Training Log Archive: britty327

Why not sweep a road ride on an MTB the day after Nats?

We chose to do the O course first because it had more CPs in a smaller area. We also figured that having an O map with vegetation boundaries would prove beneficial in the dark. Traveling CCW, we felt the CPs to the south (which gave teams issues) would have better attackpoints, and we found them cleanly at the end. This entire loop Dave steadily nailed CPs, and we ran wherever possible. The only hiccup was skipping 7 after we got 8 and going straight to 6. The map was folded in such a way that Dave didn't see it. We had to backtrack a bit but then bushwhacked S to CP5 from 7 and walked right into the flag. It didn't hurt us much in the end. Saw lots of teams going CW as we finished up the last few CPs and headed back to TA.

The O course took us about 4.5hrs, and we learned that AMK was still out on the loop, despite having left an hour before us. All other lead teams chose to do the longer trek first. Again, we chose to travel CCW, mostly because the attack to 41 and then on to 40 was easier in this direction. Dave used both the USGS and supplemental liberally, flipping back and forth as needed. Then came CP38, the rocky point. Plotted on the north side of the river, we spent just under an hour here checking all the rocky points and almost gave up. We were with Mark and Rootstock, then CP0 showed up. I had lost patience, but Peter wanted to backtrack from the trail turn to the east, and Dave agreed. As we came back, someone saw the flag on the south side of the river. We had already looked in this spot a couple times on both sides but had missed it. Whew. Traveled with CP0 to 39 then went our separate ways at sunrise as we continued north on the rest of the loop. My non-running legs were starting to protest mightily, and we were taking a pounding on the rocky trail. Other teams had warned us of CPs they missed in the night, but Dave made them look easy and even took us on a route that involved ZERO rhodo to 35. However, we didn't take the same line back to the trail and still ended up swimming through it for a bit. Said hello to Kuat, Wedali, and later both UNE teams traveling together. The Hickory Run boulder field which is actually a park was surreal. Giant rock field about a half mile long that we got to cross. Back in TA, Steph told us Rootstock left 30 or so min before us. We're in 2nd?!

Happy spin to the finish, collecting 3 CPs along the way. We kept some pressure on the pedals but knew our placing was pretty much set. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the team dynamic with these 2 guys. Our strengths complement each other well, and it really seemed to click. Side note...Dave and Chris had never raced together. Dave is open to input from us on routes and strategy, and I was able to map memorize quite a bit with him giving me a look at each CP. We earned the KOM award to boot, which we thought was pretty cool. Maybe I won't retire from AR just yet :) GOALS once again put on a challenging, strategic course with no shortage of navigation. I'm so happy for our friends at Rootstock to be crowned champions...they've had quite the season! AMK and Wedali rocked this course too and were the only other teams to clear it.

C • Retire? 8

Event: USARA Nationals
 

USARA Champs with Dave Lamb (DML) and Chris Meewes as Team www.UntamedNE.com, one of 3 UNE teams representing this weekend. Prior to the start, we traded out our boat after finding a foot long terrible patch job on the stern of our boat. Le Mans sprint down to the boats after an acapella singing of the anthem by the racers. We started off in the middle of the pack but quickly plowed through the field on the way to CP6 and moved into first a couple CPs later. The way the 3 of us paddled as a team, I sure wish we could have had a few more hours in the boat together. We missed some strategery at the short O course at CP3/4 and did not move our boat during it, instead dividing the O course in half and splitting up. We lost 10-15 min here and pulled into the TA around 15th.

Transition from paddle, run to bikes. Spent a couple min searching for the passport, but it was in Chris' pack all along.

Cheers to this ride! After having a big bike year, this guy was amped to see this bike leg in the route. We settled into a steady pace on the road ride to Jim Thorpe, a super cool town that I would love to visit outside of a race. The river crossing right before it wasn't my favorite, bashing shins on rocks and trying not to get swept away by the current. The KOM section started at the bike shop along Mauch Chunk. We climbed to 100 Mile View (gorgeous!) then along the ridge line to our first of 3 straight line technical descents off of ridges. These were nuts and I loved bombing down every one of them! I used my dropper more in this race than at SM100. Delightful surprise. Next we climbed Mt Pisgah to an even steeper descent and ran into the 2 CP0 teams at the bottom. We rode the next 7 hours more or less with them all the way to TA2. We maneuvered our way through the technical, sometimes faint trails to Nesquehoning, where we popped out on roads at a manned CP to learn we were in 7th or 8th now. Dave wanted to stop and refill his bladder, but I felt like we were doing well in this KOM section, so I suggested just a quick bottle fill would get us to CP21 and the end of the KOM. We spent some time looking for the trail to 20, which was obscure at the entrance and many teams couldn't find. Peter spotted it, and the trail was great, although steep and sometimes unrideable. Still much faster than the long way around, which Brent's Rootstock team took a little before we found the trail. Snacks and drinks at CP21, then back to try to find the trail to the north from CP20. It was no good, so we continued east on the 2 track, which was mostly baseball sized stones for miles. Bumpy! To the Lehigh Gorge Trail, then mandatory hike a bike straight up the spur to the cabin at CP24. That was only the warmup hike because we then had to bikewhack UP a boulder field that seemed never-ending. Once on the trail, it was an out and back grabbing a couple CPs. We saw AMK, Journey and Rootstock, so we knew were were 45-60min back. 10min error passing the Lock CP, then we rolled into TA around 5th place.

C • congrats! 3

Beginning of the O course until the tracker died.

Finally exploring some super sweet trails around Davis. Took Trials Rd trail to HooDoo/MoonRocks. All techy goodness. Dusty lost a bolt from her cleat somewhere near the middle of nowhere, and luckily one of the bolts from my bottle cage was short enough to allow her to clip in. I think I got that pro tip from Emily. If so, thanks for that! The leaves were all changing up here above 3000'...gorgeous day. I was using the MTB Projects app to nav this, and the map is outdated, taking you into private property and trails that no longer exist. If I had just followed he text, we would have had much less adventure :)

C • bolt 2

Cave Run Lake via the Sheltowee Trail in KY.

Dusty found a great 20mi loop on the way to Davis that used the Allegeny Highland trail, country roads, and this sweet 8mi section of singletrack, the South Haddix Trail. Took us forever to find the trailhead, mostly because if was bulldozed by logging operations. We think we eventually found it on the far side of the clear cut, but if it was, it's no longer being maintained. We decided to cut our losses and get some more riding in where we were camping.

Chasing the sunset at Blackwater Falls.