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Well as many of you know, I just got back from raceing this 3 day adventure race in South Central West Virginia. Grap a snack and drink because I think it may take awhile. The journey began with a 10 1/2 hour drive on Wednsday to Pipestem national Park which was the host hotel and start/finish. We had an early start on Thursday with gear check begining at 7am. We had to have all mandatory gear checked and perform proficiencies in rappeling and have our bikes checked before we are able to get our maps with UTM coordinates. After getting these, we are able to plot our CP's and TA's and devise our route of travel for each dicipline that we will be doing. There were 8 solo competitors, 7 2-person teams and 18 4-person teams (96 racers) to start this race. At the prerace meeting we were given additional info that the course was about 240 miles long with 42,000 feet of elevation gain. We needed to be at the white water rafting company by 4:30 to catch the bus to the start or we would be out of luck. So after the meeting me and my father got all the gear organized along with the food and took off to get some lunch on the way to the touring company. There, they briefed us on procedures and safety and then bused us to the official race start.

The official start was to be at 5, but things never work out and it got pushed back to 6pm. We had 3 starting waves 5 minutes apart with 5 boats per wave. The race director had drawn names from a hat to place teams in boats and I got drawn in the last wave, with what would eventually be the last boat to arrive. To help with stagering the start of the boats in each wave, they had one person from every team run a little course. You had to start at the waters edge, run up the embankment to the parking lot, run 250 yds upstream of the start and then back to the rivers edge, jump in the river and swim back to the boats that were waiting in the water with the remaining teammembers. Suffice to say, being a solo, you were the team and therefore had to do the swim. It's not easy swiming in a lifevest and helmet, with shoes on, in 58-62 degree water with no wetsuit. At least I wasn't the last swimmer, but a team member in my boat was and we didn't leave until a good 1 1/2 minutes behind everyone else. I wasn't liking the way things were starting off and was getting even more frustrated with the way the other people in my boat were paddling. I just kept seeing the other boats in our wave get further and further away. The rower in front of me wasn't even trying and kept turning around and asking the helmsman what we were doing wrong to not be able to catch up with the other boats, it was at that time that I wanted to have my hand slip off the paddle in smack him in the head, but decided that it would be poor sportsmanship and just stewed over it until the end. The rafting was through some great class II-V whitewater and was quite fun considering our place. This would be a great place to take the family with older kids for a vacation.

We finally got to CP1, after everyone else had already left on the canoe leg. We were 5 minutes behind the last boat and 20 minutes behind the majority of racers. Now the race would start for me, I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else. I got on the canoe and started the 3-4 miles canoe leg to the next CP and pretty much stayed with most of the teams I was with on the raft and actually caught a couple of other teams at the take out of CP2. The next section was a 3 mile portage with the canoe. Now if you have ever tried to move a canoe around by yourself it really isn't much fun, but especially in a race it isn't. I had just bought a pair of portage wheels and hadn't yet tried them out, I just took them out of the box that morning, nothing like baptism by fire. I realized right a way that they would be better suited for kayaks and not canoes, but they were all that I had and made them work. They shifted around a little the first couple tries, but I eventually got them rigged so that they would stay on the canoe. Now, I think of myself as a pretty strong guy, but my arms were like spaghetti after hauling that canoe uphill for 3 miles. The wheels would only go about 3 feet from the end of the canoe and I was lifting most of the weight in the front of the boat. I was glad to finally pull into the CP3/TA1 at 9:10 pm.

After a quick change and off on the bike for about 14 miles to the next CP. Nothing to difficult, or I thought anyway. I had plotted the CP on a rail trail by the river and how the map read, I would kinda go by the CP to gain access to the rail trail, then cut back to get it. Well the rail trail from that direction was block off with mountain laurel and was unpassable, so back around I went and found a little access road that I guess other teams had seen and that led right to the CP4. I didn't feel to bad as other teams were heading in the same direction I had taken previously. So now it was a nice fast ride down the rail trail to the next CP. Unfortunatley it was dark out and you couldn't really see anything beyond your headlamp. The next CP caused alot of confusion for most of the teams. We were told that from the CP there was a road to the north that connected to the road. I thought that meant from another road, but the race director meant the rail trail. So when I got to the area that I had marked, there were about, 7 other teams scouring the area, through mountain laurel, briars, and deadfall trying to find this thing. I met teams that had been there for 6 hours looking, but after 2 1/2 I gave up and continued on to CP6. I had met up with Berlin Bike (Ernie Lawas's team) and rode with them to the next CP6 and arrived there at 4:50 am. I quickly transitioned into my running gear with rappel equipement and took off.

