Land Between The Lakes 12 Hour Adventure Race

I raced solo for this event, put on by 361 Adventures.  Temps were frigid at the start, by my standards. It was 36 degrees and the first leg was a paddle.  I made plenty sure I was going to be warm, as I wore wool long underwear, rain pants and jacket, with a trash bag over top, just to be sure.  I stuffed chemical warmers into my gloves and shoes.

Energy Lake

The paddle had 5 CP's.  Starting out on Energy Lake, the winds were pretty stiff, but the water was calm'ish.  After nabbing the first two, I headed out into the main channel, Lake Barkley.  The waters were very choppy and even with a stiff cross tailwind, it was still a challenge to paddle.  For CP3, I opted to skip an out/back paddle and instead make a 600 meter trek over to the point on Energy Lake.  On the way back, I was getting hot, so as to save some time while trekking, I removed my PFD and ripped off my garbage bag.  Unbeknownst to me I dropped my map.  When I finally realized my error, I had an 'Oh Shit!' moment. Fortunately I was able to backtrack and find it within 100 meters.

The remaining CP's were acquired without incident.  But boy, my tailbone was getting angry with all these miles on the water (11 to be exact).  I could have cut off 1 1/2 miles of paddling by portaging for 800 meters, but I knew that would ultimately destroy my legs.  Might have been a different story had I been on a team.

At TA1, I had a 10 minute transition for the next leg, a trek. This was the most difficult leg for me.  All maps were on a 1:24,000 scale.  While not a big deal for the paddle, because all the points were off-trail, my old eyes had a hard time reading all the itsy bitsy contour lines.  There were also trails on the map that were non-existent and trails I came across that were not on the map. I advocate for us peeps with old eyes that we get 1:12,000 or better 😁

CP 6 took me an hour (lost 30 minutes), as I wondered and wandered.  CP 7 took another hour (lost 40 minutes), and I almost gave up when Karen and Kristy (Chickpoints), who were in the 24 hour, helped me to find myself.  Once I nabbed it, I realized that I just had not gone far enough initially ... doh, just 75 meters away! CP 8 I thought was going to be easy, as there was a trail on the map on the opposite side of the road from where the point was.  Welp!  No trail!  Once again, burning daylight, I took over an hour to find this one as well.

There were 3 CP's left on the trek, but after having spent 4 hours on the first 3, I needed to get back to the S/F where TA2 was to begin the bike leg. 

TA2

After a short 8 minute transition, I was on my bike picking off the CP's in quick and methodical way.  I nabbed CP 12-17 in order and they were relatively easy, mostly visible from the road/trail. After CP17, I took a time check ... 5:58 pm.  I had 2 hours to grab any remaining ones and get back to the finish.  I had already been on the bike for 1:50.  So I opted not to grab CP 18, which was another 3-3 1/2 km north, but to start heading back and possibly get CP's 20-22, which were southwest.

CP 15 ... thank goodness it was NOT at the top

These remaining CP's were on the North-South mountain bike trail.  Finally some single track!  It was 6:24pm when I punched CP 20.  It was gonna be a definite nail-biter getting back to the finish by the 8pm cut off.  I had to bail on CP's 21 and 22.  These were cemeteries that I rode right by, but since the CP was not a punch, but involved answering questions regarding tombstones, I did NOT have the time to wander around the graveyard looking for the right answers ... meh!

Once I got back on the gravel, it was 7pm.  After 11 hours of effort, I now had to find energy to do a 9 mile time trial back to the finish ... on flat pedals!  I rode like a scalded dog and skidded across the finish line with 17 minutes to spare.  Probably could have found at least one cemetery CP answer ...

Somehow I managed the solo female win, and 6th overall.  It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it.  Despite my mistakes and wandering more than I wanted to, I had a fantastic time playing in the woods.  Hopefully I learned a few things that will only help me to be a better navigator next time.

I ended up with 65 miles total (11 paddle, 15, trek, and 39 bike), and 6500 feet of elevation gain.

