Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent and I took a canoe and paddled upriver from Joe Lake to explore both sections of Baby Joe Lake. The water was high so we did shorter portages than usual.

'Bent and I went to see the Medicine Tree - a huge white pine surrounded by stones marking the 4 compass directions and representing Earth, Water, Air and Fire. As a Tree Hugger, I just *had* to say hi.

After yesterday's misadventures, you get 3 guesses on how today started. While other guests at the lodge were playing tennis, sailing, sipping their second coffee or reading books on the dock, I was changing my bike tire for the first time in real life.



'Bent stood nearby helpfully timing me and trying hard to limit his advice to the avoidance of any truly catastrophic errors I was about to commit. Elapsed time: 19 minutes 4 seconds. Clearly, I need a team car to follow me and just hand me a new bike whenever something like this happens. With luck, it will be another 18 years before I flat while riding.

Foolishly, I also decided to add some air to my front tire and ended up snapping off the top of the valve. So I got to change *another* tire. This one took 8:40 so at least I'm moving in the right direction.

'Bent and I paddled kayaks on Joe, Little Joe and Tepee Lakes in Algonquin Park. I was using 'Bent's kayak that I'll be using for Logs Rocks & Steel. He had a plastic recreational kayak from the lodge. Not really a fair fight! He definitely got a higher intensity workout.





We paddled past the canoe campsite where we were married but - as usually happens - there were campers on it so we couldn't go ashore.

Kayak portage training for Logs Rocks & Steel along the Tepee Lake - Porter Creek portage trail.

It was an awesome plan in theory. 'Bent and I were heading to Algonquin Park for our annual sorta-close-to-our-anniversary weekend at Arowhon Pines, the lodge that acted as HQ for our wedding on a nearby canoe campsite.



'Bent has been feeling out of the AR loop due to his knee injury so he really liked my suggestion to ride the 50 km Logs Rocks & Steel bike course on our way up north.



Conveniently, Getawaystix marked the course two days ago so I tucked my map and compass deep in my pack and we set out. It's been a wet year but for the most part, the trails were in great shape. The LR&S course is terrific AR riding with a mix of different types of trails and roads and a few tough, technical hills.







There are some good-sized mud puddles but I've ridden race courses with a lot more and a lot bigger. The one nasty section comes up around the 20 km mark - over 2 kms of tall, overgrown brambles that catch on everything. I wore bike shorts and now my legs are so ugly that I wore pants in the lodge dining room all weekend to avoid ruining people's appetites. (I hope no one is eating while they read Attackpoint.)



In the race, I think I'll find a way to protect my shins/calves. If it's cool enough, I'll wear tights.

'Bent had a weird fall where he just tipped over sideways on his way up a steep hill. With the recumbent bike, his bike rarely hits the ground but he wasn't able to unclip in time and he didn't want to twist his leg and land with his bad knee in a funny position. Awhile later, he noticed a crack in the stem where his handlebars are attached. He rode carefully for a short time, then well into the brambles section, the stem snapped completely. (This photo was taken after he'd done some emergency work to hold things together.)





If your bike is going to snap in half when you're a long way from the nearest road, it's best if it doesn't break at the key point that allows the bike to be steered. That's where 'Bent's bike broke. :-( He couldn't even walk his bike, so at first he carried it and I walked. Suddenly, this was becoming a *very* long day.



In retrospect, we should have retraced our steps and headed directly to Hwy 35 but we didn't have many brambles left and I really didn't want to do that section in reverse. Psychologically, it's also easier to go forward, especially since we wanted to see the whole course. I could see a possible shortcut out to Pine Springs Road near Blueglass Lake, where the Wilderness Traverse paddle began. Given our slow pace, I didn't want to leave the marked trail unless I was sure about our alternate route but unfortunately, Getawaystix (whose map is annotated with many extra trails) didn't answer his phone.

We remembered that the trail got better up ahead, then when we hit the road, I could ride to get the van. After awhile, 'Bent strapped the bike together with some spare parts and figured out that it would roll relatively straight if he ran with it at 8-10 kph. I got back on my bike and rode very, very slowly.



When we reached Pine Springs Road at about 8 kms post-catastrophe, 'Bent hid his bike in the bushes and I left him walking while I rode to the van. I pushed hard on the rough, hilly road since I didn't like splitting up. Like good adventure racers - not to mention a husband and wife on their anniversary trip - we had expected to stay together. So we only had one set of "team mandatory gear" between us - cell phone, first aid supplies, etc.

