Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Glossary of Adventure Racing

If you have any suggestions of words to add to this glossary leave me a comment;

General Terms

Checkpoint (CP) - In adventure racing you race from CP to CP, a location you must visit along the course.
Transition Area - An area where you switch from one discipline (run, bike trek, other) to another.
Rogaine - A style of adventure racing where you visit as many CP's as possible in a time limit.
Expedition Course - An adventure racing course that starts in one location and ends in another, typically a longer (2+ days) race.
Sprint Race - A shorter (usually less than 24 hours) race that starts and ends in the same location.
Crewed (vs. Uncrewed) Race - A race where a support crew on non-racers provides food and assistance in designated parts of the course.

The Team Members

Mule - A typically strong racer who has the job of carrying the passport and usually extra gear from other racers.
Navigator - Carries the maps and is in charge of navigating through the course. In some teams navigation is shared among more than one team member.
Mandy - A usually affectionate nickname for the female team member, it is short for (mandatory) female team member.
Machine - A nickname given to a team-mate that never seems to tire.
Anchor - An injured, fatigued, or otherwise slow team-mate who is slowing the team pace.

Navigation Terms

Bearing - A straight-line direction, usually given as a number of degrees.
Handrail - A linear feature that you can follow towards a CP location.
Backstop - A linear feature like a road or river that backs up the CP location and prevents you from grossly overshooting the CP.
Overshoot - To go too far past the checkpoint and have to double back.

Racing Terms

Going Dark - To turn off all lights during night racing to keep from being seen by other racers.
Dark Zone - A section of a course that cannot be completed at night.
Bonked - A term for exhaustion of one racer.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Orienteering at Florida Ag Museum

Well - we had a pretty hot (actually record breaking heat) On Aug 14. I took the family up to the Florida Ag Museum for the orienteering. Since the only courses were White, Yellow, and Orange - I did a score-O to visit all the controls from all the courses. Here is a little footage of the area.






After the run, we checked out the museum and then headed south on US1 and found a really cool diner - the State Street Diner just south of the intersection of US1 and SR100. Linda was able to get a full rack of Baby Back Ribs, and cole slaw, and fries, and a drink for only $8! Definitely a place worth checking out. We saved so much money - that on the way home I bought a car (actually I had planned on buying a new car for my commute to Daytona that I do daily - it just turns out that I found one I really liked at the CarMax in Sanford).

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Preparing for 12 Hour Races

Preparing for a 12 hour race is very similar to preparing for shorter races, however you will want to make a few changes.

Paddling - Most racers who have done shorter races have been used to paddles that last up to one hour. In a 12 hour races, there will likely be a 3+ hour paddle. Even though this is not actually that challenging, there are a few things that you will need to modify.  Form - In a short paddle you can get away with poor paddling form and still be fine. As you move into longer races, you will want to learn how to use your core muscles and improve your form. Here is a simple rule - if your arms are tired after paddling, you are doing it wrong; if your abdominal muscles are tired, you are (probably) doing it correctly. Seat - As you progress to longer and longer paddles, your ability to handle the seated position will get better, in the mean time using a seat pad is a good idea. Teamwork - with 2 people in a boat paddling is truly a team sport, coordinated strokes, and communication are important.

Trek - The most important thing to remember for trekking is that you are a team. Some racers will be comfortable with the concept of running 2-3 hours, while others will be destroyed here by a too fast pace. Towing does supply a nice boost for a weaker trekkers (we do call it trekking for a reason). To train you do need to do longer runs (or walks), but this is not like marathon training. To prepare, get together as a team and do a long off-road (12-15 miles) trek together. Trekking is also the best time to get food, so as you practice trekking - also practice eating.

Bike - For long races, it is a good idea to learn how to tow and to keep a bike line. Your entire team should be capable of keeping a tight line and have an agreed upon method for switching the lead rider. Here is where you can really help team-mates (especially in training). There are some things you can do to refine the team here (like common types of tubes, and coordinated pump, etc..)

