Lightning Strikes Adventure Race 2012

I know, right, after reading my post on the High Profile Adventure Camp, you have been anxiously awaiting my post on the Lightning Strikes 8 hour race that was held during adventure camp. So here it comes, I have to start by saying Gerry Voellger puts out a very challenging course, lucky for us Chuck is great at orienteering and he went directly to every CP. For our team, Chuck, Lori and I, the race was more about having fun than going fast, of course we always want to go as fast as we can, but this was a learning event and chance to try new things.

Chuck: It was a very challenging course, but totally do-able. The LIDAR orienteering maps were awesome (the USGS maps were, well, what you expect from USGS) and every checkpoint was plotted dead-on. It was a great test to navigation skills though, and there were no ‘Gimmee’ points. Most of them were well hidden in depressions, caves, boulders and logs. You absolutely had to know where you were on the map at all times. We had to pay attention to map scale too, it messed with my distance judgement once when we got off the 1:24000 bike map and started immediately trekking on the 1:5000 map. It didn’t affect the race, we just ended up at the cave WAY faster than I expected.


After two days of sleep deprivation, we were wakened earlier than we planned by our roommates, so we got up and got moving, driving our bikes to the bike drop and getting back for a quick breakfast before the race started. As we milled around near the starting line, Gerry asked me if I hurt my knee, I think someone told on me and he found out I was icing it the night before. I assured him that it was fine, just a little sore, like I said in the last post, I am an internet doctor. I said it would hold out for a good 10 hours and since the race was only 8 hours, I had no worries. It surprised me that he would have even noticed or cared, but I did appreciate his concern.

At the start line we were given last minute instructions and told to be careful entering the water or we would end up like a team during a previous camp, who had to quickly get dry after capsizing right off the bank. During the paddling presentation the night before we saw a photo of the capsized team, scrambling to get dry and when we saw it Chuck and I both said “Hey that’s……?” (I will not mention the name to protect the innocent here).


Next was the group photo, we were in the back and I’m not sure you can even see us in the photo. After the photo we had a couple minutes to relax before the start and somehow as everyone moved around we ended up in the front of the start, I did not want to be there, but there was no way to move back. The gun went off and it was a mad dash for the canoes, and I mean an all out sprint. My thought was, “do these guys realize this is an 8 hour race”. We had to portage the canoe to the river, it was about a quarter mile. After dropping the canoe on the bank, we headed out for 3 CP’s before returning to the canoe. We had no problems finding the points, but it was some tough terrain.


After some climbing through rocks and walking through the river, we were back to the canoe and being very careful not to capsize. One team had capsized and were walking down the river trying to find their passport that had gotten washed away.
Chuck: We had just learned all these cool new paddling techniques at camp the day before, and barely got to use them. The shallow fast river was more like combat than paddling technique.

As we headed down the river, I couldn’t help myself, it was so beautiful along the bluffs I kept snapping photos instead of paddling.


It was ok though the water was so shallow in places, Chuck had to keep getting out and pushing the canoe. You see, Lori and I kept pulling the GIRL card on him, he had to do all that manly work. We made it to the take out much quicker than we had planned, but we had to use our muscle to lift the canoe over a 4 foot bank, good thing me and Lori were there to help Chuck out, as skinny as he is, lifting that may have just snapped him in half.

Chuck: You know, I don’t think we’ve ever had this ‘girl card’ thing before my friend Robyn B mentioned it at camp. I’m going to have to talk to her about that. Have you seen our picture yet?


It was time for the bike leg, we had heard from other racers that the bike would be really hilly, but we had no idea what we were in for. I’m glad we didn’t know, otherwise I would have worried about it the entire morning. There was no flat to be had, and the hills were giant, we all rode them in the little ring and on one hill all three of us got off and walked the top section of it. On another hill, I was riding like a mad woman and a guy walking, pushing his bike, passed me, I started to wonder if maybe walking wasn’t a better choice.


