2014 PLOT PEDAL PADDLE AR
The Plot Pedal Paddle Adventure Race is a quirky and small race about an hour southwest of Rockford. It’s run by Matt and Dawn Moore - fun couple who were regular volunteers in the Primal Quest races.
The 2014 PPP was different than any other we’ve done previously, both because it was 18 hours and because it began at 6 p.m., meaning we would be racing through the night. It was a good test for us to see how we could do with nighttime navigation and how we could handle the sleepmonsters that strike in the deepest hour of the night.
Since the race didn’t start until Saturday evening, Kate and I got down to Rockford by mid-morning Saturday, then met Starker to drive down to Dixon, IL. We arrived with plenty of time to get things together, a rarity for us. We had purchased two odometers for our bikes and got them mounted, excited to use them for the first time. The race briefing started at 4 p.m. and lasted longer than usual, as we had to re-plot several points and had to remove one entirely because it wasn’t marked on the maps.
Before the race we had a good chat with Michigan Racing Addicts and got to know them a bit better. Alpine Shop showed up just before the start, apparently after having lost track of time on the drive up from Missouri. Those two teams would be battling for the overall win, while our goal was merely to finish, with a secondary goal of clearing the course.
The race started in full sunlight with a four-point orienteering section. The first point was close to the start and there was a lot of jostling on the way there as we passed through a slippery water tunnel and then back through it after punching. CP 2 threw a lot of teams for a loop, as the forest was pretty thick and people were still getting their bearings, but we found it slowly but surely, and then Cliff demanded the team take a road on top of a ridge instead of going back down into the valley 100 feet below. That paid off as we saw the top teams come running past us, and in effect showing us the path to CP 3, located at the top of a cliff which most teams had just reached the bottom of.
We made our way through an ivy field to CP 4, about ½ mile away by the side of a road, and then did a mile or two road run to another O-course, in which we found CPs 5-10 without much problem. Most were on one side or another of a dry river bed and involved about 50 feet of climbing and sliding down. CP 10 was a bike TA, and we reached this at 7 p.m., with most other teams either 10 minutes before or after us, so still a close race.
We biked back to the start, grabbed our climbing harnesses and biked down to a gully which had a Tyrolean traverse. At this point we were in third place and had to wait while Michigan Racing Addicts completed the traverse in front of us. After our turn came, we accomplished the traverse without any difficulty. We then headed out for a 20-mile bike ride, which took us through a rails-to-trails which was definitely the most beautiful biking we have done in an adventure race - a stunning green tunnel that took our breaths away. The sun set over the Illinois fields and we were actually wowed by the beauty. We arrived at the O-course TA at a Christian camp just as darkness fell, and headed out for a five-point course.
The first CP led us through a dense thicket of thorns that was nearly impassible. After about 20 minutes of struggling through, Cliff found a tiny trail that led directly up the small reentrant to the CP. Kate’s nav was spot on, but on the way back, we found there was a double-wide grass ski trail that paralleled our miserable path through the briars. Stupid race directors!
We got back to the TA and headed north to pick up the second CP, but then we ran into trouble. We searched for more than an hour, eventually teaming up with a few other teams to comb the woods, making several unsuccessful passes. Finally, after we were ready to give up, Starker miraculously spotted the CP. We all thought the nav was weird, and our anger and frustration bubbled over on the next point, which was again past the TA. We then took a bearing and plunged deep in the woods, looking only for a “naked tree”, whatever that meant.
Another hour later and we finally found the stinking tree. Actually, we found the next point down by the river, then used a direct north bearing off of it to steer ourselves into the tree CP. We retraced our steps to the river, punched there (we had to get the points in order), and then found the last CP with two other teams up on a hill on the far side of the river.
