Chasing the Swamp Fox

Its been a few days since Tracey, Cricket and I fought off Piranha flies, stomped through black swamp mud, climbed tick infested trees, and paddled through a plethora of hungry gators (well never saw any but I know they were under the boat). These few days have allow me to reflect back on Indiana Jones adventure through the Swamps of Francis Marion National Forest with great clarity. What were we thinking, who in their right minds does this for fun? It has to be less then .001% of the US population. Most if not almost all sit at home at watch other do this stuff on the ol' tube-o-matic while eating a tasty bag of Cheese puff. Well I am excited and very proud that I am now part of that .001% adventure race family. I have to admit next time I'll strap a bag of those tasty orange air puffs to my hydro pack.
As a rookie adventure racer I really had no idea what to expect. About the only thing I knew was my team needed me to be like the famous Cars character Mator. My simple job was to pull/ carry/ paddle and not complain, perfect. I was just happy I didn't have to do the smart stuff like plotting UTM, course direction, and all that fancy compass stuff. Just load me up and point me in the right direction and all will be good. Besides a streaming constant supply of food and water my needs are pretty low.
We started off with a cold early morning run around town collecting secret decoder ring stuff. Luckily Tracey was familiar with the town and the game. One catch to the game was each team had to hold onto a rope so we would not get separated. Work as a team, run as a team walk as a team was the point of the game. Once the announcer said GO! we were off straight through back yard, ditches, roads. Cricket and Tracey were like laser beams focused on the first check point. Once we arrived, we saw it was in a tree. I decided to be the one to climb it so as I waited for the few that beat us there to get up there and back down, Tracey used her smarts and ran around the tree and got the code. As she raced back around toward us, chanting lets go, let go! Off we ran to the next point. The next thought that went through my head was wow shes good!!
The second point was just a blur I don't even know if we slowed down for it as Cricket and Tracey grabbed the code with some Jedi mind trick. By now this running stuff was for the birds, we had covered 2-3 miles which is about the limit of my training so the thoughts of roller skates came to mind. I was wondering if they were legal. Just as the second check point whizzed by so did the third. Next stop was the start line to turn in the codes and pick up our passport.
Once we reached the start line I felt like I ran about 30 mile but truthful it was only 4 and I was excited about the canoe. My legs needed a rest. Oh yea about that code thing we had to turn in, I didn't know what it was then and can't remember know. I just followed the girls like a puppy, so props goes to them for getting us through the pre-start torture.
Off to the Canoe we raced, this really wasn't worried about this event, I paddled a canoe about 10 years ago so I was feeling pretty fresh and itching to get to rowing. With my extensive paddling skill I had only used a wooden oar in the famous J-stroke style. The ladies didn't have old trusty wooden paddles they had state of the art, NASA design carbon Fiber stealth paddles from US Kayak Team that we used to propel our floating chariot down the water in fine fashion.
After paddling for a few hours we hit the trail run.
Ok gotta speed up my story a little for those that are falling asleep. The next few hours we raced around the swamp on feet and bicycle searching out check point. Check point after check point we worked our way across the map until we had all 24. At around 10.5 hours we where on our way back to the finish line. With a cruising speed of 17-20 mph our mountain bikes were near terminal velocity, well at least my legs felt topped out. Once we arrived at the finish line we were a little disappointed in our 3 place finish but felt great with our overall accomplishment.
Well, I promised I would finish my first blog entry by the end of the March, all though the story got cut a little short, if your interested in more details, we can chat over some wings and beer and I'll fill your ears with all the micro moments of one of the best races ever.

2011 Swamp Fox Adventure race photos

2011 Swamp Fox Adventure Race

Team Total Cyclist places 3rd in the Elite Co-Ed division. Covering 8-10 miles of canoe paddling, 8-10 miles of running through the Francis Marion National Forest swamps and pedaling 55+ miles on Mtn bikes. They cleared the course gathering all 24 check points. Congratulations to Cricket Butler, Scott George (his 1st Adventure Race) and Tracey (aka "off the couch") Lewis for a great race.

