30 April 2015

Race Report: FLX Sea2Sea 72hr AR, Part 4 (Race Day 3)

Day 2 here

PADDLE 3 - 9k - Newnans Lake - night
Before we get to Newnans Lake proper, we have to negotiate a really cool cypress swamp. It's like boat tetris trying to fit our canoes and teammates through the maze of trees and knees. Erl and I get through a bit more quickly than Rev3 because we only have 2 people to manage, so once we finally pop out into the lake we have a few minutes to soak it all in before we're joined by Rev3. And soak it in we do - the shoreline is protecting us from the bitter winds for the moment, and the clouds are ripping across the nearly-full moon. We play "what does this cloud look like?" game for a bit, and then settle into the business of paddling across a very wavy, dark, and cold lake. 
Rev3 playing boat tetris in the Newnans Lake swamp.
This being the Night 2, sleep monsters are sitting on my shoulder, but my mind fends them off with some totally rad optical illusions instead of letting me sleep. Rev3's boat looks like it's doing flips in the middle of the lake, but Jeff, Joe, and Britt are still sitting upright. Then for a while it's like we're on a boat treadmill, with the water moving past us but not making any forward progress. I narrate everything to Erl and I'm sure it sounds crazy but at least it gives us something to talk about as we paddle to Palm Point Park. We were there earlier in the day, and now, the park looks NOTHING like a remember it. Talk about a total mind-screw. To top it all off, both Joe and I are freezing cold, bundled in jackets, making communication really difficult as we scour the park for the CP. Finally, Britt gets out of the boat too and finds the flag for us. We punch and get back in the boats for another wild ride on the windy Newnans Lake.

More hallucinations (boat flips and water treadmilling), plus now the trees on shore are morphing into New Orleans-style houses with ornate iron fences. It's actually kind of scary because falling asleep now would mean almost certain disaster - capsizing in a really cold lake. Not fun. We follow Rev3 along the shore as we try to locate the final CP on this stage. If it wasn't for Erl in the back of OWWWP's boat, I would be super freaked out as we paddle through crosswinds and lots of chop on the water, but I trust his paddling so much that I was mostly just concerned about keeping my eyes open. Finally, we slip into a side channel to the take out and are greeted with calmer waters. 

TA - Kate's Fish Camp - very early morning
Kate's Fish Camp during the day...we arrived in the dark.
The first thing I do once we've got the boat out of the water is give Erl a huge hug. That was a short but super stressful paddle, and I'm so so glad we got through it together and intact. All five of us are really cold, but we have bin access here, so we move slowly through the motions of putting more layers on, eating, and trying to avoid the tempting fire. It's clear that Rev3 went through some tough times in their boat as well, and it takes some effort to get all 5 teammates on the road in a cohesive group for the next trek. 

TREK 6 - 12k - Prairie Creek Pet Cemetery - morning
There are 9 CPs in this section, separated into clusters of 6 and 3. The group of 3 is pretty far away in one direction so we decide to skip the whole thing, attacking the group of 6 instead. The 5 of us hike out of TA, the sun already lighting up the sky with a beautiful sunrise, but things are tense in Rev3/OWWWP-land. Joe got super stressed out by the tough conditions on the paddle, and is having a hard time focusing on the maps. We do our best to support him, but to me it's unclear if he needs silence or hugs to feel better. We stumble on the first CP almost by accident, since it's hung next to the trail but plotted much farther away. But that first flag seems to help Joe click back into the maps and pretty soon we are pinging the next 3 CPs around a swampy pond with ease. 

