Evans recap...
This year's Redbird Challenge definitely proved that Matt Stewart and the Outdoor Rec group at ISU are getting better at putting on races! Everything from the grab bags to the mystery events was an improvement, even considering that the sweet, sweet mountain biking was dropped and we were on roads for the bike section. And actually, in lieu of t-shirts, we got Sigg like water bottles from H2Go that said, "Give me a map and get lost!" LOVE IT!
Good start to the race with a popcorn filled kiddy pool to find a numbered button that told us which canoe we were taking. With 40 people looking for 40 buttons, Heather and Nate got pushed/shoved/kicked/punched and stabbed trying to find ours! Couple of knife wounds later and we were good to go.
We split our canoes into Nate and Angie ine one and then Heather and I bringing up the rear. The plan wasn't necessarily for Heather and I to be in the rear, but apparently Nate and Angie can paddle like Otters (whaaaaat? team name plug!?)! It was fun to carry the canoes in the mud to the boat launch. We figured out pretty quickly that if you walked on the grass, you could not only have better footing, but you can pass a bunch of other teams! That's right, never underestimate our sneakiness.
Where we landed the canoe is where the trail running started. I guess there was some confusion when the first few teams out of the canoe made a wrong term, but by the time we got there, volunteers were directing us to head right after the hay bail...which was awesome because there was a nice, deep mud pit waiting for you. SLOPPY!
The race crew put a nice little army crawl before the last duck into the woods. We agreed that Matt let his dog fertilize the slop we crawled through, but maintains his innocence. Right. Sure, Matt. We all know Cassius does what you tell him.
Although I had to let my dreams of good, Comlara-style singletrack go, the road section was still fun, especially with the addition of the obstacle course! Once we rode our bikes there, we ran into the woods to find rope criss-crossing the path and we had to duck & weave through it to make it to the tight rope. The combined weight and repeated use of the two ropes stretched across the water made it pretty slack and tough to hang oN. The preferred way (for everyone waiting too) was to get on the rope and shimmy out to where it was safe enough to drop in the water and then wade to the other side. I wanted to try and tyrolean the line, so I went out head first and hooked a leg on the top rope and pulled myself over. See? Wearing tights helped me NOT get some nasty rope burn on my leg and crossed that thing pretty quickly. Booyakashaw! FYI tights rule in all racing situations...never thought I'd say that...
We found out five or so miles from the finish that Angie's bike was riding on some seriously low tire pressure! I guess I'll take the blame for that since I just grabbed my old bike from the basement and let her ride it. Hey! I at least checked the pressure before the race! It wasn't long after I switched bikes with her that the back tire was completly flat and coming off at the side. We got into a small stretch of woods and the tire and tube were hanging off to the side, making me have to pick the bike up and carry it into the race tent. Flat tire fixed and mystery puzzle solved, we were off!
And by fixed I meant the new tube briefly did it's job. Two miles or so later and we were in the same spot. My added weight sped up whatever the hell was happening in that rear wheel and we had another flat. YES! Exactly as planned!...
I wasn't about to waste another tube on something that we didn't know WHY was happening, so I picked that damn 30lb, extremly awkwardly balanced bike and hulked it from the last turn to the finish line, just shy of a mile. I don't think I've ever finished a race that tired before. I was pretty wiped at the end of the 24hr Sweaty Otter, but I wasn't carrying an effing bike on my back.
Matt helped us clean up by squirting liquid dish soap and water on some tarps to make up a slip n slide. It got in my eyes and burned for a few hours but that's all right. Next year use Johnson's baby shampoo, Matt! Just kidding, no eye burning. All in all, a very nice improvement from last year, which was awesome anyway...so a big thank you is owed.
It was awesome that Angie and Nate did a race as Otters. Angie actually logged her second Otter experience running our support crew for the IL Coast 2 Coast with my Dad. (I'm writing that review next! Wow, that race was about as gentle as a feral dog). Whether or not Angie ends up having the same obsessive/compulsiveness revolving around AR as me is still left to be seen, but my wife did a RACE!
