FAWAP
race report

17 teams and 48 people took part in the May 17, 2003 event. UTMs were given out just before 7 AM to the 15 teams that were there. They started at 7:45 AM with a non-navigating run of about 3.8 miles around Elk Meadow. They then transitioned to their bikes for the remainder of the event. Gotta Chair led the way, followed closely by Todd's Cool and Inside Lane. Anvil was the last team out, having to fix a rear derailleur before leaving.

Shortly after that, Team Shackleton arrived on their bikes, having ridden up from Denver that morning. They plotted the points. Because they were late, I sent them out to CP1 skipping the run.

As they were getting ready to leave, team Engine Block arrived. Jamie's engine block blew on their way up that morning, thus the team name. A little frazzled from the experience, they plotted their points and headed out to CP1, also skipping the run.

The teams biked out Elk Meadow to Stagecoach, west to Witter Gulch, then up the steep hill to the transition at CP1. Rumor is that a few teams turned around before CP1, headed back down the hill, then turned and went back up. For those who followed the first team on this detour, you learned a valuable lesson of adventure racing - RESIST peer pressure and don't assume the team you're following knows what they're doing.

They checked in with Allison at CP1, dropped their bikes, then went out to the rappel, CP2. Tom set the ropes. The rappel started easily enough by walking down the rock. Then, part way down, they had to go over a "step" and "free fall" to the bottom, about 70'. Gotta Chair, Todd's Cool and Inside Lane were still close. Then, there was a gap to the remaining teams.

After the rappel, the teams were supposed to head directly to the orienteering section, starting at CP3. At least one team came back to CP1 on their way. There were 8 CPs on the foot orienteering section. CP7 was surrounded by quartz and mica. There was a 15 minute bonus for bringing back a rock from that CP. 10 of the 17 teams got all of the CPs. Several teams had trouble with CPs 9 & 10. A few had trouble with CP4. Jason and Mark nailed the orienteering and opened up a 37 minute lead. Inside Lane and Gotta Chair were in a battle for 2nd, but Todd and Kendra had to go to work, so Gotta Chair bailed on the bike. The remaining teams were scattered all over the orienteering course. If you need to practice your navigating skills, get out and do some of the local orienteering meets, organized by the Rocky Mountain Orienteering Club.

Good thing I watched Engine Block plot their points. That's how I discovered the mistake on CP12a. The UTMs I had given out that morning were for the original CP. I changed it when I descovered a new trail, but forgot to change the coordinates on the instruction sheet. When I discovered the error, I hopped on my road bike and hammered up the hill to CP1 before the first team made it back from orienteering. Allison passed on the correction to the teams when they came back from the orienteering.

After returning to the transition, now called CP11, the final bike section took the teams to the top of Bergen Peak through some back roads and trails. The route included a bushwhack section over downed trees and through the forest, 1/4 mile if they did it right. The start/finish was off the USGS map. The teams switched to the Elk Meadow Open Space trail map. CP13 was near, but not quite on the Bergen Peak trail. Most teams started left and found that the trail ended. Most of them discovered their mistake, then back-tracked up to the Bergen Trail. A few found their way down through some private property. One team managed to find their way down Snyder Gulch to hwy 103.

Todd's Cool finished at 1:37 PM. Gotta Chair (after bailing) and Inside Lane followed within an hour. It was 1-1/2 hrs before the next team came in. When 4 of the next 5 teams had bailed on the bike, I was worried that I had made the course too hard. All in all, 11-1/2 of the 17 teams completed the course, at least they did the bike. The last team finished just before 7 PM.

Thanks again to Tom Urban for setting the ropes course; Allison Weiss for watching the bikes at CP1 & 11, and to Greg Klaas for helping out at the transition and keeping a few teams from missing the rappel.

The weather was great. I had fun setting the course, watching the teams throughout the day, and talking after you all finished. If you have questions or comments, contact me, Adam Feerst.