Results & Reports - 2006 Woodstock Goldrush 24hr Adventure Race

Team Enduraventure Earns Gold in Woodstock Adventure Race

Report by Lisa Randall

On Friday morning, twenty three teams lined up for the first ever Woodstock Goldrush 24 Hour Adventure Race set along the Lake Allatoona and Pine Log WMA. Racers would paddle, trek, coaster, swim and mountain bike approximately 80 miles through a variety of diverse terrain. The event drew in first time racers as well as seasoned top regional teams. With such stout competition, Team Enduraventure knew they had to race hard and smart if they wanted to take home the $1,000 cash prize. Representing Enduraventure were Bryan Goble, Lisa Randall, and James Holmes along with their support crew Chris Randall and Rose Ropke.

The race started out with a mile run from the YMCA camp to Cherokee Mills Boat Ramp. The format was a staggered start and Enduraventure was in the first wave along with fellow pace-pushers Litespeed/Inov-8. EV opted to plot all their points before heading out on the run and arrived at the boat ramp a few minutes behind the other teams in their wave. Once they hopped in their boats and headed under the bridge, they were hit with an onslaught of whitecaps and wind gusts. It was a struggle just to keep moving forward. Sitting up front, team member Bryan Goble kept getting lapfuls of water as it came over the bow of the canoe as they crashed through the waves. The wild and wooly lake claimed some victims as at least one boat flipped and several others were moving backwards...literally. Some teams chose to simply portage along the shore and avoid the huge waves for as long as possible.

After evaluating their slow progress on the water and the less than ideal conditions, the team decided to bail on their more paddle-less portage originally planned route and opted for a shorter paddle with a 2.5 mile portage. Once they were off the lake and had the wheels strapped on the canoe, they moved quickly along a jeep road to TA#1. Once there they did a quick shoe change and refuel and were off on the trekking section with Litespeed/Inov-8 right on their heels. The trek started out with easy nav on roads and then transitioned to bushwacking and coasteering. EV was with Litespeed up to CP#5 although a differing attack strategy gave EV a bit of a jump on them coming into CP#6. Once they punched the CP, it was then down to the lake for the dreaded frigid cold swim across Illinois Creek. The cold water made for several minutes of agony, but the move paid off and saved approximately two miles of coastal foot travel. As the numbness crept in about half way across the channel, Bryan Goble offered words of encouragement…”It’s going to feel so HOT once we get out of here’…..WRONG! After dragging their numb bodies up on the rocks they continued to shiver despite the mild, sunny weather. The team then had to whack up to a windy ridge and search around for a CP that had been stolen. After 20+ minutes of seaching, replotting, and verifying their location, they bailed on the CP and headed to CP#8 for some dry clothes.

Once they were dry, they were happy again and headed off for more trekking. They took a gamble and opted not to take their PFD’s on the next section, hoping that the lake would be low enough to cross near CP#9 without another frigid swim. It paid off and they were able to cross a shallow knee-deep channel just north of the CP. They headed up to CP#10 at a game check station where they were greeted by their support crew and a full gear check…and they wanted to see everything. A bit of a hassle to unpack everything, but good to see that someone finally did a gear check on course. They had a pretty quick TA as they wanted to head out to maximize what little daylight was left. The next three points were pretty straight forward, first following a creek and then heading up to a hilltop. EV had a little trouble with the third one as they first looked for it on the wrong spur, but after about 10 minutes they reattacked from the creek and found it as darkness set in. From there it was a nice jog along the creek back to Stamp Creek Rd and then to Pine Log WMA.

