Adventure Xstream Breckenridge-7/24 to 7/27/03 Round 2 . . . the next step July 25, 2003 Travel Day Well let me start by saying . . . it didn’t get off to a good start. Soon after arriving in Boise I discovered I had left my new bike at work in McCall (2 hours away) . . . so I grabbed my old bike (a full 5 pounds heavier and not near as cool looking) arriving at Jen’s I received my share of moron, putz, and other terms. Soon after we were on the road packed to the gills with 3 bikes, 3 touring kayaks (18 feet long), 3 people and one warped sense of a way to spend your free time. Destination this time . . . Breckenridge, Colorado a short 13 hour drive away. 
We arrived in Breck about 4 pm the next day (after losing Brian’s sandals along I-70, bonehead move #2 of the trip for Nic), met up with our support crew (Marie and Tom) and headed to racer check in. Well that did it . . .not only was I winded climbing the stairs, but after checking the roster for the people racing I was dejected to find the likes of Ian Adamson, Mike Kloser, and Danielle Balangee, these are the Eco-Challenge champions and they would go on to beat us by 5 hours and 14 minutes. To put that in perspective they could have done the race and then sat down and watched the Godfather Trilogy before we finished . . . sick I tell you. We set about spreading our gear over all of Summit County before obtaining perfectly packed transition bags.
Race Day-July 26, 2003 We awoke with one simple goal . . . run 9 miles from Breckenridge to Copper Mountain, Roller Blade 9 miles to Frisco, Kayak 9 miles around the lake, and finish with a 13 mile mountain bike ride back into Breckenridge. Accomplishing this goal proved to be anything but simple. Lining up at the start of an adventure race, you see a variety of people. The pros are in the front eager to destroy any hopes we have of being badasses, with “Team What Gear?” lined up behind them. This is a team that flew in from Indiana (elev 500 ft) to Breckenridge (elev 9500 feet) the night before. They had never competed in an adventure race before, and were lined up with one 20oz water bottle between the three of them and none of the mandatory gear you are required to carry. . . .
BANG . . . we’re off . . . flying up the mountain (okay so we are walking fast) digging in with our Leki trekking poles and chewing up the 3,000 vertical foot climb. 5 minutes in was the first navigational decision, left or straight? There were a equal amount of teams moving in each direction, we chose straight . . . and . . . will Nic be a bonehead today? NOPE (not yet at least) it was the correct call . . . we were moving along but Brian and I had too much energy to burn so we volunteered to take Jen’s pack and tow her. It proved to be a good choice as we made it to the top in an hour and half. Where we were forced to make another navigational decision . . . can Nic go two for two bonehead free? . . . YES he can! It was becoming a joy for us to have so many teams that were reading from the Nic Stover book of bonehead moves, be forced to pass us time and time again.
The descent down was slow going, but we were doing just fine till we strapped on the Devil Sticks (aka Roller Blades). We had a ¾ mile run till we strapped on the rockets of disaster. The first 4 miles went well aside from one gut-wrenching fall from Brian, but then it happened. We went from a slow, we really suck at this stuff . . to a holy shit!, what the hell am I doing on these god awful things descent of 25+ mph. To say that it was the scariest thing that I have done in years is no understatement. I can see Brian flying down the hill so out of control that it looked as if someone was playing a practical joke, further down the hill is ambulance. As I got closer I came to the realization that I was slowing down gradually but I was nowhere near stopping . . then came the next realization they only way to avoid having the Chevy logo of the ambulance tattooed across my melon was to bail into the weeds. It wasn’t pretty but I was stopped and for the most part un-cut. Jen arrived a while after and I could see the terror in her face. Brian was there complete with his torn up shorts and bloody body parts. Soon after came the change of plans . . . Jen took off her devil sticks and resorted to running in her socks.
That went on for a while until we saw our support crew (They were everywhere I tell you). As I was barking orders to fetch Jen’s shoes and trying to stop . . . I went down hard on my hip. Shortly after we emerged from the steep section and Jen put her skates, while we all collected our bruised and battered egos and headed to CP-4. To say that strapping on the rockets of disaster was the worst decision I have made in my racing career is an understatement. If we had just taken the 45-minute time penalty and rode out MTB’s we would have saved at least 50 minutes,
We arrived at the transition to the boats, in LAST
PLACE. We were the slowest team on
Death Stick course by 15 minutes and had lost a hour to most teams. We made no time up in the transition area
due to me requiring first aid on my hip and a collective need to gather our
wits. The paddle started great and the
high clouds that were surrounding us were holding off. We were soon faced with a healthy head wind,
and tried the 3-person tow system.
Brian’s dislike of his rudder proved to be a problem in keeping us going
straight. So Brian paddled solo while I
towed Jen. Aside from one team that was
yelling cadence in a canoe there were no others in sight. At the turn around point we began to
overtake teams that were nowhere to be seen when we started.
We started to the right of miner’s creek but realized we
needed to be on the left. The problem
was solved quick enough with a well placed creek crossing. The next 9 miles provided us with awesome
single track that would open up and give us awesome views of the surrounding
area. We all struggled with our first
experience of biking above 10,000 feet.
Then it started to rain, it was light enough to not be a problem but
heavy enough to make the trail slick.
Jen developed a headache that affected her pace but had no effect on her
disposition (Still smiling J. We
leapfrogged back and forth with a guy from Phoenix and a girl from Albuquerque
before passing “Team What Gear?” throwing up on the side of the trail
(Acclimization is key). Jen’s comment
of “I thought you guys would be DQ’d by now was not well received.
We said out goodbyes and headed into the final climb of the day. Not long after we hit the final choice of the day . . . . and with the help of 4 other teams I can say I went Bonehead free! We found the final checkpoint at the top of chair 5 and started the descent. Electing to take an easier (but longer) route proved to be best course of action. We emerged from the single track and crossed the line in 10 hours and 35 minutes.
I had mixed emotions after crossing the finish line . . . light or dark beer? No really, I was proud of what we had accomplished, but disappointed we had been unable to finish the pro course (only 8 teams out of 43 did though). We ended up 10th out of 16 teams in our division (many other divisions) We were rewarded with finisher medals the size of dinner plates and cheeseburgers. Where’s the beer? There were very few left to share the experience with, but we shared a sense of pride knowing we roller bladed a very tough course that most teams elected to bike, and pushed past our limits.
Next stop the Raid Series in Sun Valley on August 8th-10th, where we go up against the worlds best in our backyard.
Final Stats 12,000 -Vertical feet of ascending and descending 176-Max Heart Rate for the day (On the downhill section of the roller blades) 3-Bruised Egos 2-Pairs of ripped shorts 1-More day it is great to be alive
Stover |
