Training Log Archive: Harps

Event: Equinox Traverse
 

With the Sting in Scotland expedition race a month Relentless and I were looking for a good race to test out our navigation, fitness and all around AR mental fortitude that only a multiday race can provide. After looking at the calendar we decided on the Equinox Traverse – 46 hours, tough competition, lots of hills – perfect!

While phatty was settling into his new life frolicking in the mountains of France we were fortunate Leanimal was still saying au-revoir to her friends and family back here and able to join us for the race just before flying out to Europe. For our fourth we were lucky enough to be joined by AR demigod Hansel, who we knew would be an amazing addition to the team.

We spoke briefly with JayXC and Bash who raced it last year. We knew it would be “rogaine-style” (not a fan) and also was in an area that was raced in often giving teams that had competed in past races and good advantage with respect to route choices, maps, etc. We were hoping to help nullify these advantages by having JayXC on call with an email of the maps but didn’t have the time unfortunately.

Thursday carpooled down with Lee and Relentless while Hansel joined Gstix. After the team bonding/pre-race dinner of beer, burgers and wings (wtf?) we got the maps and began the ultra annoying and tedious task of plotting and validating UTM CPs (please RD’s – get rid of this if possible!!!). We didn’t have the proper plotting tool for the scale so we had to estimate instead which was a little worrisome on some CPs since they were not on obvious mapped features (i.e. lakes, knolls and trails to name a few). After plotting the 49 CPs (which included optional) we devised our routes and planned a few early bailouts for the rogaine cutoffs.

The week leading up to the race had been very stressful for all of us for various personal reasons so none of us got much sleep in the week leading into the race and after finishing the maps “early” at 1am we got a few hours of shuteye before gorging on some breakfast at the hotel. I was worried my/our lack of sleep would come into play in the later stages of the race but only time would tell.

At 10am we lined up amongst our peers and competitors. There were several obvious teams to look out for. The favorite was likely Tecnu – the top team in North America, featuring the wily navigation of Gstix along with monster fit teammates Marco, Slice and Gratuitous. SOG was also a top team in the US that had won several big races in the area, including last year’s ET and trained regularly in the beautiful area. I didn’t know much about Tecnu’s domestic squad but I figured they also had to be tough. This was confirmed at the start of the race – a 8K trail run – where they led the charge with a solid pace.



The first run I felt awful. I have not done many long runs this year since I’ve rekindled my love of cycling and it showed. 4 hours and 30K in and I wanted to quit so bad. I could barely hold the pace Hansel was running effortlessly and I still had 42 hours left – ugghhh. Hansel was also doing a lot of the navigation with the spare set of maps so I couldn’t even “check the maps” (read: quick break). I eventually had to relinquish my pack to Relentless while I tried to eat, drink, recover and muster up enough gumption to continue. I sucked it up, fighting back the vomit and after about an hour I was out of my funk, however, while recovering I wasn’t eyeing up the maps very well and Hansel and I accidentally realized we had skipped an optional CP. Not a huge mistake and since it was a rogaine race it was fine to drop anyway (so long as the course wasn’t clearable).

We had a strong first trek/run section finishing shortly after the leaders Tecnu and were back at Hidden Valley ski area and our last (only) access to our bins. We loaded up on food, climbing gear and shoes for the next 36 hours.



We rode on through Forbes SF mainly on hilly gravel roads until we hit another ski area and had to locate an unmapped lake. The area was a little confusing and we definitely lost a good 20 mins in this area searching the forest for the lake. After that we came across doubletrack to access a riverbend CP. Again, we had difficulty locating this CP as it was the first ”tube” (not flag) CP and since it was daylight we did not see it (was covered in reflective tape more for an expected night CP?). I think the UTM also was off from the actual location. After finding it my front tire (tubeless) somehow lost air (?)and was flat – which we put in a tube and carried on; and - a few minutes after that - my mapboard broke. Relentless MacGyver’ed it up with duct tape and once again we were off. Down the trail we ran into Tecnu on their way back- unfortunately they had also missed the unobvious CP 3B but were a km or so from it.

After a few more km’s of riding the doubletrack it veered off the river onto a graded road. The road was mapped but the doubletrack had disappeared and it was our intended route. We dove into the bush for a few mins and I thought I found the trail but it looked severely overgrown and underused so we made the call to take the road, adding more climbing and distance but at least no hike-a-bike. We climbed for a long while up until finally descending on the Ramcat CP4.

