2009 LBL Challenge (click for results)

Indy Rootstock had a strong start to this race season participation wise, sending two teams to the first ever LBL Challenge in Land Between the Lakes KY. It's a new Bonk Hard race and we've always enjoyed their races in the past. My team (Indy Rootstock) would consist of myself, Deseri Garcia, Greg Grossart and Angelia Kneisley. Cristal Garrison, Sumitra Ghate, Jerry Lyons and James Nichols would be racing as IndyRootstock.com.

Land Between the Lakes is only a little over 5 hours from Indy and we were all carpooling together in Angelia's Suburban along with James' sweet AR trailer. The combo got all 7 of us down there with ease. Greg would be driving in from TN on his own. (We learned post race that if you don't secure the back wheel of a bike on the outside of the rack, that it will track nicely along the trailer up to about 65mph after it bounces off the rail. It is however best to remove the tow system first. Good to know, but hopefully the last time we test this function of the trailer.)

Checkin for both the race and the hotel went quickly and by 8:00 or so we were settled, fed and sitting in the pre race meeting. Jason Elsenrat of Bonk Hard took some time to thank all the sponsors but more importantly the efforts on the part of the local outdoors lovers, Wood n' Wave staff and the Forestry Service. The area was decimated just three months prior by an ice storm. Pretty much the entire surroundings had been declared a Federal Disaster Area. But, thanks to some seriously hard working volunteers trails were cleared and the race was able to be held, and I for one saw minimal effects to the course from the conditions. (My shins may disagree, they're still healing a week and a half later).

We got a pleasant surprise at prerace in that the 24 hour course would be starting at 8am on Sat. We'd be getting almost 6 hours of sleep prior to the race!! After receiving our maps and instructions we took our time going over the course prior to heading back to the room to pack up gear. The race was without TA's, but each team had two "onion bags" which we would be able to use for a gear drop roughly midway through the course. Ours consisted mostly of water and a little food.

The race started promptly at 8 with a run to CP1 then on to the bike drop at CP2. We chose a slightly longer route to CP1 on the road to both get our legs warm, and to avoid any potential storm related deadfall issues right out of the gate. We figured it would be best to survey the condition of the woods a bit prior to making aggressive route choices through nasty downed trees. After CP1 there were actually a number of routes possible to CP2. I imagine a lot of teams went cross country/trails. Some teams chose a large powerline cut that was on the map. We chose a smaller power line cut that we had noticed ran directly to the bike drop, without coming too close to the off limits Trace highway that runs through the middle of the park. I actually think that we were the only team to take this route and it actually was pretty advantageous as we came into CP2 as the top teams were rolling out after having lost sight of them on the way to CP1.

After hopping on the bikes we had some single track riding which caused a number of teams some problems with flats and mechanicals (this would become a theme throughout the race, and we would be no exception). Our ride to CP3 and 4 was fairly uneventful and we were bouncing around positions with EMS, CITGO, and a few of the other top teams. They were getting bit by the bike problem bug early, our time would come later... Worst luck was probably had by Alpine Shop, as they completely spaced on CP3 and didn't realize it until they got to CP4, then had to backtrack to 3. Everyone makes that mistake at some point, but it doesn't make it hurt any less!

After CP4 we were met with another plethora of route choices, but we decided to stick with the familiar, and bike whack the power line cut we had used earlier. Although it was fairly quick, I don't think it was as advantageous as it was on the opening trekking section due to having our bikes to lug along with us. The payoff was nice though as we had paved paths and roads complete with a screaming downhill to CP5.

As we neared the trail that would take us to CP5 we saw EMS's bikes so we knew we had made up a little time on the ride. Our route had us riding to CP5 then backtracking and heading out on some single track. Problem was, we were at a dead end road with a nasty little section of bike whack to the trail. After a 10 minute effort we were clear and on the trail, just in time to see EMS running back form CP5. According to them, we had made a good choice to ride to 5, as it was farther than they had anticipated. (Unfortunately, I missed the little access trail from the road to the single track, which would have made the 10 minute bike whack a 24 second ride...)

