Cyclepath 2009

We competed in the Cyclepath Adventure Race for the second year in a row. Karl and Cynthia do a fabulous job of organizing and running this event. It was held this year at Del Valle Regional Park near Livermore, CA on January 17, 2009. The sun was shining unlike last year when we battled muddy trails and drizzly skies. They split the teams into two groups – one group started on the 2-person sit-on-top kayaks and the other group started on foot.

The kayaking portion was just a little over 2 miles and involved some dodging of the local fishing boats. The checkpoint was up north by Venados Group Camp and then the transition area was on the other side of the lake at Bobcat Cove. The trekking section was also 2 miles. Runners ran south from the start near the Marina to their first checkpoint under the bridge and then around the lake to meet the kayakers at Bobcat Cove. Unfortunately it felt like the group that ran first had the advantage since it was much easier to see the checkpoint under the bridge coming from the east side than it was coming from the west side. In addition, a few teams that kayaked first missed the West Shore trail turnoff and stayed on the Deer Jaw trail resulting in a hasty cut cross country (and a small case of poison oak afterwards).

The biking section was 10-15 miles and came down to choosing whether to bike uphill on the asphalt road (Del Valle Road) or come flying down the asphalt road after biking up the fire roads. It appeared that most teams preferred to bike uphill on the asphalt and descend on the trails which resulted in them gathering the CPs in a counter-clockwise manner. Most of the CPs were on the East Ridge trail. However, a few teams, including the winners, started out on the East Shore trail and hit the checkpoints in a clockwise manner, getting CP 5 last down in the Family campground. CP2 and CP4 were up past Swallow Bay on Heron Bay trail and no matter which way teams went they encountered a few steep hills to reach these checkpoints. Teams that went clockwise hit that particular hill fresh, while the other teams had an unpleasant surprise near the end of their ride. CP7 appeared to be the hardest to find as the bench it was on was not at a location a lot of teams expected it to be.

Team Hypothermiacs brought four teams to compete. We mixed seasoned adventure racers with beginners so the defending champions (Jeff and David) were split up. Still, we were hoping to get at least one of the teams in the top 3, but a combination of better competition this year, bad luck for a few of our teams, and out-of-shape racers didn’t allow us to do that. The Golden Crank trophy ended up in others’ hands. Still it was a great time and the BBQ afterwards was mighty tasty.

Ben and Todd were the first to finish for us, but they were one of the teams that took a wrong turn onto Deer Jaw trail during the trekking portion and then they never ended up finding the bridge CP, even after going back on the bike. They were the third or fourth team off the kayaks transitioning to the trek. Jared and Cory were the first runners to the kayak TA and the fourth getting out of the water, but never were able to muster a strong push on the bike section to overtake the teams ahead of them. Both those teams tackled the asphalt uphill. Jeff and Daniel were second to the kayak TA, behind Cory and Jared, and were third coming out of the water (obviously Team Hypothermiacs still needs some work on the kayak section). They went clockwise, but coming down the asphalt road they stopped at the kiosk and took a wrong turn forcing them to have to bushwhack through the bamboo tress and lose time getting to CP 5. Dave and Jon just tried to stay with the leaders on the kayak, but then made a wrong turn onto Deer Jaw trail when they were on foot. They ended up finding the bridge CP and were making good time on the bikes heading north to CP2 on the East Shore trail but they missed the Swallow Bay trail turnoff and got on some single track when Dave then crashed. They hobbled to Badger Cove but Dave’s back wheel kept jamming and then the axle mount snapped completely off so his day was finished and he hiked back to the start. Jon met up with Jeff and Daniel and finished with them.