Race Report: 2014 Cowboy Tough 3.5day Adventure Race (Part 4)

NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of posts about Cowboy Tough multi-day adventure race. I (Emily) worked together with my teammate Mike to write most of the text, and then Mike added in his own comedic flair in red italics. Enjoy!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

START OF DAY 3

After more hours of sleep (six!!) than some of us get during a normal weeknight, we are woken up by our 0500 alarms. We gather round our bins for breakfast and get ready for the day. Because we were a bit rushed with only 45min of morning prep yesterday, we each agreed on 60min today and it seems to be the perfect amount. We prepped all of our bikes last night (changed Mike’s flat tire, filled bottles and bentos) and they are hanging in Rev3’s Mobile TA. We dress ourselves for the day and then put our packs inside our bins and load those into the Mobile TA as well. Day 3 begins with whitewater rafting, and we aren’t allowed to have our packs in the rafts with us. Rev3 will drive them to the take-out instead. We gather around Mark for an 0600 start with the usual suspects: Tecnu, Columbia, YogaSlackers, Journey, Silent Chasers, and I think a few other teams. Mark shouts GO! and we all race off! This of course meant running, which had not been my friend to this point in the race.  However, whether it was due to early morning adrenaline or all the food and sleep, I was feeling pretty darn good.

TREK 1, CP37, 2mi

The start of Day 3. Photo by Chris Radcliffe.

The first order of business is to get ourselves to the whitewater rafting put-in on the Big Horn River. It’s located very close to our railroad trestle shortcut from last night, just a few downhill kilometers on a paved road. We’re running at a good clip and making sure that we’re all ready for the day. Someone mentions the “Start of Day” punch requirement and Rachel stops dead in her tracks. “You guys, I didn’t punch Start of Day, were we supposed to?”

Our stomachs drop. We start tentatively jogging forward again and spewing questions at each other. We downloaded the ePunch last night, does that count? Is the Start of Day punch mandatory or just a formality? We checked in verbally with Mark, is that enough? Wouldn’t Rev3 know that we’re gone and mark our time down anyway? After a few seconds, we realize this is a risk we simply cannot take, especially when fixing it would take only 10ish minutes of extra running. Emily offers to run back to TA with the ePunch, and Rachel hands it off. The trailing teams give her plenty of confused looks but when she holds up the ePunch stick (no extra breath for words), they seem to understand.

Back in TA, Emily locates Rev3 staffer Greg who has the Start of Day control, punches, and rejoins the team who is waiting on the road. We retrace our steps downhill and Mike strategizes on how to make up for our few lost minutes. This normally wouldn’t be a huge deal, but we’ve been told by Rev3 that they will only launch rafts when they’re filled with 8 racers. This means we’ve got to make it to the put-in with another team to avoid being stranded. With the front of the pack long gone ahead of us, we could be facing a long delay if there aren’t another 4 racers ready to paddle when we get to the put-in. Luckily, we spot two teams spread out ahead of us, so we run hard to place ourselves in the middle of them as we arrive at the put-in, thus guaranteeing ourselves spots on a raft leaving immediately. Crisis averted...

I put it a considerable amount of mental effort doing the math on this one.  Rachel was beside herself with anxiety because of the possibility of getting stuck at the put-in for quite some time.  After doing the math (a number of times) I assured her that we were good to go based on all the numbers I had counted.

We now return to the twist that everyone is expecting thanks to Emily’s ominous usage of the ellipsis…

PADDLE 1, CP37, 15mi

Map of the WW paddle, northbound on the Big Horn River.

...or so we thought. (See?  Ellipsis = plot twist!)  Once we check in at the put-in, the raft company informs us they will only release boats two at a time for safety. This means with need SIXTEEN racers ready to paddle, instead of 8.  (At this point I was pretty pissed at all that extra thinking I had just done.  I mean come on, that was at least an extra .75 calories I burned!) We look around. There are only 12 of us. We have to wait for 4 other racers before we can leave.

None of us are happy about this new information, Rachel especially. We reassure her that this was a team mistake, that we are all responsible for communicating about punching requirements, especially in the hurried morning hours. There is no way she is at fault. Still, she takes the mistake to heart and we all need a little chill time as we keep glancing back at the road, silently willing another team to show up and allow us to get on the water.

First two boats on the Big Horn. Photo by Chris Radcliffe.

It is a tense 10 minutes, but finally we spot 4 racers jogging down to the put in, and start cheering for them. Hoo-ray! We are paired up with Wind River Country Racing***, a team of 3 girls and 1 guy, all from Wyoming. The raft company gets us suited up in helmets and PFD’s and we launch onto the Big Horn River in two 8-person rafts, each with a guide using oars. Our guide is named Whitey and he tells us stories about the river as we make our way downstream. There is a big Class IV rapid near the beginning that we hit cleanly. Then we have a bunch of flatter water that requires good paddling. Rachel takes charge, calling out a “one! two! one! two!” cadence so everyone can match paddle strokes. After just a few minutes, Whitey pipes up with “okay, everyone, good job, now let’s take a rest break.” Rachel turns around and absolutely GLARES at him. And then, in the nicest way possible, she says, “Um, well, we really need to get this done quickly, I don’t think we really need rest breaks, so, let’s just keep paddling. One! Two! One! Two!”

A rapid on the Big Horn. Photo by Chris Radcliffe.

We keep paddling. Whitey calls for a few more rest breaks, and each time is met with refusal from WABAR (mostly because we know Rachel would disown us if we gave in). We all share the chore of counting the “one! two! one! two!” cadence for as long as possible, (Oh how I resisted this, but when I gave in I ended up getting into a routine and I’m pretty sure (other than possibly Rachel) I kept up the count longer than anyone else.  I heard “one, two” in my head for days if not weeks after the race), and the Wind River Country racers help too. We swap positions here and there to ease tired muscles. Finally, the last Class IV rapid is staring us in the face and Whitey guides us through cleanly again. Then the take-out is just another mile or so downstream and we all work together to haul the raft up on shore. The Rev3 truck is waiting for us and we quickly change clothes for what we consider to be the queen stage of this race: a 90-mile bike ride. With no shade. Mike is thrilled. (Yes, thrilled.  Ecstatic. Euphoric.  Rapturous even…)

In order to keep this from being a repeat of Day 1’s sufferfest, we make a few changes. Mike’s wearing Emily’s white GJ/WEDALI shirt to help him keep cool. We’ve got a TON of water on us - everyone with full bladders, full bike bottles, and a few extra bottles in our packs as well. Emily’s got the magic 10mm hex wrench in her pack to avoid further crank issues. Okay! Let’s go!

***SIDE NOTE FROM EMILY: I'm glad I waited so long to post this day's race report because a cool thing happened recently. I work at the Alpine Shop in St. Louis, an outdoor retailer, and we had a visit from NOLS a few weeks ago. I coordinate those sorts of visits so when the NOLS rep arrived, I was there to help get her table set up. She greeted me with, "My name is Marina and I think I've paddled with you before!" Turns out she was a member of the Wind River Country team!!! Cray-cray!!! We shared a bunch of stories that night in between customers visiting the table. Adventure racing is awesome even after the race is over!

BIKE 1, CPs 39-40, 38mi

WABAR ready to start riding. Photo by Mark Harris.

We hop on our bikes and immediately, Emily knows something’s not right. NOT AGAIN!!! She pedals, gets off, squints at her frame, checks her crank, pedals again, still not right, what in the world? Finally, she gets it - her crank arms are tightened, but they are not oriented properly. When she disassembled her crank at yesterday’s TA, she retightened everything in “10-and-6” position instead of the correct “12-and-6” alignment. But it’s a quick fix with the proper wrench, and soon enough we’ve made our first turn onto some delicious Wyoming gravel.

Bike 1, eastbound, on the 1:gajillion Gazetteer map.