We made it through a couple of CP’s on the bike and rolled into the O section. There were some great volunteers there waiting for us and they had ice cold coke, I wish they would have had ice cold diet coke, but “you get what you get and don’t throw a fit”. The O section held lots of challenges for us, first the ticks, I think I spent most of the section brushing the ticks off me, then there was the thorns, I’m still nursing those wounds and of course what’s an adventure race without poison ivy, I brought that home with me too. The terrain in the O section was tough, but we went right to every CP. As we left CP 11 we came across a military team, they were running and singing, well I don’t think they call it singing, but that’s what it was, and they ran right past us and the CP. After a while they realize the mistake and had to go back, they weren’t singing after that.
Chuck: I just checked with Major Chizmar. It’s called a Cadence, not a song. And apparently we heard a very tame and fit for public hearing cadence. haha

We were watching the time and we wanted to make sure we made it back to transition in time to hit the CP in the cave and do the ropes, so we skipped CP12 to save some time. (Lori: cave yes, ropes- NO, not so much!) We knew that we were getting tired and we still had a lot of hills to ride. Gravel and hills, you know how much I like both of those things, NOT! The down hills were not as fun as you would have thought though, since some sections of road had lots of loose gravel, we had to be careful coming down the hills, I certainly didn’t want to be picking gravel out of my skin, we wanted to make sure it was wheels gravel side down the entire race.


We rode back to the canoe takeout and attached our paddles and pfd’s to our packs then rode up the next hill, this one looked really bad, but I was surprised we all seemed to get up it fine, maybe it was the coke we had before leaving the O section. We even passed a team at the top of the hill, of course we passed them because they were sitting on the ground taking a break.

Chuck: I bet it was the bottle of Ensure. That stuff is like rocket fuel for adventure racers.

Finally we were back at the transition area and we didn’t have much time, so we took off, skipping the first CP to go directly to the cave. If we would have missed the Bat cave, Chuck would have never forgiven us, he had been waiting all day for the cave.

Chuck: I was really hoping for a bear or mtn lion den. Turns out there was nothing but bats and frogs.


It was really hard to see the cave opening because it was covered with big rocks and green moss, but we found it. To get to it you had to cross the river, it was only about waist deep if you stayed on the rock ledge.


The river felt cold, but after feeling the water we walked through in the cave the river was like a sauna. We saw bats hanging off the top of the cave, and it’s a good thing I had a helmet on because, I hit my head a couple times. I was too busy looking around to watch my head.


It took about 5 minutes to get to the CP, but we made it, our feet were numb from the cold water, but it was worth it.


Coming back out of the cave we jumped into the river and I decided to take a little break while in the river, good thing Chuck and Lori were not downstream from me.

Chuck: Yeah you read it right, she was pee’n.


We climbed through the rocks to a trail and headed to the finish. We did not clean the course, we missed the ropes section, but I think Lori was ok with that (Lori: made my day, this HUGE weight had just been lifted off my shoulders! A fear of DNF as the final moments on the clock counted down because I was stuck on the side of the cliff… it will not let it get me next year!!), me and Chuck were a little disappointed though.

At the finish we were met by cheers and Gerry the race director. And the first thing he said was how’s your knee, what a great guy to even remember that my knee was not quite working right.
We had a picture snapped, well maybe a few, Lori and I wanted to make sure we got one that we looked thin in to use in our post. (Lori: we eventually had to give up because I was too tired and sore to suck it in!)


After a photo or ten we went into the lodge for some food and ran into a guy who had finished and he asked if we were ROCK Racing, we said, “Yep, in the flesh”. He is a new racer and said he reads our blog all the time and that it has really helped him out. He said “I know it’s kind of creepy”, heck it’s not creepy, we love people reading our blog! So be on the lookout for team 2 Much Trouble if they get really fast we will claim it’s because of us. Hey, take it where you can get it.
Awesome race Gerry! And to all the great volunteers and Robyn, a great big THANK YOU too, without you, we have no adventure. Oh and of course Chuck can now say his personal friend Robyn, not just she is my friend on FaceBook.

Chuck: have you seen our picture yet?

tracks n treads 2012

Most people have a party for their birthday, but if you know me, you know that I don’t do what most people do. For my birthday, I threw the tracks n treads Off-Road biathlon and trail run. The race was held at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. This year, there was also a new and improved race course, more on that later.

It all started back in December when I started planning for the 3rd annual race, this could have been the very last race because when the Metro Tri Club started this race, it was decided that if the race didn’t turn a profit in 3 years, we would discontinue it. Well, I don’t have all the numbers in yet, but I’m sure we turned a profit. That being said, you can start getting ready for next year’s race. I can’t guarantee that it will fall on my birthday again, but I can plan to make it a party atmosphere similar to this years, with food, friends and on fantastic race.



