Maine Summer Adventure Race- Round 3!

The paddle out to Fort Gorges, Casco Bay. Photo: Strong Machine racing.

Another 24-hour Maine Summer Adventure Race for team Scrambled Legs and Aching in the books. From the moment that I learned that this year’s race would start at Pineland Farm, I KNEW that Kate and Cliff of Strong Machine racing would not be able to resist routing at least some part of the course through Bradbury Mountain SP. For some perspective, the last time I rode my bike at Bradbury, it didn’t end well. Dave and I had gone for an anniversary weekend to camp and ride mountain bikes sans kid about 10 years ago. After several crashes and frustrating hours of sliding on wet, slimy roots in the pouring rain, I wound up hurling my bike into the woods (and likely screeching at Dave about our weekend destination). Needless to say, the remainder of the weekend was spent in downtown Portland…
So flash forward a decade and we are back on the trails of Bradbury SP (and mostly wet and slippery as I remembered). Here are some of the highlights of our 24 hours of racing:

Gathering maps at the start. Photo Strong Machine racing.

    1) The race started with a fun little twist: teams had to split up and each teammate needed to acquire the first three checkpoints individually. In several races, I have actually gone the wrong way FROM THE STARTING LINE- and this was with a navigator! I have never navigated myself, so this was a pretty tall ask of my skills. Needless to say, all three of us returned with our respective checkpoints completed right on schedule. Crisis averted.

Sam's wardrobe malfunction. Photo Strong Machine.

2) In the first 10 minutes of the race, Sam managed to tear a giant hole in his bike shorts in some venomous pruckerbrush. He returned from the orienteering leg with said wardrobe malfunction in progress. I found his solution of wrapping his 28” quads in medical tape to avoid indecent exposure particularly amusing. I think the creative tape solution lasted a full 20 minutes.

Coming into transition after a long time on the bike.
 Photo Strong Machine.

    



     



     



3) Despite my irrational hatred of Bradbury Mountain, we acquired every one of the mountain bike checkpoints set in the race, including the Bradbury Mountain bike orienteering section. I only had one epic over-the-handlebars crash that resulted in a face full of soft forest duff. Rumor has it that this was around 80 miles of mountain biking in total. For someone who isn’t particularly fond of mountain biking, I am pretty happy with this accomplishment.

    4)  A license to eat Nutterbutters and Fig Newtons for 24-hours straight is never a bad thing if you ask me.

Scrambled Legs and Aching making a plan. Photo Strong Machine racing

    5) The paddling leg included a stretch down the Presumpscot river and into Casco Bay for a few checkpoints. While we strategically chose to skip some of the paddling checkpoints in order to save time, we did visit Fort Gorges on Hog Island. Exploring the fort, including climbing the stairwells in complete darkness and the spectacular ocean views from the top, was pretty cool.

Beautiful Casco Bay. Photo Strong Machine racing.

6) OK, I’m not gonna lie. When one of your teammates is a professional athlete who can squat a small school bus (and your 44-year-old husband wants to pretend he can keep up), there are perks. While I entertained the idea of letting the men portage the boats while I carried just the paddles, in the end, I couldn’t let them do it. Thanks for the chivalry though, fellas (we did manage to carry both the tandem and single sea kayaks with all of the gear in one swoop). Let’s just say that I did enjoy a rare opportunity to lily dip, sightsee, snack, and relax while Sam powered our little boat through the choppy ocean waves though. It is a nice way to travel; I highly recommend it.

Oh my gawd! Are you, like, doing the Amazing Race?

7) Urban orienteering in downtown Portland on a Saturday night was super fun (still looking like we just finished a game of mud football from Bradbury Mtn). Turns out, we must have been a bit of a spectacle here. I wonder how many other teams were also asked repeatedly if they were doing the Amazing Race? 

8) It has been a year in the making, but Dave and Sam finally got their well-deserved mid-race pizza. In last year’s race, we were not able to come to a team consensus about stopping for pizza (despite carrying 10,000 calories of food in each of our packs, the boys both seemed to think we were on the brink of starvation without it). Our failure to agree was followed by 20 minutes of team silence and then a 2.5 hour shenanigan searching for an elusive checkpoint. I will continue to hold my ground that correlation does not equal causation, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Anyway, thank you Circle K for ready-made pizza this year. I’m not going to lie; it was delicious. Oddly, the only time we found ourselves “lost” this year was immediately after the pizza. Coincidence?

photo Strong Machine racing

9) Sunset on the Western Prom… how cool was that? Fireworks and all!

