Expedition Idaho
Race Director's Update
Press Release / 15.08.2014
As we reached the midway point of the race, the course and the weather have taken their toll, and the teams have fallen behind the best estimated time, and the racers are being appropriately beaten up by the amazing but certainly “challenging” terrain, especially the “La Doab” bike segment, which had over 40,000 vertical feet of elevation in 124 miles. One of the things we believe in in our events is that EVERY team should be able to race for the full 7 days (5 days in 2016!), and have the joy of our fantastic finish line experience. Now obviously, the top teams will go much further in their 7 day journey than others, but we will do everything we can to “help” each team race to the utmost of their abilities, and perhaps that little bit beyond – please pause here for slight philosophical detour by race director - unless we find our limits, we can never truly know who we are as individuals, and by “sucking it up, princess,” and going just that bit beyond where we have ever been before – exploring some of the dark places in ourselves – we will often find that we are capable of even more than we had thought just a few days earlier. That said, our philosophy, while being grand in vision, requires a substantial commitment and resources to “advancing” some of the slower/navigationally challenged/exhausted teams along the course to make sure they get to the highlight sections of the course such as the amazing trek and the paddle, as well as the finish. We call this being in the “Open” Division, and it is by no means a slight of these teams… not everyone can be – or even wants to be – a Thule, or Seagate, or a Yogaslackers or a Peaked Sports… they train part time, race for fun, and are giving just as mucof themselves as all the top teams, and we want to recognize their efforts. Now back to the narrative and the last two days of drama and excitement!
As the majority of teams were finishing the O course prior to TA 4, Mother Nature arrived with a fury. All day the weather had been mild, if a bit unsettles, then just as evening landed, so did the storm. Winds topping 60 miles per hour, huge bouts of lightning, torrential rain and more! Perfect AR racing weather! Teams were taking shelter in culverts under TA trucks and more. The Yogaslackers were out on the course, and hunkered down with tarps as they made their way along a route that involved a little self-inflicted “Arbor whacking from Hell.” Peaked Sports had just left the TA and returned through the deluge to ride it out, costing them almost 3 hours.
Peaked ended up starting in the big bike keg at about 7 pm, giving them a hard deadline for the trek. Journey Racing was also out on the bike when the storm hit, and took shelter with a local, who also offered them fresh strawberries from his garden to take along.
Team Everyday Adventure came off the O course wet, tired and a touch irritable, and Brandi had suffered a minor knee injury. After some discussion, it was decided they would ferry to TA 5 instead of doing La Doab, meaning the got a good night’s sleep and were ready to hit the trek first thing Wednesday morning.
Peaked and Yogaslackers were now the only two teams remaining in the Premier Division with a chance to complete the entire course, and the race would get much closer over the ensuing few hours, as the Yogaslackers made their first major nav mistakes, which cost them almost 4 hours as well as an unpleasant whack-a bike. At that point Peaked was less than 4 hours behind, but the Yogaslackers pushed hard come day break, and saw their lead back to 6 hours by the time they finished the grueling climb to TA 5.
TA 5 is one of the most beautiful areas on the course, set at 6400 feet in a saddle overlooking a huge valley, and surrounded by several major peaks, but the climb up from Clarkia is 12 miles, with the last 7 being uphill… gaining 3800 feet in those 7 miles… and this is at the end of a stage that had 4 other major climbs, as well as numerous additional “little” climbs of only a mile or two… Captain Jason Magness was suffering from a throat inflammation that reduced him to taking a “vow of silence” and made breathing difficult, which is always a joy on a climb like this. Add in a flat within a mile of the TA, and to say they were glad to get off their bikes was an understatement!
As a credit to their professionalism, they rolled into the TA at 10 am after 23 hours on the bike, and they were started out on the 40 mile trek at 10:24! The trek phase marked the point at which the teams became “official” finishers, and was comprised of three different lengths (only 2 were actually offered to the teams as options) – a 23 mile trek called “The Petite Cut,” and “The Big Gulp,” A 40 mile jaunt with 14 river crossings, as well as a section through”the Forest of Mordor.” Both choices offered sections along the famous Marble Creek NRT and spectacular vistas from Grandmother Peak, high mountain meadows with chest deel wild flowers and wonderful, old growth cedar and tamarack forests, and was hailed by literally every racer as one of the coolest, most beautiful bits they had ever done.
As the afternoon and evening rolled in, it became apparent that Journey Racing and HART/Kellogg were not going to make the time cutoff for the trek, and so our “rescue” team was sent out to locate them and advance them toward trek and the Boat DZ.
Just before midnight, Peaked arrived. They had pushed hard through the night, but had finally succumbed to fatigue and some interesting” sleep monsters,” and had stopped to rest for a couple of hours. In chatting to them, they had definitely gone through some dark places, but had rallied, and by the time they reached the TA, they were back to their normal jovial spirits. At this point, their only chance of catching the Yogaslackers was to start on the trek immediately. Looking at the tracking, it became apparent that barring a major nav disaster by Yogaslackers, they couldn’t catch them, so they opted to get 4 hours of real rest and do the Petite Cut trek instead of the Big Gulp, making the Yogaslackers the de facto champions, provided they could negotiate the paddle and the final bike and trek unscathed.
Thursday morning dawned with a hint of fog over the valley, making the vistas, if possible, even more beautiful.
Everyday Adventure had finished their trek around 1:00 am, and were up and on their bikes toward TA 8 early, closely followed by Journey Racing. Peaked headed out on the trek at 5:40, and as of this writing, we are still awaiting their return. The Yogaslackers finished the trek at 9:30, and with another quick TA they were on their bikes and rolling toward TA 7, Some 100 k ahead.
HART/Kellogg had a much more eventful evening – from our accounts, they had a falling out, which actually caused them to separate for a brief time before reconciling. With the weather rolling in again, they needed shelter immediately, and ended up with a local family, who got them back on the course in the am, once again working together. They are expected into TA 7 around 8:00 pm.
Peaked is the only team still out on the trek, and are expected back around 5:00 pm, at which time they will have to ride hard through the night to make the kayak start at 6:00 am tomorrow.
The racers will have 38 miles of whitewater kayaking tomorrow before facing a last 20 mile bike over the highest point on this year’s course to our “Dark Zone” at Elsie lake. On Saturday, we will leave in waves, slowest first, toward the finish the Brewsfest at Silver Mountain Resort, arriving between 1:30 – 3:00 pm.
In a word of support to Peaked, they have run an amazing race on one of the world’s most difficult-ever courses, and will end up only 3 CPs short of a top professional team over 7 days. It is a wonderful effort, and they have maintained their camaraderie and good spirits throughout. Our deepest admiration goes to Jason Popilskey (J-Pop just found out he will be racing with Technu at Worlds in Ecuador! Congrats!), Abby Broughton, Jeni McNeal and Tom Ambrose. Of course we also offer our heartiest congratulations to Jason and Chelsey Magness, Dan Staudigel and Paul Cassedy for running a fantastic race, and claiming the title…though Eric, our on course camera guy just reported in that they had missed the turn at Orphan Point, and were now headed on the wrong road into the valley… maybe the race isn’t over yet!!! We will report back later when we know more, but until then, stay tuned ...
SleepMonsters
