What did YOU do this past weekend? I was convinced by someone that participating in a 24 hour relay race in the Mojave Desert would be "fun", so there I was. The event was the 3rd annual Mojave Death Race 250, organized by the Orange County Marshall's Athletic Department. This is a relay race that started out primarily as a race between teams of law enforcement agencies, but has become a completely open race that any group can participate in. The race courses ran along various service roads and trails through the Mojave Desert from Jean down to the intersection of US Route 66 and I-40, and back up to Jean, with a total length of about 240 miles. The various legs included running, road biking, and mountain biking events.
The JPL team was lead by Mark Ryne, a member of the Running Club. The team has changed members many times since he first started organizing it. I was asked to join when one of the bikers had to drop out. As Mark was not able find enough competitors from JPL, he had to ask others to join. Since this was a completely open event, this was legal. Mark also arranged to have members of the JPL Amateur Radio Club help out with communications and support.
The final team consisted of the following competitors:
Al Cangahuala Eugene Chu Nancy Dankenbring (Pro Bikes of Arcadia, ringer #1) Paul Herrera James Jackson (Pro Bikes of Arcadia, ringer #2) Greg Kazz Aaron Kiely Susan Merrill Mark Ryne Paul Siqueira Bill Taber Carlos Velazquez
The team radio and support personnel were:
Steven Adams (radio and transport)
Eileen Clark (mobile base camp)
Randy Hammock (radio and transport)
Melinda Kiely (Supply and Support vehicle, medical support)
Dick Matheson (Supply and Support vehicle)
Genny Matheson (Supply and Support vehicle)
The race started at 6 AM on Saturday, June 6 between the cities of Jean and Primm, Nevada. The first leg was a 10 mile run on a dirt and gravel road. Carlos was on this leg, and Paul Herrera brought him to the start point before most of the rest of us were awake. (Actually, we weren't exactly asleep either, as the beds in the casino/hotels we stayed in were designed to encourage you to not sleep, but go do something else, like lose your money in the casino.) Steven was providing support for the first 3 legs on his mountain bike, so he started off with Carlos. Then Randy brought Bill to the starting point of the second leg, also a 10 mile run on a dirt and gravel road, along a train track.
As the rest of us were preparing to go to our legs at around 7 AM, we heard from Randy's radio that Carlos had finished 3rd among the 11 competitors. The 1st place finisher was from the first team from Southern California Edison, and the 2nd place was from the Marines from 29 Palms.
Mark and I drove to the start of the 3rd leg, a mountain bike leg that I was racing. It was a continuation of the dirt and gravel road along the rail road track, except it started out with a lot of loose sand. While I was waiting for Bill, I practiced riding through the sand while warming up. Then the Edison runner came up, and tagged off the rider for leg 3. As Mark and I watched for the next finisher, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it was Bill, who had surpassed the marine. We also saw Steven coming behind Bill, who looked like he just rode a very hard 20 miles (he did). He yelled for me to just go on without him, and he would radio ahead for the SAS car to look for me.
Bill tagged me, and I took off through the sand. Very quickly, I realized that the advice about starting out slow would not work here; the very loose sand required a lot of effort to ride through. At one point, I was standing on the pedal, and the bike simply would not move, so I had to push it several yards before finding firmer surfaces to ride on. Fortunately, this was the only time I had to get off, as the loose sand came and went for the next 4 miles. At that point, the course crossed a road, and the trail became more hard packed, so I was able to gain a little more speed. About 4 miles later, I saw the SAS car with the Mathesons and Melinda Kiely waiting for me at the beginning of the paved part of the course. This part was a major relief; it was obviously smoother than the dirt and gravel, and it was down hill. So I really picked up some speed, before the road started going uphill again. I pumped as hard as I could, and soon I saw the tag-off point. As I got closer, I waved my hand with two fingers stuck out (signifying our team number, 2). I looked around for the next runner in our team, Mark, but could not see him. Then I yelled out his name, and saw him pop out of a bush across the road from the tag point. (He later admitted to me that I caught him totally by surprise "behind the bush".) He ran over and I tagged him off just as I passed the official tag point, and he was off, with the SAS car behind him. As I was catching my breath, I started to feel pains in places that I can not show in public. We waited about half an hour before Steven managed to catch up. At this point, he had already ridden a longer distance than any single leg of the race; about 38 miles. I noticed by this time that the chill in the morning air has definitely been replaced by warmer temperatures.