This was still a night section of trail finding until dawn, and I managed to get to the power lines and find the trail to the rappel section, where I was told that I was the first solo racer to arrive . It was 7 am at the start of the rappel and the morning view was awe inspiring of the river valley below. I had wished that I had my camera but since I left at night from the TA, I left it behind. It was about 175 foot rappel that went smoothly and then off I went along the cliff bottom to the next CP, a climbing ladder to get to the rim trail above. It should have been about 2 1/2 miles or so, but along the way, I zoned out and found myself going down the ridge on a herd trail. I cursed myself for not paying closer attention and bushwacked up near vertical cliffes to get back to the trail. I ended up running into another team that was coming back from the other way and they had said that there was no ladder up ahead and that they thought we might have passed it. Instead of using my better judgement and staying to my gut instinct, I followed them back and was pissed off when I saw Berlin Bike coming the other way. We turned back around and of course the ladder was up ahead about a mile away with the CP8. Also another soloist had caught up with me at this point. We got to the rim trail and I started trotting away to try and dishearten the soloist, and did a pretty good job until I got to the trailhead, and realized that there was no CP here. I looked at the map and a forest ranger came by and told us that there were tons of trailheads around this section and it could be any one of them. By now there were 5 other teams around us and we decided to go bushwacking back along the rim and look for another trail. We eventually found one, but I think that only 2 other teams were around by that point. I'm not sure what happened to the other teams, but I wasn't waiting. Berlin Bike must have already figured this out, because they were 1 1/2 hrs ahead of me to the CP9.

It was 11:30am by this time and now we had a road run down to the river valley floor. My quads were screaming at me at the begining of this, so I backed off and took it easy, seeing we weren't even a day into the event, I didn't want to blow up quite this early. So down, down, down I went. It was on an old highway road that was hardly used anymore, I only saw 1 car the entire time. When you got to the rivers edge, you crossed an old bridge and then back up the ridge on the other side. We crossed onto a trail and had about 3 1/2 miles to the next CP. I started to do alight trot on the trail and caught a couple of other teams before reaching CP10/TA3.

On top of the rim we transitioned onto the bikes, I found out I was still the 1st soloist and was only 1/2 hr behind Berlin Bike. So I shot out of there and enjoyed the singletrack/jeep roads that lay ahead, about 14 miles worth before the next turn. As I bombing downhill I heard some thunder in the backround and then I turned a corner and was met with a deluge of rain. I could just barley see 30 feet in front of me and then it stopped. I went around another corner and it happened again, this lasted for about 20 minutes of torrential downpours and reprives until it finally stopped altogether. I was approaching the spot of the next turn and noticed a trail that looked kinda like the one I should take but it was overgrown and full of downfalls and old leaves. It actually looked like an old neglected trail, and I thought that it probably wasn't the right one and continued. No more than 20 ft down the trail and I hear the unmistakable hissing of a flat. I quickly change it and continue down the trail. I get a little farther down and realize that I must have passed it somewhere along the way, because the trail contours don't match up. I ride back to the other trail and there are a couple of other teams looking down it contimplating whether or not to give it a try. After I tell them I've been down farther down they decide to go for it. I was thinking about going farther back, but decide on the bushwack down to the rail trial. it's gotta be down there somewhere. After about 20 minutes of sliding on mud and leaves and loose rock, climbing over deadfall and falling over branches, we finally get to the trail. I start to ride and all of the sudden I'm greeted with a BLAM. I look down and my back tire is flat #@!$% I get off the bike and at a closer look, my sidewall had blown out #%$@&. I get out the duct tape and another tube and do the best repair job I can on the sidewall and pray that it hold. I ride easy on the rail trail, which, thankfully is flat and smooth. I want to cruise faster, but I'm aftraid of blowing out the tire again. I start to get to a part of the trail where there are still railroad ties in the ground and it gets pretty bumpy. Just I'm about to stop and walk that section, the hissing starts. The tube came through the tape and got a pinched flat $%#$@. Well about 2 miles to the next CP, so I stuff the blown tubes in the tire and pray it holds. I manage to make it to the CP11 at 5:20 pm. I decide to try to continue the next 20 or so miles on the flat, it's to early to retire from the race. So off I go, backing in the hot sun on a dirt road that I would normally go 15 -20 mph on I was staying 7-8 mph praying that the wheel would hold. I figured it was faster then walking and if it didn't hold, oh well. I knew that I wasn't going to make the cutoff at the next TA and would miss 2 CP's so I just wanted to get there and be able to at least make the rest of the cutoffs. I was passed by way to many people at the beginning of this section and was kicking myself for have a spare tire in the truck and not in my pack because it was to bulky, lesson learned the hard way. I finally make my way to CP12/TA4 at 9:50 pm. I learn that no other soloist has made the cutoff, so there are only technically 3 soloist that are ahead of me because they found CP5 earlier. I put the new tire on and thankfully my rim isn't messed up and it seems to hold, for now anyway.

