Just a quick note to say the team is doing AWESOME! We are awaiting their arrival from this latest 24+ hour trek through the Bridger Mountains. They are due in anytime now. Other teams that they are racing consistently with say they looked good on the trail - we’re hoping they got in a few hours sleep.

Your latest blog comments are printed and awaiting them. Thank you Paul for your guidance and words of wisdom. The words quit and can’t do it have not even been mentioned and we will not allow it. Spirits are high and they realize they are really in the big push of the race now.

Yesterday when they came into the TA after the all-night bike ride, they were about as exhausted as we’ve seen yet. All said the “sleep demons” are starting to play tricks on them. Mark crashed immediately for a couple hours and the others tried to nod off as well. They refueuled and set off on this trek.

Feet are all looking really good. I think the initial trek and blistering was needed to rough them up enough for the remaining treks… Erich’s heel is feeling really good and he has it wrapped up tight.

So far, they have not seen any big wildlife such as bears or moose…and neither have we. Just a lot of prairie dogs and really loud annoying birds (I think mocking birds). Thank goodness for ear plugs!

More later!

-Teresa & Kristen

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#8 Okay, things got a little hectic for a while. We were expecting the team in at TA6 around 6pm, but they did not get in until about 10pm. Got some food into them and cleaned up a little then they all slept until about 2am got up and repacked and got back on the bicycles by about 3am. The Yellowstone is above flood stage and closed even to the professional rafters. So that segment was converted to bikes which was an advantage to our team as biking may be their strongest area. It looked to be about 90 miles to the next TA at Big Timber so we figured they would get in about noon. The support team figured to get a couple of hours of sleep since we hadnʼt had any for the past 20 hours. We got up at 8 and checked their progress and saw that they were only about 15 miles to TA7 and we had an hour and 20 minute drive to get there. A real tossing in of gear and off so we were about 20 minutes late. Fortunately another support crew loaned our orphans some chairs and coffee and cookies. They did that leg in less than six hours when we had figured 8 to 10. Strong on the bikes and a nice tail wind. We had the honor to adopt a couple of other orphan teams while we were being held, so seems like a lot of us underestimated that segment.

They got another nap of an hour or so and then repacked for another 20 mile bike ride, dropped their bikes at an unsupported TA and started a 30 mile trek over the Crazy Mountains. Reputed to be probably the most taxing of the treks. We had to stay in the TA for four hours before we could go pick up the dropped bikes, so the girls had a little more leisure to reorganize and pack and even got a chance to write a blog on team site. We had anticipated this segment would take about 24 hours, and as they had left at 12:37 pm we came into Livingston - the girls to a motel to sleep in a real bed for the first time since Sunday night and me into a campground to replenish the water and charge the batteries and to dump a garbage and holding tanks. When I first got up this morning and checked the location of the teams I see they moved very little from 11 last night until 6 this morning, so I hope that means they were able to get a little sleep. Looks like they are moving again, but rather slowly. We are about 50 minutes away from the TA, so the girls are doing laundry and shopping. Right now it looks like they will be longer than 24 hours, so we are getting a little caught up and doing deferred maintenance.

The team spirits are still high and keeping a positive attitude. Feet continue to be the biggest problem. Well, I had better get back to business.

Rob

 

 

I thought that I would help illustrate the comment, “Feet continue to be the biggest problem.” I found these pictures of Mark’s (Pup) foot in the gallery. And this would have been before they hit Crazy Mountain! Mary~

 

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Howdy y’all from Xtreme Couture sherpa base camp… everyone is alive and well and getting just a bit giddy from the sleep deprivation, support crew included.   Teresa (a.k.a. yummy burrito lady), Kristen (a.k.a. OMG this dirty laundry bag is *&%#) and Rob (a.k.a. Papa Rob and Blue Boy) are chilling riverside by the Yellowstone watching another thunder storm roll in. We are in a 4 hour holding pattern before moving on to unsupported TA8 to retrieve the mtn bikes while the team is off on their 24+ hour trek through the Crazy Mountains.  They have a lot of loose rock, slush and insane elevation changes to overcome in the next day or so.  They rolled out of here (TA7, Ckpt 15) at about 12:30pm today Thu 6/26. We hope to see them by tomorrow between 12:30 pm and 6: 30 pm God willing.  Some teams are anticipating this leg to take about 36 hours, due to the terrain and the VERY sore feet. 

Everyone’s feet are doing OK. Suz’s are probably in the best shape. All have blisters and are very sore. Erich is taped up pretty tight due to a sore Achilles tendon on his right heel, but he is hanging in there.  We’ll probably have feet closer to looking like hamburger after this trek. BUT, they are ALL smiling, eating, drinking, sleeping, and staying motivated and supporting each other like you can’t believe.  And, there are many other teams in much worse shape. 

As our friendly checkpoint volunteer Hans put it (use your best Arnold Swartzeneggar voice), “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”  And our new photographer friend Scott Jerzak put it, “This trek through the Crazy Mountains will be the breaking point for the teams to see who will be able to continue on.”

