Raid (Day 2)

Stage Six: (Mountain Biking)

The beeping of my cell phone alarm started day two of the Raid. I crawled out of the rental van to see my teammates emerging from different tents. I felt bad for the team camping next to us as they rolled out of their frost covered tarp. I guess they thought nights would be a tad bit warmer.

The map showed that the overall that the overall elevation change for the day would be a big lose since we were starting at the Mt Bachelor ski area parking lot and ending in downtown Bend. A good section of the drop would come in the first few miles of the mountain bike ride we were about to embark on.

After the top five teams had checked out, the rest of the teams were aloud to start whenever they were ready. We punched the start line clock and headed out. After a quick downhill section out of the parking lot and the highway, we hit CP1, which was set up to get us onto the snowmobile trails that run throughout the region.

As we rode down the hill faster teams that had started behind us started passing us again. As I bounced down the road I continued to have to keep track of Lee and Chris who were behind me. That full suspension and disk breaks defiantly made for faster going than Lee and Chris with their older bikes.

We hooked up with a group of three or four other teams as we continued on the endless network of interchanging roads, trails, and paths. Most of which were on one of the three maps I had with me, but some were not.

After hitting the next CP it was going to be a straight shot to the finish. I just hoped we did not go the wrong way, on one of the many roads.

Right before hitting the CP, I hit some lose sand on the road and did a nice laid out belly flop. Landing in the fine sand broke was like hip checking into some nice high altitude powder. But unlike snow, the dust stuck to my cloths and sweaty body. It was just another layer of protection from mosquitoes and melanoma.

We finished the bike section without much more excitement. We continued our string of not last, but not record breaking times. Next to come was the down river canoe.

Stage Seven: (Down River Canoe)

Since I was felling better the second day and had just enjoyed a nice bike ride I was hoping to do the down river canoe; however, it was my turn to sit out. So I helped launch Trea, Lee and Chris into the river.

Their first few paddle strokes were not a thing of beauty and they were pushed to the shore of the river by the current. I started walking up the hill back to the van and hoped they would get the hang of paddling before too long.

After a quick pack job, it was back into the van for me to be driving to the canoe take out. At least I had time to eat and rest up before the next section that was going to be an adventure run. More running for me. Didn't I make a team so I did not have to run? I guess that did not work out according to plan.

Stage Eight: (Adventure Run)

I am not sure where the real adventure was in the next running section. It was more like a getting dragged behind a car for eight miles of dirt roads and trails, while enjoying the scenic views of the Deschutes River. The dragging was thanks to Chris whose knee was feeling better and was ready to excel in his strongest discipline.

If I was lucky the blue cord keeping me attached to him would break. Nope, not going to happen. See what I get for building too good of a tow system. Next time I am using fishing line and masking tape.

The run for the most part was on a fire road that ran next to the river. There were other trails that crisscrossed here and there, but the road went in the direction towards the CP, so we stayed on it. Teams began to thin out as we all made our way along the road. At one point during this section Team Montrail came running by us. Seeing Rebecca Rush getting towed and not looking her happiest was Trea's high point. Apparently elite teams do feel the effects of racing as well. I guess they are not actually robots sent here to make us mortals look bad. Of course Montrail did quickly pull away from us.

At one point during the run we decided to explore the trail system that paralleled the road. We quickly saw the error in our ways and made a beeline back for the road. At which time we ran into a French cameraman who ran with us for a while. He was not real sure where the next CP was and did not have a map, so he hoped we would not get him too lost.

As the cameraman and Trea chatted behind me, I consulted the map. One more bend in the river and we would be at the CP and well past the halfway point. We dropped the cameraman off at the CP and started down the trail next to the river. The cool breeze helped to lower my core temp, which was steadily rising. About five hundred yards (screw the metric system and meters) from the finish we saw team Purefit in front of us. I think seeing a new target gave Chris some extra motivation to finish the section off with a near sprint. Trea and I had other thoughts and had to real him back in. At least the tow system works well for that as well.

We hit the last TA and sat down for some food and rest.

Stage Nine: (Mountain Bike)

We waited in the transition area for a long time after we finished the adventure run because we wanted the majority of teams to start the mountain bike leg before us. This was due to the fact that nearly all of the mountain bike section was going to be on single track and there is nothing more annoying then getting repeatedly passed by teams during a single-track section.

So near the end of the start window we mad our way out of the starting line. Trea, who does not like mountain biking, got to sit the last stage out and would meet us at the finish line. It was going to be strange not finishing the race with the entire team, but that is the way things are, so we liked it.

The bike section started with a 3 or 4 mile climb. It was nothing too strenuous, but my legs were feeling the recent running section and the acid build up had not worked its way out yet. Hence the uphill was slow going and not as enjoyable as it should be since we were on some awesome single track. At least I had the nice long downhill to look forward too.

When DART passed us during this section they made us look like we were not even peddling. If I had that towrope now, I could have caught a fee ride up the hill. (That is as long as no one on DART noticed the extra
weight.) Too bad it was packed away. O well next time I'll remember.

We hit the downhill section and started to make up for lost time. We were actually flying down the fire roads we hit. We passed Team WickerAR as they sat fixing a flat. Hey maybe we won't be near the bottom of the pack on this stage. We hit a little uphill section and suddenly we came to a screeching halt.

Lee had chain suck. Now that may sound like something you can get from an underage girl in Thailand, but it is actually when the chain on your bike is pulled up into the crank rings. We tried pulling the chain out, but it was soon obvious that idea one was not going to work. Hey look here comes Team WickedAR, maybe Chad the super bike tec will stop and help us. No? Didn't think so. O wait here come some more teams. Ahh the fun of sitting on the side of the road watching teams go by.

Since idea one of fixing the bike did not works and option town of throwing the bike into the trees was not feasible, we were forced to do the repair ourselves. No dissemble Number Five: but dissemble bike ok. Five Allen wrench screws and two rings removals later, we had the chain free. Now it was time to reassemble: screw Number Five, he is not alive.

Well our twenty-minute repair job put us in last place, not only in terms of time on the course, but in people on the course. It had been a good five minutes since the last team had passed us. We hoped back on the bikes and started the final downhill section. Before hitting the Bend highway we managed to repass one team, and could see another one taking off down the road as we hit the last CP. We pushed hard to catch them as we flew down the road.

Once we hit Bend, there were s few sections where we had to make sure we were heading the correct direction, but we continued on our way and caught the team in front of us as they stood around looking lost. I was about to join them in this dilemma when I saw a volunteer motioning us to slow down because we had a hard right to make.

We rolled into the finish line happy to have completed the race. Trea, Wren and Carol all met us there. So we may not have been the fastest team in the race and we defiantly did not race a perfect race, but we had fun, learned more about racing the X-Raid and did not come in last place.

Next year I am bringing in a ringer, maybe Ian Adams might be available.