Anglers Ridge Race Report

This past weekend Cricket and I traveled to Danville, VA to take part in the weekend long festivities. Saturday was filled with a morning course pre-ride with some of our Charlotte friends Cathi Mowery, Laura and Terry Gleason, Bonnie Kelffman, Layla Billowitz and Mike Schafer. We also took O-Jo along and she took full advantage of the leisurely pace by chasing a few squirls and taking a few creek baths. I didn't know what to expect from the course. Id' heard it was a lot like the Whitewater Center without the fire road sections for passing. Well, I don't know about all that but I do know it's tight, twisty and throws a few really steep climbs at you. In all a fun course and that could take a big hunk out of your ass if you didn't give it the respect it deserves. You see, we were to do 3 full laps the next day; and the 6 hour riders, well...I've seen harder endurance courses but this one would not be easy. After our ride Cricket and I contemplated doing a time trial they had planned for the afternoon, but we opted for more time sitting in the sun, eating lunch and generally enjoying the great weather.

That night there was a showing of the movie 'Great Divide'. The documentary that follows the riders long the Tour Divide course in 2008. The race promoter also organized a little Q&A after the movie with 6 time champ Matt Lee and our own, and 2010 female winner, Cricket Butler. It was cool to see all the interest people had. I train and race with her a lot and know quite a few of the stories. I mean, I've always been interested in how a 2,700 mile race goes down but to see others really get into it and check out her gear and such was cool.

The next morning came extra early because of daylight savings time and the fact the our teammate Kelly Hudson decided he'd give us a call at 5am as he began his drive from Concord to Danville. It went something like this:

Phone ringing.
Me (under my breath as I pick up the phone): "WTF? What time is it?"
Other end: nothing

Expecting it to be a wake up call from the front desk that Cricket set up the night before I quickly hang up.

Phone Rings again.
Me (not under my breath as I pick up the phone): "WTF? Who's calling at 5am? Cricket, did you set a wake up call? Hello?"
Kelly: "Yo, yo, yo. Don't hang up the phone."
Me: "Kelly?"
Kelly: "Yo, what up c-dub? You ready to get it on?"
Me (with very little enthusiasm): "Oh, hey. I guess so."
Kelly: "Were you sleeping?"
Me: "Typically."

Kelly then proceeded to tell me that he got an email form the race promoter that on-site registration will be closed at the race and preregistered riders only will be able to race.

Me: "What? You registered, right?
Kelly: "No, man. We're turning around right now. Noel's driving and he hasn't registered either."

Long story short, they didn't make it. We slowly got up, ate, packed up the gear and dog and headed to the race course to set up our pit and get all our food in order. We were alone with no support so there was planning for both of us to do. Jason Wilson and Luke Sagur from the CBC team joined us a little later. The race came quickly enough after a slight delay and before I know it we were off. CRASH! 25ft into the race 4 rows in front of me cat 1 and pro racers were on the ground. I make a huge swerve to the left, roll though some grass and onto a parallel paved road where half the field were avoiding the pile. I got in the woods without a hitch and settled comfortability into a strong steady pace. Not much went wrong for me. I had a little problem with a tree but really it was perfect. I went good on the first lap but somewhere in the second I began to feel my strength slipping. 5 min later I knew it was going to be a painful day. What fitness I had was good, but the tank was a small one and the short, steep climbs took their toll. I started to hemorrhage positions and figured I was in 3rd just behind Jason Wilson. On the third lap I lost Jason and was eating out of the 'sufferfest bucket'. As I crossed the finish I was sure I was out of the top 5. To my surprise I held on for 4th and a nice $75 check.

After my race Cricket still had another 3 hours of racing to go. After about an hour she came into the pit frantic because she thought she was in second in the pro/open by just 2 or 3 min. I fed and sent her out to chase the girl down. She battled very well and in the end held on to a solid second place taking home a cool metal and 150 bones. Did I mention the payout was great? Yea, it was great. They even paid in the Cat 2/Sport classes. I've never seen that.