http://www.thefineprintuf.org/2010/11/11/where-the-red-fern-grows/
I wore Hoka Mafates on the 30k Newnans Lake trek, fully aware that I was choosing comfortable cushioning over excessive water retention, and now that we're back trekking in swamps, my feet are starting to pay the price. I can literally feel the wet skin folding under itself and macerating. It's really uncomfortable. But bad feet sort of go hand-in-hand with multi-day racing so I just try to suck it up, reduce excess movement, and stuff my face with Girl Scout cookies. It just so happens that the area we're trekking in is a pet cemetery and it's really beautiful to me. The sun is shining on a clear morning, birds are chirping, and hundreds of pet owners have hand-crafted beautiful tombstones scattered across the meadow to honor their pets. Maybe it's race brain, but the area is so serene and soothing that I don't even care we can't find the final 2 CPs on this section. Joe does care, however, and is hell-bent on figuring out this map and getting the CPs. Britt and Erl are really proactive in helping him, and Jeff and I are sort of trotting along behind, trying to keep our feet intact while offering our teammates cookies. After several re-attacks, strategy sessions, and head scratching, we finally find the final 2 CPs and then shuffle the bike trail back to TA.

On the way back, I realize I've been wearing 6 layers (LS baselayer, SS jersey, LS shirt, LS fleece, waterproof vest, waterproof jacket, plus gloves/buff/hat) since we got out of the boat, and I'm still not sweating or overheating. This is another affect of multi-day racing that's new to me: the inability of your body to regulate temperature effectively. I peel off layers as we shuffle back and it's like watching clowns emerge from a tiny car...it just keeps going! When we get back to TA, race staff inform us that the final 2 CPs were mis-plotted on the race maps which is why they were so difficult to locate. No idea how Joe figured that one out, but his I am in total awe of his skill as a (angry) navi-GATOR. Go team!

BIKE 4 - 120k - afternoon/evening

Re-uniting with my people!
I finally get to change out of my soaking wet Hokas into dry socks and mostly-dry bike shoes. Such a luxury! I also choose my most obnoxious blue-and-PINK jersey because we're in for a long ride across Florida. We are on mostly roads to start, and the traffic is manageable. We stop at a human cemetery for a CP, and shortly after pass by a horse farm where some little kids are taking a lesson. Since I grew up riding horses, I have to go over and say hi, and Erl gets a pic of that for race mojo...sweet!

Me pretending to help Joe.
As we continue riding, the roads get more and more busy. We're on some state highways with a shoulder, but it's still really stressful to keep our sleep-deprived selves out of harm's way. For a while we're able to find a parallel bike path to ride on, and we find a kid with a broken chain whom we stop to help. Then we get chased by another team who glom onto our paceline (organized by Jeff) without asking...boo. We inadvertently lead them into the incorrect location for the Little Blue Springs CP anyway so that backfires on both of us. It's pretty tough to keep our spirits up as we get pack on the traffic-filled paved roads, but then we realize we're going to ride through a town (Chiefland) and start making plans for an ice cream stop. We spot a gas station and Erl and I have visions of slushies and sitting on the curb with our shoes off...such luxury! But as we roll in, Britt cracks the whip with a "Just grab something you can eat on the bike, we're leaving here in 5 minutes." WHAT!?!? I'm so deflated but I know Britt's right - we have to get on the water with some amount of daylight left so we grab cold Gatorade and frozen Snickers, fill our bottles, and eat the ice cream while continuing the ride.
me and Britt: can we get off our bikes yet?
We ride past the next TA to get one last CP on this huge ride (75+ miles). It's on a distinct iron bridge over the Suwannee River, but we struggle finding the access trail in a neighborhood and ask for help from the locals. Finally we are riding over the river and into TA at a State Park, each discussing what needs to happen as we prepare for Night 3. 

TA - State Park - sunset

OWWWP legs. scratched up but still stylin!
I'm feeling pretty sleepy, so we plan to get all of our transition tasks done and take a 10 minute nap before getting on the water. Turns out the race staff has hot dogs for us, which I can't eat, but also oatmeal which I can eat! I share that with Jeff and it hits the spot for both of us. So yummy. Erl and I find a quiet tree to take a quick nap under, and even though I don't actually sleep, it turns out to be the best break of the race for me...my mind just unlocks and I get up feeling truly refreshed. We finish up boat prep and then put in to the Suwannee River for another night of paddling!