We got the first of our flats (me) on the way to 5 but fixed it quickly and were on our way. We also saw Wedali and CITGO on their way out from 5 so despite all the different routes, everyone was still in relatively close proximity. CP A was a random point to be obtained any time during the race and we got it on the way to 6. I'd like to say that was exactly how we planned it, but I missed the potential shortcut I was looking for and we ended up taking the slightly longer "backup" route past CP-A.

From 6 it was some quick riding through CP7 and on to CP8. At this point we were somewhere between 7th and 9th. Alpine Shop had managed to fight back from their mistake already! There was another team that passed us here from Nebraska, but we never got their name. They were wearing lots of red and yellow so from that point forward they were "Redyellow" team. (I suspect they were Proformance Physical Therapy as they are the only team with Nebraska inhabitants on their roster, but after 20+ hours of calling them "RedYellow" I"m going to stick with that for the rest of the race report.)

From the bike drop it was 3 trekking points to CP12, the paddling put-in. All the points turned out to be straightforward, although I had a minor whiff on 11, as I took my team down a nice big hill only to head right back up to the saddle where 11 was located. It wasn't until I saw another team hiking the ridge that I realized had we not turned as early as we had I could have saved us some climb. Fairly small mistake, but frustrating all the same.

By the time we reached 12, we were less than an hour off the lead and put in within minutes of Alpine Shop and Redyellow. Now, I should be clear that we had no aspirations of a win in this race, but we were trying to push a little harder and see how fast we could move. To only be this far back at this point was definitely rewarding. Unfortunately, the wheels were about to come off.

Paddling is by no means our strong suit as a team, but we started this paddle OK. We would head north around the northern tip of the actual land that is between the lakes, and then turn south to CP15, which was the same location as CP8. The problems hit when we started to turn south and the wind picked up. We had to fight harder and harder, but were moving slower and slower! Both ladies proceeded to get constantly wet as the waves started to break over the front of the canoes.

At the manned CP14 there was a gear check. At this point I realized as I dumped my pack that I had left my rain jacket back at the start!! (I had been wearing it to stay warm prior to the race and when I took it off, I just chucked it in my bin, rather than into my pack like I had intended). Thankfully Angelia saved my ass by pulling a backup jacket out of her pack. Anyone familiar with Angelia's luck with April races will understand why she had two rain jackets when the gear list only required one... I still owe her that six packed I promised her at that point.

Now when we got out of the boats for the check we all got rather chilled. But, instead of piling on clothes prior to getting back into the boats we just hopped in and took off. In hind sight this ended up being a pretty foolish move.

The paddle from 14 to 15 was tiring both physically and mentally as the wind whipped us and the ladies continued to get doused. Greg, who is generally very congenial, looked like he wanted to hurt someone or something. By the time we got out at 15 we were all hit with pretty bad chills as all the cold blood in our legs hit our core. This is NOT a good way to have a fast transition.

I have to admit I'm not the fastest in transition to start with. Add in the increased degree of difficulty of opening zippers etc. with shaking hands and I was downright slow. I think it affected my brain too as I went to fix one of Des's two flats that she somehow got (while paddling no less, apparently the bikes felt neglected sitting at 8/15) and proceeded to forget which tube was good, and which one was bad.

Turns out it didn't matter as they were BOTH bad. Either I blew one with the CO2 cartridge, or she had a bum spare. Either way it made for a lengthier than desired transition and by the time we rolled out, all the teams that were there when we got there (CITGO, Alpine Shop, RedYellow, Dynamic Earth) were long gone.

As soon as we got rolling we stopped almost immediately to top off our water at a spigot Greg spotted on the way in, (which was a great catch). A needed stop, as we were all out of water by now, but more time off the clock.

Now the bike fun really began. At the top of a climb heading away from the shore line I hear Greg say "what the, my crank fell off!". Sure enough I look over and there is his left pedal and crank hanging from his foot. Sweet. And the crank bolt that was absolutely needed to get that crank back in? Gone. If my face looked anything like my teammates' at that time it definitely had that "holy crap, our race is over" look on it. I was trying to estimate how long it would take to bike to CP18 towing Greg while he pedaled with one leg...

Thankfully Greg convinced us all it was worth it to backtrack and look for it. And believe it or not after about 300 meters or so (and about 20 meters past where I was about to give up) I spotted the little bugger in the middle of the road. Race saved! Just goes to show a cool head and never giving up pays off!

