RSS
Don't Be Stupid!
posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 by Team Eastern Mountain Sports @ 2:02 AM -
0 comments
"Don't be stupid!"
It was 2 pm, a mere 7 hours into the CheckPointZero race 2008 and now those three little words were coming back to haunt me. The week leading up the race, the team emails back and forth were a flurry with conflicting details about what the coming weekend's weather would bring. While Joe, Dave, Chad, Jeff and Dawn debated the possibility of freezing temps and snow, I had my own flurries brewing all around me. I was in the midst of trying to wrap up my job of over 8 years to depart for a new position and it was not going well. I had plenty to deal with without getting into the fine details of which rain pant, jacket, sock combination would be best. I needed to get a message out to the team and get it out fast and without any possibility of ambiguity. "The weather is going to be lousy and we are Team Eastern Mountain Sports. We represent the best outdoor gear company. We're from the northeast and train in bad weather all the time. Bad weather should be seen as on opportunity not a detriment to us. While other teams struggle, we should be flourishing. Bring every piece of warm clothing you have. Don't leave anything at home and then tell me you wish you had it. Don't be stupid!" Now, 4 days later, Dave, Chad and I were being blown sideways and backwards into a dock in high gale winds. Icicles were dripping off my helmet, I was paddling as hard as I could into the wind and despite wearing two jackets, including a ski jacket, I couldn't feel three fingers on my right hand. We weren't even half way through this paddle leg and I realized that I was the stupid one. My dry suit was hanging in my closet at home.
When the Yaks siren went off on the shores of Lake Chatuge at 7am that morning, racers sprinted around the island in a short prologue to the boats while the clouds simultaneously gathered their might, pawed the ground and took off along side of us. As we pushed off in a brand new canoe that Mohawk Canoes had provided to us, the snow began. It was driving hard and stinging our faces as we rounded the bend, ducked under the bridge under the main road as we headed up towards the river. Georgia has been hit by some of the worst droughts on record this past year, but the rains from the previous days were doing their best to make up for that. We were witness to this as we paddled against the current towards the take out point. Jumping in and out of our boats to drag it when the current defeated us, we finally reached the take out point alongside the three other lead teams, ABC/Capital Bikes, Enduraventure and Black Dome. We checked in, dropped our boat, then started looking for our support crew. It turns out that after following our instructions to our crew to get to the TA first and grab a prime spot by the check-in tent, the take-out was moved twice down river and our crew had been denied permission to move. They were now at the furthest most point away which created a little panic in us as we ran through almost the entire park before finally finding them. However, we did and after a relatively quick change and were off on our bikes just after Enduraventure who turned around a fast TA.
We had a small bobble on the first road section, passing what looked to be a driveway at first glance but then ended up being our road. We determined this quickly, but as teams were so closely spaced, this allowed ABC and BlackDome to catch up. These are all great guys and so it was enjoyable to have the added company for the misery of that first long climb. The snow continued to fall and combined with the dried leaves, it made for a ghastly mixture that gunked up in our frames and halted our wheels from turning. All our teams battled with this, alternating with shifting issues, troubles clipping in, frozen brakes and failing forks. Consistently grinding away, we eventually caught back on with Enduraventure and after sharing a lovely bike whack section, in which Lisa Randall got to witness me getting my first ever black eye, we proceeded through the section and all rolled into the TA-2 together.
We now transitioned to Paddle Leg 2 on Lake Burton, the same lake we paddled on in last year's CP0 race. Last year it was a warm, sunny day and we had watched people milling around their million dollar starter mansions, but today's weather would give it a drastically different look. The winds were wicked (a high wind advisory was in affect and this section of the race was eventually closed), but despite the white caps, our trust boat handled the chop and being blown sideways without losing stability. I was pretty proud of myself for dressing well for the first hour, but then the cold started to creep in. My attempt to put hand warmers in my gloves failed and I knew all I cold do was paddle as hard as I could and try to stay warm. I warned Dave and Chad as we approached the take-out that I was as cold as I could ever remember being and that I would need some time in the car at this next TA to get warm. We took out dead even with Enduraventure, but a long TA time due to the time I needed warming up would drop us back 15 minutes out of the lead leaving on Bike Leg 2. Lucky for us, Wedali's support crew had stopped over to help our crew of Bob, Susan and my sister, Hilary, clean up and lube our iced over bikes. None of our crew are cyclists, so it would have been a much tougher ride without this help. It made a huge difference and once again, our friends from Minnesota proved why they are such terrific individuals. They truly represent the spirit of this sport! We owe you guys!
