MNOC Adventure-O 2010

Sometimes, getting to the race with an intact team is half the battle.  At least you see it that way from a "before the race" perspective.  The 2010 Adventure-O, hosted by the Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC) seemed to be one of those races.  Coordinating training, getting crushed by rain when you do get a chance to train, and personnel swaps add to the excitement.  From an "after the race" perspective, that was all trivial.

MNOC puts on excellent events.  The group, composed of map geeks with a penchant for going deep in the woods, places a premium on navigation vs. outright physical prowess.  They don't mind getting dirty, and certainly don't mind it when you get dirty.  This years event was held at Savannah Portage State Park, near McGregor, MN.  The course was set and vetted by two members with a lot of Adventure Race and Orienteering experience, Jerritt Johnston and Ian Harding.  Special thanks to Pete Curtis for the photos he took and provided for our blog.

The TMMAR team was composed of Will Eddy, Clark Flowers, Suzanne Pfeifer, and Peter Wentzel.  The format:  short O-course, transition to bike for a medium length Bike-O, transition to kayak for four controls on big Sandy Lake, transition to bike for a longer Bike-O, and a final O section on foot.  The race was given a 7.5 hour time limit.  The weather was warmer than expected, highs in the mid 80's and a nice strong wind was expected to kick up.

We started out with a sprint for controls 1-4, right at 9:30 AM.  Clark and Pete sharing the nav, with Will and Suzanne following close behind.  Suzanne volunteered to be towed during the runs, admitting that running wasn't her strongest suit.  PROPS to Suzanne.  While the MNOC regulars sprinted the course with TMMAR practicing a fast follow, Suzanne volunteered to hook herself to a bungie cord while Will attempted to pull her over logs, rocks, stumps, holes and pits, so the team could get in front of traffic on the bike section.  Not for the faint of heart.  All went well until Will caught a root and twisted his ankle.  This caused a minor change in pace, but we pressed on and finished the first O section, a little over a mile, in good position.

We transitioned well to bike and headed down the trail, looking for control 5 and 6.  You knew it was going to be fun when there were already teams doing some head scratching as we left the first road and entered the XC trail system.  Jerritt had warned us all, "Take it easy on the trails, especially the downhills, as there are a lot of hidden obstacles." So, we didn't bomb the first downhill, or the second, or the third, but that was getting a bit old....  We followed a group bobble (control confusion, map error, group think) and dismounted to find the first bike control in an area I thought was way too early.  But, we did it non-the-less.  Remounting and recalibrating, we cruised through a rutty section where Pete almost bit it, and secured the first bike control.  We navigated the maze of trails, growing increasingly frustrated with having to dismount to cross trees and go slow through thick grass because, "you just don't know" what lies beneath.  Pressing on, we witness a fellow racer find what lurked beneath.  A quick stop to critique the triple flip (and ensure all his parts still worked) and we left with a new appreciation for "the junk below the weeds..."

We emerged from the woods, unscathed and did a quick road ride to the paddle put in.  A quick transition and we are floating... and eating.  Most of us had not been keeping up with our fuel and took a quick break to shove food in our mouth before pointing down course and trying to catch the five teams in front of us while seeking controls 7-10.  Pete and Will in one boat, Clark and Suzanne in the other.  Luckily, the forecast wind had not picked up yet and we followed a mild chop south to a sheltered bay where the controls were located. Pete, not being the smoothest motivator, responded to the other boats reminder that Will and he couldn't get too far in front, with a reminder to the other boat that they can't get too far behind.  They didn't.  You would have to go back nearly two years for TMMAR to have such a good paddle leg.  We were setting a good pace coming off the first control when we ran into a bay full of grass.  It looked to us that the whole bay was grass (we missed the channel) so we picked a thin spot, pointed in the right direction and let her rip.  We looked like a cross between the Swedish Chef and the Tasmanian Devil tossing a salad.  Grass, moss, fish, frogs, and unknown entities went flying in the air as we attempted to maintain pace through the obstacle.  Coming out the far side, we saw that we made some serious time on the other teams.  We hit the next control and did a U-turn, this time, it was more of a slap chop scenario.  Equally effective.  We passed a couple teams!  Dig deep team.  We quickly grabbed the last two controls and headed back to the transition point.  The wind on the main lake had really picked up.  Teams were struggling to get to the sheltered bay as we surfed the downwind waves back to dry land.  We returned as the 2nd team to exit the water, passing 4 teams on the leg.

