TR - Day 3 through Day 5

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the break in communications the last few days but we haven't been able to get cell or wireless signals. So I'll cover the last 3 days with the remaining battery in my laptop.

So Day 3 - the first 20+ miler of the event. 24 miles to be exact! We started in Leadville which is where we were bused after Day 2. This day had 2900 ft of climbing and 3800 ft of decending! The up after Day 2 nightmare, seemed doable at first but got tougher and tougher. The grade had to be 20% or more in most spots and got worse the higher we got. Needless to say I was having a tough time. My legs were sooo tired that they just couldn't bend which made it tricky. However we kept going and made it to the top and some spectacular views. Now we just had to make it all the way down to Nova Guides, our rest stop for the night. There were a couple of water crossings one that was at mid thigh height!! Felt really good!! The finish seemed like it would never get here but we finally made in just under 6 hours which was pretty good we thought. It moved us into 10th place which was a surprise.

The next day we woke to freezing temps and shivered our way to the start. This route was up and over to Red Cliff. This was a day of more horrendous climbing and even more downhill. The only good news was it was only 14 miles... the day went well for us and we make it back to Red CLiff in 3:36 and change. We promptly headed to the nearest watering hole and celebrated with some other runners from Victoria and Auburn. I love recovery food!!!

After another cold night at Red Cliff we headed to Vail today. This was another really long one - 23 miles. By now we're old hat at this and in a routine....get up, eat, shiver at the start and then head out for more punishment and abuse on the trails of Colorado :- ) Just kidding about the abuse part.

For this route we had 8 miles of fire road that averaged about 6% and then after the first check point, we headed up another 6 miles on 3 different trails until we were "at the top of the world". It was just amazing the scenery and definitely worth the work to get there. So now after 4400 ft of climbing we got to decend (again!!) for 4800 ft over 10 miles...ouch!!! Need less to say again we made it but this time it took us 6:22 and change to get to the bottom!! Still we're happy to be here and have just one more day to go to the finish. It will feel so good to finally be done but we were remarking at dinner that the days have flown and we can't believe we're already at our last evening. Tomorrow we head from Vail to Beaver Creek, another 21 miles and we'll be done!!
I'll update again tomorrow after we finish.
Thans for listening.

C'ya

TR - Day 2 Vicksburg to Twin Lakes

Hi all,

Well Stu and I have made it through Day 2. We now have only 4 days to go!
This one was tough. We were bused to the start from Arrowhead Camp ground to Vicksburg. The start was at 9600 ft. We had a couple of miles to warm up to get to 10000ft and then we really went up!!! The next 2.5 miles were really tough. No real switch backs just straight into thin air at 12500 ft at the top (Hope Pass).

What wonderful scenery! We have photos that we'll download later. Tonight we have only battery power.

From there we had 3.5 miles straight downhill. We relished that as we now could use some differnt muscles! Once at the bottom we had a river crossing to navigate which at one point was mid thigh depth. Let me tell you, that cold water on the legs felt awesome. From there it was only a couple of miles to the finish at Twin Lakes. From there we were shuttled to Leadville where race village is set up. Dinner was at a local high school - pretty good but the Klondike bar back at the RV was the real treat. It's been quiet weatherwise today. No storms. And yes we SAW the thunder and HEARD the lightening Jeff : )

Once again Art did a terrific job of support. He had the RV waiting for us and had sandwiches in the fridge - what a guy! He got in a 4 hr mountain bike ride as well, exploring the local trails around Leadville.

Tomorrow is the first really long day - 24 miles. We have a couple of peaks that top out again at 12500 ft ish but much less severe gradients. Stu is feelling the better of the two of us at the moment and he's been doing a good job of keeping me going. Today I felt a little altitude sickness fo the first time ever. Dizziness and nausea which has improved as the day wore on but had me worried for a time while we were out there. Today I bought a pair of trekking poles. Can't think why I didn't think of it before but there you go. I'll let you know how they work out.
Not sure if I'll be updating tomorrow as we are back at a camp ground and may have limited access.

That's it for today. We're in 11th place overall for our category (out of 19 teams).
C'ya

TR - Day 1 Buena Vista to Numbers

Hi all,

Wendy again. One down and five to go!! Today Stu and I completed the first stage from Buena Vista to Numbers. It was a beautiful run of about 13 miles along the Arkansas river. With the majestic Colegiate Peaks of the Rocky mountains all around it was quite scenic. The altitude was a little tough for me and the last 3 miles were a struggle. However as soon as I finished I ate and drank and felt a lot better. Art did a terrific job of support. When we returned to the RV he had sandwiches and drinks ready for us, along with smoked salmon! Today's start was at 10am and it was quite warm, certainly more than I expected. No rain though until this evening when we had a few showers.



We've met a few of the other runners at dinner. Everyone seems pretty relaxed. Some teams finished incredibly fast.....we made it in 2:32:27. Not bad for a couple of flatlanders :- )

Art rode his mountain bike back and forth along the course and took some photos.



Tomorrow looks like a tough stage. Only 10 miles but very steep and rocky. Starting at just under 9600 ft, we have 2 miles of semi flat then we climb 3000 ft in 2 miles....needless to say we'll be walking that!! The good news is that we then get to go down hill for another 3500 ft in 4 miles and then 2 more flat to the finish. We end at Twin Lakes at 9200 ft elevation. We go over Hope Pass at 12500 ft so not much oxygen anywhere tomorrow!

That's about it from me for today. I'll check in again tomorrow assuming I can get a signal.

C'ya.