Thanks to 361 Adventures for a challenging and fun course.  And that post race potato bar was amaze-balls!

OMAR 24 Hour

Team Mountain Goat Adventures

This year Lisa, Susie, Marcus, and I teamed up in the Coed division for the Oak Mountain 24 Hour Adventure Race.  This was a great opportunity to see how the 3 of us would work together, as we are gunning for Adventure Race Nationals in Bend, Oregon in October.  Kristi McBride is our 4th team mate, but was unable to make it down South ... I think she is still under 4 feet of snow! Marcus Barton joined as our 4th team member.  I like how Susie, in our text threads, determined that he would be The Mule.

I just recently had hand surgery for "trigger finger," but I had recovered well from that and did not think it would affect my racing.  However, on the final day of my Florida vacation/family reunion (Wednesday the 18th), I slipped and fell in the shower/tub.  The left side of my tail bone and all those ligament/tendon attachments took a solid blow.  If not broken, definitely bruised.  Running through the woods and pedaling technical trail was going to be a bit of a challenge, with my broken a$$.

To start off the race, we "spun the wheel" to decide which discipline we would start first.  None of us wanted to paddle first, so we made Lisa spin the wheel.  Welp! Guess what we got to do first ... paddle!

PADDLE #1    4.6 miles    1:12    6 CP's

We were given the location of the first CP.  At each control was a map of the next CP, which Marcus the Punch Monkey marked.  Susie and I settled in a good stroke rhythm.  Not 15 minutes into the paddle and I think we were all glad we started with this discipline.  Our team was out front and it was kinda funny looking back and seeing all the other teams following us like ducklings.

PADDLE BOARD    1 mile    30 minutes    2 CP's

None of us had paddle boarded in the past 5 years, unless you count Lisa who did the paddle board section at OMAR last year.  But since she was nav'ing, Marcus volunteered.  We transitioned and ate a bite, and got his gear ready while he was paddling.

TREK #1    9.5 miles    3:04    10 CP's

Lisa started out pretty fast.  She may have not thought it was "all out," but Susie and I beg to differ.  I blame it on Oso, the German Shepherd she is fostering.  Lisa took up running again, to train Oso as well as to drain his huge stockpile of energy. Unfortunately, Lisa managed to find an 18 inch hole.  She wrecked hard, rolling her ankle in the process.  After muttering a few choice words, she bounced back up and continued on her blistering pace.

Four of the first five CP's had us climbing up multiple hill tops.  And it was getting hot!  While the heat had no effect on me and surprisingly Lisa, too, it was oppressive for Susie.  The speed, combined with the heat, had Susie's heartrate hitting that of a hummingbird's. By the time we hit Peavine Road on our way to CP 7, she was starting to struggle.  Marcus offered to take her pack, but she refused as she needed to drink.  (For future races, I think each one of us needs to carry a flask of hydration, along with our bladders.)

CP 3

Susie was able to grab hold of Marcus' pack which allowed a little "tow" up the road. As we began our descent down a hiking trail to grab CP 8, it was high noon.  The spring foilage had not come out in full force, so the sun was blazing down upon us.  Slip sliding down pine straw, Marcus began talking about his Dad, B.B., born and raised in Alabama and his pig named Snowball.  With a melodic Southern drawl, like molasses rollin' off your tongue, he told the story of how B.B. and Snowball would sled ride on dem der banana boxes.  You know why we used doz boxes?  Cuz' them were waxed!  And Snowball would squeal all the way down the hill. B.B. loved his Snowball.  I asked Marcus what ever became of her?  To which he replied ... bacon!

 

CP 9 Peavine Falls

Trekking up to Peavine Falls, both Marcus and I did our best to help Susie.  She was deep into the pain cave of heat exhaustion: elevated HR, profuse sweating, nausea, and extreme fatigue. I tried to get her to cool off in a couple of creeks we crossed.  She finally let Marcus carry her pack, once I filtered some water for us.  She pulled out a soft flask, which I filled and she dumped a baggie of electrolytes into. As we made our way to the final CP, I just tried to keep her morale up, but I wasn't doing a very good job.  She kept saying to me that she was going to quit once we got done with the trek.  