There have been several course changes and teams were not permitted back on the rivers at all so all the hard shell kayaking is out and they did biking instead. They set out on their trek from Ckpt 10 on Tue night at 6:00 pm and we didn’t see them until 10:00 pm last night, so 28 hours.  They trekked through most the night Tue and tried to sleep a bit on the trail, then continued to trek most of the day Wed to their bikes at about 6:00 pm and got in to us at 10:00 pm.  They crashed at about 11 pm and got up a 2 am for a 3:30 am departure today Thu 6/26.  They actually beat us to the checkpoint by about 20 minutes, because they were FLYING on their bikes. They took about 6 1/2 hours when we expected 8-10 hours!  Some other support crews fed and watered them until we arrived. The camaraderie between crews is awesome. We got to return the favor with a couple of teams that arrived before their support crews and gave out food & gatorade (hence Teresa’s new nickname Yummy Burrito Lady.)

The support team will try to get some decent hours sleep tonight, once we get more groceries and do some much needed laundry for the team (hence Kristen’s new nick name…).  The back of the U-Haul trailer has that “not so fresh feeling” right now. :0)

Obviously, our sense of humor is still intact and spirits are high. Jen and John, we really need you, but are making due. If Pup’s dad Rob wasn’t here, it would be an entirely different story. Thank goodness for modern technology and the ability to use the computer, electricity, gas stove and microwave in the van. Rob didn’t know what he was in for, but we are CERTAIN it is an experience he will never forget.

More soon… keep cheering and posting comments. We also have a printer in the van and are printing them out for the team.

From the girls who make Sherpa-ing Xtreme, peace out!

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Sorry for the lack of updates, but we have been out of cell phone range for a while. As most of you that are following this must know by now segment two was closer to 50 miles than 50 km (and 44 took a little inadvertent detour) so our team did not get in until TA until about 7am rather than midnight as we had expected. It was cold there - about 32 when they came in - everything covered with frost. They had a little hot food and got into the van (all four of them) for a two hour nap, then into the inflatable 2 man kayaks. Support couldnʼt leave TA for two hours because of a lack of space at next TA where they switched to river boards. Sounds like Pup and Suz took a roll, so were wet and ready for the boards. Anyway, we got there just about five minutes before they did but they did make a good transition, got a little food and into the water. At least the air temp was up by this time. After 44 was out for some time they closed the river for safety. Heard that the safety crew had to assist 18 people up to that point. I didnʼt hear Suzʼs story first hand, but apparently she got sucked into a hole, but I think she got out unassisted. She said something like all she could think of while she was under was food.

By this time we were at the TA4 waiting when they finally got word to us to go back up the river and pick them up. They took about another hour transition to change back to treking gear and prepping their bike gear as they were off on another 50 mile (all these distances are really rough estimates) trek to an unmanned TA where their bikes would be dropped. We could leave food and extra gear, but they had to take every thing with them, including containers, so it really wasnʼt much. They were planning to sleep a couple of hours on the trail, hopefully around midnight. We think the bike segment is another 50 miles, so are expecting it to be about 24 hours before we see them again.

After we had picked up the bikes at John and Carolineʼs place we got our first real meal (Famous Daveʼs Barbecue) in a couple of days, proceeded to the unmanned TA to drop them off (over in the mountains southwest of Livingstone) and then back to the KOA after midnight for showers and finally to sleep for us. It is now about 9am and we figure we have a little time to relax and do some shopping and cooking before we meet 44 down on the Yellowstone for the hard shell kayak segment. Sounds like they have moved TAʼs, but they will only give route changes to the team captain.

I am pulling the U-haul and the girls are usually able to park the SUV close by and walk in to the TA. But there is still a tremendous amount of unpacking and repacking. Thanks to John and Caroline for letting us use their place as a drop off, so we donʼt have to keep packing and unpacking the bikes at each spot.

Time for breakfast, may get a chance to fill in more details later. All the team members look good and still have a great attitude. No big medical problems - just the normal foot blisters. Eric had some stomach upset early in the first trek, couldnʼt keep any food down, but seemed in good shape at last two TAʼs and was packing in plenty.

Rob

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They are off and running. First segment was from the village 7500 feet to the top of Lone Mountain 11,000 and back. They had estimated five hours to make the round trip. Did it in 3 ½ hours. Still lots of snow, but they managed without the snowshoes. No such luck on this next segment. It seems to be about 30 miles, again on foot. They hope to get into Transition 2 (TA2) by midnight, sleep, and then head down the Gallatin River about 5:30 am on inflatable kayaks with a river board segment along the way. So far it looks to me like the support crew is working almost as hard as the team. If TA1 is any indication, we need some Sherpaʼs.

Rob

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Team Xtreme Couture would like to thank our sponsors Xtreme Couture MMA (Randy and Kim), Red Rock Running Company ( Eric and Steph), The Beauty Center (Pat and Kristen), CW-X (John), our families, friends, and loved ones (too many to list) that are making this possible. We would also like to thank Nature Cure Racing Team for letting us borrow Suz for  PQ. She is an awesome addition to the team and our hope is not to slow her down too much during the race.  Lastly, a special thanks to Paul and Karen from Team Sole. Their coaching and guidance over the last few months has been outstanding and we hope not to disappoint.

Thanks Again Everyone!

 

 

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