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Contents 1 2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Info 2 2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Pictures 3 2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Maps 4 2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Website 5 2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Results 6 2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Reviews 6.1 Jack's Take 6.2 Josh's Take 6.3 Laura's Take 6.4 Michael's Take

2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Info

Odyssey Wild, Wonderful 24

• Date: May 23-24th
• Location: New River Gorge , WV
• Event Details: 24 hours
• Event Description: The Odyssey Wild Wonderful 24 will take place in the previous home of the Endorphin FIX: the New River Gorge. Teams will trek with map and compass, ride mountain bikes up, over and around the Gorge, and whitewater raft!!! Racers will get to have a bit of class V fun as part of the Wild Wonderful 24. Class VI River Runners will be providing the boats, paddles, helmets and PFD’s and guides for this segment of the race. Don’t think you will be going for a leisurely float down the river. This is part of the RACE! These guides will be "hammering" it out with you down the river for bragging rights.
• Event Points Category:
  • USARA Point Series Day Race
  • Checkpoint Tracker Day Race
• Team Registered: Josh, Jack, Michael, Laura

Format:

• 24 Hour. Mandatory CPs with a section of rogaine O-course.

2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Pictures

2009 Wild Wonderful 24
New River Gorge	Loading Bikes	Pre-race Meeting	Pre-race
Start	In the Raft	Rapids	Raft in Rapids
New River Gorge Bridge	Across the Lower Bridge	Biking Along Rim of Gorge	Laura Hydrating
Mike Laura Hiking	Orienteering at Dusk	Post Race Ice Cream With Chopsticks

2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Maps

2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Website

2009 Wild Wonderful 24

2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Results

• Placed 8th in 4-person co-ed division (24th overall) with 11 Optional CPs (out of 15), 7 mandatory CPs (out of 8), and a time of 23:59 (missed a 7am cut-off).
• Results

2009 Wild Wonderful 24 Reviews

Jack's Take

Maps/Course: At check-in, we found out that there were only 8 mandatory CPs (most by mandatory routes), then a mysterious O-course on a map that we wouldn't receive until we got there. The was actually great news. We were done plotting points in no time, and the route was pre-determined, so we didn't have to stay up late figuring out the best route.

Surprise at Race Briefing: We got our race briefing just after 8pm, when we found out that we were going to have to do a pre-race bag drop...either tonight or before 5am. WTF. Laura's Moab was not charged yet, as we thought we'd just do it in the hotel room and bring the packs to the 7:15am race start. No such luck. We had no choice, but to make the 5am cut-off. We went back to the hotel, charged the Moab, and packed our packs for the race. At 4am, we got up and drove to the race start, dropped off our bags at around 4:50am, then tried to get a little more sleep. The bag truck didn't leave until 6am...a bit upset by that, but...

The Paddle: The race started with rafting down the New River Gorge (class III-V), which was awesome! Well, technically, the race started with one person from each raft doing a short run, then a swim to the raft, to spread out the teams. We nominated Jill Pierce from team HTO/Trakkers, as she was wearing a wetsuit, and was a triathlete. She did a good job, and we were off. We were about the third or forth boat in the first wave of boats. We managed to catch and pass the other 3 boats in the flat water sections, as we were superior paddlers, compared to the other boats in our "wave". We were doing great, but then in a class V rapid, Jill decided that since she was wearing the wetsuit, she should get her money's worth, and jumped in the water (well, so maybe she was knocked in by a huge wave...). We pulled over as soon as possible, then paddled upstream, as she worked her way downstream via the huge boulders that made up the shore. After she was back in the boat, we continued on, and managed to almost catch the other boats by the takeout. We trekked up the gravel road to our packs, changed clothes, then headed up out of the gorge.

The Bike to the O-course: This was a really nice section of trail. Beautiful area. It went pretty fast. Eventually, the trail made it down to the river, where it followed an old RR track (rails to trails). We averaged about 20kph on that trail.

The O-Course from Hell: We got into CP3, where we got the list of Optional O-course CPs to plot. The map had 2 sets of grids, offset by about a centimeter. One blue (the right one) and one black (not sure what this one was for). We ended up having to re-plot about 5 points due to lining up off the wrong colored line. Then we were off (around 3pm), with plans to try to get 11 or 12, but to adjust on-the-fly, if required. We were doing pretty good, then around 11pm, something in my stomach wasn't sitting right. I didn't want to eat anything, and felt full. Around midnight, I forced down an Ensure..back up it came. Then I waited 1/2 hr, and drank 1/2 an Ensure. Waited 1/2 hr, repeat. I started feeling a bit better by the time we were coming down off the mountain. Speaking of that...Josh decided it would be faster to go straight down the mountain, rather than the spur we had come up...well, straight down in an area of strip mining, became just that--a cliff! After rescuing Josh, we found the spur, about 40 feet away, and followed that on down and back to our bikes by 2:09am.