From CP15 to CP16 there was an option for a 2k-ish bike whack or a 7ish mile ride that we debated at length the prior night. Ultimately we decided on the safe route and rode the whole way around the long way to 16. Considering all the bike issues we had, I'm not sure how much longer that route choice was compared to at least one team that I know took the bike whack. I do know one thing though, if Greg had lost that crank bolt in the woods? Forget about it.

CP17 was uneventful but shortly thereafter my bike started to feel like it was riding a little soft. Yup, you guessed it. Not one, but TWO more flats. We ended up just topping off my tires with as much air as was needed to get to 18 at Hematite Lake. We'd worry about the fact that we had no more tubes after the O course.

Now at this point it was around 10pm and it was full on dark. We had discussed the importance of not "flailing" on the O course and I was feeling the pressure after having a horrible outing on the night nav at my last 30 hour race last summer. (I completely whiffed on the first control, wasting over 30 minutes, blew another 30 minutes on another control midway through the course, and finally had to make the decision to bail completely on the last one when met with the possibility of missing a cutoff. Not good.)

After the first control was easily in the bag we hit the next 5 or 6 with our headlamps off. Turned out the clear skies and moonlight made it possible to see the topography better with the lights off. It's the first time I've done it, but I'll be damned if we didn't walk right up to a couple of the controls without even having to turn our lights on! Eventually the moon got too low in the sky for this approach, but it was fun while it lasted.

We were navigating well, and my fears of a relapse to 2008 form seemed to be unfounded. However, we had all gotten a lot more comfortable with a slower pace as fatigue started to set in.

Now, all in all we had a good run at the O course. I overshot one control by about 300 meters when I was probably at my lowest physically and mentally. Other than that there were a few course corrections where we started down a wrong spur for example, quickly realized it, then got fixed. But, we lost no more than 30 minutes absolute tops on navigation mistakes. My teammates were great at constantly talking and reminding them to give them distances for pace counting and features to look for. We finished the last couple points during sunrise and were back at our bikes by about 7am.

However...

Our nav time was over THREE HOURS slower than the top teams. Ouch. I knew they were faster AND we had slowed down a bit but it wasn't until this point that I realized by how much. Our aggression had slipped completely away at some point between 12 and 18. Cold, bike problems, or just getting tired. Not sure why exactly, but that's when it happened. Now, I'm honestly not sure how much any of us had in our legs at that point, but one thing is for sure... The last half of the race is as much mental as it is physical, and that's where these things are won and lost.

The upside is that we were only the 5th team to complete the whole O course! We didn't know this at the time, we just knew that "very few" teams had knocked out the whole thing. Turns out that Wedali basically did the whole course, but failed to get a punch at 24. An absolutely horrible break for them, as they were the first team across the finish line!! We were now in almost straight "survival" mode and knew we could beat the cutoff on the final biking section.

Now, I should mention that this was only possible though thanks to our teammates on IndyRootstock.com. The bad luck bug bit them harder than us and amongst other things James' knee had taken a real beating. It was swollen to the point where there was pretty much no choice but to drop. Cristal and Sumitra had ridden back to the Start, while Jerry accompanied James at CP 18/33. The only upside to all this was that they were able to provide us with spare tubes, which turned a 30-40 minute patching operation into a 10 change of two flats. Thanks guys!!

The final ride was straightforward and it actually got pretty toasty towards the end. There was one section of fire road, about 1-1.5 miles worth, where we had to repeatedly get off the bikes to hop logs, but this was honestly the only time on the whole course where downed trees significantly affected how fast we moved.

Just to add a little flare to our finish, Greg's freaking crank fell off again less than a mile from the finish. Turns out that towing someone while they pedal with one leg is NOT as easy as you might think... Our Rootstock teammates were there to greet us and we found that thanks to Wedali's unfortunate mistake we had actually finished 5th!

All in all it was a great race with some great teammates. The only part that really sucked was that 5 hour drive home on no sleep. Thankfully Cristal's self preservation instinct kicked in and she managed most of the driving, again! She did the same thing last year after a similar push home post race from WV. After seeing the three boy play bobble head behind the wheel, she decided to take matters into her own hands then too.

Mike Garrison
Indy Rootstock