Oak Mountain Adventure Race

 

A month ago Lisa asked me to do this adventure race, as her male team mate was out with an injury. This was supposed to be a shakedown for her big adventure in Arkansas April 3-8, the Expedition Ozark. This would be a first for me and I am not gonna lie; I was definitely nervous.  Lisa had been putting in a crap ton of training for Expedition Ozark; I was worried that I might have a hard time hanging onto her pace. But fuck it! As Robert Browning so wonderfully said it, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp." (Funny, but this would literally come into play during the second trek).

Storms rolled through the night before, and the ground was wet as we arrived at the venue.  But the forecast was near perfect: sunny skies and 57-78 degrees. This AR had a 10 hour cut off. 48 teams (1-4 people) were signed up. There was 1 paddle, 2 treks, and 2 bikes.  Maps and CP's (a total of 32) were handed out at 6 am, which gave Lisa 2 hours to plot our course.  She pulled out her box of Sharpies (like a kid with a 32 count Crayon box) and made short work of it.  There were two TA's (transition areas).  TA 1 was the Start/Finish area, from which we could choose paddle or the first trekking section. She decided to have us do the paddle section first (6 CP's) because she figured more teams would do the trek first.  And she potentially did not want having a bunch of teams "up her butt" or "bird-dogging" us.

The lake was like glass as we paddled to our first checkpoint next to the spillway which was at the opposite end of the lake.  All the paddle CP's were on land, so we would have to exit the canoe each time. The cool breeze felt good against my cheeks as we made our way. We (and I only say "we" as I should have said something about the spillway potentially being slippery, but I kept my mouth shut ... being the rookie) decided to land the canoe on the concrete that sloped 30 degrees into the water.  Big mistake!  I got out ok, but the boat started to drift backwards as Lisa was attempting to get out.  My foot as well as hers hit the underwater portion of the concrete that was covered in algae and we both slowly slid down into the lake.  We silently struggled as other canoes caught up to us, saw our predicament, and exited the water elsewhere.  We somehow managed to get back up on the spillway, but it cost us a minute or two.  

Fortunately we nailed the remaining 6 CP's with ease and finished the 4 mile paddle in just over an hour. Hopefully that would be the worst of our mistakes for today. Before we went back to TA #1 (which was essentially our vehicles), we ran and grabbed CP #1 on the trek, since it wasn't far from the canoe take out.  Then we ran back to our vehicles and changed out our paddling shoes to dry running shoes. This first trek which included 6 CP's took less than 50 minutes and covered 3 1/2 miles. None of the CP's were directly on a trail.  Here is where I saw Lisa shine!  Navigating on the fly, bushwhacking off trail to find the CP's, she made not one mistake!  I was amazed.  It was like the checkpoints were chum and she was a tiger shark, coming in for the kill! Yep, that is her AR spirit animal.  I would say mine is the sheep:  pretty sure footed running up draws and scrambling up and over ridgelines as well as being a great follower 😆😆😆.

Arriving back at our vehicles, we changed into our cycling gear. Since we would not be coming back to TA #1 until the finish, I secured my Hoka's to my Salomon running hydration vest.  They fit perfectly in the trekking pole loops.  

The first bike section was pretty straight forward.  We rode up the paved Peavine Falls Road, grabbing two CP's along the way. I was on the struggle bus up this climb, as my running legs and cycling legs were not on the same page.  This biking portion was 5 miles long and took about 35 minutes. TA #2 was at the top of the mountain.   Here we ditched the bikes and put on our running shoes.  I thought I was transitioning pretty fast, but Lisa was already moving out on the second trek as I was stuffing my face with a PayDay and trying to chase it down with water.  She would give Clark Kent a run for his money in the transition time department.

This second trek was longer and more laborious and the ascents/descents were long and steep. There were 9 CP's and we hit them in this order:  15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 18, and 23. Checkpoint #17 was the most difficult as it was the furthest off trail and was at the bottom of a tiny waterfall.  You definitely had to be on your A game to find this one.  Lisa rose to the occasion and skillfully got us there with no meandering.