While planning this year’s race, Keith T. who is the clubs trail rat, asked if we could change up the course and have the run in the Big Woods and the bike on the GORC trails. This change would get us off the cross country course and into the woods for the run and although I really liked his idea, I had my doubts that it would happen. The reason was, to make a change like this we would have to spread out across campus, the race would have to cross roads and secure a larger area of the campus. I was pretty sure we would never get it past the University, but I was willing to give it a shot. I spoke with Tim E. my contact at the university and he said he would check on the availability of the area. Our original idea was to hold from the visitor parking lot, but after some checking Tim said we couldn’t do it from there, but we could use the Engineering lot. After checking it out, that area was an even better place to hold it.

Things went pretty smoothly after that, I got the race listed on active, fleet feet, STL Biking and many other sites. Jeff S. designed all the posters and entry forms, and I had them printed and started distributing them. We knew we needed to advertise if we wanted to draw racers, plus we really wanted to get the word out that the run venue was now rugged single track, hoping to draw more trial runners. All in all, things came together pretty well, but the last few weeks were hectic. Mike Wever the president of the Metro Tri Club retired from his real in December and he was a great help with completing tasks that had to be done in the middle of the day, while I was working, but he also had way too much time to think and sometimes my head was spinning with all his new ideas. I have to say, one of his new ideas with some help from Chris N. was to build a portable finish line and oh my gosh, it turned out really great, they did a fantastic job on it.


On Thursday, Mike and I met with some volunteers out at the race site and set up the transition area. Keith and Russ, covered the run course and put up stakes for signs. On Friday I spoke with Scott W from GORC and we agreed that the GORC trials were in excellent condition and we could use them for the race. This is where I have to give a big THANKS to Scott and GORC for helping out, they not only made sure the trails were clear, but they showed up on race day to help out on the bike course. I can’t express how lucky we are to have this group around building and maintaining these trails for our use. Friday afternoon, Keith and some volunteers marked the run course, then Keith went with Mark S and I out to mark the bike course. When we finished marking the course, I just knew that it was done so well, that there would not be an incident of anyone being directionally challenged this year. This is where I start laughing hysterically as I write this, because it seems no matter what we do, every year something goes wrong.

So race day came, I actually forgot it was my birthday until I got to the race and someone said happy birthday to me. I thought to myself, what a great day to have a birthday race, the day was beautiful, the weather was dry and warm, and the trails were in fantastic condition. Ok, so like I said nothing ever goes perfect, just before race day we found out that due to construction we would have to move parking to a different lot, but I thought no problem, it was just the next lot over. We sent out an email update to all the racers telling them to park in lot F instead of Lot E and we also put up signs directing them to Lot F. Well we had some racers park in the wrong lot, but we made an announcement to please move to the other lot or risk a parking ticket, most people didn’t complain, but then there is always one in the crowd. I thought ok, so someone is complaining, don’t let this little issue ruin a great day, if this person gets a ticket it’s their own fault.

Soon it was time for pre-race comments, so Mike made an announcement that I would give instructions, but first, it was my birthday and the crowd sang Happy Birthday to me while my daughter China and her friend Madison picked me up. Well that really made my day, thanks everyone that was really great. I went over the course, and of course mentioned that there was really no way anyone could get lost because we had marked both the bike and run course so well. I heard a few laughs in the crowd, but I really believed what I had just said.

Everyone lined up to start and the race was off. I was expecting to see the first racer come in between 26 and 28 minutes, but to my surprise there were about 7 guys crossing the line into transition in about 24 minutes. I was starting to worry, when Chris one of the club members runs in and yells that some had pulled down the caution tape at the turn and the entire race went off course. My head just dropped, I thought how could this happen, who would do something like this and why. I started asking the runners that came through where they turned and what distance they had on their Garmins. I quickly found out that at least most everyone ran the same course, it was just a shortened course, most of the racers missed on small loop, which made the course 3.3 miles rather than 3.8 miles. There were a few people who ran the long course, but at least they were club members and were very forgiving because it really was something that was beyond my control even though as the race director, I take full responsibility for the mistake. I do however think everyone enjoyed the run course.


See all the run photos here

As I tried to sort out what went wrong, the race continued, runners were finishing as cyclist were racing out of transition to the bike course. The first place trail runner, Garrett Fulkerson, finished in 24:16 which is amazing since he is only 13. Becky Sikorski won the women’s race in 26:48.