Since Steven was suppose to provide radio and transport for the next leg but he wasn't around to do so, Paul Herrera drove his truck to his next stop. Bill, Carlos, and I were supposed to return to the hotel to rest, but we took Steven to his stop, which was the start of leg 6. By the time we passed leg 5, Mark had already tagged off Susan, who had just started her first mountain bike leg. She was about 50 feet behind the marine rider, and we knew the Edison rider must be further ahead. I knew the Edison rider from magazines; Pete Penseyres, 3 time RAAM (Ride Across America) solo winner, 2 time RAAM relay winner, plus a few other racing credits. As we continued on to starting point 6, we kept an eye out for him. But we drove and drove and drove, but could not see him. Finally, after we reached starting point 6, we found out that he had finished about 10 minutes earlier. We were amazed; before this leg, we were in second place, about 10 to 15 minutes behind Edison. After that leg, we were still in second place, but Pete opened up that gap to about an hour.
Dumbfounded, Bill, Carlos, and I dropped off Steven and headed back to the hotel to rest up for our respective second races that will take place later that night. We passed Susan, who was still slightly behind the marine. As we cheered her on, she yelled that she was "going to take this guy".
At this point, we sort of lost contact with the race. I tried to get some sleep, but the unforgiving bed made it difficult. At about 2:30 PM, I went to the hotel room where the race organizers have set up a radio command center. They were keeping in touch with radio operators at every part of the race, and they were keeping track of the start and finish times. At that point, the statistics up to the 8th leg have been transferred to a large poster board. I noted with excitement that JPL has been swapping 2nd and 3rd places with the Marines, with JPL in 2nd more often than the Marines. As I was chatting with the radio operators, I heard an emergency radio call requesting an ambulance to go to the start of leg 11. Sudden tension develops.
There were two ambulances that cruised the race course, but we could not communicate with either one of them. However, one of them could receive, but he could not legally transmit as he was not licensed. The command operators broadcasted a message for anyone who sees the ambulance to inform them, or if they heard the broadcast, to please proceed to checkpoint 11. Everyone listened intently as we requested more information. The next messages said that one of the JPL competitors is in need of an ambulance. Oh no! Someone on my team is injured! I checked the roster for leg 10; Paul Siqueira. I started feeling really bad as I was the one who got him in this race, and it looks like he might have gotten injured. Then the next message announced that one of the women runners is suffering from dehydration. I checked our roster again, and noted that the only woman runner we had was Nancy Dankenbring. But the schedule looked wrong, so I was confused. We asked for more information, and found out that it was actually Susan Merrill, who did not run at all. She rode two mountain biking legs, 5 and 7, totalling over 30 miles in the heat in fairly rapid succession. She apparently lost fluids too quickly in the hot sun, and her body was not absorbing any of the fluids she drank.
Eventually, an ambulance had reached checkpoint 11, and the paramedics started to treat Susan. However, they called again to request the other ambulance; they did not have any fluids with which they could use to rehydrate Susan. The other ambulance was part of the Marines team, and used a non compatible radio. So radio information was broadcasted, and finally they got the message. I stayed a little longer to listen for messages about Susan. Finally, the message came that she was being intravenously rehydrated, and was stable.
More racing stats came in, and I found that we had dropped to 4th place at leg 8, a 10 mile running course. Then we dropped to 5th at leg 9, a 31 mile road riding course. It looks like our team is succumbing to the increasing heat and wind. I heard mumblings from some of the support people that "JPL is fading fast". I went back to my room to try to get some sleep.
At about 4:30 PM, Aaron called me to ask me to try to bring them more ice. I was updated about our statistics; we had dropped to 7th place. Susan was stable but still very weak. I called Bill to tell the other two that we may have to go to our legs early if I were to make the ice run. But we couldn't find Greg; I was also supposed to take him to his leg that evening. But checking the schedule, and estimating run times, I realized that we had plenty of time. So I asked Bill and Carlos to have some dinner and rest while I made the ice run. (I had waken them up for nothing.)