About 45 minutes after I left 'Bent, I was reminded of one other thing I didn't have... I got my first mountain bike 18 years ago and have never had a flat tire while riding. So when the rear end of my bike started feeling spongy, my first thought was that the suspension must be out of whack. Then, with a sick feeling, I got off the bike and saw that my back tire was soft but not flat. I kept going another 1.5 kms until I reached Hwy 35, and then it flatted down to the rim. Naturally, the bike tools and pump were on 'Bent's bike.

I called 'Bent's cell from a pay phone on the corner - twice. The recorded message told me that the number was invalid. It wasn't. I ran up the shoulder of Hwy 35 with my bike until I found a safe place to hide it, then ran a few kms more in my bike shoes until I reached the van and my cell phone. Of all the things I'd started out with earlier in the day (2 bikes, spouse, etc.), I only had my Salomon pack left. I still wasn't able to reach 'Bent so I headed for Pine Springs Road, picking up my bike on the way. I found him close to Hwy 35. He'd gotten a ride partway from some nice guys who were heading to a hunting camp; they'd even given him refreshments to make his hike more pleasant.



We drove back to pick up his bike. This stretch of Pine Springs Road, which requires 4-wheel drive, was a white knuckle experience in early April when GStix and I were course testing Wilderness Traverse. Much better today although still entertaining.

We still had one more challenge for the day. One of the highlights of Arowhon Pines lodge is its excellent food. The dining room closes at 8 p.m. and there is nowhere else to eat for miles around. Some speed limits may have been exceeded as we drove to Algonquin Park! There is an 8 km gravel access road to the lodge and we realized that we wouldn't have time to shower before dinner, so we did a quick transition at a pull-off along the access road, putting on long-sleeved shirt and pants on top of our muddy bodies so we could sneak into the dining room looking almost normal. The Maitre d', who presided over our wedding dinner, greeted us as we raced in at 7:50 p.m. saying, "Oh *there* you are - we've been talking about you." They were probably saying, "Bash and 'Bent would *never* miss a pre-paid meal - he's Jewish and she's Scottish." ;-)

It took awhile - and a big glass of wine - before the adrenaline stopped pumping like crazy.

Happy Ending: our story made the rounds of the staff, and the hotel manager came to our table with keys for the wonderful private cabin we'd stayed in for our wedding and haven't been able to afford since then - a fantastic upgrade. Very nice of them!

Rode from home to Albion Hills, then joined Harps, Goose and 'Bent for a ride around the Hot August Nights race course on a beautiful, cool evening. Crash rode with us for the first few kms until we finally found poor Phatty (who was supposed to meet us earlier) in the throes of a frustrating bike mechanical. The boys got lots of exercise taking turns pumping up Phatty's tire with a tiny little pump - again and again and again. In the end, he didn't get to do any riding at Albion tonight but maybe he can log some of the high intensity pumping.

Off to ride the Logs Rocks & Steel MTB course tomorrow!

NEW*** Untamed New England Day 4 report is now up.
Untamed New England Day 3 report is now up.
Untamed New England Day 2 report is now up.
Untamed New England Day 1 report is now up.
Untamed New England Pre-race day report is now up.

Only 10 days till Logs Rocks & Steel - yikes! Is there time to train before I taper? My run today was the same length as the LR&S trail run. I went from our place along the Bruce Trail Side Trail to the Glen Haffy stile and back. I felt heavy and slow, and the humidity made it hard to breathe.

The breathing part was real but the rest turned out to be my imagination:

1) Not heavy - I'm 19 lb under my Jan. 1 weight - a record. (Thank you, Untamed. Although this is a mystery since I've done nothing but eat since we stopped racing.)

2) Not slow - looks like this was my PB for this route.

But I still felt like crap. Hope there'll be some zip in the legs by next Saturday!

Oh, and twice I re-twisted my ankle that I twisted badly in Sunday's orienteering race. Time to see Dr. Leanimal.

The Tree Huggers have a post-race tradition known as the Ritual Exchange of the Sock. This is where you and your teammates return each other's soggy, rancid gear that you've found at your place after the race, and (usually) take the opportunity for a little post-race analysis.

In the spirit of this tradition, Harps and I met for a run at the north end of Hilton Falls so I could pass back a stack of gear belonging to him and Kirikou. (I also returned a huge drybag of gear to Relentless in Ottawa on the weekend!) BulletDog, Kona and Trek joined us for the run and had a fantastic time with all the forest smells and water features. BulletDog is sometimes nervous to make new friends but she liked K&T. Trek was very brave on his longest run ever and dared to wade a short distance into a few of the ponds. Kona and BulletDog swam happily and probably ran twice the distance we did. BulletDog spent much of the evening stretched out on the couch with her head carefully placed on a pillow, so she obviously appreciated the pooch party.

Parker, Pinot and - yes - even Kirikou were missed when work got in the way of their attendance.