Team Runs with Scissors
In order to keep the riveting narrative moving, I'm going to jump in a offer the commentary for the third, fourth and fifth stages--the bike, swim and second canoe.
Stage 3: Mountain Biking
When we came ashore, there was a short trek to the bike transition area. There we tossed on our biking gear (shoes, gloves and helmets...actually, we were already wearing our helmets for the canoe section) checked the map and off we went.
The biking section went from the Waterbury Day Use Center through Waterbury Center to Kneeland Flats Rd. and up the backside of Perry Hill. From the top of Perry Hill we went behind a gate and onto the mountain biking trails in that area. We were fortunate to know that area pretty well and, to put it mildly, we kicked some ass in this section. (I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the teams we ran into on this section for pretending that we had absolutely no idea where we were going...sorry, it's a race afterall.)
As everyone who follows TRWS knows, when you last left your heroes they were DFL. When we hit each of the checkpoints in the bike section and came out at the last one near the hockery rink in Waterbury, we had catapulted from DFL to 5th or 6th. That wicked awesome twist of fate boosted our spirits and we prepared for the railroad track and road ride back up Perry Hill through Waterbury Center and back to the transition area at the Waterbury Day Use Center, where we could change back into our very wet, very dirty trail shoes, load up with fresh H2O, check the map and head back to the resevoir for a pleasant surprise. (In retrospect, there was another way to go. The winning team took a more interesting and direct route up Blush Hill that involved wading through a portion of the resevoir with their bikes. Oh well, live and learn.)
Stage 4: The Swim!
When we got back to where we had left our canoe we discovered it had been moved to an area across the resevoir. We were instructed to swim with our PFDs and all of our gear across the resevoir to a checkpoint and then to our canoes.
It hurts me just to think about the craps I got in my legs during this section. But, it was still awesome.
Stage 5: Canoe Part Duex!
At the end of the swim we poured as much of the excess water out of our packs as possible and loaded back into the canoes. This time, we made some weight distribution adjustments and the paddling went much better. We paddled across the resevoir to the boat launch area, hauled the canoe onto the shore and hit the next TA....from there, it was on to the trek...stay tuned...
Friday, August 25, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Stage 2: 1st Canoe Leg
The first canoe leg was interesting. At first, on the Little River, we couldn't all ride in the canoe together. So, first Justin and I rode in the canoe. In the picture below, you can see J standing in the river, wondering why he is going faster on land than the 2 of us are in the boat, and possibly cursing us.
Eventually it was down to only 1 in the boat, first me, then Justin. There were some short fun sections of faster water, then out to the lake, where we all loaded up. Here, more problems began. As we had in previous races, Justin was in the back, J in the front, and me in the middle, in front of the thwart. However, the way the boat handled, we were all over the lake. Added to this was the stress of being dead last, over an hour behind the leaders and 15 minutes behind the team ahead of us. This caused some tension, with Justin shouting orders at Jason to help steer, Jason yelling back that he was doing his best, and the boat wandering all over the place. At 1 point we actually went in a full circle while Justin held his head in his hands wondering what the heck we were doing. Here you can see how poorly balanced and front heavy the canoe was...
Eventually, though, we got things figured out and got moving. It was a beautiful morning, with the fog lifting, sun coming out, and the temperature warming. We got multiple great looks at a great blue heron flying in front of us as we moved into the main lake. So, we paddled south down the main arm of the lake, then turned east and paddled up the to "Day Use Area" in Waterbury Center. Here we glimpsed a staff member on shore, and landed our boat where instructed. The lake was a bit deeper than I anticipated, as I learned when I stepped out of the boat into hip deep water.
From our landing spot, we trekked a few hundred yards to the checkpoint. Here we grabbed a quick water refill, doffed our PFDs, put on our bike helmets/shoes, and headed off on the bike leg. Here we also learned we were only about 5 minutes ahead of the next team in front of us. Already making up time, and on to the bike leg...
