Natural Bridge Sprint Adventure Race
January 13, 2007
Well, the race wasn't actually a 24 hr race but you will get the picture by the end of the story. Adventure races have always been an interest of mine. Nothing like combining endurance with navigation. Just one problem, I don't know how to navigate, use a compass and am notorious for getting lost in the woods.
A precursor of the race was a simple afternoon ride on Thursday before the race at Douthat Park. Finishing near dusk on a new trail and my derailleur hanger breaks. I didn't have my spare with me (1 of many mistakes). Ryan Middleton and Dale Heath went ahead and were going to pick my up at an outlet. There are a lot of fireroads and trails out there and I took the wrong one. For over an hour in the dark, I am pushing my bike trying to find my way out. Its dark and getting cold. The temp was about 18 that morning and calling for another cold night. Ironically, I had just watched several episodes of Man v/s Wild on the Discovery channel about a guy that goes out in these remote areas to do survival skills. I had no lights, extra gear or food. Long story short, I got really worried that I might be out there for a while. I kept following a jeep trail until I found a gate. I didn't end up where I wanted but did end up on Douthat Park road. I took my gloves off and felt that it was pavement and new I would be found. Sure enough a vehicle came by and I flagged it down. The lady was a little hesitant to stop. We made a few phone calls and I hooked back up with Ryan and Dale. Thanks Martha!
This is Ben, one of the many great volunteers. He took the time to show me all the cool features of his helicopter! Thanks Ben.
So here I am about to enter a adventure race and I can't even find my way out of the woods in my own backyard. Keith Simpson, Ryan Middleton and myself make up the team 3 Blind Rats. None of us know how to use a compass. Friday night about 9 we have our pre-race instructions and get a brief overview on navigation. Back to motel, bed by 12 and had to get up at 4am for the 5am race meeting. We arrive with the rest of the competitors ready to receive our maps and plot the checkpoints. Oh yeah, you only have 2 minutes to plot the checkpoints. That part wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was mainly a copy/paste from the race map. You just had to make sure that you drew that CP circle in the right spot. The hard part was figuring out how to get to the checkpoints. Trying to map routes at 5:30 AM isn't that easy. Race starts at 7 so we have a little time. Mapped the route and headed down to the Natural Bridge for the start.
The start was really cool. It started under the Natural bridge and we run up to the falls and back to the parking lot to transition to bikes. Maybe 2.5 mile run. Hopped on the bikes and off to CP 1. Again, this is not a premarked course so that you know where you are at every point and people guiding you the right way. You have your map, compass and directions. And there are many intentional spots that will confuse you on which way to go. We made it to CP1 without too many navigation problems. Now the fun begins, run a lollipop type loop that's about 6 miles. Lots of elevation gain so not an easy 6.
The run begins on a fireroad uphill to a trailhead. Hindsite, we knew the trailhead should be about 2-3 miles and knew that we had gone past it due to run hike for an hr. Oh yeah, and you can't really follow the teams in front of you because they may be given a different route. Funny thing, at each major intersection, there were distractions. We were only about 25-30 yards from the right turn onto the trail when we saw a member of another teams in front of us all of sudden drop his pants and took a dump, right there off the main road and near the trail entrance. His teammates were stopped on the other side of the road. Not wanting to stare at a guy taking care of business, we all kinda watched the left side of the road and kept going. MISSING THE TRAIL ENTRANCE. Don't know if that was a team diversion tactic being played but it would be a good one. We with several other teams hiked to the top of the fireroad where it Tboned into another gravel road. We knew that missed the trail. Some teams did worse, they took a right on the gravel road and ended up going 10 miles out of the way. The team that was at CP1 first was now near the back! NAVIGATION IS KEY. We found the trail and headed the right direction back to CP1 to get back on our bikes. Total time wasted was about 1 hr.
AT CP1 getting ready to run
Keith, "Things that make you feel good" Keith is sponsored by Virginia prosthetics.
Saddled up, we head to CP2 is located ready to use our navigation skills. Now that we experienced getting lost and wasting time and energy, we were determined not to do that again. Climbed about 4 miles to an intersection that goes right or left. Oh how quickly we forgot. Not wanting to stop, we asked a guy working that intersection which way to go and he pointed to our left. Next distraction, we saw the 2 girl team that we met the night before at a restaurant and I made some typical funny comment about the cheeseburgers we ate and then kept riding uphill for about 4 miles. When you see people stopped looking at their maps that is probably a good indicator that you need to do the same. We then road right by the trail head of the singletrack that takes us down to the lake. And that was a tough climb. Time wasted, a little over an hour and used way too much energy. Back down to the singletrack trail head. For now we have hiked about 4-5 miles extra and biked about 10 extra.
Talk about pulling your weight.
This cost Keith dinner
At the trailhead, I looked at the map, the instructions and once again should have been looking for a trailhead within 4-5 miles. Also, knowing the direction (NSEW) you are traveling is crucial. On the first hike we knew that we were supposed to be heading N but hiked S. Same thing on the bike! Always keep a bearing with the direction you are heading. It is hard to think and ride at the same time.
Not knowing which way to go. Who's got the map?
Headed down the technical 2-3 miles stretch of singletrack to the lake. Out of the trail and into the campground. That was a great sight. The race started at 7, it is now about 12 and we need to be at CP2 by 1 to have any chance of doing the navigation course which is about 3-5 miles of compass skills. So important, at any crossroads, know where you are and where you want to go. We did look at the map, headed what we thought was the right direction. Looking at the map there appeared to be only one entrance to the camp we were riding through. We got to the road # laid out in the instructions but once again headed the wrong way. Again, we weren't the only ones, several other teams were doing the same thing. Go the right way and we are at CP2 in 15 minutes. Wrong way with stops and map reading time to figure out where we are and why we can't find the CP2, 1:45. We arrive at CP2 at 1:50, too late to try navigation points. Also, we are technically no longer in the race, DQ.
We hammered the bikes on the race course back to the finish line at Natural Bridge. We arrived at the finish around 3 with an unofficial time was about 8 hrs and lots of time penalties. After a little post meal, we head back to Covington. But the race is not over! I get home, take a shower, 30 minute nap only to wake up with horrible stomach pains. Over the new years, I took some young people to Winterfest at Liberty University and caught the stomach flu, miserable. Same symptoms were occurring. I did what any guy would do, call mom. After good advice, I headed to the ER. Checked in about 8 and departed about 4am. After 2 bags of fluids, xrays, CT scans and Demerol I was feeling a little better. Yep, I got to wear the wonderful hospital gown! What a day. After 24 hrs of high intensity workouts, I was back in my bed but only enough to dose off realizing I needed to visit the bathroom.
Hindsite, no pun intended, I was very lucky I got sick when I did. So I am taking easy at the house and trying to get caught up on some computer things.
We had a great time OAR does a fantastic job with encouraging the participants and organizing fun events, thanks OAR
