Rollin' at the Rock-Stick Challenge with Team SteelSports

Team SteelSports: Rodney Skyles, Chris Clemmons, Lesley Conrad, Justin Reneau

Our morning started with a short, 20 minute, drive from the Hyatt Hotel in Grapevine to the bike drop for the Rock-Stick Challenge, on Lake Grapevine, near Flower Mound, Texas.  The bike drop was located at a camp ground about 4 miles from the main transition area.  The pre-race instructions were to leave the bikes, equipment and climbing gear at the bike drop.  Team SteelSports aired up tires, unloaded the mandatory gear and dropped off their bikes at about 6:40am.  Afterwards, we drove to the boat drop.  After dropping the boats, we headed to the TA to get things setup.  The team has set up, checked in an is ready for what the day has in store.  While checking in, we heard a rumor that the race was expected to take the entire 10 hours.  Team SteelSports is looking forward to a fun, fast race without tipping the boats over.  : )  The wind is expected to be 10-20 mph and we heard the lake here gets pretty choppy with minimal wind.  Pre-race meeting starts now...more to come.

The race started at 8:30 with a special test, which was plotting points on a map.  Teams who did not plot them correctly were given a 10 minute penalty.  Team SteelSports was the second team to turn the map in, and had plotted them correctly.  They were the first team to plot correctly.  The first leg of the race was a trek with 3 points.  They only had to get 2 of the 3 points and the instructions said only one team member per team had to get a point.  When they read the instruction sheet out loud, they vocalized the concern about the 30 second rule, which is, each team member has to be within 30 seconds of each other, but decided to stay together and get the 2 CPs.  (Turns out they could have split up, but they didn't learn that until they had already punched the CPs.)  They were the second team back to TA, though. 

The second leg was a paddle.  I drove over to the bike drop, which is where they would begin the next leg, after paddling.  After I made it there, I saw them paddle by and ran to the shoreline to cheer them on.  They yelled at me that they had lost the map.  I assumed I heard them incorrectly.  Dusty's team was the second team to arrive at the bike drop.  They told me that, indeed, Team SteelSports had lost their map.  Apparently, the boats tipped over, more than once, and they lost the map.  Dusty helped them along the way with pointers and directions to checkpoints.  Thanks Dusty!!  Team SteelSports made it to the bike drop shortly after that.  There was not a smile to be seen.  It was in their body language, and demeanor that they were not happy.  They decided to ride the trails to find the rest of the checkpoints and back to the TA.  During the bike leg there was a ropes course, special test.  I was able to cheer them on and watch them successfully complete this test.  The race director, Dwight Spencer, was kind enough to give me directions to where they would be.  So far, it's a great race an

d they seem to be picking up their spirits.  The race director gave them a new map and they are now on a short trekking leg.  I believe there were only a few CPs on this leg, one of which, they have to swim to.

Dusty's team is doing very well, too, however, they had a broken chain on one of the bikes, so they had to repair that before continuing.  Team SteelSports should now be about 45 minutes behind the leading team.

1:00 The swim/trek leg did not take them long.  I estimate 20-30 minutes.  Team SteelSports is now out on the next leg, which is a bike leg.  The CPs are along the trails according to what I heard them say as they were leaving.  They weren't sure ho

w long this leg would take them. They are 40 minutes behind the leading team.  I checked with the front desk and they are in second place, so, they're doing great.  

1:16 The leading team has arrived back at the TA from the bike leg.  It took them a little less than an hour to complete the leg.  I expect that Team SteelSports should not take longer than an hour either.

2:20 Team SteelSports arrived back at the TA.  Before they left, they had to complete a special test.  They had to climb a rope that is positioned atop some wooden rails that are raised off the ground, then they had to balance and walk across several wooden 

rails.  They all four completed the test and are now on the bike leg which is the last leg.  It's a paddle/trek/rogaine that's expected to take a few hours.  There are 6 checkpoints on this leg.  Number 24 is the only point they have to paddle to, so they are planning on trekking as much as they can to prevent tipping over in the water again.  They should be finished soon.

5:16 Team SteelSports has finished the race.  They finished third overall and second in the 4 person co-ed division.  They are resting up and reflecting on the race.  They are very grateful to Dusty's team for all the help in the beginning of the race, they are a little disappointed with the boats, they are hot and they are exhausted.  Overall it was a great race and they are glad to be finished.

Check out the video:

Team SteelSports, Rock Stick Challenge 2009 from Katrina Skyles on Vimeo.

This was a great Rock-Stick race, directed by Dwight Spencer and Tom McMillan.  It was a HOT day, 95 degrees for the high, and Team SteelSports had a great race!  They pushed themselves harder then they have and overcame a couple of obstacles.  One of their best races this year.  I look forward to them continuing to get better and better!  I was glad to support them, with the help of Craig.  Perfect day!

See you next race.  Katrina