We returned to the TA 3.5 hours later, after midnight, and had a quick transition, fueled by our frustration at wasting so much time. We then undertook another 10-mile bike ride down to the Rock River. On the way, we stopped for a CP on a bridge, and while Kate and Cliff waited impatiently, Starker insisted on inspecting the CP in detail, insisting Kate and Cliff check the number of the CP against the map and passport. We were very sure we were in the right place, and it turned out Starker was confused by the TA counting as a CP but not having a punch. After that brief (well, 10-minute) delay, we finally continued on our way, and made it down to the TA, shortly followed by a few other teams.
We made another quick transition then headed upstream to the first canoe CP, surrounded by a huge swarm of bugs attracted to our headlights. We fought upstream against a tough current for at least 10 minutes and thought we were near the CP so turned downstream, but we were short and had to make another pass. We got it the second time, following another team into the CP, then headed downstream and had fewer problems getting the next CP, which was in an inlet off the main current. The third CP was difficult because it was actually located just off the map to the north, and we missed it going in, but we all decided we had gone too far and made a smart retreat before too much damage had been done. We learned later that a bunch of teams wasted serious time looking for this point, so we felt pretty good about getting it.
We then paddled down the middle of the channel for a good hour, and it was really quiet and a cool, perfect temperature. We watched the glowsticks of the boats in front and behind us and it was another truly beautiful and fun AR moment.
The last water CP was located in a park on the side of the river and we paddled a bit past it, then rendezvoused with the two other teams we had been around - Trail Ninjas (Brian and Brett) and Dandies Vegan Marshmallows, and together we searched for the point. After getting out of the boat, Starker found it a bit inland. We then headed down the river and soon saw headlights coming upriver at us. It turned out to be a two-person male team, Toporadicals. They had been way ahead but missed the CP and even the canoe takeout and had spent the last hour fighting upstream against a swift current to come back and get the CP they had paddled by. Admiring their dedication, we gave them a clue of where to find it and assured them they weren't far away from reaching it and being able to turn back downstream.
We finished the 25-mile paddle at around 4 a.m. We then faced a ½ mile portage. It was not fun. Our canoe was very heavy and difficult to carry and Starker and Cliff were barely making it. We then somehow passed the TA, which was not well-marked. We walked about another quarter-mile before seeing the other two teams we were with disappear behind us. We returned to the TA with about a 10-minute disadvantage to the other two teams.
We got in and out of the transition and found the first CP easily, as it was right off a path. The second one was more difficult and we rejoined the other two teams to find it in a bushy depression as it got light out. The third CP was where things got hairy.
We set our bearings to intersect what looked like a road on the map. Walking roughly as one group, the three teams started working together as we got nearer, searching in one area of bushes along the road where we were certain the CP should be, according to the map. But no matter how hard we looked, it wasn’t there. Confused, we tried to figure out where we were on the road. This just led to more confusion. After more than an hour of looking, we all decided to head down to the river to regain our bearings. This led us to discover where we were, and after going back and picking up one point, we got another together before the other two teams decided they were better off without us and took off.
Fortunately, it was at that exact moment that the map clicked for Kate. In her finest moment as a navigator to date, we quickly found the last four CPs, blowing by the other two teams in the process. We made it back to the TA by 6 a.m. and then headed out on the roads of Dixon for a 45 minute, 5-mile run back to camp and the finish. We picked up the remaining three urban CPs and rolled in by about 7:30 a.m. or so for a solid third place finish behind Alpine Shop and MRA, both of whom had also struggled mightily with that one CP in the last O-course. It turned out the line we thought was a road was actually a property boundary marking a prison and couldn’t be seen in real life. Given that there wasn’t much else to navigate off of, that proved extremely irksome and frustrating for all teams.
However, we got off relatively lightly, considering the other two teams who had been with us took another one and two hours, respectively, to finish, giving Kate a huge confidence boost in her nav skills.
Overall, the 2014 PPP was a great experience. For our first night race, we did really well. We also some had some surprisingly beautiful vistas and memorable moments (considering we were in central Illinois). While the maps could have been clearer, we persevered and even thrived on the difficulty. This gave us a lot of confidence that we could tackle the even longer races on our 2014 schedule, including the 2014 Thunder Rolls AR in August and the 2014 USARA National Championships in October.
