Here we are before the Expedition Idaho Race at a pre-race interview.
Preparing for an expedition race is not like getting ready for a sprint or even a one day race. There is all this GEAR that must be shipped or taken with you to the location and usually coordination among 4 different team-mates usually from different locations. I was happy to have a strong team with 2 Expedition Newbies (Jeff and Mark) and one PQ veteran (Marghi).
As you can see we were having a great time as we planned, packed, prepped, went through interview, and simply got everything ready to go.
The Start of the Race
We started the race at 10 AM with a very short prolog which was a scavenger hunt. The purpose was to spread the teams out a little bit before we hit the Silver Mountain Gondola with our mountain bikes and rode the Gondola up the mountain. That was the easiest elevation gain we had in the entire race - it would only get harder from here.
Once we got to the top we had 3 CP's in the ski area. CP3 was located at the base of Lift 3, CP4 was located at the top Kellogg Peak (6300 feet) and CP5 was at the top of Wardner Peak (6200 feet). This involved basically pushing our bikes up a 25% slope (up the ski slope) and riding down incredibly steep and rocky downhill ski runs. Here is a nice ski map of the area
http://www.silvermt.com/pdf/silvertrailmapweb.pdf
Now here is where it starts to get hard. The next few CP's were located back of the ski areas in the backwoods areas. CP 6 was the most challenging as there were no mapped road sections leading to it. My idea was to try to contour to a saddle heading to the southeast - with no marked or mapped roads. Most of the teams in front of us had taken a route the went to the base of the hill at 3700 feet and then climb back to 5700 ft. We ended up taking the latter route - with only two teams going to the saddle route. The downhill from 6200 feet to 3700 feet was one of the most challenging technical rides I have ever done. Every racer has crash stories for this section. It was rutted, rocky, and steep. It was also grades ranging from 6-15% with no chances to stop easily. Jeff hit a bush, flew about 10 feet through the air and landed on a small mannequin doll that was the mad hatter. I went down sideways and bloodied my knee quite well (it is still very swollen).
We were going so hard and fast my right clip pedal sheared off and went flying into the woods - so I ended up riding most of this leg with a stub of a pedal. Oh well - we chugged away. This was an all night bike ride with the most incredible spot being CP10 - which did involve pushing/carrying/coaxing our bikes about 1/2 mile up a 30+% slope. We also had to bomb them down the other side - which was walking them downhill.
After hitting CP11, we rode into the small town of Mullan and stopped at a convenience store and got some supplies before riding to CP12, and then finally TA1.
View Expedition Idaho in a larger map
Here is a little chatter of us as at TA1
Here are some video's of Day 1 and 2 in chronological order.
Saturday Evening - Pre-race briefing - http://youtu.be/5nCE1GCzTCY
Sunday Morning - Preparing gear - http://youtu.be/tp9ziSrfT2Q
Sunday Morning - Prolog to Race - http://youtu.be/R_lDDVn_U4A
Sunday Morning - Up the Gondola - http://youtu.be/eFKIR3z0-mQ
Sunday Evening - At TA1 in the evening - http://youtu.be/-di0iH-5BTw
Up Next - Day 2 Trek - Heart of Darkness
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Expedition Idaho Update
This is copied direct from the email from Dave Adler about Expedition Idaho - 10 days and counting, the email really gives an idea of the excitement of the course
Only 10 days to go, and things are in high gear here getting ready for the team's arrival.Only two checkpoints remain to be placed, and several truck loads of details, but we will be ready to help these amazing athletes in what could be the most amazing race ever.
Please enjoy the update! We are still in need af a few volunteers, so if you want to be a part of something pretty special, please contact us! We'd love to have you!
We are also trying to help folks without teams find some one to race with, and are still accepting new teams who want one more great challenge!
I have attached a couple of pictures from the course for you to enjoy!
Please enjoy the update! We are still in need af a few volunteers, so if you want to be a part of something pretty special, please contact us! We'd love to have you!
We are also trying to help folks without teams find some one to race with, and are still accepting new teams who want one more great challenge!
I have attached a couple of pictures from the course for you to enjoy!
Expedition Idaho Update
August 4 – 10 Days till the shotgun goes off!
We can tell teams are getting excited – we’re getting lots of calls and emails about shipping gear, final equipment details etc…
Best bet for shipping at this time is to ship it to:
Expedition Idaho
Attn: Dave Adlard
Silver Mountain Resort
610 Bunker Ave
Kellogg, Idaho, 83837
Bios – Please send us your bios and do the CPT form, so we can get the race site ready!! Thanks!
Okay, here’s what you’ve been waiting for…
“Tales from the Trails,” V 2.0
Over the last two days, we have now completed over 94% of the course, with just a couple of semi-out-of-the-way CP’s to put in on “SQ,”and Mike is going to be “forced” to ride one of the most world class, beautiful stretches of single track on the planet. Poor guy. By this Sunday, the course will have been 100% scouted/marked/manicured for the racer’s arrival, which is no mean feat on a 420 mile “one loop” (more or less) course.
Yesterday, Mike and I, and Rick McCharles – editor of http://besthike.com completed the entire “Heart of Darkness” trek from start to finish, and today we spent several hours on the lake paddling and in the hills finalizing our magnificent ropes elements with our expert riggers. These are some of the coolest ropes stuff you will ever see.
Here’re Mike’s thoughts and impressions from the last two days of adventure…
Mike here again...
Trekking: This is the real deal. From the terrain, views, trails (or lack thereof!) cliffs and sheer vertical gain and loss, the ExpId treks have it all. There are many route options, and the accompanying risk/reward, which, in all honesty, can go both ways pretty easily. Some of these risk options require substantial ‘whacking, which is not to be taken lightly here. Don’t leave home without your long pants (and possibly shin guards!). There are nettles, poison oak and other assorted joys, such as the seemingly endless alder that you will be walking on in spots, if you choose to take the “road less travelled!”
Your shoes will take a real beating – my new Solomans are trashed – holes punched through, busted Kevlar laces etc. Bring shoes that are built for battle, not solely light and fast.
Other things to remember – Shoe gaiters are highly recommended. Thin gloves for ‘whacking. LOTS of insect repellant with TNT or Cyanide or something in it. Also, your sunblock and sunblock lip balm.
Fluids and electrolyte replacement could determine survival for teams, as the weather is hot, and at the high altitudes, water is scare at best. Don’t shirk from taking extra water when you leave the TAs, and fill up when you have a chance at streams, springs, etc, as it may be hours between refills. Make sure to bring your (mandatory!) purifying method. I use Klearwater, and have had nothing but success.
I HIGHLY recommend trekking poles. I found mine extremely useful, especially on the big climbs and descents. Even Rick McCharles, a non-pole user was a convert by mid-day, and is ordering his new BD ultralight “Z”pole – I know Dave had a link posted.
As in most expedition races, sleep strategy is going to play a crucial part in a team’s success – maybe the most crucial. There are for sure places you don’t want to be in the dark, and if that means a few more hours rest and tackling them at daylight, so be it – you may very well end up further ahead – and safe – by being rested and being in daylight. Don’t just always push ahead – sometimes racing smarter ultimately is faster.
The ropes – I am truly a fan. I think Dave has set out some exciting and fun ropes elements. There will be some heart flutter more than once. I had a blast rapping off the rope today. The elements range from fast and fun to majestically huge – upwards of 400 feet.
