Untamed BOG!

To all my loyal readers and fanatics following Team LBF in the world of AR and generally epic adventures,



I am sorry for the delay in my Untamed report. To get right to the point we had a very good Untamed NE a couple weeks ago. It was a good race and some great untamed competition. Team Summit Achievement was the Untamed NE winner and Running Free, one of the top Canadian teams, took an untamed 2nd while a very untamed Team LBF took an untamed 3rd.



For 59 untamed hours and 34 untamed minutes we biked, trekked and paddled through some of the most untamed wilderness New England has to offer. I also want to express my gratitude to Grant and the hole Untamed Adventure Team for bringing such a great event to our untamed region most widely known as The North Country. It was great to have such an untamed event up here to compete in and it's about freaking untamed time that someone came along who is untamed enough to bring us Untamed NE (http://www.untamedne.com/). I'm sure that Untamed Virginia in September will be very very...dare I say...Unforgettable?

Race HQ, Start and Finish was at the Franconia Inn on Easton Rd. We made a quick loop on a couple ski trails and through a huge mud puddle in the first 3 minutes (Thanks Grant!). Then off to The Rocks Estate for "Conservation" AKA: Stacking Wood, AKA: doing Chucky D's job for him! Next it was to Remich Park in Littleton and an O-Course that lead us over Parker Mountain. The trail system was so confusing in that section that we almost didn't make it out!...who am I kidding? I put the map away until we got to Waterford, VT...We had a 15 minute lead going into the paddle and were in 3rd by 2 minutes when we got off the water. One reason was the three person teams had one boat with 3 paddles, exactly 1/3 more horse power than our boats, the other reason is we suck at paddling. To our defense it's mainly because we never paddle for training just try and survive the paddle sections in our races...probably should get on the water more.

The Victory Bog section...yes I said Bog...was a quick very hilly bike ride away. We arrived at the VB Section around 8:30 PM and headed into the swamp and mucked about for 5 hours. It was a flash from the past but in Patagonia the bogs were moss with beaver dams that we walked around and over. Grant, I guess, decided that Patagonia was too easy so he sent us straight through the beaver ponds!

An absolutely frozen Team LBF rode into TA 6 at 3:30 AM in Lancaster. We drank these self heating cups of coffee Jamie found at the store and packed up for another 20 hours of racing. We rode to the Mountain View Grand with a quick jog to the top of Prospect mountain (Blah) where we saw the Wicked Pissah gang grunting up on our way down. After the MVG we had a near "CheckPoint 18" (see: http://teamlittletonbikeandfitness.blogspot.com/2007/06/nears-vt-12-hour-ar-huh.html) In my state of weakened condition at the last TA I "thought" I put some maps in the bin instead of my pack...so we had a moment of terror and improvisation brain storming on how we could finish the race without the maps I didn't realize I actually had in my pack. We ran with that for about 20 minutes till Jenny told me "Why don't you just empty your bag and see cuz I don't really want to ride back to Lancaster." That settled we started to race again.

We blew through the first O-Course in a crappy time but nevertheless had fun. The next bike section was nothing short of HELL! Cherry Mountain Rd from Rt 2 in Randolph to Bretton Woods (Stop: Eat Pizza and Cake), Mt Washington Base road to Jefferson Notch Road, over Jefferson Puke road to valley road to where we started! The only good part of that was the Pizza and cross eyed paranoid delusions I had while riding up Jefferson Notch Road!

The second O-Course we nailed and cleaned in a very respectable time. the best part of that was climbing the mt to CP1 and seeing a billboard...I know what you're thinking, hallucination right? That's what Jamie said until he saw the billboard too! Then it got even better. Sam Brown's head popped out from behind the billboard! This was a secret CP that was fully stocked with our teammates husband, baked beans, coke, sandwiches and hugs! The best uplift we could have had. Secretly before the secret CP I wasn't sure we would make it through that big O-Course before the cut off, but Dave Lamb gave me a little pep talk and the energy level was great after that. Remember we had not slept in 40 hours. The nav went super smooth on the next section and we hit every CP right on the first time and very quick...

The long paddle was after our 45 Min nap in a field and was a total blur. All I remember is finding a box of donuts and egg sandwiches under a bridge and eating 4 and 2 of each respectfully! From Lancaster to Moore Dam was about 3 1/2 hours and the weather could not have been nicer.