North Franklin 12U All Stars. Who said I can't be in two places at once?
Play ball kids!

10) A race director who is happy to text your 13-year-old daughter to keep you updated about her all-star baseball tournament that you are missing  while playing in the woods. Thank you Cliff for minimizing the parent-guilt that goes along with these endeavors!

11) I think my favorite part of racing is always the hours after darkness when the world grows quiet (assuming it isn’t pouring rain, that is). This year was no exception. This year brought us a perfect Maine night with a great mix of mountain biking and on-foot orienteering during the hours between sunset and sunrise. I am grateful for the laughs, the stories, the tired feet, and the memories. This only happens when you have awesome teammates!

Meet Mega John. This is a drawing my 13-year-old doodled at
dinner last night. Clearly, I am not the only
one with issues with these monsters.

  12) No ticks. Did I mention that? This wet spring has been terrible for ticks up here, and yet, I saw none during the entire race. Dave found two after the race looking for a home, but no bites. For anyone who shares my hatred of these nasty little pests, I highly recommend spraying your gear with Permethrin. It really seems to work! I wonder if other teams had issues with them?


13) Our final result: 3^rd place finish! Woohoo! Not too shabby of an effort, I might say (a legitimate qualification for Nationals this year!). Can't wait for the next one!

 

The Koenigs Take on the Maine Summer Adventure Race

Handmade awards on tree cookies! HVNC- Hidden Valley Nature Center. Photo Charlie Koenig

For many years, I have been lucky enough to have the unwavering support of my wonderful family as my support crew at my adventure races. They have organized my nutrition, lugged my gear, brought me dry clothes, and cheered endlessly while I insist on putting myself through hours of suffering (the good kind?) at all sorts of events. I have known all along that eventually some day my luck would run out. Some day, they would tire of watching my shenanigans. Some day they would decide they have had enough. Indeed 2017 turned out to be the year in which my support crew of minions would come to a screeching halt. 

Instead, at the starting line for the Maine Summer Adventure 10-hour race, I found myself with two anxious mini-mes and my husband by my side, all decked out with matching team shirts.

This story goes back one year ago when Kate and Cliff White, racers from Strong Machine Adventure Racing, encouraged me to consider a race they were putting on in scenic coastal Maine. Being that the race is the only USARA national qualifier here in Maine, it seemed worth looking into, so I penciled the event onto my calendar. Kate and Cliff, who have a deep love for the sport adventure racing, were hoping to encourage newcomers to the sport by additionally providing a beginner and family friendly 3-hour option that would include Amazing Race style challenges, fun checkpoints, and a great mix of disciplines that could include stand up paddle boarding and/or fat tire biking as well. This sounded like a perfect opportunity to get the kids a little taste of adventure racing! I told Cliff to count us in and invited my family to join me in a Team Koenig adventure.

If you know my children, then you know I never stood a legit chance at convincing them to do the family race. Several negotiations later, including discussions about "not getting in over our heads", breaking up into a girls team and boys team in case one of the offspring decided that they wanted to bail out, I found myself standing at the start like of the ten hour race (OK, sitting in a kayak as it may be) with my husband, 11-year old daughter,  and 13-year old son eagerly awaiting the horn to signal the beginning of their first adventure race.

Teams Koenig Chaos (me and Charlie) and Scrambled Legs and Aching (Dave and Noah). Photo Kate White.

As is the case with adventure racing, you don't know the distances or terrain that you will travel until about an hour or less before the race begins, leaving no real opportunity for planning or race strategizing in the months before. We knew there would be cycling, orienteering, and kayaking- but not the order of the disciplines. I had hoped that the kayaking would be the second stage of the race so that the kids would have an opportunity to rest as needed while Dave and I did the lion's share of the work. But alas, after a little MIA bus driver mishap (which Kate, the RD, at 8 months pregnant, handled beautifully, I might add. I, on the other hand, have a distinct memory of tearful hysteria upon discovery of a bat in my house at 8 months pregnant- a story for another day), we were loading tandem kayaks to push off the shores of Boothbay Harbor for the first leg of the race. One of my CVA students, who apparently works for Tidal Transit as a summer job (who knew?), helped gear Dave and Noah up (thanks Ellison!), and ready we were!! I took this as a promising sign for the day ahead.

Dave and Noah on the Narrows stretch of the paddling leg. Note the curiously open pocket on Dave's backpack housing our stash of honey-almonds. Photo Strong Machine.