Danville was a great little town and the race was nice with a fun course. In all, we had a great time and were fully smoked by the time we got back to Charlotte. O-Jo slept most of the next day without moving a little paw.

C

HuRaCan 300 Report

The HuRaCan 300 Challenge was promoted as the ULTIMATE OFF-ROAD ENDURANCE EXPERIENCE in the state of Florida. In my opinion, it was promoted correctly and I verify this by my desire to lie down in the middle of the street the moment after crossing the finish line to go to sleep! The race started Friday morning at 8am sharp – 13 starters – 5 women – 8 men. There are only a few brave souls that will attempt a 300-mile self-supported mountain bike race across Florida and on that morning we were all lined up fumbling with our GPS devices. There were no maps or cues available for this route – it was all loaded onto a Garmin. My Garmin specifically was not loaded up with the route until around 930pm the night before the race and since I was not familiar with this specific GPS, I was lining up at the start questioning my ability to navigate the route quickly. So my Plan B, just in the case my Garmin failed or I failed at the Garmin, was to try to pace along with Rob Roberts, a local rider who rode the route last year and set the 41-hour record. My thinking at the beginning, as I stood around all fresh and pain free, was just hang on as long as I could and get use to the Garmin along the way. I figured my Plan B was quite unrealistic but why not try.

We all rolled off leaving the start behind not really knowing what the next several days would bring. My best friend, only known here as Racer X, came to Florida with me to race her first self-supported race and even though she had never even held a Garmin in her hand, she was up to the challenge. I stayed back with her for some time to insure she was comfortable with following the GPS. The others disappeared rather rapidly and Racer X and I just held our on pace. Eventually, the time came for me to leave my Racer X behind and try to hold a pace true to me. I really thought I may not see another racer after that but now I had that “carrot” in front of me and it kept me motivated and I knew Racer X would be fine. I settled quickly into my pace with only Linkin Park playing on the iPod and even with the strong headwinds on the open road, after about 30 minutes, I was surprised, and owe it all to Linkin Park, to see a line of racers pace lining up the road in front of me. I had no idea who was there but once I caught up, I decided to settle in the back to get a bit of a rest. It was just nice to be riding with others and such a surprise I found them. I could see several racers missing but I did not know how many or who. Carol sat right in front of me and then made a move to pass the group and I matched her pace and followed. We rode together just for a short time when I spotted another rider far ahead up on the horizon. YES another “carrot” I thought! So I passed Carol and pulled in front so she could catch on if she wanted and all my focus went to that rider up ahead. I looked back a little later and saw no one on the road behind me – thinking shit I must have taken a wrong turn… But wait there is still the rider in front and I was bridging the gap slowly. I finally caught up with Rob – I was so happy to see that pink jersey! Then Rob and I finally started catching up to the leaders – I had no idea at this point how many were ahead and who so I only focused on staying up with Rob. I mean he was my Plan B if theGarmin was to fail.

We slowly began catching the 3 other racers and ended up on our own eventually in the front. Rob was riding so strong and steady and as soon as we hit the sandy roads he pulled ahead quickly. There is apparently a skill for riding in the sand that I lack and I just worked through it trying to keep Rob in my sights even though he was pulling away! As soon as the road surface improved to a harder dirt surface, I cranked it out to match his pace again – praying for no more sand. We rode together for a while and it was a perfect pace – fast and steady and a little chatting about Tour Divide stuff. I kept following my green line on the GPS to stay true to the course and all was going well. Then there was this sharp right turn onto an abandoned double track section. I put my head down for just a few seconds to verify with the GPS and when I looked up – no more Rob. It was like aliens or something had abducted him. No sign of him anywhere…. So I kept my GPS arrow on that green line marking the route on my Garmin. That was when I noticed for the first time, that was all there was on my Garmin, only a green line and a black screen. I was missing ALL the topo and land features. There were no roads, no rail roads, no towns, no rivers, no lakes, no topo lines, no nothing and with the GPS having a percentage of error associated with it, my little GPS arrow was always off just a little from that green line. I was lost for about 30 minutes at that point wondering around in the forest when I backtracked to find Markley up on the railroad bed struggling to find his way. We decided to work together and still remained lost for another 20 minutes.

