Press

From L 2 R- Abe Wrobleski, Nick Lebel, Sven Cole, Dennis Morgan, (Josh Mac is missing from the photo)

Jay Challenge Becomes a Mission

New Hampshire’s Team Weak & Feeble Prepares for Months

Jay, Vermont – It began as a challenge among friends, to prepare for and race in the Jay Challenge 2006. And since January, the self-named “Team Weak and Feeble” has spent thousands of hours getting ready. What began as a challenge: “First one who complains buys beer for the team after the race” has become much more serious.
Team Weak and Feeble has documented their preparation on the Internet. The daily diary with postings by the team members shows the intensity of their mission, and the ups and downs they have faced in getting ready.
Their autobiography speaks to the stereotype of extreme sports enthusiasts: “We are a group of morons who hang together, ride together, ski together, and share tips on marriage and being parents - well except for Nick on the marriage and parenting and Josh on just the parenting. We live in the White Mountains (except for Josh). Abe Wrobleski, Nick Lebel, and Sven Cole work in the advertising world in North Conway, Dennis Morgan is a lawyer, and Josh Mac owns a steel yard in Rutland, Vt.”
The blog (jaychallenge.blogspot.com) is entertaining and revealing. Team member, Nick Lebel writes, “Honestly and truly, I like nothing about what we're setting us up for. I see this becoming one big Lord of the Flies situation, where someone's chain tool becomes the conch that we all vie for in order to communicate, we all revert back to primal instincts, and instead of the first person who whines having to buy beer, we simply devour them and continue on our way...”
During January and February, the team reported its initial steps, and mis-steps at training for the Jay Challenge. Between watching the Olympics, skiing in the White Mountains, and chiding each other, training was not always serious. On February 22nd, team-member Sven Cole reported his daily training log: “Woke up and slammed my elbow in the doorway as I stumbled out of the bedroom, spilled hot coffee on my lap, slipped on a pair of shoes at the top of the basement stairs and I'm quite sure I broke my big toe (or at least it feels that way!)- but I did ride into work so I can feel like I've done something.”
In March the tone started to shift. With warmer weather, training became easier, but the calendar is closing in on Team Weak and Feeble. Sven wrote: “With only 120 days until Jay, I wouldn't call it serious. Maybe, or maybe it's reality or insanity. I really would like to make it through Jay and not just finish.”
Nick reacted: “Do more than just finish?!! You're nuts. NUTS. loco. however, the big problem with me is, I'm competitive. so if you want to all the sudden up the ante and ‘do more than finish’, I'm game. which means I'm going to have to get SERIOUSLY serious.”
April and May took on a whole different level of preparation for the team. The ribbing between members was replaced with lengthy reports on rides and debates about whether 15-18 hours of weekly training was enough. By the end of May, with the time to race drawing ever closer, Nick wrote: “The closer we get to Jay, the farther 70 miles and the higher 12,000 feet seems. I'm bound and determined to make it through, and really have no doubts that it's going to be the hospital or a dirt nap for me, but this is going to be the most difficult thing most of us have ever done.”
As the race draws closer, the mission is clearer. It is more than a physical challenge. It is mental. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of this course,” reported Sven on June 2nd. “I am scared, or very respectful or both. The good news is that knowing I'm scared makes it easier to get up at 4 am tomorrow morning to drag my sorry self around on my road bike for 100 miles - likely in the rain.”
Sven reflects on the experience. “I've got to say it's been a long time since I've had ‘teammates’ like this, where we really were out there pushing each other. Good things happened then, I think it will again. If nothing else we'll learn a great deal about ourselves at the Jay Challenge.”
On July 30, Team Weak and Feeble will prove to themselves, their families and their fans what they have been able to accomplish. They have no illusions about winning the grueling mountain bike event. But they have leaned upon each other, goaded each other, and built on their inner personalities to prepare themselves for a memorable event. And if no one whines, then perhaps it will be the appreciative fans who will step up and buy the first round.
In all, over 1000 racers will participate in the 2006 Jay Challenge (July 28-30, 2006) consisting of a 26-mile open craft water race from Magog, Quebec to Newport, Vermont, a 30-mile bush-wack marathon on wooded trails and streams, and a 70-mile mountain bike race that starts with a climb to the top of Jay Peak.

Contact: Gerry Hunt gerry.hunt@verizon.net