The Bike from Hell: We left out of CP4 at 2:34am, headed to CP5 and CP6, trying to beat the 7am cut-off at CP6. They said it was a 4-7 hr ride to CP6, and we'd hoped to have given ourselves 6 hrs, but it took longer to get out of the woods due to my stomach issue. After figuring out how to get out of CP4..we rode like the wind, passing at least one team on the way up out of the gorge. I was happy to be back on the bike, but also very sleeping. I keep falling asleep, while pedaling the uphills (even in areas with steep drop-offs)...I just needed a 5 minute nap...but no time for that. I'd blast down the downhills, way to fast, just to wake myself up. The road got a little squirrelly in one spot, and I almost lost it...but managed to stay upright. Then we finally got to Hwy 41...easy, paved road...but then it started going up, and up, and up, and up...all uphill, never ending. We were only averaging about 8kph, and I was hurting. I latched onto Michael's tow system, and we managed to average 14kph. I sped up out of guilt of being towed, and Mike sped up, because he felt he needed to pull harder.

Bikewhack: Yeah, mandatory bikewhack..sucked. Missed the intersection to start riding again, then backtracked and found it.

The Cut-off: Riding down the "road", which consisted of puddles joined by short stretches of grass, wasn't too bad. We found CP5 without much issue, after that. 6km to go, with only 15 minutes to get there...impossible, at these trail conditions and our rate of travel, but we pushed for it anyway. We may have been close, but then made a wrong turn (lots of people did, based on post race conversations), and took the scenic route. After we realized we were on the scenic route, and after my bike turned itself into a singlespeed (shifter frozen in hardest back gear), we backed off a bit. I'd ride as long as I could, then walk a bit, then ride, then walk. With that gear, it's hard and fast or nothing at all. We arrived at CP6 at 8:14am, a full hour and 14 minutes after the cut-off. The punishment for missing the cut-off, was that we had to skip the trek to CP7 and bike back to the finish. More biking on a singlespeed!!! Let me just say that a singlespeed on rolling hills is fun, manly riding, but on an extended uphill...it sucks.

The Finish: We rolled into the finish at 8:59am, and was greeted by a hug by one of the race staff. BBQ sandwich time!! Hot showers!!! Well, there was no hot water left, but the cold water, well, got me clean.

Josh's Take

In adventure racing, you have rare moments when the entire team is in a good place. Usually a race is a sequence of sections wherein one person is hurting and the others are helping move that person along without blowing up. It takes patience, and is a lot like balancing a ball on top of another. As long as the team is on top of it, it may be alright--but if on one side they push too hard or on the other side lose focus on team progress, things can fall apart pretty quickly.

Odyssey's Wild, Wonderful 24 shoved us beyond our limits--our physical & mental boundaries were pressed, and our nerves were tested. From the start of the race, where Class V rapids threw Jill, a member of team HTO/Trakkers, from the raft our two teams' shared into the turbulent hydrolics, the 24-hour course was to be a test of team strength. From gut-wrenching climbs and descends in the New River Gorge to the massive mid-race orienteering section under time pressure, to being stranded on the side of a drop-off, to nodding off on the final early morning bike leg, this race was a beast.

So it was no surprise that at three different sections of the course, three different people on our team of four had issues moving forward. We started out at a reserved pace, but once at the orienteering section, fought hard to get to a podium position. When we faced adversity getting back after the orienteering course with cushion, we knew we would have to peddle like madmen to make the cutoff. At the cutoff, teams that did not make it in time would be routed on an alternate course. The cutoff was at 7am and 4-7 hours from the orienteering section where teams would attempt to get as many orienteering points as they dared before making their way to the cutoff. A lot can happen in 4-7 hours, so time management was critical. After our orienteering section, we had a little over 4 hours to reach the cutoff, which put us outside of our comfort zone.