This leg started slowly for us. I was feeling very drained after getting so cold and Chad and Dave worked hard to keep my speed up by taking turns on towing duty. Our speed wasn't great, so we were surprised to learn we were just 7 minutes out of first when we got to CP8! We pushed on past CP9 expecting to catch Enduraventure around each turn, but instead kept coming upon teams that had short-coursed their race. We then came upon an interesting trail junction with tire tracks going both ways. I stopped behind Dave and promptly toppled over. I claimed I had been unable to unclip but he clearly had his doubts about that story. We were faced with a choice; straight ahead and downhill or, up a very steep climb up to a ridge to the right. The tire tracks up the steep stopped and turned around which gave us pause for thought. The locals had changed their mind. Hmmm. What might they know that we did not? Was there an unmapped trail that would connect us if we went straight? As tempting as it was to follow the tracks and go downhill, there is a reason why we remain so consistent both at home and away- we know how to navigate. We know that you can't ever stop and trust local knowledge, that of your own or of others. Going straight made no sense as we would end up climbing more. We went right. Tough as that bike push was, followed by a crazy, treacherous downhill bushwhack, it was our gold medal move. It put us into a lead that we held the rest of the race.
We bumped into Team Inertia from Kansas (hi guys!) on the way down who were on a shorter course and on their way out. After finding an old road, we hopped on our bikes for a fast descent when I quickly realized, in horror, that my brakes were frozen and I had nothing! Zip! Nada!All I really needed to do was pulse the brakes, but when you're accelerating at the speed of scream, getting fingers out of death grip is not likely, I did the only thing I could and ditched myself into a crash. This was painful and we'll leave it at that. But it may have snapped me out of my funk as I started to ride pretty descent. I could no longer clip in as I had indeed snapped one of my cleat's screws off causing that earlier fall (see, it wasn't me!) but I was still climbing pretty well. I'm sure the guys were relieved to have a break from towing me, but as the cold took over my gearing and reduced me to a single gear combination, my abilities again became limited. But how can you complain when you know that all of the teams out there are dealing with issues? We coasted back into the checkpoint/TA at the fishery at Burton Lake to confirm that we were still holding onto first place. But by how much? Tick, tick, tick... That's the problem with being in the lead.
My sister, Hilary, had come to take her first ever turn as a support crew member, and I know she was relieved to see I had warmed up. She had gotten concerned as I headed out on the second bike leg still shivering quite a bit, but she had not shown it. In fact, she practically pushed me back out on the course. She, along with Susan and Bob, did an amazing job of support throughout the race (Thanks guys! You rock!!) I felt relieved to know we only had the trek in front of us as this is a strength for me and, well, all of us. Cruise through this and we head to the finish line, right? Clearly I had forgotten that Tony Berwald had designed this course. There would be no cruising. As we headed out we learned that CP13 was being recommended as a good one to skip for tired or less experienced teams as it would involve crossing a raging river on a log. Well, that is unless Dave Lamb is your navigator, in which case you will cross the river wherever he first sees the opportunity. We had already crossed about 20 rivers that day so the wet and cold wasn't an issue, but the idea of being swept over the falls by the river didn't do my nerves any good. But if you know Dave, you know he only takes calculated risks, and I trust him. We got through just fine, of course, ran up the trail on the other side of the river, punched CP 13 and were off for 14. I would love to tell you about CPs 14, 15, 16 and 17, but it was dark and I was getting tired. They were all hard and seemed to take forever. Dave nailed them (thanks to the Barkers for the brownies at CP17!) and as we headed towards 18 we passed by CP14. We popped in to get a sense of how far in the lead we had been when we had passed through this point hours earlier and Team Eastern Mountain Sports Masters, Jeff, Dawn and Joe, were there! They had been trying to decide which CPs they still had time to get within the 30 hour limit and when we passed through, they decide to bail on 15, 16 and 17 to join us for 18, 19, then head for home. Unfortunately, I feel we enticed them into abandoning their course earlier than they should have, but we were all getting worried about making our flights back home. None of us expected to be on course longer than 24 hours! It was great to have us all there for 18 and then 19 and it was a thrill to be the first teams to arrive at these CPs. We thank the volunteers who gave us so much of their time to be out there in the freezing cold. Sorry that you didn't get more company during the race!
