Expedition Idaho
Race Director’s Update: Day 2
Press Release / 13.08.2014
In any 5 day or longer non-stop-format expedition race, especially when you have top teams competing, monikers such as “Day 1” and “Day 2” etc are relatively meaningless, as the disciplines and the hours truly blend together, with the best teams, racing nearly as well at night as they do in the day, but we will call this update “Day 2” for continuity’s sake!
At the close of Day 1, Yogaslackers were heading on bikes after the Bike 0 toward the trek, with Peaked Sports 2 hours behind. On the bike north, Dan from Yogaslackers hit the wall, and despite a short rest, the team felt needed to truly take a break, so stopped for 1:15 at one of the snowmobile warming huts. Peaked Sports moved strongly through the night, and by early morning, both teams were on Skitwish Peak just over an hour apart. After some playing with different route options up and down the essentially unmarked peak, Yogaslackers decided on moving up the shale field, while Peaked moved a bit east and were whacking it through the huckleberry and alder. It turns out that the shale was the smarter decision, as Yogaslackers had extended their lead back to over 2 hours by the time they finished the trek and completed the 20 mile (mostly) downhill bike to TA 2 and the start of the paddle. This allowed them to get on the river relatively early, which turned out to be a major factor.
They completed the 60 mile “kayak-O” in just under 14 hours, rolling into the beautiful lakeside TA at 0040 PDT, and the ramen and spaghetti was waiting for them beside a warm fire. The race organizers pulled them “off the clock,” giving them a much needed rest for a couple of hours, and allowing the race to bunch up slightly, but nature had other plans!
Peaked Sports rested before paddling, and this would end up costing them several hours throughout the night, as lightning moved into the area, and the remaining teams on the paddle were forced to pull off the course. Peaked is in sight on the water, but are now almost 8 hours behind the Yogaslackers, who headed out on the short O course to the next TA, where they will pick up their bikes once more for the section affectionately named “La Doab,” which stands for “Long A$$ Day On A Bike.” It will take the teams over 120 miles with 5 major climbs to TA5/6, one of the highest, most beautiful points on the course, where they will start and finish the magnificent trek that awaits them in the next phase!
Team Everyday Adventure, HART/Kellogg and Journey Racing: Just Survive all had major nav issues on the first bike leg, spending several hours in search of the Bike-O start. HART/Kellogg and JR/JS missed a critical turn off and spend the night in an area called the “Valley of Doom,” from which there is no escape, and Everyday Adventure had some “adventures” of their own, and none of them made it to the Bike –O start before dawn, resulting in their teams being moved from the “Premier” division to the “Open” category, allowing them to be advanced on some time saving, alternative routes that will still allow them to race the full time and still make it to the amazing finish line experience at the Brewsfest on Saturday afternoon.
As of 0800 Tuesday morning, Yogaslackers are midway through the O course, and Peaked is almost off the water, and will be joining them soon. Everyday Adv is entering the main lake with only 7 miles of paddling still to go, and HART/Kellogg is just over an hour behind them. JR/JS was advanced to TA 3 due to some minor heat exhaustion in the 100+ degree temps yesterday, but James has recovered well, and they literally just left the TA onto the O course. All the teams face a challenging day ahead on the bike – perhaps the most difficult of the race, with the final climb alone being over 7 miles long, and ascending over 3500 feet.
Weather also looks like it may become a factor, as the satellite shows potential thunderstorms and rain moving in to the area, adding yet another dimension to what is already one of the most challenging events on the planet. It is going to definitely be an epic day, in the grandest sense of the word!
Update as of 1936 PDT...
The paddle and the frenetic pace of the first 1.5 days started catching up to the racers, and Mother Nature decided to pay us a visit...
Several of the teams took an extended transition at TA 3 and 4, and are just now starting on the La Doab bike, which is going to come as a surprise to them, especially with the first time cut and the gorgeous, must-do trek and the 35 mile whitewater paddle still on the schedule for the teams who make it… it’s going to be a long night of hard riding!
Yogaslackers were cruising right along, already almost 40% of the way to TA 5, but the stiffest part of the ride is yet to come… this stage has over 33,000 vertical feet alone.
Peaked Adventure was finally slowed, not as much by the course as by Mother Nature. A HUGE line of thunderstorms came through while they were in TA 4, costing them almost 3 hours. HART/Kellogg were caught by the opening salvo while still on the lake, and had to beach in a secluded cove just over a mile from the TA and wait for rescue from the TA team, since the waves were approaching 4 feet, with 50 MPH winds. As I write this (on the hood of the “Adventure Wagon,” we are in between fronts, with another expected within a few hours – it’s going to be an interesting night for the racers – many of the little-used items on the gear list such as tarp etc are going to get a good workout, I think. Journey Racing recovered nicely from their heat related issues yesterday, and with the cooler temps were making good time toward the hills, where,, in many regards, the “real” race will begin. Team Everyday Adventure was on the O course when the storm hit, and ended up taking shelter in a giant culvert with a bunch of golfers. We expect them to TA 4 soon, and then out on the bike before daylight fades, and the next storm comes through.
Even though this stage is, in the words of a very experienced racer, one of the most difficult in AR history, the vistas and the “fun” parts of the course await the successful teams, and we are pretty sure it will be worth it! We are loading up the trucks to make the 2 hour drive to TA 5/6, and the ultra-rugged St Joe region beyond, and will have limited if any internet capabilities, but we will try to update as often as we can as we reach the “queen” stages of the race.
SleepMonsters