From Ramcat, we hammered along a rail trail to another optional CP before doing another monstrous 1200ft+ elevated climb back up the mountain via steep gravel roads. We cleared the rest of the optional CPs and made our way into Hopi Camp for some more trekking/running.

The first CP only 200m from the camp gas us some grief but the others went fairly smoothly. Again it was a lot of (gravel) road running including a massive knee-jarring 1000ft+ descent into Ramcat CP (again).

Now onto the paddle with Relentless and I in one inflatable kayak, Lee and Hansel in the other. The lattermost group picking the smooth lines while we got hung up on every possible rock. Was nice to be off the feet but was a slow paddle. After portaging the kayaks to the outfitter in Ohiopyle we ate some real food!! Pulled pork sandwiches, fries and pop. It was huge boost to the team morale and while it took a long time it was worth it. From the BBQ place we ran over to the (trivial) 50 foot rapel over a bridge and onto the last long trek section.



We had a good route here and only had some difficulty with a pond CP which was a little tough to distinguish based on the map scale. On our way back to Hopi Camp and CP9/TA6 Tecnu bombed passed us on their bikes amidst the pouring rain.

Back at the camp we went over our bike route again. Unfortunately the paddle had smeared the highlighting on the maps so it was a tough go deciding and plotting what to do. In our haste prepping the maps before the race we didn’t really strategize a route very well. We made the call to drop CP9AA which featured a massive climb and possibly drop a few more on the way back to Hidden Valley if necessary.



On our bikes we passed through Confluence where we decided to eat another “real meal” before nightfall fell upon us at the Lucky Dog Cafe. We ordered the 4 fastest meals possible (4 chicken thai wraps), paid and ate on the patio amidst curious patrons of the café. While eating our waitress came out and returned our money insisting the owner wanted to pay for our meals – WOW!!! So generous!!! We thanked them kindly and made our way out into the rain which was coming down in buckets.

The bike route from Confluence was on some well traveled routes so while fighting the rain and lightning, we also had to worry about cars. We decided it would be safer to take refuge under a stranger’s porch. We tried to sleep but with lightning and thunder crackling around us no one got any shut eye. Eventually the rain let up to a manageable level, darkness set in and we set off. More big climbs but no problems on the CPs and probably the craziest descent ever in bucket rain could hardly see going 40km/hr in the dark. You couldn’t even keep your eyes open due to the amount of water. We stopped at the bottom, put on our raingear and road along towards a tunnel CP. Unfortunately once again I could feel my rear tire (also tubeless) now flatting out. We added a tube and each popped a caffeine pill for the homestretch into Hidden Valley while picking up the remaining optional CPs.

For once during a rogaine race it appeared we wouldn’t have a crazy stressful ending. We grabbed one last trekking CP with almost 1:45 to spare and nothing really left within reach for that time limit. Until…. On our way back Lee asks if we got 9I – 9I?? Wha? Ughhh… we forgot one optional bike CP that WAS within reach. Since we had no clue how we finished (other than knowing Technu had likely beat us) we decided to hop on our bikes to get it. On our way out Tecnu B team was arriving on bikes. We had assumed they were close behind us with the same amount of dropped CPs so – as expected – our relaxing finish turned into an all out hammerfest to get back in time. In the end, we had 45 mins to spare and also obtained 13 more optionals than Tecnu B so the stress was unnecessary but we didn’t know that until the end!



Final results Tecnu 1st with 48/49 CPs then us with 46/49 CPs and Tecnu B with 33/49 CPs. Unfortunately the strong local team of SOG had to drop due to injury; would have been nice to see how we stacked up against them here but wishing them a speedy recovery. I think the course would have been clearable for Tecnu or even us if one made little to no errors. Tecnu probably could have cleared it if we were just a bit closer…

After a quick nap we made our way back to Canada. Stopped at the OG in Buffalo for dinner.

Stellar racing with strong teammates and great people! Hansel was a huge help as secondary nav and on foot leading the pace, Relentless carried extra gear and was our (my!) awesome bike mechanic and Lee was strong as all of us no matter what the discipline. The race had a lot of roads but provided a great tune-up for Scotland next month!

C • Congrats! 18

C • Recovery 4

Estimated time, forgot to start stopwatch. HOT.

Kilbride, Carlisle, Mountsberg loop.