Team: Ryan Burke, Greg Grossart, Sumitra Ghate, Michael Sapper
April 8/9
Pre-race:
Wow, what an interesting pre-race week it was. Indy Rootstock consisted of Ryan Burke, Greg Grossart, Sumitra Ghate and myself, Michael Sapper. The team was not finalized until Wednesday of race week as Doug McCullough suffered a semi-serious calf injury the prior weekend which would result in him needing to rest rather than risk further injury. After some minor arm-twisting, Greg joined the team mid week. The problem being that his bike and some gear was in Texas and would need borrow Doug's bike. Most of us had raced with one another at other sprint races but never as a team together and never at a 24-hour race. Without any team training our chemistry was very comforting heading into race day. I would be navigating in the boats and on land. Greg would be navigating on the bike.
Prologue:
Due to a severe thunderstorm that raked the TA with marble size hail and heavy rains, the race organizers switched the anticipated 10pm Prologue and the 6am UTM hand out. Instead, the UTMs were handed out after the 9pm Friday night pre-race meeting. After the meeting, we were able to start the process of race planning and strategizing, but we would have to wait until 6am to start the prologue.
Race Course Summary:
The opening prologue covered about 6.5 miles before returning their return to the TA, followed by a 4 mile bike to the first canoe take out, 8 mile hike to the canoe put in, 10 mile paddle to the takeout, 52 mile bike back to the TA, 5 mile hike back to the first canoe take out to start the second canoe section, paddle 10 miles to the second take out and hike 4 miles back to the TA, hike 7-8 miles during night orienteering and finish. (Note: by my calculations the bike covered 56 total miles with 4,100 feet of climbing and the total climb for our route was about 7,450)
Phase I:
The opening prologue run was a hilly combo of gravel road run, bushwhack, creek bed trek and trail run on a very muddy horse trail. Though aerobically challenging, the navigation for the prologue was on the basic side, but it spread the teams out before the bike as intended. We ran into an unexpected gear snag when Sumitra’s head light died less than half way into the run. After a few minutes, Ryan gave Sumitra his light and then proceeded to stay with Michael until it was bright enough to see. Returning to the TA in 21st place, we were right where we wanted to be.
With a quick change of sweaty clothes and wet shoes, we grabbed our bikes and headed out on the short but hilly ride to the bike drop/first canoe take out. Arriving at the bike drop, we did a quick check-in/check-out with the race volunteers and we headed out on foot for the 8-mile hike to the canoe put-in. The hike was broken into a short cross-country land navigation section locating a single control in a huge depression/sink hole. Quickly located after a short delay caused by not easily seeing the control (this punch did not have the standard orienteering flag attached) we headed out of the woods for a trek/run North on country roads to the canoe put-in. Seeing more of the Indiana AR family as volunteers; we were greeted by Doug Theis (Team Ragged Glory) and Doug McCullough (our injured teammate) at the canoe put-in. The canoe would be on Indiana’s Blue River.
The Blue River would normally be a standard class I paddle but with Indiana’s rainy spring combined with Friday nights’ storm; the River was running very fast. Keeping a steady paddling pace and staying out of trouble would be our goal here. Once again the navigation was straightforward, but the river was not. Although we were traveling as fast possbile, we tried to enjoy the spectacular scenery along the Blue River as we negotiated several quick river bends which included some exciting (but fun!) class II rapids. We passed a couple of teams that had flipped and ended up covering the 9 to 10-mile paddle in 72 minutes…very fast water indeed. Greg and I had a brief discussion of the issues and dangers that could arise during what could be a second night paddle (on the same river), but a long bike section loomed and that was the primary concern.
Back on the bikes after a quick transition and everything was going as planned, at least for the first 10 miles of the long bike section. At this point I began to feel very ill and seriously lacking in any type of strength. I spent the better part of the next 30 miles wishing I was anywhere but where I was: Sitting on a bike peddling up hills into a cold wind. I have done races where teammates have been sick, but this was my first chance to be the teams ‘mandatory gear’ as I struggled to stay on with the teams’ pace. Eating solid foods was no longer an option. (I really did not want to see what I just had eaten) and I focused on gels and hydration to keep from bonking. For the next few hours I ‘checked out’ mentally and suffered the most I had in any race. During this time, I contemplated how I was going to tell my teammates that I was about to DNF the race. But fortunately for me, my teammates spent much of this time nursing me back to health (and reality) and keeping me on pace. Greg did an outstanding job with the maps as we did not bike more that 100 meters off course the entire ride. The tow system on his bike broke so we were left with just the one on Ryan’s bike. This wasn’t a real big deal, but it didn’t allow us any flexibility in relieving each other with team roles. (Greg was stuck with the maps the whole time and Ryan turned into the pack mule.) Ryan was a great team bike leader setting the pace and keeping us all together. In addition, we had a flat in the middle of the bike leg that slowed us briefly, but with a quick change we were back at it. It actually worked out as well as could be expected because it gave Greg the opportunity to switch the maps around. Because of all of that, the pace slowed the last few miles of the ride, but to our surprise, we still had one of the top bike leg splits. We began to recover when we approached the TA and all felt pretty good. We arrived in 15th place, picking up several places. Thanks guys.
