Odyssey Kentucky 12 Hour AR

The day started with sunny skies after a night of thunder storms, which meant muddy trails. Little did we know how muddy it would actually be. The race started with a prologue run down to the boat ramp and back up to the transition area where we grabbed our bikes. A slow shoe change dropped us to the back of the pack. Once on the bikes we hit the muddy trails and Ed went over his handlebars almost immediately. A little blood on his knee, but we were on our way again. Any biking we have done in Michigan had not prepared us for the hills of Kentucky. We spent a fair amount of time walking our bikes up and down the muddy, rocky, and steep hills. By the time we hit CP1 we were in 27th place. Our spirits were low, but we were done with the technical riding. A quick ride to CP2 and then off to CP3. The ride was mostly down hill so we had a chance to recharge ourselves. We hit CP3 closer to 20th place and wondered what happened to all the racers. A turn shortly CP3 caused confusion for many racers which gave us a chance to gain some ground. We hit CP4 in 17th place. The ride to CP5 was more of a hike-a-bike through ankle deep mud. My clipless shoes and pedals were so caked with mud it was hard to clip in and out, which caused me to fall several times when stopping. I didn’t enjoy it, but Ed thought it rather comical to see me just fall over when I stopped. We cruised on to CP6 where we passed some teams and were in 15th place, but best of all we were almost done with the biking section. A rather technical trail lead us back to the TA so we spent much of the time walking our bikes. The trail ended at the boat ramp which meant a long walk up to the TA. We were bonking hard. The TA was a welcome sight where we ate and drank to get our energy levels back up. A change of shoes and we were into the trekking section. It was much easier walking these trails without having to carry the bikes. The trek was long but followed a trail so we didn’t have to concern ourselves with navigation. By the time we reached the caves we were wondering if we had enough time to finish the race before the cutoff. The first cave was basically an underground river. Water was freezing cold anywhere from ankle to thigh deep. Try navigating while ducking your head and watching your footing in the river with an underpowered light. It’s quite an experience. Out of cave 1 and into cave 2. The second cave was easier but to exit we had to crawl on our stomachs. Then down the steep slope to cross the river and back up the other side to the trail. As we watched the clock, it became clear that we were going to finish the race. We reached the TA still in 15th place with plenty of time for the canoe section. The only problem is that we had to carry the canoe down the same hill we ran down in the morning. It was a slow go with limited vision, but we made it. We were in the water and paddling, with me in the front of the canoe this time, with two teams on our tail. There was no chance to rest all the way around the lake. Out of the water we were still ahead of the two teams, but the trek back up the hill with the canoe cost us those two positions. But we were happy to have finished with a respectable time of 11 hours and 18 minutes. The day was long and tiring, but we had a great time. Maybe with some technical trail riding practice and a little more endurance we will be up in the top of the pack. Lastly, thanks to SMAC for getting us started in racing and for their support.