We start the long task of picking off teams that got to start ahead of us on the rafting section. First we catch up with fellow Midwesterners Jon and Eric from Unplugged Adventures. We chat for a bit and then keep rolling on. There isn’t a whole lot of traffic on these roads which is great for us. We do run into one truck, however, whose driver stops, gets out, and waits for us to ride by him looking none-too-happy. Mike, Andrei, and Rachel cruise casually by as the old-time cowboy tries to talk to them. Emily tries to be a friendly Midwesterner and stops for a quick chat, cringing at the scolding that’s sure to come. Sure enough, the rancher starts complaining about our “bike friends up that-a-way” riding too close to his cows and scaring them as they were being herded down the road. “You know, when them cows git scared like that they git stressed, and that makes it so they won’t git pregnant. We’re scheduled to inseminate all them today and now I’m gonna lose a buncha money,” the rancher kvetches. Emily doesn’t really know how to respond except “I’m really sorry and we’ll try to tell the other racers not to upset your cows,” and hustles back up to her teammates. (I have nothing to add here other than stating that anyone that knows Emily will not be the LEAST bit surprised to hear this little story.)

90 miles of pure Wyoming gravel today. 

A few more miles down the road, and we spot the race staff tent for CP39. Rev3 has provided a 2.5gal water drop here for each team, but as we approach, we each realize we’ve got WAYYYY too much water on board. No one needs a refill, and we actually dump out about 1L that we don’t think we’ll need until the next known water stop at CP41. It’s too bad that we’ve already carried the extra weight this far, and we hope that we aren’t shooting ourselves in the foot by dumping “excess” water at this point.

Mike and Andrei dumping water early in the ride. 

Once leaving CP39, we start catching other teams from this morning’s first wave of boats. This makes us feel really good that our delay getting on the river hasn’t turned into a huge disadvantage. Mike and Emily start to feel the heat so Rachel and Andrei help out with pack carrying and towing. We pass our friends on Journey Racing, as well as a few other two-person male teams as we tick off the Wyoming gravel miles. Pretty soon we’re rolling into CP41, where Rev3 has provided some additional water and gatorade as we transition into our trekking gear. (This is around when I switched into “if it’s liquid, drink it” mode.  I had my normal HEED spiked water but if there was anything that anyone had with electrolytes or sugar in it, down the hatch it went.  Normally this would spell disaster but with my body desperately needing any and all hydration, and with our pace being pretty reasonable, I managed to avoid any major issues.)

TREK 1, CPs 41-43, 6mi

Out-n-back trek in the middle of the big ride.

As we’re changing out of our bike shoes and into our trekking shoes, we see Tecnu returning from the out-n-back trek. It’s always fun to see them on the course, especially when Kyle serenades us with his rendition of “Lollipop”. Columbia is still a few minutes behind them and we see them inbound as we jog outbound. Phil and Kevin from Silent Chasers are also with us as we have a long dusty jog on an exposed gravel road. Things are getting really hot so we trade packs and punch duty, hoping to keep everyone’s effort under control. Garrison navs the 3 controls easily and we even spot YogaSlackers cooling off in a cow pond a few hundred meters away.

On the road. Full sun.

On the way back, Andrei starts to overheat so we dial back the pace a bit and work together to keep him as comfortable as possible. He comes up with an ingenious way to wear his race bib as a shading device (no pic, sorry, but it was glorious) and it works great. Eventually we make our way back to our bikes and eagerly drink our liquid rations - 1 bottle of water and gatorade for each of us - before getting back on our bikes for more gravel grinding.

BIKE 2, CPs 44-46, 50mi

Bike 2, eastbound, on the 1:gajillion Gazetteer map.

That map image above does not do justice to the actual amount of biking that had to be done.  It also isn’t great at showing climb, and downright horrible at showing how FREAKING HOT it was… The Silent Chasers are in TA at the same time so we convince them to combine teams into a 6-person paceline to knock out the miles to CP44, getting both of us closer to water and us closer to YogaSlackers. They agree and pretty soon we are flying along at a pretty fantastic pace. The added company, plus the promise of a full water restock in just a few miles, motivates us all and in no time we roll into CP44. Rev3 staff are there to greet us with extra water, along with several other teams, including the Yogis! We divvy up our allotted 2.5gal (=9.5L) between everyone’s bladders, and then add some extra water that previous teams didn’t use. After Garrison and Andrei do some sprinkler dancing, (sorry, no pictures, but it was yet again glorious) then the four of us roll out just a few minutes behind YogaSlackers.

Riding with Silent Chasers' Phil before organizing the paceline.

After just a few miles of road biking, we spot the Yogis, stopped on the side of the road next to a huge puddle. We roll up to ask what’s wrong, and it turns out someone’s bladder just burst at the seams. What a huge bummer! We don’t have any extras to lend them, so we keep riding, and pretty soon they are moving again too and catch us. It’s a slightly tense dynamic between our two teams at first as we ride in a loose pack, no one quite sure if we’re working together or trying to gain an advantage on the other. (We knew they had a lead on us overall, but no one was quite sure how much.  We also knew that both our teams didn’t feel great, but no idea how “not great”.  Would this be a time where either they could completely put us away, or maybe we could end up putting some time on them and make it a real race for third?) But pretty soon, we all get to chatting and it’s clear that we’re much better off spending these miles socializing, rather than trying to rip each others’ legs off. So we share snacks and gum and even stop at the same mud pit for a pee break and an attempt at bathing (I want to clarify that the pee break and the bathing were in different areas.). Shortly after the mud pit, however, it’s clear that the YogaSlackers have got more gas in the tank than WABAR so they ride off the front as the four of us regroup and refocus on our team.

Dan from YogaSlackers and Mike from WABAR breaking the ice.

Rachel and Emily w the YogaSlackers at a group stop. Photo by Erik Sanders.

Isolated once again in the stark Wyoming terrain, we struggle. Everyone’s ass is hurting, and we’re experiencing food fatigue - no calorie source sounds particularly appealing even though we know we need to keep fueling. Oh and Mike had his umpteenth poop stop and Emily took the opportunity for a selfie. The stop below is from what I believe was my 39th mid race poop.  I’m not sure when it started but the past few years I can barely even race 12 hours without needing to stop for a good natural break.  Very annoying.

You don't want to know what's happening on the other side of that bike.

At this point in the race, any excuse to stop and sit, packless, is a good one.

The wind is unrelenting as we battle our way east, finally collecting CP45 north of Arminto and turning south to Waltman. We see a couple more teams hanging out at a small store on Hwy 20, but it’s only another 10-ish paved miles to CP46 and the end of today’s biking section, so we push through. The pavement really brings our legs to life and we are able to ride fast!

I swear, it FELT like we were hurrying in TA.

We’ve been warned that the next trekking section, in Hell’s Half Acre, is the most navigationally intense section of the entire race. We’re super stoked about that, but also we know we need to maximize the waning daylight hours to have a good split time. Emily hustles everyone through dealing with our bins, and we’re able to run out of TA just as the sun is starting to set.

TREK 2, CPs 1-10, 6mi

Descending the unassuming doubletrack into Hell's Half Acre.

Wow. Just….wow. The terrain of Hell’s Half Acre is other-worldly. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before, and no way the 1:24k USGS map can come even slightly close to representing the intricate towers, eroded boulders, and seemingly ancient streambeds in this bizarre canyon. Mike soaks it all in as we descend the double-track.

For Rachel, everything is runnable.

The terrain is runnable for Erik from YogaSlackers, too.

Mike relocates.