The 2014 PPP was different than any other we’ve done previously, both because it was 18 hours and because it began at 6 p.m., meaning we would be racing through the night. It was a good test for us to see how we could do with nighttime navigation and how we could handle the sleepmonsters that strike in the deepest hour of the night.
Since the race didn’t start until Saturday evening, Kate and I got down to Rockford by mid-morning Saturday, then met Starker to drive down to Dixon, IL. We arrived with plenty of time to get things together, a rarity for us. We had purchased two odometers for our bikes and got them mounted, excited to use them for the first time. The race briefing started at 4 p.m. and lasted longer than usual, as we had to re-plot several points and had to remove one entirely because it wasn’t marked on the maps.
Before the race we had a good chat with Michigan Racing Addicts and got to know them a bit better. Alpine Shop showed up just before the start, apparently after having lost track of time on the drive up from Missouri. Those two teams would be battling for the overall win, while our goal was merely to finish, with a secondary goal of clearing the course.
The race started in full sunlight with a four-point orienteering section. The first point was close to the start and there was a lot of jostling on the way there as we passed through a slippery water tunnel and then back through it after punching. CP 2 threw a lot of teams for a loop, as the forest was pretty thick and people were still getting their bearings, but we found it slowly but surely, and then Cliff demanded the team take a road on top of a ridge instead of going back down into the valley 100 feet below. That paid off as we saw the top teams come running past us, and in effect showing us the path to CP 3, located at the top of a cliff which most teams had just reached the bottom of.
We made our way through an ivy field to CP 4, about ½ mile away by the side of a road, and then did a mile or two road run to another O-course, in which we found CPs 5-10 without much problem. Most were on one side or another of a dry river bed and involved about 50 feet of climbing and sliding down. CP 10 was a bike TA, and we reached this at 7 p.m., with most other teams either 10 minutes before or after us, so still a close race.
We biked back to the start, grabbed our climbing harnesses and biked down to a gully which had a Tyrolean traverse. At this point we were in third place and had to wait while Michigan Racing Addicts completed the traverse in front of us. After our turn came, we accomplished the traverse without any difficulty. We then headed out for a 20-mile bike ride, which took us through a rails-to-trails which was definitely the most beautiful biking we have done in an adventure race - a stunning green tunnel that took our breaths away. The sun set over the Illinois fields and we were actually wowed by the beauty. We arrived at the O-course TA at a Christian camp just as darkness fell, and headed out for a five-point course.
The first CP led us through a dense thicket of thorns that was nearly impassible. After about 20 minutes of struggling through, Cliff found a tiny trail that led directly up the small reentrant to the CP. Kate’s nav was spot on, but on the way back, we found there was a double-wide grass ski trail that paralleled our miserable path through the briars. Stupid race directors!
We got back to the TA and headed north to pick up the second CP, but then we ran into trouble. We searched for more than an hour, eventually teaming up with a few other teams to comb the woods, making several unsuccessful passes. Finally, after we were ready to give up, Starker miraculously spotted the CP. We all thought the nav was weird, and our anger and frustration bubbled over on the next point, which was again past the TA. We then took a bearing and plunged deep in the woods, looking only for a “naked tree”, whatever that meant.
Another hour later and we finally found the stinking tree. Actually, we found the next point down by the river, then used a direct north bearing off of it to steer ourselves into the tree CP. We retraced our steps to the river, punched there (we had to get the points in order), and then found the last CP with two other teams up on a hill on the far side of the river.
We returned to the TA 3.5 hours later, after midnight, and had a quick transition, fueled by our frustration at wasting so much time. We then undertook another 10-mile bike ride down to the Rock River. On the way, we stopped for a CP on a bridge, and while Kate and Cliff waited impatiently, Starker insisted on inspecting the CP in detail, insisting Kate and Cliff check the number of the CP against the map and passport. We were very sure we were in the right place, and it turned out Starker was confused by the TA counting as a CP but not having a punch. After that brief (well, 10-minute) delay, we finally continued on our way, and made it down to the TA, shortly followed by a few other teams.