At this CP we get more coordinates to plot on our maps and I grab a quick bite to eat and off I go on another trek. My legs are sore from the biking on a flat for 3+ hours and I take it easy with a brisk walk to start and then decide that 13-14 miles is long enough and I'll just stick with the brisk walk. I pass a couple of teams on the way to the next CP and one of them eventually catches back up with me. We stick together for CP15, by a waterfall, it sounds pretty, but at 1 am it's kinda hard to really tell. The next section is optional CP and you can get them in any order. I stick with this team I'm with, but realized later it's a big mistake, I just should've went on my own. The first CP that we go for is in a reentrant, kinda like a V in the mountain. The other team's navigator thinks it would be easier to go to the bottom and work our way back up to get the CP, I disagree and think that we should go from the waterfall up and then over to the top and get it. I don't know how he finally convinced me or why I even cared, but I ended up going back down the trail to find a stream that would lead us up to it. First we went way past the stream and had to turn back around, and then we must have gone up the wrong stream and were searching for hours without success. It was starting to get sun up when they decided to take a nap and I said Adios!!and took off. Unfortuneately, they had me so lost I eventually didn't get any of the extra CP's and just made my way back to the mandatory CP22 at 9 am. After 12 hours running around in the woods, I was tired, hungry and thirsty.

This was a bike drop area and our support crew just drops off our bikes, helmets and shoes, no water or food was allowed. I dig in my pack and grab some jerky and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a Rockstar energy drink. I put on my bike shoes and start looking for my helmet ^$*#%. My father forgot my helmet and gloves &^$*^. I talk to the race crew there and they call the race director and it's ok'ed that I use one of there helmets, but will probably incure a penalty. At this point I don't care, I just want to get out of here. So get the helmet and start to ride to the next set of CP's. On paper it doesn't look that bad, some hills and then a nice river ride to the next town 20 miles away. But the sun is shining and it feels like its easily 70's out, your dehydrated and hungry. I start to ride and catch up with 2 other teams. I ride with them to a campstore on the river and buy water and a couple of snacks. Thankfully, one of the mandatory items on our gear list was extra emergency money. I didn't know how much this would come in handy until this section.