We decide to attack these 10 CPs in numerical order, and set off for CP1. We see Legendary Randy with his camera set-up (look for us around 3:15 of that video!), which must mean we’re in the right spot...right? We also see YogaSlackers, so we’re definitely in the right spot but...no CP1. The flag could be anywhere behind these intricate rock formations, and Mike scratches his head more than once trying to relocate. He calls for a knife and slashes a postage-stamp size (relatively) swatch out of the table cloth map, trying to help focus his navigation efforts, but we still struggle to find the first CP. After checking just about every miniature rock face/shrub we can find, the flag finally pops out and Rachel punches. OK, more than just quick commentary from me here.  First off, I didn’t even get myself oriented enough to find CP1.  I was trying to think of another way to approach it when Andrei asked to see the map.  One AR skill that I’m pretty decent at is pride swallowing, so I did just that and handed it over.  Within minutes he was oriented and walked right to CP1.  He asked if he could do another and I said “go for it”.  He nailed that one too.  As disappointing as it was to my ego and pride to flop on the part of the race that I had hoped to redeem myself due to my poor physical performance, it was obvious that Andrei was in a zone.  I think he was uncomfortable at first asking if he could nav the rest of this section but I encouraged him to have at it.  And have at it he did!

Map from Hell's Half Acre that Mike slashed out of the main map.

Andrei offers to take over the maps at this point, and Mike happily agrees. That’s the awesomeness of having a team full of navigators - we can hand the maps to just about anyone at any time and we’ll probably go in the right direction. And in this case, Andrei’s feeling strong and highly technical foot navigation is his specialty, so we’re stoked to let him shine. And shine he does - we fly though CPs 2-6, pinging each one accurately and running like it’s a 24hr race, eagerly responding to Andrei’s calls of “chop, chop!” and “hurry up, I already know where the next CP is!”.

Andrei already running to next CP. Photo by Chris Radcliffe.

As the sun is setting, we catch up to YogaSlackers at CP6, put on our lights, and put in a big effort to push in front of them. They’re still well ahead of us in the overall standings, but we’re feeling great and want to prove a point that the harder the nav gets, the faster we can go. Even in the dark, Andrei continues crushing the maps, leading us straight to the final 4 CPs. (Andrei needs to be commended for an outstanding effort here.  He absolutely crushed this challenging nav that would make mince meat of a LOT of teams in the dark.  In fact, I believe that we (he) logged the fastest nav time out of ALL teams for this section!) Rachel is super speedy with the punches and we all motivate each other to run back up the final doubletrack into TA. We triumphantly punch the final CP for Day 3 and are rewarded with 2 hotdogs each, cooked by the illustrious Rev3 staff.

Running into the twilight. Photo by Chris Radcliffe.

We chat with out Tecnu friends as we chow down, and then do some final piddling with our bins, cleaning out the accumulated trash and preparing our packs for the last day of the race. We get to sleep for one last night under the wide-open Wyoming sky, drifting in and out of dreams as teams continue shuffling through TA.

Rev3 Day 3 Photo Album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.745596178814788.1073741865.148981488476263&type=3
YogaSlackers photo album: https://www.facebook.com/erik.sanders.963/media_set?set=a.10152379715127694&type=1&pnref=story
Tecnu photo album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.687589551276425.1073741858.162254323809953&type=3
Columbia photo album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.679601542125729.1073741873.110888508997038&type=3 Pin It

Race Report: 2014 Bonk Hard Castlewood 8hr AR

If anything, 2014 will be known as the Year of the Mash-Up for me. I've participated in 12 different adventure races with 6 distinct team configurations and 13 different teammates. As you probably know, Jeff and David have been my main teammates since 2013, and when we need a fourth we call on our good buddy Doug to complete team Alpine Shop.  That was the plan for the 2014 running of the Bonk Hard Castlewood 8hr Adventure Race, the St. Louis area's largest adventure race. That is, until Doug's girlfriend Sunny (of WHOA! fame) started kicking serious UCI cyclocross boo-tay and needed Doug's crewing skills at Jingle Cross...on the same weekend as CW8. Finding a replacement for Doug isn't easy, and we had a tense few days calling around to different folks. Finally, we convinced Erl (of GearJunkie/WEDALI fame) to make the long trip south to race with us. 

I've raced with Erl a few times before, and each experience is a highlight of my short AR career. There are very few people who know how to support and foster teamwork the way Erl does, and I was so excited for Jeff and David to get to experience that. We've been able to hang out a bunch this fall in conjunction with other races (Berryman and Perfect 10) and each time I've gained more and more appreciation for Erl's experience and perspective on adventure racing. So, basically, I was super excited to see him again!

Erl rolled in to the Alpine Shop around 4pm just as the place was starting to bustle with friends and family and adventure racers. We got all checked in with Bonk Hard and then picked up my traditional pre-race meal of Dewey's pizza before heading to David's workshop to prep maps. However, we didn't have any CPs to plot and only information on the first 2ish hours of the race. The biggest decision we had to make was which shoes to wear for the start...trekking or biking? Trekking shoes would be faster on the opening 2mi run, but would take longer to change after the paddle. Biking shoes would be a bit slower at first but then faster in TA. We hemmed and hawed and eventually (much to my relief) decided on trekking shoes. Then we ate a ton of pizza (seriously...the four of us polished off two 17" pies) and toured David's shop.

Then Erl and I went back to my apartment and piddled with gears, a classic Alpine Shop habit. I took some time to look at the race area on Google maps and noticed there were two parks on the south side of the Meramec River (West Tyson and South Castlewood) that had orienteering maps. I guessed that maybe we would be given a surprise map sometime early in the race, and texted Jeff and David to let them know. Thankfully, we had already planned to wear trekking shoes so it wouldn't be a big deal either way.

Jeff, Erl and I at the bike drop on race morning. Photo by Stacey Hagen.

Race morning was early and cold. Erl and I met Jeff at the bike drop in Castlewood at 0630 and it was in the low 20s. We dropped off our bikes and biking gear at the beach, and then drove over to Race HQ at La Salle Middle School. The school had its doors and bathrooms open for us, and it was so nice to have a warm place to get ready. About 10 minutes before the race started, Jeff noticed his passport pocket (custom-made of course) was attached in the wrong direction on the shoulder strap of his pack. To most people, this would not be a big deal, but in a sprint race where every second counts, we were worried. Thankfully, we just needed scissors and 2 new zipties to fix it, so we sprinted across the parking lot to Jeff's van, perform some lightning-fast pack surgery, and sprint back to the start line with a few minutes to spare. 

TREK 1, 2mi, CP 1-3, 0:15

Team Alpine Shop among the top 5 teams at the start! Photo by Mary Welter.

We take off in a herd of racers...172 to be exact...and immediately I'm so glad we chose to wear trekking shoes on the paved path. We let other teams set the pace and are quite content to sit somewhere in the top 10 overall. Jeff punches the CP1 cleanly and we take off to CP2. Here, the path turns to gravel and we start to encounter some Saturday morning dog-walkers who are a bit confused to see a mass of pack-wearing people barreling down on them. We pass them as politely as we can on the out-and-back run to CP2. I love out-and-backs early in races because they let us cheer for a lot of teams, and today is no exception. I actually get super out of breath from yelling "good job!" so much so I try to hide behind David to recover. We reach the end of the trek and tumble down the hill where all of the boats are staged. 

Jeff, Erl, and not-a-serial-killer David running to CP3 with Nathan from Toporadicals. I'm just out of the picture. Photo b y Patrick & Donovan Feder. 

It's basically mass chaos, but somehow we manage to collect 4 (short) paddles, 4 PFDs, 2 canoes, and 1 punch of CP3. Oh, and....SURPRISE! The volunteer hands us a bonus map which adds an unannounced trekking section to the middle of the paddle. Unfazed, we put in with minimal fuss and get paddling.

PADDLE 1, 4.2mi, CP 4-5

At the put-in. Steamy. Photo by Patrick and Donovan Feder.