Phase II:
The second phase of the race would prove critical. Near the end of the bike, Greg openly discussed his estimated times to finish the bike, transition and trek to the boats. For team strategy (and safety) reasons, he really wanted us to paddle before it got dark. Noting what time it got dark the night before, he figured that if we ‘huff-it” and did a quick in and out of the TA along with a strong trek to the boats, we could possibly complete the second paddle in daylight. Although it would “cost” us some energy by pushing now, we figured we could “save” energy by minimizing our chances of flipping the boats and getting wet and cold. We were in and out of the TA in 21 minutes and on our way to the boats. Running wherever it seemed efficient and making good route choices, CP 15 and 16 were quickly located and we made it to the second boat put in with about 80-90 minutes before the headlamps would be needed. The second paddle was completed in 74 minutes (another 10 miles on fast water). At the take out Carl Pafford (another long-time Indiana racer) informed us that only 11 teams made the second paddle. Due to safety concerns, a mid race decision was made to not allow anyone on the river after dark. Having just completed the paddle, this was a wise decision. The river was obviously running high and many areas that were sand bars during a normal flow were now under water. These sand bars were covered with small trees and bushes protruding out of the water just enough to catch your boat and flip it.
The trek back to the TA was slowed a bit by having been soaked from the waist down with cold water during the paddle. It took us a while to get our land legs back and the 4-mile road trek back gave us time to prepare for the final phase: night land navigation/orienteering; my personal favorite.
Phase III:
We took a little extra time during our final TA to put on some dry clothes and to study the new land navigation map that we received. By this time the warmth from the late afternoon sunshine was long gone. We decided to tackle the six controls in reverse order and we headed into the woods. It was about 10:15 pm and we could see our breath in the crisp night air. Overall the team felt strong except for Sumitra’s right knee, which was causing her some discomfort.
I was on lead navigation and the rest of the team took turns with the pace counting. Control’s 6, 5B and 4 were located without much trouble. Control 3 was also found in a reasonable amount of time. The first four controls were located in about 2 hours fifteen minutes. On my navigation we left control 3 and headed directly North down the hill to the creek bed. We paced the appropriate distance West and then headed North again to 2B. All the navigation features matched and we hiked West up the hill expecting to find the control in short order…but it wasn’t there. We spent some time traveling back and forth along the ridge looking for the control without much luck. It was getting late and Sumitra’s knee was getting worse. We made a team decision to pass on the last 2 controls and return to the TA. On our way back we passed a trail junction and continued West along the ridge. Within about 200 meters after passing this junction, we spotted some lights that appeared to be houses across the Ohio River. Ryan pointed out that there was no way we could be on the 2B ridge and see the Ohio River. Using these lights and the junction we passed as reference points we confirmed where we were on the ridge top for 2A. The Team turned around and headed back to the junction. I shot a bearing to the control and 200 meters of hiking later we found 2A. (To this day I still can’t quite figure out how we ended up one entire ridge off). With careful pacing and a close watch of the compass, we headed North along a trail marked on the map. I was looking for a trail (not marked on the map that I assumed would be there) that would lead us right to CP 1. Ryan spotted a trail marker and the bearing Northwest to 1 was a spot on match so we took this un-mapped trail and found our 6th and final control. Knowing the entire course was complete; most of the aches and pains were forgotten (Sumitra’s knee was still pretty bad). I shot a bearing Northwest back to the road and after a couple more steep ups and downs, we were on pavement heading to the finish. 20 hours 58 minutes removed from the prologue start we turned in our passport and were exhilarated to find out that we were the 9th team to finish the entire course.
Thanks to Jerry, Greg, Dave, Barb and all the volunteers. This version of the PA race was incredible and fun. Race disciplines were varied and strategy played an important role as the race unfolded. My teammates were great. We helped each other as needed and finished strong and as a team.
Michael Sapper
(Greg Grossart and Ryan Burke)