Brad Young, Shad, Chuck and Karla... shortly before the race began.
It worked out where folks in the Teton Valley (Driggs, ID) were putting on an one day adventure race this year. They called it
The Teton Valley Ogre Adventure Race Since we needed the practice for the
REV Cowboy Tough Adventure Race, we decide to head over to Driggs and give it a whirl. Casey Adams couldn't make this race with us though because she was competing in her first Ironman in a different part of Idaho. So... Chuck persuaded one of his co-workers, Brad Young, to join us. Prior to this race, Brad had never pedaled more than miles on a MTB. He also had never really ever paddled anything down a river before. It was definitely going to be an adventure.
The first leg of the race involved paddling pack rafts down the Teton River for a few miles and gathering points along the way.
Chuck and Brad scope out the pack rafts before we start. Using pack rafts would be a first for all of us.
Turned out to be pretty easy for most of us. The water was flat- experience in kayaks seemed to translate well. Brad didn't have that experience- but he learned fast.
The race started at 6:30am. We had to run count some bird houses and words on a plaque, so we probably didn't get in the water until a little after 6:30am. It had rained all afternoon and the night before, but the forecast for today was looking much better- though early in the morning the storm clouds still lingered.
Chuck throttles up.
After collecting a check point, Karla, our head navigator, heads out to the next one.
After an hour or so on the river, we hopped on our bikes to begin the first MTB leg which probably ended up being 15 miles or so. Not too far.
Our first big climb. Almost immediately Brad figured he'd be walking it. I told him Chuck didn't like walkers. He stayed on his bike and climbed the whole thing. Impressive!
Finally started catching up to some other teams on the bike.
At this point we started wondering where the other teams got their numbers. Apparently we had over looked those. Just weren't used to little ones like that. Oh well. The race was small enough, it didn't matter. At this point, we didn't realize we were the only 4 person team... I thought the girls in front of us were a 4 person team... there were four of them, and they all were together all the time.
Finding our first bike checkpoint, one that wasn't mandatory. Also found a frying pan on the way up. Turns out gathering points is how you win or place in an adventure race- not how fast you can go. The main way you get points is to go around and find as many check points (little flags with a special card puncher to verify you found them) as you can. They only look at times if there's a tie. However, the theory is, the faster you can go, the more time you have to gather the most check points... thus the term "race" is still appropriate. You're on the clock.
Pedaling down into a lake, we spotted another mandatory check point. This one would be interesting. Glad Chuck was carrying our card.
Trail conditions in and out of the lake were pretty technical.
Chuck walks (or rides) the plank to get the check point.
Monkey
After finding our first check point on the trekking leg, Chuck flashes gang signs.
On our way to finding our first 2 pointer. Some of the trekking points were worth more, presumably because you had to work harder for them. We decided to go for them, in lieu of lots of lower point ones closer together. Not sure that paid off... but it was fun. Plus we got to see some beautiful country!
Navigator was kicking butt!
Weehoo!
Chuck spots another check point- way out on a cliff band.
I'll take responsibility for the route... probably not the best.
It got us there though!
Karla plots a course to our next check point... a three pointer.
Didn't take us long to get to the general area of this check point, but it took us quite a while to actually find it, since it was hidden in a large crack. Brad was actually the one who found this one- saved the day, as we were getting close to giving up. I climbed down for the punch.
Nearing the end of the day, we're back on our bikes... back going up hill.
We had to make it back before 7:30pm, or risk time penalties or even being DQed.
After the trek, we had a rough time navigating and staying on course. We didn't get any more check points- basically ran out of time to look for them- just had to concentrate on getting back. At one point, about 7:12pm... I didn't think we were going to make it. We were kind of lost in the flats. Then finally, we saw the finish... and made it, with 10 minutes to spare. Whew!
Wind River Country Team finishes!
We actually took 1st place in the 4 person team category (because we were the only 4 person team). Ha! Over all, I think we garnered enough points (24, I think) to place 4th or 5th though, out of 10 or 15 various 1, 2, and 3 person teams... which was pretty good, we thought- four our first one anyways. It was great fun! Good times!
Here a link the video summary (see Chuck's monkey skills in action)...
