The Rock, Roll and Rattlesnake Challenge 2021 is in the books. All in all I would say a successful race. The race briefing at 3:45 am had teams up and bright eyed and bushy tailed. The race started at 4:05 am with teams being handed coordinates for the first leg which included 20 miles of biking, seven miles of paddling and a five mile orienteering course on the other side of the lake. Team 2HP consisting of Sandy and Devon Horn were the first to have all ten points plotted and leave out on the bike to the lake at 4:14 am. Team WTF Nathan Winkleman and Shannon Truman were the second team out at 4:19 followed by Pushin’ Up Daisies with team members Gale Torbett, Stewart Kelly, Doc Fletcher, and Dianna Brackeen made it out at 4:23 am. Team Ram-On and the Ramon family biked out at 4:25 am followed by Eco-Shaman Damon Farrar and Tom Streety at 4:30 am and Texas Pride with Paul Ryan and Jeff Korssjoen at 4:32 am. Eco-Ok and the Glover family were the final 16 hour team to bike out at 4:45 am.
WTF arrived at the boat TA at 4:46 am with 2HP hot on there heals arriving at 4:48 am. Other teams followed in:
PUD 5;02 am
Eco-Sha 5:02 am
Texas Pride 5:04 am
Ram-on 5:26 am
Eco-Ok 5:30 am
Teams hit the water:
WTF 4:50 am
2HP 5:06 am
Eco-Sha 5:13 am
PUD 5:13 am
Tx Pride 5:13 am
Ram-On 5:42 am
Eco-Ok 6:01am
Teams were monitored on the paddle across the lake by Jim McTasney (the Rep for Lift e-foils and Manta-5 bikes) on his Lift e-foil. Jim was on the water for more than five hours. All teams successfully made it across the lake to the orienteering section before the high winds hit. The paddle back was a bit more windy with 17 to 22 mph winds.
I was back at the main TA starting the 8 hour team. Teams Bar X Andrew Mustard and Daniel Jepson and Team Don’t Stop Rachael Pierce and Allen McDonald were off and racing at 7:36 am. Bar X biked out at 7:58 AM AND Don’t Stop at 7:50 am. The 8 hour course had a slightly shorter paddle and a much shorter orienteering course on the other side of the lake.
Arriving at the paddle at:
Bar X 8:37 am
Don’t Stop 8:37 am
Teams arrived back at the Anchor to TA back to bike to bike back to the main TA at the ranch.
WTF 9:16 am
Tx Pride 9:49 am
Bar X 10:14 am
PUD 10:27 am
Don’t Stop 10:30 am
Eco-Sha 10:32 am
2HP 10:45 am
Eco-Ok 11:40 am
Ram-On 3:35 pm
Bike out from lake to ranch:
Wtf 9:18 am
Tx Pride 10:03 am
Bar x 10:25 am
PUD 10:39 am
Eco-Sha 10:44 am
Don’t Stop 10:45 am
2HP 10:53 am
Eco-Ok 12:01 pm
Ram-On 3:43 pm
Bike in to ranch TA:
WTF 9:47 am
TX Pride 10:36 am
Bar X 10:58 am
PUD 11:15 am
Eco_Sha 11:21 am
Don’t Stop 11:26 am
2HP 11:33 am
Eco-Ok 12:47 pm
Ram-On 4:53 pm
All teams were given race directions for the remainder of the race. There were 23 points to plot and fetch. Teams were given the option to bike or trek or a combination of both to get the 23 points. Teams were ranked according to the number of points bagged in the time limit. The race cut off for 8 hour teams was 4pm and 8pm for the 16 hour course. This was a monstrous leg and required strategy as well as physical braun.
Teams biked out on the bike trek.:
WTF 10:19 am
TX Pride 11:28 am
PUD 11:58 am
Bar X 11:54 am
Don’t Stop 12:01 pm
2HP 12:17 pm
Eco-Sha 12:33 pm
Eco-Ok 1:48
RAm-on 5:36 pm
Around mid afternoon I had a call there was a missing CP. We had told teams if they felt they were in the right place and couldn’t find the CP they should move on if they were confident it was missing. It is the racers responsibility to be able to navigate with confidence. So was there a missing CP or misplaced CP………………..
Teams finished at various times during the day and turned in there passports to prove the points acquired.:
8 Hour
Bar X 3:52 pm 16 CP’s acquired out of 25
Don’t Stop 3:56 pm 11 CP’s of 25
16 Hour
WTF 4:20 pm 32 CP’s acquired out of 33
2HP 7:26pm 26 CP’s of 33
TX Pride 7:25 pm 23 CP’s of 33
PUD 7:26 pm 21 CP’s of 33
Eco-Ok 6:54 pm 20 CP’s of 33
Eco-Sha 3:35 pm 18 CP’s of 33
Ram-On 7:20 pm 10 CP’s of 33
The race completed and a time to relax. We provided hot chili with cheese, cold drinks and Jim’s birthday cake after the race. Thanks to all the racers for participating and enduring the suck. The course was beautiful and a joy to set up. What about the missing CP? Jim did not help me set most of the course so he had no idea where the missing CP was. I gave the human GPS a map and he plotted the point and hiked straight to it without using a compass, only pace count and features. The “missing” CP was right where it was supposed to be. You can bet your bottom dollar on April 30, 2022 CP 29 will be right back in its proper place.