But we didn't give up, and we did peddle like madmen. It was one of those rare moments of zen where we were firing on all four cylinders, and there really wasn't an option for any of us to have a low point or bonk. We pushed and pushed and pushed to get back on time, and knew it was going to come down to the line. With 6K left of up and down to go in 15 minutes, our legs trashed, and all that we had worked for on the 12-hour orienteering section and mad dash in pursuit of reaching the cutoff on the chopping block, we had no choice but to press on, hoping that a disparity in our clocks and race managements' would give us precious seconds.

Unfortunately, it never came to that. With 3K to go, we made "the right turn", one that veterans of this race know because in the past they have made it. It is the right turn where teams are supposed to go left. The intersection that is not on the map, and whose visible bearings counter the eventual reality. The right turn is the turn that puts you on the scenic route to the finish, and a turn that many other unfortunate teams took. The right turn is not the right turn. It was the turn that solidified our fate and put us from the "reach for the podium" to the "just finish" mindset.

Despite our missing the cutoff and dropping in placement behind all the teams that made the cutoff (even those getting far less orienteering points), I am proud of our team's performance. We took a more aggressive strategy than we traditionally have taken, reaching hard for the podium rather than playing it conservatively and shooting for a safer, lower placing. For the most part, we proved that we could hang with it. And while the strategy did not work out for us this time around, I am fairly confident that it could have gone either way. But that's adventure racing, and life in general, really.

After the race and reflecting back, I'm pretty amazed at what we accomplished as a team. Our teamwork was sound in the face of adversity, and we struggled and were able to thrive in the face of some pretty stout barriers. I have a post-race euphoria after most adventure races, where I reflect upon what actually happened during the sensory-overloaded weekend. Filtered down, here's the list:

• A spill on a raft that could've gone terribly wrong didn't.
• Our team's members nursed each other through their lows and maintained confidence in the team.
• Stranded on the side of a mountain, I was given a helping hand out of a potentially fatal situation.
• We rallied together and pushed ourselves beyond comprehension to reach a lofty goal.
• We finished not only as stronger racers, but as stronger people.

Laura's Take

As this is my first 24 race, many conversations come to mind in which I adamantly refused to do anything as "crazy" as race through the night. I was slowly pushed to expand my racing distance and time. Oh, I should also say that even through college, I have never truly pulled an all nighter by staying up for 24 hours straight, let alone have done anything this physically and mentally involved for this length of time. With this race completed, I am still surprised that it's doable to race for 24 hours and have some fun at the same time.

The venue was beautiful, the people putting on the race were very kind and helpful. We learned at the meeting the evening prior to the race that we had to have our packs ready to leave the venue at 5AM. This would have been fine, except we hadn't charged up the headlamp I was going to be borrowing (which feels like a headlight of a car in the dark), which is vital for the nighttime. This is my only complaint of the racing staff. If they had even told us this information when we had checked in, we could have had the light ready to go shortly after the meeting. But, as it was, we got about 4.5 hours of sleep the evening prior to the race.

The first event of the race was a bus ride to the bottom of the New River Gorge for some White Water Rafting. Those seats are lots smaller than when I was in school! :) But, we got in the first wave of boats that was launched and we were with another 4 person team. That team's female, Jill, volunteered to do the mandatory run/swim. She got back to the boat and we were off. She ended up in the water again during a class V rapid and we thankfully got her back in the boat safely. This did cost us some time, but we worked hard to catch up.

We arrived at the take out, had our packs waiting for us as well as a bag of dry clothes into which we changed. It was great not have to have the same wet clothes the entire race. With new/dry clothes and shoes and a snack (you get to eat the entire time you race, which is awesome!) we were off for the climb out of the gorge.

The next section was getting to our bikes where they were all together and we did some shoes changing (all except Josh who still rides with cages and one pair of shoes for the entire race) and we biked down some nice single track, trails, and some gravel roads. On one of the downhills on gravel, I didn't make the turn at the bottom of the hill, and full on my left knee instead of risking landing in the ditch that was beyond the road. The picture of my knee is here. I think that this crash actually helped slow us down and keep us a bit more calm as the early race jitters were still running around on our team. We then road on an old train track along the bottom of the gorge. It was along this path that I realized that my front shock was still locked out from the previous ride I had done on the Silver Comet Trail! What a different front suspension makes, especially when you are going down! My arms immediately started feeling better. At some point Mike towed me for practice and to get me to go a bit faster and we arrived at the next transition area.

