Day #1: 

We set the alarm for 6am, but of course there wasn’t much need for it.  Everyone was eager to finish last minute packing and complete final preparations (i.e., prepping feet with medication and tape) for the big race.  Things went smooth and by 8:15am, the racers were lounging in the room as the support crew waited outside. 

The line-up occurred at 9am with a few last minute instructions from the race staff and final check-in.  By 10am everyone was in place for the start.  The race kicked off at 10:05 sharp (had to wait for the media helicopter to arrive).

Almost forgot to mention the weather.  It was very cold this morning (coldest it’s been in the last week) with a big layer of fog settled in the valley.  Like clock-work, it lifted at 10am.  The view after that was amazing…

Racers set off like a line of ants up the hill.  From where we watched (at the Resort - TA1/parking lot), we could see the top groups reach the summit with racers just making it to the half-way point. 

You can get the times from the website, but our team did great making it in and out of the TA in 5^th place.  Everyone looked great.  We were sorry to hear the sleds got minimal use on the mountain.  Oh, and Jason lost bear spray somewhere.  Do you know how much that stuff costs?  $45!!!

So, with a long next leg, the support crew hung out at the Resort for a few more hours (yes, there are nice showers there) and then left for TA2.  We saw a few teams in the vicinity of Mountain Village.

It’s tent/RV city at TA2.  The support crew set up two tents and have everything go for tomorrow.  We all got out for a bike ride headed in the direction of CP6.  It really is beautiful country.  10:03 pm and we’ve only seen three teams.

ROE for tomorrow.  Teams will sleep tonight and the first wave of boats will leave between 4:45 am and 5:15 am (as soon as the Race Director can see the river).  Teams will leave on a first-in-first-out basis with a 30-second gap.  Interestingly, there are only 22 sets of boats.  So team #23 will be SOL until 4 hours later after the boats have made their journey and been shuttled back to the TA.  Teams will get credit for the amount of time they have to wait, up to four hours. 

Day #2:

BTW - This is Ian writing this… this has to be fast.  We’re at a RV Camper facility just outside of Bozeman on our way to UTA5.  (To drop bikes and proceed to the next TA.)  This is what happened last night and this morning…

Team arrives at TA#2 at 12:30am.  In bed by 1:00 am….it is really nice to have Mark’s camper.  The entire team slept inside in dry clothes, in beds (except for Walter who always prefers the floor for some strange reason) and in the heat.  Mark, Corey and I nearly froze to death in our tents.  We all set our alarms for 4:00am so that we could be ready to go for our turn in the water.  It was sooooo cold…frost everywhere.  After a quick checkout of the TA, the team had to partially rein late the duckies before hitting the water at 5:05 am.  The support crew very quickly packed up and hit the road. We were able to make a very nice stop on the road to see Bones go by….they looked REALLY cold. 

To be honest, I’m not sure the exact time Bones hit TA#3 - it was about 2.5 to 3 hours to get there.  Ann looked especially good for not liking the cold much and Walter and Roy were shaking uncontrollably.  (Although they’ll likely never admit to that.)  It was really amazing watching the teams in front of Bones change into river boarding gear and dive in.  There is TONS of water out there, and I mean BIG water.  And after 3 hours in the water already, the racers were really cold starting this leg.

Now to the exciting part.  We stopped to see Bones twice on this 9 mile leg.  The first was at a medical check where the team had to make their way to the right bank and answer a few questions.  Walter went right on by and I’m still not sure if he had to meet up with someone else downstream.  They were told that House Rock was NOT optional and a portage was mandatory.  When we got there, it was obvious why….just take a look at the picture.  This was our second chance to see Bones.  Walter was very entertaining to watch has he clung to safety rope thrown to him (yes, I told him this).  Apparently he was having trouble because a fin came off.

All made it to TA#4 safe.  Ann who I have never seen afraid (NEVER) said it was one of the scariest things she’s done.  Walter said he’s not religious, but said a lot of prayers to make to the next TA.  Our water experts (Jason and Roy) were calm as ever, but admitted that this was some huge stuff.  So huge that they expected it might be closed to later racers on the course. 

Oh, and nuun LOST a board!

More later…

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