The first canoe leg was interesting. At first, on the Little River, we couldn't all ride in the canoe together. So, first Justin and I rode in the canoe. In the picture below, you can see J standing in the river, wondering why he is going faster on land than the 2 of us are in the boat, and possibly cursing us.
Eventually it was down to only 1 in the boat, first me, then Justin. There were some short fun sections of faster water, then out to the lake, where we all loaded up. Here, more problems began. As we had in previous races, Justin was in the back, J in the front, and me in the middle, in front of the thwart. However, the way the boat handled, we were all over the lake. Added to this was the stress of being dead last, over an hour behind the leaders and 15 minutes behind the team ahead of us. This caused some tension, with Justin shouting orders at Jason to help steer, Jason yelling back that he was doing his best, and the boat wandering all over the place. At 1 point we actually went in a full circle while Justin held his head in his hands wondering what the heck we were doing. Here you can see how poorly balanced and front heavy the canoe was...
Eventually, though, we got things figured out and got moving. It was a beautiful morning, with the fog lifting, sun coming out, and the temperature warming. We got multiple great looks at a great blue heron flying in front of us as we moved into the main lake. So, we paddled south down the main arm of the lake, then turned east and paddled up the to "Day Use Area" in Waterbury Center. Here we glimpsed a staff member on shore, and landed our boat where instructed. The lake was a bit deeper than I anticipated, as I learned when I stepped out of the boat into hip deep water.
From our landing spot, we trekked a few hundred yards to the checkpoint. Here we grabbed a quick water refill, doffed our PFDs, put on our bike helmets/shoes, and headed off on the bike leg. Here we also learned we were only about 5 minutes ahead of the next team in front of us. Already making up time, and on to the bike leg...
As alluded to in previous posts, over the next week or so I'll post an event-by-event summary of our latest race, the Bitter Pill, with some pictures and such. So, without further ado...
Stage 1-Trek
The race began with us having to meet at Bolton Valley ski area at 4:30AM. Since we wanted to be sure we were on time, we showed up around 4:10, which had me getting up at 3am. This may have contributed to some early morning navigational errors. In any case, at 4:30am, we boarded a school bus for the trip to the starting line, and were given our maps. Reviewing the maps on the ride (which took about 45 minutes), we were pleased to see we'd be racing, basically in our own back yard. This would come in handy later during the bike leg, when we needed to make up some serious time. So, we arrived at the starting line in Moscow, VT, on the Little River near where it enters the Waterbury Reservoir. At 5:40 AM, we got the go ahead, and we were off.
Having checked the bearing from the start to CP1, I set my compass and we blasted into the woods. A number of teams elected to follow the road to the river and then travel up river to the CP, but we and a couple others just followed our bearing, through some pretty thick brush, bamboo, and swampy areas. Due to the early morning hour and the overhanging trees, we needed our headlamps to see where we were going. 10 or so minutes later, we burst out of the brush to the river, basically right at CP1. We were the 2nd team to hit CP1, and we were only 30 seconds behind them. Turns out we probably should have followed them....
Heading for CP2, it appeared to be 100 or so feet off the river on the east bank, about 10-15 minutes away on a trail. We popped inland, found the trail (an old logging road), and followed it for a while. After failing to find the CP for 30 minutes or so, we dropped back down to the river, and found CP2 right on the river. Hmmm. So, on to TA (transition area) 1 to pick up the canoes. Since CP2 was marked off the river and was on it, and TA1 was marked right on the river, we assumed the TA would be on the river. WRONG. We hiked down river for over a mile (should have been pacing the distance, but weren't) before encountering the photographer. When he asked us where our canoe was, we knew we were in trouble. In J's last post, you can see a picture of us dejectedly walking back up river. At this point, when the photographer was telling other folks about us, he said he didn't know our name, but we were "The team that says F%$K a lot"! Anyway, 20 more minutes up river, and we had our canoe, and were moving, in last place...
