Trioba 24: A tough day for the tow line
Team MoutainZone.com Trioba 24?
After driving 30 mile east of Ellensburg early Saturday morning I got to see what northern Washingtonians and Seattleites call “the Gorge”. Now the Columbia River has carved an impressive gash through the eastern Washington high desert, but sorry to say it pails in comparison to the “Real” Gorge farther down river. One thing that is missing is the green vegetation of the lower Columbia. The kind that makes bushwhacking next to impossible. However, it was still a scenic place to start the Trioba 24.
Last year I dubbed Justin and Joel The Evil Yeager Brothers because of their challenging courses and hard to find, especially at night, trekking CP’s. With the memory of a 25 hour, 8 am finish and DFN from last year’s 24 hours races Chad and I had a simple plan going into this year’s race. Go fast and hit as many CPs as we could while the sun was still up. After going of the maps the night before the race, CP 13, the final trekking CP was our sunset goal.
The race stated with a mass Sevylor exodus off the eastern shore of the Columbia. In the fine print of the pre-race updates there was the clause that if a team brought their own floating banana (Sevylor), they could use is as an extra boat. Chad and I jumped at this opportunity as together we exceed the maximum weight capacity of the so called kayaks.
As we started off, we noticed that we were one of the few teams where all teammates had their own boat. This turned out to be a big advantage as we were able to stay near the front of the pack during the kayak section. Chad even stated that the kayak section while not being enjoyable was at least tolerable.
Next, came the section of the race that I knew we would be able to make the best time on. The mountain bike. Not because I am a great biker, but because Chad is an assume biker and tows my slow ass around everywhere. Since I last raced with Chad at PQ last year I have got a new lighter bike, got better at climbing hills and got faster on the flats. So what does Chad go and do? He moves to Salt Lake City where he climbs bigger ass mountains faster and at a higher altitude. O and he stopped using his small front ring for the past month and a half to practice towing. All bad signs for my legs and lower body.
The first sign that I knew I was in trouble was when we caught up to Peak Physique Fitness on the first long uphill section; and out of the four of us biking, only Chad was not breathing hard. So out came the tow line and up went the speed. We were going along at a nice pace for a few miles when MPGear.com/XNutz and Montrail NW came biking up. We upped the speed a little more and hopped on the back of the pack. I did my best to keep some slack in the tow line, but a few times it was pretty taught and I would have been dropped without it.
After climbing for 10+ miles on a paved road, we hit CP3 in 5th place. It was now off to the maze of Jeep trails and fire roads. During the ensuing climbs, we flipped places back and forth with Montrail NW, while MPGear.com/XNutz pulled slightly ahead. We were at a “y” intersection in the road when I noticed Eric from team Mergeo.com and another team coming up the road. Since Eric was my instructor at the Wicked AR navigation class, I figured he knew were he was going, so Chad and I hopped back on our bikes and tried to keep up. I was able to hang for a while, but right before the TA, there was one final step pitch and I got dropped. No tow hooked up to save me this time.
We hit the TA and easily found Super Support Carol waiting for us. After a quick transition, well quick for us, we headed out on the trekking section. After quickly hitting CP 7, we headed out with team Tacate and the camera guy towards CP8. Now on the map CP8 was jut off a jeep trail. We quickly hit what could be construed as a jeep/hiking tail, but we hit it too quickly. Tecate turned up the trail in search of the CP, while Chad and I continued on. A minute or two later we saw MPGear.com/XNutz way off to our left in the always famous, or is it infamous “lets get the team together and look at the map and figure out where we are” pose. We continued on. We were getting near where the jeep trail should be, but we had yet to see any signs of it when truck pulling a trailer drove by us about 50 meters away. Now this threw us off because there was a road on the map, but had we drifted that far south? Well we walked through a clearing and hopped on the road with the plan of running up to the junction of the road and jeep trail and going up the trail.
We ran up the road, noticed nothing looked right. There were trails around, but they all went in the wrong directions. Then we noticed a big ravine to our north. After a quick consulting of the map, we decided that the wide, well traveled dirt road we just ran up was actually the so called jeep trail. We backtracked paralleling the road searching for the CP. Tecate was now coming up the road looking for the CP, which was a bad sign because we had already search behind us. Then I noticed a piece of yellow tape hanging from a tree. Off we went to bag the CP. When we got there we noticed the clearing we had walked through 20 minutes or so earlier was only 50 feet away from us. O well off we went.