WANT MORE?
http://canyoneros-ar.blogspot.com/2015/03/flx-sea-to-sea-ar-72hr-expedition-day-3.html
https://plus.google.com/photos/106792793417724781370/albums/6132050305760847361 
http://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_9015/period-1/enddate-2015-03-05
http://wetfeetar.blogspot.com/2015/03/florida-sea-to-sea-report.html 

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28 April 2015

Race Report: FLX Sea2Sea 72hr AR, Part 3 (Race Day 2)

Day 1 here

BIKE 2 - 56k - 0100-0618
After leaving our first TA with bins, we ride roads (in a paceline organized by Jeff, natch) to Dunns Creek Conservation area, which has lots of wide grassy trails - similar to what cross-country skiing trails look like in the summer, except I'm pretty sure there is no cross-country skiing in Florida. We have a really hard time with these CPs - #1 because the map scale is NOT 1:24k and it takes a while to figure that out, and #2 because the clues are infinitely unhelpful for trekking in the dark. There is almost no way to tell a "burnt pint" (actual clue) from a "live pine" or "plaid pine" or "pink pine" at night. Joe navigates us easily to the circle for every CP in this section, but then we spend tons of time trying to locate the actual flag. Hugely frustration for a team with a stellar (albeit angry) navi-GATOR. And it's not just us - we trade places with several teams, everyone's headlamps scanning the Florida vegetation for some hint of a reflective CP flag. Here is one time a 5-person team is an advantage, and Joe uses each set of our eyeballs to help find these rascally flags. One exchange in particular stands out when Joe commands Erl "As your navigator, I am asking you to go in those woods and find a swamp!" Erl replies "Okay SIR!" and marches into a woods, immediately knee-deep in cold water. Joe asks "Is there a swamp?" And Erl (happily?) shouts back "AFFIRMATIVE!" OK maybe you had to be there but we all laughed about that. A couple times Joe has to ask us to "Quit being so jovial" so he can focus on the nav and we do our best to keep the chatter to a minimum. 

This is what night trekking looks like. Please find the burnt pine in this picture.
One CP in particular, the clue being "lone pine", gives us heaps of trouble and we end up spending at least 45 minutes wandering in a field/grove of trees looking for a lone pine with no topographic features to relocate off of. At least 5 or 6 teams are doing the same thing, each secretly watching each other to reveal the flag's location. Finally, Joe spots a small patch of orange and white fabric, crumpled and hidden in some weeds under a scraggly tree next to a trail. He clues Britt and I into its location, but we can't punch because there are at least 20 people within 20 meters of us who will see, and we don't want to give away the advantage of Joe's eagle eye. So Britt turns off her headlamp, scurries to the flag, punches her passport, and scurries back without anyone noticing. Sweet, except now I have to do the same thing and I am a horrible lier. I am super nervous but I inch my way off the trail, turn off my headlamp, find the flag, punch, and then run back to my team and we all jump on our bikes and leave, nervously glancing over our shoulders to see if anyone else caught on to your game. Victory! At least...a small one. 

We continue on roads through the towns of San Mateo (including the biggest climb on the course...an overpass) and Palatka. The weather cools down considerable from this mornings steamy beach run, with misty fog rolling in and we're all wearing our rain jackets. And, for some horrible reason, I start to get sleepy. ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF A THREE DAY ADVENTURE RACE! So embarrassing. I roll up to Jeff, admit my problem, and he chats away to try and keep me focused as we ride through the witching hours. There are a few other teams with us too, which makes things a bit more stressful since I'm trying not to crash anyone out. But finally we roll into the Rice Creek TA where our bins are waiting! Warm clothes! When we get to the TA,  race staff inform us that a trek/paddle loop has been removed from the race as teams are behind schedule. It's no big deal for us, we are pretty cold and happy to go straight on to a trek instead of a trek/paddle. 
Trekking in the Rice Creek area. Pretty fun!
TREK 3 - 17k - Rice Creek - 0618-noonish?
We receive a warning at the beginning of this trek: boardwalks may be slippery when wet. Huh? We haven't suddenly passed GO, collected $200, and arrived in Atlantic City, have we? But we strike out, happy to be on our feet and warming up a little bit as the world gradually turns lighter shades of gray. We struggle finding the correct trail for the first CP, way more trails in real life than on the map, but we finally do and figure out that the trails are actually a network of boardwalks through a swamp! It's really cool and we trot along, doing our best to stay upright. FLX Adventures planned a really cool CP that requires us to balance on multiple logs to get the punch - Britt and I take this one since she smartly is still wearing her helmet. 

