GOLD RUSH 30 MACERA YARISI / GOLD RUSH 30HR ADVENTURE RACE

Turkiye’deki uzun yazin 3 hafta ardindan 30 saatlik Gold Rush macera yarisi icin tabi ki yeterince antreman yapamadim.  Daha dogrusu tum yaz boyunca dogru durust antreman yapmadim hergun biraz yuzmek disinda. Vucudumun daha hafif bir spora ihtiyaci varmis resmen, canim kosmak bile istemedi bir sure. Ama tatil sonrasi San Francisco’ya donunce gecen seneden beridir konustugumuz yaris gelip catmisti bile. 3 haftaya birkac kosu ve bisiklet sigdirarak kendimi en azindan zihnen hazirlamaya calistim. Ekip arkadaslarimdan Henrike de cok antremansizdi ama Tim yaristan onceki her haftasonu acaip isler yapmisti: 100 mil dag bisikleti ve24 saat dag bisikleti yarisi gibi. Ama beni ve Henrike’yi iyi tanidigindan bu yarisi kotarabilecegimizi biliyordu. Yaris yeri San Francisco’ya 4 saat uzakliktaki Sonora bolgesinde yapilacakti ve  Long Barn denen ve yaris merkezi olarak kullanilacak bir mekanda baslayacakti. Cuma ogleden sonra Tim ve ben yola ciktik, aksamuzeri yaris merkezine vardik ve check-in’imizi yaptirip haritalarimizi aldik. Daha onceden yaris organizatorleri tarafindan belirlenen kontrol noktalarini haritamiza gecirdik ve malzeme kontrollerimizi yaptirdik. Henrike vardiginda o da kontrolleri tamamladi ve gece 12:30a kadar hazirliklarimiza devam ettik. Sabah 7de yaris baslangic yerine bisikletlerimizle gittik, ve tekrar bisikletlerle devam etmeden once ilk kontrol noktasini bulmak icin daldik diger ekiplerle birlikte ormana. Ilk kontrol noktasini ilk bulan 3. ekip olarak bisiklere geri donup yarisa devam ettik. Yaris kategorileri su sekildeydi: bisiklet, kano, bisiklet, trek, ip, trek, bisiklet. Ipten onceki tum control noktalari mecburi (yani DQ olmamak icin) son iki kategoridekiler ekstra idi. Biz mecburilerin hepsini tamamlayip extralardan da birkac tane alarak 20 puan’la dorduncu olduk. Butun yaris boyunda kisisel olarak ve ekip olarak tasimak zorunda oldugumuz malzemelerimiz vardi. Bunun yaninda tabi ki yiyecek ve icecek. Suyumuz bittiginde derelerden ve su birikintilerinden doldurduk. Yiyecegimizi de planlayarak tasidik. 30 saatlik yaris boyunca her ekip gibi sadece 2 kere gorecegimiz bir malzeme kutusu da hazirlamistik. Bu tarz planlama bu tarz yarislarda cok cok onemli. 30 saat boyunca hic durmadan surekli kosusturarak, gece dolunay isiginda kanyonlarda calilara tutunarak acaip egimlerden nehir yataklarina kosarak inip cikarak, kayalardan atlayarak, bisikletlerle patikalari son hiz inip cikarak, kanolarimizda ayaklarimizi dinlendirirken kureklere asilarak, kan ter icinde, bisikletin son etabinda artik acidan ayaklarimizi hissetmez halde, ama acaip mutlu bir sekilde bitis cizgisinden gectik. 4. olacagimizi hic dusunmemistik antremansiz oldugumuz icin, o yuzden cok mutlu olduk. Hatta birkac tane navigasyon hatasini yapmasaymisiz cok rahat 3. oluyormusuz. Kismet bir dahakine! Harika bir yarisi harika bir ekip ile bitirebilmis olmanin verdigi inanilmaz huzur ve mutlulukla SFe ayni gun geri donduk.  Daha fazla bilgi icin: http://www.goldrushar.com/events/goldrush24houradventurechallenge2016.html

