Snotcycle 2010 Race report

Report by Petr Minar, team CALEVA / SEAVS Racing.
SNOTCYCLE (Presented by Plum Grove Cyclery); Saturday, January 30, 2010
Place: Leesburg, VA

As almost every race by Plum Grove Cyclery, the Winter MTB race Snotcycle 2010 was sold out. Winter enthusiast and hardcover mountain bikers came to have a good time racing and socializing after the race around the big bonfire at private farm in Leesburg. Almost 300 racers showed up overall. This year race course was 8.1 miles and CAT1 racers did 3 laps, CAT2 did 2 laps and CAT3 one lap. The weather was pretty snotty- cold- below freezing, around 10 AM started heavy snowing and the trails became really slippery and tested every biker's handling skills. Racing in freezing conditions can be fun but also very tough... One has to not only properly dress with many layers, warm (and heavy) winter riding boots, gloves and face protection. But there are other challenges too, such as freezing water bottles and camelbaks (mine froze after first lap out of 3) or derailleurs packed with snow and ice that will not shift properly. CAT1 race had 36 participants and started at 10 AM. My objective for this race changed dramatically a day prior to the race. On Friday, before the race I was going to pre-ride the course and instead ended up in the bed with hot tea and medicine to knock down the shivers and temperature. I did get some rest and the next day morning I was OK to come to the race. Not 100% ready but OK. Since the precondition my objective was to finish and try to have a good time. Race started with group start in the open field on the farm and quickly headed into the woods. Leesburg course is not very technical but plenty of bumps and sharp turns. There is very limited elevation. In my view a full suspension bike is a better choice for this course due to bumpinness of the course, but the field was probably split 50/50 with fulls and hardtails. I did ride a hardtail but next time I am bringing my full. After first lap it started snowing and trail became quite slippery. This is the time my drink in the bottle froze too. I do not race mountain bikes normally in the winter and was aware my drink could freeze in the bottle but I was hoping by drinking frequently and shaking it often I could prevent it - what a mistake.. After first lap I did get last sip of almost frozen drink which meant 2 laps without water. Not fun... (Some tips for winter riding: insulated water bottles may help and also another trick is to wear you camel bag under the top layer (or two) of clothes. To prevent camelbak hose from freezing use the insulated hose or blowing the air into hose and keeping all the liquids in the camelbak helps). So considering all the challenges with not feeling 100% , frozen camelbak, not knowing the course, coming in the 11th place out of 36 gave me satisfaction. The race was won by the Pro Jeremiah Bishop who surprised all the racers by showing up.

M.O.R.E. Annual Meeting and Winter Party

Since Calleva is Gold sponsor of MORE - Mid Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, we were invited to the annual winter party at Great Falls Grange. Founded in 1992, MORE maintains more than 250 miles of natural surface trails in 25 state and county parks in the region. MORE members contribute more than 3,000 volunteer hours annually and have constructed nearly 100 miles of new, sustainable trail. The club also leads hundreds of rides each year at local parks, ranging from beginner to advanced levels. MORE is committed to environmentally sound and socially responsible mountain biking, facilitating recreational trail cycling, educating about the sport of mountain biking, maintaining local trails, and advocating for increased multi-user trail access.

Almost all mountain bike sections of the Calleva Adventure Race are located on trails that are supported and maintained by MORE. Many race permits we are getting are possible due to the incredible advocating effort of MORE. Thank you guys!

Swamp Stomp race reports.

Photo Meg Roberts

Monika:

Washington DC had never seen so much snow as in early February of 2010. Being forced to train inside, I only could wish for sunny and mild weather. I never imagined that my wish would come true until I received a phone call that the team Calleva needed a female racer because their female racer was stuck in snow. Without hesitation I got ready and 30 minutes later I was heading towards Tampa, Florida for the 30 hours adventure race: Swamp Stomp. The race consisted of a paddle prologue, three bike sections, two foot sections and a final paddle section.
And yes, the name of the race tells the story. The second bike section which was about 12 hours into the race and in the dark gave the race’s name all its proud. During the night, we entered a remote park. Not only the signs with “Do not enter, you will get shot” but electrical fences and swamps left and right with unfamiliar animal noises made this section an adrenalin-heightening experience.
The most epic part of the race was an hour or more (I lost the sense of time) of wading through knee-deep swamps….with bike. My inherited ineptitude for balance as well as my unsteadiness caused by seven Red Bulls (the race was sponsored by Red Bull which meant free drinks at the Transition Areas) made my graceless fall into the swamp inevitable. However, the thought of being stuck in the snowy DC made me appreciate the wet, cold and dirty conditions of Florida.
Although we finished unranked due to the loss of our intern, it was an invaluable experience. Before this race, all my teammates have been American. It is a new and fun experience to race with Russians. I recommend the adventure!