We did a little bushwhacking and some road running on the way to CP 9. Here we ran into yet another team as well as the camera man again. He must have had a better map or simply skipped CP 8. Now usually in a race if you run into teams far into the race they tend to be the same team over and over, but not this time as we saw all kinds of team all over the course. I think the top five standing must have changed at least ten times or so after the kayak leg ended.
After CP9, there was a long road section to CP10. This is when the running types started to catch up and pass us. Sad to say this also included the camera guy. Two teams got us quickly, but the big herd was a ways back. The herd was lead by Peak Physique Fitness, whom we had not seen since the earlier biking section. The rest of the herd soon followed and caught us right before CP 10. Then I made the stupid mistake of going down the wrong ridge to find the CP. Somehow I convinced myself that all the other teams were wrong and I was right. I think it was more wishful thinking than actual navigation. Another 15 minutes wasted.
The trek down to CP 11 was steep, rocky, and open. This allowed us to plot our decent so that we would end up near the CP and not have to bushwhack around very much in the creek looking for it. In fact, we got so lucky in hitting the CP. Our first attempt at crossing the creek failed because of a ten foot drop off, so we climbed back up the bank, walked down stream 20 feet and around a rock, there was a CP waiting for us.
We crossed the creek and started climbing. It was steep at first, but after we hit the next CP, it leveled out some. By this time of the race it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and was stabbing me in the legs with acupuncture needles just to watch my muscles twitch and spasm. Maybe an ex girlfriend has a voodoo doll of me somewhere. Or more likely, it had to do with the fact that every time I tried eating any food during the trekking section I felt like I was going to puke, so I had not eaten more than a few bits of anything since the last TA. The speed on the first bike leg was taking its toll on me. But the sun was still high in the sky when we hit CP 13. All that was left now was some road hiking back to the TA and a mountain bike leg to the finish.
We kept a decent pace up while we made our way to the TA, but one last team of runners caught us. This was a bit discouraging because we had slipped for 4th or 5th at one point in the race to 12th. We hit the TA and got ready for our final bike leg. We were told by a few of the people who had driven up the TA that we were in for a long bumpy ride down. Time to put that rear shock to work.
My legs were tight as we start out on the bikes. Chad gave me a shove up the last hill and then came the downhill. Breaks…we don’t need no stinkin breaks. We don’t need no badges either. (old movie quote for those of you who now think I have lost it.)
As we flew do the rock dirt road, we passed a team as if they were standing still. When you are doing 30+ mph downhill on a bike, most things you pass seen to appear to be standing still. Once we reached the pavement at the bottom of the hill Chad messed with his odometer and then told me that we had a max speed of 34 mph. While not the fastest I have ever gone on a bike, I figure it was not bad for a rocky dirt road at sunset, after a long day.
After a few turns, we were riding into a strong headwind on a long straight paved road. We peddled along chatting a little while I tucked in behind Chad to block the wind. When there off in the distance we saw a flashing red light. Was it??? Yes, it was one last team ahead of us. With the highly complex math equation (12 place - pass two teams = top ten finish) worked out Chad got yet another burst of speed. Now with the headwind and the tired legs, I could not bridge the gap between the teams. The mind was willing, but the body was slacking. So out came the handy tow line again. Chad must had really wanted that top ten finish, because the tow was pulled tight and kept taught no matter how fast I tried peddling. With our bight head lights turned off we quickly caught up to the team. No reason to give them some light, let them know we are coming and motivation to ride faster.
I think Peak Physique Fitness was surprised to see us fly by on the bikes. I knew I was surprised to see them. With the hammer down the gap widened. However, since I had the map, Chad was in the lead and the head wind was making communications difficult, I could not get the word to go straight and not left at one of the interactions. So we took a little detour through Ellensburg. I did not know that there was a university in town. Nor did I know that they were having an outdoor fair that evening. I do now, since we road through it.
We finished the race happy that our expedition through town had not cost us any more places. Tenth out of 40 something teams was a very good finish for me. If Chad was racing solo, I would have put him 3rd or 4th if not higher. I guess I have to find a bigger steeper hill to go bike up now, so next race I can hang better.
As for the race over all, I know we went faster than I ever had before, but this was the first 24 hour race I have ever done where I was back home, showered and in bed by 1 am, and that included the 90-mile drive home. I am sorry to say the Evil Yeager brothers did not quite live up to their past. So now I have decided to dub them the “objectionable” Yeager brothers. Of course this means next year, we are all in for it. Maybe I should start training next week.
See you all at the Wicked Ocean Race. Unfortunately, my human towing machine, Chad, will not be able to make it, so I am forced to do all the work myself again. It was fun racing with you elite teams for once, but it is back to the mid packers for me I fear.
