Training Log Archive: Gryphon

Home Stretch

We all grimaced when we hit the bikes. We kicked up the level and raced out of CP6. Hit the highway and Sandman lead the way for most of the 30 km with a fast pace (22-25 km/hr). He was on a 29er and the rest of us on "old" technology coupled with the fact I couldn't access all of my gears....we had a minor nav error on the way back as we made a turn one road too soon to go to Nobel and hit a dead end at the rail road tracks....we quickly turned around and made the correct turn this time! It seemed that the last 3 km went on forever and it was with great relief to see the HQ after a long 29 hours!! We had to wait until Team 31 crossed the finish line in order to know that we won the coveted Rookie Team award!! Great race, great organization and logistics, great support from the volunteers and race staff......we will be back with a much greater appreciation for maps from 1988!!

PS....family and friends were glued to their computer's back home and loved the live tracking. My wife said she was even yelling at the computer saying "you are going the wrong way!!!"

Event: Wilderness Traverse
 

Trekking (started at 5 pm)

If you would have told me that for the next 19 hours I was going to be crashing through the bush, I would have said you are full of it!! Boy was I wrong. After two swims, first to cross the channel after TA1 and the second to get to CP4, our team got "stuck" and ended up spending some time between CP4 and CP5. PatrickC has a great play by play of some of our miscues as I was suffering from the sleep monsters for about 3 hours. I also had something in my left eye which no matter how hard I tried couldn't shake it. I had to close my eyes every chance I got due to it being uncomfortable. I wasn't much help on the navigation so took it upon myself to blaze the trail when I could. We met up with two other teams on the march to CP5. During the night unfortunately only one of the three teams would decide to continue....us. Despite some of us being tired and cold we headed off. At this point I got inspiration from a friend back home who just days before WT completed her 8th and final round of chemo and told myself to suck it up as this ain't so bad!!! Shortly after this point, another sign was finding someone's walking stick in the middle of who knows where as this helped take some of the load off. We hit CP5 around 6 am and were greeted by Bent with some cheese and crackers!!! That hit the spot!! We spent some time here "collecting" our thoughts and after some supporting words from Bent we decided to make a "run" for the 12 pm cut-off at CP6. We made our way around the lake via skirting the lakes along the shores and taking the beaver dam to cross. We trekked up a few steep areas and hit a trail that was actually on the map!!! We followed the flags out until we hit the logging road. By this time we were all suffering from shredded feet and severe chafing....of which I am still suffering some of the side effects today. It was like the march of the penguins as we waddled our way for 12-14 km to CP6. We hit CP 6 around 11 am. Got some supporting words from Greg/Julie for me as I was ready to stay back and let the other three ride back as my ass was on fire!! We felt that if we rode back at a leisurely pace we would be able to make the 2 pm cut-off and not put any additional strain on us. That was all thrown out the window when team 31 rolled in and we realized that we were both Rookie teams competing for the coveted rookie team award. Shiite!!!

C • The magic walking stick 1

Well this was our first foray into the 24+ HR Adv Race world and needless to say we definitely learned a thing or ten about what to expect in the future.....yes, that's right we will race again! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I share the same birthday as Bash and thanks for the cake!!! I believe Spinning out of Control was one of five rookie teams. Raced with Sandman, PatrickC and Gavin. Overall the mountain bike was awesome with some minor trail misses but nothing that we didn't expect. At the 6.5 km mark, on the first section of sand, I blew my chain and got back on the road after a six minute hiatus. Shortly after CP1, went over a large rock and as my home made map board was grabbed by a tree and before I realized it I was sailing through the air. I was able to crash with grace...ie. didn't severly hurt myself but could have very easily!!! Quickly jumped back into the mix and caught up to the team. Shortly after that realized that my front tire had a nice little wobble to it. Chose not to tell the team at this point in time to see how I could manage it. I was a little skeptical bouncing off the rocks going downhills as I didn't know if it was going to buckle ......needless to say it never did.....phew!!!! Cramps bike began to squeak very loudly and we didn't know if it was going to seize up or not....once we figured out it was the derailleur pulley we chose to ride through the annoying noise. Getting to CP2 went relatively smooth however team mate started cramping up between CP 2 and CP3/TA1. Needed to take a few breaks to allow him to take in electrolytes and water.....we managed to literally limp in just under 9 hours. Refuelled...as mentioned in many reports, Ice cream was awesome!

C • I remember passing a team w... 2