During the long summer in Turkey, I really never got to train for the upcoming Gold Rush 30hr race. As a matter of fact, I didn’t feel like it except I swam almost every day. I guess my body needed some low impact exercise and I was ok with it. However after I got back to San Francisco, it was almost time for the race that we have been talking about since last year. I squeezed a few runs and bike rides into 3 weeks at least just to get my mind in the game a little bit. One of my teammates, Henrike also couldn’t train too much but our third teammate Tim was a different story. One weekend he’d ridden like 100 miles on a mountain bike, another weekend he won a 24hr mountain bike race! But he knew me and Henrike well enough that we could survive this race. The race was going to be held in Sonora county and would start at the race headquarters in Long Barn, about 4 hours drive from San Francisco. Tim and I left Friday afternoon and got the race central on time to check-in and to get our gear checked. We also got the maps and marked all the pre-set check points. Henrike arrived later and after her gear check, we worked on our gear and bikes till 12:30am. The race started at 7am with a short bike ride to the start where we had to get one check point on foot. We run into a forest and came out as the 3rd team after this 1st check point. Then we continued on the bikes.  The race included (in order): mountain bike, kayak, bike, trek, rope, trek, and bike sections. All the checkpoints before the ropes section were mandatory with optional ones in trek and bike sections. We got all the mandatory ones with a few optionals adding up to 20 points and became 4th (out of 17).  Throughout the race, there was mandatory individual and team gear that we had to carry at all times along with our food and water. When we ran out, we had to fill up water from water puddles and creeks along the way. We also had a gear box that we saw only 2 times during the race like the other teams. So planning how much food and water to carry, along with other gear was of utmost importance as it is in every adventure race.  For 30 hours straight, we biked up and down trails and fire roads,  kayaked on a lake, trekked in a canyon going down on slopes holding on to manzanitas, jumping on granite slabs under the full moon, and our feet being completely numb from the pain during the last biking section, sweating big under the heat, we crossed the finish line with smiles on our face. 4th place was a surprise given our lack of training but after looking at what we have done, we saw that we could have been easily at 3rd place if we didn’t make a few minor navigation errors. Oh well, we were ecstatic at the end after a great race with a great team. More info on the race: http://www.goldrushar.com/events/goldrush24houradventurechallenge2016.html

ON-RUNNING

Swiss markasi On-Running, yuzlerce sporcu arasindan beni Amerika'daki sporcu elcilerinden biri olarak secti! Bu benim icin cok buyuk bir onur ve cok heyecanli bir tecrube. Markanin genel felsefesini cok begeniyorum: ne size kendinizi iyi hissettiriyorsa, sizin icin dogru olan o'dur diyor adamlar. Etraftaki onlarca kosu markasina baktigimiz zaman genel olarak gorunen sey, hep bir en dogru ayakkabi seklinin, en dogru kosu seklinin ogretilmeye calisilmasi. Bilgilenmek guzel ama genel soylem bireyin kendisini kesfetmesini desteklemiyor, cesaretlendirmiyor, onun yerine dikte ediyor genel olarak. On-Running bu konulari cok guzel ifade ediyor ve ben bu markanin samimiyetine inaniyorum. Bu yuzden de marka elcilerinden biri oldugum icin cok mutluyum!

So excited and honoured to be chosen as the Swiss brand On-Running Ambassador among hundreds of runners in the US! I love their philosophy: what feels right for you is probably the best for you. I have always been uncomfortable with brands lecturing on what the right shoe is, what the right running form is, etc. as if there is no room for personal difference and for personal discovery. So I strongly believe rather than pushed for immediate correction, one should have a space to discover and adjust in a process. I do find On-Running's general attitude on running very sincere and that's why I am truly happy to represent this brand. 

Epinephrine & Frogland

Timanis arkadaslarimdan Dan ile bir suredir tirmanalim diye konustugumuz rotalardan biri Nevada'da bulunan Red Rocks parkindaki Epinephrin idi. Bu yaklasik 15-17 ip boyluk, cogu baca tirmanisi iceren, dunyaca unlu sahane bir col rotasi. Las Vegas’in 20 dk disindaki bu milli parki ve icindeki sayisiz kanyonu ve tirmanis rotasini Las Vegas’a gelmis insanlarin cogu bilmez. Bilenler de sadece visitor center’in oraya kadar gelip geri doner. Tabi ki doga tutkunu insanlar icin Las Vegas kalabaligindan uzak olabilmek kadar guzeli yok. 

