Oct/090
Team ASJ Race Report: Shooting Star Adventure
Race By Mike Erbe & Katrin Tobin • Photos courtesy of Shooting Star Adventures
Digging Deep
November 13th
Badger Cove, Lake Del Valle
We didn’t jump at the chance to race the Badger Cove Adventure Race on November 13th. After a long season of racing, Katrin, Tim & I worried that another six-hour race might plunge us into the deep-end of the dreaded “no recovery” abyss. The final consensus after two minutes of discussion: “What the heck? It looks like fun!”
That, however, was not the predominant sentiment at 4:30 AM on race day as we headed for Lake Del Valle in the Livermore hills. We knew that the steep canyons in the area were going to be a challenge, and with rain showers predicted for the area, we’d be playing roulette with Mother Nature.
The race was configured so that teams would ride to the transition area, kayak then run/orienteer or vice versa, and then ride back to the start/finish. The warning that there were not enough kayaks for everyone to be on the water at the same time (and that there were only two singles) dictated our strategy. By bagging fewer bike checkpoints on the way out, and getting to the reservoir first, we’d make sure we could get out on the water without delay. And given the unsettled weather, we definitely didn’t want to be in the deep-end of the lake if the wind came up.
We felt both clever, and a bit guilty for taking one of the only two singles available, knowing that there were solo racers in route. (While none of us would ever admit to having this self-serving idea, we all recognized it as a good one at once.) We jumped into the boats and paddled furiously for the three kayak checkpoints. Along the way, we were treated to spectacular views of the surrounding hills and clay cliffs along the lake that had been carved by the water. We also made mental notes of some of the inlets and pitches we’d revisit on foot.
After 90 minutes of paddling, the transition to waddling was traumatic. We opted to head straight uphill first, desperately coaxing our stiffened hamstrings and glutes back into service. Finding eight checkpoints on and among these steep knolls and deep canyons was going to keep us on our navigating toes.
The hunt for checkpoints got smoother and more rewarding when we hooked up with Thomas Bastis, who was racing solo. The extra set of eyes and maps made us more efficient and we began watching the altimeters and distances/pace more closely. Collectively, our energy was refreshed and inspired, and by now the weather had cleared up too. We were treated to sunshine and stunning views of the lake from every hilltop we scaled.
Back on our bikes, we had five more checkpoints to pick up on the way to the finish. A couple of them were tricky to find and, as usual, mediocre navigation skills created delays in our itinerary. We felt considerable relief as Tim sprinted up to the fire road after finding the last checkpoint buried in a creek bed. Katrin was back on her bike first, so we chased her all the way back up to the top of the ridge for the descent down the other side to the finish.
As the paved road into Del Valle was off limits, we struggled to find a legal route back home. We could see a fire road on the other side of a ridge and decided to bushwack over to it, rather than ride around it. Thomas had stayed in contact with us and we all took off down a steep, trail-less canyon. This turned out to be some of the most rugged country that we have raced in, and the canyon walls simply dropped away in places to a creekbed that was 200 feet below. We could see the road down at the bottom, and continued our hike-a-bike to it. We guess that this took more time than if we had ridden around it, but the experience sure was epic! Shortly after relaying our bikes down a six foot cliff, we squirted onto the road. Digging deep, Tim put the hammer down and led us across the finish line in just under six hours. This netted us a 3rd place finish in the three person, co-ed division.
Mike Murphy and the staff at Shooting Star put on a great event. The venue was terrific, the course was challenging, the mood friendly, and the barbeque was copious. And, when Mike Murphy dug into the deep–end of his schwag bag and handed out tons of prizes, everyone was a winner!
Team ASJ members Katrin Tobin (42), Tim Johnston (38) & Mike Erbe (49) work and train in Santa Cruz, CA. Tim lives in Los Gatos, while Mike and Katrin reside in Santa Cruz.
Oct/090
Team ASJ Race Report: Tahoe Big Blue Adventure Race — Big Blue Grinning and Sinning
Teammates Tim Johnston, Katrin Tobin, and Mike Erbe, aka Team Adventure Sports Journal, held the lead in the Big Blue Adventure Race Series going into the final event …the challenging Big Blue Championship, held on September 11th.
