Team BIMBACHE EXTREM – FLOWMG.COM Take The Long Way Home!
Posted on 08/22/09 11:39 AM| by Kraig
Team BIMBACHE EXTREM – FLOWMG.COM has completed Primal Quest Badlands, but certainly took the scenic route to get to the finish line. If you’ve been following them on the SPOT Satellite Tracker, you probably noticed that they took an alternate route into town, which bypassed a mandatory checkpoint. Once they found their bearings however, they returned to the course, picked-up the missing CP, and returned to Rapid City and the finish. Congrats to the entire team for their determination and focus. Well done!
As the race draws to a close, the media coverage ramps up as well, with plenty of stories covering the first teams crossing the finish line and conditions out on the course.
- The Gear Junkie weighed in with two stories on Primal Quest yesterday, including one on OrionHealth.com crossing the finish line first and another on Gear Junkie favorite, Team WEDALI, who had an impressive finish to the race.
- Adventure World Magazine has supported PQ throughout the ten day run, and followed up yesterday with a story linking to one of our videos that has teams, and race director Don Mann, talking about the event.
- The Rapid City Journal has an excellent story online that explains how the first teams across the finish line may or may not end up as the winner of the event, with an explanation on time credits and penalties. The same paper followed up that story today with more news on other teams reaching the end of their 600 mile journey.
- KTIV, the local NBC affliate out of Sioux Falls, picked up an Associated Press story on the finish of the race, with the first three teams crossing the finish line.
- Radio KOTA also has a brief story on the Primal Quest continuing on, but wrapping up tomorrow.
Well, folks, the mystery of nuun has now been solved. Although they did criss-cross the pathway multiple times, they eventually broke a bike frame straight through. Not being able to ride, they decided they would sleep for a bit, and sleep they did — for 12 hours! They have rented a new bicycle to complete the leg and are now underway to the finish.
Meanwhile, Bimbache Extreme/FlowMG.com opted to take Route 44 in. Although travel is not prohibited on that road, they did not follow the prescribed path and will receive a penalty. They are en route to the last CP, #38, and are expected to finish within 1-2 hours.
Finally, we have receive requests for updates on Archipela. They withdrew for medical reasons, when one teammate’s feet were too blistered to continue. Word on the street is that they have a great story to share, and they are taking today to visit Mount Rushmore. Watch this space for an update…
Two teams crossed the finish line within minutes of one another this morning, with Team Wintec-Subaru Canada and Aquan/iRule both finishing Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT. Both teams shared a breakfast of pizza and ice cream, while swapping stories from the course. These two teams will go in the record books as having finished the race as ranked, but having completed the shortened course through the Badlands. Congratulations to all eight racers for a job well done!
Today marks a turning point in the race, as the last few teams made the cutoff to head into the Badlands. Rounding out the full complement of official finishers, Teams Endurox R4, TecnuExtreme/StaphAseptic, and SCAAR entered the Badlands. The remainder of the field will reach Scenic, SD, and transition immediately to the Avis Mountain Biking section. From there, they will head toward the finish, where they will join the likes of OrionHealth.com, Salomon/Crested Butte, Merrell, Bones, WEDALI, iMoat, and the most recent finishers, Merrell Haglöfs Multimania.
Conspicuously absent from this list is nuun-FeedTheMachine, who was expected to finish this morning but have taken several wrong turns. Team iMoat, who finished today, said they passed nuun and had an amusing conversation with the weary and partly delirious team. iMoat reports that they said they were on their way to a birthday party (one member of iMoat wanted to join them!). They are now back on course, and will be stopping by a designated way point to refill water and prepare for the final bike in.
Suze Falvey and JD Eskelson of SCAAR on the Merrell Badlands Trek
Team SCAAR was elated to make the cutoff and enter into the Badlands. Even J.D. Eskelson, who had sprained his ankle just before the race, was happily chugging along, being towed by Suze Falvey. For those who are not seasoned adventure racers, it may come as a surprise for a man to accept a tow from a female teammate. In the AR community, this is a sign of a true team player, and it is, under many circumstances, an honor to accept a tow from a teammate. In adventure racing, each teammate will have strong and weak moments, and the goal is to move forward together as a team.
Meanwhile, Team Endurox R4 was plugging away toward Checkpoint 36 on the Merrell Badlands Trek. Unlike most of the course, this section was very exposed, with few trees in sight. Much of it went along an abandoned railroad trestle. Although the area is very scenic, they noted that you could see miles and miles ahead. “It was beautiful for about 15 minutes,” they said, “for the next 7 hours, you wonder ‘does this road ever turn?’” The highlight of their trek was the view of the setting sun from Larsen Farm at Sage Creek Pass. They said they hit it at the best possible time, and were treated to a five minute light show, in which the mountains were lit up all different colors, ranging from day-white, to sunset-yellow, then orange, purple, blue, red, and everything in between. They did comment that “best possible time” is a relative term – although they loved the light show, they may not have gotten lost later if they’d been through the pass two hours earlier! Their timing held as they left the checkpoint, biking during the most beautiful hours of sunset on the Badlands.
Team Endurox R4 enjoys another beautiful sunset on the course
Endurox R4 is an international team composed of two teammates from Ireland and two from the US. Although they all share a common language (unlike Bimbache Extrem, for example), they have noted that the Irish members only have to dial up the accents a bit to become completely incomprehensible. They don’t usually though, in face TA Volunteers commented that Endurox R4 is one of the happiest teams they’ve seen. They’ve had a team of two Irish girls following them from Checkpoint to Checkpoint – not unlike Team South Dakota’s fan club. The Irish ladies even trekked a total of 5 miles out to a remote checkpoint at Triangle Butte, hoping to find their team. They had heard the volunteers staffing the checkpoint were in a very remote location and lugged some cold Coca-colas out. The volunteers were elated!
Volunteers Pepi and Richard staff one of the most remote checkpoints on the course
Word on the street is that although TecnuExtreme and SCAAR both have injured teammates, they are each sharing the loads between teammates – not only by towing them, but also by carrying the injured teammate’s backpack. Because of their hard work and team efforts, they are the last two teams to have made it out on the crown of the course, the Badlands section. In fact, the teams should be able to finish up the Merrell Badlands Trek tomorrow and get on the Avis Mountain Bike headed for the finish line.
If Endurox R4’s experiences in the Badlands are any indicator, they will have plenty of obstacles to overcome. One teammate struggled to replace a tire when a thorn was lodged in the sidewall and kept popping the inner tube. The solution: run some duct tape along the inside to keep the thorn from poking through. Two teammates discovered blisters during their time at the TA. The solution: lance and drain the blister, seal it with superglue, then put some duct tape over it. Yes, it’s true, duct tape can fix everything.
Team Endurox R4 heads out on the Avis Mountain Bike Section in the Badlands
The field out in the field has gotten narrower and narrower as the race draws to an end, with the higher concentration of teams making it as far as Scenic, SD before turning back for home. But the last few teams battling it out for full-course finishes in the Badlands deserve a lot of respect. In the hot days and freezing nights, they must carry on non-stop from this point on if they hope to finish by noon on Sunday. And they’ve got quite a following – even the Park Ranger stops by the Interior Checkpoint every so often with a printout of race standings, so she can keep the TA staff informed. No one asked her to do this, she just figured it would be helpful. The race has generated much support from the local South Dakotans, who will be watching carefully as all the teams (included their beloved #36 – Team South Dakota) make their way to the finish line.