I was dead tired when we crossed the finish line. Drained completely. As tired as my memory allows me to remember ever having been as we crossed the line, but so thrilled to learn we had won. In the end, we would be the only team to officially clear the course. ATAC would also complete the full course, although unofficially due to a lost passport. Hats off to them for refusing to give up when others would have thrown in the towel and gone home to pout. It was not an easy course and you have my respect. Thanks to Dave and Chad for being so super strong and supporting me through some real tough moments out on this course. Thanks to Tony and Yak, well not so much Tony ;-), for putting together a seriously tough and technically challenging course. Thanks to our support crew, Bob, Susan and especially, my sister Hilary. During this race, whenever I wanted to quit (and how I did!) I thought of Hilary and I knew I needed to do whatever I could to bring her a win. She was there for me and I would be there for her. Quitting simply wasnt an option. Thanks as always to our most excellent sponsors, Teva, Rocky Mountain bikes, Gregory Packs, SmartWool, NUUN, and, of course, Eastern Mountain Sports. If this race didn't destroy the gear you guys make, I don't know what would! Thanks for all of your support to the team and the sport of adventure racing.
It was 2 pm, a mere 7 hours into the CheckPointZero race 2008 and now those three little words were coming back to haunt me. The week leading up the race, the team emails back and forth were a flurry with conflicting details about what the coming weekend's weather would bring. While Joe, Dave, Chad, Jeff and Dawn debated the possibility of freezing temps and snow, I had my own flurries brewing all around me. I was in the midst of trying to wrap up my job of over 8 years to depart for a new position and it was not going well. I had plenty to deal with without getting into the fine details of which rain pant, jacket, sock combination would be best. I needed to get a message out to the team and get it out fast and without any possibility of ambiguity. "The weather is going to be lousy and we are Team Eastern Mountain Sports. We represent the best outdoor gear company. We're from the northeast and train in bad weather all the time. Bad weather should be seen as on opportunity not a detriment to us. While other teams struggle, we should be flourishing. Bring every piece of warm clothing you have. Don't leave anything at home and then tell me you wish you had it. Don't be stupid!" Now, 4 days later, Dave, Chad and I were being blown sideways and backwards into a dock in high gale winds. Icicles were dripping off my helmet, I was paddling as hard as I could into the wind and despite wearing two jackets, including a ski jacket, I couldn't feel three fingers on my right hand. We weren't even half way through this paddle leg and I realized that I was the stupid one. My dry suit was hanging in my closet at home.
