The Hidden Valley Adventure Challenge took place this past Saturday—October the 15^th.  This event was comprised of two legs—trek and bike—and covered approximately 40 total miles.  The navigation was very technical, with most CPs located well off of trails.  Racers were given topographical maps of the area with the CPs plotted, but were not allowed to use supplemental trail maps.

 The race started on foot with a 9 CP trek course that covered a potential 15 miles.  Of the 9 CPs, racers were required to retrieve 1-6 in order.  This left CPs 7-9 as optional CPs.  Each CP was worth one point.  Racers climbed the steep ski slopes out of the “Hidden Valley” to locate CP1 at the junction of a stream and trail.  Most found this CP quickly, but were then stymied by CP2—hill, top.  The CP was located Southwest of CP1, and there were several roads that took you most of the way there.  The problem became which road to use, and then how to locate the CP once you left the road.

 CP3 was also a tricky one.  It again was located Southwest of the prior CP—and was quite close.  The problem was that a deer exclosure (electric fence erected to keep deer away from saplings) was between racers and CP3.  The race directors intent was to have racers “box” their way around the exclosure by following it and traveling south, then west to CP3.  Some racers chose to enter the exclosure, while others got very confused and travelled the wrong direction.  Either way—this CP became a “game breaker” for many racers.

 The rest of the CPs were also quite difficult and the majority of the racers chose to collect only the mandatory 6.  Two teams—Allegheny Cyclery/Snot Rockets and Cobra Kai—and one solo—Alexis Rzewski—managed to collect all 9 CPs within 4 hours—give or take.  This left them with approximately 4 hours to collect as many CPs as possible on the bike leg.

 The bike leg was again 9 CPs and had a total of 25 possible miles of riding.  Again, racers had to climb up the steep ski slopes to the ridge where several CPs were located.  Several more were over on the next mountain at Seven Springs Ski Resort.  These CPs were off-trail, but were connected to each other by a myriad of trails at the resort.  Some of these trails made up the Seven Springs 24 hour bike loop, while others were old jeep and ATV trails.  Navigation was tricky, so many racers chose to stay in the closer confines of Hidden Valley and Forbes State Forest.  Those that did make the journey were treated to some fun riding, and the opportunity to accrue more points.

 Back at the Finish Line, racers were slowly trickling in.  Many were calling it quits well before the 8 hour time cut-off.  They were happy with their scores and even happier to indulge in some much needed food and cold beer.  As the clocked ticked down, and inventory was taken, it was clear that a couple teams were still braving the course.  Team Allegheny Cyclery/Snot Rockets (Brandon Kellogg and Chuck Keeports) were the missing team that everyone was focused on.  They had 9 run points, and were last seen successfully collecting CPs at Seven Springs.  As the clock closed in on 8 hours, it was clear that they were going to be late and would suffer a severe penalty.  Just past the two minute mark, someone saw them at the top of the mountain.  As they barreled down the hill, time ticked away.  When they finally blasted across the finish line, they had only one second to spare!  A very exciting finish to a nearly perfect course run!!

 At the end of the day, we all were winners for spending a beautiful day in this part of the state.  However, here are the results of the race:

 Overall Place                        Name                          Pts. out of 18    Time

 1^st   (Team)                Allegheny Cyclery/Snot Rockets  16         8:00

2^nd  (1^st Solo Male)   Alexis Rzewski                              14           7:09

3^rd (tied/2^nd Team)    Wrong Way                                    13           7:02

3^rd (1^st Co-Ed Team)Team Spang                                  13           7:02

4^th  (2^nd Solo)             Dave Battista                                 13           7:34   

5^th  (3^rd Male)             Cobra Kai                                       12           7:23

6^th  (2^nd Co-Ed)         Bee Ringers                                   12            7:35

10^th(1^st Solo female)Janet Gregory                               10             7:41