Fred:

When I received a call from Dima inviting me to a 30 hour race in the swamps of Florida I didn't know what to expect. I was quite nervous to be racing this competition with 2 crazy Russians and an equally crazy German. We got off to a slow but solid start in a five mile paddle section and after a short break, began biking. The section was primarily on the road so did not last very long either. It was the third section, however, that nearly killed me. Approximately 29 kilometers of running on trails and bushwhacking quickly took its toll as I attempted to follow my European teammates (who, curiously, don't tire like normal people). By the time we rolled into the next manned checkpoint that evening, I was spent. Sadly, at this point I dropped out of the race, wishing my teammates good luck and met them the next morning at the finish line. While I did not complete the race, what I did compete in was amazing. All that I can say is next year I'll make it through the whole thing if it kills me, which it almost did this year.

Dima:

This race was absolutely unique. It started for us from the record snowfall here in Mid Atlantic and very upset fact that Courtney can not make it down here from CT on time because of snow. 2 hours before our departure I got call from Mark. He was on his way to Florida and I explained him our sad situation. He promised to help and 30 minutes before our departure I got a phone call from Monika: “Dima, I want to go with you guys and I will be ready in 30 minutes”. That’s how 2 crazy Russians and one team Calleva intern teamed up with even crazier German female racer.
For Fred it was the first long race. I hoped that it will be easy in warm flat Florida, but it was as hard as it can get. The first 12 hours of very fast biking and running were pretty much warm up before really tough part during the night. The volunteer at the gate to the endless Florida swamp instructed us about a very limited rescue access to the area and extremely tough conditions after 3 days of continues rain. The temperature went down to 27 degrees when we entered knee deep water with bikes on our backs. The fun part began! For the next almost 20 hours we stayed wet or totally soaked, but always very cold. We finished strong and happy with only one little upset of missing all alligators that went into deep hibernation in this cold temperature.

The race was sponsored by Calleva Outdoor Adventure. Thank you guys!
More Swamp Stomp photos by Meg Roberts at TeamRacePhotos.com
Race results are here.

Back from Florida

Swamp Stomp was great race. We almost killed Fred, our intern and finished unofficially. If we were included in the final results, we would have ended up in 7th place.

Race reports and photos are coming. For now some photos from our on-board camera at Facebook album.

Meanwhile there are very few updates from Patagonia, but looks like Eddie Bauer didn't make it to the finish. Updates will follow as soon as we get more info.

In case you can read in Russian... Couple of Russian Adventure Racing sites published Dima's interview about  adventure racing in USA. You can read the full text of the interview here.

Patagonian Race started today.

While we fighting record snowfall here in DC, 14 teams started they extreme journey at the end of the world.

The downside of this year race is absent of satellite tracking. SPOT suspended the coverage at the end of the world and we can not see real time progress of teams. It was very cool last year to follow team Calleva through great adventure. Race organizers promised detailed updates and the best place to look is twitter.

Despite big snow we still heading to Florida and hope to make it on time. Snow changed our plans a little bit, but we got plenty of backup options.

Patagonia Expedition Race 2010

Good luck to Val, Druce and team Eddie Baurer! Tomorrow they are going to Chile to fight Patagonia dragons at the toughest 10 days Patagonia Expedition Race!!!

Photo from gearjunkie.com


Teams that will be racing Patagonia this year are

• Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco (UK)
• Team Eddie Bauer (USA)
• Team East Wind (Japan)
• Team Switzerland (Switzerland)
• Untamed New England (Canada)
• GearJunkie.com (USA)
• Team Nord Water (Finland, Switzerland)
• Fast and Light (UK)
• Terra Mundi Lontra (Brazil)
• Almas Patagónicas (Chile)
• Team Herbertz (Germany)
• Almost Famous (UK, USA)
• BOE Ejercito de Chile (Chile)
• Air Europa-Bimont (Spain)

We will try to keep updates for the race, but we are racing as well at that time. Dima, Vlad, Fred and Courtney are heading to Florida for the 30 hours Swamp Stomp February 13-14. We will leave February 11 and miss the first half of the Patagonia race. You can check for Patagonia updates at following websites:

• Patagonia Expedition Race official site
• Patagonia Race on Twitter
• Yoga Slakers blog
• Grant Untamed Adventure blog
• CheckPointZero News
• SleepMonster news