Blue Ridge Mountain Adventure Race
The Blue Ridge AR is one of the banner events of the southeast. Now in it's 9th year, it began more or less as an offroad multisport sprint race. While still considered a sprint, the race director has incorporated new territory and navigation to challenge us racers that continually want bigger & better. After sitting out last year to run support for some friends, I was anxious to get out there and race. Luckily I think my foot would cooperate!
I was racing with my good friends Sam & Ken for the first time as Blazing Saddles. Sam's wife Mary Ester and dog Bella would act as our indispensible support crew. We met up in Blue Ridge for the pre-race dinner & meeting, then retired to our posh cabin to go over the maps, organize our packs, and take a pre-race hot tub dip (to loosen the muscles up of course).
Saturday morning we drove to the start near Skeenah Mill Campground. Luckily the horrible storms we had last night (high winds, hail, rain) cleared and we had just a fine mist and some fog to deal with. For the first checkpoint, racers could choose between 3 points to grab, each with it's own set of pluses/minuses. We went for B, which included the most bushwacking, but was more direct in leading us to CP2. We continued on foot for several more points, getting them all pretty easily.
After about 3 hours, we rolled into TA1 to pick up our canoes. With the previous night's storm, the river was running high and fast - although this was the same section paddled during the NGAR 2 weeks ago, Sam & Ken both said it looked VERY different. The rules stated that we had to put in within sight of the swinging bridge. Most teams chose to put in before the bridge; however, there were some mean looking rapids there flipping boats left and right. We instead walked downstream a bit, avoiding the rough waters. A wise choice as we stayed rightside up! We did pull over to bail the boat several times, as the rapids we encountered splashed us a good bit, but I am proud to say we did not go swimming once! (I heard of most teams flipping 2-3 times).
7 miles later we got to our next TA at Newport Bridge. Mary Ester, Lorna, Tony (our spin instructor finally experienced his first AR!) helped us out of wet clothing and got us on our bikes pretty quickly. We had a nice cruise on pavement until we reached a CP at Wilscot where we had to drop our bikes. We chose to not carry running shoes for this foot section (although I might have chosen differently - sure, it adds weight carrying extra shoes, but it may have sped up our time a little). We ran up the Benton Mackaye up to Free Knob, then down to Shallowford Bridge, where we encountered our first mystery events.
First we had to climb The Wall: a 12' wall with a knotted rope. Sam went up first, then Ken hoisted me up and Sam grabbed me, not so gently yanking me over the top. Ken was on his own to scurry up until we could reach him . Unfortunately after a few attempts his energy was zapped, so we took the 15min penalty and moved on. Next we had to ford the Toccoa and grab a card hung from the bridge on the other side. It wasn't very deep here (mid-thigh for me), but again post-storm current made things challenging. Ken & Sam initially tried to hoist me up to get the card, but it freaked me out and Sam had to do it. Then I got to crawl up the bank and K&S had to ford back across the river to a net ladder thing that was hung from the bridge. Sam monkey'd on up, then we were on our way back to our bikes.
This next section was singletrack and probably the worst conditions we had seen yet. It got pretty muddy and being on a descent, I was a bit slower than the norm. I let a few people pass me, then one guy flew by, did a jump on a waterbar, and promptly wiped out upon landing. It was actually a nice mid-air somersault. I stopped to see if he was ok - negatory, as he held his shoulder and grimaced. Luckily one of his teammates in front turned around quick, but the other was long gone. I had to deliver the bad news to him at the bottom. (however, I think this team finished, so perhaps the injury wasn't as bad as initially thought).