Charlie and I making our way along the paddling leg. Photo Strong Machine.

The paddling stage of the MSAR was absolutely gorgeous. I had actually paddled the first mile or two of the race course during a CVA orientation trip, but the scenic coast of Boothbay Harbor never gets old. The foamy water crashing against the rugged, gnarled, metamorphosed mess of bedrock rising confidently from the ocean always gives me a sense of serenity juxtaposed with fear of whatever lies beneath the ocean's surface. While the kids did their part to paddle when needed, this leg was one where we encourage them to drink fluids, have frequent snacks, study the maps, and prepare themselves for the long day that lay ahead. We opted to skip all 3 of the bonus checkpoints during this stage for two reasons. One reason was that due to the late start of the race, the tide would turn around noon which would make paddling against the outgoing tide considerably more difficult. Secondly, we are parents. We know that when kids bonk, you want to be as close to the finish/food/bed as you can be. Bonus checkpoints would be considered only once we felt confident that we had the energy to complete the basic course. We made pretty quick work of the 13ish mile journey through the barrier islands of coastal Maine to the first transition area with only one minor mishap involving a bag of honey almonds and a poorly sealed ziplock just after noon.

The next stage would bring us along a beautiful wooded trail on foot where we aimed to gather the 3 mandatory checkpoints not-so-hidden along the way. As we completed our transition and headed off into the woods, the kids were in great spirits, full of energy, and excited to get underway. Several trails crisscrossed throughout the nature preserve and Dave and I accidentally selected one that quickly appeared to be taking us off course (well sort of- more like right back to where we started). While it was pretty clear that Noah was beginning to question the competency of his navigators, he let us off the hook without too much ribbing. In hindsight, he shouldn't have gone so easy on us because it turned out that we had an insert map for this section of trail in our pile of maps that we didn't notice until after the race. Um, oops.

We encountered many of the same teams over and over during this stage, which made for some fun camaraderie on the trails. Some teams made wrong turns where the trail was less traveled. Others left the trail in search of scattered bonus points hidden in the forest beyond the safety of the trail. One thing I really appreciated about this race was how incredibly friendly, easygoing, and just plain awesome the volunteers, spectators, race directors, and other racers were. Everyone encouraged the kids and seemed happy and cheerful themselves. It may seem like a silly point to make, but the reality is that not all race experiences are like this. Race environments can be stressful and can bring out the worst in people (even race directors). I think the people are what make this race exceptional.

Orienteering at the Dodge Point Preserve. Photo Strong Machine

We made our way steadily along, noting that we were continuing to make better time than we had anticipated. It was then that Dave and I broached the subject of possibly gathering a few bonus checkpoints in order to be more competitive in the field of racers. It was becoming clear that if we collected only mandatory checkpoints, we would arrive at the finish with at least two hours of unused time (the rules state that you can not return to completed stages- nor would you want to in a point-to-point race such as this). We opted to collect bonus checkpoint "E" that seemed to be a pretty straightforward: we could get to within a short distance of the checkpoint via a old, overgrown road and then shoot for the "summit" with a bearing. (Of course, this would have been even easier if either of us looked at the map insert provided that included trails, rock walls, and other benchmarks not on the maps we had). Charlie gladly went along with the plan, thrilled with the idea of snagging the extra point. Noah, on the other hand, expressed reservations and I could tell that for him it required a huge leap of faith. He knew that we might not find this hidden checkpoint, and Noah isn't much for risks. But, he was feeling good and succumbed to the badgering from the rest of his family and went along with it anyway. His risk was rewarded with a well-hidden orange orienteering flag, 4 sour gummy bears, and a pretty solid downpour of rain.