Plan on (count on) getting wet. The water was very refreshing, and with the expected warm temps, it will be a welcome respite. The water is very warm compared to when I have been here before, so no wetsuits needed.
Paddling – The paddling is all flat water, but it’s pretty darn spectacular flat water. Some of the most scenic I have ever seen. The paddles, while long, are nicely broken up with other surprises, so you won’t just be in the boat for 10 hours at a stretch.
While the paddling can be downright pleasant, speaking from experience here two years ago, if Mother Nature get’s uppity, this can be some of the roughest lake water anywhere, and the storms come up quick – we went from calm and 82 to a lightning storm, 3 foot waves, whipping winds and 68 in less than 30 minutes. Be prepared for the best and worst of both.
I started as a technical consultant, but I am fully caught up in the excitement now. I have really fallen in love with this course and the race concept. This will be a true test of your expedition racing skills, and is among the toughest and most exciting I have ever seen or raced on. No one is going to leave here feeling slighted by the course or the total race experience– this will be one of the most memorable races ever, in my humble opinion. Addenda: I went out and rode a trail we had raced on here a couple of years ago at Adventure Sports Week, and back then, I had commented on how I thought it was perhaps the best single track ride in all of AR – well, I wasn’t wrong! It was almost perfect – right up until I almost ended up in the hospital after hitting a root and “endoing” 15 feet down the trail… that said, the trail was still awesome, me, not so much.
Someone asked how would I compare it to PQ or Eco, and I have to say it could be as demanding as any. Kind of scary, in a way, but the “sport course” options and the finish format will make it a wonderful experience for every team. For a total race experience, this could be the best I have seen. Honestly, you can all complete the requirements to be official finishers – you have more than enough time, if you take care of each other and just keep moving forward. If I was able to race, I would be super-excited about this course, though, to be honest, it’s tough enough for Mike… after 6+ days of racing on this course, no matter your pace, I think everyone will be pushed to your limits, physically and mentally, and will come through the better for it.
Four more checkpoints tomorrow, and we will be ready for you to come and challenge our baby. I will be out on the course with you throughout the week, so we’ll have plenty of time to chat and compare notes, and I can’t wait to hear your impressions of Expedition Idaho.
FYI, I’ll be making the drawing for the winners of my new “OutThere USA” AS1 packs at the pre-race briefing for all the teams who were paid up in full in advance! See you next week!
Dave’s notes…
Like he said.
“Be prepared to suffer. Be prepared to succeed. Be prepared to LIVE!”
~A soon-to-be famous quote from DA
I feel like I’ve just done a 400 mile adventure race… oh, wait… I did! Let me tell you that vetting a course with Mike is really RACING a course with Mike. We did about 22 hours of trekking with TWO 5 minute breaks and a stream dunking. Halfway up one of the wee little climbs we have for you, we were pushing so hard and were so focused I actually looked back down the trail to see if another team was catching us! (There’s no way they could have caught us!)
Anywho, we are almost done. We have just a handful of CPs to put out for “Survival Quest” (You’re going to LOVE this!) and we’ll be ready for you. Here’s some of the news you’ll need to know:
No snow gear (crampons etc) are needed! You’ll be on snow a bit, but nothing you can’t handle in your trekking shoes, IF you have at least one, and better yet, two trekking poles. We couldn’t have completed some of the trek without them anywhere near as fast or as safely yesterday.
I am so excited about our “extra” activities, besides just the usual three disciplines. Our ropes are awesome fun, “SQ” is going to be a blast, the “O” portions are challenging… hopefully you will leave this race as wiped out and as excited as you have ever been about AR.
I think the trek will be, um, fulfilling… sometimes the downs aren’t easier than the ups – no one ever falls UP the mountain!
Thirst is going to be a factor. We started “light”yesterday, but by ½ way through the trek were low on water, soaking hats and shirts and dunking heads in one of the very rare water sources out there. We actually flagged a natural spring along the trail so you can fill up there. Take every chance to drink and fill your bottles, as you could literally be hours without. Mike and Rick were laughing when I took an extra liter of Gatorade and a 2 liter bladder, but they were both drinking it a few hours later!
As with any project like this, we are fully expecting – and are preparing like mad – for the surprises, challenges, disasters etc that can happen, and I think our race crew will do a magnificent job in helping everyone through– similar to when you’re racing, when you’re running an AR expedition of this magnitude, it’s not “if” you’re going to get lost, it’s just when and how bad, and most importantly, how quickly can you get back on track. Our main goal, besides the course itself, is to make sure some of the things that matter most to racers – getting your gear on time, communication, support etc – are done as well as we can physically manage. You are all our top priority.
My team is racing without me next week, and though I am immensely jealous, and a bit sad, I am excited for them, as I am for all of you. Reading Mike’s comments, and having now completed the entire course at near race pace, I look at scope of the challenge and I’m daunted by the sheer scale, but when I started to break it down into the smaller segments, and from there the even smaller challenges right in front of us, I was able to focus on what I needed to do next, and, as long as I kept moving forward, was able to get through.
Please trust me when I tell you that we fully expect to see ALL of you cross the finish line on Saturday. We WANT you to finish! You have more than enough time to get there, as long as you are safe, smart and above all, take care of each other! Rest when you need to (of course “need” and “want”are different!), eat when you need to (need/want very similar – just eat while walking!), but just keep moving steadily forward. Don’t be daunted by the course– even “Big” and H.O.D (Heart of Darkness) are manageable by all if you take them one step at a time. Don’t get wrapped up in how far there is left to go –it will be over when it’s over, and you will get there when you get there. Focus instead on the next climb, the next CP, and the secret treats you have stashed at the TA! Left, right, left…
Not everyone will travel quite as far over the 6+ days, but the effort and commitment will be the same from every one of you, and to us, you are all winners just for taking on such an immense challenge. We know that, and we want to make sure you are rewarded for the huge sacrifices you are making, financially, time-wise, emotionally, physically, spiritually… we race too, and we understand. We want you to feel fulfilled. We want you to leave here saying this was the most beautiful, friendliest, toughest suffering you have ever loved!
Get some sleep… you’re going to need it!
Dum du dum dum…
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Luminescent Adventure Race - 8 hour
This was going to be a night race with Team Florida Xtreme 2 (Bruce, Jim, and Wanda). Team FLX 1 (Mark, Jeff, Marghi, and Erik) are 3 of the 4 I will be racing with in Idaho. I was a bit tired starting the race, I had been packing all day (we are moving to Deland) and also had my wife in the hospital because she had been bitten by one of our cats breaking up a fight (Cat bites require IV administered antibiotics to prevent infection). I was even running late and the team called me to make sure I was still on my way (and had not gotten lost).
The race started with a 6 mile out and back bike ride to a CP with one water crossing. We blew through it in 37 minutes (5 minutes behind the leader) and headed out into the water for the paddle. Even though we never had any issues on the water - we still never got into our paddle rhythm and the choppy water was tough on Bruce and Jim steering the boats. The choppy water meant no luminescence (no big deal to me I paddle in these waters at night a lot) - but I did see the biggest mullet run I've ever seen - thousands of fish jumping out of the water at the same time. The paddle took us 2 hrs 22 minutes a bit slower than what I had wanted.
