Training Log Archive: guerfondler

Long bushwhack to the Jordan Valley O-course, where Pete lead us to 8 of 10 controls before having to move on and make the first cut-off. Met one team that told us they had attacked the CP six times, and were wondering if the flag had gone missing. Standing in the dark, we watched their headlamps moving through the forest to attack it yet again... on the wrong hilltop. We then quietly moved in for the punch and a quick exit.

The sleep did me good.

Bike to put in on Manistee River. Don't really remember this section. I think this was the morning ride where, after eating four slices of pizza in TA, we were peddaling some steep hills... and I deposited the pizza in the ditch. Cut back on my normal food intake until things settled down.

Paddle down the winding Manistee River. Another highlight of the course, I had fun steering Molly and I around the bends while tryinig to stay in the moderate current. Cut a couple corners just a little wide, ducking under the branches of downed trees. Dave didn't quite get so lucky, with the branches catching on his PFD and toppling their boat. You know its a party when people are spilling out of their boats!

Two guys passed us moving quickly downstream, having dropped their teammates in a previous section. We saw them a little later, boat resting against a dock, sucking down a couple beers evidently provided by the locals. I suggested that we wouldn't tattle on them if they shared. The residents of another cabin evidently heard this exchange and invited us to join them for beer and BBQ. It was hard to decline.

We were coming to understand that the unwritten rules of this race specified long night trekking/orienteering sections followed by daytime paddling and biking. This section was particularly arduous. We found ourselves in a cedar swamp looking for a CP on a small beaver dam. While Minnesota may have waist deep muck, Michigan seems to specialize in undergrowth. With logs and decomposing stumps underfoot, we fought our our way through the brush with kayak paddles strapped to our packs.