Primal Quest Badlands
A Tough Day Two
Frances Fisher / 16.08.2009
Racers encountered a myriad of obstacles including lightning, hail, torrential downpours, surprisingly cold temperatures, and relentless uphills on the U-Haul Mountain Bike Course. Several teams cited the Centennial Trail, which all teams have been following today at times, as a highlight of the race so far (along with caving, which was a common favorite). Team Merrell Haglofs Multimania raved about the views from certain peaks along the way.
All teams have echoed that the continued support and interest of the South Dakota locals has been a morale boost and a definite hallmark of PQ: Badlands. Teams report honking and cheering, people following them or asking for photos with them, amazing hospitality from restaurant and store owners, and meeting many locals who have been tracking the race online and specifically come out to meet the racers. It has been an eye opening experience for these racers, who were not expecting such warmth from people not involved in the race. Several teams have even opted to take advantage of the race course to see the sights, traveling down Main Street to get through the historic town of Deadwood, where Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down (also known to fans of the HBO Series, "Deadwood").
Throughout the day, Team Orionhealth.com has moved swiftly forward, outpacing the competition. It is difficult to tell how far the nearest competitor is, as Team Salomon / Crested Butte has continually had problems with their SPOT unit. As of TA8, there was about a 3 hour gap. Teams Bones and Cordura/Osprey Packs have been trading of for third place, a familiar position for Team Bones, which traveled most of PQ: Montana vying with DART-nuun for third place (a battle they eventually won). A handful of other teams are staying with the lead pack, including both Merrell/Zanfel and Merrell Haglofs Multimania, iMoat, and nuun-FeedTheMachine.
All of the teams continued the U-Haul Mountain Bike today, covering the 136+ mile course interspersed with jaunts onto the Avis Bike Orienteering or Trek Orienteering courses. Even the lead teams agreed that the bike has been challenging. Jason Quinn of Team Bones commented that a course of that length could take as little as 8 hours, but it's been slow going with so many hills and Hike-a-Bikes (where U-Haul your bike around instead of riding it...). "When it takes 36 hours, that's just plain difficult."
The slow conditions heightened anxiety for the racers, since today teams faced their first "cutoff" ??" a designated time they are required to reach a Transition Area by in order to continue to race officially and receive a rank upon finishing. Not making a cutoff does not mean the team is removed from the course; rather, they are moved ahead by PQ staff, usually to the next TA, and are allowed to continue unranked. Most teams, however, wish to complete the entire course and work feverishly to meet these cutoff times.
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