Once we got off the water it was back to the TA for and then to the Parrish TA where we chose to trek first. This was uneventful except for one strategic error. At CP12 - located on a fenceline along I-95 I decided to bushwhack short of the control point as we approached. I had figured there would be at least a trail along the fence - there wasn't. This was a pretty nasty bushwhack and forced us back out to the main trail. The second attack we used the faint trail and went right to it. We new we had lost 20+ minutes on the bad attempt (oh well). We ran the rest of the course at an easy pace and had no navigation issues with the other controls - though we did take an "odd" route to CP16.
On the bike we decided to go reverse order which was working well for us. We had no issues with CP25 and CP24. We had a little trouble finding the trail to CP23 and worked with Zombie Cranks to find it. We got to the attack point north of the CP where the trails intersected and spent a large amount of time searching. I decided to ride the north trail from there to ensure we were in the correct location. We were and rode back passing Zombie Cranks who had found it and told us our attack point was good. We went back to the open field attack point where 5-6 teams were searching. This time Bruce found the parallel trail (he had found it the first time we attacked too - but I had not told him the importance of the trail for the navigation). This second time after seeing the trail we took 5 minutes and narrowed in on the control quickly. I also shouted for the other teams searching as they had been out there long enough.
For the third time of the evening we rode the north trail from CP23 to CP22 (the most challenging of the trails we rode all night). CP21, CP20, CP19 all proved quite easy - but we ended up blowing by CP18 as we were rushing because we were running out of time. We checked in at Parrish TA and flew back to the Main TA where we got our bearings for CP26 and CP27. These were two bearing controls, which were south of the road in the woods.
Working with Nature Calls we quickly found CP26. This would have been a lot easier if I had not left the control descriptions with my bike (they were on the passport sheet). We did not have enough time to find CP27. We had gotten a bit separated in our search and it took us a few minutes to regroup and get out of the woods - unfortunately we did not have a few minutes and went 1 minute over time costing us the one point we had gained in doing the bearing course in the first place.
The bike and trek course we took is below.
View Luminescent Bike/Run in a larger map
Jim even made a spreadsheet to compare split times of the top teams
FLX2 FLX1 Primal JAX Zombie Nature
BIKE1 0:37:00 0:32:00 0:34:00 0:37:00 0:41:00 0:33:00
BOAT 2:22:00 2:05:00 2:04:00 2:22:00 1:39:00 2:19:00
BIKE2 0:10:00 0:11:00 0:10:00 0:15:00 0:18:00 0:13:00
FOOT 1:50:00 1:41:00 1:38:00 1:44:00 2:16:00 1:38:00
BIKE3 2:38:00 1:38:00 2:08:00 2:24:00 2:06:00 2:47:00
BIKE4 0:07:00 0:08:00 0:10:00 0:09:00 0:08:00 0:08:00
BRNG 0:17:20 0:16:58 0:28:22 0:11:19 0:27:27 0:20:58
8:01:20 6:31:58 7:12:22 7:42:19 7:35:27 7:58:58
The race started with a 6 mile out and back bike ride to a CP with one water crossing. We blew through it in 37 minutes (5 minutes behind the leader) and headed out into the water for the paddle. Even though we never had any issues on the water - we still never got into our paddle rhythm and the choppy water was tough on Bruce and Jim steering the boats. The choppy water meant no luminescence (no big deal to me I paddle in these waters at night a lot) - but I did see the biggest mullet run I've ever seen - thousands of fish jumping out of the water at the same time. The paddle took us 2 hrs 22 minutes a bit slower than what I had wanted.
Once we got off the water it was back to the TA for and then to the Parrish TA where we chose to trek first. This was uneventful except for one strategic error. At CP12 - located on a fenceline along I-95 I decided to bushwhack short of the control point as we approached. I had figured there would be at least a trail along the fence - there wasn't. This was a pretty nasty bushwhack and forced us back out to the main trail. The second attack we used the faint trail and went right to it. We new we had lost 20+ minutes on the bad attempt (oh well). We ran the rest of the course at an easy pace and had no navigation issues with the other controls - though we did take an "odd" route to CP16.
On the bike we decided to go reverse order which was working well for us. We had no issues with CP25 and CP24. We had a little trouble finding the trail to CP23 and worked with Zombie Cranks to find it. We got to the attack point north of the CP where the trails intersected and spent a large amount of time searching. I decided to ride the north trail from there to ensure we were in the correct location. We were and rode back passing Zombie Cranks who had found it and told us our attack point was good. We went back to the open field attack point where 5-6 teams were searching. This time Bruce found the parallel trail (he had found it the first time we attacked too - but I had not told him the importance of the trail for the navigation). This second time after seeing the trail we took 5 minutes and narrowed in on the control quickly. I also shouted for the other teams searching as they had been out there long enough.
For the third time of the evening we rode the north trail from CP23 to CP22 (the most challenging of the trails we rode all night). CP21, CP20, CP19 all proved quite easy - but we ended up blowing by CP18 as we were rushing because we were running out of time. We checked in at Parrish TA and flew back to the Main TA where we got our bearings for CP26 and CP27. These were two bearing controls, which were south of the road in the woods.
Working with Nature Calls we quickly found CP26. This would have been a lot easier if I had not left the control descriptions with my bike (they were on the passport sheet). We did not have enough time to find CP27. We had gotten a bit separated in our search and it took us a few minutes to regroup and get out of the woods - unfortunately we did not have a few minutes and went 1 minute over time costing us the one point we had gained in doing the bearing course in the first place.
The bike and trek course we took is below.
View Luminescent Bike/Run in a larger map
Jim even made a spreadsheet to compare split times of the top teams
FLX2 FLX1 Primal JAX Zombie Nature
BIKE1 0:37:00 0:32:00 0:34:00 0:37:00 0:41:00 0:33:00
BOAT 2:22:00 2:05:00 2:04:00 2:22:00 1:39:00 2:19:00
BIKE2 0:10:00 0:11:00 0:10:00 0:15:00 0:18:00 0:13:00
FOOT 1:50:00 1:41:00 1:38:00 1:44:00 2:16:00 1:38:00
BIKE3 2:38:00 1:38:00 2:08:00 2:24:00 2:06:00 2:47:00
BIKE4 0:07:00 0:08:00 0:10:00 0:09:00 0:08:00 0:08:00
BRNG 0:17:20 0:16:58 0:28:22 0:11:19 0:27:27 0:20:58
8:01:20 6:31:58 7:12:22 7:42:19 7:35:27 7:58:58
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Night Biking
Here are some tips about biking at night.
Unlike the paddle section where you want to keep the lights off - biking at night is all about lights. I use a mounting system I devised that uses my hand lights (this is in a previous blog - search bike lights). The reason is simply staying safe on bumpy and tricky terrain as you ride in the dark. I use 2 handlebar mounted lights and one helmet mounted. This works pretty well. I also have a small 4th light I use for map reading.
Some help on lights - my favorite is the Inova Bolt. Lightweight, uses CR123 (I buy bulk), and mounts easily http://www.inovalight.com/bolt/
To attach them to helmet and bike I use a Rwofish light holder http://www.amazon.com/TWOFISH-Cycloblocks-Bicycle-Flashlight-Channel/dp/B0035H9CJU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1330983909&sr=8-9
I usually mount 3 lights on the handle bars and one on my helmet.