We're in the mix of the top 5 teams as we start paddling downstream on the Meramec. We're in our planned pairs, me in the back with Jeff and Erl in the back with David. I'm using my super-warm ski mittens to avoid the frozen hands like last year and so far they're working great, even as the spray from the paddle starts to freeze on the gunwhales and thwarts. It's really a beautiful morning to be on the river, and I use all my concentration to keep the boat on the most efficient line. Jeff and I can't even enjoy our usual chit-chat because everytime I try to talk, the boat starts drifting one way or the other, so I just keep quiet and focus. We don't pass many boats, and a few others creep up into our loose pack, and I try not to get frustrated and just stay smooth. We punch CP4 at Sherman Beach and get back out into the main channel. Pretty soon, we start seeing the boats in front of us land at CP5. We get there quickly and do the same. Both Jeff's and my packs are soaking wet, but for some reason I don't even feel the chill when I throw it back on.

TREK 2, 2mi, CP 38-42

This is the map we were handed at CP3. I added the orange arrows showing our route. Also ignore the red scribbles, that was from later in the race.

We negotiate our way up the steep earthen bank with 5-6 other teams and take off on a clockwise loop for the five surprise/bonus trekking CPs. David's decided to route us 39-41-42-40-38, and we join a pack of teams on the trail run to 39. This entire map is a flat flood plain with only a few mapped vegetation features and basically one contour line to navigate off of. It's like a big group run until we get close to the CP, and then everyone fans out to try and spot the flag first. We're a little discombobulated attacking CP39, but as we leave the circle, Erl organizes us into "formation" and the rest of the CPs are much better. We don't gain much of a gap on any team, but we're moving well through the vegetation. Once we've punched all 5 bonus CPs, we run across a field of tall, dead grass, take a group pee-break, and hop back in the canoes. Somehow, even though we've been running with about 5 other teams, we get onto the water in the lead!

Our friends on Team Virtus running through the field on Trek 2. Photo by Bob "Lifeskillz" Jenkins.

PADDLE 2, 2mi, CP 6, 1:45 total for paddle-trek-paddle

Jeff and I finishing out the paddling section. Photo by Patrick and Donovan Feder.

Just because we're leading for a moment, doesn't mean it's easy to stay there. Jeff and I make it a little harder on ourselves because we accidentally picked a different boat than PADDLE 1. It wouldn't be a huge deal, but one of the paddles is extra-long so Jeff takes it, but has a hard time keeping high cadence. "It's like paddling in the big ring!" he says, but gets it done anyway. Stud! We have 2 other boats for company through the first little congested section but I focus really hard on keeping my line and no-one dumps, although David and Erl tell us later that they came scarily close. This paddle is shorter than the first, so I work really hard to keep the boat moving as fast as possible. Finally, the Castlewood beach appears and we take-out with about a 30-second lead on Team CRX and AMTZ, and Toporadicals, 36 Down, and Extreme Electrical not far behind! CP6 has a gear check which is more mass chaos, but the volunteers do a great job at managing everything. A lot of teams opted to do this race with flat pedals, but we all take a bit of extra time to change shoes, hoping that our feet will appreciate being dry and warm after the paddle.

At the take-out, with AMTZ hot on our sterns. Photo by Stacy Hagen.

BIKE 1, 6mi, CP 7-14, 0:40

Getting ready to start riding, I'm helping Erl put on his glove. Photo by Donovan and Patric Feder.

We've got a loop of Castlewood singletrack, and the route is pretty much the best-case scenario for me (keeping the most technical bits on the uphills instead of the downhills). We roll out, now firmly committed to our formation, but no idea if any other teams made it through the gear check more quickly than we did. We can't see anyone ahead of us, but that doesn't mean anything with the quality of the teams we're racing today. We get to work climbing Grotpeter, motor through Roller Coaster, and descend smoothly down Love. The trails are starting to thaw and get greasy as we hit the short out-and-back on the dirt crit loop, but we all keep the rubber side down as we knock out the last CPs on this leg. Then it's into TA where we will be given maps for the rest of the course! 

As we approach the shelter, we spot AMTZ already there, so we know we're a few minutes down in second place. We punch CP14 and the volunteer hands us a map with instructions for 8 trekking CPs, 3 of which we have to plot ourselves. This isn't a big deal, until David digs around in his pack for our plotter and discovers it fell out at the gear check! We allow ourselves about 5 seconds of panic, and then Jeff tells me to make a plotter out of paper like we did at the Berryman 16hr. I rip off a piece of the map and use the printed scale to make a rudimentary plotter. David calls UTM coordinates and we slowly get the 3 CPs transferred onto the trekking map. I'm not even sure if they're right, but we have to leave NOW if we're going to have a chance of catching AMTZ. 

TREK 3, 3.5mi, CP 15-22, 0:45

The map for Trek 3. We ripped the bottom of the map off and used it to plot 17, 18, and 19.

We storm out of TA on a mission, but I'm really, really scared about the 3 CPs we just half-assedly (is that a word?) plotted on the map. As we attack CP18, I'm expecting the worst, but to my relief Jeff spots the flag quickly. 1 down! We climb the spur to CP19 and descend into the reentrant, looking everywhere for the flag. Nothing. I yell that we need to re-check the plot right away, but at the last second, David spots the flag and gets the punch. 2 down! I'm feeling slightly more optimistic on the way to CP17, and sure enough, the David leads us straight to the shallow depression. 3 down! I'm SO RELIEVED that we've got these out of the way, and now only have the pre-plotted CPs left. We hit CP15 next, overrunning the side reentrant slightly, and as we descend back down after punching, we spot AMTZ approaching. Erl and I try to adjust our route to not give away the correct reentrant, but it doesn't really do any good. We cross back over Ries Rd (legal to cross but illegal to run along), climb up to CP16, and then run back down to CP20. We catch up with AMTZ here because they took a slightly different order (17-16-15-20) and we all meet up at the creek crossing. David, sensing an opportunity, leads us straight through a knee-deep section of the creek while AMTZ chooses a slightly longer and dryer route. Our feet are now soaking wet but we're in the lead! 

Here is a different team crossing the creek at CP20. We had crossed earlier in a deeper section, and then crossed here as well. We were not this careful. Photo by Patrick and Donovan Feder.

We all know this could be a make-or-break moment and I have a flashback to the 2013 MNOC Tune-Up where I was in a similar situation, racing with Biz. In that race, he gave me an awesome (-o-possum) pep talk that inspired me to dig deep, so I try to do the same for my team today. "Guys, we have a gap, we have to push it super hard up this hill and make it stick!" We charge up the backside of Lone Wolf, everyone red-lining in an effort to gain the lead. In between gasping breaths, I try to encourage as much as possible, and we make it to the top of the hill having opened up a slight advantage over AMTZ. We crash down the other side, David picks the correct reentrant for CP21, Jeff punches, and we race back to TA with about a minute's lead.

Back at the shelter, the volunteer hands us an entire packet of maps for the remainder of the race. It contants four 8.5x11 maps, double-sided, with 12 CPs scattered among them. It's really confusing to make sense of everything and plan a route to the finish line. David and I work together to get everything sorted, reading the clue sheet again and again to make sure we're doing everything according to the rules. Meanwhile, Erl and Jeff complete their TA and then help change David's and my shoes so we can leave faster. Finally, we think we've got it all figured out and hop on bikes, leaving in 1st place!

BIKE 2, 23mi, CP 23-34, 1:46
We know AMTZ is stacked with really strong bikers, so we organize into a towing paceline and hustle out of Castlewood State Park. The first three CPs (23-24-25) must be found in order, and David guides us smoothly to each one. Then we have a bit of a route choice, and, after further analyzing the map as we're riding, David decides to change his original plan and go 27-28-29-30-26, and then head into the west side of Castlewood for 31-32-33. We ride across Ridge Rd and descend down the paved Rock Hollow trail to CPs 28 and 29. On the way down, we actually see CP30 hanging in the woods, but race rules say we must bike to it (no bike-whacking allowed on this land) so we ride down to the Zombie trail head (CP29) and then take the singletrack uphill to the flag. This singletrack is newly-built by GORC and it's a really fun ride. We get the punch, ride the trail back down, and then take the Al Foster path to CP26 and continue into the west side of Castlewood.