With my head spinning about the run course problem, I forgot to call the bike sweeper and tell him the last cyclist had left transition, good thing for me, Mark, my sweeper knows me and figured I completely lost my mind, so he started sweeping after not seeing a cyclist in a while. Good thing too or all those bike course volunteers would still be out there today manning their posts.

The biathlon winner, Anthony Dust, who happens to be the 2011 winner also, came through the finish line like a bolt of lightning finishing in 1:01:40. Here is the real kicker, Anthony came off the run in 7th place, probably 3 minutes back and he won the race by almost 2 minutes, my gosh, he is one fast cyclist, I wish I had his speed. The Women’s winner was no slouch, Erin Fuselier finished first logging a 1:19:10.


See all the bike photos here

Just after the finish of each race, we held the awards ceremony and gave away some great glasses with the tracks n treads logo on one side and the place engraved on the other. Once again this year, a group of club members met at Chuck’s house after a training run and engraved the glasses for this event. Thanks, Chuck, Lori, Patrick and Kate for taking time out to do the engraving.

For all the first place finishers there was an even greater prize, they received a pair of Swiftwick socks. The Swiftwick Company was very generous to sponsor the race this year and give us socks for all age group winners. If you haven’t tried Swiftwick socks you should. I got a pair at a race last year and haven’t purchased any other brand since. I could go into all the reasons why, but all you have to do is wear a pair and you will be a convert. You can also read ROCK Racing’s review of the socks here. I encourage you to give them a try and you can purchase them locally at The Cyclery and Fitness center in Edwardsville.

I can truly say I learned many lessons once again this year, but as a whole it was great event and I think everyone had fun. The new course was fantastic and I need to Thank SIUE and Tim E. for making it possible hold this race on the SIUE campus. Thank you God for the great weather, to the Cyclery for your bike support, to Culligan Water for supplying the water, to Metro Milers for the race timing and the biggest Thanks goes to all the volunteers, without you, we have no race.

Volunteers

To the racers, I hope you had fun and I will see you again next year.

Click here for Biathlon results

Click her for Trail Run results

Robin Rongey - Race Director

Bonk Hard Chill 2012

As you may know, Robin has been on a doctor mandated 6 weeks off due to a broken tailbone, this past weekend was the end of the 5th week. Because of this, Chuck had to get a new partner, which would be me, who wishes to stay anonymous, so to protect the innocent, I will be known as Lula for this post.

So this is how the adventure starts, I meet Chuck at the same park and ride lot that he always meets Robin at. As I load my gear, he says, where are your bike shoes, and I of course answer, why they are in my van back at home 45 miles in the wrong direction. No worries though, check-in is at a bike shop and I need new mountain bike shoes anyway, I will just buy a pair. As we head onto the highway, Chuck says “you have your paddle, right” and I say, why no, it’s back at home with my bike shoes. Now Lula never forgets anything, but today she has forgotten two important items. It’s just a good thing that the paddle is optional, if you don’t have one, you can use one of the crappy canoe company ones, so that is what I would have to do. So I sat there for a while and mentally ran through my gear, luckily I had not forgotten any other gear.

So we make it to the Ozark MO, and to the OZ bike shop to check in. When we go into the store we find out that they had been robbed just a few days earlier and they only had two pair of size 10 men’s bike shoes. Time to go to plan B, I bought a pair of used platform pedals for 5 bucks and Chuck and I tried to put them on, but were unsuccessful because my current pedals were on too tight. We took the bike into the shop where the mechanic finally was able to loosen the pedals up and get them swapped. That was a load off my mind. So we got checked in and then drooled over the rack of Swiftwick socks, they must not have been out when the robbers were there, because it was one of the few things left in the store.

After some dinner, it was time for the pre-race meeting. Gary the race director was throwing out prizes into the crowd of racers, when all of the sudden a water bottle was flying right towards me, just as it was about to drop in my lap a guy across the aisle from me jumps over and grabs it. Man, it was just a water bottle, but I think someone saw what happened, and just after that I caught a flying rubber chicken. Well the rubber chicken is the best thing you can catch because you get to trade it for a really nice prize, so I got a Kuat water bottle lock, a very cool prize. Next the maps were handed out and we found out that we had to plot 29 points, that’s a lot of points. We also were told that we had a bike drop, but needed to keep our helmets with us. Chuck and I took that to mean, we would be caving, and guess what for once we were right, I mean Chuck was right, this was my first time racing with Chuck, so I never guessed about this stuff before. You will hear more about that later.