Navigation
Night navigation at night is all about keeping a very close idea of where you are. Trails that would look obvious in the daylight are sometimes nearly invisible at night. You need to keep a very good idea of your bearing and also make sure you know the distance you have traversed on EVERY trail you ride. My navigation is all about - take this trail for 1.2 km to an intersection, take trail at 140 degrees - staying on trail for 2.3 km to intersection, etc... I take measurements and write them on the map for the entire course before the start of the race. If I need to make changes on the fly - I use km since the map grid on a USGS map is in km, and it is easier to judge distances. Odds are most trails you will use will be ride-able (or at least obvious).
Teamwork
I make sure at least one of my team-mates is double checking my distance. I also want a second bearing from team-mates. This keeps them occupied. The most dangerous thing is to have a strong biker on your team pushing you to go faster and then you end up way off track. Slower is most often better at night, since a mistake can cost you miles and lots of time. Make sure of where you are - and be careful of following other teams make the mistake (going to lights) that I mentioned in my trek nav blog.
Safety
I've taken some pretty good falls biking in races at night. Many more than during daylight racing. For some reason following narrow single track or riding vehicle ruts is much more difficult in the dark. I find that trying to stay relaxed (which is natural in the day) is much more challenging at night. The same techniques that are good practice in daylight are the same at night. Of course good lights are still important. If one team-mate has good lights let them lead and work as a team. Lastly - keep much closer track of your team-mates. I've had them disappear during day races (especially long ones where it is challenging to keep track of them as you get tired). At night - it is very easy to get ahead or behind, especially if they have to drop off. If you have a team-mate that is hurting or weak - keep them in the middle of your line.
Unlike the paddle section where you want to keep the lights off - biking at night is all about lights. I use a mounting system I devised that uses my hand lights (this is in a previous blog - search bike lights). The reason is simply staying safe on bumpy and tricky terrain as you ride in the dark. I use 2 handlebar mounted lights and one helmet mounted. This works pretty well. I also have a small 4th light I use for map reading.
Some help on lights - my favorite is the Inova Bolt. Lightweight, uses CR123 (I buy bulk), and mounts easily http://www.inovalight.com/bolt/
To attach them to helmet and bike I use a Rwofish light holder http://www.amazon.com/TWOFISH-Cycloblocks-Bicycle-Flashlight-Channel/dp/B0035H9CJU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1330983909&sr=8-9
I usually mount 3 lights on the handle bars and one on my helmet.
Navigation
Night navigation at night is all about keeping a very close idea of where you are. Trails that would look obvious in the daylight are sometimes nearly invisible at night. You need to keep a very good idea of your bearing and also make sure you know the distance you have traversed on EVERY trail you ride. My navigation is all about - take this trail for 1.2 km to an intersection, take trail at 140 degrees - staying on trail for 2.3 km to intersection, etc... I take measurements and write them on the map for the entire course before the start of the race. If I need to make changes on the fly - I use km since the map grid on a USGS map is in km, and it is easier to judge distances. Odds are most trails you will use will be ride-able (or at least obvious).
Teamwork
I make sure at least one of my team-mates is double checking my distance. I also want a second bearing from team-mates. This keeps them occupied. The most dangerous thing is to have a strong biker on your team pushing you to go faster and then you end up way off track. Slower is most often better at night, since a mistake can cost you miles and lots of time. Make sure of where you are - and be careful of following other teams make the mistake (going to lights) that I mentioned in my trek nav blog.
Safety
I've taken some pretty good falls biking in races at night. Many more than during daylight racing. For some reason following narrow single track or riding vehicle ruts is much more difficult in the dark. I find that trying to stay relaxed (which is natural in the day) is much more challenging at night. The same techniques that are good practice in daylight are the same at night. Of course good lights are still important. If one team-mate has good lights let them lead and work as a team. Lastly - keep much closer track of your team-mates. I've had them disappear during day races (especially long ones where it is challenging to keep track of them as you get tired). At night - it is very easy to get ahead or behind, especially if they have to drop off. If you have a team-mate that is hurting or weak - keep them in the middle of your line.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Twelve Points - Lake Norris
Here is a little recap of the race with some pics (movies). Mark Roberts and met up for a "practice" race. We were really looking for a bit of training in getting ready for Expedition Idaho. The video at the end gives a recap of the races. Bottom line is the Mark found some awesome locations and continues every year to find great locations and incredible spot for the Twelve Points race.
The paddle on Lake Norris is incredible - I highly recommend this as one of the best lake paddles in Florida.
Some of the trek locations were magnificent. The big grassy fields were really nice.
Full overview of the course.
The paddle on Lake Norris is incredible - I highly recommend this as one of the best lake paddles in Florida.
Some of the trek locations were magnificent. The big grassy fields were really nice.
Full overview of the course.
Fresh Bear tracks
Mark in big pasture
Looking out on Lake Norris - Osprey Nest on Cypress just past entrance
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Night Navigation - Trekking
There are 2 Pangea night races coming up; Luminescent and Nocturnal - so to help new folks out in preparing here are tips for night navigation. This is part of a 3 part series on trekking, biking, and paddling at night.
Trekking
First - you need some really good lights, everyone on the team should have a decent headlamp and also one good hand light. Invest in decent lights - if you buy cheap lights you will end up spending more money as you replace them. The Inova Bolt is my favorite. It does take CR123 batteries which are expensive if you buy them in a store. I order these bulk online from http://www.cr123batteries.com/ for less than $1 per battery. You also need a decent headlamp, I use primarily the Princeton Tec Apex - it is a marvel in brightness and runs on CR123 batteries also. I can run all night on low power and the beam mode lights up the night.
OK - so now you have all the lights are are ready to head out on your trek. First - everything looks different at night. What is an obvious trail during the daylight hours will likely be nearly invisible at night. Also you will have natural tendency to "circle" at night. Without a compass or a trail to follow nearly everyone ends up making circles. This means you need to be more conservative in your navigation. The best thing to do is find and follow handrails if at all possible - even if it takes you a little out of your way. (Handrails are linear features like roads, trails, streams, etc...). The navigator also needs to communicate more with the team at night - I find that a team member who might be nervous about the nav in the daytime is more so at night. Talking through the navigation plan does 2 thing - makes the team more comfortable and it may even help you avoid mistakes.
Some of the things that are important in the daylight are even more-so at night. I always preach "time and pace". If you are following a linear feature (or not) you should always have a good idea of how far you have gone. I use kilometers and will give an example here. A team walking quickly through the woods can travel about 1 km in 10 minutes. The maps are almost always gridded off in UTM coordinates - which are 1 km square blocks. I have talked to lots of teams that tell me how they walked for 45 minutes before realizing they went too far (and have made mistakes like this too). If you are looking for something 1 km away it will not take you 45 minutes (unless the terrain is horrible) to get there. So at each feature where you know where you are announce to the team something like - "It is 1:37 AM, we are looking for a small trail in this direction less than 1 km away, we should see it before 1:47 AM". This involves the team, reinforces your navigation plan, and gives you a goal.
Here are some common mistakes in night trekking;
1. Diverging off the trail - because trails become very indistinct at night, it is very easy to lose the trail. Our team travels with a little distance (about 20 feet) on the these trails. If it is a marked or blazed trail - if you feel nervous about losing the trail, call out "last mark". Everyone looks for the last mark.
2. Heading for the light - I've seen many teams do this, they see lights from another team and immediately start walking towards them. Most of the time the team they are going towards is on another control or simply lost - and now you are lost too. Stick with your plan and race your race. (It is very hard to avoid the temptation on this one).
