Lake Training--1.3 miles in cold water!

Earth Day updates.

1. Join us for what Earth Day is all about!

Join forces with Calleva, Potomac Community Resources, Wholefoods, the C&O Canal Stewards and the Nature Conservancy at Riley's Lock at 13015 Riley's Lock Road, Poolesville, MD 20837. We need your help cleaning up Riley's Lock after a season of flooding! We will be cleaning flood debris, repainting fences & picnic tables and beautifying our park!

Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10am-2pm or longer-- 'till we get all our work done!

SSL hours can be earned!

2. Couple of photos from this weekend training.
Phil, Ted and Karen at the top of the Woodstock Tower:


Karen in full lotus relaxation after 10 hours, 100 k training:


3. E-Fix race report
Written by our friend Monika (aka Sunika) from team Trakkers.
"Paddling in the canoe would not normally be a big deal….for someone who is awake"
Read the full story and smile!

Baker's Dozen 2010

Report by Petr Minar
Team CALLEVA / SEAVS Racin

Baker's Dozen 2010 - Start from Tom Jackson on Vimeo.

The race took place by Leesburg town in VA on the private farm by Potomac River on April, 17. This is one of the newer races (put on by Plug Grove Cyclery bike shop) but quickly became very popular and this year sold out in record 50 minutes after the race opened for registration on Bikereg. The participants limit reached about 425 people that quickly. This is endurance type of mountain bike race. Participants could choose from solo racing, 2 person and 3 person of various combinations of male and female formats.
I raced solo, which was first time for me to do any such long race. Until now the longest riding experience for me was Shenandoah mountain 100 mile course in about 10 hours. The day of the race was chili and very windy. In the evening we got temperatures below 40. Race started at 9 AM with massive start of huge field. Each soloist and team had to make a many 8+ miles laps as possible. After 10 PM no more racers could start their new lap and all other racers on the course could finish their current lap.
Doing a long race like this (I rode for 13.5 hours and over 160 miles) is physical and mental challenge. I finished the race with 19 laps total in time over 13.5 hours and took 7th place out of 82 man solo racers. First 10 laps seemed to be OK as far as motivation goes. The most critical laps for me were between 10 and 16 when body starts feeling the fatigue and finish is still way far. I started taking longer brakes which cost me probably couple spots in final ranking. Last 4 laps were again a bit easier as the finish is getting closer.
I have learned new things during this race. Mostly what is good to eat during these long endurance races, when the body really does not want to accept just any food. For me worked... bananas, grapes, dried mango, dried pineapple, mix of nuts, Hammer bars, lost of Endurolite tablets and lots of Hammer Perpetuem...
Also it seems that longer brakes (20-30 mins) are not necessarily better than short 3-5 minutes brakes, as the body is not getting much desired rest anyway and only cools down in the excessive time. Camping/ sharing tent with friends also helps as they can give moral support but also can delay you in pit for longer time than necessary.

Overall this was tough race for solo riding but I am happy I have done.

Resuts by category can be found here.

E-Fix 2010 --Not your soloist's race! Part 2.

E-Fix is well known as the toughest 2 day race in the country. During the pre-race briefing Ronny explained that only the strongest teams have a chance to clear the course, if and maybe. The list of these "ifs" and "maybes" was pretty long and included perfect navigation, no medical issues, no mechanical problems, no sleep, no extreme weather conditions, perfect strategy and good luck. Ronny says basically this exact same thing every single race, and many times even the strongest teams can not get all possible CPs. The ranking of these races is determined first by the total number of mandatory CPs acquired, then by the number of optional CPs and then by the total race time. Of course you have to make all cutoffs to stay on the full course. My minimal goal for this race was to get all mandatory CPs and to make all cutoffs. At least it was all I wanted rolling into my second night of the race.

I started to feel tired and couldn't seem to move fast enough. I knew that other teams were closing on me and at the last CP before Camp Creek two teams, Tecnu Extreme and Raging Burrito caught up to me. As a result I got good news and bad news. The bad news--I was not first anymore, while the good news was that I can worry less about the navigation. I jumped into line after the very fast Tecnu Extreme and in 20 minutes or so arrived to TA7. I was wet, cold, tired, hungry and sick of the energy gels I forced myself to eat for the last 33 hours. I pulled out the Camp Creek map and started reading the instructions for this leg.

