2014 Rev3 Shenandoah Epic Adventure Race - Race Report

Friday

Drive to Luray

Dinner at Gennaro's Italian Restaurant

Check-in and Pre-Race Meeting.  Floor plotting/planning.  Once Drew sees how UTM tool is used, is off to the races.  Hagberg and Diggy plotting and double checking OCP points. Jason on big picture, matching maps, overall layout.

Hotel

Late Night Packing

Bed by 10:30 PM

Saturday Pre Race

Rise at 6:00 AM

Breakfast and Head to Downriver Canoe Company at edge of Shenandoah River State Park

Unpack and Assemble Gear

Last Minute Packing

Check-In

Hop on Buses at 8 AM

Drive to Put-In

Last Minute Plotting and Overall Race Strategy

Launch to River

Saturday Race - Paddle

Gun Fires at 10 AM

Steady Canoe / Paddle.  Kayak paddles work great.  Regular hydration on 20.

CP 1, CP 2

Final Rapid CP3, Cross River

Transition to Trek  2/3 of teams ahead, 1/3 behind.

Saturday Race - First Trek up, along and down the Massanutten Ridge

Trek up Indian Grave Trail to CP4.  Early race enthusiasm challenging to contain now that we're on foot. JRS is ready to get to business.

OCP8 - didn't see the correct number of bumps in the hillside as seen on topo.  Overshot a bit.  Jason blazes good trail through the shiggy.  All are happy to discover a 4x4 track back to the top.

CP9, CP10

Down Trail to Downriver Canoe Company CP11, Out Of H20

Saturday Race - Transition, Challenges and MTB Course in Shenandoah River State Park

CH1 - Cork Retrieval and Bucket Fill from River

Attempt to Filter H20 from Shenandoah.  Takes too long, abandon effort.  Wager that we have enough H20 to get to campground on other side of ridge.

CH2 - Square Puzzle

Transistion to Bike

CP12

CP13 Whoops, wrong trail. Make sure all important areas of map are completely visible! Drew making gentle comparisons between Memphis and Shenandoah MTBing, feeling gased. Decision Time Split Up for OCP14 or Stick as Team.

OCP14 - "Zipline x 2".  Turning Point for Drew.  Team in tact for long haul. Race High.

CP15

Back to Downriver Canoe Company CP16

Saturday Race - Transition to Trek in Shenandoah River State Park

CP17 (ran into Glen), OCP19, OCP20

Back to Downriver Canoe Company CP21 for transition and final resupply.

Saturday/Sunday Race - Bike - Head up and over ridge to "other side"

CP22, Bike-A-Hike Up Sherman Gap Trail, CP23

Whole Foods worker with a heavy hand on the spices gives Smitty's gullet a run for it's money.

Bike-A-Hike Down Sherman Gap Trail (Pink).  The nicest looking trail (on the map) you ever saw.  Complete rock garden from top to nearly the bottom.

Hooked up with Glen.  Drew saves his maps.

Head to Group Campground CP24, No Water

Head to Lower Campground - No Water

Treat Water from Creek with Iodine tablets, no Chlorine. Glen provides helpful beta on road to CP25.

Bike to OCP25 - Never ending road

Sun coming up.  Road bird hallucinations

Head to Group Campground CP35

Sunday Race - Transition to Trek

CP36

Negotiation about bagging another OCP

OCP45

Hustle back to Group Campground CP49

Sunday Race - Transition to Bike - Heading back over the mountain.

Find Horse Trail up to Shawl Gap.  Jesse low point.  One foot in front of the other.

2 mi Up and Over along Massanutten Trail to Sherman Gap

Down Sherman Gap Trail - Wee!

Bike to Finish with almost an hour to spare.

Sunday Race - Finish Area, Hotel and Home

Brownies, Burgers, Dogs, ChefBoyRD Ravaoli, Cornbread muffins, Peanut Butter

Crash by car for 20 mins before awards ceremony.  Starts early just see winners announced

Crash at car again. Throw together quick shade shelter

Pack up car and head to Hotel

Go to WalMart to get beverages

Sleep for 14 straight hours.

Up at 5:30 AM, home by 7:30 AM, Shower and head to work.

Post Race observations - Jesse

Drew comments that Jesse was missing a screw from his MTB cleat.  Possibly why he crashed his bike ~ 8 times while stopping.  Comical now that he never once looked at the bottom of his shoe during the race to see what the problem was.

Jason proves once again to be excellent strategist, trail blazer and lead dog.

Drew proves navigational prowess and has character defining moment at OCP14

More excellent evidence of mind over matter and that there's gas in the tank long after the dial shows 'E'.

Post Race observations - Drew AKA Diggs, AKA Diggy AKA The Beard

So, my thoughts on the race...
Fun.
Hard, but doable.
If we had all been able to train as optimally as we intended I think we could have kicked even more ass than we did.
Thin brakes on my bike were a quick and immediate confidence drainer.  This has already been rectified with some new, quality pads. I think we definitely lost some quality time while you guys were waiting on me to catch up on several occasions.
CP14 was a definitive moment for sure, and even if I hadn't made the decision to charge up for it I liked that we didn't hem and haw on the decision to meet at 15 and handled it in a realistic and definitive manner. Being registered as a soloist helped since we didn't have to worry about splitting up. In the future I'd like to be better prepared with fully functioning equipment and more time in the saddle.
The water situation was a big miss. I think we did a great job staying hydrated but not having our own purified stockpile cost us time. Having the purifying tabs, plus the life straw as a final resort, kept us in the fight though, so not a total loss.
I'll say it again, but why the hell did everyone look so miserable out there? I was really happy to be on a team with positive attitudes and the ability to pull each other's spirits up when needed.
On that note, I really like the team dynamic. Smart, strong, strategizing, and capable are all good descriptors. Adding a solid fourth member would be awesome.
I liked the verbal hydration and refueling reminders, and I liked that everyone took an active role in making sure their teammates were taking care of their bodies.
No. More. Whole Foods sammiches. Nuff said.
I liked the pizza as a good source, at least up until the very end.
I thought we did an OK job at the transitions but think we definitely got bogged down for too long at the van stops. I think we can measurably improve on this for sure.
I should have asked about ditching the dry bag after the paddling section, it would have been nice to dump that from my bag.
All in all I was happy with my racing gear. Pack worked well, shoes well, head lamp well. I liked the zip tie on the bike helmet solution, but wasted some time looking for the extra ties and then tightening them down just right to get the right beam angle. A set of prepared ties in my pack would cut down on that time spent.
Hmm, I think that's all I got for now. Overall it was an amazing experience that I enjoyed the hell out of. I'm proud of our accomplishment and was glad I had the opportunity to complete it with some great guys. Looking forward to the next one!

Post Race observations - Jason AKA Smitty AKA Togo