Cilgin tempom arasinda bu tirmanis icin ayirdigimiz gunlerin Miwok100k yarisindan 10 gun sonraya denkgelmesi de ayrica enteresan bir durumdu. Arada climbing gym’de tirmaniyor olmama karsin disarida cok uzun suredir tirmanmamistim, hele uzun duvar tirmanmayali cok olmustu. Ama Dan’e uyan tek tarih buydu, ve Persembe aksami is cikisi Las Vegas ucaginda bulustuk. Kiralik arabamizi alip Black Velvet Canyon’a yakin biryerde kalacagimiz motele gelip, 1-2 saat uyku sonrasi geceden hazirladigimiz cantalarimizi kapip bu kanyonun girisine kadar arabayla gittik. Sabah saat 5:30-6 civari arabayi parkedip kanyonun icine dogru yuruyuse basladik. Ikimiz de Red Rocks parkinda daha once cok kereler tirmanmistik ama bu kanyonda daha once hic tirmanmamistik dolayisiyla Epinephrin’in baslangic noktasini sadece tariflerden ve resimlerden biliyorduk. Netekim 1-2 saat kadar kanyonda ilerledikten sonra hata yaptigimizi ve duvarin baslangicini kacirdigimizi farkedip geri donduk. Bu bize yaklasik 2 saat gecikmeye yol acti ki Epinephrin gibi uzun bir duvar rotasi icin sabah saat 8'de baslamak cok gec. Karanlik basmadan duvar bitse bile arkadan sirttan inis de cok zor ve karmasik. Oyle ki bir dolu ekip inis sirasinda kaybolur ve bu hikayeler yuzunden cogu ekipler de aslinda tepede gecelemeyi secer karanlikta kayalarin uzerinden yol bulmaya calismak yerine. 

Neyse, tirmanisa basladik. Saatte 50-60 km’yi bulan cilgin ve beklenmedik ruzgar yuzunden birbirimizi cok zor duyuyorduk. Ben ilk ip boyundan sonra tasidigim 1-2 parca extra giysiyi uzerime gecirmistim bile. Golgedeydik ve inanilmaz bir ruzgar bizi araliksiz patakliyordu. Ilk 2 ip boyu cok fazla teknik olmadigindan ben approach shoe denilen, yuruyus-tirmanis ayakkabisi arasi ayakkabim ile devam ettim, 3. ip boyunda normal tirmanis ayakkabilarima gecmek uzere. Ruzgar yuzunden yukarilardan surekli kucuk tas parcalari tak tuk diyerek kasklarimiza carpiyordu. Normal ayakkabilarima gecmeye calisirken ayakkabilardan birini ruzgar resmen elimden aldi, ayakkabi da sanki kanatlandi ve uctu gitti. Ama sonucta hata benim ve cok utanilacak bir hata, arka kismindaki lastiginden once bilegime gecirip sonra giymeye calismaliydim, ya da en bastan giyecektim. En yapilmayacak seyi yapmis oldum. Ayakkabi kanatlandi diyorum cunku direk assagiya dogru gitmedi ilk basta, havada asili gibi duruyordu. Her emniyet noktasinda sarmalayip asagiya atmaya calistigimiz 60 metrelik ipimiz gibi. O da sanki ucan bir yilan gibi bizimle ayni hizada yuzuyordu resmen. Ipi bir sekilde kontrol ediyorduk ama benim sol ayakkabi dusmustu. Sol ayagima tekrar approach shoe’yu gecirdim ve tirmanmaya devam ettim. 6 ip boyunu bu sekilde rahatca tirmandik. Cogu inanilmaz guzellikte ve tutarli baca sistemleriydi. Fakat ruzgar bizi beter etti. Yuzumuz gozumuz dudaklarimiz kupkuruydu. Iple de gerektiginden cok fazla ugrasmak zorunda kaldigimizdan ve de sabah rota girisinde kaybettigimiz vakit yuzunden planlarimizin 2 saat gerisindeydik ve daha onumuzde 11 ip boyu vardi. 7. ip boyu, icinde baca kismi olmasina ragmen daha cok yuzey tirmanisi idi ve tek ayagimda approach shoe digerinde friction ile tirmanabilecek kolaylikta olsa da ruzgari ve saati dusunerek o noktada geri inme karari aldik.  Ikimiz de devam edebilirdik, karanlikta da son kisimlari tirmanip, gerekirse tepede de geceleyebilirdik, oyle seyleri cok yaptik zamaninda ama zaten 2 gunluk bir seyahat oldugu icin ve bir sonraki gun de kaliteli tirmanislar yapabilmek icin duvari bitirme isini bir sonraki seyahate erteledik. Iniste benim dusen ayakkabiyi da bulduk :)