We rode from Perkins to the back side of the Rocks Estate for more of Charles' unfinished work and then down into Franconia and up three mile hill to Artist Bluff for our ropes section and a silly kayak around Echo. Now, I know that it was done for exposure purpose but, I am an athlete and I train really hard to do what I do. In this case "what I do" was stay up for 3 days and race over 150 miles on foot, bikes and paddling. So, I did feel like a bit of a chump when a guy sitting on the beach at Echo lake said "Hey are you in that Adventure Racing thing? looks like it's pretty tough, do you all have to paddle all the way around the lake (in a sarcastic tone)?" Little did he know I actually was seeing two of him from the lack of sleep and that limp I had was closely related to the 30 miles of trekking I did the night before.

We ended the race with a trek up to Greenleaf hut then down to Lafayette Place, back up Cannon and down three mile hill on foot to a merry finish of the full pro course in 3rd place 26 minutes before the midnight cut off. We were one of 3 teams to get all the Check Points and that means we ROCK!

They had 23 pizzas waiting for us when we got there and I started eating until someone said I had had enough (9 pieces or 1.145 pizzas later). Jamie had a beer and nursed it till Rob almost hit the moose. Jenny fell asleep waiting for Sam who was on top of Kinsman With Dave H and Hailey. Mel tried her hardest to convince me she was ok to drive home after being awake for 66 hours but was glad Darlene was on the left side of the car when she saw the three little pig's chasing a wolf down main street Franconia.

Killer Race and we are pumped to have such a good event near home!

Yacky Out-

Team LBF Picked as Race Favorite...Crap!

Filed by Untamed Adventure Staff at 5/26/2008 1:47:00 PM
We solicited feedback from a variety of adventure racing "insiders" and can share a bit of their insight into the Untamed New England race roster. We asked them which were teams to watch, how things stack up, and this is what they said . . .On Littleton Bike and Fitness (Littleton, NH):This team is the concensus favorite to top the Untamed New England podium. First off, they're a fast team with Jenny "What is lactic acid?" Johnson leading the charge. They'd be a competitor for the victory in almost any race, but the fact that this event takes place in their backyard (Littleton is just minutes from the host hotel) stacks the deck in their favour. They might even set their maps aside for stretches of the course, who knows...Quote: "Everybody that has a teammate that has beaten Danelle Ballengee in a solo Ultra Endurance race please raise your hand."___________________________On Team ABC / Capital Bikes (Annapolis, MD):This team figured prominently in most expert picks, which slots them in at the #2 position for our purposes. One teammate, Tamela Lynch, is local to the Franconia region, and familiarity with a region is always a big plus. The concensus is that the more paddling in the race, the better for this team (team captain Bill Vickers owns a paddle shop in Maryland and they excel at that aspect of racing). One unknown for this race is how recovered Team ABC is from injuries sustained earlier this year, but our panel thinks a healthy team is certainly one to watch.Quote: "If there's a ton of paddling Bill Vickers and ABC/Capital Bikes are a good choice."___________________________On Team Running Free (Quebec, CA):The most experienced Canadian team in the race, Running Free is also favored to earn a podium spot (we're tucking them into third position). With success in prior years at Raid the North (one of Canada's highest profile events), and a long list of other race achievements, don't be surprised to see this team shine in this rugged course. Some have even suggested them as a dark horse to win the race.Quote: "Every time I race in Canada I'm truly amazed at how much higher their average fitness level seems."___________________________Truthfully, as one reviews the Premiere Division (3 and 4 person coed) nearly every team looks competitive; Berlin Bike (CT) earns podium finishes on a regular basis and NYARA (NY) has a wealth of experience to rely on. Team A-List (VA/MD), while racing their first event over 30 hours, have a lot of race wins over the years and could be a dark horse to upset some of the more established teams despite this being their first truly multi-day race. Calleva (MD) is another strong team from the mid-Atlantic and a popular dark horse pick amongst our panel. Team Summit Achievement (ME), GMARA (VT), BreatheMag.ca (Ontario, CA) and Gung Ho (PA) have strong rosters and could excel on race day. UltraBambi (NH), despite their youth, won 2nd place at Untamed Virginia 2007 and shouldn't be taken lightly. A late registrant to the race, Aquan / Racing With Giants from California, wasn't included in the roster we circulated to our insiders so we don't have any formal predictions regarding them. I suspect, to make a trip from the West Coast to a race like this, you've got to be race-ready and this team could surprise everyone as we rarely see West Coast teams on the Atlantic side of the country.In fact, the one main take away from our conversations with the "insiders" is that this is the strongest field for any event we've ever organized. I'm sure it's self-selecting; a 60-hour event is bound to attract the higher caliber teams and scare away the rest. We think it's going to be a lot of fun to see how it all plays out.While we focussed on the 3 and 4 person coed teams (the premiere division for this race), there are some very strong teams in the "Open" division where teams of 2-people and single-gender teams are permitted. Team Wicked Pissah / Fitness Together (MA) stands out as one of these teams to watch; they've got lots of big race experience and know what the New England mountains can dish out. Wishful Thinking Fools (VA), in the 2-person category, will also be strong and we understand they've been making annual trips to the White Mountains of New Hamsphire for some time now . . . so this race will be, strangely, not so foreign territory for these two Virginians.Honorable mention has to go to the brendacohenjewelry.com team (PA); we know from experience that they're the team most likely to stash some home brewed beer in their gear bins. Them, along with Ride Too Fast (VA), could win the "most smiles" award bestowed by race checkpoint staff. We'll have to see how that contest shapes up!Finally, lest we lose sight that this is about fun and experiencing the outdoors and testing personal limits -- more than it is about who crosses finish lines first -- we'll close with a quote from one particular insider known as Dr. Evil to many in the New York orbit:
"Regarding the NYARA male team, I just don't want to hear any stories about a team puppy pile in the woods in order to stay warm while sleeping."Here's to a fun race everyone!