So bright and early Saturday, we dropped our bikes at the bike drop and headed for the start, where we parked in a muddy field, we were pretty sure we would be pushing the adventure van out of the mud at the end of the race. I was just hoping I would have enough energy to do that, otherwise, we were sleeping in the van. We grabbed our gear and headed to the starting line, stopping first at the Johnny on the Spot, while standing in line, Chuck says “oh, I have to run back to the van” and he takes off, when he gets back, I ask, “hey what did you forget” he says “nothing important, just the map”. I could just see us at the start, the gun goes off and we are standing there looking at each other, not knowing where to go.

The first few legs were trekking, they were pretty long, but the orienteering was simple, I think Gary planned it that way just to spread the teams out. The terrain was beautiful, there were so many places where we were trekking though giant rock formations, it’s too bad we couldn’t take our time and look around more.

We had no problem finding any of the checkpoints, as we headed to the first canoe CP, we came upon Team Orange Lederhosen, we passed them just before the water and from there on, I think it became a race between ROCK Racing and Orange Lederhosen. We went back and forth all day long, discussing the finer points of life, like how thick bacon should be, what kind of priorities a girl should have if she wants to have an adventure racing boyfriend, oh and if farting during a race will draw or disgust potential girlfriends. It was all very important stuff.

As I tried to get my wet hands into my canoe gloves, it wasn’t going well, Chuck just watched me, wondering just how many teams would pass us before I finally got those gloves on. Of Course Orange Lederhosen passed us, and Chuck finally took charge and pulled my gloves over my hands for me. So into the water we went and we stayed dry, but that didn’t last for long, at least not for me, every paddle stroke Chuck splashed me with water, I had to put up my hood, just to keep my head dry. It’s a good thing there was a rescue boot in the area, because we had so much water in our canoe, I thought we might sink.

We paddled our way to the next CP where we found out that we would be doing some caving, it was in the Bridal Cave, the name right there scared us, there was no way Lula would be marrying anyone in that cave. So with our helmets and head lamps on, we headed into the cave. It was about a quarter mile back in some really small areas and as we went, my headlamp kept getting dimmer and dimmer, I knew I should have changed those batteries. I was navigating with the light of Chuck in front of me and another team behind me. It’s a good thing I am short or I might have smacked my head on one of those stalactite rocks, like Chuck did, good thing he had a Hardnutz helmet on to save his head.

We made it back out of the cave, grabbed a honey stinger and ate it on the run back to the canoe. We then headed to CP 10, which was back near where we originally put the canoe in, as we rolled up to the floating dock, Chuck could see an orange jeep in the parking lot, he just knew it had to belong to Orange Lederhosen. Emma, who is either, the girlfriend, wife or groupie of one of the Orange Lederhosen guys was there taking photos, so Chuck yells is that your jeep. Chuck can’t help himself when it comes to Jeeps, he is one of those Jeep guys. It didn’t belong to Orange Lederhosen, but to another volunteer who was on the dock, so Chuck yells, “man that’s a nice jeep”. About 30 minutes later we made it to the canoe take-out and had to carry the canoe over a wall and up a hill, I think that was the hardest part of the entire race, but what made it worse was after huffing and puffing and almost killing ourselves to carry it up to the parking lot, one guy sitting in the parking lot, walks over, picks up the canoe, puts it over his head and carries it to the trailer and throws it on top, show off.

We head out to CP12 when we get to it, there is a note that says it’s at the top of the stairs, they were stairs that climbed up the side of a long rock face, there were 316 steps with some long walkways to get to the top. It’s a good thing I was Chuck’s teammate and not Robin, this would have killed her tailbone.

