The inaugural Rev3 Epic race was defined by extremely heavy rains and near record flood levels. Several times during the race, we had to decide whether to continue racing or build an ark. On April 15th, we converged on the town of Luray in Virginia to check in for the Rev3 Epic 26 hour Adventure Race. Ten days out, the weather looked pretty good; the closer we got to the race date, the more prominent the word “rain” became. By Friday, we knew Saturday and Sunday were going to be extremely wet.
In the face of this, Mark Harris and Mike Spiller did a great job adjusting to countless issues and still put together an unforgettable adventure for everyone that showed up to race. With cash prizes and points in the Checkpoint Tracker, USARA and East Coast Adventure Racing Series there were several very experienced teams there to rock the course. Special kudos to Team SOG for destroying the race in less than 13 hours and to the NYARA team that was right behind them in 2nd place.
The race check in was at Appalachain Adventures in Luray. Very cool store with an awesome selection of some hard to find gear and name brands (like Go Lite). Great staff, super friendly, excellent food (catered sandwiches and subs) and stellar expresso.
After receiving our maps and race instructions, we went over the routes, broke out each section and came up with planning times. With the entire paddle removed for safety reasons, our estimates put this at a 15 hour race. Or, a five to six hour sprint followed by a shuttle back to the central TA and another 7.5 to 8.5 hour sprint. We packed our gear accordingly, planned our TA’s and got some sleep.
The next morning dawned…wet. With 100% chance of more rain. Perfect 
We knocked out the prologue alongside of SOG, and rolled directly into the team challenge. We put our barrels on the ground, used our planks to cross them and were done in around 20 minutes.
Next up was the bike section. Originally this was planned to be a lot of pavement on Skyline Drive. However, this was also changed and we ended riding the majority of the revised route on gravel roads. I really liked the revised bike section. There were three good climbs, and 65 km plus of fairly fast riding. The silt on the roads completely permeated all clothing creating a nice sandpaper effect. We wrapped up the bike at the shuttle bus just behind the NYARA team and a little bit back on SOG.
After about a 25 minute wait, we loaded our bikes on a flat trailer and got in a van to be shuttled back to the start. I was not a fan of the bike transport. We literally laid our bikes on top of the bike in front of yours. Like this /////, but lying down more. I would never choose to move my bike that way. Way too much chance of damage to derailleurs, shifters, frames, etc. We spend a lot of $ on high end equipment, and that was a bit unnerving.
Back at the TA we were off the shuttle, quickly TA’d and started the trek. Both points were out and backs with a total of just under 10 km for the section. We wrapped that up, checked in and received our maps and UTM’s for the O section. We did our plotting, planned the order to attack the points and moved out. Hours later, Andy’s shin cut to the bone (very slippery wood bridge) and we were still moving quickly as we wrapped up clearing the O-course.
Another good TA, solid planning on the best way to collect the remaining bike points on the trails and we rode out to finish the final portion of the race. Awesome singletrack trail design – rideable even with the tremendous amount of rain the area received. I look forward to checking them out again in better conditions.
The sun had been down for a few short hours and the sky was clearing was we came across the finish line. We ended up in 3rd place, and are already getting ready for the next one.
Thanks to all my teammates for the sacrifices you make. It is always a pleasure to race with you, and I cannot wait for the next race – the Odyssey Wild and Wonderful race on May 21st.
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See you outside,
Shane
Post Race Portrait by Chris Radcliffe
