Ocmulgee AR 2005

We heard good things about this race last year. It’s done in conjunction with the Bragg Jam music festival in Macon which is a fund raiser to improve the Heritage Trail system along the Ocmulgee River which runs through Macon. Additionally, whenever we have the opportunity to race as a two-person team we take it since most races require 3-person teams and we prefer to race as a 2-person team.

 

 On the way to check-in we were required to drop our boat off at a GA Power facility off Arkwright Road near the river. We attached the wheels to the canoe since there was going to be a portage of unknown distance. The Transition Area for this race was in a warehouse in Macon Central City Park, the starting point of the race. We had never seen an indoor TA in all of our years of racing and even better we were able to leave all of our gear in our reserved spot so on race morning we didn’t need to bring anything but ourselves. That night before the pre-race meeting pizza was served to all racers for dinner.


The race started at 6am on an overcast day which was good since it kept temperatures down. The start was a one-mile run around a big field. When we returned to the TA our maps and passport were waiting for us. There were 22 CPs that were pre-plotted and 5 additional CPs that we had to plot and find. Only 3-person teams were considered elite and the five additional CPs were mandatory for them. Since we were a 2-person team we were in the adventure class and the five additional CPs were good for bonus time. Our plan was to complete the course and find as many of the five optional CPs as we could. We received five maps. One was an overview and the other four were segments of that map. The scale was 1:10000 which was a much bigger scale than the 1:24000 maps we’re used to in races.


We started on bike heading north on the Heritage Trail that turned into a dirt trail after about 5 miles. CP 1 was a short way off the paved road and CP 2 was where the paved road ended. We decided to go for 2A which was a bonus CP for us. It was at a creek/river intersection. We took the wrong approach like most teams and ran into a virtually impenetrable wall of briars. We decided to try another approach but then moved on since we didn’t want to waste too much time on an optional CP. CPs 3, 4, and 5 were off the main trail but were easy to find since teams were bunched up looking for them. At CP 6 Zach had to swim out to punch our card. CP 7 brought us backed to paved road for a couple miles. A muddy trail brought us to CP8 and then it was on to CP9 where we hit our first single track of the day. Several miles of riding and hike-a-bike brought us to CP10. Right before we arrived at the CP, people were yelling at us to detour due to yellow jacket nests on the trail. Needless to say we made the detour. The area around CP 10 which was on the river was a muddy mess and we kept slipping and sliding. We left our bikes here so they could be transported by boat across the river.

This was the area where three more optional CPs were located. AT CP6 we had joined up with Team Bonk, which was our friend Ron and his new teammate Nancy. Ron and Zach worked on plotting the three points. When they were finished plotting the four of us headed out on foot. It wasn’t too long before we were sliding down a muddy hill and had a hard time getting up the other side. We found 10A and 10B without any problems. On the way to 10C which was the farthest distance away, Zach recommended we skip it because of the time. It was 10:30am and there was a 1:30 cut off at the boat put in. As it turned out it was the best decision we made during the race. From that point we trekked a short distance down a hill to CP11 and then followed a creek to CP12 which was in the same muddy place as CP10. When we returned our bikes were gone to the other side of the river and we then had to swim about a half mile down stream. We put everything in our dry bags and floated them down river. The swim got all the mud off our shoes and clothes and was quite enjoyable since we had a good current helping us.

We exited the river and had to walk about half mile north through deep sand and streams to retrieve our bikes and then take our bikes back through the same sand and streams. We then biked with Team Bonk on paved and dirt trails for another hour and three more CPs to the bike drop on Arkwright Road. Our bikes were loaded into the back of a truck for transport back to the TA. We then had to trail blaze through a kudzu maze down to a creek and follow the creek to the river to find CP 17. From there it was a couple mile of trekking on a trail overlooking the river to the boat pick up.

It was 12:12pm when we arrived at the boats. Fifteen minutes later we were in the river with an 8-mile paddle ahead of us. We had to be out of the river by 3pm in order to continue and it was at least a two hour paddle to the take out, so our decision to skip 10C was looking pretty good. There were no CPs on the paddle but there were some shoals to navigate and we got stuck on rocks twice. The paddle was longer than we anticipated but we did pull up to the take out with 5 minutes to spare. Then came the hardest part of the race; getting the canoe out of the river. We had a steep, muddy hill to drag it up. Fortunately there were some ropes attached to trees to help us. Zach would pull the boat a little and Cathy would tighten the rope to keep the canoe from slipping back in the river. Once we got up that hill we dragged the canoe another 300 meters back to the TA.

There was one section left in the race and we had to finish it by 5pm. The first leg was to bonus CP 19A and involved another swim on the river. About half way across we discovered that the river was shallow enough for us to walk. About the same time we started walking we saw a storm coming in and started hearing thunder. We arrived at the optional CP and then only had two more CPs to find and then return to the TA and finish. From 19A we followed a trail for about a half mile that abruptly ended. There was a sort of trail off to the left which we followed. It took us right into a swamp. Our next CP was on top of an ancient Indian mound and we could see it off in the distance, but there was no way to get there except through the swamp. There was no trail through the swamp. The storm was getting closer, the lightening was getting closer and closer, and the thunder was getting louder and louder. Ron led the way, followed by Nancy, and then Zach with Cathy brought up the rear. As we moved forward the grass was tall and the water varied from knee to chest deep. Suddenly Cathy yelled “I can’t do this, come here and hold my hand!” The storm, swamp and thoughts of snakes got to be a little too much for her. When Zach got back to her she was hyperventilating. After she calmed down, Zach led her slowly through the swamp, frequently tripping over underwater logs and branches. Shortly after we got out of the swamp the sky opened up and the deluge began. It rained hard from CP 20 to 21. On the way back to the finish the rain slacked off somewhat. We had to walk along a paved road for a short distance. As cars passed us we kept getting hit by huge splashes but we didn’t care since we were already soaked form the swim, the walk through the swamp, and the downpour. The four of us crossed the finish line at 4:50pm, 10 minutes before the cutoff.

If we hadn’t skipped CP10C we would not have finished proving once again that good strategy is as important as good navigating. We finished in 10 hours 26 minutes, 6th out or 62 teams and second in 2-person coed. That night we enjoyed the festivities at Bragg Jam.