm meaning we only had about 35 minutes left. We agreed that we probably only had time to retrieve 2 of the 5 CPs. We headed off, found the 2 CPs pretty easily and returned to the finish line with 6 minutes to spare.
This was a really fun race, well organized, great location. I still get upset thinking about CP16, but eventually I should get over that…sorry again Matt! Huge thanks to Matt for racing with me. I know it was a little slower than his normal race pace, but I’m pretty sure he had a great time as well. Thanks for being the rabbit and no matter what that team on the pipeline said, I never once thought of you as my B. Once again, I learned a lot about myself and adventure racing and can’t wait to the next race!
Here's a couple of extra pictures from the race:
No comments:
Post a Comment