A Laborious Weekend Run by Chris Fudge (with additional commentary by Chuck)
Right out of the gate I should known our 30 k was going to be rough one when Chuck said he was a little worried. It didn't occur to me that this time it might be rough on me! We packed up on 6 liters of water, 3 rice crisp squares, 2 granola bars and a backup fruit snack. Plenty for this run.
This was my 3rd long bike-run with chuck this season and, as always, was more than happy to be the pack mule. It gives me a little extra work on the bike while he grunts through on foot. Most times this is never really an issue and I barely notice. Until today...
Our good friend Clinton jumped on board to join us while we take in the scenery and and looked forward to the long distance challenge (it may not seem like much when you consider we are on bikes and chuck is on foot, but with little long distance experience and a pack on back, it can be).Generally we have an action plan that is talked about earlier (see previous blogs) but on this run I think Chuck was exited to see what I thought of the off trail paths he had planned out. I was excited as well. Most of the runs we do have far more road action and I'm keen on honing my dirt skills with my Mountain Bike. Maybe a few hills, rocks to navigate and near miss trees to get my heart beating.
We headed East on the familiar Golden Grove on a very promising first day of fall. A few kilometers in Chuck took us off road and into the tress and hills. At first I could see this was a generic ATV trail that had a few 'private road' signs and nice summer cabins around some small dead lakes. Pretty typical for New Brunswick and perfect for a few fellas on bikes and a jogger.
Chuck can get a good pace when running and generally always takes the lead when I am trying to huff up a hill. This was no different today and adding dirt to play in he took off with a good start on this trail.
Our first hitch on this trail came when Clinton and I had to navigate a few small puddles. Nothing big and certainly nothing I wouldn't normally bomb through on any normal biking day, but my better judgment kicks in when I need to consider I still have 25 kilometers to bike. Wet feet can wait for the latter half.
The trail otherwise was nice. plenty of up and down with ATV tread to ride. It didn't take long to see why Chuck dediced on this path. Uphill was immenent, and as always, I spew to myself the classic 'what goes up,must come down' to motivate myself. I can always look forward to this to catch up on Chuck and ask if he wants a little hydration.
This first 'real' uphill had way too much loose rock to sweat on and Clinton and I deiced to walk our bikes up. The real problem was, this hill didn't want to stop! Clinton and I had to remind ourselves that it had to end soon, this isn't the Rockies!
Halfway up, I see Chuck. Coming down! "@#$%," he said.
"What's wrong?"
"Wrong way, there's a bus."
"Ok."
This was when I pulled out my phone. I have a GPS built in and being the geography geek I am, decided to get my bearings for the first time (a habit I plan on using at the start of ALL our future runs). It appears there was another path heading to 1st Lake.
Onward Forward! Clinton and I followed Chuck through another path, thinking there must be a path that follows the diameter of the lake. Sweet! Nothing better than a bike ride around the edge of a lake.
When Clinton and I made it down (what ended up a very fun downhill trail) we ran into Chuck again.
"!@#$"
"Wrong way?"
"Yup, shoulda kept going."
This is where things start to feel bad. Neverming that the loose rock trails were slowing us down from Chuck, but now we had to back track. And there is nothing worse than back tracking on a 30K run.
So up the path we came, losing Chuck and making our way back up the original mess we had started on.
We finally crossed path with the bus (It's pretty typical to see a VW rusting away in the deep woods of NB, but not normally a full sized school bus!) which makes me want to pose a question with Chuck: why would this upside down school bus deter you originally? You didn't see this the last time you ran this trail? (I thought the bus was on a different trail. You couldn't see it on your GPS?) It was at the point of the bus the monstrous hill we were climbing started to level off. Our best hope of catching up with Chuck was the decent that I prayed was going to happen.
And it did. Loose rock, tires splitting, head over handle bars downhill. Sound like fun? Yes and no. Yes, because it's fun to try and make our way down without killing ourselves. No, because in the back of my head, I knew we needed to catch up with Chuck to give him some of the 4 1/2 liters of water we had left. This is not easy on this kind of terrain. No bombing, just finess and careful eyes.
At the bottom we came to another fork. Well now, here's a predicament. Chuck, any chance you told us this earlier and we both forgot? Or did you miss it? (Missed it. Didn't even see it. My bad.) Out came the GPS. (Let me know when the wedding is.)
It appears that we made it to the other side of 1st Lake. There was a path leading directly to Baxter's Corner and another leading around 2nd Lake, out further into the sticks and then back to Baxter's Corner. I assumed since we had already trudged through this much wilderness that Chuck would have wanted to start making our way back through to the Airport, down to Churchland Road, and finally back to our starting point. Apparently, I was wrong.
Clinton and I hit a small a small channel that fed from 1st Lake into 2nd Lake on our way towards Baxter's Corner. We ran into a few fisherman coming the other way who answered Clinton's, "Hey Guys, know how to cross this thing?" with, "We were curious to see what you would do!" One of the fishermen just waded through upto the thigh in what appeared to be the shallow part. Clinton and I followed suit, bikes over our shoulder and over to the other side. I can't believe Chuck took us through this!! (I didn't.)
Clinton and I decided to take a small rest and head foward. My mind was still at unease, knowing that Chuck had run so far without a drop of our 3 1/2 litres of water, a fruit snack, or a nibble of the 2 granola bars.
Things got easier at this point. No more back country loose rock from hell, just pavement. Not a sight I would normally embrace,but considering the terrain we just huffed though, a happy sight.