Race day dawned in spectacular Lake Tahoe fashion: cool, clear, and thankfully, unlike the 2003 edition of the race, with no wind to antagonize the waters we’d be kayaking in. The Big Blue Championship was to be the longest and toughest of the four series events. And the point stakes had been raised for those of us competing for the Overall Series. Our wins at Red Tail and Silver Sage had put us atop the leader board in the 3-Person coed category, but the halo of Team Our Angel Nicole glimmered in our peripheral vision. It would take a 4th place finish or better to beat them to the Pearly Gates of Big Blue Heaven.
The race began with a brisk run from North Tahoe Regional Park to Kings Beach, where the kayak started. We had identified the Silly Rabbits (4-Person Coed) as a team of distinction due to their astounding finish times in previous races so we felt confident with them leading the way. It appears we were in good company as the entire herd of kayaks chased the Rabbits all the way to Carnelian Bay.
We paddled back to King’s Beach and after dropping off the kayaks, ran back up to the bike staging area at the park. As usual, given Tim’s pace, it was intense. After charging up to the Sawmill Flat checkpoint by bike, teams chose which to tackle first: eight bike check points in and around Northstar or eight Orienteering checkpoints on foot.
We headed out toward Mt Pluto on our bikes hoping to take advantage of frisky cycling legs. We pedaled intently up the paved Fiberboard Freeway to the back of Mt Pluto. We had raced to the top of Northstar’s ski mountain from Tahoe City the year before so we pedaled with conviction in the efficacy of our route choice. The absence of other teams should have concerned us. But at the time, we figured most of the teams were opting to Orienteer first and bike later, and smugly thought we might simply be ahead of the rest…
The scenery was spectacular, the cycling terrain a blast, and we all felt good. In fact, at one point Katrin was unstoppable as she zoomed down a wickedly fun single track, leaving Tim and Mike in a cloud of dust! As a result, the endorphin levels stayed high even though, as usual, we did a bit of head scratching with regard to matching our actual position to the squiggles on our maps. “Where do YOU think that we are?”
We eventually made it back out of the woods to the Sawmill Flat checkpoint and the Orienteering section of the race. We had brushed up (pun intended) on the map symbols, and were really concentrating on using our altimeter and compass. With Tim leading the charge, we managed to pick off seven of the eight checkpoints with no problem. As for number eight… Well, that one took a bit longer as we ran around in the forest mumbling, “It’s gotta be here someplace!”
It was then back on the bikes for a return ride to the park, and the finish line. Tim set a blistering pace, and boldly led us along some white-knuckle fire roads as we descended back toward the lake. We sprinted, still
grinning, across the finish line with a time of eight hours and 13 minutes and 3rd in our division.
As we awaited the final results and feasted on the post-race BBQ, we compared strategies and routes with other teams. It wasn’t until another racer commented, “I thought the Fiberboard Freeway was off limits,” that our grins faded a bit. Back in a huddle, we carefully uncrumpled our race instructions and read, “No riding on pavement west of Sawmill Flat.” No wonder we hadn’t seen very many teams out there – they had climbed the trails at the front of the mountain while we were skirting around the back.
Todd Jackson, the organizer of the Big Blue Series, frequently mentions the cerebral aspect of adventure racing. There is more to this sport than just going fast. Not only do you have have to think your way from checkpoint
to checkpoint but you also have to carefully read and digest the race rules! We told Todd what had transpired, accepting responsibility and any consequences for our mistake. It was some consolation that we were not the
only team that had blown it. We were given a two hour time penalty, which bumped us down to 8th place in the co-ed division for the day. Absolved of our foolish sins, and given our top finishes in the other three races, we were still left with enough points for second place in the series. Kudos to our angelic (and intelligent) rival, Team Our Angel Nicole, who raced piously enroute to winning the Series Championship.
This was Team ASJ’s first full season of adventure racing. We got schooled and had a blast. The teamwork, the training, and the learning elevated us both as a team and as individuals. And, we really need to thank the folks at ASJ for being so helpful and supportive. They exemplify the very spirit of adventure racing.
