Training Log Archive: silkychrome

Event: Stubborn Mule 30-Hr AR
 

first part of Stubborn Mule w Erl Biz and Andrei. includes self-imposed 2.5hr lightning delay.

BIKE 1, ~15mi, mostly road
we left about 20min after the official start as we were still sorting maps when Paula said "go!". but no worries. actually worked out well be we avoided the calamity of a mass start (12hr and 30hr together) on bikes. simple nav and we caught a few teams.

TREK 1, 10mi, woods w some trail
11 CPs any order in the woods. the terrain around Cable is (what I believe to be) glaciated. so really tricky to nav on - lots of small hills, depressions, and no "ridge/reentrant" pattern. oh and lots of deadfall/underbrush. so we were not moving super fast but the Biz/Andrei nav combo was working super good so we hit most everything. came out of the woods in first.

BIKE 2, 35 mi, single track
then we got on our bikes and took a short gravel road that hooked into the CAMBA single track network. I've raved about them before but I will again...dang these are some nice trails. we had a 12mi designated route to take w CPs hanging around the way. we were not flying by any means, some of the route was "black diamond" but we just kept moving whether it was pedaling or walking. it started to get hot. we popped out on a gravel road that took us to a rails-to-trails that went thru Cable and a gas station. bought some Cokes and slushies from v persnickety employees! the slushies actually tasted horrible but helped keep us "cool". the remaining road miles to the TA were really hard, we were all suffering.

PADDLE 1A, 12mi
from the north end of Lake Owen, to the south end, to the west side. about 6:30 PM a huge storm rolled in. Biz made the call to get off the water at the exact right time, we pulled boats out at an unused dock and took shelter at someone's cabin's front porch (they were not home). right before the rain hit the wind flipped one of our boats back in to the lake and it started blowing away. with all of our paddles. CRAP! Erl and I chased after it and were able to grab it in waist-deep water. big relief. then we just hunkered down on the porch for 2.5 hrs. the storm started rolling out after 2hrs but there was still lightning in the area so we hesitated putting back in.

C • Love your race reports! 5

TREK 2, 3mi
just a short loop to break up the paddle. we saw Rib Mtn going one way so we went the other. put back in before them but just barely.

PADDLE 1B, 5mi
back across Lake Owen, grabbing 1 final CP. beautiful stars. no wind, finally!

TREK 3, 11mi
super tough trek. in the dark and subtle terrain. started right w Rib Mtn so the race was back on! we saw them a few times in the woods, along w Silent Chasers. we actually hid from Silent Chasers as we were both struggling w CP19. lots of deadfall again and now everything was wet = super slippery!

BIKE 3, 30mi
final bike to the finish. mostly gravel/paved roads. some trekking to off-road CPs. we were chafed.

mtb on the Lebanon Hills singletrack. nice!

ride from MN Twins game, to meet Biz at his office downtown, then part of the way home w him on MPLS bike path network, then back to Uptown Diner to meet my fam for dinner. except we ate a ton at the Twins game so not really hungry for an early dinner!

run around the lake in AL w Erl n T. couple swims for T.

morning lap at CCL w Erl. not v peppy but got it done.