Cave Buttes Results
Saturday, April 9, 2016

Writeup

We tried our best to give participants in the Score-O experience with a variety of terrain. While we didn't have any open forest to explore, we did have some subtle terrain in the Cave Creek/Apache Wash flood plain as well as reentrants, spurs, and saddles in the hills around the dams. Duncan Brown and Silas Sprout made the nature find of the day when they uncovered a good-sized rattlesnake. Fortunately, the temperatures were low enough that the rattlesnake wasn't very active.

Twenty-three individuals participated in the two-hour Score-O. Forest Brown topped the leader board by visiting 19 of the 28 controls en route to collecting 400 points. Ben Markley visited fewer controls but was right behind with 340 points, while Kyle Seiffulin was close behind with 320 points. On the women's side, we had a really close race with Shiloh Ashley, Chelsea Ringnes, and Kelly Hinso scoring 240, 210, and 180 points respectively. Teams Rob and Cary, the Two Johnsons, and Lisa and Georgie also had good runs.

Two participants in the adventure race cleared the same Score-O course by visiting all 28 controls. Andy Wentzel visited the 28 controls in 2:05 while Harry Zulch completed the course in 3:05.

Summary

Score-O Results

Writeup

We're really happy that some of our regular, experienced racers joined for the Cave Buttes. The race started at 8:00 and included navigating through a 3+ km trek section, a 13+ km bike section, and finally the Score-O. After the bike section, Andy and Harry were in an almost dead heat with both of them being in the transition area at the same time. However, we had to assess Harry with a 10-minute penalty as he accidentally crossed into the out-of-bounds spillway area. For the final Score-O, Andy had a great run and visited all 28 controls in just over two hours. Harry too visited all the controls but today, Andy's 25-year old legs were the strongest.

The award for the most creative route choice goes to Team Trunk Monkey (Jill Kyle and Hollon Kinney). The rules stated that they were not allowed to cross over any dam or spillway. With an innovative spirit, they rode on open roads right up to the boundary fence around the dam, then hoisted their bikes on their shoulders and hiked into the hills to avoid the out-of-bounds area. They probably saved themselves 3 km of biking by taking the shortcut.

Summary

Results

Writeup

The Bike-O course gave our participants the opportunity to see all of the dams, dikes, and spillways in the Cave Buttes area. We originally had 9 controls set to make a large loop of the area. However, we realized at the last minute that part of our original course crossed through sensitive desert terrain so we reduced the course to 6 total controls. Participants were not allowed to cross the dams or spillways but had a good opportunity to travel over roads and trails that are not generally open to the public. Team Vintage (Dave and Mary Jo Toledo) and Flagstaff Extreme (FLGX - Paul and Julie Kent) both took time to explore the area while finishing the Bike-O course.

Summary

Results