There was still another balancing log after this one!
We use an elevated viewing platform as an attackpoint for another CP - Joe stands there and commands me and Britt as we fetch the punch. Except, at first he sends us off in the wrong direction, not realizing it until he turns around for a pee break and spots the CP flag almost 180 degrees from his original instruction. So Britt and I get a little bonus trekking through the soggy swamp...it's all part of the fun on Rev3/OWWWP! Towards the end of this trek, we're feeling a little beat down, my feet especially, and we trot into the next TA eager to get on our bikes again!

TREK 4 - 12k - Marjorie Harris Carr Greenway


Joe is an excellent pooper in addition to being a brilliant angry navi-GATOR.
Except...surprise! We have another bonus trek! No one is really excited about spending more time on their feet, but YogaSlackers are in TA with us so we use the competition to get motivated. We head out in opposite directions and on our way to the first CP, see an adult wild boar! On our way to the second CP, we hear some crashing in the underbrush and a momma boar with three baby boars runs across the trail right in front of us! We're super happy to see these animals, but also happy that they're not interested in messing with us - boars can me really mean. Most of the rest of the trek is on logging roads, with cow-related decorations that Joe uses for inspiration. As we're making our way back to TA, the road turns to powercut FULL of standing water, making us glad we didn't have the option to change socks/shoes in TA because we would be soaking wet anyway. That's life in adventure racing.

BIKE 3 - 67k - afternoon
After completing the bonus trek, we're allowed to get on our bikes, just behind YogaSlackers and just in front of Journey Racing. We ride roads thru Interlachen, and Jeff gets the brilliant idea to look for fast food places to get some hot food. Ever since midnight, it's been cold and misty, and we're starting to accumulate a little fatigue. As we ride through town, we spot the golden arches not 100m off course...TIME TO STUFF OUR FACES! 
We barge into the McDonald's in soaking-wet race gear and each order about $10 worth of food - I get large fries, a chicken sandwich, small coffee, and small hot chocolate. Total score. We sit down with our food and plan to watch Journey Racing ride right by, ignoring the delicacies of theAmerican obesity epidemic. Except...they have the same plan as us and park their bikes outside the same McDonalds! 
3-team party at McDonalds on Day 2!
So it turns into a 3-team McDonald's party which is super fun. But the party doesn't last much longer than a large fry, as Joe herds us back outside and onto the roads through Hawthorne,  to Palm Point Park, and into the Newnans Lake TA. In a paceline. Organized by Jeff. Natch. 

TA - Newnans Lake - evening
When we arrive at Newnans Lake TA, we have exhausted our supply of maps and are given the final set by race staff. Also, they tell us we can't have access to our bins. What? This news is contradictory to what we were told in the race powerpoint, and we were planning on restocking food. So we have a few panic moments of do we have enough calories to last 5 people another 5 hours? Turns out, if we all pool our remaining food, we do. OK. Crisis averted, and we get set for the next trek which looks to be longish. As we're transitioning, the YogaSlackers roll in to the same race news and have a completely different reaction...let's just say there were some words. And in the end, it all turns out to be a non-issue because the bin truck arrives and we all get our bins anyway! PLUS...race staff orders hot pizza and feeds us! Total oasis!


