The FIG 2019 – 12 hr Adventure Race

Team: Solo

Field: 42 total teams, 2 in solo female division

Checkpoints total: 21

Checkpoints I found: 15 

Time on Course: 11:18

Placing: 2nd (of 2) in division, 16th overall.

Distance traveled: At least 30 miles (via Spot imported into Google Maps). Garmin had 11 miles when it quit, while Spot only had 8.58 miles.

Musings:

Going into this race, I was a little nervous. This was going to be my longest solo adventure, aside from sitting in a 10’ circle for 4 days that one time in the Pines… anyways, I had concerns! The weekend before I asked Steve to create a small course of points for me to plot and then find out at Yellowwood. I felt a bit more prepared after mostly successfully finding the points. My fears of bike breakdown are still completely real and have yet to bite me during a race but I hope to take a simple bike maintenance course this winter. Ok, enough of the lead up, here’s the details of my race!

Friday was a bit stressful in that we had to teach all day, then I had to bug out to the gym to do the Open WOD while Steve headed over to the ribbon cutting at the new skate park. I knew we were cutting it close but I guess I just didn’t realize how close until we got in the car to head down! There was no way possible we’d make the meeting and map pick up but luckily they let Scott grab my maps. We made it to the bike drop off and off loaded our bikes, helmets, and gloves. We could leave whatever we wanted at the bike drop but it all had to leave with us when we grabbed the bikes. We headed to the Hemlock Lodge to spend the next 3 hours staring at the maps and planning routes. This was the first time I’ve spent that much time planning a route and once I was finished I compared my plan to Steve and Scott’s. Other than not planning to clear the course, our routes were very similar! I took time to mark elevation of the checkpoints, distances between the ones I planned to pace count, and other helpful details. We called it quits on the maps around 12:30 but still had to pack our bags! One day I hope to be organized enough to roll into a race with my bag already packed! I think we were probably asleep by 1:15 or so, making the 5:30 wake up a bit more challenging.

Race mornings are not my best mornings. No coffee, so a Red Bull for caffeine. I will say we’ve got the food thing figured out! The Jimmy Dean Meat Lover Bowls are great and only take 2 mins in the microwave, giving us a hot 450 cal tasty start to the race. The only issue was our room didn’t have a microwave… The kind person at the front desk let me use the staff microwave so we could have breakfast! We threw the packs in the truck and headed out, eating our food on the short drive over. We were the last two teams to pick up our passports. In the rush, I’d forgotten my buff I’d planned to use for a neck gaiter and my trusty all purpose bandana. Oh well, it was time to go! 

A 7:00 am start in November means you start in the dark! First up was the PaDdle (an on foot O course). We raced down the stairs in a pack of headlamps, slid around the corners on the frosty wood, and made our way right back to the lodge Steve and I were staying at! Down the big hill, around the corners, the lead teams were striding it out and I found myself mid to back of the pack. My entire goal this race was to not get caught up in the lemming mentality and to run my own race. Whelp, after following the pack up hill past what I knew was the right altitude, I stopped, took a breath and checked the map. Sure thing, we’d all missed the turn off for the Sandgap trail to our right. I felt pretty good about not climbing all the way to the top before figuring this out! Once on the right trail the first point was pretty easy find, especially with all the headlamps! The next one I paced out and even though there was a pile of racers, I nailed the location. I trucked along behind All-Terrain Females (I’m still a fan girl!) as we made our way to D. I might have screwed this one up if I hadn’t been following others. I was jogging and talking, and not paying enough attention to the map. After D, I made my own way up to the trail and onward to checkpoint d. I stayed on the trail instead of heading cross country, which would have saved some time but I felt confident I could find a trail. My method was to pace out a 100 meters then stop and orient the map and make sure I knew where I was. This was not fast and I got passed by a few teams but by the time I found d, I felt like I had the scale of the map in my head finally! With 2 more points to go, I jogged the flat sections since I knew I had a good backstop to use for navigating (Big Bend Rd). I caught up with a 2 male team at the junction and then another team or two joined us as we made our way to checkpoint E. Sterling road was less road and more trail and then it just wasn’t really there. At a junction the other teams were debating the direction. I felt confident and headed out to the right and the others followed suit.  A bit down the road we met a 3 male team coming back. They said the road just went out to the spur and disappeared. This convinced the other teams to head back and find another way. I went on alone, still confident I knew where I was. The road led to a creepy shack that had a huge field of whatever invasive head high grass was down there. I detoured into the woods so I could at least see, and made my way out the spur. Sure enough, the road/trail/depression ceased to be visible to me! The landscape made sense, so I decided to bushwhack downhill and hope to find the road at the bottom. Sure enough, I did! It felt like a victory and was the confidence boost I needed. I walked and pace counted, checking the map every 100m until I found E with no issue! I crowed in delight as I punched that one because I had done it all on my own! From E it was a jog on HW 11 down to Hops Fork where our bikes were staged. This cute little place had food and drinks and I bought a Dr. Pepper, even though a beer sounded pretty good, and it was noon! I ate half of my PB&J, drank my soda and got ready for the bike leg. Oh yeah, I asked and at this point the guys were 1 1/2 hrs ahead of me!