We put our bikes in top gear to catch up to Chuck. I know this road and there is no real uphill so we I know we can make it to him. Off we go.
We were somewhere near the St . Martin's fork when I got a phone call. Chuck. (we had joked earlier about whether he had the gumption to just ask anyone if they had a phone he could use) (I have no shame.). Apparently he was BEHIND us! How? Right, the fork. Chuck's plan was to take the other lake and go around it and back track.
Clinton and I huddled around my speakerphone trying to figure out where he was when Chuck (who must have decided he had worn out his welcome on this strangers phone) said "Ok, well, I gotta go."
We couldn't do much but keep going. We didn't know where he was so I couldn't backtrack to give him water. Our only alternative was to keep going, get the car and hope we can find him. On a whim (and I would never have done this if I didn't already know I was coming back to pick it up) I set up a 500ml bottleof water in a Gatorade bottle on the side of the road. (Thank God that was you!) To many, this would look like litter. But to Chuck,it might as well have had a bow tie and flashing lights with an arrow. I could only hope he might realise this was the same old plastic bottle I've been toting on my bike the last few runs.
In light of our events, Clinton and I decided trudge through the Airport road and straight down to the Golden Grove, which apparently must was our 2nd short cutof the day. We made it back in roughly half an hour and jumped into the car. I couldn't wait to hit Chuck with the 2 1/2 liters of water and 1 granola bar. He must have been melting away.
I sped up the through way without caring that the A/C was eating up the gas. We needed to get to Chuck! He was probably a withered salty mess!
We neared the same spot we spoke with him on the phone when we saw that white clad red head bobbing up and down the road. There he is! We pulled over unsure if he would only want the water, or get in!
He got in. It was in fact enough for him too.
"Dude, you want some water?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, please ...oh, I want...to..ask you something."
I hadnt realized before he had a plastic water bottle in his hands.
"PLEASE tell me that was YOUR water bottleon the side of the road."
Yup.
I don't have an easy way to end this...uh....novel of a day, but I can tell that the next time head out, I'm charting our course. I don't want to get Chucked on the next run.
At the bottom we came to another fork. Well now, here's a predicament. Chuck, any chance you told us this earlier and we both forgot? Or did you miss it? (Missed it. Didn't even see it. My bad.) Out came the GPS. (Let me know when the wedding is.)
It appears that we made it to the other side of 1st Lake. There was a path leading directly to Baxter's Corner and another leading around 2nd Lake, out further into the sticks and then back to Baxter's Corner. I assumed since we had already trudged through this much wilderness that Chuck would have wanted to start making our way back through to the Airport, down to Churchland Road, and finally back to our starting point. Apparently, I was wrong.
Clinton and I hit a small a small channel that fed from 1st Lake into 2nd Lake on our way towards Baxter's Corner. We ran into a few fisherman coming the other way who answered Clinton's, "Hey Guys, know how to cross this thing?" with, "We were curious to see what you would do!" One of the fishermen just waded through upto the thigh in what appeared to be the shallow part. Clinton and I followed suit, bikes over our shoulder and over to the other side. I can't believe Chuck took us through this!! (I didn't.)
Clinton and I decided to take a small rest and head foward. My mind was still at unease, knowing that Chuck had run so far without a drop of our 3 1/2 litres of water, a fruit snack, or a nibble of the 2 granola bars.
Things got easier at this point. No more back country loose rock from hell, just pavement. Not a sight I would normally embrace,but considering the terrain we just huffed though, a happy sight.
We put our bikes in top gear to catch up to Chuck. I know this road and there is no real uphill so we I know we can make it to him. Off we go.
We were somewhere near the St . Martin's fork when I got a phone call. Chuck. (we had joked earlier about whether he had the gumption to just ask anyone if they had a phone he could use) (I have no shame.). Apparently he was BEHIND us! How? Right, the fork. Chuck's plan was to take the other lake and go around it and back track.
Clinton and I huddled around my speakerphone trying to figure out where he was when Chuck (who must have decided he had worn out his welcome on this strangers phone) said "Ok, well, I gotta go."
We couldn't do much but keep going. We didn't know where he was so I couldn't backtrack to give him water. Our only alternative was to keep going, get the car and hope we can find him. On a whim (and I would never have done this if I didn't already know I was coming back to pick it up) I set up a 500ml bottleof water in a Gatorade bottle on the side of the road. (Thank God that was you!) To many, this would look like litter. But to Chuck,it might as well have had a bow tie and flashing lights with an arrow. I could only hope he might realise this was the same old plastic bottle I've been toting on my bike the last few runs.
In light of our events, Clinton and I decided trudge through the Airport road and straight down to the Golden Grove, which apparently must was our 2nd short cutof the day. We made it back in roughly half an hour and jumped into the car. I couldn't wait to hit Chuck with the 2 1/2 liters of water and 1 granola bar. He must have been melting away.
I sped up the through way without caring that the A/C was eating up the gas. We needed to get to Chuck! He was probably a withered salty mess!
We neared the same spot we spoke with him on the phone when we saw that white clad red head bobbing up and down the road. There he is! We pulled over unsure if he would only want the water, or get in!
He got in. It was in fact enough for him too.
"Dude, you want some water?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, please ...oh, I want...to..ask you something."
I hadnt realized before he had a plastic water bottle in his hands.
"PLEASE tell me that was YOUR water bottleon the side of the road."
Yup.
I don't have an easy way to end this...uh....novel of a day, but I can tell that the next time head out, I'm charting our course. I don't want to get Chucked on the next run.
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