Soon we came to our next mystery event: a swim across part of Lake Blue Ridge. Yes, and take our bikes. There was a rope line set up to follow and we were given innertubes to lay our bikes on so they would not be submerged. But that means we were. And damn, was that water cold. Downright freezing. It had to be in the 50s or so and here we were in bike shorts and jerseys. I still had my arm warmers on which provided some protection, but after a .2mile swim (about 10-15 min when dragging our bikes carefully), there's really no way to stay warm. Every part of you just felt constricted. At the other side, we got back on our bikes and had a nice climb up to the Turkey Farm to warm us up. There was an aid station with food/drink here, but the thought of it just made me sick. Then I had problems catching my breath, in a way unlike any I've experienced before. Ken could tell something was wrong, but I couldn't really talk as I was just concentrating on getting a breath. This was freaking me out a bit which of course didn't help matters. (was this what a full-on asthma attack was like? i get the wheezing a decent amount, but this was unreal. and of course I didn't have my inhaler with me.) I couldn't drink either, as my stomach would just tense up and I had some "unpleasant" burps coming forth. For the next 45 min I wasn't quite myself. The only thing kept me going was knowing we were doing pretty ok so far (15th at the CP after the Turkey Farm) and the cute boy in the UGA jersey that we were yoyo-ing with.
Next up on the bikes was the Green Mountain Trail. After a nasty hike a bike uphill, it was a nice singletrack section until we tried to bow out early and came to a new neighborhood (with INCREDIBLE cabins) with unexpected roads. After realizing our mistake, we finally made it to the last bike CP when the rain came. Luckily we just had a road ride to downtown, then we dropped our bikes and ran to the square where we encountered a twist to the classic finish: There was a bit of a balancing obstacle course we had to get thru before the slippery mountain. First there was a 2x4 above us that we had to use our hands to get across (without touching the ground). My upper body strength for this modified monkey bar was nada, but luckily someone suggested I throw my feet over and shuffle across. Success (luckily with no splinters!) Next we had to walk across a 2x4 (skinny side up) then hoist ourselves over the top of the slipper mountain (a 12' wall set at a 45degree angle, coated with soap). We slid down safely then ran across the finish line in 7:46:11 - We had predicted our time the night before at 7:50 (and wrote it on our map too) - great estimating of the course Sam! With our penalty, our official time was 8:10:11, good enough for 14th overall and 11th in the co-ed elite division. A great finish for my first race back!
The rest of the evening was spent eating mexican, kicking back in the hot tub a few times and watching the Wedding Crashers. A fabulous weekend all around!
I was racing with my good friends Sam & Ken for the first time as Blazing Saddles. Sam's wife Mary Ester and dog Bella would act as our indispensible support crew. We met up in Blue Ridge for the pre-race dinner & meeting, then retired to our posh cabin to go over the maps, organize our packs, and take a pre-race hot tub dip (to loosen the muscles up of course).
Saturday morning we drove to the start near Skeenah Mill Campground. Luckily the horrible storms we had last night (high winds, hail, rain) cleared and we had just a fine mist and some fog to deal with. For the first checkpoint, racers could choose between 3 points to grab, each with it's own set of pluses/minuses. We went for B, which included the most bushwacking, but was more direct in leading us to CP2. We continued on foot for several more points, getting them all pretty easily.
After about 3 hours, we rolled into TA1 to pick up our canoes. With the previous night's storm, the river was running high and fast - although this was the same section paddled during the NGAR 2 weeks ago, Sam & Ken both said it looked VERY different. The rules stated that we had to put in within sight of the swinging bridge. Most teams chose to put in before the bridge; however, there were some mean looking rapids there flipping boats left and right. We instead walked downstream a bit, avoiding the rough waters. A wise choice as we stayed rightside up! We did pull over to bail the boat several times, as the rapids we encountered splashed us a good bit, but I am proud to say we did not go swimming once! (I heard of most teams flipping 2-3 times).
7 miles later we got to our next TA at Newport Bridge. Mary Ester, Lorna, Tony (our spin instructor finally experienced his first AR!) helped us out of wet clothing and got us on our bikes pretty quickly. We had a nice cruise on pavement until we reached a CP at Wilscot where we had to drop our bikes. We chose to not carry running shoes for this foot section (although I might have chosen differently - sure, it adds weight carrying extra shoes, but it may have sped up our time a little). We ran up the Benton Mackaye up to Free Knob, then down to Shallowford Bridge, where we encountered our first mystery events.