At this point we were all out of water and refilled and had lunch. Josh, Jack, and Mike plotted the trekking check points. I do not possess these types of skills as of yet, so I just ate and helped get their packs and water/Nuun ready to go. We left out of there between 2 and 3 PM after getting some shout outs! (Thanks for those). We put on our gators for the bushwhacking. Mike and I have some custom made items that were making their inarguable debut at this race. They ended up being wonderful! The first thing that we had to do was to "climb", though it was more of a crawl up to the top of this plateau. This took about 1 hour and then Josh demonstrated some amazing navigation. We would be plowing through some trails, create a bushwhacking trail, and all of the sudden arrive at check point in the middle of no-where. One of these was up on a hill with a great view, (see the picture that is posted). Other than that, there weren't too many great scenes during this 12-13 hour trek. Throughout the night, we continued to get checkpoints, and were sticking to the plan of attempting to get 11/15 optional points. We knew that this would put us a bit close to the cut off with the bike in the morning, but we were willing to risk it. There were some tummy issues but we kept pushing and usually just one of us felt bad at a time. This left 3 others to take over and encourage the one not feeling so hot. We stopped to have a "dinner" and for Mike and Josh to review the map as dusk set in. Then, early early Sunday AM, we decided to stop and take another break. I remember all of us turning off our headlamps and sitting in the middle of the trail for about 5-10 minutes. I think that I nodded off twice during this time and both times, started to dream! We made our way back to the descent of the hill and Josh was blazing the way and got to a precarious spot. As he encouraged us all to go over to the right more, he realized that he didn't have a place to get a hold. Mike went back and was able to reach him and get him back to a more secure footing. We then took the more blazed trail back down.

We quickly refueled with water, had a mandatory gear check for rain jackets and cell phones and were off on the bikes. It was about 2:45 AM when we left. After immediately taking the wrong turn out of the transition area, we quickly corrected and were on the correct path a little before 3AM. I was so thankful to be a bit more awake after being around some brighter lights in the transition area. The Moab that I was using on my helmet is amazing and I was able to keep a pretty quick pace. The first road was a packed dirt, and Josh did a great job navigating us out. We used the bike computers and all kept alert to the landmarks. We passed some church and then ended up on the highway. Here is where the elevation gain started and also the sleepiness crept in again. I kept trying to open my eyes up more and to have the cold air 'blow' in my eyes to keep me awake. We found the "T-Pee" looking structure finally and had a huge bushwhack with our bikes. It was only about 400 Meters, but it was steep. Mike eventually took my bike along with his and got us to the top. I think that at one point he was carrying both of them, amazing! We got to the top and it was a flat area and went to the right, which isn't what the map said, but seemed to be where the trail went. Well, we quickly found out that the trail went this way because others had created this "trail" during their navigational error. At this point, I wish I had my gators on again as my legs were not cut up (except for the left knee from my spill) till we walked through this area. We finally turned around and were enjoying the beautiful sight of the sun. I think that we all felt revived as we continued to CP#5. This took us along some fun trails with rocks and mud puddles. Finally, we got to the end of the trail and arrived at the manned checkpoint with 15 minutes to then go another 10 K to the mandatory cut off of 7PM. We knew that this would not be possible, but we still peddled our hearts out and pushed it. We took a wrong turn somewhere, I ended up in a muddle puddle and we retraced our steps (back through the mud puddle) onto the Scenic Route. Somewhere along this path, Mike helped Jack convert his bike to a more ridable single speed and I had to have something to eat. I was all of the sudden really hungry!

We got back to a road and kept riding and then started down this really steep gravel road with larger gravel. My arms were tired from holding on (I know I am supposed to use my legs to absorb the shock as well as all this fancy suspension I have, but they were slightly out of commission by this point). We got to the bottom, finally, after many times in my mind I kept thinking, I really hope we are going the right way, I do not want to have to climb out of this the way we are coming in! We were met by the staff at CP#6 and told that we had missed the cut off and were directed to go straight to the finish. This we did and still pushed it a bit. I remember riding at one point and seeing Jack in front of me thinking... "Oh, there's that girl that did the race as a solo competitor!" I quickly realized no, that was Jack!  :) The path that we took was the way that we had driven into the campground and at one point I had to stop because I was mentally disappointed that the bend in the road I thought was going to be the last, wasn't. After declining the towing option by powerhouse Mike, we kept going and all arrived taking up the entire row, side by side. There isn't usually a bunch of fan-fair at the ends of the events, and this one was no different. We dropped off our passport at the table and got a hug from one of the volunteers.