Pats Peak 24 Hour MTB

Words cannot describe the feel of riding a bike for 24 hours. It's a mental game as much as physical. Last weekend at Pats Peak Jamie and I, defending champions, were 95% ready to go and race hard, we brought our new bikes and were prepared to hurt.

After returning from Patagonia we both have been training well and getting in plenty of hours on the bike. We've even commented to ourselves during weekly 7+ hour workouts that it feels like nothing to be out riding for 6 or 7 hours with little to no breaks.

Long story short, after Jamie's TWO high speed crashes, my Technicolor yawn and 20 laps of seeing the same trail over and over again we both said "Wow, this is really boring" We decided that for the sake of the Untamed Adventure race 10 days from then we should and would use Pats Peak as a training race and hit the sack. However, Greg Jancaitis our good friend and competitor blasted the race course and put in 32 laps for 1st place and a totally horrific 46 min pace! Greg is Racing for MS this year in a bunch of 24 hour MTB races and he makes about $5 a lap for charity...Check out his website and donate to a great cause! http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/MEMBikeEvents?px=4369451&pg=personal&fr_id=9042&s_tafId=73206

Lets take a moment and tell two little stories...

Flying down a a muddy S-turn, that was something like a greasy washboard with ferns all around, Jamie found the (nearly) perfect line. As he edged around the final turn he brushed a tall fern with him handle bar...what he didn't realize was there was a 4ft stake with a course marker hidden behind the fern (I know great placement, as if you couldn't tell which way to go the with yellow caution tape lining the trail around you and the 4 ft wide swath of mud cut through the center of the "death" valley of ferns) his bar clipped the stake and spun the bike to the left. Wilson went from cyclist to missile to sack of potatoes...make that very muddy sack of potatoes in all of about 1/8 of a second. He rose with the "puppy dogs tail got caught in the car door" look and was a little bewildered. I showed him the stake and laughed a bit while I checked his bike and he checked his wrist (see post "spills chills and Canadian thrills" section Wilson vs gravity for more information). Jamie's response was simple "What the Bleep is the Bleeping thing doing there? Take that the Bleep out of the ground and throw it in the woods."

PS The second crash was even cooler to watch...high speed body part yard sale on a wide open grassy slope going about 40Km an hour...HA

Last story...

At about 6 pm 10 laps into the race I started feeling "funny" (Funny: noun (1) blurred vision (2) stomach cramps (3) hallucinations (4) vertigo (5) you know...funny). I told Wilson that I was a little messed up and that I was starting to hurt way more that I should for this time in the race. Two laps later, I was on the verge of puking and we rode by a guy that knew us. He said "wow you guys are the ones that won this last year!...I want to be just like you, heck I want to ride half as many laps as you do" As this nice man was saying all these kind words I was responding with "Thanks...(Dry Heave)...oh your too kind...(Dry Heave...Dry Heave)...no really you don't mean that...(Dry Heave)...I..." The man then got off his bike and started walking the hill we were climbing. I started throwing up everywhere. I tried like the dickens to time my pedal strokes so that I wouldn't puke in my shoe but there was just to much puke and not enough space between strokes. So, once again I managed dirty a shoe with bodily fluid normally reserved for the shimmering waters of the porcelain thrown (see post Tuckerman Inferno)...The best part of that whole thing was hearing this guy behind me saying "he's puking...holy crap he's puking and still riding...riding away from me and puking"...Ah Summertime!

Yacky Out-