As I got off the freeway, heading towards the checkpoint to meet Mark with the ice, I passed Jim Penseyres, Pete's brother, speeding toward the 16/17 switch-off point; which was about half a mile ahead of him. Leg 16 is a 19.5 mile road ride that Aaron would be riding soon (not so soon, it turned out). Almost an hour later, I got to checkpoint 14, where Mark, Steven, and Randy were all waiting for Al to complete his running leg. James would be riding the next leg, 12 miles of road. Paul Siqueira pulled up while we were chatting. He told me that the leg he ran, number 10, was a lot more difficult than he expected. I had told him earlier that he would be running during the hottest part of the day. He drove on to head back home.
By this time, the sun was starting to set, and the temperature was dropping. The ice that I brought such a long distance, some of which was starting to wet my upholstery, was not really needed anymore. However, this was a good opportunity for me to bring Susan and Paul Herrera back to the hotel. Susan felt well enough to travel, if she was lying down, so she went to the rear. Paul was going back to rest up for his 2nd race, the last leg of the race which will start at about 2:00 AM.
After I got back to the hotel, I got Bill and Carlos ready to go off to our next races. Carlos was running leg 18, a fairly mild 6 mile stretch of pavement. We stopped and waited at his checkpoint, and listened for race statistics on the time keeper's radio. It was dark, cold, and windy, and I left my jacket at the hotel. Presently, Steven and Randy pulled up and waited with us. Then we heard Aaron finishing leg 16, tagging Greg to start leg 17, about 6.5 miles of mild pavement. As he approached, I was told that Carlos will run his leg in about 36 minutes, and I needed some time to set up for my race at leg 19. So Bill and I left Carlos with Randy, and took off to the next checkpoint.
At checkpoint 19, I suited up for my ride. It starts with a 12 mile long gravel road that rises about 1000 feet for the first 6 miles, then descends about 6 miles before hitting a flat pavement stretch, with about 3 miles of climbing right at the end. I assembled my bike and checked to make sure all my lights worked. Then, a runner approached. He was with the team called Endorphinatics, and the rider that rode for them on leg 19 was this 52 year old man on his 3rd race of the day. About 5 minutes after he left, another runner approached. It was Carlos! That wunderkind just bumped us up from 7th to 5th place! I took off as fast as I could, knowing full well that the pressure was on me to keep this position. I struggled a little to turn on my rear blinker (we were required to have SOMETHING that reflected or lit toward the back), and I was off. I tried to take it easy at the start, but I was too psyched up, so I rode at a pretty fast pace. I flicked the switch on my handlebar, nothing! And what IS that rattling noise at that light anyway? I pushed the switch on my helmet light. It works; thank goodness. Soon, the SAS car had its brights on, so I switched off my light. I was able to catch a glimpse of my speed on my cycle computer; about 12 mph, close to to what I was hoping for. The road was hard packed gravel with the occasional bumps and washboards. I was worried that the weight of my bike might be a hindrance, but it's working well so far. The suspensions were absorbing the shocks sufficiently that I was able to pedal very smoothly. Still, the climb seemed like it would never end.
About a mile into the road, Bill and Carlos passed us, and told me that the next guy was about 5 minutes behind me. They also left me in a wake of their dust (hack!). About 5 miles into the road , I noticed I was catching up with the Endorphinatics rider. At about 5.5 miles, I was able to pass him. He was a gentleman; he asked me how I was doing, and I was barely able to gasp out "Tired!". At this point, I was thinking that we would be in 4th place because I was able to pass this 52 year old gentleman on his 3rd race of the day!
Then, at around 6 miles, I switched on my light again in anticipation of the down hill. It came rather quickly; it went down and tightly to the left in an off-camber turn. I was now depending on my light, as the light from the SAS car was not there yet. I cut across the road a little, and put on the brakes to try to control my speed through the transition. The rear tire immediately locked up, so I tried to swing the tail out toward the apex of the turn with a little bit of negative lock. As I was drifting through the apex and preparing to accelerate out of the turn, I heard the sound of tires rubbing on gravel behind me, and looked back to see the SAS car in a slide. I guess that the turn took them by surprise, so I gave them a "thumbs up" for going through it the way they did. The road then quickly made a steep right turn. So now I could pick up a little speed. I up shifted and was soon reaching speeds of 35 mph according to the cycle computer. The headlights of the SAS car finally caught up to me. This was a time I was truly thankful for the suspensions on my bike. I was able to cruise as fast as my legs and gravity would take me, completely unhindered by the road conditions. Suddenly a stream of loose gravel pushed the bike to one side, slightly fishtailing. I corrected the steering, and managed to resume the course and speed. This is what mountain bikers work so hard for, climbing up a hill to go down the other side...except I prefer the trails to be a little narrower and with more twists.