When the Yaks siren went off on the shores of Lake Chatuge at 7am that morning, racers sprinted around the island in a short prologue to the boats while the clouds simultaneously gathered their might, pawed the ground and took off along side of us. As we pushed off in a brand new canoe that Mohawk Canoes had provided to us, the snow began. It was driving hard and stinging our faces as we rounded the bend, ducked under the bridge under the main road as we headed up towards the river. Georgia has been hit by some of the worst droughts on record this past year, but the rains from the previous days were doing their best to make up for that. We were witness to this as we paddled against the current towards the take out point. Jumping in and out of our boats to drag it when the current defeated us, we finally reached the take out point alongside the three other lead teams, ABC/Capital Bikes, Enduraventure and Black Dome. We checked in, dropped our boat, then started looking for our support crew. It turns out that after following our instructions to our crew to get to the TA first and grab a prime spot by the check-in tent, the take-out was moved twice down river and our crew had been denied permission to move. They were now at the furthest most point away which created a little panic in us as we ran through almost the entire park before finally finding them. However, we did and after a relatively quick change and were off on our bikes just after Enduraventure who turned around a fast TA.
We had a small bobble on the first road section, passing what looked to be a driveway at first glance but then ended up being our road. We determined this quickly, but as teams were so closely spaced, this allowed ABC and BlackDome to catch up. These are all great guys and so it was enjoyable to have the added company for the misery of that first long climb. The snow continued to fall and combined with the dried leaves, it made for a ghastly mixture that gunked up in our frames and halted our wheels from turning. All our teams battled with this, alternating with shifting issues, troubles clipping in, frozen brakes and failing forks. Consistently grinding away, we eventually caught back on with Enduraventure and after sharing a lovely bike whack section, in which Lisa Randall got to witness me getting my first ever black eye, we proceeded through the section and all rolled into the TA-2 together.
We now transitioned to Paddle Leg 2 on Lake Burton, the same lake we paddled on in last year's CP0 race. Last year it was a warm, sunny day and we had watched people milling around their million dollar starter mansions, but today's weather would give it a drastically different look. The winds were wicked (a high wind advisory was in affect and this section of the race was eventually closed), but despite the white caps, our trust boat handled the chop and being blown sideways without losing stability. I was pretty proud of myself for dressing well for the first hour, but then the cold started to creep in. My attempt to put hand warmers in my gloves failed and I knew all I cold do was paddle as hard as I could and try to stay warm. I warned Dave and Chad as we approached the take-out that I was as cold as I could ever remember being and that I would need some time in the car at this next TA to get warm. We took out dead even with Enduraventure, but a long TA time due to the time I needed warming up would drop us back 15 minutes out of the lead leaving on Bike Leg 2. Lucky for us, Wedali's support crew had stopped over to help our crew of Bob, Susan and my sister, Hilary, clean up and lube our iced over bikes. None of our crew are cyclists, so it would have been a much tougher ride without this help. It made a huge difference and once again, our friends from Minnesota proved why they are such terrific individuals. They truly represent the spirit of this sport! We owe you guys!
This leg started slowly for us. I was feeling very drained after getting so cold and Chad and Dave worked hard to keep my speed up by taking turns on towing duty. Our speed wasn't great, so we were surprised to learn we were just 7 minutes out of first when we got to CP8! We pushed on past CP9 expecting to catch Enduraventure around each turn, but instead kept coming upon teams that had short-coursed their race. We then came upon an interesting trail junction with tire tracks going both ways. I stopped behind Dave and promptly toppled over. I claimed I had been unable to unclip but he clearly had his doubts about that story. We were faced with a choice; straight ahead and downhill or, up a very steep climb up to a ridge to the right. The tire tracks up the steep stopped and turned around which gave us pause for thought. The locals had changed their mind. Hmmm. What might they know that we did not? Was there an unmapped trail that would connect us if we went straight? As tempting as it was to follow the tracks and go downhill, there is a reason why we remain so consistent both at home and away- we know how to navigate. We know that you can't ever stop and trust local knowledge, that of your own or of others. Going straight made no sense as we would end up climbing more. We went right. Tough as that bike push was, followed by a crazy, treacherous downhill bushwhack, it was our gold medal move. It put us into a lead that we held the rest of the race.