EDITOR’S NOTE: There is evidence indicating that the members of team ASJ have not yet hit the off-season couch. In fact, even after fixing a flat tire, Katrin turned in an amazing performance and placed 2nd in the Santa Cruz Sentinel Triathlon on Sept. 26. Tim returned to Lake Tahoe, and garnered a fantastic 3rd place finish at the X-Terra Triathlon on Sept. 25. He will be heading off to the XTerra World Championship race later this
month. Meanwhile, Mike also raced in the Sentinel Triathlon, finishing 2nd in his 45-49 age group. The very next weekend he placed 4th overall and won his age group in Scott Tinley’s Off-Road Extreme Triathlon.
Team ASJ at Xterra Nevada
by Tim Johnston
It was another great race weekend at Lake Tahoe as I represented Team ASJ at the Xterra Nevada off road triathlon.
Two triathlons were held in Incline Village during the last week of September – the USA Championships, which are reserved to Xterra series point leaders, and Xterra Nevada, which is open to anyone hearty enough to want to conquer the tough course. Having raced only one Xterra event this year, I did not have enough points to qualify for the championship race, but wanted to give the Nevada course a shot. The bike course and distance are the same in both races, but the swim is shorter (thank goodness!) and so is the run.
The swim started with a cannon blast. All 259 competitors ran to the water’s edge, and then tenderly stepped on the rocky lake floor until the water was deep enough to dive. I wondered why the swim would start in such a rocky area – then I remembered I was racing Xterra, where nothing is conventional or easy.
Despite rumors that the water was “relatively warm,” my feet and hands were numb upon exiting the water and starting the much anticipated mountain bike ride. But the bike course made it all worth it. It was an
absolutely amazing 18 miles of the best single-track, rock-jumping, edge balancing, technical riding that stayed true to the spirit of offroad riding. Much of the trail ride gave a thousand-foot view of the clear lake below.
The run was a dizzying 3.1 miles, meandering through creeks, over logs, under branches, then over the creek again on a narrow felled tree.
My finishing time of 2:30:51 put me at the top of my age group and 3rd overall in the race.
And now…off to Nissan Xterra World Championship in Maui!
Oct/090
Adventure Racing: The Big Blue Series
By Mike Erbe and Katrin
Tobin
Team ASJ entered the extremely rugged Big Blue series of adventure races as a three person co-ed team. The following are the results from the first three races of the series, with the Tahoe Big Blue finale coming on September 11. Tune in next issue for Tahoe and final series results.
Race #1:
Silver Sage AR, June 19, Reno. FIRST PLACE (3 Person co-ed )
Race #2:
Red Tail AR, July 14, Walnut Creek. FIRST PLACE (3 Person co-ed)
Race #3:
Ocean Blue AR, August 7, Half Moon Bay. THIRD PLACE (3 Person co-ed)
Three Down, One to
Go.
“I am getting REALLY SICK of these damn hills!” We are five plus hours into the Red Tail Adventure Race as Katrin Tobin vehemently spits out the words…along with a mouthful of trail dust. I catch Tim Johnston’s wink – we’re counting. This is the first complaint we’ve heard Katrin mutter since we bought a bottle of cheap Chardonnay, five years ago.
We’re on our mountain bikes, backtracking after having realized we’ve descended right past the last checkpoint. The three of us, aka: Team Adventure Sports Journal, are shredded and bloody from running
through fields of star thistles. We are hot and tired due to the endless hills and the dozen or so hike-a-bikes already behind us. Only after hobbling to the post-race meal do we realize each one of us was pondering
the same question: “Why do we do this?”
The Red Tail race was held on July 14, in the Briones Park area of the East Bay near Walnut Creek. It took place a month after the June 19 Silver Sage, which staged & started at Wingfield Park right on the Truckee River in Downtown Reno.
At the Silver Sage Race, the inner tubes we were issued were useful immediately as pumping them up gave Tim something to do with his exuberant pre-race jitters. Once the maps and race instructions were handed out,
things were less straightforward, however. We decided to ride first, before the heat scorched the Sierra Foothills to the West where we’d be looking for the majority of the cycling checkpoints. We did a lot of scrambling up the steep, shaley knolls out there. When our eyes weren’t crossed from gasping for air or staring at our contour map, there were spectacular vistas of the sage hills and the Sierras to appreciate.