We made another quick transition then headed upstream to the first canoe CP, surrounded by a huge swarm of bugs attracted to our headlights. We fought upstream against a tough current for at least 10 minutes and thought we were near the CP so turned downstream, but we were short and had to make another pass. We got it the second time, following another team into the CP, then headed downstream and had fewer problems getting the next CP, which was in an inlet off the main current. The third CP was difficult because it was actually located just off the map to the north, and we missed it going in, but we all decided we had gone too far and made a smart retreat before too much damage had been done. We learned later that a bunch of teams wasted serious time looking for this point, so we felt pretty good about getting it.
We then paddled down the middle of the channel for a good hour, and it was really quiet and a cool, perfect temperature. We watched the glowsticks of the boats in front and behind us and it was another truly beautiful and fun AR moment.
The last water CP was located in a park on the side of the river and we paddled a bit past it, then rendezvoused with the two other teams we had been around - Trail Ninjas (Brian and Brett) and Dandies Vegan Marshmallows, and together we searched for the point. After getting out of the boat, Starker found it a bit inland. We then headed down the river and soon saw headlights coming upriver at us. It turned out to be a two-person male team, Toporadicals. They had been way ahead but missed the CP and even the canoe takeout and had spent the last hour fighting upstream against a swift current to come back and get the CP they had paddled by. Admiring their dedication, we gave them a clue of where to find it and assured them they weren't far away from reaching it and being able to turn back downstream.
We finished the 25-mile paddle at around 4 a.m. We then faced a ½ mile portage. It was not fun. Our canoe was very heavy and difficult to carry and Starker and Cliff were barely making it. We then somehow passed the TA, which was not well-marked. We walked about another quarter-mile before seeing the other two teams we were with disappear behind us. We returned to the TA with about a 10-minute disadvantage to the other two teams.
We got in and out of the transition and found the first CP easily, as it was right off a path. The second one was more difficult and we rejoined the other two teams to find it in a bushy depression as it got light out. The third CP was where things got hairy.
We set our bearings to intersect what looked like a road on the map. Walking roughly as one group, the three teams started working together as we got nearer, searching in one area of bushes along the road where we were certain the CP should be, according to the map. But no matter how hard we looked, it wasn’t there. Confused, we tried to figure out where we were on the road. This just led to more confusion. After more than an hour of looking, we all decided to head down to the river to regain our bearings. This led us to discover where we were, and after going back and picking up one point, we got another together before the other two teams decided they were better off without us and took off.
Fortunately, it was at that exact moment that the map clicked for Kate. In her finest moment as a navigator to date, we quickly found the last four CPs, blowing by the other two teams in the process. We made it back to the TA by 6 a.m. and then headed out on the roads of Dixon for a 45 minute, 5-mile run back to camp and the finish. We picked up the remaining three urban CPs and rolled in by about 7:30 a.m. or so for a solid third place finish behind Alpine Shop and MRA, both of whom had also struggled mightily with that one CP in the last O-course. It turned out the line we thought was a road was actually a property boundary marking a prison and couldn’t be seen in real life. Given that there wasn’t much else to navigate off of, that proved extremely irksome and frustrating for all teams.
However, we got off relatively lightly, considering the other two teams who had been with us took another one and two hours, respectively, to finish, giving Kate a huge confidence boost in her nav skills.
Overall, the 2014 PPP was a great experience. For our first night race, we did really well. We also some had some surprisingly beautiful vistas and memorable moments (considering we were in central Illinois). While the maps could have been clearer, we persevered and even thrived on the difficulty. This gave us a lot of confidence that we could tackle the even longer races on our 2014 schedule, including the 2014 Thunder Rolls AR in August and the 2014 USARA National Championships in October.
Finishing up third overall, a great accomplishment for our first overnight AR!
