Storm The Trent
Trek Elite
Another fun, challenging, well-organized Storm event shared with friends. 'Bent and I raced solo and enjoyed our rivalry!
We started with a bus ride to the north side of Stony Lake, west of Petroglyphs Provincial Park. The first leg was a trek with three CPs we could visit in any order. I had chosen a stupidly cautious route, knowing that I risked losing some time but I didn't want to have to worry about screwing up in the first adrenaline-fuelled hour of racing.
I hit CP20 first since the easiest way to find it was to follow the marked trails from the start. Then I bushwhacked to the north end of the lake and went around to CP22, High Falls, where I saw Arthurd and 1L. There was a trail route all the way to CP21, then I bushwhacked until I was within sight of the lake and followed various unmarked trails back to the transition area. My simple-minded nav plan paid off, as a lot of people had trouble so I was one of the first racers in. 'Bent and Double_Downon11 arrived while I was in the TA, and I knew I'd see them again soon. My Garmin said the trek was 6.3K at the time but it now says 7K.
We biked 6.5K on paved roads to CP2 at the start of the powerline east of Petroglyphs Park. 'Bent and DD11 both passed me. Then we headed into ATV trails for 15K of fun, rocky, muddy, sandy, hilly riding with two CPs to locate along the way and a swollen creek crossing to keep things interesting. Although both CPs were right beside trails, they weren't obvious so we had to pay attention. CP31 was tucked behind a small shed. That's where Raid Pulse (Jackson5 and Nathalie - the eventual overall winners) caught me after they made a nav error on the first trek.
I had a deep, muddy wade with my bike right before CP30 and didn't see any evidence of passing racers so I began to doubt myself but pressed on. Arthurd was punching the control when I arrived. From there, it was a fun, bumpy, hilly ride back to CP2. I saw Wokitoki (eventual male solo winner) coming toward me. A little while later, he shot past me on his way out, so he'd obviously visited CP30 already. (It turned out to be a nav error so don't bother trying to discern his strategy!) Amber was on her way in too.
Another 8K on hilly roads, then at CP3 we turned into the woods again on another ATV trail. This one had some rockier sections but was still loads of fun. After the jackhammer biking at Tierra Viva, I was absolutely loving today's biking. You couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face! We had to stay on a marked route on the ATV trail for about 9K and look for two CPs along the way. Then we emerged onto roads that led us 8K on a marked route over a few hills on our way back to Warsaw.
We parked our bikes on racks by the finish line and transitioned to paddling. I had a quick chat with LosDobos as I got ready, then hit the water. We paddled almost 5K through Quarry Lake and up the river to Warsaw Caves Conservation Area. Between Tierra Viva and all those winter paddle trainer sessions, I felt great on the water even though I hadn't been in my own kayak since last fall. I passed a few racers (who passed me again on the final run).
We had four CPs to find in the conservation area in almost 7K. I did them counter-clockwise since that would get me to the toughest one first, using the transition area as my attackpoint. CP53 was so close that I just planned to use features and pace counting rather than following a strict compass bearing. Bad idea! The water features are more extensive than shown on the 1:15,000 map, and when I got to my destination, I stumbled on a concerned-looking Tom Martin instead of the flag. We looked around together, getting confused by an extra bay and stream. It all makes sense now that I'm looking at the satellite map! Eventually, I spotted the flag on the opposite side of an inlet so I swam across. It was so cold, I was hyperventilating! Garmin says that was a 7-8 minute error.
The remaining CPs were straightforward, on or near trails. Double_Downon11 caught up with me near CP50, and we got briefly distracted by the wrong fenceline break with a fallen tree. DD11 ran off and a short while later, I turned off the trail to bushwhack to the TA. I arrived at the top of a cliff within sight of the road I needed. It was treacherous and slippery and foggy, and I had to throw stones to figure out a safe route down since I could only see 1 meter in front of me. I kept trying different spurs and finally camped to wait for daylight... Oops, wrong race. :) There *was* a cliff!
I made my way to the TA, hopped in my kayak and paddled back into a headwind. Along the way, I enjoyed a brief draft behind DD11, whose plastic kayak was slowing him down. Then I paddled hard to the finish line, trying to reduce 'Bent's lead in today's spousal competition. Alas, he felt a lot better this year than last, and he crushed me by 33 minutes! He was 1st Masters and 2nd solo behind Wokitoki. Official results aren't out but I was the top female solo.
Good times hanging out with friends afterward including my special buddy, Emi Cameron aka The Monster. Thanks to STORM and all the volunteers for another terrific day!