Stage 1-Trek
The race began with us having to meet at Bolton Valley ski area at 4:30AM. Since we wanted to be sure we were on time, we showed up around 4:10, which had me getting up at 3am. This may have contributed to some early morning navigational errors. In any case, at 4:30am, we boarded a school bus for the trip to the starting line, and were given our maps. Reviewing the maps on the ride (which took about 45 minutes), we were pleased to see we'd be racing, basically in our own back yard. This would come in handy later during the bike leg, when we needed to make up some serious time. So, we arrived at the starting line in Moscow, VT, on the Little River near where it enters the Waterbury Reservoir. At 5:40 AM, we got the go ahead, and we were off.
Having checked the bearing from the start to CP1, I set my compass and we blasted into the woods. A number of teams elected to follow the road to the river and then travel up river to the CP, but we and a couple others just followed our bearing, through some pretty thick brush, bamboo, and swampy areas. Due to the early morning hour and the overhanging trees, we needed our headlamps to see where we were going. 10 or so minutes later, we burst out of the brush to the river, basically right at CP1. We were the 2nd team to hit CP1, and we were only 30 seconds behind them. Turns out we probably should have followed them....
Heading for CP2, it appeared to be 100 or so feet off the river on the east bank, about 10-15 minutes away on a trail. We popped inland, found the trail (an old logging road), and followed it for a while. After failing to find the CP for 30 minutes or so, we dropped back down to the river, and found CP2 right on the river. Hmmm. So, on to TA (transition area) 1 to pick up the canoes. Since CP2 was marked off the river and was on it, and TA1 was marked right on the river, we assumed the TA would be on the river. WRONG. We hiked down river for over a mile (should have been pacing the distance, but weren't) before encountering the photographer. When he asked us where our canoe was, we knew we were in trouble. In J's last post, you can see a picture of us dejectedly walking back up river. At this point, when the photographer was telling other folks about us, he said he didn't know our name, but we were "The team that says F%$K a lot"! Anyway, 20 more minutes up river, and we had our canoe, and were moving, in last place...
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Team Runs with Scissors
Well, we're a little over 6 weeks from the 36-hour race, 4 weeks from the Stowe Marathon and a few minutes from my evening run. I know Graham is planning to layout the race in greater detail (for our many fans) so I'll spare everyone the play-by-play. I would, however, like to echo the observations Grambo has already made.
We definitely had a rough start, overshooting two early check points (CP). Nevertheless, I think we learned several important lessons. First, always shoot a bearing and monitor/pace distance. Second, there's no such thing as an "easy" CP. So, while we were DFL (Dead F***king Last) going into and out of the first canoe section, we bounced back in a big way, moving from DFL to 5th or 6th coming out of the bikes and into the swim. Ultimately, as Graham notes below, we finished 4th overall.
I've also posted two of my favorite photos from the race. The first one I've dubbed: "Bikes at rest." They look so peaceful.
The second is simply: "F**K!" (Sorry, Mom.) It's a photo of us a long way past the canoe transition. Immediately after this photo was taken, we reversed our direction and eventually did find the canoes...the rest, as they say, is history.
Back to the serious training...I've had a few,uh, adventurous days off...time to get pumped up for the big race! Rock on!
JG
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Well, we did it! Team Runs With Scissors Saturday completed our longest race ever, by finishing the Bitter Pill in Bolton, VT, in 12hr 13 minutes, successfully hitting all the checkpoints and transition areas along the way. Despite several navigational snafus, which I'll explain later, we finished 4th of 11 teams, which we are pretty happy with. Result can be found at this link: http://www.gmara.org/bitterpill/Results.html, and pictures can be found here: http://gmara.smugmug.com/gallery/1769360. Over the next several days, I will post an event by event description of the race, along with some pics of us.
In summary, it was a great race. GMARA did an excellent job setting up a challenging, interesting course. We had some great times, and some rough times, and in the end had a lot of fun. Not only did we trek, bike, and canoe, but this race also had us swimming with all our gear (not easy), and rappelling down a 70+ foot cliff (also with all our gear). Overall course distance was around 32 miles, not including the boating. Adding in the canoe legs (yes, there were 2) and our navigational wanderings, I would estimate we logged in excess of 40 miles in the 12 hours we were out. Nice! As I said, more to come, with some descriptions of the trials and tribulations we faces...stay tuned!