We decided to leave our bikes, shoes, and packs and go immediately to eat after washing hands. We ate and then took showers. For me, I had a hot shower but they guys (since there were significantly more of them) didn't! The plan was to eat again after showering, but I felt ok. We got our stuff packed up and woke up Josh, who had fallen asleep on the grass after getting his stuff in the car. We decided that since Mike was feeling awake, and so was I, that he would drive and I would keep him awake. Josh promptly fell asleep again in the the back seat and Jack laughed along the way at how silly this was to attempt to drive any part of the way back on Sunday. (Mike and I were trying to make it back to ski some at the lake on Memorial Day). We got about 45 minutes down the road and after Mike didn't answer a question I asked (and didn't recall hearing me ask it) and I didn't finish a sentence I started, and I didn't remember having said anything, we decided that we were too tired to continue. So, we found a hotel and all crashed. We forced ourselves out of bed at 6 PM for Mexican dinner followed by a trip to Kroger for ice cream. We watch an episode of Law and Order and promptly feel back asleep. We got up and out of the hotel about 8AM and on the way home we stopped for a quick lunch in Asheville. We found a Chinese buffet and decided to disregard the need to make lunch quick. I think that we each ate at least 5 plates of food. As a side note, I should say that one high ranking perk of doing this crazy sport is getting to eat tons and tons of food! Full and happy, we left and continued the drive home.

Jack's wife, Cindy, kept calling us and updating us on our ranking. Regardless of where we finally ended up (I think 8th place), we had a great time and survived with minimal damage. Who knew that the human body could be pushed and survive for 24 hours!

Michael's Take

Wild wonderful was my first 24 hr race. I came into it with a mix of expectations from my only other non-sprint AR (Midnight Rush last September) and a few long training sections. These expectations included falling asleep during the overnight sections of the race and needing 1-2 weeks to recover after the race. Despite this, I expected to have a great time with Josh, Jack, and Laura in a great area for hiking, biking, and whitewater rafting. The team and the New River Gorge did not disappoint.

Summary:

• Charge the Moab battery BEFORE heading to the race. You never know when you'll need to have your pack ready by 5am for transport.
• Whitewater rafting on class 5 rapids is way better than canoeing.
• The bike along and down into the gorge was great. Very fun single- and double-track.
• Our aggressive approach to the orienteering section ended up being too risky, but showed us that we're close to competing with some of the top teams.
• Don't doubt Josh on navigation unless you're absolutely sure. He will probably stroll right up to the CP.
• The bike up and out of the gorge was worse than expected.
• Thankful I never reached the sleepy stage I've experience before on overnight events.
• I will do another 24hr race!

Pre-Race: The race format was 8 mandatory CPs obtained in order that defined the overall course and modes of travel. In the middle (between CP3 and CP4) was a 15 CP orienteering section in which CPs could be obtained in any order, and only 2 were required to remain official. The mandatory CPs and overall course map were given out Friday night. We'd have to wait to get the 15 optional CPs and map for the orienteering section during the race. I was a fan of the relatively small number of CPs and well-defined route between them as this seemed to make for straightforward and quick planning while preparing for the pre-race meeting. At check-in we found out we'd have to prepare our bikes for transport to CP2 and have them loaded into the transport truck before the pre-race meeting. Preparing bikes was a little more time consuming than I anticipated, but we pulled it off without any problems. At the pre-race meeting on Friday night, we were hit with some unexpected news. Packs had to be loaded that night or by 5am Saturday morning for transport to the end of the whitewater section. We had a borrowed Niterider Moab battery that needed charging which prevented us from being able to take care of the packs Friday night before heading to the hotel. Next time I'll make sure its fully charged before leaving for the race! After the meeting, we headed to our hotel (approx. 30 mins from the check-in/start/finish), picking up some tasty gas station pizza and making a wal-mart run for batteries and ensure on the way.

Saturday morning started too early at 4am, driving back to the start area to drop off our packs, shower, and attempt to sleep a few more hours. At 7:15 we got ready and eventually loaded buses to go to the start of the whitewater rafting. My stomach didn't like the bus ride on the windy roads down into the gorge, but fortunately settled quickly once we got off the bus. Boat selection and matching with another team to fill the boat was done by lottery. We got the third boat with another 4-person premiere (co-ed) team, allowing us to be in the first wave of boats heading onto the river. This was great because it allowed us to start as quickly as possible and avoid any extra waiting around. The prologue consisted of one person from each boat running up-river and then swimming back down to the boats (~100yds). One of the members of the other team in our boat was a very strong swimmer and volunteered for this (for which I was very thankful as I would have done it for our team!)