Off we go on the bike, in search of controls 11-16, catching up on food and arriving back at the XC trails with two other teams who pushed hard to catch us.  Pete did a quick map swap and the other teams went ahead.  Will put forth a huge effort int his next section.  We tow when we run, we tow when we bike, and we tow when we paddle, only when necessary, but such is AR.  Suzanne, an accomplished racer, came out of retirement for this event and admitted that she would need help on occasion.  Towing is a team exercise.  You rotate, you collaborate, you communicate and you get it done.  Unless you forget to bring your towing equipment....  So the team had one tow rig, and will agreed to be the tow on the bicycle.  Again, Suzanne gets props.  Most people don't like to tow or be towed on anything but asphalt.  Suzanne, held on through thick and thin.

We progressed down the trail, watching for key intersections and more obstacles.  There were plenty of the later, and just enough of the former.  The first half of this bike O saw plenty of logs, one tricky intersection, a crazy bridge, and a chest deep beaver lake that we carried our bikes across.  Jerritt and Ian at their best.  The second half made the race.  Coming in to an intersection, it was clear that a lot of traffic went right, which was actually straight ahead.  There was a hidden trail entrance that require a turn of approximately 135 degrees, which TMMAR took.  A smile crossed our faces once we confirmed we were on the right path, some others were not....  Making the turn was half the battle.  What followed was multiple dismounts, some voluntarily, others... not quite as graceful.  Nobody got hurt, a few got laughed at, but the course was competed with TMMAR in 3rd place.

Final transition to the run went well.  On to controls 17-24.  We knew Orion was less than 10 minutes in front of us.  A bobble on their part and maybe we could capture 2nd.  We set off at a jog and found the first control with no issues.  Getting in and out of the next control was problematic.  Not from a navigation point of view, but the terrain between the controls was thick.  A lot of trees down, then bog hopping, and then more trees.  The flies were horrible. We got out of the thick stuff, grabbed the next control and moved east, deciding that trails may be a quicker route after all.  We jumped on the continental divide trail (who knew?) and gained the next two controls in short order.  A quick look at the watch showed we had to change strategy. Jogging the flats and downhills while walking the uphills was not going to get us back in time.  Switch to jog the uphills and make your heart pound on everything else.  Luckily, the controls and map were dead accurate and the next three controls came quickly.  The last involving wading through a river...twice.... all of us.  I am sure some other teams opted for a drier approach, but we didn't have the luxury of looking for that route.  One final bushwhack through the woods and we are on the road home.  A good pace to the finish led to a third place overall.  The last team to sweep the course.  Congrats to WEDALI and Orion for first in the 4 person and two person coed divisions.  TMMAR took 2nd in the 4 person.

Good race, good times with the friends, new and old, from MNOC.

Water Training

Clark called for a team training session for July 5th.  16 miles of road riding, followed by 8 miles of single track, followed by a run, then 16 miles of road riding back to the start.  Of course, he called the training session in June, when the weather was an unknown.  He also modified our route, since he knew that the river bottoms were nothing but sand.  So, off we went at 10 AM this morning.  Cloudy muggy weather.  As we crossed the Minnesota River, we looked back at the river bottoms and commented that they might even be flooded.  Looking ahead, we saw an elderly gentleman enter a puddle across the paved trail.  The puddle seemed to go for quite a distance....  We ended up going through close to half a mile of water, some of it over the wheels, but with a gentle flow, some of it less deep, but moving quickly.  All rideable and fun.  There was a section that was over knee deep and too swift to ride, so we shouldered the bikes and waded through, holding each other for stability.  On the far side we resumed a steady pace and finished our "road" ride to Murphy Hanrahan.  Some fun single track and a sticky humid run later, we set out on our ride home to a nice clap of thunder.  Three miles in and a steady rain was falling.  Thirty seconds later and the sky was falling.  We were all trying to negotiate traffic, spraying water, road grit, puddles, lakes, etc., but all we were thinking of was how to get back to the river bridge.  Alternate routes???   15-20 extra miles.....  I think I hit a new high on my heart rate monitor on the first section.  It had the fastest flowing water.  The next section was the deepest, and still moved at a swift pace.  After those sections of fun, the third was a cake walk, gentle water just below the top of the wheel.  All are safe and sound and water logged back at Casa Flowers.

Paula and Pete compete with Team MAAR in the Planet Adventure Old School 36 hour AR, one of four teams to sweep the course.