Robin
After driving 30 mile east of Ellensburg early Saturday morning I got to see what northern Washingtonians and Seattleites call “the Gorge”. Now the Columbia River has carved an impressive gash through the eastern Washington high desert, but sorry to say it pails in comparison to the “Real” Gorge farther down river. One thing that is missing is the green vegetation of the lower Columbia. The kind that makes bushwhacking next to impossible. However, it was still a scenic place to start the Trioba 24.
Last year I dubbed Justin and Joel The Evil Yeager Brothers because of their challenging courses and hard to find, especially at night, trekking CP’s. With the memory of a 25 hour, 8 am finish and DFN from last year’s 24 hours races Chad and I had a simple plan going into this year’s race. Go fast and hit as many CPs as we could while the sun was still up. After going of the maps the night before the race, CP 13, the final trekking CP was our sunset goal.
The race stated with a mass Sevylor exodus off the eastern shore of the Columbia. In the fine print of the pre-race updates there was the clause that if a team brought their own floating banana (Sevylor), they could use is as an extra boat. Chad and I jumped at this opportunity as together we exceed the maximum weight capacity of the so called kayaks.
As we started off, we noticed that we were one of the few teams where all teammates had their own boat. This turned out to be a big advantage as we were able to stay near the front of the pack during the kayak section. Chad even stated that the kayak section while not being enjoyable was at least tolerable.
Next, came the section of the race that I knew we would be able to make the best time on. The mountain bike. Not because I am a great biker, but because Chad is an assume biker and tows my slow ass around everywhere. Since I last raced with Chad at PQ last year I have got a new lighter bike, got better at climbing hills and got faster on the flats. So what does Chad go and do? He moves to Salt Lake City where he climbs bigger ass mountains faster and at a higher altitude. O and he stopped using his small front ring for the past month and a half to practice towing. All bad signs for my legs and lower body.
The first sign that I knew I was in trouble was when we caught up to Peak Physique Fitness on the first long uphill section; and out of the four of us biking, only Chad was not breathing hard. So out came the tow line and up went the speed. We were going along at a nice pace for a few miles when MPGear.com/XNutz and Montrail NW came biking up. We upped the speed a little more and hopped on the back of the pack. I did my best to keep some slack in the tow line, but a few times it was pretty taught and I would have been dropped without it.
After climbing for 10+ miles on a paved road, we hit CP3 in 5th place. It was now off to the maze of Jeep trails and fire roads. During the ensuing climbs, we flipped places back and forth with Montrail NW, while MPGear.com/XNutz pulled slightly ahead. We were at a “y” intersection in the road when I noticed Eric from team Mergeo.com and another team coming up the road. Since Eric was my instructor at the Wicked AR navigation class, I figured he knew were he was going, so Chad and I hopped back on our bikes and tried to keep up. I was able to hang for a while, but right before the TA, there was one final step pitch and I got dropped. No tow hooked up to save me this time.
We hit the TA and easily found Super Support Carol waiting for us. After a quick transition, well quick for us, we headed out on the trekking section. After quickly hitting CP 7, we headed out with team Tacate and the camera guy towards CP8. Now on the map CP8 was jut off a jeep trail. We quickly hit what could be construed as a jeep/hiking tail, but we hit it too quickly. Tecate turned up the trail in search of the CP, while Chad and I continued on. A minute or two later we saw MPGear.com/XNutz way off to our left in the always famous, or is it infamous “lets get the team together and look at the map and figure out where we are” pose. We continued on. We were getting near where the jeep trail should be, but we had yet to see any signs of it when truck pulling a trailer drove by us about 50 meters away. Now this threw us off because there was a road on the map, but had we drifted that far south? Well we walked through a clearing and hopped on the road with the plan of running up to the junction of the road and jeep trail and going up the trail.
We ran up the road, noticed nothing looked right. There were trails around, but they all went in the wrong directions. Then we noticed a big ravine to our north. After a quick consulting of the map, we decided that the wide, well traveled dirt road we just ran up was actually the so called jeep trail. We backtracked paralleling the road searching for the CP. Tecate was now coming up the road looking for the CP, which was a bad sign because we had already search behind us. Then I noticed a piece of yellow tape hanging from a tree. Off we went to bag the CP. When we got there we noticed the clearing we had walked through 20 minutes or so earlier was only 50 feet away from us. O well off we went.
We did a little bushwhacking and some road running on the way to CP 9. Here we ran into yet another team as well as the camera man again. He must have had a better map or simply skipped CP 8. Now usually in a race if you run into teams far into the race they tend to be the same team over and over, but not this time as we saw all kinds of team all over the course. I think the top five standing must have changed at least ten times or so after the kayak leg ended.