The biking actually felt really good, especially since it was a lot of nice flat bottoms. The workout on Friday had fried my hamstrings and the hiking and climbing wasn’t helping the fatigue! I biked out to the next section which was up on Little Bend Ridge. This was a section of 5 points spread around on various spurs. #1, #2, and #5 I found easily, but I was finding navigating and riding a challenge. The landscape was going by too fast for me to really see where I was! It was after 5 that I realized I didn’t make a plan on how to find #4 which was out on a big spur. The map had this seductive white area that I assumed was the trail we were on… This was not the case! I went out and had a plan to go the complete opposite direction of where the point was when the kind ladies of team Chickpoints said to look around the hill we were on. Thanks ladies! Oh, and a shout out the race volunteer who drove out and had mini snickers for the races!

Leaving the ridge behind, my plan was to get at least three point on the Hell for Certain Creek section. I had guessed from the name that it would be rough going and yep, it was! First I overshot the entrance because I misread 1.2k as 1.5k on my notes. I saw what I thought was the spot and kept going because my bike odometer said I had 0.3 more to go. As I turned around to head back, I saw another team drop off the road into the woods at a different location. I second guessed myself and followed them. I should have stuck to my plan because the route we took was pretty gnarly and didn’t line up with the map at all. Luckily it did intersect the trail we needed but then I had no idea of where on the trail I was! Thus began my descent into confusion and second guessing myself. I felt confident I had found the location of #14 but after a quick scouting decided I must just be wrong. I went further down the road, mostly by pushing my bike, and found the pack at the correct re-entrant. The map still didn’t make sense to me but I had to keep moving on as my deadline for turn around was approaching. It was at this point that I decided to ditch my bike and trek to the next two points. I was better at navigating by foot anyway and the terrain made biking hard. The next point was a no brainer, in a creek coming off a pond. I paced it out and decided to make my own way since I need to confirm I knew what I was doing! I crossed the first creek on a beaver dam that wasn’t as solid as I thought, finally getting my feet wet. After punching #13, I hit the trail and damn if the trail didn’t even out and become rideable. Oh well, I wasn’t going back for my bike. I jogged most of the trail down to #12 and found it at the top of steep hill, nestled in the pile of rocks at the base of a cliff. It seemed like a good spot for sit down so I eat my 2nd half of my PB&J. This was my last point on my plan and I was happy with what I had accomplished. I’m not sure that even if I had my bike I would have had time to get another point. 

On the way out I was with 3 other racers when we were overtaken by a herd of 4×4 rock buggies. We’d been warned to make sure our bikes were off the roads and trails if we left them but I saw some bikes in danger of being run over. I moved one while the other races went ahead and moved more. Most of the buggy guys were cool but one dickhead just about sideswiped and crushed a couple of racers when he stomped on the gas during a rock climb. I guess it all just adds to the adventure! The bike back on HW11 was a little harrowing for me since I rarely ride on the roads at all. My hands and feet were numb when we made the final climb back to the finish. 

All in all, I think this was my best race ever! I feel redeemed after my major screw ups in the Dead Fred race and the fact that I had nothing to offer my team at Nationals. I hope to keep growing my nav skills this winter with some orienteering course meets. Thanks to 361° Adventures for make this race so great and giving us time to explore the Gorge!