2019 Alpine Shop Castlewood 8
Adventure Race by Captain Ahab
I want to start this blog first by
talking about the 2018 Castlewood 8 hour adventure race.
Paul Frisbee, Dirk Frisbee, Jessie Brown and myself raced together. Paul and Dirk are really fast runners and Jessie and myself are strong riders. On the runs Paul and Dirk would either push Jessie and I, or let us grab onto their backpacks to tow us. I felt like we flew through the navigation of Hidden Valley and was happy I didn’t hyperventilate and die. We came out of the valley on bikes on a steep climb and Dirk had his chain crossed and I told him that he was going to break his chain and within seconds he broke his chain. I feel like the repair was quick and we were on our way and didn’t lose much time. I personally felt that we were a little slow on the bike, but I started making small navigation errors which was frustrating. I got even more frustrated because at every turn I came across another BOR team. On the bike leg David Beattie passed us, then Tamara and Amy passed us. Jessie told me that I was doing OK and that we would catch them. I wasn’t so sure. If I remember right we must’ve passed Beattie on the bikes before the canoe, or we passed them really quickly in the canoe. I can’t really remember. It took us a while to catch Amy and Tamara and pass them on the paddle. Most of us came off the MR 340 and we’re all strong paddlers. To keep a long story short, when we crossed the finish line we worked so hard to beat the rest of the TeamBOR teams, I thought we had won, only to come in to the cafeteria to see Larry and Karl eating with big grins on their faces.
After the race I was going to write a blog, but was hoping Amie Bart would write one. I thought about that race long and hard and realized how strong all the TeamBOR teams have become. We were neck and neck the entire race. I am very proud of all the teammates.
Paul Frisbee, Dirk Frisbee, Jessie Brown and myself raced together. Paul and Dirk are really fast runners and Jessie and myself are strong riders. On the runs Paul and Dirk would either push Jessie and I, or let us grab onto their backpacks to tow us. I felt like we flew through the navigation of Hidden Valley and was happy I didn’t hyperventilate and die. We came out of the valley on bikes on a steep climb and Dirk had his chain crossed and I told him that he was going to break his chain and within seconds he broke his chain. I feel like the repair was quick and we were on our way and didn’t lose much time. I personally felt that we were a little slow on the bike, but I started making small navigation errors which was frustrating. I got even more frustrated because at every turn I came across another BOR team. On the bike leg David Beattie passed us, then Tamara and Amy passed us. Jessie told me that I was doing OK and that we would catch them. I wasn’t so sure. If I remember right we must’ve passed Beattie on the bikes before the canoe, or we passed them really quickly in the canoe. I can’t really remember. It took us a while to catch Amy and Tamara and pass them on the paddle. Most of us came off the MR 340 and we’re all strong paddlers. To keep a long story short, when we crossed the finish line we worked so hard to beat the rest of the TeamBOR teams, I thought we had won, only to come in to the cafeteria to see Larry and Karl eating with big grins on their faces.
After the race I was going to write a blog, but was hoping Amie Bart would write one. I thought about that race long and hard and realized how strong all the TeamBOR teams have become. We were neck and neck the entire race. I am very proud of all the teammates.
2019 was a quiet year for most of us, but I
knew 2019 would bring even more challenge amongst the TeamBOR teams at the
Castlewood 8.
We started out the 2019 Castlewood eight hour
race with a bus ride to Pacific Palisades and started with a spirited sprint to
get our life jackets and paddles. Jessie and I ran for the lifejackets and I
feel like we were moving very quickly for us and then Tim and Robert ran for
the paddles, but we got caught up in traffic putting the canoes in the water
and Tim was in a line to get the passport punched.