Rafting: The rafting started out great and we got the first class 5 out of the way no problem. We even worked our way from third in the line of boats to first in one of the flat sections. But then on the next class 5, one member of the other team fell out of the boat (the same one that did the prologue!) Thankfully, she did everything right, got to the shore with paddle still in hand (and sunglasses still on!), and we were able to pick her up. Unfortunately, it took quite a bit of energy to get upriver to get her, and dropped us to the back of our wave of boats. In addition to this, I think we had a relatively new guide (he freely admitted to having never rafted the final two class 3 rapids we went on!!!). In the end, we made it just fine through the rest of the rafting, but may have had a bit more paddling in the flat sections than teams with guides who knew the currents.

Trekking CP1-CP2: After the rafting, we transitioned quickly to foot. Putting the Injinji's on wet feet is not efficient, nor is it fun, but I still stand firmly behind them! The trek took us by road over the river and up and up and up out of the gorge. I took a few minutes exploring a wrong turn that looked like it should take us to the right trail, but the trail we wanted actually started a few hundred feet further up the road. We also exited the trail onto pavement before I anticipated, but in hindsight, this was probably a faster route as it was more direct and flat.

Biking CP2-CP3: Transitioning to bikes was relatively straightforward once we got all the neon orange duct tape off the bikes! The bike leg took on on a lot of nice singletrack, doubletrack, gravel roads, and some pavement back down into the gorge. Laura and I tried out the tow system on some flat gravel roads with uneasy success, but I felt better about using it later in the race if necessary.

Orienteering: At CP3 we received the orienteering CPs and a new map. Josh and Jack handled plotting the new CPs and picking our route to pick up as many as possible. Laura and I took care of filling up water bottles and bladders with as much as we could carry. (We anticipated 12+ hours out on the o-course.) Since we were again at the bottom of the gorge at CP3, we immediately had to bushwhack up out of the gorge to get to the o-course. We progressed steadily through the first 7 orienteering CPs. Josh and Jack were flawless on the navigation, leading us straight to CPs. As night began to fall, we overshot a CP causing us to change strategy. We originally had a plan to try for 13 CPs, but our slowing pace and overshot CP caused us to change our strategy and go for 11. As night fell, Josh maintained his excellent navigation, and with the help of the Moab, we picked up 4 more CPs and headed out of the o-course. Leaving the o-course took longer than expected due to fatigue and the fact that it was approaching 2am!

Biking CP4-CP5-CP6: We were told at the pre-race meeting that the bike from CP4-5-6 would take 4-7hrs. We also had to make a 7am cutoff at CP6. We had hoped to be leaving CP4 between 1 and 2 am, giving us 5-6 hours to get to CP6. Unfortunately, we didn't get off the o-course until ~2:30. Our transition was relatively quick, but we only allowed ourselves a little over 4 hours to get to CP6. We knew we'd have to push it. Based on the map, the ride to CP5 seemed relatively flat until a few km from CP5. Turns out the entire ride was up and down, making steady progress difficult. I was sure fatigue and sleepiness would set in on this ride, but was able to push through without problem. The sun started to rise as we approached a bikewhack on the way to CP5. Getting to the top of the bikewhack, we expected to see a gravel road of some sort. Turns out the "road" was actually nothing more than a path blazed through overgrown briars and giant mud puddles. We overshot it at first and spent 20 minutes or so looking for the nonexistent gravel. Getting back on track and riding through never ending mud puddles was the first time I started to wish a section would end. Coming to a stop in the middle of an unexpected 2 ft. deep mud hole didn't help! In my mind, I estimated we'd need to be at CP5 by 6am to make it to CP6 by the 7am cutoff. Somewhere in the mud puddles, 6am came and went, and I realized we probably wouldn't make the cutoff. Eventually, the trail started to climb further up out of the gorge and we left the mud behind. We finally reached CP5 around 6:30. We passed quickly through it, probably all realizing we would miss the cutoff, but still needing to cross the finish line! A wrong turn on the way to CP6 (which was heavily traveled by other teams before us!) took us through the scenic route to CP6. The scenic route had some great views, but it was long and we rolled into CP6 just after 8am.

Biking CP6-CP8 (finish): Missing the cutoff, we were forced to bike directly to the finish (CP8), rather than trek CP6-CP7-CP8. Missing the cutoff was a bummer, but worth the reason we missed it (our aggressive approach to the orienteering section). We took it easy on the ride and everyone was awake and in good spirits by this time. Crossing the finish line was great. We finished in just under 24hrs from the start of the rafting.

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