HVAC - Team Holly Loft Race Recap

Guest bloggers, Scott Angove and Missy McNett from team Holly Loft, share a winners' race perspective. Holly Loft earned First Place in the coed division and finished just 11 minutes behind the First Place overall team, the Batty Boys.


Missy and I choose to start together. It's a team sport, and we tend to think better as a team. We were really scared of loosing each other and we're closely matched in climbing, especially at the start of the race; Missy is a strong climber all day, where I seem to run on adrenalin for the first 30 minutes, and should be able to keep up with her for the climb.


Starting out in the second row of the 60-70 bikers was a distinct advantage as we were both in the top few racers around the first two corners leading into the uphill single/double track. We worked our way to the front of the lead pack, through points 1, 2, and 3; but back to the middle, still in the top 6-8 teams, by the long trip south to the scout camp. These top teams, ourselves included, must all have believed Frank's 3-hour estimate, as nobody seemed to be pacing themselves for a 5-7 hour event.


There were maybe 5 teams ahead of us at the bike drop, but we watched 2-3 teams ahead of us run right past the first run CP. We slowed to a jog for a few yards and ducked into the woods for that first run CP without any of them noticing. We caught the Batty Boys, and perhaps one other team at the clearing looking for the second run CP. Using our compasses to find the correct corner of the clearing, we bumped right into that second run CP in the thick brush to find ourselves in first place. The Batty boys were a ways back but gaining through the cemetery and we led each other up the wrong valley looking for the trail to 15a. All four of us realized our mistake after roughly 10 minutes, but it was one of them that found the correct trail up the correct valley 10 minutes later, and we gladly followed them toward 15a. At that point the four of us thought that somebody must have passed us while we were off-course, only to find out later we were still leading. We came to the obvious "reentry" and incoming trails from the left where 15a was on the map, but struggled for 15 minutes with 4 other teams looking for 15a. Chris Darling and Eric Fadale were the first team to give up on that location and continue onward toward 15b. We got wise a few minutes behind them and headed off to find 15a further up the trail, and 15b in the creek bed. We were now in 2nd place behind Chris & Eric, nowhere in sight, who must have been faster on foot as we were feeling the heat and lack of fluids by that point. At the bike drop, without thinking about it, had chosen to run without carrying any water. We ran with the Batty Boys for a while, and came into the bike drop just ahead, but they passed us transitioning back to the bikes, as we took a while refueling.


The long bike trip felt slow as we both were going full speed for the first bike leg south, and had little left for the return trip north. We were out of fluids and gels, and looking for other teams over our shoulders, but were happy to find we were moving not quite as slowly as Chris & Eric; and caught them at the tennis courts and they regrettably allowed us to pass on the single track back to the finish. We finished overheated and undernourished but very happy with a first place coed finish only 11 minutes behind the very respected Batty Boys.