We bumped into Team Inertia from Kansas (hi guys!) on the way down who were on a shorter course and on their way out. After finding an old road, we hopped on our bikes for a fast descent when I quickly realized, in horror, that my brakes were frozen and I had nothing! Zip! Nada!All I really needed to do was pulse the brakes, but when you're accelerating at the speed of scream, getting fingers out of death grip is not likely, I did the only thing I could and ditched myself into a crash. This was painful and we'll leave it at that. But it may have snapped me out of my funk as I started to ride pretty descent. I could no longer clip in as I had indeed snapped one of my cleat's screws off causing that earlier fall (see, it wasn't me!) but I was still climbing pretty well. I'm sure the guys were relieved to have a break from towing me, but as the cold took over my gearing and reduced me to a single gear combination, my abilities again became limited. But how can you complain when you know that all of the teams out there are dealing with issues? We coasted back into the checkpoint/TA at the fishery at Burton Lake to confirm that we were still holding onto first place. But by how much? Tick, tick, tick... That's the problem with being in the lead.
My sister, Hilary, had come to take her first ever turn as a support crew member, and I know she was relieved to see I had warmed up. She had gotten concerned as I headed out on the second bike leg still shivering quite a bit, but she had not shown it. In fact, she practically pushed me back out on the course. She, along with Susan and Bob, did an amazing job of support throughout the race (Thanks guys! You rock!!) I felt relieved to know we only had the trek in front of us as this is a strength for me and, well, all of us. Cruise through this and we head to the finish line, right? Clearly I had forgotten that Tony Berwald had designed this course. There would be no cruising. As we headed out we learned that CP13 was being recommended as a good one to skip for tired or less experienced teams as it would involve crossing a raging river on a log. Well, that is unless Dave Lamb is your navigator, in which case you will cross the river wherever he first sees the opportunity. We had already crossed about 20 rivers that day so the wet and cold wasn't an issue, but the idea of being swept over the falls by the river didn't do my nerves any good. But if you know Dave, you know he only takes calculated risks, and I trust him. We got through just fine, of course, ran up the trail on the other side of the river, punched CP 13 and were off for 14. I would love to tell you about CPs 14, 15, 16 and 17, but it was dark and I was getting tired. They were all hard and seemed to take forever. Dave nailed them (thanks to the Barkers for the brownies at CP17!) and as we headed towards 18 we passed by CP14. We popped in to get a sense of how far in the lead we had been when we had passed through this point hours earlier and Team Eastern Mountain Sports Masters, Jeff, Dawn and Joe, were there! They had been trying to decide which CPs they still had time to get within the 30 hour limit and when we passed through, they decide to bail on 15, 16 and 17 to join us for 18, 19, then head for home. Unfortunately, I feel we enticed them into abandoning their course earlier than they should have, but we were all getting worried about making our flights back home. None of us expected to be on course longer than 24 hours! It was great to have us all there for 18 and then 19 and it was a thrill to be the first teams to arrive at these CPs. We thank the volunteers who gave us so much of their time to be out there in the freezing cold. Sorry that you didn't get more company during the race!
I was dead tired when we crossed the finish line. Drained completely. As tired as my memory allows me to remember ever having been as we crossed the line, but so thrilled to learn we had won. In the end, we would be the only team to officially clear the course. ATAC would also complete the full course, although unofficially due to a lost passport. Hats off to them for refusing to give up when others would have thrown in the towel and gone home to pout. It was not an easy course and you have my respect. Thanks to Dave and Chad for being so super strong and supporting me through some real tough moments out on this course. Thanks to Tony and Yak, well not so much Tony ;-), for putting together a seriously tough and technically challenging course. Thanks to our support crew, Bob, Susan and especially, my sister Hilary. During this race, whenever I wanted to quit (and how I did!) I thought of Hilary and I knew I needed to do whatever I could to bring her a win. She was there for me and I would be there for her. Quitting simply wasnt an option. Thanks as always to our most excellent sponsors, Teva, Rocky Mountain bikes, Gregory Packs, SmartWool, NUUN, and, of course, Eastern Mountain Sports. If this race didn't destroy the gear you guys make, I don't know what would! Thanks for all of your support to the team and the sport of adventure racing.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home