In the canoes, Tim and I got a little far
ahead of Robert and Jessie at the very start and since there were no
checkpoints it was just a sprint to the takeout. Tim and I decided to keep the
speed on so we could get out ahead of Robert and Jessie, get our boat ashore,
put our paddles away, PFDs away, and get back to help Jessie and Robert get their
canoe out of the water. Tim stuck with
the plan and helped Robert and Jessie and I went to start on the gear check
equipment. Robert voiced his concern that they were a little miffed at us for
keeping a big distance on them, but I tried explaining the strategy that we
had. I guess Tim and I should’ve communicated that earlier. Coming out of the
canoes was chaos. There was a boat flipped upside down and paddlers swimming in
the water. There was a long line up the ramp, and at the gear check. As we were
leaving the gear check I knew we had been there way too long, but I couldn’t
find my gloves and even made it a longer transition. It looks like we were
there about 15 minutes. As we were leaving the checkpoint transition area Beattie
and Erin caught us. I was really impressed by Beattie and Erin‘s paddling time
to make that much time up on us. We tore out with the bikes and I tried to
start a quick pace, but as soon as we hit the hills my left upper quad was
cramping and I felt too short on the bike. I had opted for my mountain bike
because of the single track and my AR bike is a rigid fork and has smaller
tires, which would’ve bounced me around on the single track. As I was climbing the 1st hill and
struggling I wished I had brought the AR bike for the better climbing gears. Once we got on the single track later that
day I realized I had more air in my tires than normal, which bounced me around
anyway, so it was pointless to suffer on the mountain bike, I should’ve just
took the adventure bike. I got a couple
quick tows from Robert on the bike that really help me out. We had to keep
reminding Jessie to slow down on the bike as she sped up the hills without us.
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Tim was
having a little difficulty with his chain coming off on his bike, but he
quickly corrected it every time. We made fast progress on the bikes and
entered the trekking section where we saw Larry, Karl, Karl’s son, and
Mickey.
 We entered the trek at about the same time. We
were spot on all our navigation, coming up to the CP‘s almost dead on, but
then Robert realized we had missed CP17. I then told Robert that Larry, Karl,
Karl’s son, and Mickey must have went for 17 because we didn’t see them, and
if they pass us later in the trek, then we know they’re ahead of us. Robert
only had to make very slight corrections to his attack plan, which the
longest one maybe took a minute. I only helped him a few times to confirm the
direction he should be going. We only started to out vote him once. Robert did an excellent job. I had to boost Tim’s ego some to get him to
slow down because he was destroying me on the runs. I had to pop some electrolytes and chew
them and the team enjoyed my gagging sounds while climbing an immense
hill. We cleared all the trek CPs and
picked up 17 on the way out, which was actually a better strategy. We beat Larry,
Karl, Karl’s son, and Mickey back to the TA.
We were on the bikes leaving as they were
coming in, so all we had to do was keep our speed up on the single track
portion of the race to beat them. We cleared the single track CP’s in order quickly
and found the connector trail, and I use trail loosely, to Hidden Valley. I nearly flipped over my handlebars riding
it. Then as we climbed the last little
hill to Hidden Valley both Tim and my legs cramped up and we both had to walk
up the hill as Jessie and Robert rode up telling us, “it’s right there you
can see it.” Tim and I got back on our bikes and rode to the finish being the
first TeamBOR team to finish in 2019.
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We were fifth place in division and 15 place
overall. It was a great finish. Looking back, Tim and I probably didn’t eat
enough, or we didn’t eat early enough, but as a team we work together perfectly,
helping each other when we needed it, and swapping roles when we needed it. We
also didn’t have any serious mechanicals, which is always helpful.
At the after party I thought I had only done
nine consecutive Castlewood 8’s, but Beattie did the math and I that was my
10th consecutive Castlewood 8! I had a good time and really think all the TeamBOR
teams did an excellent job completing this race and representing the team.
Thanks to Emilie and Earl and the Alpine shop
for putting together this race. It was
the toughest one since Alpine Shop has owned it.
Captain Ahab
Note: This is the
first blog I completed by talk to text. I realize I write better than I speak.
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