The three controls on the west side of Castlewood are really fun. The singletrack is straightforward and fast, and we're all still feeling decent. David guides us smoothly to each CP and we're out of there in a flash. Once we're back on the Al Foster, we know we just have a mile to the CP34 and the finish line. Time to empty the tanks! The boys each take turns pulling while we absolutely fly down the path. Pretty soon, we spot the iconic orange and white Bonk Hard Racing inflatable arch signifying the finish line. We ease the pace just slightly to make sure everyone's together and cross the finish line with huge smiles.

FINISH 5:11:46

Big smiles at the finish line. Photo by Mary Welter.

It is incredibly satisfying to finish 1st at the Bonk Hard Castlewood 8hr AR. Sprint races are so stressful for me, since one mistake or mechanical can derail an entire race, where as in the 24hr races you have more opportunity to recover. We did make a few mistakes out there, we always do, but each one was small and we were able to recover quickly. That's the value of racing with three highly experienced teammates. Even though all of our transitions were chaotic, we were always communicating and trying to help the team as a whole. We were constantly checking on each other, making sure that no one was getting too cold or hungry or blown-up. When we had the opportunity to grab the lead, we all recognized it and had the legs to make it happen. 

It is so great to see a huge field in an adventure race, and we enjoyed the intense competition from several speedy teams. Everyone was so positive and encouraging, even when we were trying to rip each others' legs off.  That is the spirit of adventure racing! Something else pretty cool happened, a group of students from Mizzou was at the race, filming and photographing and later interviewing racers for an article on the sport. I'll post the link to that as soon as I have it, and hopefully we can draw even more athletes into our AR community! If you are a beginner racer and have questions, please use the Contact button at the top of the page to get in touch with me. I love talking to new racers!

WANT MORE?
Official results/splits: http://bonkhardracing.com/castlewood-8-hr/castlewood-8-hr-results.php
Photos: http://bonkhardracing.com/castlewood-8-hr/castlewood-8-hr-photos-.php
Ludicrous Speed gps track: http://www.strava.com/activities/219665728
Toporadicals gps track: http://www.strava.com/activities/219662739
Team Fusion/Kuat gps track: http://www.strava.com/activities/219958260

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Race Report: 2014 BT Epic

For the past 2 years, I have arrived at the starting line of the BT Epic an exhausted shell of a mountain bike racer, bargaining with my legs and my mojo for "one last solid effort" to close out a hard summer of racing. Fortunately, the BT Epic is so soaked in stoke that it hasn't been hard to go to the well on one of my favorite trails of all time, for two of the most energetic race directors of all time. 

This year, for some reason, was different. Despite logging more race hours in 2014 than ever before, despite racing (hard!) for 3 consecutive weekends in October, I was feeling ready. I was actually EXCITED to race and treating it more like an actual competitive event than I ever have. (I have my theories on the difference this year...) That being said, it's still just a mountain bike race, so there's no need to freak out with spreadsheets and such. Oh wait, do you know who's writing this? Of course I had a spreadsheet. With split times. It's just who I am.

#nerdalert

Instead of getting a (really rather expensive) cabin this year, Maria and I just loaded all of our crap into my car at 0500 Saturday morning and drove down to Bass. We got there in plenty of time for Bass to go all Ceasar Augustus on our poor souls. Seriously, can we just get the BS "day use fee" included in the race entry and be done with it?! We all know that Bass only charges it for big events, if you show up on any normal weekend there is no issue with parking and "day using". But on BT Epic weekend, oh no, we must be nickled-and-dimed (or, in this case, eight-dollared-PER-PERSON) to no end. That's my one and only complaint about the entire race. Rant over.

http://coverage.zenfolio.com/p418849751/h2E67A1B3#h2e67a1b3

To ease some of the sting of dishing out cash at 0700 on a Saturday morning, we find ourselves parked next to some of the finest jerks in all the land, and get started with our respective pre-race routines. I've honestly got things pretty dialed by now, except the one item I forgot was some duct tape to write my goal splits on and stick to my top tube. Why is this so important? Well, first of all, my splits came from my beloved spreadsheet so of course I treasure them greatly. And secondly, the women's field is THIRTY DEEP and I don't really know where I'll shake out in this pool of talented riders, so racing against my goal splits is a better way to stay motivated than trying to keep track of all the girls. So I can't find any tape, but I DO find a Sharpie, so I just jot a few notes down on my arm for reference during the race. Problem solved. I ride over to the start line and find that EK has an open spot next to him in the crowd! Huzzah! I honestly have no business being as close to the front as we are (anyone sense a theme here...) but when you can you pass up the chance for an EK-EK line-up? Never, that's when. Scott counts us down and pretty soon 300 riders are streaming out of Bass. Whoop!

EK-EK! far left.
http://coverage.zenfolio.com/p418849751/h136e406f#h128d4f56

Bass to Brazil = 1:03 (1:11) (1:17)
Almost immediately I am being passed by what seems like hundreds of riders. It's just a fact of life, I am not fast off the line to begin with, plus I have a healthy fear of miles 37-39 (aka "Triple Trouble") so I'm setting a conservative pace early on. I just settle into my 5hr effort and let it shake out watever speed that gets me. 

That works for about ten minutes, when I am passed by Matt Struckman. He's a former Pfoodman teammate of mine and also a really great technical rider. I am not a really great technical rider. I know if I can follow his wheel in the singletrack, it will help me ride more smoothly and ultimately faster. So I lift my pace to match his speed and we motor on through the remaining gravel miles. Once onto the OT, I'm rewarded with a fantastic carrot to chase down into Harmon Spring. I pre-rode these miles with Erl and Andrei last weekend so I know what to expect - mostly gradually swooping downhills but some gnarly bits in there as well. There are several people on my wheel as I accidentally lead them through a horrible line of downhill babyheads. I can hear their exclamations of dismay behind me...sorry guys! 

Once we get onto the Berryman Trail proper, Struckman charges ahead and disappears. It's no big deal since I know this trail pretty well. Except the OTA recently held a Mega-Workday and a lot of the curves have been "touched up"...i.e. leveled off on the outside/downhill edge. I'm sure the changes are good for the longevity of the trail, but today they make it harder (for me) to carry speed through the turn. I'm already sketched out by loose turns, so with the new trailwork in place, I ride cautiously. The rest of the trail into Brazil goes pretty much to plan, no surprises, just riding as hard as I dare. As I descend into Brazil Creek, I get to warn a few riders behind me of the super-sharp right-hander which helps us all stay rubber-side down. Crossing Highway W, I spot Struckman apparently waiting for me. 

I think this was taken approaching Berryman Campground?
http://coverage.zenfolio.com/p418849751/h50d5fb4#h50d5fb4

Brazil to Berryman = 1:03 (1:07) (1:10)
As we cross Highway W, I glance down at my watch and exclaim outloud, "HOLY CRAP STRUCKMAN!" and proceed to tell him that we made it to Brazil Creek 8 minutes faster than I did last year. We both concur that one of two things will happen: we'll either have a great ride, or we'll explode and be miserable for the rest of the race. Only trail will tell. I continue to chase Struckman as we ride south, but eventually lose him and pick up a trail of other guys on my wheel. I try to make passing for them as painless as possible, slowing down and scooting to the side whenever someone needs to get by. It's not a hard thing to do and makes everyone's day a little better. The 10 miles between Brazil and Berryman pass relatively quickly - I've ridden this section several times before and know the punches it throws. I tick off landmarks as we ride along: the waterbar switchbacks, fast bottoms, the tricky stub after the creek, the mushroom patch, Dwayne's root wad, the last 5 climbs, the duathlon rootwad, and finally I roll into Berryman campround, again ahead of my projected split and grinning from ear to ear. Volunteers help me find my drop bag, where all I need to do is grab another water bottle, and I'm outta there!