The instructions were very confusing and included several cutoffs for my present location. Following my simple rule of never leaving the TA without understanding all the rules I went back to Joy for an explanation. Apparently it was pretty simple, I had to be back at this transition by 2 am with all mandatory CPs. With Tecnu Extreme 5 minutes ahead I joined forces with my old friends from Raging Burrito. We started slow and spent at least 10 minutes looking for the first cemetery. I still hoped to get some optional CPs of this leg, but time ran faster than the distance we covered and after the second cemetery I realized that the only way to get all mandatory CPs was to run.

Usually I don't run 35 hours into a race, but this time I decided to make an exception. I covered 10 k in 50 minutes and spent another 5 minutes looking for the CP. It doesn't sound too fast, but it was at night, with the backpack, on a really bad trail that crossed three deep creeks. I had no time to look for better crossing options and one creek was chest deep for me. I was back to the transition 8 minutes before the cutoff, shaking from cold and excitement. Here I got coordinates for the next mandatory CP and started to plot the way back to the finish. 10 minutes later I was ready to leave when I realized that I was the only racer in the transition area. No other teams made the cutoff, and now I was not only first in time, but also the first in the overall ranking. Now all I had to do to win this race was to finish it! (Not as easy as that sounds)!

I went to Joy to check out and she told me to be very careful: "You are going to be the only racer in this forest. Be safe, no other teams are following you". The real meaning of her words became clear to me only when I got to the top of the Nelly Knob. The well marked park trails ended here and I started descend on a muddy, steep ATV trail. It was bad and absolutely unridable. I had to walk with my bike and carry it across big creeks. That was the only section of the race with snow on the ground. And for the first time during the race I had to deal with complicated navigation problems. This area between CP 45 and 46 was the key section of the race. The whole idea of the race was clear now: Ronny wanted only the strongest and most competitive teams to make the cutoff and enter this leg. He probably never intended for any soloist to try it. When I finally came out of the forest and found the flag of CP 46, I just wanted to call Ronny and tell him that I was OK. Fortunately CP 46 was the only CP of the race with sign-up sheet attached and I put my lone time of 06:19 in the top line of the sheet. All I wanted now was sunlight.

40+ hours from the start. I was wet, cold and out of food. I had a few more gels left, but nothing could force me to put them into my mouth. My backpack was almost empty. All the clothes I had were on me and were wet, but I felt good, waiting for sun to come up. At 8 am I sadly realized that today there will be no sun. Dark gray clouds covered the sky and strong winds brought a rainy smell. And to make things even worse, the wind was blowing from the south, the same direction as the crazy current I had to fight during this last leg of paddling to the finish. Surprisingly, I paddled very fast, faster than most teams and finished the race just under 47 hours. I was the overall winner and only 3 teams beat me in total (mandatory + optional) number of CPs. I was sleepy and tired, as I did not sleep or rest during the race (not to mention the race was 50 hours long!), but had no pain and no blisters. After a hot shower, one hour of sleep and absolutely amazing after-race food, I was brought back to life and I even jumped through the hall for my trophy during the award ceremony.

Odyssey made another epic event we will all remember. Calleva Outdoor Adventure provided me with full sponsorship for this race, Dave let me use his light canoe, my wife and two sons gave me a few days of vacation, my friends and teammates supported me before and during the race. Without all these people I wouldn't have made my little story a big success.

Photos credits MadRaceMedia.com and ImOnPoint. Youtube video clips were done by ImOnPoint.

Training this weekend

Come join us this Sunday for 12 hours half night, half day AR training at the Elizabeth Furnace.

Schedule:
We will start 2am (YES 2 AM) Sunday MORNING from the Elizabeth Furnace trailheads parking lot. We will leave the parking lot at 2:30 the latest. We will run and navigate at night, we will bike on forest roads and some simpler singletrack. We will train transitions from bike to run and back, and repeat everything during the day. The whole training will take about 12 hours, but you can leave earlier, if you want. You also can try to come later and wait for us at the parking lot, but it might be a while until we get back.

Directions

Gear:

• Mountain bike with bright front light and rear red light. *
• Biking helmet, biking shoes.
• Pump and Spare tube for your bike.
• Really bright headlight. *
• Running shoes. 2 pairs would be better.
• Spare socks.
• Backpack with hydration system.
• Racing food.
• Water and water purification tablets.
• Compass.
• First aid kit.