Devouring our supply of Ensure, gummy bears, Hammer Bars, pop tarts, and seawater-soaked honey almonds (Ok, only Dave was brave enough to eat those. There is a reason that this man is my hero), we approached the next transition to stage 3 at the beautiful Dodge Point Preserve. Our intention was originally to skip the entire stage since it included only bonus on-foot checkpoints. Having arrived ahead of schedule, we decided that we might consider grabbing one or two checkpoints if they appeared to be low-hanging fruit (maps for this stage were not available until arrival at the preserve). Upon reviewing the maps, we decided that we would attempt to gather bonus checkpoints L and M, which would require less than a mile of bushwhacking to obtain. We decided we would give no more than 30 minutes to the effort. Without difficulty, I was able to lead us directly to CP "L" (sorry Dave, you were wrong on this one). From there we covered some funky terrain on the approach to CP M. The faint topographic lines on the Dodge Point map, combined with some funky shadowing and lots of zig-zagging lines made it difficult to see exactly what we were looking for, but it appeared that the CP would be in a little hollow between two little ridges in the topography. After finding the hollow and no CP even after scouring the surrounding area, the search for CP M seemed to fruitless. The kids were anxious to get off of their feet and onto their mountain bikes and another team we encountered was equally frustrated. Dave and I learned last summer that sometimes you just need to let some elusive checkpoints go after spending 2 hours searching for one particularly difficult one that we never did find, so we made the call to give up on this one. Seconds later, Charlie's triumphant squeal of "I found it!" resonated throughout the forest. Checkpoint M, just so you know, you've got nothing on our 11-year old daughter.

Stage 4 was a biking stage that would take us through Damariscotta Mills, along single track behind Oxbow Brewing Co. and tasting room (where Dave was longing for a pint), and into the Hidden Valley Nature Conservancy. In another small-world twist of fate, the location for the bike drop and transition into stage 4 was on the front lawn of another one of our CVA students. We arrived to discover that sometime during the morning hours, every bike was adorned with a Snickers bar waiting for the weary riders to emerge from the forest. It was the perfect timing for a little transition magic and made the kids feel really special  (thank you Manahan family!!).

The ride to the conservancy was as great as the Snickers bar surprises (not gonna lie, I ate two). Fun hills, fast riding, and a stretch of new single track (which was another bonus CP) kept us entertained as we grabbed checkpoints and made our way toward Hidden Valley Nature Center. We are pretty sure both Noah and Charlie might have violated the 30 mph speed limit on a descent that elicited whoops and hollers from all. We probably also left a few roadside cows a little confused. We arrived at HVNC with around an hour to spare, and after inhaling some delicious pieces of watermelon at the transition, we headed out for bonus points Q and R on our mountain bikes. It was while looking for the CP R that it became clear that 10 hours of adventure racing would be just enough adventure for teams Koenig Chaos and Scrambled Legs and Aching. The final CP, cleverly hidden beneath a footbridge, nearly left us empty handed.

Charlie and I coming in for the finish. Photo Strong Machine 

As we dropped out of the conservancy and back on to Egypt road for the final mile toward the finish, I really enjoyed the opportunity to ride behind my kids as they completed one of the most difficult physical challenges of their lives. With each stroke of the pedals, their sense of accomplishment was evident. Noah disappeared out of sight as the finish line neared forcing the three of us to pedal harder to keep up.

While on the outside, adventure racing might seem like only a race. On the inside, it is so much more. We are reminded that together, we are a team. We are reminded to trust one another, support one another, and take care of one another. When things get difficult, we have one another. I am so grateful to be able to experience this with Dave and the little people in our lives. I can only hope that the kids will apply this to other areas of their lives and remember that no matter what happens, we are all in it together.

Charlie and I receiving our awesome tree cookie plaque for first place female team with Cliff and Kate White. That is one suprirsed, happy kid.
Photo credit: Strong Machine Adventure Racing

Thanks to Kate and Cliff at Strong Machine and all of their great sponsors for putting on this awesome event (and for the photos!)! Also, thanks to Hammer Nutrition and Spandits for their unwavering support over the years (click on the sidebar of my blog for discount codes from these two great sponsors)! We'll see you at the next one.

Scrambled Legs & Aching and the Bitter Pill

It has been said that getting lost will help you find yourself... Photo  GMARA..

My husband Dave has been the best supporter of my adventure racing lifestyle over the last several years. Kid duty, photographer, race crew, tolerator of all things... just to name a few. I have tried many times to convince him to join me, but it wasn't until this year that he finally conceded. And just like that, team Scrambled Legs & Aching was formed for the 12-hour GMARA Bitter Pill Adventure Race held at Bolton Valley, VT.

Looking a little terrified during our pre-race official photo. At least we are in it together. Photo GMARA

Both Dave and I have a fair amount of experience in the disciplines of sport that would be included in the Bitter Pill. We are both experienced paddlers, are avid hikers, and ride mountain bikes all summer (admittedly, Dave much more enthusiastically so than I). We were both also well-prepared for some swimming or a ropes component, but those would not end up being part of this year's event. Orienteering, on the other hand, is an area where we are both inexperienced. I mean, I have watched other people navigate using a map and compass for whatever that is worth. Successfully navigating to the required checkpoints using a map and compass while biking, hiking, canoeing, etc. could prove to be an incredibly interesting challenge. There would be a good chance that much of our day could be spent lost in the woods. So, at 4 AM, we showed up at the pre-race meeting with our gear packed and compasses slung around our necks ready to learn what our fate would be.