Food - Most teams over-estimate the amount of food needed for a 12 hour race. My typical diet in 12 hours would be one gu flask, a fruit pie, and a bag of M&M's (seriously - that is what I ate in my last 12 hour race). More important is to stay hydrated. The longer the race, the more important food becomes, but hydration is critical at longer distances. I personally will go through at least 2 100 ounce bladders of Gatorade in a 12 hour race - more if it is hot.

Training - You are very likely going to find that the distance of a 12 hour race is a lot easier than you anticipated. As a general rule though, the longer the race the more challenging the navigation. It is also pretty challenging to practice navigation as opportunities are not quite as easy as the other disciplines. One thing you can do (I do this) is to geocache without a GPS. I print out a map of geocache locations and then attempt to hut them down from a map.  

Monday, August 09, 2010

Luminescent Course Strategy



 Here is the approach I would have taken to this course;

- The south approach to CP10 was probably the easiest way to attack this entire leg. The approach was by bike. All teams found CP10 pretty easily. The next leg up the north road was very sandy and at least 1 1/2 km of this was completely unride-able. Nevertheless use of the odometer was important here to know the attack on CP11.
- CP 11 (the clue was backwards, surprised no elite teams caught this on pre-race). The lone palm tree was however quite obvious and teams found this pretty easily. The next step was to find the E/W trail (actually trails and power lines). To find CP12 (some did this well, others struggled) measure from the trail intersection .9 km west. Since the canal was wide, it was pretty easy to know if you came up short or long (canal or no canal). The control was placed right at the bend - with a view up the N/S canal that was pretty impressive.
- Back to the N/S trail mostly rideable, but tough at the very end, probably most teams walked the last 500 meters to the pavement. East on the paved road to US1, then south to the gate entrance - gate 2. I was surprised a lot of teams missed this turn, especially since there was a traffic cone at the gate.
- Once on the dirt road heading west of gate 2, pay very close attention to distance, it was only about 200 meters to the single track leading to CP13, and very easy to miss. For those who found it keeping track of distance to CP13 was crucial, but if you overshot - you had a good trail for a backstop, simply turn back and try again, it was only about 300 meters in and the clue was important (treeline) - it was the only treeline along that single track, the rest was open treeless palmetto.
- After CP13 go south to dirt road, turn right, about 100 meters, then left and to the TA.
TREK
- Now the trek, most teams found CP14 easily enough, north back past where you came out of CP 13 until you came nearly to US1.
- Now back to the main N/S trail, south to the single track, CP15 was right on the single track.
- CP16 was stay north on the single track, there were a couple of turns, but the idea was to stay north. If you came out to the fire road, you could use it as a backstop. The challenge was that the control was on the bridge on the single track and it was running parallel to the fire road at this point (about 30 feet south of it). This was hard to see on the elite map (but not on the blowup black and white we gave).
- I though CP17 was the hardest trek point, but the teams that tried for it had very little problem. The clue (faint E/W single track did help). The single track did run east west to the main N/S fire road - but you did have to cross a barb wire fence if you used that route.
- CP18 was real easy - head south to power lines E/W road, head west to fire road and then south to the control which was right on the road. If you missed it and took the single track - they both led to the same point. If you took the wrong single track though (there were 3 trails going south) - you would be hosed as it cut back east.
- CP19 was meant to challenge the navigators coming from CP18, my route was north to single track heading east, across to the N/S fire road and south on the fire road to the attack point from the west. Trick here was that the trail petered out if you went east, so you had to make a turn to the north about 50 feet in, and then it headed east again. This was not obvious on the map - and the clue was no help. For these types of controls you need to use the team and spread out from the control on the possible paths making sure you don't go too far (the control is mapped as only 100 meters off the fire road - no need to go more)
- CP20, 21 and 22 were simply following the roads. If you were quick you would notice the fire line trail that went due north from CP21 to CP22 (it was not mapped in red, but was on the topo map.



BIKE OUT

- For those who chose to bike out via 23, 24 , and 25 - CP23 was a challenge, the other 2 were pretty straighforward, so skipping 23 and just doing 24, and 25 would take you to a gate and right out to US1 and back to the TA. If you chose to do CP23, catching the single track cross trail was key - and took you south of the control. As for the control itself it was easily visible from the fire road. You would then have to head south from 23 and go east on the fire road. The entire western fire road was poor riding, but from CP24 to the exit was fast - rideable, and easy navigation.