* items with star are mandatory for night. We will not ride with you, if you don't have biking helmet. If you are serious about the race in May, consider to have all gear from the race list (click the gear tab).

Please let Dima know, if you want to have a topo map of the area (similar one will be used on the race in May), or just get National Geographic's Trails Illustrated #792 to have some navigational fun.

E-Fix 2010 --Not your soloist's race! Part 1.

One person can not read 3 pages of instructions, plot 50 CPs, measure all distances and draw a possible course on the map in two and half hours. It's nearly impossible for one person to defeat the crazy current, while trying to paddle upstream in a canoe loaded with a bike and gear. It takes much longer for the solo racer to find 4 almost illegible headstones let alone the entire cemetery in the middle of a thick forest at night. Too many scary movies come to mind when you are alone in an old cemetery at night trying to figure out "What was the year Ms. Meadows died?" And finally your backpack is heavier when you are alone, because no one can share the mandatory gear you have to carry through the race. Combining all this, with the fact that this race had no support and no transition bins-that's right-50 hours of food and gear on my back at all times, I had a moment of panic looking at two 3x4 feet maps that I got at the check-in. Dozen of other race papers were scattered on my plotting table and I managed to work out only the first half of the race before the briefing.

The race started from Ronny Angel's style prologue: technical loop on bike, including deep mud and some water, followed by a 1 mile and 600 feet elevation gain roller coaster. I was between the leaders back to the start area and ready for the first relatively short (about 30 k) run. The leading teams were leaving together and I joined EMS. They helped me to set the pace and I have always wanted to see this team in action. The guys are amazing and very friendly, accepted me like a teammate. I kept their pace all the way to CP3, and finished the run 10 minutes after the leaders. Did I mention the heavy snow that started around CP1? Next stage was a long portage downhill to the lake and here my McGyver skills gave me some advantage.

Before the race I built and tested the system that allowed me to attach my canoe onto portage wheels and then to my bike. It takes less than minute to put it on and off, requires no tools and weights about a pound. Ronny even came out to see my contraption in action. The entire portage took me just a couple of minutes of very fast downhill to Blue Stone Lake. Before hitting the water I gave a short shout out for youtube and hit
my first big problem.

Blue Stone is normally a lake, but recent flooding forced the dam to open and the lake now had a current. And what current! I disheartenly realized that if I don't paddle at full power, I moved backwards. It took me until sunset to get to the first transition, where we were graciously allowed to leave all our biking gear before continuing to paddle upstream. From the take out point to transition was about quarter mile of knee deep mud. Here I made my first mistake--rolling my bike through this mud. I spent next 5 minutes cleaning my drivetrain and brakes. The temperature at night was well below freezing and I didn't want my bike to get frozen with this mud. I left the bike and was back in the water in total darkness. The current was crazy and I made it only to Dickenson creek (2008 E-Fix transition) to continue on foot to mandatory CP5. That was easy and I planned to take a couple of optional CPs of this leg. The easiest and closest one was CP6 on the "hill side". I was reminded of one of Odyssey's trademarks--no well defined attack point--and I changed my mind. I didn't want to search this quarter mile long area all by myself. The lights of two or three teams were scattered around the slope and I decided to skip optional CPs of this leg. I went back to my canoe and in 20 minutes made it back to transition. I spent only 2 hours paddling in the opposite direction. How fast was the current?


From this moment in the race I was first, no other racers in transition areas, no footprints, no blinking lights in front of me. Navigation was not difficult and the hardest part was to maintain the fastest possible pace. I solved this problem by removing one layer of clothes. Now I was cold at rest and had to work hard to stay warm. I made it to the transition in Pipestem State Park one hour before the sunrise. I decided to do the loop counterclockwise and approached CP22 with the first light. The trail was very technical downhill and a few hundred feet before the CP I was surrounded by very dense fog. It was so bad that I couldn't see my own legs and didn't move for 5 minutes. For the next 30 minutes to the CP and all the way back uphill, I crawled from tree to tree by feel, until the sun killed the fog. I made the loop with all optional CPs and was back to the transition for the next bike leg, followed by paddling and another very long biking section. The weather was much better than previous day: clear sky and light breeze. At the second sunset I left the part of the preplotted map and had to stop at most intersections to check directions. West Virginia rollercoaster continued into the second night. The hardest part of the race was in front of me...