Yuki-BAR 24 Hour Adventure Race

Yuki - BAR, Bushwhack Adventures
Hang Rock State Park and Pilot Mountain Area, NC
April 29, 2011

Bob, Dave, and Marcey’s Race Report
Team #19 - Waterlogged Dogwoods

Marcey's comments are bolded

The 2011 AR Season is in full swing, but the Yuki-BAR is my first race.....Course designing and Race Directing the Gleneagles Challenge took up most of the first few months of the new year, along with training up and running the American Tobacco Trail Marathon. I ran a ton of miles in Jan - Mar, but probably should have put some more miles training on the mountain bike - more to follow on that subject. Dave was a new member to the Waterlogged Dogwoods, so we decided to get a canoe and bike ride in prior to the race. We had talked about trying to get to the check-in early so we wouldn't be rushed, which always seems to happen. After stopping at the Durham REI to pick up the canoe, I started the drive toward Camp Hanes near Hanging Rock State Park and Pilot Mountain area of NC. Dave was there so we started getting our stuff ready and I thought Marcey was going to be pulling in soon after. Turns out they took a wrong turn and showed up later than they planned - the crunch time we were trying to avoid ended up happening any way. Marcey - Google Maps and local folks are not always to be relied on. The funny part was that during the Race Brief, I noticed I still wasn't in race garb so I snuck into the cabin to change and also listen outside to the last part of the brief. Totally buff, a female Camp Hanes worker walked in on me. I had just enough time to put a pillow over the family jewels, smile at her, say hi, and look completely ridiculous.

After the 1900 race start, we started up the Sauratown MTN to get CPs 2 and 3. This was a bit over a 1100' climb so the blood was flowing. We then turned south and started heading toward CP 4. We searched for about 45 minutes and decided to move on - I guess there was something wrong with the placement or UTMs and many teams had trouble with it. Marcey - During the first part of the trek, David and Bob had a serious conversation about the Royal Wedding, which had happened earlier that day. I thought they were joking until they both started talking excitedly about a 'second kiss'. I was ready for them to start talking Guiding Light or All My Children. After poking some fun at them for this, David told me 2/3 of the planet watched this wedding so I was the oddball. I don't watch television and had not heard much about the wedding. I only knew that half of my company was off that day. Regardless, I felt like I was at a slumber party. Concerned with time we also ditched CP5 and went to the high ropes course at CP1. Donning harnesses we scampered up the cargo net to the platform. There were some smaller platforms scattered on several cables we had to cross - not sure if Marcey was too fond. Marcey - Not too fond at first. Very high up, in the dark and not able to see below. The platforms moved and my short legs couldn't reach all the way so Bob had to go first, I had to semi-jump to Bob and then David came over. At one point, with all three of us sandwiched on the platform and my face at armpit level, I thought of my friend who doesn't adventure race. She has said she could never race overnight with other men nor would she want her husband to. I laughed to myself thinking there was nothing sexy about three smelly, sweaty people back to front to back on a moving platform high above the ground at midnight. The last part of the course was a zip line over the lake, forgot to mention, it was now really dark with no moon illum. We continued on to get CPs 6,7, and 8. Marcey - I got a 'gomarceygo!' from Sosa and Thompson who were driving by which put a smile on my face and gave me a burst of energy.