3. Single set of eyes - At night the team needs to help the navigator look for features (and the navigator need to let them know what they are looking for). The reason is very simple. The navigator will be looking up and down at the map. Every time they shine the bright light on the map, they destroy their night vision and ability to see terrain features. Odds are they will miss it simply because of this fact. Involve all sets of eyes in looking for features.
4. Fading in and out - In long races most teams make huge errors at night while racing because they simply "fade out" and go into zombie mode. When a team-mate starts mumbling "brains, brains..." they may have become a zombie and you may need help get the team awake.
Next up ... Biking at Night
Trekking
First - you need some really good lights, everyone on the team should have a decent headlamp and also one good hand light. Invest in decent lights - if you buy cheap lights you will end up spending more money as you replace them. The Inova Bolt is my favorite. It does take CR123 batteries which are expensive if you buy them in a store. I order these bulk online from http://www.cr123batteries.com/ for less than $1 per battery. You also need a decent headlamp, I use primarily the Princeton Tec Apex - it is a marvel in brightness and runs on CR123 batteries also. I can run all night on low power and the beam mode lights up the night.
OK - so now you have all the lights are are ready to head out on your trek. First - everything looks different at night. What is an obvious trail during the daylight hours will likely be nearly invisible at night. Also you will have natural tendency to "circle" at night. Without a compass or a trail to follow nearly everyone ends up making circles. This means you need to be more conservative in your navigation. The best thing to do is find and follow handrails if at all possible - even if it takes you a little out of your way. (Handrails are linear features like roads, trails, streams, etc...). The navigator also needs to communicate more with the team at night - I find that a team member who might be nervous about the nav in the daytime is more so at night. Talking through the navigation plan does 2 thing - makes the team more comfortable and it may even help you avoid mistakes.
Some of the things that are important in the daylight are even more-so at night. I always preach "time and pace". If you are following a linear feature (or not) you should always have a good idea of how far you have gone. I use kilometers and will give an example here. A team walking quickly through the woods can travel about 1 km in 10 minutes. The maps are almost always gridded off in UTM coordinates - which are 1 km square blocks. I have talked to lots of teams that tell me how they walked for 45 minutes before realizing they went too far (and have made mistakes like this too). If you are looking for something 1 km away it will not take you 45 minutes (unless the terrain is horrible) to get there. So at each feature where you know where you are announce to the team something like - "It is 1:37 AM, we are looking for a small trail in this direction less than 1 km away, we should see it before 1:47 AM". This involves the team, reinforces your navigation plan, and gives you a goal.
Here are some common mistakes in night trekking;
1. Diverging off the trail - because trails become very indistinct at night, it is very easy to lose the trail. Our team travels with a little distance (about 20 feet) on the these trails. If it is a marked or blazed trail - if you feel nervous about losing the trail, call out "last mark". Everyone looks for the last mark.
2. Heading for the light - I've seen many teams do this, they see lights from another team and immediately start walking towards them. Most of the time the team they are going towards is on another control or simply lost - and now you are lost too. Stick with your plan and race your race. (It is very hard to avoid the temptation on this one).
3. Single set of eyes - At night the team needs to help the navigator look for features (and the navigator need to let them know what they are looking for). The reason is very simple. The navigator will be looking up and down at the map. Every time they shine the bright light on the map, they destroy their night vision and ability to see terrain features. Odds are they will miss it simply because of this fact. Involve all sets of eyes in looking for features.
4. Fading in and out - In long races most teams make huge errors at night while racing because they simply "fade out" and go into zombie mode. When a team-mate starts mumbling "brains, brains..." they may have become a zombie and you may need help get the team awake.
Next up ... Biking at Night
Friday, July 01, 2011
Maps Library
I've had a lot of requests for maps from different races - many of which I have scanned. Well, here are the scanned maps I currently have. I'll try to scan as many more of the maps I have from races and post them here - I have nearly 1 GB of maps now, but will add more.
Also - some of these maps are from races where I don't have the documentation, if you know what race or year goes with a map feel free to leave it as a comment with the the scanned image.
 |
| Maps |
Also - some of these maps are from races where I don't have the documentation, if you know what race or year goes with a map feel free to leave it as a comment with the the scanned image.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Seminole County AR
This was going to be a nice race for me, for one it was only a 6 hour race and also the fact that it was pretty close drive - meaning I did not have to be up at 3 AM to drive to the race. I know most of the racers can sympathize with that long morning drive to the race. It was going to be hot. Team Florida Xtreme was racing as a 4 person team with Jeff, Bruce, Marghi, and me. And it was going to be hot.
Usually I give a recap of the race, but instead I'll go over some tips and some things that will hopefully help out other teams.
Paddling - The boat Marghi and I were paddling had a real tendency to go right, of course that made turning left sometimes difficult. That does happens some times - you get a boat with "issues". Since Marghi and I had lots of paddling experience we were still able to make the boat move pretty well. I was paddling in the back and normally that person handles all the steering. You always want to use positive strokes - typically the draw stroke to steer the boat. Only as a last resort should you use the paddle as a rudder as that slows the boat and you will need to make up all the speed that you lost. It is worthwhile to get out there and practice steering if you are going to be sitting in the back of the boat. In the case of the boat Marghi and I were paddling I needed her to help me steer on almost every left turn - meaning we both spent a lot of time paddling on the right side of the boat.
Teamwork - For the most part we work great as a team. In this race we had one lapse - CP4. We bypassed it on the downstream paddle and hit it on the return trip. As we arrived there were quite a few teams both there and following us. CP4 had 2 choices, one was to do it as an out and back, the other was to punch through back to the main channel. My plan was to do it as an out and back as I was pretty sure the channel was clogged past the CP. As we approached I could also see the terrain to the south of the river was open flood plain - so I called for the other boat to pull ashore about 100 yards from the CP so we could run to the CP. Jeff and Bruce did not hear me and continued to paddle into the channel - while Marghi and I pulled to the shore and I ran to the edge of the river where I needed to cross a small muddy channel to get to the island and the CP. Bruce was behind me with the punch card and as I looked out into the water there was Jeff in the boat right next to the water.
View Seminole County AR 2011 in a larger map
We got the CP quickly - Marghi was in the weeds just past the small entrance to the channel. Jeff wanted to call her in and go straight through the channel, while I wanted him to get Bruce who had by now punched the CP and head back out. I knew the main river was open and I was worried about possible lost time trying to push straight through. A quick debate and we were headed back out and around.
Even though getting CP4 took under 10 minutes, we did have a breakdown of team communication - and we did recover quickly. In this case it neither of us really knew which choice was better. For a short while we looked very "un-coordinated". Having raced for many years I often see team that debate route choices, food, what ot do with a hurting team-mate, etc... The point in AR - because you are on the clock is to make a choice as a team quickly and move on. Some times those choices are tough - like when the navigator is not sure of where they are and you may have to go back to the last point where you knew your location. Some times you have to decide to stop and rest a suffering team-mate. In all of these situations - you need to be able to function as a team to make the decision and do what you decide and this gets harder as you have more team-mates. Also every member of the team needs to feel comfortable asking questions. I do sometimes feel irritated when a team-mate questions my navigation - but I also have had them catch mistakes enough times to trust them and listen. The more you race together the better you get to know your team-mates strengths and weaknesses.