During that time, Jeff passed us by without us knowing and we fell back into 3^rd place. We eventually caught up with Jeff again on a Greenway section and decided to all work together in hopes we could find our way better and might have a better chance in catching up with Rob. That plan was constantly challenged though out the night as we continued to lose the route and lose time. We became very familiar with every Kangaroo Gas Station on route, as we did not want to stop and take time for a full meal at a restaurant. Our stops consisted of around 15 minutes – we all had our routine to get in and out - for me I would head directly to a chocolate milk and chug it as I stood there. Then I would wonder around the store grabbing and eating anything that look appetizing at the moment and pick up a few extra items to snack on while on the bike. Then a quick pee and not to forget the reapplication of DZ Nuts Bliss, then fill up on water and maybe a chain lube and then off. Every stop was efficient and there were always the strange looks of the people inside the store as they watched us gobble down as many calories as we stood in line to check out. There was that occasional brave person that would approach us and ask what we were doing, still keeping a safe distance.

The three of us continued to work together through the night our longest stop around 30 minutes to try to eat something more substantial. Riding through the night was a good strategic move even with the navigation errors, crashes, and doubts. We all hung in there strong and having 3 suffering along side one another made it tolerable! It is incredible how close you can bond with another person during such an experience even when you just met them several hours prior. I feel like I have known them forever and most importantly trust them! There were many moments of TMI but everything becomes comical at some point. Finally the moment we had talked about all night, the moment we anticipated all night, and the moment that would lift our spirits for another day of riding - the sun finally came up! It was amazing to see our surroundings so differently and the sky just lit up and it did revive our drive to continue pedaling even though the pains and fatigue from 200 +miles were starting to set in! We still had a difficult river crossing to look forward to and about 80 more miles. At this time, I personally envisioned those 80 miles paved road with a tail wind gently blowing me into town because I could just not imagine it getting any worst that what we had just survived through the night. How could there be more single track in this state? But you know there was more single track and many more miles of sand and many more ambiguous route issues and those palm fronds just making everything more difficult and many more barbed wire fence crossings. There were moments of paved road as I dreamed of – obstacle free - but I never envisioned trash being thrown out of the car window at me. Just add it to the list of new experiences I suppose this race has offered!

So many stories and memories for such a short period of time and even though I have never experienced Florida in this way, I believe I saw the best parts! In all honesty, The HuRaCan 300 Race was an amazing adventure through some very unexpected rough terrain. Karlos and Rob designed a challenging course that surprised racers. At the end, I felt like, walked like, looked like and probably smelled like a Zombie from the Walking Dead!

I finished in 31 Hours 36 Minutes – 1^st Place Female and tied for 2^nd overall with Markley and Jeff. We were only 3 hours behind the 1^st place Finisher Rob Roberts! It was a close race and I hear fun to watch. Of the 13 racers to start, only 8 finished. I feel amazing to have been part of this experience and ride along side some really strong positive racers. The day after the race I was ready to ride again and looking forward to seeing some of my new friends at the starting line for the 2011 Tour Divide Race!!!

Rob Roberts Blog below:

http://milesforpink.blogspot.com/

Official HuRaCan 300 Website:

http://www.singletracksamurai.com/p/eye-of-huracan.html#results

HuRaCan 300 Photos:

http://www.sorba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35627

Official HuRaCan 300 Call-Ins:

http://www.venusbars.com/huracan300/index.php

HuRaCaN 300

Alright, the racing season will officially begin tomorrow morning. Why? Well, when one of our riders embarks on a 300 mile, three day slog through the state of Florida one can't just call it training. The HuRaCaN 300 starts tomorrow promptly at 8am and Cricket will be there with all her gear.

There are a few different categories but Cricket will be competing in the most difficult, the ITT. Essentially it's a self-support only effort where the time does not stop, very similar to the Tour Divide rules. You can check out all the details here. You can also track the riders progress here. I'll keep you all posted with whatever pics and info she sends my way. Get it.

C