SPORT COURSE TREK

This is best done in order. Head north from the TA and look for the north leading trail towards CP6. This was challenging for some teams as they completely missed the gate just north of the TA - but eventually all teams found it. Once locating the trail, simply stay north and keep your eye out for the single track heading west (left). Follow this single track to CP6. Total Distance 600 meters. (4-6 minutes)

CP6 - CP7 - stay on the single track and head north. There were two intersections, but in both cases you need the trail that headed north. Biking this on Sunday to pick up controls - it looked like most teams did fine and took the correct trails. It also looked like a lot of teams bailed out and headed for the fire road. Unfortunately the bridge was on the single track trail just south of the fire road (about 30 feet). This had a lot of teams searching for a while. One thing that should have helped teams is that there was a very short trail leading from the fire road at the marshy point that connected the fire road with the single track road. Total distance 700 meters. (5-8 minutes)

CP7 - CP8 Now was time to use the fire road. Follow it and head south. The first intersection heading east was the trail to the marsh (and crossing the marsh like some teams did would take you right to the TA). Just past this was another trail heading right. If you made this turn and headed west, stay on it and you ended up at CP8 which was just east of the trail and readily visible. Here you needed to be careful to NOT take the first southbound single track. The second one was OK as it also headed straight to the control. Total distance 1.2 km (8-12 minutes)

CP8 - CP9 You need to go east now. Head south and take first single track, and stay east, even if you missed the first one, the second one was also good. If you stay east you will exit on a fire road just north of an intersection of 2 fire roads. Turn right (south) and then left (east) on the fire road at the intersection. You will know you are in the correct location if you see a third fire road heading south, the control is about 100 meters down this road on a palm tree. After getting this control double back to the last intersection. and continue east. 600 meters. (6-9 minutes).

CP9 to CP10. Follow road east to Y intersection. If you have not biked yet, good idea to look and see where CP11 is and make mental note for bike leg. Continue on main road to T intersection, head left (north). At the next T intersection head right and look for gate. Control was on post at gate. (Head due north around pond on marl road and into the TA. 700 meters (5-8 minutes)

SPORT BIKE

TA to CP11 - If you trekked first finding your way back to the gate should be easy. If not, you need to make special note, the gate and CP10 were 100 meters from the TA and are the correct way to head towards CP11. After finding CP10 and the gate (use this a reference) go west and turn left down trail. You will then turn right at first intersection Keep an eye out for the Y intersection as it will merge and be hard to see. If you nav this well it will take about 3 minutes (really).

CP11 - CP12 - The challenge on this is finding the single track that takes you towards CP 12. You are going to stay on the fire road (very nice one) 0.7 km or just over 1/2 mile. This single track is pretty easy to find - if you start looking at 1/2 mile - if not you'll miss it and end up at another intersection (1/2 mile later). You can also get to it by going north at that intersection.

CP12 - CP13 - This one is easy nav, terrible biking. This road is all chewed up, but all you need to do is follow it to the sharp turn to the east in 1 km (0.6 miles) you did check your odometer at CP12 right?

CP13 - CP14 - OK you are going to stay on the same sucky trail here. Luckily it starts getting a little better. Make note of the gate (as mapped) you pass by, the road starts going a little more north and ends up at an open field/marsh. You are looking for the wooden bridge, which is a simple little bridge sitting in this field.

CP14 - CP15 - Do not go back the way you came, the trail you want starts out due west and after 1km hits a Y intersection. Turn back hard right (you probably came in this way) and check your odometer. You single track is less than 250 meters from this intersection. When you find the entrance, this gets tricky as everything looks like a trail once you enter the single track. Using the map you know the control is less than 100 meters. In this case you may need to check these trails, as the correct trail heads north about 50 feet in.

CP15 - TA - You already rode this on this road. It is pretty easy riding, follow it back towards CP10, the gate, and the TA.

You don't even want to know how long it took me to do this loop...  For those who want better practice - we do plan to offer 1 day and 2 day adventure camps this Fall. We will cover bike, boat, and foot nav both in daylight and in darkness.