As we hit the TA, we all jumped in trying to get her to forge on.  I think it was a combination of taking a 15 minute breather, handing her LMNT packs like it was candy, and Lisa reminding her that we as a team would be unofficial in the final results.  I am super proud of Susie's perseverance and sacrifice.  Adventure racing is difficult even when you are feeling good, but to feel like absolute 💩, knowing you are probably gonna continue to feel this way for a significant amount of time, shows just how tough she was.

BIKE #1    17 miles    3:44    11 CP's

We took it easy on this leg, especially since it was at the hottest part of the day.  Susie slowly came around.  How I know is that when I asked her how she was doing, her replies became a little more chipper each time.

Most of the points on this bike were right on the trail or just off trail but within sight.  I struggled a bit on the more techy trail or whenever there were steep pitches.  My tailbone and all the little soft tissue connections would light up in pain whenever I had to apply the torque. So I walked a fair amount.

BIKE #2    17 miles    3:01    5 CP's

We made it back to TA#1 around 4:30 pm and had a quick transition.  Back on the bike we were now headed to TA#1, picking up CP's along the way. We climbed back up Peavine Road for the 3rd time (1 trekking, 2 biking).  Susie was definitely in a better headspace now and was slowly beginning to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix.  

CP30 was a small waterfall off trail.  Here we began the bike whack from hell.  After nabbing the point we began pushing our steeds up a 30% pitch for 0.2 miles to reach a trail.  2/3 of the way up, I made it to the top first, dropped my bike, and headed back down to help Susie.  Grabbing her bike, I began pushing it up, when I heard Lisa cry out in pain.  Once I got to the top with Susie's bike, both Marcus and Susie arrived shortly thereafter, with Lisa's bike. Apparently Lisa's agony was due to GI issues, which was quickly alleviated with a sudden back door evacuation.

Time out while we waited for Lisa to unload a load.

On to Queen's Ridge, we nabbed this point by dropping our bikes at the first switchback and hoofing it up to the ridgline. Halfway up the climb, Marcus had to turn back around, as he had forgotten the tracker. The final point on this bike was on Longleaf Trail.  As we approached the CP, Susie asked me if this was an out and back.  But what I heard her ask was if we found it, to which I replied yes.  So as Marcus punched the CP, I turned my head around and Susie was gone.  I yelled for her, she responded, as she had already climbed back up those 2 steep switchbacks.  I felt bad about that, knowing that she wasted energy, and immediately apologized. (Payback is a bitch 😈)

We put on our lights and headed down Belcher's Byway to TA#1.

TREK #2    7 Miles    3:00    7 CP's

Marcus's wife, Trista, was here, and let us know that we had a 2 hour lead on 2nd place.  That made my night!  After a 19 minute transition, we headed back up Belcher's Byway. Lisa led the way and we followed like little duckling's.  Her walking speed, however, was so stinkin' fast that the 3 of us had to Airborne shuffle to keep up. After nabbing CP33, we began the bushwhack to CP35, along a creek.  This area had been hit by a tornado in the past.  This whole section was a combination of multiple blowdowns and patches of thick 4-5 feet tall pine tree saplings. 

Marcus was the caboose through this section and the caboose suddenly disappeared. We hollered ... no response.  We hollered again and then finally saw his headlamp.  Apparently his backpack had gotten stuck on a limb as he was crawling under a downed tree.  To free himself he had to cut off to cut off his arm.  Not really, but he had to take his pack off, and then untangle it from the tree.

After a "nothing but net" nab of CP35, Lisa's nav skills continued to shine as we collected the remaining CP's, all off trail.  It was nothing short of magic!  And remember, this was at night!

