Ries's April Training Event
May 6, 2000
The Rio Grande River, between Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico
To continue the tradition of monthly training event, Ries hosted a May 6, canoe and hike event for Jan while Larry, Kim and Todd were at Cochiti Lake doing some kayaking. Later that day Todd, Larry, Kim, Jan and George went for a three hour night mountain bike ride. On Sunday, it was a 28-mile climb to the Santa Fe Ski Basin for Todd, George and Jan. Ries was mountain biking near Cochiti Lake.

4 Winds Northern California Adventure Race
May 13-14, 2000
Clear Lake, CA
Team Santa Fe Finishes 7th at Northern California Adventure Race During the height of the Cerro Grande fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Team Santa Fe along with 18 other teams from across the country and Canada, traveled to Northern California for a 124-mile adventure race. The Northern California race was one race in this year's Mountain Rage Racing Series sponsored by Four Winds. A couple of weeks prior to the mid-May race, TSF learned that the race would be located in Lakeport, CA which is a three hours north of the Bay Area.

So early on Thursday, May 11, team members Jan Bear, Kim Bear, Larry Busby, and Todd Kurth, along with Eileen Pickett as support crew, loaded the endless gear into two trucks and headed for the airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Having survived the check-in ordeal (which proved to be more grueling than the race itself) the five-day journey began. The experience began to meld and bond the group into a strong, resilient and efficient team (armed with deadly kayak paddles) capable of overcoming the next crises which occurred on the return flight and involved a nasty little airport security lady with her metal detection probe! In the interim, the team enjoyed a pleasant little race.

Exhausted from the day of travel and another day spent preparing equipment, escaping skills checks, officially registering for the race and searching for the perfect chocolate sundae to satisfy Jan's sweet tooth; the true test of endurance began at 8 PM Friday night with the distribution of maps and check point coordinates. After four hours of compass work (while the rest of us watched the "sheep" toss finals of the Scottish Games on ESPN) Jan, our team captain, had the entire race mapped out and the team was able to enjoy a couple hours of sleep before reporting to the starting line at 3 AM. The race began an hour later with a mass water start in two-man kayaks, resembling a scene out of Keystone Cops. The water leg was about 15 miles and circled the southeastern part of Clear Lake before ending at the town of Lucerne on the north shore. Arriving at 7:19 AM and roughly in 5thplace the team wolfed down breakfast and switched to bikes. The 44-mile bike leg in the Mendocino National Forest took 61/2 hours, climbed 14,000 vertical feet and involved 17 stream/river crossings. The first big climb up to Pinnacle Rock allowed for a short respite where teams had to negotiate a 90-foot rappelling section on wet, slippery rocks after a brief mid-morning shower.

At around 2:30 PM TSF arrived at the run transition: just in time as food and water supplies were running out. On to the single track and viscously steep climbs. Approximately 26 miles and a few blisters later, the team pulled into the Lake Pillsbury transition area just as dusk was settling in and prepared for another 31-mile ride in the mountains. Spirits were brilliantly lifted by the delicious breakfast burritos cooked by our solo support person, Eileen. As always, the transition areas were organized and efficient due to her tireless efforts and attention to detail as she prepared us for each leg of the race.

The night portion of this race proved the most difficult as fatigue and stress mounted. The hairpin turns, prehistoric maps and moonless sky did not help matters. It was during this leg that the true heart of the team was revealed. As four individuals, the team was prepared and strong but without the strong leadership of our veteran captain, our efforts could easily have been uncoordinated and counter-productive. In the end, it would be Jan's "never give-up" attitude that would keep us pushing forward and his subtle humor that helped us enjoy our endeavors. The last transition area was eventually located at around 2:30 AM after trudging through a sheep herd and wallowing knee deep in swamp muck.