A quick transition and we were off on our bikes toward the Moores Springs MTB Single Tracks. Marcey - I must mention that during the transition while we were getting on our bikes, I looked up and thought the moon was full. Alas, it was David's bare butt that my headlamp was illuminating. We stopped to pick CP 9 and 10 on the way which we had to take digital pictures of a feature and also capturing a team-mate holding our team number. This was a good idea for an RD to limit the number of CPs that have to be put out or retrieved. Marcey - not to Race Directors - excellent idea!!! At TA1, we got the MTB single track trail map. These are great trails and a gem in the area. We attacked the points by riding the trails to CP 13, 12, bushwhacking to CP14, and then pushing through the dense rhododendron to the road. We re-entered the trails to get CP15 and then continued up the reentrant to get CP17. On the way back to the bikes, I realized I was moving much faster than Dave and Marcey because I had trek shoes on and they had slippery bike shoes.....at one point I remember looking back up the creek and seeing Marcey and Dave fall into the creek. They were there and then just disappeared. Marcey - Bob didn't forget, he just likes to torture me. Especially since I was so excited to ride these fun trails. I also pulled Dave into the creek although he is nice enough to say someone from Trailblazers Charlotte did it. We rode to CP 16 and then headed back to the road to enter the trail network at the start. Riding to the blue trails, we ditched the bikes and started up the hill to get CP19. The first attempt was no good so we continued on to retrieve CP18. We then looked for CP 19 again on the way back down to the bikes. It was only by chance that we found it and headed to TA1 - Marcey lost a shoe. Marcey - my trek shoes were bungeed to my bike rack and I noticed as we were heading out that one of them was gone! Dave and I turned back around and searched for about five minutes but Bob had no sympathy and said we had to get moving. All I could think of was 18 miles trekking in bike shoes. Who knows where it landed with all that bikewhacking? Jeff Eichman was at the TA and said I might as well throw that one away since it was just weight. I couldn't and didn't do it. Don't know why. We started plotting more points while I grabbed my signature Chef Boyardee Beefaroni and wolfed it down along with some Pringles. Then started the long bike journey to TA2 - already pretty far behind schedule.

We then rode to Moores Springs Camp to get CP20 at the top of the hill and then to Camp Sertoma for CP23 near the Waterwheel at the dam. Marcey - Jeff from TrailMonkeys ROCKS!!!! Not only did he pick up my shoe that he found but he carried it with him with the off-chance that he might find the owner. I gave him a hug and told him where the CP was (ok, I also told them about another one with a picture). CP22 was at a stone house and CP23 was at a waterfall (both digital pictures). After CP23, we got back on another single track section to get CP 24 and 25. This was a great trail along a cool little creek. We rode about 1/3 of the trail and pushed the bikes about 2/3. CP24 was on a hilltop and CP25 was up a steep reentrant. Exiting the single track, was another steep climb to take a picture of CP26 at the curve. It was close to morning now and this was the time were my legs were giving out on the bike up the hills - should have spent more time riding then running. Marcey had a suprise at first light with disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste - Ahhhh, freshness!!!

This was also the time in the race were we gave up on trying to make it to CP36 prior to sunrise to get 200 points. Our race strategy was now slow and steady, continuing on the planned course until we got to a point that we need to make it back to the start / finish before time expired. Heading south, we passed through Pinnacle on the way to TA2. If it wasn't for Marcey's eagle eyes, we would have passed CP27 at the church - which was at a map crease that I hadn't unfolded yet and would likely have just passed the CP. My absolute favorite part of the race was the decision to stop for a hot breakfast at EJ's Restaurant - Dave and I didn't even have to twist Marcey's arm all that much. Eggs, sausage, toast, coffee....Yum-OOO. Marcey - Dave and Bob ate like they were at the race finish. I had one egg, toast and a hot cocoa. At this point, my agreeing was a compromise because I could later hold this against Bob to not fjord the river that was up to my chin while trying to hold my bike above my head. It was cold in the morning and I didn't want to get cold and wet just for the sake of getting cold and wet. A bit further south, there was a cool little shed with a whole bunch of signs and knick-knacks that I took a picture of during one of the "pee" "im sick of biking" breaks. Marcey - we are a very hydrated team :o)