Soon we were at the bike drop, I was ready to go in no time since I had platform pedals and didn’t have to change shoes, Chuck was taking a little longer to get his shoes on, so while I waited, I ate a turkey sandwich, I was so hungry, it was like having king crab legs. We took off down the road, which was a good choice, we cut off the road and crossed a field, where we ran straight into the CP. Next we had to ride through some tough mushy terrain and then bike whack to the CP, we were passing teams that took another direction to get to the first bike point and of course we ran smack into Orange Lederhosen again, we just couldn’t shake them all day. Once we got back out onto the gravel roads Chuck stops right in front of us and jumps off his bike yelling something that we couldn’t make out, then he grabs a hubcap laying on the ground and says, this is the hubcap like the one missing on my van. Orange Lederhosen said they had duct tape and could tape it to his pack, but he declined saying we would drive back and get it after the race. So he throws it in the field and Derrick says “hey put it against the tree where you can see it” and Chuck says “no way, someone else might get it”. I’m pretty sure no one was going to drive by and take that hub cap. Then as we rode further I saw a Red Solo cup, oh and I bet you can guess what happened, that stupid Red Solo cup song was now stuck in my head.

We continued through the bike CP’s riding gravel and hills, it was almost all hills, We ran into a few dogs, they didn’t really chase us, just barked and ran in front of us mostly, except for the three dogs laying on the chewed up truck seat that was sitting in the front yard of what I would have thought was a condemned trailer, but someone was actually living there, it was just east of GOA WAY rd. The dogs barked, but I’m guessing they had chased enough adventure races that by the time we got there, they were too tired to chase us.

We also came across a few horses and one in particular did not like bikes or maybe he just didn’t like me and Chuck, but he was just jumping around making all kinds of noise, I’m glad he was in a fence, all the other animals we passed weren’t. By the time we hit CP29, both Chuck and I were ready to have our butts off those bike seats. We had figured that we would be given another O section and then a bike to the finish, but once again, wrong. The O section led us to the finish on foot. I have never been so glad to hear that I didn’t have to get back on the bike.

We quickly plotted the points and chatted for a minute with Orange Lederhosen, they had missed one CP on the bike, I guess they were riding too fast to see it. We headed out to the next O section and found ourselves trekking across some burned terrain, it was very rocky and black from fire, and it reminded me of the terrain that the tributes were competing in, in the book Catching Fire. If you haven’t read the Hunger Games series you should, so much of it will remind you of adventure racing. I’m glad I had on Swiftwick socks, if I hadn’t my socks would have been full of rock dust, but with these socks when I take them off my feet are as clean as when I put them on.

We picked up the first CP without a problem and headed to the next, it was a reentrant and there were about six teams all looking in the same place, it took about 10 minutes to find it, but we did. This was the only CP we had any problems with at all. It was starting to get dark as we headed to the next CP, so we pulled out our headlamps and I changed my batteries, since they had just about died while we were in the cave.

Another team was near us and we were all watching the time and contemplating if we could pick up both CP 34 and 36, and still make it to the finish line in time. Even with my newly bright headlamp I was having a hard time seeing, that usually happens when I get really tired. I had really been conscious of eating all day, I usually forget to do that enough and then end up bonking, but that wasn’t the case in this race, in fact, I had eaten two turkey sandwiches, HS waffle, HS Rocket Chocolate, Kind bar, two peach cups, and two V8 fruit juices. I probably ate more calories than I burned, but still I was body tired, but at least not bonking. We chose to go after CP 34 and then head in, the CP was out on a spur and we had to climb over a very large downed tree that was completely rotted out in the middle. After getting the CP and heading to the finish, I tried to get over the tree, but ended up just rolling over it on my belly. Chuck looked back, I can’t imagine what he was thinking, but he said, “what are you doing” I said “trying to get over this tree and I’m stuck” instead of pulling me over, he just says, “don’t fall into the rotted middle of that, you don’t know what could be living in there”. Shoot, here I am in the dark, I’m dog tired, stuck on a tree and he has to tell me something may be living right under me. Well, I did roll off that tree pretty fast after he said that. As we made our way down a jeep road headed for the finish a team came up behind us and Chuck asked them if they thought there was still BBQ left at the finish line. They said “We hope so, that’s why we are trying to pass you, we want to get to the food before you do”

The team passed us and finished and we were just a few yards behind them, then we turned in our passport and had our photos taken, we had finished! Oh and the food, Chuck and I both had some BBQ, but it was the bottom of the bucket and Orange Lederhosen got the rest, we barely made it in time for the food and it was totally worth it. Emma was looking for Orange Lederhosen and asked if we saw where they went, we said nope, they just got their food and were gone. Emma says “You give them whiskey and they just disappear”, we are still laughing about that.

