Race Report: All Out Events- Dawn to Dusk, May 14th, 2011
May 23rd, 2011 by Cindi
All Out Events- Dawn to Dusk Race Report
May 14th, 2011
Team Vanderkitten (VK): Cindi Choi, Julie Gleason, Lindsay Chirdon
It was an early morning, but Team Vanderkitten was sure to get up on time as we each set an alarm to roust us out of the tent. With most of our gear packed the night before and our kayak staged we got ready for the race ahead and made our way down to the center of activity. We staged our bikes, made some food to stash in the TA box, pinned our race bibs, and got our map. Our nav, Cindi was quick to sketch out a route before we loaded the bus to shuttle to the start line. It was a cold morning as we waited for Yishai to give the race briefing, so the RWG family huddled up for a pep talk & warmth!
The race started off in a big pack as we climbed up a mix of single track and fire road to the first two CPs. The first CP was easy to find as it was right of the main trail. Teams were quick to grab the punch & take off following the dirt highway. As the field began to spread out the turns got a little trickier but Cindi was excellent at navigating & observing the field. We made a right turn off the main trail to a trekking path and continued to climb as many teams still surrounded us. By the time we got to CP2, we were already taking in water and nutrition as it was a lot of climbing out of the gate! After we took off from CP2 and started another climb to follow the ridge line, some of the faster teams started passing us from behind. I was on Julie’s heels while Cindi was trail blazing ahead of us when “Why hellooo Vanderkitties!” was shouted at us by the RWG-A squad. It was disorienting at first to see them behind us but gave us an extra boost as our RWG teammates said hello & took off past us. We continued a steady trek across the ridgeline, and the view from either direction was stunning with the clear skies & sunshine.
The teams started to spread out as the brush got thicker, and pretty soon the Manzanita thatches started closing in on us. All of our small statures benefited us as we had to get down & crawl underneath the network of Manzanita & poison oak, and quickly lost some of the other male teams that were close by us. We were making really great time, and reached the decision point to cut down the ridge to CP3. We took some time to search for the “trail” noted on the map but were unsuccessful and as a team we made a decision to start bush-whacking down the ridge. The brush began to get extremely dense as we dropped down & the dead trees made it difficult to navigate. Cindi was on it with her compass & continued to keep us headed in the desired direction, although plotting a course through the tall trees, Manzanita, dead brush and poison oak was frustrating and draining both mentally & physically. We were totally on our own and were unsure what route the other teams must have taken. We continued to drop elevation and Julie found what we thought was an animal track, but ended up being a loose dirt slide. We all put our feet first and slid down super quick! There was one point where a fallen tree provided a swinging launch down more of the slide; Cindi & I took advantage of the branch and went screaming & giggling through the air!
We were so focused on the bush-whack & sliding (oh yeah, and laughing like little girls) that we probably didn’t eat or drink anything for a while. When we got to the bottom of the ravine all of our blood sugar levels seemingly dropped & I think we all got a little disheartened at the massive climb we were about to endure. I was really thankful for Julie & Cindi’s awesome attitudes at this point! It gave me a boost & we started the trek up the hill. We spent some time trying to decipher the best route both directionally and via the “path of least resistance.” Finally we all decided as a team to head up out of the brush and get our bearings again as we were under a massive canopy. The brush was so thick that we were literally army crawling up this massive hill, it was really demanding as it went on for hours! We finally saw the sky at some point and pushed through some massive poison oak patches & made it to what seemed like a trail; but most importantly we were at a great vantage point to see the ridge we needed to get to & finally saw some other teams for the first time in at least 2 hours. We took a short break, ate, popped some advil & made our way down to the next ridge, so relieved to be on a “trail” again. Cindi was really great with the map at this point, despite how much the trek had already taken out of us & she led us past another team and directly down to CP3. We took off down the trail from there, excited to have passed another team & made our way up and over the big hill that we later found out most teams ran around. We made it to CP4 really quickly via this route & I could not have been more excited to see bottles and bottles of Tecnu lined up. We took our time at CP4 which was also the bike TA. We ate, suited up for the bike & Cindi mapped out our next route. The RWG-A squad came through and said a quick hello & we were all excited to see how well they were doing so far. We hopped on our bikes made our way out of the vineyard area to Pozo Rd & enjoyed the ease of being in the saddle & off our feet.
When we got to the paved road we made a quick stop to adjust the map board, when two other male teams whizzed by saying something to the effect of “We gotta get ahead of those girls!” Upon hearing this we quickly jumped back on the bikes and hooked up a 3-way tow. I was out in front to start & dropped the hammer despite being uphill, into the wind to catch those guys! We flew by both other teams in a perfect line & it was sweet! I dropped off to the back of the tow after that and Cindi took the reins out in front. When we made our turn for the lake Julie stepped out in front. We followed the single track down to the lake to pick up
another CP & eventually down to the kayak TA.
We quickly threw our gear into the boat & put on our PFDs. Hani and Gwen were there to give us some support as we picked up our giant Mac-truck triple kayak and splashed into the water. We took off toward our first CP which was the zipline. We paddled into the zipline area & were all getting really excited as soon as we began to anticipate how much fun it was going to be. We quickly jumped out of the boat, grabbed our climbing gear & trudged up the hill. We put on our harnesses and enjoyed watching the few people in front of us take off. Julie was first to take off, followed by Cindi then me. I was snapping pictures and loving the moment.
We were still laughing as we paddled out of the zipline & made our way across the lake to the remaining CPs. Cindi was great at navigating the lake & we all worked together to paddle efficiently and in rhythm. We saw the RWG-A squad for the third time flying down the lake and seemingly making their way to the finish line. After picking up our CPs from the corner of the lake we made a long haul back in the direction we came from, this time into the wind for the final CP. At this one we had to portage the boat and we were very lucky that another racer was there to help us heave that huge boat up over some rocks. Cindi & Julie joked that if that
man hadn’t been there they would have sent me running; which I said yes to, but in the back of my head I was super bummed my feet were all wet (thanks dude, I owe ya!). After that last CP we turned toward the finish line and made our way onto the shore. We pulled our boat up out of the water and ran up the last little hill to cross the finish line together. We finished just under 12 hours, and as we were the only 3-female team…
finished first, second AND third!
Category: 2011 | No Comments »
