It was cold and drizzly as the teams began staking out territory in the Transition Area (TA).  It stayed that way pretty much all day.  It was a great day for a race!

The race started with a little knot tying exercise which, thanks to Jim’s quick tying ability, got Team Ruination out the gate second, right behind Adventure Racing Concepts (ARC) to start the four mile run to the boat area. 

The Monster/RaceLab team zoomed by Ruination and ARC moments after the start of the run.  There’s no shame in that because they pass everyone.  Ruination passed ARC near the top of the first big hill on the run and held a small lead over ARC as they put their kayaks into the river.  

By the time our valiant paddlers finished the four mile paddle down the Verde River, Jane was a little frustrated with having to wait for Jim and Gerry.  It didn’t matter too much that ARC and a couple other teams caught and passed the team on the river, Jim and Gerry were quite happy to make it down the river without de-boating or taking on enough water to sink their boats. 

Once out of the water, the team hoisted the three kayaks and portaged them back to the TA (a mile on the road, however, Ruination tossed the boats over a fence and cut cross country taking the shorter overland route back). 

At the TA the team quickly negotiated the “rock corral” special task (Jane was blindfolded while Jim and Gerry gave her voice commands to get through a course where she gathered stones which she then had to carry to the finish).  That event was immediately followed by a second challenge when one of the volunteers handed Gerry a second special task — a decoding word puzzle.  Gerry took one look at it and handed it to Jane (one more good reason to have a Rhodes Scholar on your team).  She quickly decoded the message and the team was released for the long muddy bike leg up into the hills. 

The bikes have never felt so heavy or sluggish.  The last hundred yards to check point 5 (CP5) was slogging through clay-like mud which was caking all over the tires and gears.  At CP5 the team had to drop bikes and trek to CP6.  This one was up a beautiful little slot canyon which veered away from the recognized trail in a deceptive way.  The team took a slight delay here while puzzling over the race director’s decision to put a check point in such a location.  A recheck on the map plot and the team concluded that the check point must be in the canyon, so they headed in.  The only way to reach the check point was to wade through some better-than-waist-deep ice cold pools and scramble up some slippery waterfalls. 

After hitting CP6 it was simply a matter of rushing back to the finish.  The rush to the finish turned into a miserable ordeal of dragging, carrying, and cussing mud clogged bikes down what once was a road many years ago.  After much grunting and groaning the team managed to make it back to the finish line in relatively good shape.  Then it was time for some food served up by Kim the assistant race director.

Gerry’s bike after the Mud-Fest.

ARC leading out the gate with Jane and Gerry right on their heels.  Jim following in red jacket after turning in his knot.

Gerry (blue) and Jim (yellow) approaching the end of the paddle in their water-filled boats (note: the stern of Gerry’s boat is under water).

Jane’s bike after the race.

Ruination finishing the muddy race in 5th place.

Going over the fence to start the portage back to the TA.

“The distinguishing mark of true adventures, is that it is often no fun at all while they are actually happening.” — Kim Stanley Robinson