We look pretty spiffy in our new Team Cyclery jerseys, I mean I (Lula), look pretty spiffy wearing Robin’s new Team Cyclery jersey. I know, I look incredibly like Robin, we might be related somehow. And we didn’t go get the hubcap, because Chuck is trading in his adventure van for an Adventure Jeep. Which is a whole ‘nother story……

Swiftwick Review

I was just sitting at my desk thinking random thoughts, when I noticed that the guy next to me was wearing Swiftwick socks. Of course my first thought was where did he get those, the only people I know that wear Swiftwick all the time are my adventure racing friends.

So I blurted, are those Swiftwick you have on, and he told me that a friend of his got them at a race and they were the wrong size so he gave them to him. I went into a rant about Swiftwick and how I love the socks. How I have 3 pair and wear them every time they are clean. I have the Performance 4, 5 and 7. I’m not a fan of think socks but the Performance 4 and 5 socks I have are thicker than what I usually wear, and I have really grown to love them even though I told my teammate Chuck, “there is no way, I’m going to like these socks they are way too thick”. I got into the compression sock game a couple years ago, but I had to buy the socks that came to my knee to get compression, but now I love the shorter version of compression socks, when I wear them my feet never swell like they used to after long runs. These socks don’t slip around when I’m running through creeks and I have never once had a blister from wearing them. The Performance 7 socks I really like for the higher compression on my legs, I sometimes even wear them to bed the night after a long workout. Plus they were a special run for Bonk Hard, and are really cool looking with a BH on them.

And socks isn’t the only thing they make, I also have a great pair of arm warmers with all the same qualities of the socks.

When I write a review, I like to use the real world experience I have with the product, and my opinion of course, to talk about gear. My teammate Chuck is just the opposite, he will dig around and find all the technical reasons why he likes his gear.

Because that’s what matters! No one cares about all that touchy-feely stuff.

I have been a fan of Merino wool socks for several years. But the big-name brand I used to wear has problems. They are expensive and they wear out way too fast. The fibers get ‘packed’ and ball up. Also the fibers just plain fall out leaving you looking at daylight through a little bit of nylon mesh right where my heel rides, and on the bottom of my feet. On top of that, it always seem like they are made overseas. Oh sure they have a lifetime guarantee that clearly says *Normal wear and tear is not covered by the guarantee. What’s the point of a lifetime guarantee with exclusions like that!

Enter Swiftwick. I first heard about them at the 2010 National Championship race where all participants were given a pair. I was impressed because 1-they were free, and 2- they were merino wool. Maybe these would be the socks I have been searching for. I didn’t wear them during the race but was determined to check them out as soon as we got home

First thing I noticed was the Made in USA decal. Gotta like that. Check out this quote from their website: We decided to make all our products in the USA. Not some. Not most. All. Yeah!

Second was the materials, I already knew about the benefits of Merino wool. Soft feel, less stink, cool in summer, warm in winter, no blisters. It also has extraordinary wicking, you can run or ride in them all day even when wet. But Swiftwick takes it to a new level with 21 micron Merino wool in a 200 needle count, and a 3 inch minimum staple length.

The thing that was new to me was the compression. I was skeptical but tried them anyway….And was totally sold. I’m sure you’ve all read or heard about the benefits of compression on recovery and race performance. But here’s something I noticed on top of that. The compression of these socks holds so perfectly snug against your feet, that any relative motion between your foot and sock is non-existent. That means NO blisters. The same compression seals out trail debris, sand, dirt, and vegetation bits. And that means NO blisters. The Pursuit 4 socks that I prefer run up a little higher over the ankle where the Swiftwick double welt compression cuff never slips or slides down. I even think it helps prevent rolled ankles.

I’ve worn these socks for a year and ½ now and they are still in like new shape. But after experiencing the failure with the big-name brand socks I thought I’d at least look into the Swiftwick guarantee. Plain and simple:

Purchase a pair of Swiftwick socks and put us to the test. It's the best performance sock you have ever worn, or we invite you to mail the laundered socks and request a replacement pair of equal value.

We want you to be happy!

We will send a pair of black or white socks to you, even if you request a competitor's product (subject to availablility).

Nice to know, but I don’t think I’ll ever need it. These socks are awesome. That is exactly why Swiftwick socks are the preferred brand worn by ROCK Racing.