After CP9, there was a long road section to CP10. This is when the running types started to catch up and pass us. Sad to say this also included the camera guy. Two teams got us quickly, but the big herd was a ways back. The herd was lead by Peak Physique Fitness, whom we had not seen since the earlier biking section. The rest of the herd soon followed and caught us right before CP 10. Then I made the stupid mistake of going down the wrong ridge to find the CP. Somehow I convinced myself that all the other teams were wrong and I was right. I think it was more wishful thinking than actual navigation. Another 15 minutes wasted.
The trek down to CP 11 was steep, rocky, and open. This allowed us to plot our decent so that we would end up near the CP and not have to bushwhack around very much in the creek looking for it. In fact, we got so lucky in hitting the CP. Our first attempt at crossing the creek failed because of a ten foot drop off, so we climbed back up the bank, walked down stream 20 feet and around a rock, there was a CP waiting for us.
We crossed the creek and started climbing. It was steep at first, but after we hit the next CP, it leveled out some. By this time of the race it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and was stabbing me in the legs with acupuncture needles just to watch my muscles twitch and spasm. Maybe an ex girlfriend has a voodoo doll of me somewhere. Or more likely, it had to do with the fact that every time I tried eating any food during the trekking section I felt like I was going to puke, so I had not eaten more than a few bits of anything since the last TA. The speed on the first bike leg was taking its toll on me. But the sun was still high in the sky when we hit CP 13. All that was left now was some road hiking back to the TA and a mountain bike leg to the finish.
We kept a decent pace up while we made our way to the TA, but one last team of runners caught us. This was a bit discouraging because we had slipped for 4th or 5th at one point in the race to 12th. We hit the TA and got ready for our final bike leg. We were told by a few of the people who had driven up the TA that we were in for a long bumpy ride down. Time to put that rear shock to work.
My legs were tight as we start out on the bikes. Chad gave me a shove up the last hill and then came the downhill. Breaks…we don’t need no stinkin breaks. We don’t need no badges either. (old movie quote for those of you who now think I have lost it.)
As we flew do the rock dirt road, we passed a team as if they were standing still. When you are doing 30+ mph downhill on a bike, most things you pass seen to appear to be standing still. Once we reached the pavement at the bottom of the hill Chad messed with his odometer and then told me that we had a max speed of 34 mph. While not the fastest I have ever gone on a bike, I figure it was not bad for a rocky dirt road at sunset, after a long day.
After a few turns, we were riding into a strong headwind on a long straight paved road. We peddled along chatting a little while I tucked in behind Chad to block the wind. When there off in the distance we saw a flashing red light. Was it??? Yes, it was one last team ahead of us. With the highly complex math equation (12 place - pass two teams = top ten finish) worked out Chad got yet another burst of speed. Now with the headwind and the tired legs, I could not bridge the gap between the teams. The mind was willing, but the body was slacking. So out came the handy tow line again. Chad must had really wanted that top ten finish, because the tow was pulled tight and kept taught no matter how fast I tried peddling. With our bight head lights turned off we quickly caught up to the team. No reason to give them some light, let them know we are coming and motivation to ride faster.
I think Peak Physique Fitness was surprised to see us fly by on the bikes. I knew I was surprised to see them. With the hammer down the gap widened. However, since I had the map, Chad was in the lead and the head wind was making communications difficult, I could not get the word to go straight and not left at one of the interactions. So we took a little detour through Ellensburg. I did not know that there was a university in town. Nor did I know that they were having an outdoor fair that evening. I do now, since we road through it.
We finished the race happy that our expedition through town had not cost us any more places. Tenth out of 40 something teams was a very good finish for me. If Chad was racing solo, I would have put him 3rd or 4th if not higher. I guess I have to find a bigger steeper hill to go bike up now, so next race I can hang better.
As for the race over all, I know we went faster than I ever had before, but this was the first 24 hour race I have ever done where I was back home, showered and in bed by 1 am, and that included the 90-mile drive home. I am sorry to say the Evil Yeager brothers did not quite live up to their past. So now I have decided to dub them the “objectionable” Yeager brothers. Of course this means next year, we are all in for it. Maybe I should start training next week.
See you all at the Wicked Ocean Race. Unfortunately, my human towing machine, Chad, will not be able to make it, so I am forced to do all the work myself again. It was fun racing with you elite teams for once, but it is back to the mid packers for me I fear.
Robin
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