I also noticed on the bike and trek legs a lot of teams biking and running with the team all spread out - one person pushing and the other lagging yards behind. Remember the team is no faster in any leg than their slowest team-mate. When biking this is especially important, it is good to learn how to work in a bike line and also how to tow a team-mate. While on foot you can tow also, and a real help is to carry the pack of a struggling team-mate. When a team-mate starts falling behind it is always a good idea to drop back and check on them and offer to help. You should also check hydration (especially when hot) and general physical condition.
Biking today was pretty sandy. In these conditions it is sometimes smart to have the strongest biker in the lead to determine the best line. All the other bikers should follow that line.
Today - because it was hot I brought along dishtowels for the team. I keep them on ice until the trek and then we wrap them around our necks above the pack to help keep cool. In this race because there was a ice cooler on the trail - we were able to fill them up with ice and they kept us cool for almost the entire second half of the trek leg. That worked out pretty well.
Navigation - The navigation today was relatively easy for an elite course. The challenging CP's all had obvious attack points. If you have a question on how to attack any CP please ask - I'll post a response.
For a great mapped break-down of the course from Nature Calls - see http://windermereroadies.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9526
Usually I give a recap of the race, but instead I'll go over some tips and some things that will hopefully help out other teams.
Paddling - The boat Marghi and I were paddling had a real tendency to go right, of course that made turning left sometimes difficult. That does happens some times - you get a boat with "issues". Since Marghi and I had lots of paddling experience we were still able to make the boat move pretty well. I was paddling in the back and normally that person handles all the steering. You always want to use positive strokes - typically the draw stroke to steer the boat. Only as a last resort should you use the paddle as a rudder as that slows the boat and you will need to make up all the speed that you lost. It is worthwhile to get out there and practice steering if you are going to be sitting in the back of the boat. In the case of the boat Marghi and I were paddling I needed her to help me steer on almost every left turn - meaning we both spent a lot of time paddling on the right side of the boat.
Teamwork - For the most part we work great as a team. In this race we had one lapse - CP4. We bypassed it on the downstream paddle and hit it on the return trip. As we arrived there were quite a few teams both there and following us. CP4 had 2 choices, one was to do it as an out and back, the other was to punch through back to the main channel. My plan was to do it as an out and back as I was pretty sure the channel was clogged past the CP. As we approached I could also see the terrain to the south of the river was open flood plain - so I called for the other boat to pull ashore about 100 yards from the CP so we could run to the CP. Jeff and Bruce did not hear me and continued to paddle into the channel - while Marghi and I pulled to the shore and I ran to the edge of the river where I needed to cross a small muddy channel to get to the island and the CP. Bruce was behind me with the punch card and as I looked out into the water there was Jeff in the boat right next to the water.
View Seminole County AR 2011 in a larger map
We got the CP quickly - Marghi was in the weeds just past the small entrance to the channel. Jeff wanted to call her in and go straight through the channel, while I wanted him to get Bruce who had by now punched the CP and head back out. I knew the main river was open and I was worried about possible lost time trying to push straight through. A quick debate and we were headed back out and around.
Even though getting CP4 took under 10 minutes, we did have a breakdown of team communication - and we did recover quickly. In this case it neither of us really knew which choice was better. For a short while we looked very "un-coordinated". Having raced for many years I often see team that debate route choices, food, what ot do with a hurting team-mate, etc... The point in AR - because you are on the clock is to make a choice as a team quickly and move on. Some times those choices are tough - like when the navigator is not sure of where they are and you may have to go back to the last point where you knew your location. Some times you have to decide to stop and rest a suffering team-mate. In all of these situations - you need to be able to function as a team to make the decision and do what you decide and this gets harder as you have more team-mates. Also every member of the team needs to feel comfortable asking questions. I do sometimes feel irritated when a team-mate questions my navigation - but I also have had them catch mistakes enough times to trust them and listen. The more you race together the better you get to know your team-mates strengths and weaknesses.
I also noticed on the bike and trek legs a lot of teams biking and running with the team all spread out - one person pushing and the other lagging yards behind. Remember the team is no faster in any leg than their slowest team-mate. When biking this is especially important, it is good to learn how to work in a bike line and also how to tow a team-mate. While on foot you can tow also, and a real help is to carry the pack of a struggling team-mate. When a team-mate starts falling behind it is always a good idea to drop back and check on them and offer to help. You should also check hydration (especially when hot) and general physical condition.
Biking today was pretty sandy. In these conditions it is sometimes smart to have the strongest biker in the lead to determine the best line. All the other bikers should follow that line.
Today - because it was hot I brought along dishtowels for the team. I keep them on ice until the trek and then we wrap them around our necks above the pack to help keep cool. In this race because there was a ice cooler on the trail - we were able to fill them up with ice and they kept us cool for almost the entire second half of the trek leg. That worked out pretty well.
Navigation - The navigation today was relatively easy for an elite course. The challenging CP's all had obvious attack points. If you have a question on how to attack any CP please ask - I'll post a response.
For a great mapped break-down of the course from Nature Calls - see http://windermereroadies.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9526
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Florida Sunshine AR
Tim from Green Paw did a great write-up of the Florida Sunshine, it is at
http://www.teamgreenpaw.com/AR/News/Entries/2011/6/5_Florida_Sunshine_Race_Review.html
When we finished the long trek back to the bikes at morning 2 we were within 20 minutes of them, however we had mis-punched one control on the trek leading there, so even though we did not know it we were down one control.
The heat by that time had started to become a factor with all of us. The last orienteering leg was a slog-fest for us. Nobody could move faster than a medium walk and I decided to bail on the last orienteering control (we had 3rd place pretty much wrapped up at that point) so we did not risk going over time at the finish.
We all appreciate all the folks who appreciate these write-ups. I'd love to see more folks come out for the 30 hour race format - yes it is tough, but it is also doable. I hope the write-ups help everyone get prepared.
Also - the next race is the SCAR on Sunday. One team will be running a live feed of the race at http://www.runsinthewoods.com/?page_id=20 you'll be able to track them real time and view a twitter feed.
http://www.teamgreenpaw.com/AR/News/Entries/2011/6/5_Florida_Sunshine_Race_Review.html
When we finished the long trek back to the bikes at morning 2 we were within 20 minutes of them, however we had mis-punched one control on the trek leading there, so even though we did not know it we were down one control.
The heat by that time had started to become a factor with all of us. The last orienteering leg was a slog-fest for us. Nobody could move faster than a medium walk and I decided to bail on the last orienteering control (we had 3rd place pretty much wrapped up at that point) so we did not risk going over time at the finish.
We all appreciate all the folks who appreciate these write-ups. I'd love to see more folks come out for the 30 hour race format - yes it is tough, but it is also doable. I hope the write-ups help everyone get prepared.
Also - the next race is the SCAR on Sunday. One team will be running a live feed of the race at http://www.runsinthewoods.com/?page_id=20 you'll be able to track them real time and view a twitter feed.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Pangea Sunshine Adventure Race
Here is a run-down of the Sunshine Adventure Race with Team Florida Xtreme 2; Bruce, Jim, Wanda were my team-mates. The description of the race from Pangea is at http://www.pangeaadventureracing.com/news-details/items/id-30-hour-sunshine-coverage
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 1 Bike (about 1 hours)
After a short prolog we started with a bike ride to the Alexander Springs TA. There was one checkpoint along the way - which was pretty straightforward (if not well hidden) since the clue told us where to look (Forest Road 77-4.0. The route took us north along Forest Road 77. About 2 miles of the road were very sandy, but the rest of the route was pretty easy riding.