Berryman to Harmon = 1:19
Now, we're into flashback country. The last time I was on this section of trail, it was at mile 80 of the OT100MTB. I had just worked really hard to create a gap over SS Kate, but she closed it with a super fast stop at the aid station while I futzed with my lights. We rolled out together and I jumped ahead. We rode together for the next 7 miles, me trying to get away on the downhills and flats, and her trying to get away on the climbs. It was uncomfortable. 

But here, today, now, things are sooooo much better than 6 weeks ago. I'm in a great spot nutritionally, and therefore mentally, and having a wonderful time riding this amazing trail. The only worry is the rising temperatures, and the gurgling sound my Camelbak is making when I try to get water out of it. I'm running low on fluids, and the bottle I picked up at Berryman has CR333 in it, not the plain water I want. I'm stressing about rationing liquids when it dawns on me...Beecher Spring!

Beecher Spring.
http://compulsivehiker.com/2012/11/24/berryman-trail-2/

Beecher Spring looks like a sketchy Blair Witch bathtub next to the Berryman Trail, but it's actually potable water (if you fill straight from the hose, NOT the tub portion). And the timing is perfect too, there's a train of dudes on my wheel so I pull over, let them by, AND refill on cool clean water at the same time. Total score! I ride off up THE climb, the one that SS Kate ultimately crushed me out on to take the final, decisive lead at OT100MTB, and I'm still in super-happy-mountain-bikey mode. 

I think somewhere after THE climb, I connect with local rider Dave and he starts chatting with me. Normally I'm not very good at riding singletrack and carrying on a conversation, but today I seem to be managing with enough "mm-hmmm"s and "awesome"s to keep Dave talking. I really don't mind the company, it's motivating me to keep pushing the edge of 5hr pace and moving me nicely down the trail. I make it back to Harmon with a split of 2:49 for the full Berryman loop, definitely a PR for me which spurs my trail stoke to new heights as we hop back on the OT.

Harmon to Bass = 1:05
We ride west towards Bass and through the field where I got chiggers so badly in 2012 that I had red welts on my legs for 2 months, I always like revisiting that place and that memory. Then we head up the doubletrack climb to the gravel, the one where I cramped badly last year, and, surprise, cramps are threatening again! I've been more aggressive this year with my electrolyte intake (double nuun in each CR333 bottle PLUS a few e-caps) but the high temperatures and effort are catching up to me. I immediately dial back the pace and have to let Dave ride ahead.

Once I'm up on the ridge, we turn right on the main gravel road and have a few miles to recover. I keep the pace as high as I dare, and also focus on eating a lot. The next section of OT singletrack is likely to be the toughest we face today - three back-to-back climbs, none especially long, but each especially steep. But first, we have a sweet 2-mile downhill that just floats down the edge of the spur and keeps....going...and....going.....these things are rare in Missouri!

Once I hit Triple Trouble, it's all business. These three hills made my life miserable in the dark at the OT100MTB, but this time around I'm prepared for their nastiness. I tackle them in granny-granny, passing a ton of dudes as they stop to stretch out their cramping muscles. Wellllll....maybe like 4 or 5 guys, not technically a ton. But it sure felt like a ton! Finally, I'm spit out onto the scraggly singletrack that leads into the backside of Bass, still reveling in the night-and-day (literally) difference in my attitude between OT100MTB and today. Life is good! One more loop left!

West Loop = 0:52
I make a quick stop at the aid station, ditch my empty CamelBak, and get to the business of climbing Butts Rd. This is not a joke. The climb up Butts (ugh, that sounds so horrible...) is long, but at least it's paved and I ride in the shade whenever possible. Then we hit the ridge road which goes on for much longer than I thought - I've not ridden this section of the course at all so it's all a bit new. But finally I spot the turn-off into the singletrack, negotiate some surprisingly rocky drops, and then...BAM. I'm just about blown off my bike by the beauty of these Missouri woods. The leaves are all shades of orange and yellow, the noonish sun is slanting through them brilliantly, and all I want to do is stop and take a picture (except I don't have a camera so....). THIS is why I am so lucky to live here, within a day trip of the OT, in these marvelous open woods. I try to soak in the autumnal beauty as best I can while maintaining some sort of urgency on the singletrack.

on the West Loop
http://coverage.zenfolio.com/p418849751/h136e406f#h136e406f

Surprisingly, my legs are still hanging in there with pep and energy. I can't see anyone in front or behind me, but that's exactly what I'm hoping for in these beautiful woods. Have I mentioned, it's gorgeous? Oh, the trail's not that bad either - exceedingly rideable and very fun. That is, until my wheels are washed out from under me on an uphill switchback. My body slams hard to the ground...THUD....and I'm left blinking in the aftermath. I check the trail, no weird rocks or roots or sticks, I'm just very suddenly lying stationary. And my perpetually-bashed-up left knee has been sliced open again! I shakily get back on my bike, willing my knee to bend properly, and exhale a sigh of relief when I can still put some power through the joint. 

I get back to riding, albeit slightly more conservatively, and try to replay the crash in my mind. How did it happen? I have no idea. And then....yes. It was Noah. Whenever we on Team Noah have strange mechanicals, or weird crashes, we always picture Noah, being his angelic toddler self, giggling while he throws sticks and stones in our way, and laughing even harder when fall over, go boom. The thought of him messing with me, as only a toddler angel can do, strikes a big chord in my heart. Out of nowhere, I'm filled with immense sadness. I know it's Noah's presence combined with the exhaustion that only 4 consecutive weekends of racing can bring, but soon big fat tears are welling up in my eyes. I start sniffling and gasping for breath. I know if I stopped riding, I would melt into a full-on trailside sob-fest, so I blink back the tears as best I can and keep moving. Did you know it's really hard to ride singletrack and cry at the same time?

approaching the finish line.
http://coverage.zenfolio.com/p418849751/h2ea6577c#h2ea6577c

The remaining three-ish miles are indescribable. I want them to end immediately and I want them to last forever. I want to rejoin my friends and I want to continue by myself. I want to ride crazy hard and I want to soft pedal my way in. There's seemingly no middle ground, but somehow my legs know what to do, and continue to propel me to the finish line. 

TOTAL 5:22
And just like that, it's over. I'm at the finish line 5 minutes faster than I predicted I would be, but in a completely different headspace than when I started. A few friends notice my finish and start to ask about the day, but in my emotional state, I can barely squeak out a "It's so beautiful out there" before wanting to sob all over again. Instead of treating the masses to an EK cry-fest, I flop onto a picnic table with the Scherffinator, put my head down, close my eyes, and just listen as everyone else's race stories swirl around me. This is my favorite part of racing anyway, and helps bring me back to Earth. 

After several minutes, or maybe even an hour, I'm feeling composed enough to grab a shower (thanks Gino for the quarters!) and eat something. I was so overwhelmed at the finish that I didn't even bother to ask my placing, but it turns out I finished 6th overall women - better than I've ever done before! 5th place was my adventure racing friend Britt, only about 90 seconds ahead of me, but I hadn't seen her all day so had no idea it was that close. I stick around for the awards and huge raffle, passing the time by eating ice cream and stealing gummy bears with the jerks, and it's definitely not a bad place to be. 

WANT MORE?
Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/211693797
Roxy: http://www.dirtgirldiary.com/2014/10/bt-epic-2014.html
Results: http://www.unitedindirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bte_2014_times_agegroups.pdf
Results: http://www.unitedindirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bte_2014_times_overall.pdf
Photos: http://coverage.zenfolio.com/p418849751 <--- seriously check these photos out. buy some if you have the $$. Patrick does a great job capturing amazing shots!!!