TREK 5 - 30k - Newnans Lake Conservation Area - evening/night
We trek out of TA with new shoes for some of us (dry Hokas for me) and an hour or two of remaining daylight. Joe attacks the cluster of CPs nearest the TA together with Lattanzi and Bacon from Odyssey, and then as we move away (north?) we end up taking different routes. We still struggle with actually locating the flags - getting to the circle is easy enough, but it seems every flag is crumpled or half-hidden in vegetation. The struggle is getting real as we go into Night 2! We choose to trek an extra 2 kilometers instead of swimming 100 meters because it is really cold out and we're all shivering after a few seconds of non-movement. Eventually our route kicks us out onto a long road out-and-back for just one CP, which Britt and I go get, and when we return to the team we find Joe succumbing to Night 2 sleep and cold monsters. He's walking along, but not really in a straight line, and chattering away, but not making any sense. We pile all of our extra clothes on him, but it's not very helpful since the open road offers no protection from the bitter wind. I offer to "navigate" which really means just hold the map so Joe can put his hands in his pockets to warm them up too. We bumble on down the road in this rag-tag fashion, Joe slipping further into oblivion, but then emerging with a few coherent sentences when I have a nav question. It's really fascinating to watch his nav experience take over like instinct, even though his primary consciousness is failing. Finally we get into a more protected forest section and Joe takes the map back over, and we are all super relived that his condition has improved. 

Me and Britt punching a rare nicely-hung CP with Lattanzi from Odyssey.
A few CPs later, we decide a team sleep is needed, so we find a sheltered pine grove and choose our spots carefully - well, Erl and I take the time to find a nice tree to lean against, while Britt, Joe, and Jeff each just pass out on the forest floor and are snoring in less than 30 seconds. Not a joke. Erl and I rest against the tree and keep track of time - after 10 minutes, everyone is still snoring, so we add 5 extra minutes and then get everyone back up and moving. The nap seems to help our Rev3 teammates and we knock out the rest of the CPs, using mostly roads to travel. Lattanzi and Bacon join up with us for a few CPs, and we pass Shane, Jen, and Alex from the other Odyssey going the opposite direction, along with the YogaSlackers (accompanied by their "media director") and a bunch of other teams as well. Everyone's bundled against the cold and windy night, but trekking helps keep everyone somewhat warm. We hike the paved road back into Newnans Lake TA, having cleared this section despite the difficult flag placement, challenging temperatures, and sleep deprivation setting in. Go team! 
The road back to Newnans Lake TA.
In TA, our biggest concern is putting on as many layers as possible to protect us on the paddle across Newnans Lake. It's really cold, really windy, and dark - lots of things can go wrong in these conditions so we layer up, and eat some hot food from our bins with the hot water provided by race staff. Turkey tettrazini! Cup O Noodles! Hot chocolate! All of these things are so delicious, and pretty soon we walk, Michelin-man style, to the boats and put-in to the dark swamp channel.

WANT MORE?
http://canyoneros-ar.blogspot.com/2015/03/flx-sea-to-sea-ar-72hr-expedition-day-2.html
https://plus.google.com/photos/106792793417724781370/albums/6132050305760847361 
http://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_9015/period-1/enddate-2015-03-05
http://wetfeetar.blogspot.com/2015/03/florida-sea-to-sea-report.html 

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27 April 2015

Race Report: FLX Sea2Sea 72hr AR, Part 2 (Race Day 1)