At around 11.5 miles, we hit pavement. This is the point at which many of the racers switch to a road bike. I don't own a road bike that I was comfortable with, so I chose to ride the whole leg with my mountain bike. I found I was able to maintain about 25 mph. Then about 6 miles later, I started to feel the uphill coming at me. I was worried that I might have worked too hard on the downhills and flats that I may not have the strength to perform well on this last climb. I was right! I started to slow down, and I had to down shift to keep moving. At one point, the SAS car pulled up next to me, and Dick told me that another rider is approaching. I started to lose the delusions of 4th place. A voice in the car said that I only had about 1.5 mile to go. It sounded good, but the road was definitely getting steeper. Soon, I saw a flashing yellow light some distance ahead of me, at what appeared to be a much higher elevation than where I was at the moment. That can't be the checkpoint! But it was; oh the anguish! Presently, I saw another set of lights on the road, and the shadow of the other rider; he was right behind me. I tried to maintain as fast a pace as I could, but he soon passed me. It was not the Endorphinatic! That means somebody who started after me had caught up, and I just lost 4th place. As we both struggled, the checkpoint became more visible. He got there about 50 feet ahead of me. I scanned my light around looking for Bill and yelled out his name, and he yelled back; he was right in front of me, waiting for my tag. The time keepers yelled at me for my team number, and I yelled out "Two!" as I tagged Bill. He ran on with the SAS car following. I met and congratulated the guy who just beat me and took 4th place from me by 30 seconds. He was with the US Coast Guards.
I rested a little and Carlos and I drove on to the next checkpoint. We passed Bill about a mile after the checkpoint, and informed him that the next runner was about .75 mile behind him. He looked a little strained at that moment. We went on. The course was about 8 miles long, and started with 3 miles of fairly steep climbs. At the peak, the course descends rather steeply as well. Then it rolls up and down for the rest of the way.
We got to the next checkpoint to look for Randy and Paul Herrera. We couldn't see Randy's truck, so we were a little concerned as to whether they were going to show up on time. As the time got close to Bill's expected arrival, Carlos said that if we don't see Randy and Paul soon, he would have to start warming up to get ready to do the last leg. I started walking around to look for them, thinking that perhaps we missed them. The wind was howling, and it was so cold that my teeth were chattering. I met the time keeper, who just off-handedly said that he's trying to find two missing runners. I jokingly replied so was I. He asked me what team I was with. I told him, and he said our team had already checked in, and pointed me to a dark car on the other side of the road. It turned out that Mark drove Paul out in his car, which Carlos and I weren't expecting. I ran back to Carlos to tell him, and that he could relax.
Presently, we saw a SAS car coming up with a runner. Not far behind was another SAS car and runner. It was difficult to see who was in front, so both Paul and the Coast Guard runner got in position. As they got closer, we saw it was the Coast Guard; their next runner took off. About a minute later, Bill came in, and tagged Paul. As Bill was winding down, he commented about how nasty the uphill was and how the Coast Guard runner he was pursuing managed to stay ahead of him, matching his every move with the changing conditions. However, we had a solid 5th position at this time, as no other runners were visible yet.
We decided to go to the final finish line to wait for Paul to come in. When we got there, Al and Aaron were just in front of us in another van. They and Mark got into our van, and we began chatting about various parts of the day. Then someone spotted a SAS car approaching. We soon found out it was the Coast Guard. They just took 4th place. Several minutes later, Paul came in with the Matheson SAS car, and we were officially in 5th. Congratulations went around, and we managed to take some group photos with the help of someone from another team. Most of us then decided to meet at a coffee shop for breakfast before finally retiring. While we were dining, I found out that Melinda was driving the SAS car for the last few legs. She told me that following me during the 10 minutes of mountain bike descent on my last leg was the most fun she had on the whole race. She also mentioned something about the concerns that the Mathesons expressed when their car started sliding sideways at the transition from uphill to downhill, but she wasn't very specific.
The next day, all the teams got together for a party to hand out the prizes. All the competitors got a T-shirt, beer mug, and a drink can insulator, which made it all worth while. We didn't see the final results yet, but they should be posted on the JPL Death Race home page by now.