The team fueled up at the next TA and headed out to the first mountain bike CP with no problems. The next CP was in kind of a strange place, a little ways off the main road, but it did add some excitement to the night. The team rode through the tall weeds along a deer/hunter trail until they were just north of the small knoll where the CP was placed. They picked up the CP and headed back out to the main road via an old roadbed that had so many limbs and trees down, that it was difficult to ride for any great distance. They just ran our bikes through most it and popped out on one of the main fireroads through the WMA. The next CP was located at a pond that was located a good distance away off an out and back fireroad. EV found the pond with no problem but then began a 45 minute whack that had them crawling, yes crawling, through dense rhodo thickets and scrambling up dirt and rock cliffs…all in bike shoes – good stuff! They overshot the CP so they headed to higher ground and reattacked from a bearing off the corner of the pond. Travel on high ground was much easier and they were able to spot the CP and work their way back to the main road. Now they were back on the bikes with just one final CP to obtain…To their surprise, the CP seemed like it was located a bit further south along the trail than it was plotted, but no complaints from anyone on that one. Back to the TA and it was time for wind jackets and some ski gloves for the road ride back to the Sandmann YMCA camp. The EV support crew barely beat their team there but they were still able to transition to their paddling gear quickly. They also had to plot their remaining CP’s. Unfortunately the checkpoints seemed strategically placed to keep teams from portaging down the local roads in the middle of the night.

Once on the lake they were greeted by calm water…a welcome sight. The first part of the paddle to CP#19 was very pleasant, although getting out of the boat was a bit of a challenge on the rocky shore. Then it was off to the next one but first a portage across a large sandbar. For CP#20 they beached their boat south of the CP and ran up to it which was a welcome relief and some added heat. Once they returned to the boat they noticed there was ice all over the canoe and paddles. Wonderful. They hopped back in and continued on their way…portaging and paddling along. Once they passed under Bells Ferry and knocked off CP#21, they knew we were in the home stretch…They just didn’t realize how LONG it would take to make it those last 4 miles to Rope Mill Park. The pogies were now frozen solid. The team would paddle, then portage, then paddle some more, then portage.. Meanwhile, back at TA#4…knock knock knock on the car window. “Sir, this park isn’t open for a couple more hours. I’m gonna need to see some identification.” Apparently the local law enforcement were not made aware of what was going on, and were wondering why the team’s support crew was at the Park before it officially opened.

Back on the water...They portaged a good bit of the last section near the Toonigh Creek waterfall, but at least it meant that they were staying a little warmer. They kept portaging and finally got far enough upstream to hit the creek channel with water that was deep enough to actually paddle in. They continued on their merry way, happy now because the sun was up and what do they soon see? Shoals. ARGH! So again they were out of the boat for what seemed like the 50th time. They climb over the rocks and continue. Back in the boat, moving along and what is that ahead??..MORE FREAKING SHOALS…..Will it ever end?? Being tired of getting in and out of the boat, they tried to paddle up it but got hung up on a rock, the current spun them around and spit them out back down river. So they try again and this time make it up without any problems. They pass under the final bridge and the park is in sight. Its just a final slog through shallow water and they were out of the boat and ready to make the final push to the finish.

The team starts trotting along and ended up going a bit out of their way thanks to a brilliant lack of attention at this late stage in the race. Once they hit Main Street, they followed the sidewalk into town. When they arrived at the finish just past 8 am, it appeared the only ones awake were the race organizer and their support crew. The team did receive free warm drinks from the Serene Bean, which was a welcome relief. Over the next few hours, the teams remaining on course trickled in as the celebration picked up.

A big thanks to all that made this event possible, and to Toby Bramblett for creating a fun, challenging course. Everything about this event was high quality including support crew shirts, custom fleece vests for the racers, swag, and cash prizes. Those who missed this one really missed out. Clear instructions, full color waterproof maps, and a good bit of route choice. A great race and we’ll even let them slide for not having the chili ready at 8 am when the team came in. Thanks to all the volunteers, bike patrollers, and rescue folks who were out there in the middle of the night and to all the support crews who spent countless hours running their team’s gear from one place to another. Thanks also to CW-X for providing the team with a supply of excellent racing clothing and to Cherokee Bike Shop for hosting an Adventure Racing Survival Class that helped novice teams prepare for this event. Team Enduraventure will definitely be back next year!