Geceyi ruzgardan resmen kuruyan vucudumuzu hydrate etmek ile gecirdik ve ertesi gun ise yine Black Velvet Canyon’un orada bulunan 6 ip boylu cok keyifli Frogland rotasini tirmandik. Tirmanis bitip arabaya geri dondugumuzde sadece ustumuzu degistirmeye ve yemek yemeye vaktimiz vardi. Yemekten sonra da direk havaalanina gidip kiralik arabayi biraktik. Ucakta bizim gibi pek cok tirmanici vardi, kilik kiyafetlerinden ve cantalarindan cok rahat anlasilacagi uzere. Normalde insanlar Las Vegas’tan cumartesi aksami donmezler cunku, tirmanicilar haric :)

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My climbing buddy Dan and I had talked about climbing Epinephrin a lot, a world-famous wall of 15 to 17 pitches in Red Rocks Canyon national park in Nevada. It is a fantastic desert route only 20 minutes outside of Vegas. Most people who come to Vegas don’t know that there is a great national park right next to them and those who know come only up to the visitor center and go back after hanging out in nearby areas a little bit. Of course climbers and nature-lovers are perfectly ok with that.

Due to my crazy schedule lately, the date that we set aside for this climb was only 10 days after the Miwok100k race. I hadn’t been climbing outside for some time and gym climbs were not enough. But we had only this date that was fitting both of our schedules and were going to go for it. We met at the airport on Thursday night and made our way to our motel near Black Velvet Canyon with our rental car. We slept only a few hours and made our way to the entrance of Black Velvet Canyon around 5:30-6amam where Epinephrin was. None of us climbed in that particular canyon before although both of us climbed in Red Rocks area many times. So we missed the beginning of the route and walked too far in the canyon. By the time we located the start, we already lost about 2 hours which is super precious on a long wall-climbing day. It was really late, around 8am when we roped up and was surprisingly crazy windy (around 30-40mph or so). I climbed the first two pitches in my approach shoes to change into friction shoes for the 3rd pitch. Small rocks were constantly hitting our helmets due to winds. We were already wearing almost all of our layers since the wind was so strong and so cold. It dried us so quickly. We were not able to hear each other. At the beginning of the 3rd pitch, I started to change into my friction shoes and after I put the right one, the wind took the left from my hand and kept it in air and throw it down! I lost one of my shoes!! Totally an embarrassing rookie mistake - I should have put both shoes on at the vey beginning and/or been super careful given the wind. After a brief panic, I decided to put my approach shoe back on my left foot and continued climbing the major chimney sections that way. It was not terrible until the start of the 7th pitch where I felt like I needed both of my climbing shoes to move faster. The wind was not slowing down and we were completely dry. We were throwing the rope down but the wind was pushing it upward creating these crazy scene where our rope was flying and dancing around us. It was too tiresome to control the rope. And considering also the lost time early in the am, we decided to bail. We were going to be climbing still in the dark and probably going to have to spend the night on top too. Although we did our share of epic stuff before, we didn’t feel like pushing it too much this time since we wanted to climb some more the next day. And we started to descend and decided to come back for it another time. Good thing we found my other shoe at the bottom :)

We spend the night hydrating as the wind dried us up and in the morning we climbed another wall (only 6 pitches) called Frogland at the entrance of again the Black Velvet Canyon. It was an easy and super fun climb. We changed at our car at the trailhead and headed to have dinner and then straight to the aiport. The flight was full of climbers (you can easily tell from the faces and the outfits etc) like ourselves cuz normally no one else really flies out of Las Vegas on a Saturday night :)