Leg 2 - Paddle
The second leg was CP2-CP6, a nice paddle up and back on Alexander Springs. This had a few navigation challenges, mostly posed by CP3 which required following a vegetation boundary on foot. The other CP's were visible from the water and it was a simple matter of following our location on the river. We helped a few other teams as we worked on this section.
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 3 - Orienteering
After biking to the Mud Pond TA we were given an orienteering map for the next section (CP7-CP13). This was the equivalent of a orienteering blue course, and this type of orienteering is my specialty. It still took nearly 3 hours and in the heat of the day (in a heat wave of 95 degrees) left us nearly spent. We were pretty motivated as we hit the bikes to start the next leg as we had passed a few teams in the orienteering and were now running in 3rd place (behind Odyssey and Green Paw).
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 5 - Mountain Bike
This leg was essentially the Ocala Paisley Mountain bike loop. I had already measured the distances between the CP's and with the odometer it was pretty easy to go from CP to CP. As we approached the cross over trail the team was hurting from the heat. I decided to cross and get CP19 which would allow us to use the main forest road for most of the return trip. We headed south to CP16, CP17, and CP18. At CP18 we headed out to SR42 and then took Paisley Road up to the power lines. It was getting dark now, we dropped the bikes at Paisley Road and trekked to CP20 and back. This may not have been the fastest, but riding on the easy road gave us a chance to recover some. We finished this leg, headed to Mud Pond TA where we refilled our water and headed back to the Alexander Springs TA.
Look closely - the bike route is on the map
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 5 - Paddle
We were expecting a long challenging paddle and we got it. It was dark (we entered the water around 10 PM) and there were lots of gator eyes staring back at us. Since we had 2 team-mates that were hurting we decided to put all 4 of us in a single canoe rather than push it with 2 boats. It was a pretty eventful paddle, we had alligators the entire way, fish kept jumping into our boat (including one catfish which was pretty strange). Most of the fish never cleared edge of the boat and ended up flopping back into the water, but the few that made it gave us a lot of fun. The entrance to Get Out Creek was pretty tricky - but the creek was pretty awesome paddling. Once we reached the St. Johns River it was pretty straightforward up until CP28, we missed the turn into the small channel and had to attack it from the south where we entered Highland Park Run. We did find the channel from the Highland Park Run side, and it was completely covered in thick weeds (which we bashed through) and had more alligators than I have ever seen - nearly all of them small. We finished the paddle around 4:30 and were back out on the long trek back ot the Alexander Springs TA by 5 AM.
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 6 - Trek
This was a long trek (easily 10 miles), but it was cool and we were pretty much recovered from the heat of the previous day, in fact Wanda was actually cold. We were tired and as it turned out we punched the wrong CP on the trek (punching a Sport Course CP that was located very close to the Elite CP). It was already hot when we got back to the Alexander TA and got back on our bikes. This time we had to do the same bike loop as before - but only half of it (we turned back at the half-way cutoff). We were hurting pretty bad from heat as we got to the Mud Pond TA.
Leg 7 - Orienteering
As we received the O-Map we were told it was about a 2 1/2 hour course. I figured we could do it in 1 hour if we did not have heat and fatigue issues, but we also had to be concerned with a long ride back to the start/finish from the TA. We decided to do 3 of the 4 CP's which turned out OK and have us plenty of time to return to the S/F. We new we had a pretty strong lock on 3rd place as long as we did not "blow up" the team in the heat. The 3 CP's were pretty easy, but we were having heat issues and we got on the bikes to head back.
Leg 8 - Bike
Jim put Wanda on tow and we knew we had plenty of time to complete this. I was hurting, but knew I was going to be fine for the final ride. We picked up CP40 on the return trip and arrived with nearly 40 minutes to spare in 3rd.
Overview
Despite the heat this was an incredible race, it had just the right amount of navigation challenge. It also had one of the most spectacular paddles I have done, Alexander to Get Out Creek to the St. Johns - it was simply one of those paddles you would never get to do, unless you were in an adventure race. If you have questions as to how we approached any leg of the race - post a comment I will answer.
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 1 Bike (about 1 hours)
After a short prolog we started with a bike ride to the Alexander Springs TA. There was one checkpoint along the way - which was pretty straightforward (if not well hidden) since the clue told us where to look (Forest Road 77-4.0. The route took us north along Forest Road 77. About 2 miles of the road were very sandy, but the rest of the route was pretty easy riding.
Leg 2 - Paddle
The second leg was CP2-CP6, a nice paddle up and back on Alexander Springs. This had a few navigation challenges, mostly posed by CP3 which required following a vegetation boundary on foot. The other CP's were visible from the water and it was a simple matter of following our location on the river. We helped a few other teams as we worked on this section.
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 3 - Orienteering
After biking to the Mud Pond TA we were given an orienteering map for the next section (CP7-CP13). This was the equivalent of a orienteering blue course, and this type of orienteering is my specialty. It still took nearly 3 hours and in the heat of the day (in a heat wave of 95 degrees) left us nearly spent. We were pretty motivated as we hit the bikes to start the next leg as we had passed a few teams in the orienteering and were now running in 3rd place (behind Odyssey and Green Paw).
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 5 - Mountain Bike
This leg was essentially the Ocala Paisley Mountain bike loop. I had already measured the distances between the CP's and with the odometer it was pretty easy to go from CP to CP. As we approached the cross over trail the team was hurting from the heat. I decided to cross and get CP19 which would allow us to use the main forest road for most of the return trip. We headed south to CP16, CP17, and CP18. At CP18 we headed out to SR42 and then took Paisley Road up to the power lines. It was getting dark now, we dropped the bikes at Paisley Road and trekked to CP20 and back. This may not have been the fastest, but riding on the easy road gave us a chance to recover some. We finished this leg, headed to Mud Pond TA where we refilled our water and headed back to the Alexander Springs TA.
Look closely - the bike route is on the map
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 5 - Paddle
We were expecting a long challenging paddle and we got it. It was dark (we entered the water around 10 PM) and there were lots of gator eyes staring back at us. Since we had 2 team-mates that were hurting we decided to put all 4 of us in a single canoe rather than push it with 2 boats. It was a pretty eventful paddle, we had alligators the entire way, fish kept jumping into our boat (including one catfish which was pretty strange). Most of the fish never cleared edge of the boat and ended up flopping back into the water, but the few that made it gave us a lot of fun. The entrance to Get Out Creek was pretty tricky - but the creek was pretty awesome paddling. Once we reached the St. Johns River it was pretty straightforward up until CP28, we missed the turn into the small channel and had to attack it from the south where we entered Highland Park Run. We did find the channel from the Highland Park Run side, and it was completely covered in thick weeds (which we bashed through) and had more alligators than I have ever seen - nearly all of them small. We finished the paddle around 4:30 and were back out on the long trek back ot the Alexander Springs TA by 5 AM.
View Sunshine AR in a larger map
Leg 6 - Trek
This was a long trek (easily 10 miles), but it was cool and we were pretty much recovered from the heat of the previous day, in fact Wanda was actually cold. We were tired and as it turned out we punched the wrong CP on the trek (punching a Sport Course CP that was located very close to the Elite CP). It was already hot when we got back to the Alexander TA and got back on our bikes. This time we had to do the same bike loop as before - but only half of it (we turned back at the half-way cutoff). We were hurting pretty bad from heat as we got to the Mud Pond TA.
