Jason, Erl, Molly, and Biz competed in Bonk Hard Racing's Land Between the Lakes Challenge near Grand Rivers, Kentucky on April 4-5, 2009. This 24-hour adventure race featured a strong lineup of teams from the Midwest, along with some east coast visitors.A few thoughts about the race:
1) The first trek and bike were crazy - like herding cats - with all the different route choices team's had. We often wondered how we passed (or got passed by) other teams.
2) The trekking section from Cravens to Demumbers was stellar - we gained ~15 minutes to catch back up with the lead teams.
3) Paddling alongside EMS - Erl & Jason crushed this part, and pulled MoBiz for a ride. We were all ready to get off the water after this 15-mile leg.
4) Rogaine-style (Score-O) sections of ARs are the best from a navigating perspective - lots of route choice, tricky nav, good times*.
5) The bike back from the rogaine section pushed us to the limits. Molly biked her heart out and we knew we had to push the whole time with EMS right on our tails. We took a not-so-stellar short cut later on, which created a bike-whacking section towards the end of the race - our navigation got us there in the end, but probably not the best route choice.
6) Finishing 1st!
7) Placing 6th!
*Good times indeed, until we found out the next morning at the awards cerem
ony that we had unintentionally skipped a CP on this section.Finishing "1st" and placing 6th are two entirely different things, and our team was crushed to realize our mistake. Even though things may not have turned out the best for us in the end, we had an awesome time and wouldn't give up the experience for anything.... Bonk Hard Racing put together a fantastic course - scenic, challenging, and well organized. We'll be looking forward to racing in Kentucky again next year!