Tubing the Truckee River was, initially, even more refreshing than expected…even after running up river two and a half miles in our PFD’s. But, by the time we emerged, I was shivering and numb; dependent on my hardier teammates drive and encouragement to get me through the trans-river zip line challenge we faced next.
Hypothermia was ultimately averted by 90 degree temperatures and running the Downtown Dash. Aptly named, the Downtown Dash required hours of running in order to find answers to questions like: “There is a statue
at the main gate of the university stadium. To whom is it dedicated?” “In the El Dorado casino, there is a brewery. What is the percentage of alcohol in their beer?” What is playing tonight at the Pioneer Theatre?” But, after five hours of hard racing, we stumbled, rather than dashed, between marching bands, parade floats, festival booths, past tourists, and Black Jack Tables. We nabbed the answers while zigzagging through the streets of Reno…crisscrossing the campus of UNR in the process… and finally looping back to Checkpoint F (F is for Finish…In case you were wondering).
We plopped down our race passport and were giving each other high-fives when a soft voice said, “You missed one.” Seems that when we read the marquis to determine “What is playing tonight at the
Pioneer Theater?” we overlooked the note on the bottom of the marquis that said, “Starts tomorrow.” Running back over to find the correct answer bumped us down to fifth in the overall finishing order, but we still managed to win our 3 Person Co-Ed division. As we recovered in the shade anticipating race organizer Todd Jackson’s generous raffle drawing, we stretched, joked, and discussed all the things we’d have to do better at Red Tail to get in the hunt for the overall win…
At Red Tail, we were one of only a few teams that opted to do the orienteering section first. Since it was already cooking hot at 8 AM, we would again save the water sport, in this case, the kayaking, for last. In an attempt to reduce the inadvertent body piercings from those nasty star thistles, Katrin and I strapped on gaiters just prior to the orienteering section. Good thing we did, because they sure were spiky!!! Tim’s only comment as he stoically plowed through miles of them, sans gaiters, was: “These things sure keep me light on my feet!” We then blasted out on the bike section and quickly learned that there is not ONE INCH of flat ground in Briones Park. In looking at the trail map, the contour lines simply blurred together to form trails consisting of pitched descents and steep, gut-busting hills. We were spending a fair amount of time in our granny gears, and trudging up the aforementioned hike-a-bikes. By now, it was 90 degrees, and we were wilting.
As we jumped off the bikes and transitioned for a three mile run DOWN to the kayak start at San Pablo Reservoir, thoughts of cool water, similar to a mirage, popped to mind. The paddling gave our aching legs a much needed respite. In coming off the lake, we faced the three mile run back UP to our bikes, followed by a short ride to the finish.
As usual, Tim’s horsepower was impressive as he took turns towing first Katrin then me with a bungee cord. As we rolled toward CP-F and the finish line, Katrin’s rear tire went flat. It was, rather fittingly, the last victim of star thistles. We had persevered and in the process, completed the race in 7 hours and 31 minutes for another category win…eked out by a mere 10 minutes…and fifth place overall finish.
We considered the Ocean Blue race, held in the Half Moon Bay area, to be our home turf and were committed to racing hard. The race led out with a run prior to jumping in the kayaks. After a paddle through the harbor at Pillar Point, we portaged over the breakwater to the open ocean. The waves were huge and we were really glad that we had taken the time to put on the spray skirts. We hopped on the bikes and were immediately challenged as we pedaled up the steep canyons away from the coast. Katrin was in superb form, and spent the day leading us on the twisty singletrack and switchbacks. We lost some time due to a navigational mistake, but were determined to make up for it. We transitioned to the last leg, another run, knowing that we were in the hunt for another good finish. As usual, Tim provided loads of serious horsepower, and took turns towing both of us with the bungee cord. We sprinted in to the finish for a 3rd place in our category and 6th place overall.
Due to their consistent finishes, Team Adventure Sports Journal has garnered the points to hold down the lead in the Big Blue Series Championship. There is one race remaining in the series, The burly Tahoe Big Blue. Stay tuned for a full report appearing in the next issue of ASJ.