So impressed with my teamy!

The next CP had us bushwhacking straight up and over the mountain, gaining 500 feet in 1/2 mile.  All the bear crawls I have done at my local gym finally paid off.  We grabbed one on the ridge then scrambled down the other side to grab another, then up and over another ridge to get another.  They all seemed to involve bushwhacking with lots of ascent/descent.  My quads, calves, and achilles were put through the ringer.  

CP #19

Then came the checkpoint at Peavine Falls.  There was a trail down to the base of the falls and let me tell you; it was pretty treacherous and involved 3 points of contact. You definitely did not want to roll an ankle or trip over your feet because there was not a railing or fence to catch you from plummeting 20 yards straight down.  The kicker was the placement of the CP.  Remember the previous words of Robert Browning ...

"A man's reach should exceed his grasp."

Lisa was tippy toe ballerina style to punch the card, ripping it in the process.  That ledge she was on was super slick.  I had to enlist the help of  a tall dude enjoying a Saturday with his family at the falls to help get Lisa back down off that ledge! 

Seven miles and 2 hours 20 minutes later and we were back at TA 2.  I had emptied my hydration bladder 45 minutes prior so that ice cold Coke was a life saver.  While changing back to bike shoes, getting more water and refueling, we discovered that we were the first ones back from the trek. That was encouraging! I gulped down 2 gels (90 mg caffeine each), because I knew the last biking section was gonna get rowdy.  I could tell Lisa was going in for the kill!

It felt so good to be back on the bike.  I got to ride the Thunder and Slingshot for the first time. Checkpoint 25 we hit from two different angles.  Lisa was "on the money" the first time we started bushwhacking down to it; we just did not go far enough.  Approaching it from a further bit down the bike trail involved a butt slide down (had to be 45 degrees steep) and a claw your way back to the top.  

I still don't know how Lisa managed to know exactly when to get off the trail and begin bushwhacking and looking for the three dimensional orange and white framed flags.  That lady has a gift for looking at the map and reading the terrain ... while riding her bike.  Un-f'ing-believable.  

Some of these were hiding behind trees or rocks.

Other than CP 25, she was only one spur off CP 27.  Towards the end of the bike section, we saw the second place team several times.  It was getting down to the wire.  Lisa pulled off the coup de grace when we used a horse trail and several bushwhacks by bike to secure the final 3 CP's.

The last bike section was 15 miles and took us 2 1/2 hours. We hit the finish in a final time of 7 hours 34 minutes, clearing the course with all 32 checkpoints.  Total mileage was 35 miles with 5000 feet of climbing (3000 feet ascent/descent was the 2 trekking portions). 

That was 55 minutes faster than the predicted time of 8 1/2 hours.  My first AR experience and we were first overall!  

Thanks Lisa for believing in me ... and allowing me to get those last punches in.  I was so nervous I would not punch it right or punch the wrong CP or drop the punch card.  Thank you baby Jesus for no mistakes on my part.

No doubt it was hard for me, so I can only imagine the pressure that was upon Lisa, being the ONLY navigator on the team.  She was smooth as silk.  She only showed the slightest frustration during CP 25 and only for a minute.  She was able to redirect quickly and efficiently and we lost minimal time there.  I have no doubt, barring any misfortune, Team Warrior is going to perform well at Expedition Ozark.  I cannot wait to watch the Live Feed.

As for me, I absolutely love this kind of racing.  It reminds me of being a kid and adventuring through our farm and nearby farms with my brothers.  Back in the days when trespassing wasn't a big deal.  We would dress up in camo, pack a sandwich, and follow creeks and pretend we were "living off the land."  At least until we started getting hungry again and then head back home.

If I am going to continue with this AR thing, I feel the need to at least learn to read maps better.  The Master Men's winner was 74 years old, so that gives me twenty years ... right?