The forecast was bad. Freezing rain advisory from 7pm to 7 am!

Team DINO went into the race with 3 teams: DINO Varsity (Brian H, Scott, Jayne); DINO JV (Ron & Brian S); DINO GS (Jim & Chikage). We agreed we’d race the best we could and just play it by ear when the weather hit. The 24 hour course split from the 12 hour course almost immediately, with a shorter biking segment leading to the first checkpoint than the 24 hour teams. Both distances were to follow an aerial photo with lines drawn illustrating the route. My team, DINO Varsity (on the 24 hour course) got into the lead shortly after overshooting the first turnoff on the map. The initial 1/2 mile of the course was grassy with deep snow. We were pushing the bikes most of the time. Then we reached the road and began to pull away from the next team. The ride was around 45 minutes long.

We rolled up to the shelter to plot our next 5 checkpoints (trekking/orienteering) and get our topo map. A couple of 12 hour teams were already there, including our Ron & Brian. The first CP we went after (#30) was a long haul out on a backpacking trail. I knew the general direction to the CP but the trail ran off the page of the trail map so I was taking a bit of a gamble… I knew the CP’s were on trails but wasn’t 100% sure it was the trail we were following. Fortunately it was, and we found our first CP of the day with close to 2 hours on the clock. The next CP was easier, in a very scenic area of the park. Then we passed our bikes again for another long haul to a covered bridge. The snow was extremely challenging - hard work and constant strain on the feet and ankles. We tried to run on all the paved roads and dry spots. Jayne, experiencing her first AR, did fantastic despite being less in running shape than Scott and I. We found the next two CP’s easily. On the final one I missed a bit to the south, putting us on the wrong side of a deep re-entrant… we did a smile-inducing slide down the snow to the bottom then lugged ourselves up the other side. We trekked the long route back along the road and trail. It began to rain, then sleet, then snow, then rain again. The wind was strong but we were comfortably warm on foot.

We were the leading team at this point. Although other teams had left on bike, they did not get all five orienteering points.

Returning to the shelter and our ice-coated bikes, we plotted the next batch of points - a long bike leg which included some ropes stations and probably another orienteering area. With my gloves off, I got very cold plotting points. Added handwarmers and another layer, but still was very cold - we ran a bit to warm up and then jumped on my bike to find my front tire was flat. We fixed that in the shelter of the state park sign and headed out into the windy, sleeting wide open. The road began to ice. 2 miles later while sailing along with a nice tail wind, we just sort of stopped and mutually decided we were doing something too dangerous. We’d go to TA and sit it out a while. Getting back was still ahead of us, into the strong east wind and pelting sleet. Along the way we passed another team who was struggling with numb body parts. I counted four branches that I saw falling from trees. Back at the TA, we jumped into Ron’s camper, ate, and warmed up. I went to tell the race HQ we had stopped. There, a protective tarp had flapped so hard it turned two picnic tables upside down. I helped the volunteer control the tarp and made sure she was doing OK.

A few other teams came in as well. Ron and Brian came in shortly after we did. Teams tents were mashed down with ice and win. Every car had an ice coating.

An hour or so later the volunteer came to our camper to tell us the race was called off due to weather / safety. We were glad to hear that. Then our third team (Jim and Chikage) came in and we were quite relieved.

Some of our team headed for home before the roads became any worse; some stayed overnight in the camper. Although disappointed to stop early, we were glad everyone was safe and confident that we’d made a wise decision.

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