Coming Soon

The Blogging has become way too infrequent, especially when we have results, races, and adventures to talk about.

Coming soon:  

Three days, one shirt!  A tale of our exceptional adventure at the Fat Otter RAID.

and

Paula and Pete's account of the Planet Adventure Old School 36 Hour AR.

Shout Out for the Shockspital

I found myself in a world of hurt/panic this past Sunday.  I was prepping for the upcoming Planet Adventure Old School 36 hour event.  Paddles on the bike, all the gear organized....  this race requires you to carry 100% of the discipline gear (minus the canoe and bike) for all 36 hours.  A lot of weight.  I wanted to check the air pressure in my shock.  I go to attach my pump, and the fitting breaks off of the pump.  Sunday night... can't do anything but fret and pump my neighbors for information on a speedy repair.  "Call bike shops.... and I think there might be a guy behind Alt.."  Monday, 9 AM and the local shops start opening, I make a few calls and are greeted with doubtful commits.  The Alt opens at 10, and I get the name of "the man" in town for suspensions.  I checkout the Shockspital website and place a request.  "HELP"  By the time I get Brian on the phone, he has hung up with the SRAM folks and the part is on its way.  Three day turn around, no problem.  Today, I get the bad news that my part didn't arrive... but Brian had a solution.  He pulled an old part, made sure it was fully functional, and told me to come back post race for the real deal.  Thank you much!

Paula and I will be assisting Team MAAR at this event.  Follow us and give us a shout out of your own!

fat otter raid

72 hour adventure race starts in 4.5 hours. Wish Pete, Paula W, Chris and me (Will) safety and good luck. You might be able to follow us on the checkpoint tracker website

Badger ROGAINE Update

ROGAINEing is a lot of fun.  A small team orienteering event that places a premium on strategy, fitness, and of course orienteering.  Chris, Clark and Pete from TMMAR went with Andrei Karpov, aka Mad Russian, to the Black River State Forest for a ROGAINE hosted by the Badger Orienteering Club.  The location, central to three orienteering clubs, proved popular for orienteers from Minnesota, Chicago, and of course Wisconsin.  The Minnesota contingent, besides the two Midwest Mountaineering Teams, included Darryn Kozak, Todd Petersen, and Erin Binder.  Darryn and Todd teamed up and Erin ran with her new ROGAINE partner, XXXX, from Chicago's CAOC.

The event was billed as a 30k optimal run.  We were to find that straight line, aka optimal, runs were not easy to do.  Lakes, bogs, steep hills, and cliffs spread out over the course.  If you add 10-15% for routing around the obstacles, you still have a sweepable event!! or ??  The map, a 1:24k USGS standard, didn't have the trail updates of your standard orienteering map.  It also didn't have the color delineation of an orienteering map showing what areas are easy to travel through, and which will involve a little blood letting.  We knew all this going in, so no surprises there, but all this plays in your mind as you are selecting your routes.

Maps were distributed at 9:15, instructions at 9:45, and at 10:00, we were off for 6 hours of fun running.

Chris and I took off to the West and control #3 with 4-5 other groups.  We were the 2nd group to the control and took off north west to the trail.  The trail wasn't the direct route to the control, but I find they are the safe route if you haven't explored the woods yet.  We would have plenty of time for that.  We skirted the north side of the hill and found 23.  Three or four groups chose #23 as their second control, but we were the only group to choose 19 as the third control.  The woods was open in this section, but the trails created a nice direct route to 19 and 21, which we found with ease.  Relative ease...  The climb to the top of Wildcat Mound really got the heart going.  The decent involved some route choice and we found a nice unmapped trail that took us down the north side of the spur and out towards Shale Road.  22, another easy find and we jumped out to Kling Road.  A quick check of the watch, 45 minutes for the first 5 controls.  30 controls with time to spare at this pace.

We went east towards control #24 and found a nice trail headed in the correct direction.  As we approached, we saw fellow MNOC members Darryn and Todd gazelling it out of the area.  A quick shout out and back to hunting.  A lucky flash of the control, noticed by Pete and Chris drew short straw for the slog through the bog to get the punch.  The path we were on was clear and fast, so we chose to follow it further north, keeping an eye out for the small east/west path on the map.  Hmmm no path.  We bailed and headed east for the road.  Oops, we must have gone a little too far north.  Not wanting to get knee deep this early, we jaunted to the south and pushed for the road.  The road was as flat as flat gets, except for the nice knoll off to the North, which we could spot from a mile away.  We crested the knoll and could spot the trail from a good distance away.