Grambo
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Team Runs with Scissors
Well, since we're 2 days away from the big 12-hour, I thought I'd get back in the blogging saddle. The training has been going well. I've been doing a lot more running than usual, but I guess that's a good thing.
The weather for Saturday promises to be nearly perfect. (I didn't just jinx us.) I'm particularly looking forward to the rappel. But I'm not looking forward to purchasing the leather gloves they are requiring for it. If you're reading this GMARA, that's a stupid rule. Gloves should be optional. But, whatever...
Speaking of running, I ran a 5K last Saturday in Charlotte, South Carolina. I was there for work. It was a blast. Finished 4th with a time of 21:50. That's about 7 minute miles (7:02) and a heck of a lot faster than the one I ran in May.
Anywho, I'm looking forward to the race--work has been hectic. I really need to shift my mental focus to the race now...the 4:30 a.m. start time may help.
Gibber
Well, since we're 2 days away from the big 12-hour, I thought I'd get back in the blogging saddle. The training has been going well. I've been doing a lot more running than usual, but I guess that's a good thing.
The weather for Saturday promises to be nearly perfect. (I didn't just jinx us.) I'm particularly looking forward to the rappel. But I'm not looking forward to purchasing the leather gloves they are requiring for it. If you're reading this GMARA, that's a stupid rule. Gloves should be optional. But, whatever...
Speaking of running, I ran a 5K last Saturday in Charlotte, South Carolina. I was there for work. It was a blast. Finished 4th with a time of 21:50. That's about 7 minute miles (7:02) and a heck of a lot faster than the one I ran in May.
Anywho, I'm looking forward to the race--work has been hectic. I really need to shift my mental focus to the race now...the 4:30 a.m. start time may help.
Gibber
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
3 Days remain...
Had a great training ride yesterday. I rode from my house in Waterbury, across the Winooski St. bridge to River Rd, down to Camel's Hump road, and up to the winter trailhead parking lot. Total round trip distance is 17-18 miles, starting with a rolling 5.5 miles paved and dirt road to the turn onto Camel's Hump road. From there, the road (dirt) climbs relentlessly 3.5 or so miles up to the hiking trailhead. I'm not sure the elevation gain, but it is a good training ride, because it just keeps going up and up. I haven't ridden this road in 2 months or so, and was pleasantly surprised to knock about 5 minutes off my old time. It took me 4o minutes to get up the hill, and this time I also managed to ride the entire thing (no dismounting and pushing). I did stop for 3 short (1-2 min) breathers, but I never got off my bike. Complicating matters, the entire length of dirt road on River Road and Camels Hump road was freshly graded, which means many, many loose rocks in the 1-1.5 inch diameter range. It made things more difficult, but hey, that's part of training, right? It also made the ride down Camel's Hump road pretty treacherous. After the first couple times I felt my rear wheel get squirrelly, I slowed down, and did the 3.5 mile decent in 10 minutes instead of the ususal 6 or 7. Still a great downhill ride, though.
Preparations continue for the big race. Looks like the pre-race carbo-loading pasta dinner is on for Thursday at my place, and hopefully we'll all get out early Friday and have a bike cleaning/tuning, equipment packing session Friday afternoon in preparation. I also need to spend some time tonight refreshing my UTM plotting skills...