Marcus coming out of creek CP 37

PADDLE #2   5 miles    1:35    3 CP's

The hardest part of this leg was the freakin' portage.  Jeff's canoes, I swear, are made out of lead, because carrying that across the road from Lunker Lake to Oak Mountain Lake and then back again, after we got CP 40, was awful! A 150 meter portage each way.  Here is where Susie got me back from the earlier incident on Longleaf Trail.  As we were getting out of the canoe for the first portage, Susie yanked the canoe out from underneath me as I was getting out.  Kerplunk I went into the lake, up to my chest!   Susie said that she thought I was gonna stay in the boat until she pulled it up on shore a bit ... 😜😜😜.  Karma's a bitch! After that final portage, heading back to the TA, I was so glad the paddle was almost over.  Despite a night time temperature of 60 degrees, being wet, I was starting to shiver.

BIKE #3    12.5 miles    1:50    6 CP's

After a 16 minute transition, we were on the final leg. All these CP's were the same as previous ones from the earlier legs.  We were making good time now, as we could smell the finish.  All of our discomforts were immaterial now.  We rode under the finishing banner at 2:43 am, competing the course in 17:35, with only 37 minutes of stopped time.  We were the overall winning team.

The Triple G Award (Grit, Gristle, and Gumption) goes to Susie.  She fought through adversity to make it to the finish.  She had a phenomenal "2nd half" rally, which kept us on a blistering pace through the night.

The Chris Forne Navigator Award goes to Lisa.  I have been able to watch her skills progress over the last 3 years.  This race she was dialed and we did not dilly-dally trying to find CP's. She also gets the most poops in a 24 hour period award.

The Mighty Mule Award goes to Marcus.  He did all the "extra" tasks with no questions asked.  I also must say that his comedic character, even when poking the bear (the bear being Lisa), kept our minds upbeat and our smile muscles engaged.

I had an absolute blast with this team.  I think this race was a great start to our build up to USARA Adventure Race Nationals this fall.

Snake Creek Gap TT

 

Keeping the streak going!

22 years I have been participating in this race.  Driving down the morning of, I was dreading toeing the line.  It was cold (for me) at 30 degrees, and I had only ridden my bike 3 times this year. So I wasn't exactly feeling the bike fitness.  I had more running miles in my legs than cycling miles.  I thought of the gentleman who had run with a Strider bike one year and toyed with the notion of doing that, although where am I going to find a bike like that at 6 am?

The bus ride gave me plenty of time to fell just how unprepared I was for today.  Whatever mojo I may have have mustered was driven deeper into the depths of my psyche by Karen Carey.  She was filling both my ears with inadequacy, ineptitude, and despair. Had it not been for the fact that I would be unable to attend the March race, keeping my racing streak going, there was a good chance I would have bailed today.

After warming up by running around the parking lot, I made my way over to the starting line.  Lisa pointed out that my right shoe and pedal was covered in 💩 ... and human, at that😒. How fitting!

Fortunately, all that negativity left my soul once I saw my favorite peeps at the starting line:  Ray and Tammy Blevins managing the scoring table. 10 pedal strokes in to the race and Racing Carey (aka Taz) flung Karen Carey off the trail.  Jayden came by a few seconds later and I hopped aboard her wake.  I managed to hang onto her until halfway up the double track climb.  Not too shabby I must say.  

The legs felt surprisingly good at a comfortably hard pace and with the trail being in great shape save for loose baby heads, I made good time through the first half, only 5 minutes slower than my April 2025 time.

As I stopped to swap bottles at the SAG, Lisa rolled by.  I quickly hopped back on and slowly made my way up to her wheel.  At this point, I could care less about "racing," but having my best friend to share the second half and provide some stoke, was what I was craving.

I could tell I was struggling a bit in the last 7 miles.  I kind of felt like a pinball on the rocks.  I think it was more to do with rusty technical skills than a lack of fitness.  But the sun was out and I was truly in my happy place, despite my less than stellar performance.