Erl and me in full race regalia.
It's a funny thing to wake up and think, "I might not sleep again for 3 days. At least not in a bed". And this is the thought I wake up with on Thursday morning as we prepare for the start of FLX's Sea2Sea 72hr Adventure Race. Erl and I (On Wednesdays We Wear Pink) and Britt, Jeff, and Joe (Rev3/Mountain Khakis) pack up all of our non-race gear into cars, park them in the designated parking lot in Cedar Key, and then board the (coach!) bus for the trip east across Florida. The bus ride passes uneventfully. Erl and I use the time to mark up our set of maps, hoping never to have to use them during the race but wanting to get an idea of the course. We also steal a few naps and get our feet ready to go. At 1100 right on schedule, the bus arrives at Ormond Beach for the start of the race. A hundred or so adventure racers unload to tropical temperatures - 80s and sunny - which is probably normal for Florida but definitely not normal for our team. Regardless, the sun feels great and Erl suggests not wearing our (pink) calf and arm sleeves for the opening trek. "It's hot," he says. "We don't need these right now." And since Erl has SEVEN (Michigan Coast To Coast 05/06/07, Primal Quest Badlands 09, Abu Dhabi 10, Raid The North British Columbia 11, and GodZone New Zealand 14) multi-day races under his belt compared to my ONE (Cowboy Tough Wyoming 14), I take his advice. As I plan to continue doing for the next three days. 
And they're off! For the start of the 2015 Sea2Sea 3-Day Adventure Race!
TREK 1 - 6k beach-o at Ormond Beach - 1100-1200
Teams On Wednesdays We Wear Pink (OWWWP) and Rev3/Mountain Khakis are giddy at the start line, excited to start 3 days of non-stop racing that we've been planning for so many months. Ron the RD from FLX Adventures counts us down, and pretty soon we're sprinting (!) on the beach road to our first CP. The pace is fast, especially considering the amount of racing left to do, but we don't really care because WE'RE RACING IN FLORIDA! IN SHORTS! WHEEEEEEEE! That is, until a few short minutes later. Joe attacks our first CP by bushwhacking through 500 meters of razor-sharp palmetto and scrubby brush. All of us (well, besides Britt, who kept her calf sleeves on) start bleeding immediately as our legs get torn up by the defensive vegetation. We struggle a bit with the first few CPs, but it's hard to start the race by navigating on an aerial photo map. Joe makes the best of it and we get around the short loop, but not before I trip in the dunes and grind a bunch of sand into my bloody legs and arms. I can't help but laugh that this is the perfect way to start my first true expedition race - cut up and dirty in the first 30 minutes! We run back into TA to find ourselves securely in the middle of the pack, but it doesn't bother us as we pick out 2 canoes and start paddling.

me and Erl in the first paddle section.

PADDLE 1 - 14k - 1200-1430
We put in on a windy, windy (both pronunciations and meanings) grass-lined river. It's hard for OWWWP to keep up with the horsepower of Rev3's boat - they've got one extra paddler, plus all three of them are ripped (Britt's guns are bigger than all of Tecnu combined). And it's clear that Erl and I haven't paddled since...since...December at the Castlewood 8hr? But all we can do is put our pink-bedazzled-visored heads down and WORK. Erl keeps track of our effort and suggests spots for "10 hard paddles" and "20 hard paddles" and we scoot along the Florida water. There are TONS of birds flapping around, several different kinds, and it's cool to take that in. We see Journey Racing and YogaSlackers ahead of us on an out-and-back section of the paddle and give them some early-race cheers. Finally we make it to the take-out and hustle through transition. The volunteers give us instructions to "run down this here road for 200 meters and you will get your next passport". So we do and find the passport in the middle of a really cool ruin - like an old mossy castle. Super sweet. Then we run back to TA and get on our bikes!

Surprise singletrack at Graham Trailhead. I don't always wear sunglasses while mountain biking, but when I do...