Grambo
Had a great training ride yesterday. I rode from my house in Waterbury, across the Winooski St. bridge to River Rd, down to Camel's Hump road, and up to the winter trailhead parking lot. Total round trip distance is 17-18 miles, starting with a rolling 5.5 miles paved and dirt road to the turn onto Camel's Hump road. From there, the road (dirt) climbs relentlessly 3.5 or so miles up to the hiking trailhead. I'm not sure the elevation gain, but it is a good training ride, because it just keeps going up and up. I haven't ridden this road in 2 months or so, and was pleasantly surprised to knock about 5 minutes off my old time. It took me 4o minutes to get up the hill, and this time I also managed to ride the entire thing (no dismounting and pushing). I did stop for 3 short (1-2 min) breathers, but I never got off my bike. Complicating matters, the entire length of dirt road on River Road and Camels Hump road was freshly graded, which means many, many loose rocks in the 1-1.5 inch diameter range. It made things more difficult, but hey, that's part of training, right? It also made the ride down Camel's Hump road pretty treacherous. After the first couple times I felt my rear wheel get squirrelly, I slowed down, and did the 3.5 mile decent in 10 minutes instead of the ususal 6 or 7. Still a great downhill ride, though.
Preparations continue for the big race. Looks like the pre-race carbo-loading pasta dinner is on for Thursday at my place, and hopefully we'll all get out early Friday and have a bike cleaning/tuning, equipment packing session Friday afternoon in preparation. I also need to spend some time tonight refreshing my UTM plotting skills...
Grambo
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Wow, 4 days and counting to the Bitter Pill!!
Due to the thundershowers, I had a gym training day yesterday. Some weights, and then some quality time with Coach Troy, with the spinning video "The Uphill Grind". Good stuff. 1 more day of big training today, I am planning about a 20 mile round trip road ride up and down Camel's Hump road, which has a nice climb to it. I may throw in a short hike/trail run, depending on when I get to the trailhead. After that I will be resting/recovering in preparation for Saturday's race. I'm starting to get really psyched for the race, I picked up some supplies at OGE this past weekend, and can't wait! Although, the 4:30 am start time will be painful!
Grambo
Due to the thundershowers, I had a gym training day yesterday. Some weights, and then some quality time with Coach Troy, with the spinning video "The Uphill Grind". Good stuff. 1 more day of big training today, I am planning about a 20 mile round trip road ride up and down Camel's Hump road, which has a nice climb to it. I may throw in a short hike/trail run, depending on when I get to the trailhead. After that I will be resting/recovering in preparation for Saturday's race. I'm starting to get really psyched for the race, I picked up some supplies at OGE this past weekend, and can't wait! Although, the 4:30 am start time will be painful!
Grambo
Thursday, August 03, 2006
9 Days!!!
Some good training the last few days. I did a 4ish mile trail run on the Wbury mtn bike trails Monday, which was great. Once you get up the big hills on the way in, the trails are awesome for running. Did some gym action in the 100+ degree heat Tuesday, and had a good ride yesterday, on the same Waterbury trails. Good times.
Last weekend, Jason, Mrs. Jason, and I headed up to Kingdom Trails in East Burke for a ride. It was my first trip up there, and man, do they have some nice trails! We rode for almost 4 hours, on some excellent single track. Some hard stuff, some mellow stuff, just a great all around day, capped off with a trip to the Trout River brewery in Lyndonville. Nice trip overall, we'll definitely be headed back there, perhaps this fall.
Well, that's all for now. An "off" day for me today, although I'll get in some good walking at a golf tournament I am playing in for work today. Should be interesting, considering I haven't played a round in 2 years...
Grambo
Some good training the last few days. I did a 4ish mile trail run on the Wbury mtn bike trails Monday, which was great. Once you get up the big hills on the way in, the trails are awesome for running. Did some gym action in the 100+ degree heat Tuesday, and had a good ride yesterday, on the same Waterbury trails. Good times.
Last weekend, Jason, Mrs. Jason, and I headed up to Kingdom Trails in East Burke for a ride. It was my first trip up there, and man, do they have some nice trails! We rode for almost 4 hours, on some excellent single track. Some hard stuff, some mellow stuff, just a great all around day, capped off with a trip to the Trout River brewery in Lyndonville. Nice trip overall, we'll definitely be headed back there, perhaps this fall.
Well, that's all for now. An "off" day for me today, although I'll get in some good walking at a golf tournament I am playing in for work today. Should be interesting, considering I haven't played a round in 2 years...
Grambo
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