Trioba 24 hour: Chelan to Plain

Snapshots of the Trioba 24-hour race: Chelan to Plain Washington.
Lightning across the entire skyline, rattlesnakes, pine forests, grasslands….

The prelude
By Murray
One-thirty in the afternoon and all four members of team Verve arrived in our three vehicles at Chelan Falls at exactly the appointed time. Turk, Christi, Peteris and me shook hands, hugged, all meeting in ritual motions that began the race. Typically, the team checked in first and at this race the pay-off was to have our maps first when we finished the two gear drops.

First, two kayaks were packed with our gear at the edge of the Columbia River. Here, the Columbia is actually a narrow, north-south lake because of a dam downstream. We guessed about when we would return to the boats since traditionally adventure race courses are not general knowledge. The team received pieces of information that the race director deemed necessary at the time.

Then we drove 20 miles south to drop off the bikes. Then, another drive to the small village of Plain. We have been on the road 3 hours just with the drop-offs. After driving from Seattle, I have had my limit of driving but the race director has other plans. In my mind, I did a little calculation. If teams get to check-in at the end time cutoff, they won’t have much time with maps.

We loaded the yellow school bus at 10pm to ride back to Chelan. The ride is slow and tedious. WHAP! My head hits the window when I try to sleep against it. Concussion force. Christi bragged she had 15 minutes sleep.

Glenn Rogers, the race director, followed the bus in his vehicle towards the start line. Police lights flashed so the entire group of vehicles pulled over. You can imagine the consternation of everyone. In the end, it was a courtesy stop to tell Glenn about a taillight.

Amazing! You’ve got to give Glenn credit, among torches and banners, the race started right on time at midnight. I love the night starts. I just want to race, so let’s do it. The night is the best!

Glenn had us start with urban orienteering, like a street scramble format. We ran around Chelan finding landmarks and with Peteris as navigator, we finished the prologue section in first place. Go team Verve!

The first trek
By Christi
The best moments in the race took place during the first trek. Team Verve is best when Peteris is navigating and we are on foot. The hills were beautiful, the stars were out. We talked about the constellations, the night birds and the mines we were sent to explore. These are the best moments in any race, the moments when the team is having fun and we are ahead of all the other teams.
The first trek
by Turk
We came to the end of the urban scramble through Chelan in first place. Then we started to climb into the heart of the first trek, to an area called the "Little Butte" by the locals. I was shocked at how fast DART climbed past us in the beginning.
It was cool seeing everybody's lights throughout the hills. Practicing light discipline kept the constant ups and downs exciting. When we thought the teams behind us could see our lights, we turned them off, only using the moon to navigate. Then when we went over a ridge top, and down the opposite side, we turned the lights on again. Unfortunately the low light did lead to one near tragedy, Christi slipped, fell and struck her face on the ground. She saw stars.
The paddle
By Murray
I love paddling! Many adventure racers don’t.

Team verve doesn’t paddle well. That is just a fact.

The sun rose (sort of). It became light as we left the staging area, but because of the north south direction of the water, with the high hills on either side, we were still in the shadows.

After 7 hours of racing, in people with 4% body fat, getting wet from kayak paddle splash, it was not warm. In fact., Christi was starting to shiver. “Sorry, I have got to put on some more clothes.” She apolgized.

My thoughts were very simple. Do what you need to do. It is only ¼ into the race.

Funny that the paddle didn’t register on anyone’s best or worst moments. To me it was very relaxing and comfortable. With our comptetitors making up 20 minutes on us, maybe I was too relaxed.

The first bike
By Glenn Rogers with editing by M.
I loved how on the first bike loop if you looked north, you looked right onto the butte that you trekked the night before and the river you paddled down that morning This race pushed the limits of a 24hr race but it is great to see all these team push into what is almost a multiday race. The whole course had so much.

Our point isn't to punish you. We are trying to grow the sport. All the teams stepped up to the challenge.


The second foot section
By Murray

The slope we climbed from the transition area from bike to foot, towards the next checkpoint, was very steep – and I mean very steep. The race director had labelled this the “procourse”, and it met expectations. There was no point trying to cut across the slope because of thick brush, so leading the team, I just zigzag up to the nearest ridge.

After getting the two footloop checkpoints, we head back towards the transition area and our mountain bikes. “Short cut.” Christi said. The mountain road goes off into the distance then turns 180 degrees to return below us. The skin on my ankle was already worn by my running shoes. Deep abrasions, frictioned into my ankles from the steep slopes on the first foot section caused me to think about another steep section, and another. If I really was concerned, I guess I could have stopped and covered the area, but I relied on the fact that we weren’t far from our bikes.

The plot thickens
By Turk
I had hoped to be stronger on the bike but I think the trekking took a lot out of me and my feet. At the begining of the procourse I dropped some gear that I wouldn't need but at the end of the mt bike it was cold and the extra jacket and spare gloves I had been carrying for most of the race were in the transition box. Dam the bad luck!

Biking towards the finish line
By Chrisiti
The Worst Moments were definitely when I couldn’t stay awake while riding the last section of the race. My problem is that my Friday morning started at 5am. By the time we had driven to Lake Chelan, staged gear, prepped the maps, gathered our bins, boarded and rode the bus for 2 hours, and started the race; I had already been awake for nearly 24 hours. Twenty two-ish hours of racing later, I just could not shake the drowsy’s. I asked if we could stop for a 15 minute nap, and the answer was a resounding NO! It was too cold for everyone to stop (I thought “well we can get into a huddle to stay warm, can’t we?”) Anyway, I was a zombie and not very helpful to the team. It was definitely a tough hour for me, one of the toughest yet.

The race hangover
By Murray
I struggle to wake up by moving my toes first and gradually my eyes opened to the uncomfortable brightness of fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Rolling over, my office floor where I lay was hard and uncomfortable. I guessed that I had been asleep for about 20 minutes.
Tentatively, I pushed up with my arms until I put weight onto my right foot. A more tentative first step onto the left side pained my knee and I limped forward to the office door. "Shit" I cursed out loud then hoped no one heard me. Luckily there wasn't anyone in the hallway as I limped along.
The thrill of the race, the glory of the finish line, and the grand outdoors had been left behind for four walls and a computer. My body felt like something important has been sucked out of the muscles. It must be like this when I get old. How many times have I gone through the completely drained feeling of post-race hangovers? It won't take long to recover - little by little, day by day.
Then I will get ready to do it again. Moab is next! Can't wait! But first I need to limp down to the restroom, and get back to work.

Thanks
By Turk
I have to say thanks to the spouses that supported the race. It always lifted my spirits seeing Petris and his wife together and on the procourse road run hearing him speak of her.