BIKE 1 - 43k - 1430-1730
It's not long before we get to ride some super fun rooty trails to kick off the biking of Sea2Sea. The trails are awesome and the SegSlayer is crushing them! Then we get on to some pavement and Jeff organizes us into a paceline as we make our way to the Graham Trailhead. YogaSlacker's "media director" (yes, really) is there to greet us along with race staff. The staff informs us of a surprise singletrack section with instructions to "just follow the trail, it's easy". All of us have heard this before, and all of us have been burned by the "easy to follow" trails. And, wouldn't you know, not 100m down the trail there is an unmarked junction! We flail around for a bit before I spot Ron in the woods and ask for help. He shows us the correct trail to take and we ride on. The trails are surprisingly technical and full of short punchy climbs (much like Council Bluff for you MO people). They are awesome and all of us are riding really well, but both Odyssey teams catch us and we let their faster legs go ahead to avoid early-race stress. Back on the roads, Joe's pedal starts seizing up and we worry about its potential to survive several hundred more kilometers of riding. We put some chain lube on it to try and get it to rotate again, but Joe is still having to work really hard to keep the pedals turning over. My bottom bracket seems to be overly noisy as well...oh great! We roll into the next TA with some concerns, but lubed the crap out of Joe's pedal and my bottom bracket, all we can do is load them on the race trailer and hope for the best. Then we get to turn our attention to boat selection and more paddling!


A super sweet pic from Erl's race camera on Black Branch.
PADDLE 2A - 13k - Black Branch/Haw Creek - 1730-2045
We put in to a small river on the side of a road, and immediately the river is full of vegetation - cypress knees, downed trees, lily pads, etc. Luckily we have a few hours of daylight in which to negotiate all of the deadfall - Erl gives new meaning to my "princess" paddling style as he drops me off on the (dry!) riverbank before each downed tree, then jumps into the waist-deep water to lift the boat up and over the tree, then jumps back in the boat and picks me up on the other side. Yeah. See what I mean about Erl being the best teammate ever? It's true. I stay dry until we get to a somewhat-mapped portage which is just ankle-deep mud, but there's no princess option for the 400m or so we must slog with our boats. Eventually the mud opens back up into a real river, with islands even, but the islands prove to be tricky as we can't find CP18 immediately after a mapped portage. We circle the island in question several times, certain we are in the correct location, but the flag is elusive. We are forced to bail with an impending early-race cutoff looming over our heads, so we abandon and motor on down to Russell Landing for a heavily-hinted-at "surprise" trek. It's dark and relatively cold at this point and we're all pretty excited to warm up a bit by running.

Russell Landing. This was the norm for trekking sections throughout the race.
TREK 2 - 7k - Russell Landing - 2045-2300
We take out at Russell Landing and sure enough, surprise trek! We have to be back by 2300 which is a pretty aggressive cutoff for so early in the race, but we vow to do our best. It's hard to manage the TA with so much to do and new teammates - with Alpine Shop we all have our jobs but now I'm a bit lost on how to best help Rev3, especially Joe. But with plotting and re-fueling managed, we head out into the still-sharp Florida vegetation, still with no calf protection, still donating blood. And even better, half of this trek is through a swamp, so we get to wash out our cuts with swamp water! We manage our time pretty well, but the maps are confusing (waypoints with no CP value are shown...strange) and we end up not clearing this section. It's a bummer but not much else we can do except keep racing! We get back to our boats and put in with a herd of teams all fighting the early cutoff as well.
Pretty sure this is the first TA with bins.
PADDLE 2B - 9k - Haw Creek/Dead Lake - 2300-0030
The rest of the paddle isn't very eventful - it's dark, but it's Night 1 so we aren't very sleepy. We continue downstream easily, paddle a few kilometers in a lake, and then get to a very busy transition area. We get to see our bins for the first time! I might have changed socks/shorts here, but honestly I can't remember. I do remember Andy Bacon from Odyssey trying to poison me with bacon. Nice try, Bacon/bacon. My body is a non-mammalian-meat temple.

WANT MORE?
http://canyoneros-ar.blogspot.com/2015/03/flx-sea-to-sea-ar-72hr-expedition-day-1.html
https://plus.google.com/photos/106792793417724781370/albums/6132050305760847361
http://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_9015/period-1/enddate-2015-03-05
http://wetfeetar.blogspot.com/2015/03/florida-sea-to-sea-report.html

Day 2

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