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Balance Bar 24-Hour Adventure Race, Beaver Creek, CO(July 2004)

The top U.S. teams along with Team Seagate (the World's top AR team of 2003) gathered at the start line of the Balance Bar 24-hour adventure race. Team SOLE/Epinephrine was called to the front of the starting group along with the other top five teams from the 2003 series. Seconds later the starting horn blared and teams headed for the river all with paddles in hand like an army of gladiators. Teams were told they would find their boats a mile down river and to get there they must travel either in the river or on the banks. Forty-four teams of three all seeking the fasted way to the boats made for a bit of chaos. Team SOLE/Epi made quick time arriving to the boats in sixth place.

Team SOLE/Epi made up of Paul Romero, Karen Lundgren and Rick Baraff. A familiar threesome that have put on some racing miles together. The three person sit-on-top kayaks were big and cumbersome in the class I and II rapids, at times filling with water until the team had a chance to do some quick bailing. Team SOLE/Epi finished the 2 hour paddle in forth place and headed out on a 22 mile trek that would take teams to 10,000 feet and required a good deal of navigation.

The threesome of Paul, Karen and Rick pushed hard and battled tightly with a couple of other teams. A smart navigation decision just before the transition to the bikes launched SOLE/Epi into 6th place. Next up was a traverse across a deep gorge with bikes. Each teammate was attached to the traverse ropes along with their bike and after a short slide on the rope it was a big pull to get to the other side.

With the bikes safely across the gorge teams got to the "real" biking, a 75 mile ride with nearly 7,000 feet of climbing. " The biking was tough, long grinds that just seemed never to end," said Karen Lundgren. With teams dropping out due to sheer exhaustion, Team SOLE/Epi found themselves in 5th place. "We pushed hard, I kept telling the team that 6th place was breathing down our neck, we had to keep moving hard or we'd be passed in a flash," said navigator Paul Romero. As darkness fell, Team SOLE/Epi made it through the most difficult of the descending over large rocks and roots and onto the paved road that lead teams back to Beaver Creek Ski Area.

After fifteen hours of racing, Team SOLE/Epi headed out for the final leg of the race, an orienteering course that required teams to find nine checkpoints scattered on the ski runs of Beaver Creek. Back at the finish line, Paul, Karen and Rick crossed in 5th place behind a strong field of racers. 1st - Team Nike ACG, 2nd - Team Seagate; 3rd - Team GoLite; 4th - Team Montrail.