The area around 30 was our first interaction with the remnants of logging activity.  Slow go.  From our vantage point we couldn't tell that the levee on Tanner flowage was the new road.  The railroad grade was overgrown and covered in downed trees.  We spied the control and noticed the path at the top of the levee.  The distance to gain one punch at 30 must have been daunting for a lot of teams.  The path from 30 to 25 made it worth the gamble.  It was true to the map and we were able to check off landmarks as we traveled southwest.  25-29-28 came fast as we ran through open woods with a few obstacles, following terrain features as we went.

Chris chose the route to 27 and we crossed the stream before heading east.  A wise choice as the stream at the road was larger than any of the other waterways we had seen.  Exiting 27, Chris caught me making an error.  24k maps don't have north arrows.  You have to keep North straight in your mind.  I set my compass and headed west, recognizing the small knoll to my right (north) as one that should have been to my right (west).  Good catch and we are on our way.  We ran in to a group at 26, the first we had seen since 24.  We punched and ran, they punched and walked.

I knew 20 was going to be tricky, so we took a measured approach.  We headed south from the large hill, across the reentrant, and aimed for the saddle to the east of the three mounds.  Looking at the GPS track, we barely missed the control, skirting it to the west, but I was also looking west for our knolls.  We bailed, found the road, reoriented and approached cautiously again, spiking it this time.  I believe this is where our 23-19-21-22 route paid dividends.  We climbed Wildcat when we were fresh, the other groups visiting that control were hours in to the event.  Additionally, we bailed from 20 to the road and had a nice run, while others had either trails or bushwhacking.

We dumped from 20 to the road and headed for the southern map.  We decided to leave the road and head due south when we found a logged and well cleaned patch to route through.  We aimed for the spur and followed it to 13.  The woods really got thick in this area.  Chris and I debated whether to head back to the road, for the attack on 14.  I convinced him to try for 14, aiming off to the east, to use the road as a bailout if we felt uneasy or the going got too thick.  We were able to contour well and hit our mark dead center, but couldn't locate the control.  A quick jump to the road confirmed our location and we reattacked and found the control right away.  We continued our slog through the thick stuff and located 12 with no issues.  Another quick jump to the road and we were off to the races.  We broke 9 minutes per mile in our sprint (relative) to control #4, which was found in a nice open woods.

We jumped at #1 too soon.  We went for the trail entrance vs. confirming we were past the swampy area.  So, we ended up in the swampy area, but we found the old trail (abandoned) and followed in on the north side of the flowage.  We followed the spit out to its end and located control #2.  The wind was howling...

Leaving #1, we headed off towards #2 with a decision to make; attack across the swamp, or take the trail.  As you can see, we took the trail, what you don't see, is there is no trail depicted where our route is on the map.  The trail was "roughly located" by hand.  I believe we would have made a different choice if the trail was depicted as our path shows.  Monday morning quarterbacking this, but we would have probably headed to control #5, leaving #2 for more ambitious teams.  At this point in the race, we knew a sweep of all controls was not in the cards, but we still pushed hard.  We found 2 with no real issues, gaining confidence once we visually located the hill to the west of the trail.

2-6-7-8 went by painfully, but quick.  It took us 1 hour to get the first 6 controls and an hour and 10 minutes to get from control 1 to 7 (3 controls).  The speed was a little slower, but the distance between the points was much greater, partly due to route choice.  We headed west from point 8 with a good plan to use the trails to try for three more controls, until the trail disappeared in the middle of a jumble of cut wood.  Not confident with our position on the trail we headed west to the road, slowly, to attack 10 from the east, another distance adder.  We left 10, now with only the realistic option of one more control, number 16.  The trails diverged from the mapped route, but we were able to keep track of our location by reading the contours and ran right up to 16.   We continued on the trails, headed north until they took a westerly turn.  We jumped north to the saddle between the two hills and ran a nice open woods to the road and back home.

In all, our efforts were good for second place.  24 controls in 5 hours and 50 minutes.  Clark came in four minutes later, following his trusty guide Andrei with 25 controls to beat us out for the victory.  Fellow MNOC members did very well.  Todd and Darryn took 4th place and Erin got 21 controls, but took a time penalty of 7 minutes.  We were all happy to be done.