The race began with a 35-minute bus ride in the darkness to the start location. At 5AM, we were led to a field of canoes and kayaks (with no water source apparent anywhere), handed our maps (made from data 30 years old), and instructed that all racers who arrived at the finish after 5PM would face a checkpoint penalty in accordance with how many minutes late they arrive. There was a loud and clear message in that directive: DON'T BE LATE! I wondered if we should just start looking for the finish now...

A cool photo of team Strong Machine snagging a
checkpoint on the paddle. photo GMARA

With first light illuminating the sky, we portaged our canoe overhead toward the first checkpoint about 1km away. We scrambled through long grass, over a barbed-wire fence, and finally roadside toward the muddy put-in on the Winooski river, which was running unseasonably low due to the dry summer conditions. The paddle to the first few checkpoints began in a pretty uneventful manner, and Dave and I settled in and started thinking that perhaps it was going to be a good day. The reality is, that things are never quite that simple. Not two seconds after Dave commented how his paddle was feeling unusually flexible in the water I heard the unmistakable crack of plastic snapping followed by several expletives from Dave. Gleaning over my shoulder, I could see there was clearly a problem; Dave only had 1/3 of a paddle blade attached to a cracked shaft. In all fairness, the paddle now made an excellent pole to push the canoe over the shallower sections of river. With a cracked shaft already, this didn't seem like the smart thing to do, however. So we paddled on, with the blade of Dave's paddle sounding like it had a sneaker attached to the end each time it punched into the water. Kerplunk, kerplunk, klerplunk. As the early morning fog hung low over the the river, the stillness only broken by the riffles of the current, we forged on, a little embarrassed that we were the only team of over 50 that managed a broken paddle in the first kilometer of the race. Kerplunk, kerplunk, kerplunk...

Paddling down the Winooski. It appears that we still have two complete paddles at this point in time. That portage totally destroyed my braid, but the way.  Photo GMARA

By the time we reached the next portage around a large dam at checkpoint #3, the race directors had caught wind of the rumor that a couple of suckers were paddling a canoe with only half of a paddle and a new paddle was ready and waiting. I began to wonder if we told them that we were missing a qualified navigator, they would have provided us with one of those too? I forgot to mention (yeah, forgot, let's go with that), that we missed the third checkpoint during this portage and had to run back to punch our passports.

Here is a funny picture of me trying to make sure that Dave stays up on his nutrition by forcing him to take his Endurolytes and Endurance Aminos. Eat it!! Photo GMARA.

The next several checkpoints were easily found along small tributaries, islands, or footbridges along the Winooski River. I was really grateful that they were all pretty easily navigated to, because paddling upriver for a missed checkpoint would be a real bugger. It was actually a beautiful and enjoyable paddle, and we arrived at the first transition area feeling great and in high spirits.

Punching CP #6 on the footbridge of the Long Trail. Ironically, Dave and I spent hours lost on the Long Trail with the kids near Smuggler's Notch this winter. We have since re-named it the Wrong Trail. Photo GMARA

TA 1 waiting for racers to arrive. Photo GMARA

The next leg was a mountain biking leg consisting of a small amount of paved road, to gravel road, to trail. We started out with a navigational mishap early on in the leg (oops, missed a turn), but found the checkpoints without too much trouble after that. This leg was around 27km in total- my estimation is that at least 24km of the leg was climbing (and lots of hike-a-bike). You might think this is impossible... that exaggeration is in my genetics.... I'll deny it. It IS entirely possible. Having just converted my mountain bike drivetrain to a 1X, I was definitely missing the existence of true grandma gear for the steeps. Let me tell you, that downhill was pretty exciting though (I might have yelled yee-haw once or twice, but I'll deny that too).