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Race Report: 2014 Burnin at the Bluff 12hr solo

Me on my first lap ever at Council Bluff Lake. Changing one of about 5 flats. Photo by Stephen Venters.

My first time at Burnin at the Bluff in 2010, I couldn't finish a lap faster than 2 hours. Multiple pinch flats and a serious lack of bike-handling talent humbled me on the 12.5-mile singletrack loop of Council Bluff Lake. Luckily I had saints (Todd Holtmann and John Peiffer) for teammates and they forgave my inexperience by throwing down some much faster lap times and we finished 4th coed team that year.

Me and Wendy at Burnin 2012. I was barely sober enough to climb the podium.

I wasn't able to race in 2011, but in 2012 I woman-ed up on Friday night and jumped into the 12hr solo category against Wendy Davis. My fastest lap that year was a 1:39, but I was able to eek out the victory with 5 laps after building a 15ish minute lead. I distinctly remember slowly walking up one of the punchier climbs on the route, eating peanut butter crackers and wanting to cry. When I was able to finish with 5 laps, my body was wrecked and I attempted to fix it with Wild Turkey American Honey...not recommended!

Bootlegger's Burnin 2013. Photo by Sneat Pinkles.

I also wasn't able to race in 2013 because of some adventure racing conflict. That turned out to be okay since Council Bluff Lake is part of Mark Twain National Forest which was closed for the government shut-down. Bootlegger's Burnin was still held, but not as many people showed and they all thought emptying kegs of PBR was more important than churning out laps of CBL. They were only being polite - it's rude to expect someone to haul full kegs back to STL. Just your friendly neighborhood mountain bikers trying to make everyone's weekend a little easier.

OT100MTB podium. Photo by Melisa Link.

And that brings us to 2014, the year of the inaugural OT100MTB where Kate Wilson beat me so convincingly in the 100-mile women's race that I didn't even want to toe the line at Burnin and potentially lose again. I was one text message away from joining an all-women's team and only being responsible for 3 speedy laps instead of more-than-3 steady laps. But after talking to my Team Noah Foundation teammates, I realized I couldn't just slink away from one tough loss. I had to re-evaluate my race logistics, strategy, and most importantly, mental focus. It's not like I made any huge mistakes at OT100MTB, but after carefully dissecting every mile of my ride, I found a few things that I could improve on to help Burnin go well.

Starting line of Burnin 2014. Photo by Patrick Kirkes.

So I showed up at Council Bluff Lake on Saturday morning with a plan. Execute my race, smart and steady, and be ready to go to the well when the race demanded it. And I did plan on digging deep - I had raced for 29 hours the weekend prior at USARA Adventure Racing Nationals, finishing 5th overall with my Alpine Shop teammates Jeff and David. But I had taken it extremely easy the days in between and I knew that if I kept my brain in the right place, my legs would show up with an honest effort.

I set up my pit beneath a glorious Alpine Shop pop-up tent and got the SegSlayer all ready to go. The morning was cool but not freezing and no rain - perfect racing conditions. I had heard reports that the singletrack was in terrific shape despite constant rains on Friday and I couldn't wait to get on it myself. We all lined up for the long Le Mans start and I landed on the front row. I have no idea why. It's not like I planned on or even WANTED to be at the front of the race. But David and Peat and Dwayne were there so I just stood like I belonged. We sang the national anthem, lit some smoke bombs, and then took off for the run to our bikes.

Did someone have chili for breakfast? Photo by Kelly Skinner.

LAP 1, 1:30 (includes Le Mans run start)

Clackity-clack-clack-clackity-clack! That is the sound of getting passed by more than half the field at Burnin, and I am not bothered in the least. I don't want the pressure of people riding close behind me on the singletrack, so I just jog, find my bike which is exactly where I left it (not always the case at Burnin), jump on, and ride off down the hill. I note that Kate is ahead of me but she soon zooms out of my field of vision and I let her go. I've been really nervous all morning and now that the race has started, I can't shake the tension like I normally do. And I handle my bike like crap when I'm nervous. This isn't good. I know I just need to get a few miles under my belt so I try not to beat myself up too badly when I put a foot down in the easy sections. I finally make it to the campground climb that signals the end of each lap, and happily spin up it to find out my fate...how far ahead is Kate? As I ride through the pit area, I get reports from various people, ranging from 1 to 10 minutes. Not very helpful. But thankfully Carrie is there under the Alpine Shop tent, ready to help me with my stuff and with a reliable split - 3 minutes from when Kate left. I just grab some extra calories for my bento and ride out for Lap 2.

LAP 2, 1:28

I am encouraged that despite my shaky bike handling, the gap up to Kate isn’t disastrous. Back on the trail, I focus on how lucky I am to be riding one of my all-time favorite pieces of singletrack in nearly perfect conditions. And, I get to do this ALL DAY!! I think about my journey from total newbie to somewhat accomplished racer, and try to remind myself that no matter what happens at the end of 12 hours, I’ve come so far already. One of the many things that Team Noah Foundation has helped me focus on is the journey. Results are good but our evolution as people and as a community is what we’re all here for. I reflect on the many teammates I’ve raced with both mountain biking and adventure racing, how much I’ve learned from them, and how much their teaching fills me with gratitude and joy. I know this sounds incredibly sappy but it really was my mental state on Lap 2. Just before I get to the rock garden (near mile 8.5 out of 12.5), Heather (racing 6hr solo) catches up to me and we both clean the rock garden (victory!!!) and onto the dam. Heather hustles by and for a minute I just let her go. And then I remember how good of a technical rider she is and how much I could gain by following her wheel. So I sprint back up to her and am rewarded with 4 miles of fast, clean riding. Her pace is just one tick above mine, but her lines are immaculate and by following them, we absolutely fly through the remaining singletrack. We climb up the the campground together and once we get to the top, I tell Heather thanks as she stops at her pit. I also see Kate just leaving her pit so I know the gap is down to a minute or so. Great news!

Top of the campground climb on Lap 1. Photo by John Gomes.

LAP 3, 1:31

I ditch my vest, change into lighter gloves, and swap bottles before heading out on Lap 3. The previous lap helped me find my singletrack swagga and now I know that Kate is within reach. But we still have many laps ahead of us and I am in no rush to catch her as long as the gap stays manageable. Finally, just after the rock garden, I catch sight of her crossing the dam and am encouraged. I see no benefit to passing her now so I just ride 10-60 seconds back for the remaining 4 miles. I think I get close enough a few times that she figured out I was there, but not sure. In any case, it doesn't really matter since my left groin muscle cramps as we climb up to the campground. No bueno! I'm discouraged but not devastated, again this is still early in the day and I have plenty of time to fix this. I take it super easy on my legs and am able to get some encouragement from speedy Nad Snurb as he passes me on the right-hander switchback. Go 1993 Bulls! Once in the pit, I am focused on getting some salt. I double up on nuun tablets in my bottle and get some e-caps from Tara who set up her tent next to mine. Saved, thanks lady!!

LAP 4, 1:31

Fully restocked on nutrition, I roll out with a turkey sandwich in hand and a goal to fix these cramps ASAP before the race gets serious. Ironically, I purchased "low-sodium" turkey for my sandwich and am laughing at myself for that "healthy" decision. Anyway, I eat the entire thing before hitting the singletrack and then it's pure bliss once again. Gino catches me early and I give him a quick recap of the race so far before he zooms past. Strove Frodeman does it a few minutes later. I swear, these fast guys doing single laps seem like fighter jets compared to my 12hr pace. It's actually really inspiring to me and I try to visualize myself floating over the babyheads and shredding through the loose turns like they do. Zoom zoom! I catch back up to Kate at the rock garden (seems to be a theme here) but again don't want to try to pass her until I'm sure that my legs are good to go. So we ride loosely together for the rest of the lap until the start of the campground climb. Kate has gotten a little bit ahead of me and as I ride up, I notice she's standing still, off her bike, and a curious pssssssssst noise is coming from one of the tires. Oh no! A flat! I stop and offer to help but Kate says she has everything she needs. I don't need to be told twice to keep riding. But my "sprint" uphill is really comical since I still haven't quite fixed the cramping in my legs yet. So it's more like a slow-motion spin into the campground. I circle the field just as Aaro the announcer is calling time on the 6hr race and I am super-stoked to finish my 4 laps in 6hrs flat. 2 years ago it was my "stretch" goal to reel off four 1:30 laps in a row and now I've done it as a part of a much bigger race. This fills me with confidence as I execute another quick pit with the help of Maria and hit the road for another lap.

