Jane injured her ankle on a search and rescue mission the Thursday before the race and Gerry ended up with a conflict that meant he wasn't going to be able to race. Jim phoned Brian with the news on Friday afternoon and they agreed to race as a two person team. Brian mentioned the possibility that Jeff Hobbs, race director of the Desert Dash AR series, was signed up for the race, but had lost a partner and was planning to race solo. It was agreed that we'd see if Jeff was interested in racing with us as a three person team. He was, and the morning of the race Team Ruination had a very different look than usual, racing as a three person male team.

 

The race was a good one. 8.75 miles of paddling, followed by a 100' rappel, and an 8 mile trek. Then on to the bikes. This was where the 'fun' began. Hike-a-bike was the rule of the day. 22 miles of biking took its toll on teams. For most teams, this meant that by the time darkness fell they were still on their bikes and nowhere near the TA. Not a problem with bike lights....unfortunately nobody had bike lights. The lucky ones had headlights, the unlucky ones keychain lights or nothing at all. For Team Ruination, the arrival of darkness coincided with the onset of navigational difficulties with CPs 14 and 15. After a lot of wandering around in the dark we found them, retrieved the last CP and rolled into the finish line cold and tired but very satisfied to have completed a difficult race. Total time 9 hours 11 minutes. This was good for fifth overall. By my calculation we covered 40 miles and climbed a total of 4200'.

It was a great experience racing with experienced racers like Jeff and Brian. I enjoyed their company and learned a lot from each of them. Having said that, I also really missed racing with Gerry and Jane. Team Ruination will be back to its regular configuration for Desert Rage III and we're all looking forward to finishing the 2005 season off on a high note.

 

Desert Rage Las Vegas, November 5, 2005:  Lake Meade, NV

Jim, Jeff and Brian finishing the 8.75 mile paddle.

Jim and Brian towing Jeff in a special task.

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