Headed out of TA 1 on the beginning of the bike leg. Photo GMARA

Dave on his way out of TA 1 Photo GMARA

We rolled into the second transition area (best guess at 11:30 am), dropped some gear and took a few minutes to plan our navigation for the next leg of the course. While the paddling and biking legs required checkpoints to be collected in order, this section was an orienteering section where eight checkpoints could be collected in any order. We made a plan to punch checkpoint (CP) #13 first and them make our way up the mountain to collect the checkpoints along a ridgeline and summit route afterward. We departed with Kate, Cliff, and Grey of team Strong Machine who were headed to the same checkpoint in search of a tributary intersecting with the drainage of Joiner Brook. We chatted along and probably were a bit distracted just long enough to

Headed out to CP #13 from the transition area with team Strong Machine.
Photo GMARA

misinterpret the scale of the map (which was made using 30-year old data), putting us further upstream than any of us realized.  After about 30 or 40 minutes of scouring several drainages (both dry and with flowing water), we all agreed that we were not near the checkpoint. Dave and I returned to the transition area and re-thought our scale, and resumed searching for drainages that appeared to match the drainage shown on the map further downstream (here is where I remember specifically being told not to rely on river drainages for navigation by one of the race directors the night before). Having lost nearly an hour, we decided on a different approach. We decided that we would not look for the drainage from the brook, rather we would take a bearing from a snowmobile bridge that seemed to appear on the map. We followed the bearing, only to wind up in the exact spot where we had been 20 minutes earlier. Still, no sign of the orienteering flag.

Here is a Google Map of CP #13. The CP was shown on our map (looked like this one, but much smaller scale) to be a little ways up the drainage shown as the southernmost E-W drainage intersecting with Joiner Stream. This is also likely based on 30 -year old data.

Here is a current GoogleEarth image- same scale. The drainage doesn't appear to be here at all any more. Furthermore, the character of the river is also entirely different from the GoogleMap above. I blame hurricane Irene for this chaos. That is my story and I am gonna stick with it.
Here is one reason to always question streams shown on 30 year old data.

Here is what I have learned that has been confirmed by other adventure racers since then: some check points just aren't meant to be found. At least, not by us. At least not on this day. Our difficulty on this day was that we weren't willing to admit that. Two hours later, we returned to the transition area once again, empty handed, baffled.

We now had around 3 hours remaining to search for checkpoints on foot before getting back on our mountain bikes for the final leg of the race. All of the checkpoints in this section were complete bushwacks- no trails, no significant drainages, and in most places the foliage was so thick it was difficult to see benchmarks like mountain tops or ridges. We decided to reverse our plan and approach the checkpoints in the opposite order, beginning with CP #14 and climbing the mountain from the other side, gathering as many as checkpoints as possible in the allotted time. The climb was steep, the vegetation thick (thanks for the souvenir, poison ivy), and the navigation was challenging, but we collected 4 more checkpoints in the next two hours. After a particularly thick section of bushwhacking reminiscent of our search for lost AT thru-hiker, Gerry Largay, in 2013, we approached checkpoint #18 around 3:15pm. After a pretty hasty search, we made the difficult decision to abandon the search for the checkpoint to return to the transition area, hoping to gather CP #19 on the way down the mountain. There would be no sense snagging checkpoints only to lose them in a penalty for arriving to late to the finish line. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, neither of those checkpoints would be punched on our passport either.

Nothing like rolling up to a finish line in grandma gear on the bike. I suppose that is better than pushing it though, right? Helmet with a hat? Really it IS a thing. Photo credit: GMARA

We made it to the transition area and hopped back on our bikes to ride up to the finish, collecting the final two CP's on the way up. It turns out that a volunteer at the transition area had given Dave a map that would show the current location of nordic trails that we needed for the remainder of the course. That map somehow never made it out of the transition area with us. Oops- rookie mistake #5 (or is that #6- but who is counting?). Luckily, the larger, older map would suffice since the journey was not too tricky (just peddle UP). All in all, we could collect 17 of the possible 21 checkpoints along the way and finish with 15 minutes to spare.

Maybe there was, after all, time to go back for CP #13? Not a chance.

Team Scrambled Legs and Aching at the finish after a great day of racing. Photo GMARA.

Thanks to the ladies at Spandits! (check out their awesome new prints! If you use code SPANDITSLOVE and tell them I sent you you'll receive 10% off your entire order). Also a shout out to the great folks at Hammer Nutrition (use this link to Hammer Nutrition for 15% off your first order) for fueling us through another great adventure. We felt great all day thanks to Hammer's awesome fuels (Heed, Sustained Energy, Endurolytes and Endurance Amino).

Finally, thanks to Shawn, Chris and the volunteers at GMARA for putting on an amazing event and generously letting me share their photos!