LAP 5, 1:34

I didn't anticipate being in the lead of the women's 12hr race on Lap 5, but these are the cards the race is currently dealing, and I know I have to double down my effort here to have any hope later of staying in front. I was leading the women's race at OT100MTB until mile 87 and lost it because I wasn't riding as smart as I possibly could. So now I try to take all of the lessons I learned from that day and put them to use. Climb hard, but not too hard. Ride clean through the every tiny tech section that I possibly can. And on the downhills, RECOVER instead of push. I chat this out loud to myself everytime the trail turns down. Hands loose, shoulders loose, legs loose, deep breaths. Heart full, eyes clear...or something like that. Actually my mental soundtrack was rockin all day thanks to Bronze Radio Return's Further On and Up, On & Over. Seriously, this band is so inspiring, check them out. Adding to the party in my brain is Dwayne and Peat who have finally lapped me, guess where, just before the rock garden!! I am pretty pumped to hold them off for 50+ miles, and they have news that Kate has successfully fixed her tire and is riding again. Woohoo! As I spin up the campground climb my legs seem to hold strong and Maria and Jeff help me in the pit.

LAP 6, 1:37

As I ride off on Lap 6, I can't help but compare my mental and physical state from 2012. That year, I was completely crushed by 5 laps and couldn't imagine a sixth, let alone the SEVEN that Jen Goldstein rode to win the women's 12hr. Now, I'm still feeling reasonably strong, although my hands have started to go numb. I have a love/hate relationship with hand numbness. First, I like it because it means I've been riding a long time. Then, I dislike it because it hurts. Then, I like it because it means I brake less so I go "faster". Then, I dislike it because I get scared about braking less. Then, I like it because it forces me out of my comfort zone. So. There you have it. A peek into EK's racebrain. Oh yeah, and the real EK passes me just before the paved boat launch with surprising news that the 1993 Bulls are not living up to their destiny. And that's really all I can remember about Lap 6, just trying to stay strong but not too strong, take a few glances backward but not too many because "winning is that way".

LAP 7, 1:43

I make it back to the pit around 6:00pm with the sun slowly setting so it's time to add lights to my bike and helmet. I felt like this took me a long time to deal with at OT100MTB so today I've prepped a second helmet with a Stella 300, and my Seca 750 is already on my bars, I just have to plug in a battery and I'm off! Maria helps me again with a quick pit and soon the dusk is settling over Council Bluff Lake. On the doubletrack leading into Enough Boat Ramp I start to turn on lights, and it takes me a few miles to get used to the transition. I crash pretty hard on one of the uphills just after Enough, and land on the downhill side of the trail with my bike on top of me. I feel panic rising in my heart, fearing that Kate will catch me while I'm tangled up on the side of the trail. I try to calm myself down and get going again, which is hard but I manage. I'm alternating between moments of joy and moments of despair. I remind myself to keep digging deep to make up for the apathy I battled (or rather...didn't battle) at OT100MTB. Throughout the rest of the lap, several lights catch me and for each one, I'm praying that the voice behind it is male. Lucky enough for me, they all are, including a repeat visit from Gino who tells me I sound much happier than earlier in the race. And he's right! It's hard to keep track of landmarks from earlier in the day, but the sharp right-hand turn that signals the start of the campground climb is hard to miss. All the way up hill I'm doing mental math...do I have time for another lap? Does Kate?

Once at the top, I check in with the timing tent to see if they have any idea what the gap is back to Kate. They say it's around 10-15 minutes, but then I realize I have no idea how much time I gave up crashing. Anything can happen here at Burnin and I'm in a tough spot. All laps have to be completed by 9:30pm or they don't count. It's 7:45pm and if I have to do another lap, it will take a near-perfect ride to finish before the cutoff. I would really, really rather not ride it if I don't have to. So, I prepare for an 8th lap at the Alpine Shop tent, drinking an Ensure and filling my bottle with Coke, while Maria stands guard at the singletrack exit to see if Kate is close behind. The clock ticks down, each second inching closer to being done. Finally, with only 1h25m remaining, we haven't seen Kate, so I walk back over to the timing tent to tell them I'm done. 

If you don't crash at least once, you're not riding hard enough. Photo by The Claw.

They congratulate me unofficially on the win and then point out that my left knee is bleeding! I hadn't even realized it. Struckman digs out his first aid kit and The Claw hands me a delicious pumpkin beer as we work on cleaning out my disgusting wound. Fortunately, it's not terribly deep, just bloody, so I eventually just pack it with iodine swabs, slap a bandaid on it, and call it good. I have a few minutes to change into dry clothes and even have a beer before the awards ceremony! It's awesome to see the final riders come through, and to see Peat and Dwayne ride to the finish together after their 9-lap odyssey. Peat takes the win with a wheelie across the line in true Peat fashion.

So I can't find a picture of the 12hr women's podium, but it was me and Kate rockin the straw bales! 

Photo credit secret to protect the innocent.

And then, against all advice from The Voice Of Reason, we burned said straw bales. Maybe Scooter and I found some boxes to throw on the bonfire as well. We were just trying to be helpful - burning boxes is lot easier than hauling them to the dumpster. Maybe a flamingo or two was included in there too, but I can't say for certain. Once the fire had died (or had it?) we migrated to Campsite C and proceeded to demolish their buffet of perfectly charred corn, and potatoes, and red pepper hummus. Oh my, it was delicious. Just ask Carrie.

http://instagram.com/p/uEJB4Qq7S-/?modal=true

And then, with a rather quiet, tame, and strangely coherent walk back to my campsite, Burnin was over. The road leading into this race was hard for me. I needed to lean on the strength of my Team Noah Foundation and Alpine Shop teammates for the courage to even sign up, and for the skills and mental focus needed to have my best race. And, in a way that maybe only makes sense to me, I needed Kate to win the OT100MTB so I could have the day I had at Burnin. A few days after the race, both she and Peat thought that I had broken the women's 12hr solo record, and it was Kate who dug up the evidence on the Interwebz. Turns out we both smashed Jen's previous best of 7 laps in 12:36 (Kate in 11:15 and me in 10:53). Now records in mountain biking are a little silly because they are so dependent on trail conditions, but I am still so proud of what we both accomplished at Burnin 2014. Dwayne is always about the journey and I can tell you that laps around Council Bluff Lake is one of the best journeys you can ever hope to take.

RESULTS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fy1x5frj3276mbl/BATB%202014%2012%20Hour%20Solo%20Mens%20and%20Womens%20Results.pdf?dl=0 AND https://www.facebook.com/2TGLLC
MY STRAVA: http://www.strava.com/activities/206644103
JEN GOLDSTEIN'S RECORD: http://www.mylaps.com/en/classification/1724211?perClass=1
PATRICK KIRKES PHOTOS: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.kirkes/media_set?set=a.10201757961590183.1073741833.1815502498&type=3
JOHN GOMES PHOTOS: https://www.facebook.com/john.gomes.77736310/media_set?set=a.1550064728557556.1073741843.100006621314385&type=1
KELLY SKINNER PHOTOS: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.skinner.779/media_set?set=a.216347128381882.67307.100000197886693&type=1

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