DART-nuun Wins in the Heat of the Southwest
Written by Glenn Rogers Created Date: Saturday, 04 October 2008 07:54
Forged in the heat of the Moab desert and tempered by the freezing hail of the La Sal mountains, the team faced extreme adversity and passed through the crucible to win the Adventure Xstream Moab Expedition race. Every member of the team, support crew, and our gear were pushed to their limits but with teamwork and perserverence the team succeeded where no other team could. The team composed of Mari Chandler, Sean Clancy, Matt Hayes, and Glenn Rogers arrived in Moab ready to face their most difficult challenges of 2008.
They were greeted with the stark beauty of the unforgiving desert and 90 degree tempuratures as they arrived at the Red Cliffs Lodge, headquarters for this year's race. The team was to face the best teams that the Rocky Mountain states had to offer. "We knew that the competition would be stiff at this race" stated Sean. There were many teams that had raced in this area before and knew the routes that the race generally used. In addition, many teams had acclimatized to the elevation and heat.
The race began with a 14 mile paddle down the Colorado river. The team finished the paddle in second place just minutes behind Team Boulder Performance Network. After a quick transition, the team headed off into the canyons and desert. Heading up into the heat of Pritchard Canyon, high across Hurrah Pass and with a final bike carry up Jacobs Ladder. During this bike leg, the team fell behind as Sean fell off a cliff while down climbing with his bike. "When Sean and his bike began bouncing down the cliff, we thought our race was over" stated Mari. After falling 20 feet and stopping just short of the big cliff, the team reminded each other that safety was paramount. Unbelievably, both Sean and his Turner suffered only minor damage and after a few repairs they were both back in the race and on the hunt.
The first night had the team paddling down the Colorado and roller blading back. While the navigation had been limited up to this point, the team was hopefull that with the next sections around Poison Spider Mesa, navigation would become an important factor. And as they headed out into the heat of the second day, they were careful to fully load their Hydrapaks with nuun. "We went out into the heat of the day with the intention to move at a measured pace and not destroy ourselves in the heat" stated Matt. After a strong bike and trek, the team had closed the gap on first place and at the end of the day, both teams rested in transition tending to their wounds inflicted by the heat.
At this point, the team employed strategy and judgement that has been derived from many years of racing. Team Boulder decided to sleep at this point. However, DART-nuun knew that the heat and noise of this transition area would not be conducive to quality sleep. So they pushed on in first place knowing that there was a strong possibility that sleep monsters would overcome them on their climb up to the La Sal mountains.
It wasn't without difficulty that the team made the 4,500 foot climb. Glenn became sick and the heat effects lingered on, hampering the team's effort. On top of that, the expected sleep monsters were slowly gaining on the team. Once at the desolate, wind swept and cold TA, the team hunkered down for a solid 2 hour sleep while their intrepid support crew waited outside in the cold.
Awaking refreshed and ready to resume the chase, the team began the rogaine 2 hours behind Team Boulder. Undeterred the team navigated their way up to the tops of the La Sal Mountains and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise at 12,000 feet. After 4 hours treking the team crossed paths with Team Boulder on an "out and back" control. "At this point we knew that we were only one hour behind" stated Glenn "And we were reenergized at the fact that our sleep strategy worked so well and we were easily closing the gap". At this point the team pressed by running the down hills and flats and fast trekking the climbs on their way to passing Boulder. On the run back to the TA, we made plans to press throughout the balance of the race. However, when we arrived at the TA we were informed that Team Boulder had withdrawn as a result of heat/cold exposure.
With Team Boulder out of the race, our win was assured given our lead over the other teams. We made plans to finish the race safely and enjoy the remarkable natural beauty of the area. We rode out the Kokopelli's trail and paddled down the Colorado river to the finish. In the end, the team collected all the controls. A feat that no other team in the race could match. This win firmly places Team DART-nuun in the lead of the Checkpoint Tracker Series. The team will compete in the Upstate Adventure Race, final race of the series, on October 25th in Cleveland SC.
This race was physically demanding on all teammates and incredibly demanding of our gear. While Team Boulder ultimately succumbed, we raced our own race and in the process pushed Team Boulder to their limit. Our win would not have been possible without incredible teamwork and the best equipment. Here is a short list of some of the outstanding gear we used.
Turner frame, FSA components and Michelin XCR Dry run as tubeless. Watching Seans bike bounce down the cliff with only minor damage was a testiment to the strength of our bikes. We had no flats with the tubeless Michelin setup and the low pressure allowed us to grind through extremely sandy conditions. In an environment where bikes just don't last, our bikes performed superbly.
Vasque Velocity VST with Sole Ultra Softec footbeds. As a result long hours on our feet, I like the protection and cushioning that Vasque shoes provide. In addition, the extra cushion of the Sole Ultra Softec footbeds protect and comfort my feet. The results speak for themselves. No blisters and minimal swelling.
Hydrapak 100oz bladders loaded with nuun and held secure in Gregory Iso packs. Proper hydration was imperative in this race and with nuun in our Hydrapaks we were able to continue where others failed. At one point, Sean went out with two 100oz hydrapaks. I thought this was overkill but when we returned to the TA empty, my skeptism proved unfounded.
Given the extreme heat, moving fast and reliably at night was key to our win. Lighting the night on foot and bike in extremely varied conditions was accomplished exclusively with our Light and Motion Stella Headlamps. These lights provide maximum illumination with minimal battery weight
These are but a few of the great items that we use. To view many more of our reviews, have a look at our gear review blog.