Larry's paddling expertise came in handy as he directed the shuttling of bikes and half-dead team members across the swamp. The last kayaking leg covered about eight miles as the team battled fierce head winds and three-foot swells from a small gale that blew through the area. Larry and Kim paced the team for the final stretch. Kim seemed to get stronger and stronger as the race progressed and provided inspiration for us all (Her secret we think was learning how to bike and paddle while actually being fast asleep). Finally, at 5:01 AM, spurred on by a cheering mob of diehard fans and Sports Illustrated photographers, TSF crossed the finish line. Our efforts placed us seventh overall with a time of 24:48, with just eight minutes separating us from two other teams.

Odyssey MegaDose
Natural Bridge, Virginia
May 25-29. 2000
Team Santa Fe makes it to CP14 before heading home to work. West Virginia over Memorial Day Weekend, Team Santa Fe had two strong teams at the starting line of the infamous Mega Dose 4-Day Adventure Race, sponsored by Odyssey. Team Santa Fe East, a two-person male team, consisted of Jonathan Redfern and Walter White. Team Santa Fe West, a four-person mixed team, consisted of Jan Bear, Cindy Gagnon, Don Moden and Reis Robinson. Both teams found out very early in the race that Don Mann, following in the footsteps of his Beast of the East tradition, put together one of the most difficult adventure races to date. (Mega-dose was definitely the appropriate name).

The racecourse was over 250-miles with 76,400 feet in elevation gain and loss in just 4 days in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The field of 55 teams (including solo racers) that lined up under Virginia's Natural Bridge on Thursday night was whittled down to 10 by the last day. A single 2-person male team survived the adventure, crossing the finish line Monday just under the course cut-off time of 1pm.

Team Santa Fe West, off to a very slow start due to Cindy not feeling well, found themselves close to last place after the first CP. But slowly and steadily, the team moved up the field, soon finding themselves in 8th place by CP 12. Team Santa Fe east had a steady pace and found themselves in 10th overall by CP12. Both teams decided to withdraw early Monday morning after 76+ hours of racing. Both teams were quite proud of their achievements.

Despite the difficulty of the elevation, the discomfort of the stormy weather, and the aggressiveness of the time limits, the consensus among TSF racers was that this race was a great challenge that tested their ultimate limits and some members actually had fun! TSF West was also the only team to be creative during the stormy weather, and took an hour in a laundry mat to dry all their wet clothes while plotting points in a warm, dry environment. Of course, donât forget to ask Jan exactly what he was wearing when all his clothes were drying.

TSF Running and Triathlons
Jonathan Redfern competed in the Luke AFB Annual Triathlon. Jonathan placed first overall in the race, which was against 55 other military members, setting a course record of 47:07 for a 500 Meter swim 10 mile bike, and a 5K run. Congrats Jonathan!

Brenda Moden competed in the First California Ironman, held May 20 in Pendelton, Southern California. This race consisted of a very long 2.4-mile ocean swim, grueling 112-mile bike of hills, and winds, and a 26.2-mile run.

According to Brenda, this was a tough race! The swim was heavy on the currents and presented plenty of swells. Most swimmers reported 20-minute slower times than expected. The water was also very cold. Six competitors were pulled after the swim due to hypothermia. The bike course was very windy and had some tough climbs, as expected. The climbing is where Brenda excels though, so all was going well. Brenda broke her chain about 96 miles into the ride, which caused a 30-40 minute wait for tech support with a chain tool.

After a slow swim, and mechanical problems on the bike, the last thing Brenda wanted to do was run a marathon. But, she went there to finish, so that is what she did. It was not her fastest Ironman, but it presented the most challenges, which she overcame. It was a good experience for Ironman and one Brenda hopes she can take into adventure racing also. Congrats Brenda!

Carl Gable completed the Collegiate Peaks Marathon, a very challenging 25-mile trail run in scenic Buena Vista, CO on May 6.

Alaska Beast Team Finalized

The team for the Beast has been finalized: Jonathan Redfern, Daphne, Slaten Stern and Carl Gable (Team Captain). All are busily preparing for the race.

Logistically, the race will require tremendous preparation. The team members are all excited and will keep you posted about our preparations.