After riding to the town of Hinton, we have to find 6 CP's in the mountain roads of the area. These are real mountain roads, all NC climbs, the first is up Mount Zion Rd, how poetic to begin this 4.2 mile climb to heaven. The scenery is beautiful all around, but it really is hard to enjoy it when you're trying to gasp for breath. There were a couple of sections that I decided to walk to stretch the legs out a little and plus it was faster then riding. Thankfully there was a couple of general stores in the mountains that were open and I was able to get some extra food and water, plus a little shade from the sun. On my way to CP26 Iwas on my way to a mountaintop when the rumble of thunder was heard in the distance. I tried to doubletime it to the top so I could get down before the rain started, but no such luck. The only lucky part was that there was an old barn ahead that I pulled into just as the downpour began. I met 2 teams hunkered down in there that were changing into there rain gear. I put my gear on and placed on my lights and continued in the downpour. They followed me down the trail that had now become a river in less than 10 minutes. It was raining so hard that you could just barely see 40 feet in front of you. For the CP in this section it was an orange ribbon tied around a tree, well when your bombing down a trail in torrential rain going around corners, you really don't notice those things and we all went by it. We continued to the road and realized that we must have passed it and then backtracked to the trail head and then walked up the stream that had formed for about 1/2 mile to find it. At this point it was about 6 pm and there was about 4 teams together now, so I kinda stuck with them but vowed that if I thought they were going the wrong way, I would go with my gut feeling. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be on the same page with navigation and we made it to the last CP28 all together. It was about 11 pm by this time and I hadn't seen my support for over 26hrs. I was starting to get really hungry and dehydrated along with a little whoozy from no sleep up to this point. I was also thanking God that my back tire had held out over this section, which would be 94 miles according to my speedometer and most of the 42,000 feet of elevation gain that they talked about at the race briefing. On the way to CP29 most of the teams got split up but I saw others ahead and others behind. So I just stayed the course. When I got to the access road to the river trail, I started to go down and my brakes gave out ^%^$* I tried to get my foot on the tire to use as a brake but I was still picking up speed and knew that there was a sharp turn ahead, I decided to bail out and as I did my right foot got caught in the cleat and twisted. It kept the bike right with me and we both bounced off the ground and got tangled together. After stopping I layed there for a second and just felt for any extreme pain. I had felt my ankle pop as we hit the ground and was afraid that I might have broken it, but everything seemed ok. I gingerly untangled myself from the bike and placed light pressure on my ankle, not bad. No bleeding noted, or that I could see anyway, good to go. I got back on my bike and used my left foot for the brakes for the next 5 miles or so to the next CP29/TA5 at 2:30am. I was getting really foggy by this time and dehydrated, so I drank up and realized that you couldn't see a thing out there and the next section was canoeing again, so I broke my vow of no sleep and slept, only from 3:30 - 6:30.

I ate a good breakfast and drank more and had my father wrap my ankle up. I got on the canoe and made for the other shore. On this section there was 6 additional CP's that you could get if wanted for extra points, but the important thing was to get to the take out before noon, or you wouldn't be official, not that I was official anymore anyway, but it's principle to make cutoff times. So, I hobbled to the other shore and about a mile in got the CP and made my way back to the canoe. There was a solo guy with my and he went the wrong way and I saw him on my way out heading in the right direction. I wasn't sure if he was going to make the cutoff or not, so I hauled in the canoe as fast as I could, and made pretty good time for the approx 11 1/2 miles of paddling in 2 1/2 hours. I made the next CP37/TA6 with 1/2 hour to spare. I quickly gathered my gear and realized that the ankle had blown up more and was more tender ^#@^#. I started on the 10-11mile hike to the next CP, knowing that I had to be at the finishing line before 5pm to be counted as a finisher. I was hobbling pretty bad and picked up a stick to walk with. Eventually, a couple of soloist that I had seen on and off throughout the race caught up with me before the first mile and the guy just took my pack for me. He said that the person he was racing with now had saved him at the begining of the race and he was just returning the favor. So I didn't argue at this point and just kept my head down and plowed away. Another team passed us and one of the guys gave me some Motrin, which really helped and then yet another team passed one of them had a hurting knee, but he thought that I looked way worse then him, so he gave me his hiking poles, which were probably the best thing. I was able to really motor to the next CP at a brisk walk. We reached CP38, a river crossing at 3:15pm, almost there, about another 3-4 miles. We kept an even pace for the remainder of the hike and crossed the finish line at Pipestem resort at 4:35pm. About 15 minutes after finishing, it started to downpour again, just glad to be inside out of it for a change. Got a bite to eat and lots of fluids and first aid for my back which looks like someone flogged my and time to tend to other chafing issues that will not get mentioned here. My ankle is the most concerning though, it blew up to the size of a softball that night and I have since seen an MD and have a severe sprain with some strained ligaments. So looks like a lot of rest for me now,

Some numbers, 9 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 5 rockstar drinks, 8 powerbars, 2 McDonalds cheeseburgers, 1 large fry, 6 cokes, 2 26 serving jugs of hammer gel, 2/3 big jar of cytomax, 2 jars pickles (dill), 3 snickers, big bowl of ghoulash, 3 cup of soups, 1 large jar of Pringles.

After the race 3 ham and cheese sandwiches, 2 bowls of soup, 2 sam adams and a new york strip with potato.

I'm not sure if I missed anything, or how my spelling is. I still can't feel my fingers after my father forgot my gloves on that long bike leg.