American Adventure Sports Lionheart 24 (+) event is a staple event for us. This was the third time we have done this race, and Doug (the RD) does a good job of switching things up enough to keep it interesting. Our team for this event consisted of me, Charlie and Jen. We were there to have fun and kick butt!
So here’s a breakdown of the race:
Kick off with an out and back 10 Km run from the start to CP1 and back the the central TA.
On the bikes and most of the way up Sugarloaf Mountain. Come off the side, pick up a CP, return to the mountain and get to the next CP in the lead.
Drop the bikes, grab helmets for the paddle (this is critical…), start running and cramping. Realize my helmet is still with my bike, return to CP, lose the lead and about 20 minutes. Thankfully, Jen caught this early!!!
Go over the highest point in the area, drop off the back of Sugarloaf and run down to the boat put in. On the way down, scout out parts of the route for the bike leg later. This was a quad crusher, steep enough that you have to slow yourself sometimes, especially in the sketchy loose sections.
Find the “duckies” with the most air. Man, I do not like paddling those things – but Charlie hates it even more! We started paddling in 3rd place and finished the same. Kudos to Charlie for the solo effort!
Wrap up the paddle, hustle to the CP and the central TA, do a quick rappel, and hike back up the mountain. Whew! At the top, we are just behind the two lead teams – both of the SOG coed teams. Find out the first special event is a bike time trial. The top 5 fastest times for the TT will receive extra points. We realize that if the top few teams all clear the course, the team that wins the TT will win the race (points trump time).
We did some bike maintenance, pumped up my tire, planned a solid route and were off. One of our trails didn’t go through. Ouch, literally! We ended up bikewacking through briars so thick we had to carry our bikes over our heads. Finished the TT and in the end we had the second fastest time.
Next “surprise” was an optional O section on foot around the periphery of Sugarloaf mountain. Off we go bagging points. Wrap that up and we are about an hour back on the two SOG teams.
On to the bikes, down to the central TA and off on the final bike leg. Good hustle, teamwork and route selection and we end up catching the lead teams. We rode with them a bit and then pushed it in to wrap up the race. Around 5 am and we are done. In the end we ended up 2nd overall and in 3 person coed.
It was great racing against both the SOG teams, Cumberland Trail Connections, Trakkers and everyone else. Thanks Doug for putting this on!
A special thanks to my teammates Jen and Charlie for doing this with me. Ronny of Odyssey Adventure Racing, the On Point Foundation and all our other sponsors – we couldn’t do it without you!!! Thank you so much for your continued support.
See you outside!
Shane
Great job team! SO proud of you and how you honor the team name. I see many brownies in your future. Can’t wait to hear about Moab!