Lisa and I popped out together on the pavement.  Knowing I had faster tires than her, I took the lead so she could tuck in. Still, I out rolled her and crossed the finish line well ahead of her.  But she had started 30 or so seconds behind me and ended up beating me by 2 seconds!  

Jayden ended up with a stellar time of 3:45, and first in the money class.  This kid is fast!

So, although the morning started out crappy, it ended up being a good day on the bike.  And the Snake Pit cooking crew were on fire!  Plenty of food for everyone to replenish their calories.  And some awesome schwag socks to boot!  I still have my pair from 10+ years ago.

Georgia Navigator Cup

This was my third year of competing in this 3 day event.  Friday was a standalone o-meet at McIntosh Reserve Park.  Time to dust off the ole compass and work on my nav skills as I work towards my big A event in October, USARA Nationals in Bend, Oregon!

Temps were in the low 50's ... perfect!  I had just gotten my Tifosi prescription eyewear and was wearing them for the first time.  My brain was a little slow in adjusting to the prescription, so when the gun went off, I had a little difficulty in seeing the map.  I shoulda just taken a bearing, but there were trails, so I started off on them, figuring I would pace count and then attack. Welp, 15 minutes later, I finally found the damn thing.  I did not go far enough on the trail before I attacked and then went to far and hit another trail that served as a handrail.  Jeezy-pete!  My brain just did not want to wake the f up!

Fortunately, I was able to get the remaining 13 controls with ease, each taking about 2-4 minutes.  Total time was 58:53, good enough for third in my class. The one plus I had was the ability to move much quicker off-trail, as compared to last year.  I could actually run, hold a bearing, and hit the controls spot on or within 20 meters.  I attributed this to all the time spent running the Cumberland Trail.

Saturday and Sunday both took place at Chattahoochee Bend State Park.  Saturday's temps were the same, but with cloudy conditions and wind, I layered a little more. Saturday's course was on the eastern side of the park, I was told that the course designer said it was one of the hardest he had ever created.  That gave me pause for concern.  The first 2 controls I nabbed in no time.  The 3rd one gave me a little trouble, as it was hidden in a thicket of small pines at the edge of a large slab of granite.  I found the correct slab, but had a hard time seeing the control.  There were a few of us looking for the same one and eventually a fella saw it.  This one took me a little over 9 minutes to get, my hardest for the day. The others seemed to fly by and I was so proud of my ability to hold a bearing and see features on the map, as I was running by them.

My time for Saturday was 1:16:47, only 4 minutes off 1st place.  And since the actual CUP was a cumulative time for just Saturday and Sunday, perhaps I had a chance to challenge Patty Carrigan.

The temperature for Sunday was a lot cooler, in the 30's.  Why I was so fearful of being cold, I dunno.  I layered perfect and my extremities were happy the entire time.  Navigating to the first control caused me a bit of a headache, as there was almost too much information on the map:  multiple trails, roads, campgrounds, which caused my head to sping.  I had to keep stopping and orienting myself.  In hindsight, it probably would have been faster running up the road, but you don't get a chance to preview the map.  You don't get to turn your map over until the gun goes off.  CP1 was an easy find; it just took 2 minutes longer than it should have.

The terrain was a lot flatter than Saturday's, so it behooved me to stay on my bearing.  Of course, this caused me to go a bit slower.  I was doing good until I went for CP8, about 450 meters from CP7, almost due North. Had I been holding my bearing, I shoulda passed by the water station, on a hilltop.  Never saw that.  I think I ended up straying a bit NW, as I started seeing what I thought was the approach to the river.  I did come upon a control; it was CP9!  Yep, strayed way off course.  At least now, I could shoot a bearing back to CP8, about 250m away.  Nabbed 8, then reversed and went back to 9. This mistake cost me 5-7 minutes.

The last 2 controls were quickly obtained.  I finished with a time of  1:17:30, bested by first by 11 minutes.  Dang it!  

Overall, I finished in 2nd place.  I had an absolute blast.  And hopefully learned from my hiccups.