A big thanks to Rod for handling the dogs while studying, and ultimately passing, his personal trainer exam the following week. You da man! Heather, I'll race with you anytime. You're crazy coming up here yar yay ha!
Thanks to Matt and his crew for hosting the event. You can expect a first place in multiple divisions next year, pal! Next year though, leave the dog poo out of the army crawl, yay ha?
Heathers recap...
The Redbird Challenge consisted of a 13 mile road bike (on mountain bikes since single track was cancelled due to the rain), 3 mile run, 2 mile canoe, and a few very muddy and wet obstacle courses mixed in between. It was one of the shortest races we’ve ever done, but still a pretty good butt kicker.
We started off for a mad dash to two kiddie pools filled with popcorn. So imagine, 40+ people piling over a mini pool digging for really tiny white tags with numbers on them. Also some were blank, so if you grabbed one of those, you had to keep digging. This was my least favorite part of the race. It made us fall behind, it was totally frustrating. We finally found our tags which were numbered for the canoe we were supposed to take and headed towards the canoes.
Canoes are heavy!!! We had to portage the thing down a windy muddy trail to get to the canoe launch. We carried it on top of our heads/shoulders/arms, whatever could hold the damn thing up as we slipped our way down the trail. My arms were already noodles before the paddle even started. We launched our canoe, and as usual, canoes don’t like me. I’m always way too light, so it was hard for me to steer. Evan’s paddling overpowered my steering so we were zigzagging a little at first. I tried to steer as Evan muscled his way to the take out. Meanwhile, Angie and Nate busted it up out there and were ahead of us, waiting for us at the take out. Good job guys!
From there we start our 3 mile trail run, well actually most of it was grass, and it was pretty hilly. We kept a good pace and Angie started to cramp, but no biggie cuz she toughed it out, and we brought down the pace just a snag, until her cramps worked themselves out. Near the end of the run we had to crawl under netting, and under that netting was swampy mud. It was awesome! We popped out of the trail to where we staged our bikes. I quickly swapped my running shoes for my bike shoes so I could clip into my pedals, and we were off on our 13 mile ride divided up with obstacles courses along the way. One of the courses was a tight rope over a small swampy river. The ropes weren’t tight enough so everyone’s wiggly legs and arms flailed opposite ways like a raging drunkard. We opted to just fall in the river, since it was much faster, and we were already wet.
We began our ride to the next obstacle. Evan and Angie fall way behind, so Nate looks back and sees Evan is walking, something isn’t right. He catches up to us and we notice that Angie’s bike has a flat. Nooooo! No wonder why Angie was having such a hard time, she was riding on a deflating tire for who knows how long. Evan was like screw this, got on her bike, and started riding like monster to the next obstacle. The tire pretty much fell off the rim by the time we got there. So while Nate and I did the puzzle challenge, which was putting together a sliced up picture of the race director’s head on a dog’s body, Evan pulled the tire off and began changing the tube. One of the volunteers was totally impressed with how prepared we were, even though to us it’s pretty much standard. Finally, Nate and I finished the puzzle just as Evan finished the tire, so we hauled our butts outta there to head towards the finish. Within a few minutes, Evan falls behind again. The tire was flat AGAIN! There must’ve been a hole in the tire itself which kept making the tube pop. Meanwhile, two teams have passed us, but there’s nothing we can do about it, ARG! We weren’t gonna let a couple flat tires stop us, so Evan hulked that 30 pound bike onto his back and ran a mile to the finish! Can you say hardcore? We ended up finishing 3rd in our division, and 16th out of 35 overall. Not too shabby considering the fiascos we had to deal with, but now that means we have unfinished business! Next year we will crush it!!! Congrats to Angie on her first race! Hopefully we can convince her to do another one! ;o)
