Just a quick note, we did see the 706 minutes listed… still waiting for the entire team to get back together and discuss. Will try to figure out why such a high amount of time penalties…hopefully there is an error somewhere!  But hey, we’ll take 20th regardless AND the fact that they completed the course! More later.

Teresa

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They have done it!

Team Xtreme Couture crossed the finish line all smiles at about 2:00 am Wednesday, July 2, 2008!  We almost missed it because the Spot tracker was not tracking accurately at the end, and as of this posting almost 2 hours later, it still does not show them having finished!  Luckily, we made it to the finish line with about 5 minutes to spare with the bottle of champagne.  There should be some amazing photos in the gallery soon and we will be posting our photos and videos as soon as possible!  Their expressions when they crossed the finish line were awesome!  It was about 45 degrees out, so they posed for several photos and then rode their bikes for the last tiny stretch back to the warm condo.

The team tried to eat a bit after they showered, but they all kept falling asleep with food in their mouth!  We are sitting here typing this while listening to the sound of 4 distinctly different snores! 

Unofficially, they finished in 17th place. We are hoping that goes up 1 or 2 places once race directors assess who short coursed, penalties,  credits, etc.  As we have mentioned before, just to be one of the teams to actually complete the full course is an amazing feat in itself.  These 4 have accomplished something that the majority of human beings would never dare to even try!  We were honored to be their support team, and we all have had the experience of a lifetime!

Here is a cool video PQ directors put together before the race started. It was shown in our pre-race meeting.  Now that we have done all of these check points and transition areas, it is even better to watch!    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmA9zOnLtyA   Check out www.youtube.com for more PQ videos.

Thank you again for all your shout-outs and support!  It really helped the team (and us) through those rough transitions knowing that you all were out there pulling for us!

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So we have been out of internet range since about Sunday night… so much to tell!  First and foremost, the team is doing AWESOME and are still very much in this race. Paul, they are one of the few teams that are going to complete the FULL course.  You all may have noticed a drastic drop in rank, however most of the teams had to be short-coursed and skip the final trek.  But not our team!!  With swollen ankles, blistered feet, and some major GI troubles, they pushed on and started the 35 mile trek to Ennis Lake at about 8:00pm last night (Monday).  Nike said this final trek was the most difficult of the entire course!  We are sitting lakeside in Ennis waiting for their arrival.  We don’t know why the team shows a rank in about 40th position - could be something with their Spot tracker or all the teams being short coursed, etc. At this point, we will know their final rank probably a day or so after the race ends so the directors can calculate penalties, credits, etc. We are excited that the final stretch to the finish line is on the bikes and so is the team.  The climb back over the mountain to Big Sky is strenuous, but they are still very motivated and spirits are still high!

Some catch up from our last blog when we expected the team to arrive from their trek in the Bridger Mountains… team came in dragging a bit due to the obvious long trek and extreme heat. Daytime temps have been in the 90’s and nights are bitterly cold when the wind is blowing.  Mark R (Pup) had a cut on his lower lip and it was swollen. He said he missed his footing and tripped and fell forward onto a log with his teeth and face. He is very lucky he didn’t knock out any of those pearly whites and got just a cut fat lip! While in the Bridger Mountains, the team came upon a check point that was 12 feet up a tree and hanging over a creek. Pup scrambled up the tree and punched the card for that check point! Some teams took a photo of the check point with their cell phone and race directors said that counted also. The directors said when they placed that check point about 10 days before, there was about 8 feet of snow under it! To answer a question about why the teams did not trek along the ridgeline in the Bridgers, because when they reached the saddle, they had a choice to climb back up but through very loose rock and slush or climb down and stay in better terrain. Most chose down, which ended up being the more difficult route and took them up and down peaks over and over. BUT, they made it!

They left that transition on bikes toward Storm Castle. They were riding very fast and Suz bit it a couple of times. But of course she came into the TA all smiles! Many of the other teams, support crews and race directors have made comments about how much our team and support crew are enjoying this and we are all always smiling!! Suz is the PQ darling, and had the #1 viewed photo from the pre-race meeting and video from the riverboard section. Suz’s quote, “There’s no crying in adventure racing…” is a favorite among all! As tired as we are, this really is a blast and we have definitely made some friends for life!!

They got in some needed sleep, then set out on the trek to the climb section. It was about a 5-6 hour hike to get to the climb area.  From there, it took them 4 HOURS to ascend the ropes for 1,500 feet, followed by a free climb where they clung to rock on what felt like the top of the world!  When asked what the pucker factor was on a scale of 1-10, Mark J said “12″!  But they all loved it and said it was the most amazing thing they ever did.

After the climb, they elected to skip the Orienteering Course, as most teams including Nike did. The course was not mandatory and there were no penalties to skip it. But, if a team did it, they would receive a one hour time credit for every point found.  Team XC happened across one of the points and so they will receive that credit. They then did the rappel. It was visible from our camp and we watched with binoculars as Mark J and Erich came down first, then Suz and Mark R.  It was 157 feet down and they had a blast!  Kristen was able to be at the base of it and got some great photos!!

There was some concern whether or not they would decide to conquer the final trek, or if they would voluntarily short course themselves and be transported to Ennis Lake for the final bike ride in. When they returned from the trek/climb/rappel segment, they were very pumped up and everyone’s feet and legs were doing good (meaning they were still attached to their bodies) so they went for it!  As we sit here typing, the team looks to be about 8 miles or so from here and it is 5:00pm.  Hopefully, they will be to us by 9pm or 10pm and this will be a quick transition to the bikes.  It is expected to take 4-6 hours for the ride back so it looks like a very early morning crossing of the finish line! We are ready with the champagne and cooler full of beer!

Again, your well wishes and shout outs have meant so much to all!  The latest batch are printed and waiting for them.  There are so many stories, pictures, and videos still to share so continue to monitor the site for a while after the race.  Also, Pup’s sister Mary went through the entire photo gallery a few days back and created a separate website with just our team’s photos!  Here is the link:  http://gallery.mac.com/m.holmberg/100131   (Look in the lower left
corner for full screen slideshow.) THANK YOU, MARY!

From the best support crew at PQ,

Teresa, Kristen & Rob

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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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