Training Log Archive: wokitoki

One big ascent, then find CPs around high mesa in -5C, doing more running than i cared to, but necessary to keep pace with the other 2 teams, which made sense. CP7 was missing or in the wrong spot, so after collaborating with other teams, we collectively made the call to RD who said we could proceed.

vince and i scooted down the descent slightly ahead of the others, and transitioned quickly, with a plan to plot next CPs in town (in warmth).

headed out of hurricane towards zion. an out and back up some 2000ft of elevation to a CP. there was an option to ride the triple black diamond down - a razor sharp ridge with 100ft drops on either side, and several launch pads for aerials. i declined and didn't tell vince about the option.

next up to another mesa on the border with Zion. total f'ing splopfest, pushed our bikes through muck for 5k. then we rode the singletrack slickrock because we were told the CP was on that trail by the RD. it wasn't. it was on the service road, which Jouney and NYARA seemed to know.

we elected to traverse the Virgin River with our bikes to save 10ish km's of riding. didn't save us any time, but cleaned some of the muck off our bikes. little did we know that we would soon be pushing our bikes up the sloppiest mountain slope ever. they've received a relatively large amount of snow and it turned the usually dry ground to slop when it wasn't frozen. at the top, we opted to drop the bikes and trek what was supposed to be the best riding of the race.

sharing the map and neither of us taking responsibility for distance checks led to some dumb nav mistakes, and 15mins extra on the last CP (just missed the bearing for it, want to blame it on not accounting for the declination).

when we got back to our bikes we were horrified to see that the mud had frozen and completely seized everything on our bikes. tires didn't turn, no brakes. it looked like we were going to have to carry 50lb bikes off the mountain. after 20mins of chipping away, the RD showed up with water which at least allowed us to get the wheels and drivetrain moving.

Event: Happy Mutant AR Series - St George
 

race started at 7pm, rolled out of the hotel parking lot. 10 minutes in the teams broke off. apparently there was a shorter route if you went off the map. we did a sand duney 4x4 track up into the mesa with NYARA. we stopped 100ft before an unmarked trail that led up the ridge into the first CP and hiked what we could have rode, but it was fine to spend some time out of the saddle. then ATV around the mesa into the first CP, 10mins down on NYARA and same time as Journey.