One final push and we made it to TA2 for a bit of an extended rest before pressing. This section had CPs on the north and south side of the Yadkin River with a fording location to carry bikes across. We needed to stretch the legs a bit so ran somewhat to pick up CP29 in the log cabin and CP31 along the trail to the ford site. The other CPs in this section would be targeted if we had time on the way back through during the paddle. It was then one more long bike trip to TA3 and the paddle put-in. This was absolutely the worst part.....my legs were toast and I was walking up most of the large hills - feeling pretty pathetic and sorry for myself. Marcey - during one of our group pee breaks, I went across the road and wondered what all those file cabinets were doing in the field. After counting about 50 while I was squatting, I realized they were not file cabinets but BEE HIVES!! Needless to say, it was a fast pee break. At the Rockville General Store we had some awesome biscuits and filled up our packs with cold water. Marcey - this was the first biscuit I have had since the Impossible Panther race a year ago. Must be something about Bushwhack races....We dropped the bikes off and prepped for the 20 mile paddle. A short portage across a field brought us to the Yadkin River where we were happy to see the river moving swiftly along.

The miles on the water went quick and we found CP38 with no problems. I was keeping our progress slightly under wraps, so the crew was happy to hear that the CP39 (12 HR put in) was 2/3 of the way down the river. We learned that Marcey's husband Kevin, who was volunteering, had spent his entire morning manning this CP and never did get to the awesome Moores Spring MTB trails. Marcey - I am so sorry Kevin. You have not volunteered at one race that you have gotten what I have promised. I owe you HUGE! We were all excited about getting out of the boat for a second to stretch out a bit. Back in the boat we were now just focused on getting to the take out and making it to the finish - time was starting to be a bit of a factor. We did stop to punch CP32 but passed on by CPs 33, 34, 35, and 30 which would have taken longer to get. The water level made it possible to not have to get out of the boat and slide it across rocks, but we did get stuck on one boulder, which almost had us floating down the river with all our race junk scattered. A couple scooches freed us and we paddled on. Marcey - The quote of the race came at this point from David, which is X-rated and I cannot repeat. I had the giggles off and on the entire rest of the race and the next day just thinking about it. I think Dave was getting sick of paddling, because he flipped and turned into the General Patton of the Sea - shouting out command after command and navigating us through the class I-II rapids with some unique flair. I must say, it was inspiring and kept us moving with a smile on our faces. The last island signaled that the take out bridge was close - YEA!!!!! The paddle was done a TA4.

Another portage brought us to our bikes and not so quickly cleaned up a bit and prepped for the last leg. Marcey - I saw Two Pieces of Scheidt and practically fought Mule Scheidt to put on more sunblock. I would have taken him down but I think he ended up putting it on or at least pretended to since he is probably afraid of me. There was no chance to go to TA5 and attempt any CPs at Pilot Mountain, so it was a straight shot to Camp Hanes. My legs were not looking forward to biking more hills, my arse was not excited about the bike seat, and I was generally feeling a bit overheated and brain fried at this point - don't get to that point too often. I was motivated to push on by my great team-mates and the thought of finishing. The strategy of towing me was discussed but with the time we had left, I would rather get home on my own will power. I was feeling bad about slowing Marcey and Dave down, who were both exceptional endurance mountain bikers. The last few miles along YMCA Camp Road were excruciating and we brought it home with a little less than 30 minutes remaining - about 86 miles of biking, 20 miles of paddling, and 8-10 miles of trekking. Finishing 3rd in the category and 5th overall - not too bad considering. Marcey - If we had the time to get to Pilot Mountain, I probably would have pushed Bob to take the tow but it wouldn't have mattered so I let him go at his pace. He stopped eating and finally had a GU after awhile. Looking back, I should have been more diligent about his nutrition as he had clearly bonked. I consider this my fault. Surprisingly, I was never really upset about the situation as I had been in a similar one on vacation and being upset wouldn't have gotten us any more CPs.

The post race spaghetti dinner really hit the spot, but I don't remember much else.....I was out and slept hard until the next morning. Marcey - The dinner, showers and campground were perfect for this event!! Bushwhack Adventures always do such a great job with race course / support, and this race was no different. Great job to Dave, Don, Pat, Jeff, and all the volunteers who selflessly volunteer their time and efforts to ensure the race goes off without a hitch - well, this is adventure racing, so minimal hitches. Thanks to Erin for putting up with this passion to do ARs.

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