First we had to climb The Wall: a 12' wall with a knotted rope. Sam went up first, then Ken hoisted me up and Sam grabbed me, not so gently yanking me over the top. Ken was on his own to scurry up until we could reach him . Unfortunately after a few attempts his energy was zapped, so we took the 15min penalty and moved on. Next we had to ford the Toccoa and grab a card hung from the bridge on the other side. It wasn't very deep here (mid-thigh for me), but again post-storm current made things challenging. Ken & Sam initially tried to hoist me up to get the card, but it freaked me out and Sam had to do it. Then I got to crawl up the bank and K&S had to ford back across the river to a net ladder thing that was hung from the bridge. Sam monkey'd on up, then we were on our way back to our bikes.
This next section was singletrack and probably the worst conditions we had seen yet. It got pretty muddy and being on a descent, I was a bit slower than the norm. I let a few people pass me, then one guy flew by, did a jump on a waterbar, and promptly wiped out upon landing. It was actually a nice mid-air somersault. I stopped to see if he was ok - negatory, as he held his shoulder and grimaced. Luckily one of his teammates in front turned around quick, but the other was long gone. I had to deliver the bad news to him at the bottom. (however, I think this team finished, so perhaps the injury wasn't as bad as initially thought).
Soon we came to our next mystery event: a swim across part of Lake Blue Ridge. Yes, and take our bikes. There was a rope line set up to follow and we were given innertubes to lay our bikes on so they would not be submerged. But that means we were. And damn, was that water cold. Downright freezing. It had to be in the 50s or so and here we were in bike shorts and jerseys. I still had my arm warmers on which provided some protection, but after a .2mile swim (about 10-15 min when dragging our bikes carefully), there's really no way to stay warm. Every part of you just felt constricted. At the other side, we got back on our bikes and had a nice climb up to the Turkey Farm to warm us up. There was an aid station with food/drink here, but the thought of it just made me sick. Then I had problems catching my breath, in a way unlike any I've experienced before. Ken could tell something was wrong, but I couldn't really talk as I was just concentrating on getting a breath. This was freaking me out a bit which of course didn't help matters. (was this what a full-on asthma attack was like? i get the wheezing a decent amount, but this was unreal. and of course I didn't have my inhaler with me.) I couldn't drink either, as my stomach would just tense up and I had some "unpleasant" burps coming forth. For the next 45 min I wasn't quite myself. The only thing kept me going was knowing we were doing pretty ok so far (15th at the CP after the Turkey Farm) and the cute boy in the UGA jersey that we were yoyo-ing with.
Next up on the bikes was the Green Mountain Trail. After a nasty hike a bike uphill, it was a nice singletrack section until we tried to bow out early and came to a new neighborhood (with INCREDIBLE cabins) with unexpected roads. After realizing our mistake, we finally made it to the last bike CP when the rain came. Luckily we just had a road ride to downtown, then we dropped our bikes and ran to the square where we encountered a twist to the classic finish: There was a bit of a balancing obstacle course we had to get thru before the slippery mountain. First there was a 2x4 above us that we had to use our hands to get across (without touching the ground). My upper body strength for this modified monkey bar was nada, but luckily someone suggested I throw my feet over and shuffle across. Success (luckily with no splinters!) Next we had to walk across a 2x4 (skinny side up) then hoist ourselves over the top of the slipper mountain (a 12' wall set at a 45degree angle, coated with soap). We slid down safely then ran across the finish line in 7:46:11 - We had predicted our time the night before at 7:50 (and wrote it on our map too) - great estimating of the course Sam! With our penalty, our official time was 8:10:11, good enough for 14th overall and 11th in the co-ed elite division. A great finish for my first race back!The rest of the evening was spent eating mexican, kicking back in the hot tub a few times and watching the Wedding Crashers. A fabulous weekend all around!
posted by cathi at 9:38 PM
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