Triangle Adventure Racing Team

June 4, 2005
by Charlie Roberts

 

Fifteen racers comprising approximately 8 teams started this training event. Everyone was able to finish some variation of the course, but finishing the entire course proved to be an impossible feat and confirmed to everyone that I am the worst course-time estimator in the history of adventure racing.

Despite sending these folks out to attempt an impossible task, most said they enjoyed it - at least that’s what they said in front of me. I’m almost positive that other things were said when I was out of hearing range. Ernie expressed his opinions of the course by punching me during the QCP4 to OP5 hill climb. Luckily, it was only in the arm. Tim later admitted to creating a top ten list for ways to seek revenge on a RD during the same section.

The course started with a 7 mile “warm-up” climb to Club Gap, followed by several miles of downhill singletrack to recover on. Getting to OP2 required a bushwhack through rhododendron hell, but had some great views at the top. I heard that first-time racer and navigator Craig Martenson nailed that OP. Congrats Craig! From there, racers had the option to ascend the Pilot Rock trail to OP3 - another hour long hike-a-bike - or continue to QCP4. On the way to QCP4 racers crossed at least 3 streams or rivers. (That’s a requirement for adventure racing, right?) The following climb from QCP4 to OP5 was the most brutal of the entire course, with hour long hike-a-bikes up inclines so steep that my shoulder occasionally touched the bike seat as I was pushing uphill! The trekking section consisted of 5 orienteering points scattered across many miles of mountains.

I think a couple of teams had plotting errors that slowed them down, but it was most likely attributable to the scale of the map. 1:44,500 is a weird scale and probably didn’t provide quite enough detail for some of the points. In the future I think written clues on the passport to supplement the UTMs would be a good idea when using those maps.

Vernon (The Vern) and Toby decided to make a tough course even tougher by purposely making route choices that they “might not do in a race” just to see what happened! Those hardcore dudes finally rolled in from the biking leg around 01:00 at night! I’m sure the descent from OP5 took forever in the dark. Did someone forget to tell those guys that it was only a training race, and that it was supposed to be FUN?

Congratulations to everyone who came out and was able to complete any variation of the course. If I organize another training race, I promise that I’ll multiply my time estimates by two. Hopefully that will make the course somewhat reasonable.

See everyone at the races,

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Considering the course length issues and multiple variations completed, there is really no way to rank anyone. Instead, each teams completed CPs and finish times are listed below.

Team	Results
Luis Ramirez Stephen Morris Mike O.Grady	Spent hours searching for OP2 and had to skip the optional OP3 on the bike leg. No Trekking. In at 19:30
Vlado Barun Ryan Gillespie	Ran the short course, skipping OP3 and OP5 on the bike leg. Completed OP7 and OP8 on the trekking. In from the bike at 16:45. Finished at 20:12
Charlie Roberts Ernie Chilcott	Full biking section. No trekking. In at 17:30
Jeff Thompson	Skipped OP3 and OP5 on the bike. Went out for OP7 and OP8 on the trekking but missed OP8 due to a bad plot. In from biking at 13:23. Finished at 16:43
Doug Launius Jim Kelleher Vernon Winter Toby Coker	Due to a mechanical on the way to QCP1, Doug & Jim returned to the TA and were the only ones to complete the full trekking course. Back to the TA at 09:30. Finished at 19:20 Vernon and Toby did the full bike course. Finished around 01:00.
Craig Martenson Kriss Martenson	Chose the popular option of skipping OP3 and OP5 on the biking leg. Got OP7 on the trekking and were going for OP8 when they decided to turn around and avoid being caught in the dark. In at 19:15
Tim Morris	Full biking section. No trekking. In at 17:40