TransRockies Eve

Hi everyone,
This is Wendy writing this time. Today we got up to Buena Vista, for the start of TransRockies Run tomorrow. We left Phoenix on Friday night and drove to Gallup, New Mexico where we stayed at the Red Roof Inn. We all got a good night of sleep and got going pretty early (for me anyway) on Saturday as we had a long day on the road to get up to Denver. The day seemed to pass pretty quickly but that was because I slept for a lot of it :- )
We arrived in Denver just in time to pick up the RV that will be our home for the next 8 days. It's not too bad, quite comfy and keeping out the rain which is falling at the moment as I type this. Last night we stayed with Sara, an old friend of mine. This morning after a great breakfast we headed here to Buena Vista. It sure is beautiful up here. We're at 8300 ft and there are mountains all around.
Stu and I got checked in and picked up all our swag. This evening we had our first TR meal (kabobs) and got to see our competition. Everyone seems in good spirits despite a storm that has blown in. We can hear lots of lightning and see thunder all around [that's an inside joke for one of our friends back in the valley (Jeff you know who you are - LOL)].
Right now we're chilling with beers and good reads just relaxing before turning in for the night. We start at 10am tomorrow, later than the usual start which will be 8am. Tomorrow's route is just a 'warmup' of 13 miles. It's pretty flat - only an elevation change of about 1100 feet, and the good news is we stay at this same spot tomorrow night as well.
Well that's about all from me for now. I'll check in again tomorrow night and let you all know how tomorrow went.
C'ya

We're heade to TranRockies Run

Just wanted to let everyone know that Wendy and I are headed to Colorado for TranRockies Run. Wendy and Stu Gibson are the runners who will be trying to run about 125 miles in 6 days. Here is a brief description of the event... oh, yeah, we rented an RV for the event and I'll be doing support... and yes, I'm taking my bike with me. What else would I do while I'm doing support...

GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run
A New Epic in the RockiesThis year from August 25-30, up to 150 teams of two will take on the Colorado Rockies for a running experience like no other. During the six days of the GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run, runners from all over the world will run, eat and live together as they cover 125 miles of spectacular scenery, fully supported by a dedicated and professional Event Team who will look after all aspects of their food, accommodations and on-course support.Based upon the wildly successful GORE-TEX™ TransAlpine-Run in Europe and the TransRockies mountain bike race, the GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run is run on a multi-day point-to-point format which allows athletes to access and traverse wild and fantastic scenery, while building camaraderie, overcoming adversity and sharing a singular adventure.

The GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run course runs from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek, through the heart of the White River and San Isabel National Forests. The course includes a mix of singletrack and forest road with nearly 25,000 feet of elevation gain, reaching altitudes of over 12,500 ft. Racers are fed and housed in a tent city, and treated to hot showers and other amenities every night, and are supported throughout each stage with feed and aid stations along with a fully-equipped and mobile medical team. Each day’s run is filmed by a professional TV crew who produce footage which is shown during the daily awards ceremony recognizing the stage and overall leaders.

Each morning, the racers will leave the race village en masse and tackle the day’s course before arriving at the finish where the Event Team has moved in and rebuilt the village from the night before. With gear bags, tents, showers and food waiting, the racers can spend the rest of the afternoon and evening trading stories, healing wounds and recovering in preparation for the next day’s run.W.L. Gore and Associates has won the loyalty and trust of runners and outdoor enthusiasts with the comfort, protection and superior performance of the GORE-TEX® brand and its Guaranteed To Keep You Dry™ promise. The innovative stage running format will challenge the athletes with a huge variety of conditions. Gore licensees include Adidas, Asics, Puma, Nike, Salomon, New Balance, Montrail, Ecco, The North Face and Inov8. They use GORE-TEX™ in the making of shoes and apparel ready for the challenge of the TransRockies Run.

While many participants come to endurance stage events with the simple goal of getting to the finish line, there will be fierce competition at the front of the pack for the $20,000 in prize money up for grabs in five different team categories: Open Men, Open Women, Open Mixed, Men 80+ and Women 80+. The 80+ categories consist of teams whose participants' ages combine to 80 years or more. Regardless of category or experience, participants of the GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run will cross the line with a deep sense of accomplishment, a lifetime’s worth of stories and memories, and a group of new friends in adventure.

Flag to GC

This past weekend I participated in the Toys for Tots Flag to (almost) Grand Canyon mountain bike ride. Usually, we camp in Flag on Friday night, do the ride, then camp at the finish on Saturday night. This is a great event with breakfast being served at the first check point.... and I mean real breakfast like eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy, fruit, cookies, etc. ... the list goes on.

Wendy and I drove up Friday night and got in a bit late. So instead of pitching an tent, we put an EZ-UP over the bed of the truck and slept on the thermarest. It was a beatiful night. We left a small gap right above our heads so we could see the stars. Of course, it rained a bit in the morning and we had to move down a bit. By then, my feet were hanging off the bed of the truck.

The ride starts at 7 AM. Wendy was planning on running for 3 hours at Mt. Elden, then driving to the finish and picking me up. The ride is pretty easy, but a bit long. About 62 miles on fire roads with a small amount of rocky, semi-technical riding.

I rode with Trever, Dan and Rob. The first 15-20 miles felt like we were racing, but then the pace settled and became much more civilized. One rider was in front of our group, and he was flying. By the last checkpoint, we were about 30 minutes behing. At about mile 53, I got a flat and had to stop. Another ride (Mike) caught up with us. When we hit the last check point, we all stopped except for Mike - he kept going - for food and drinks. We finished the 62 miles in just over 4 hours, which is not too bad.

Wendy finally picked me up about an hour and a half later. She was estimating my finish in about 5 hours. We decided not to stay the night because our dogs were alone at home. Overall a great ride, but I think next year we'll be camping and we'll bring the dogs.