CPT Nationals the Non-Race

So why do I call it the non-race, because for me that’s what it was. If you have read my previous blog post you would know that I broke my tail bone, just six days prior to Nationals. So for six days I laid on the couch taking pain pills and crying every time I thought about missing nationals. If you know me, you know the entire time I was crying I was trying to find a way to go to nationals, and I finally found a way. No there was still no way I could compete because I could barely walk, but I did find a way to be at the race.

I emailed Jason, the race director, and asked if he would have a volunteer spot open where I would not have to walk much, and he quickly replied that he had a spot for me at race headquarters, which was the start and finish line along with CP 4. Next I had to find a way to get there, I couldn’t ride with Chuck because his family was going and there was no room, so we planned on him stopping at my house and me following him, and if I couldn’t drive, we would pull over and he or his wife Lori would drive my van. It was a good plan and it worked out well.

We made it to Lake Barkley in Kentucky and although I had tears in my eyes a few times because I wanted to compete so badly, I keep thinking at least I’m in the middle of all the excitement. Lori was my stand-in for the race and this would be her first adventure race and it was 30 hours to boot. So I would be the cheerleader and team photographer at this race.


We all signed in Chuck and Lori for the race and me as a volunteer. We checked into the hotel which was fantastic, my room looked out onto the Lake, it was beautiful.


We all headed to the pre-race meal it was the best meal I have ever had at a race.


Next we went to the racer meeting where the racers got their maps and instructions, then were sent off to plot points before the race start.


I stayed for the volunteer meeting where I got my instructions and found out that I would be working with Jollett and Beth at race HQ. We would be recording times as the teams came through CP4, and then when they finished. We were also in charge of making the coffee, hot chocolate and chili for the racers when they finished the race. Lucky for us, Beth’s husband Martin helped out also, so we had plenty of backups if anyone needed to leave during the race.

At 6:00 on race morning I was at HQ helping with setup and strategically placing my lawn chair to see all the action. I was sitting out on the beach with the bikes to the right of me and the canoes to the left of me.






The race would start with a run across the beach to grab the paddling gear and run out to the canoes where they would do a quick paddle and land back on the beach to start a trekking section. The racers took off and made the first paddle loop really quickly then headed out on foot.




After an hour teams started coming back in, so I had to put down my cold diet coke and get to work.


I would yell the time and team number, while Beth would document it.


Jollett was busy using the cow bell to try and lead the racers to the tent, so she could punch their passport.


A few hours later we sent the last racers out on the second paddle, we tried unsuccessfully to call the lodge to turn in times so we had to change the plan and start texting the times in. Since that was one thing I could do without much movement, it became my job. Once we had all the times reported, we had many hours of nothing. Jollett took a drive to the airport to pick up one of the racers girlfriends, and Beth and Martin took their son into Murray to do some skateboarding. I had nothing pressing to do, so I just hung out at HQ and watched the guys move truckloads of bikes to the bike drop. I also spoke with random people who wondered what was going on. I spent a lot of time explaining adventure racing. Most people thought it was crazy, but they wanted to know everything about it. I might have even converted a few non-athletes into adventure racers.

At almost midnight I went back to the hotel for a few hours sleep before the racers started finishing. When I came back to HQ at 6 am Saturday morning, two teams had already finished, Wedali, a four person team and I soloist, who I happened to know, Bill Stevens.


So I went back to sitting and waiting, my tail bone was killing me so I also spent some time laying on the picnic table.


It was really foggy out and we could hardly see the water, but we kept ringing the cow bell hoping the racers in the canoes could hear us.


Soon a few more teams came in and then I saw them, it was Chuck and Lori and they were smiling, I was so happy for them, I thought I might cry. They ran up through the finish line and I knew they had fun, they weren’t yelling divorce threats or anything, they were just two happy racers, finished with a long hard race.


While Chuck and Lori ate baked potatoes and chili, I continued logging in times and reporting them via text messages. Chuck and Lori headed to the hotel for a much deserved shower and nap, while I stayed and waited for the last racers to appear. The fog had finally cleared early in the afternoon and I took a few pictures of the beautiful scenery.


So race day ended and I got some really great schwag for volunteering, actually more than the competitors got. I was given a pair of HI-TEC running shoes, a cool fleece jacket, a pair of Swiftwick socks and a really great Checkpoint Tracker ball cap. I made out like a bandit. Maybe I should think about being a volunteer instead of a racer in the future. Well… maybe not, I could never give up adventure racing, no stupid broken tailbone will stop me.