Leg 7 - Orienteering
As we received the O-Map we were told it was about a 2 1/2 hour course. I figured we could do it in 1 hour if we did not have heat and fatigue issues, but we also had to be concerned with a long ride back to the start/finish from the TA. We decided to do 3 of the 4 CP's which turned out OK and have us plenty of time to return to the S/F. We new we had a pretty strong lock on 3rd place as long as we did not "blow up" the team in the heat. The 3 CP's were pretty easy, but we were having heat issues and we got on the bikes to head back.
Leg 8 - Bike
Jim put Wanda on tow and we knew we had plenty of time to complete this. I was hurting, but knew I was going to be fine for the final ride. We picked up CP40 on the return trip and arrived with nearly 40 minutes to spare in 3rd.
Overview
Despite the heat this was an incredible race, it had just the right amount of navigation challenge. It also had one of the most spectacular paddles I have done, Alexander to Get Out Creek to the St. Johns - it was simply one of those paddles you would never get to do, unless you were in an adventure race. If you have questions as to how we approached any leg of the race - post a comment I will answer.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Pangea AR - Myakka Mud Slide
Here is a full voice narration for the Team Florida Xtreme (actually Florida Xtreme 2 racing as Florida Xtreme). This is an animation of our course - you can see the entire course from a birds eye view. The race started at the picnic area at Myakka State Park (for those who know the park) - this is the elite (not the sport) course. We finished 1st place in 4 hrs 45 minutes.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Missing River AR
I did not do the Missing River this weekend - but Manny and Nature Calls did and as always he did a great write-up, see the entire thing with maps at
http://windermereroadies.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9323
http://windermereroadies.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9323
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Nocatee Challenge 2011
I was racing with Team Florida XTreme 2 - it had been a really hectic and busy week an I was eager to spend some time in the woods. We started off on bike towards the Boat TA (with 4 controls along the way). When we hit CP1 - the map showed the trail extending south about 50 meters and turning west towards another N-S trail. All the elite teams (I think) headed this way disregarding the ribbons heading west from the control. This put us on a south and west bushwack and did a great job of breaking up the pack as we were all pushing carrying our bikes through some thick terrain. It also used up a lot of energy. The other 3 controls were straightforward and we quickly got them - one strategy is we hit CP4 on bike, while other teams paddled to it - this turned out to be about the same amount of time.
Our team used to be weak in paddling - but Jim and Wands had been working on it - and we moved fast on the water, overtaking a few teams. We skipped by CP15 and CP16 as the tide was low and we could hit those on the way back at a higher tide. One massive yacht decided that we weren't worth slowing down for - and the subsequent waves were enough to make us go to shore and empty the water from our boat. After CP15 we paddled south around to the entrance of the creek leading to the Guana TA - some teams did decide to portage straight across (see video).
Once on foot we headed straight for CP6, then ran into FL Xtreme 1 as they headed to CP10. We split here - and I made one nav error as we came out on the trail north of CP10 and I had the team turn left (we should have turned right). After a few minutes I realized the mistake - bummer. CP 10 and CP11 were pretty easy and from CP11 we headed straight across to the berm north of CP12. This was also pretty easy going, but my now I was realizing my body was extremely fatigued (more than usual for this point in the race). I chalked it up to a hard week and the heat. We plugged on slowly and easily picking up CP13 and CP14. The trek took us 1:33, mostly slowed by my slow progress - FL Xtreme 1 raced through the same section in 1:06.
Green Paw hit the water just in front of us, we headed back out to the Intercoastal, this time short-cutting a bit with the help of the higher tide. We went north to the big island north of CP15 and saw the sport control that was just north of our CP15. We saw either FL Xtreme 1 or Primal Instinct heading towards CP16 on this section. We had to pull the boat and head to CP15 on foot, during one creek crossing Wanda lost her footing, she grabbed me for stability, but I was shin deep in mud and we both went down in the mud (me face first). She may be little, but she can tackle.
CP16 was an easy find, and we headed to the boat TA. On the way back to the main TA we had a lot of sport teams heading towards us. Knowing Jeff (course setter) would not have put all the sport teams through the bikewhack we did - I knew their had to be a trail across that we had missed when we headed for the boats. Sure enough we found the cross trail that we had missed earlier marked with ribbons - it was even rideable.
Back at the TA is was straight out on foot. It was now hot - this was an easy navigation section and we flew through it at a fast run-walk. Even though I had all good intentions of running, my body had other ideas, but I knew if we kept moving strong we still had a chance.
We changed our strategy on the bike. We knew we did not have enough time to get all the CP's se we decided to go the opposite direction getting CP30 first. Fl Xtreme 1 went the clockwise direction, Primal Instinct in front of us, and Green Paw (behind us at this point) also went counter clockwise. The idea was to get CP30 and the location of CP31 (which was at CP30) and go 2 for 1 on controls. This would have worked - we got CP30, and CP29 moving slowly but well. Then it all fell apart. All three teams going this direction took the direct route to CP28 - this turned out to be a horrible bikewhack - and by the time we realized how bad it was we were committed. Chest high fallen trees had to be crossed about every 5-10 yards. It was hot - and there is no cheating on picking up a bike, putting it across the tree, and then crossing. This was chewing up energy and time very fast.
I could tell Primal had gone this way seeing their tracks and the broken branches they had left. About halfway though this 1 KM bikewhack Green Paw passed us. By this time I was nauseous and fighting heat exhaustion. Wanda was in bad shape too. About 10 more minutes of this I puked out the contents of my stomach - and was amzed by the quantity of fluids I threw up (so was my team), I had drunk a lot, but my stomach was not absorbing it quickly enough. Even though I felt a little stronger with the nausea gone and some clouds cooled the temperature off helping also. Jim was a rock though this entire section, towing Wanda and also keeping an eye on me.
We decided to bail at this point, Wanda was having to stop and I was running on fumes and was at real risk with no fluids in my stomach and no ability to keep anything down. We headed west and then north on the long haul out. Once we hit pavement we felt better and went ahead and snagged CP31, which was CP19 from the foot section. Since we had a good 40 minutes and it was all pavement we also snagged CP21.
This was enough to put us in 4th place (which should keep us at the top of the point series - though we will be close with Green Paw). FL Xtreme 1 took first having an awesome race with everything falling into place nicely. Green Paw overcame a few setbacks and used an amazingly physical race to take second. Primal Instinct raced both smart and fast - never letting us get close enough to strike, and were rewarded with 3rd place.
Here is a map of the course, if anyone wants to see strategies for a particular leg simply comment or mail me - I'll be happy to explain.
View Nocatee Challenge Adventure Race in a larger map
Our team used to be weak in paddling - but Jim and Wands had been working on it - and we moved fast on the water, overtaking a few teams. We skipped by CP15 and CP16 as the tide was low and we could hit those on the way back at a higher tide. One massive yacht decided that we weren't worth slowing down for - and the subsequent waves were enough to make us go to shore and empty the water from our boat. After CP15 we paddled south around to the entrance of the creek leading to the Guana TA - some teams did decide to portage straight across (see video).
Once on foot we headed straight for CP6, then ran into FL Xtreme 1 as they headed to CP10. We split here - and I made one nav error as we came out on the trail north of CP10 and I had the team turn left (we should have turned right). After a few minutes I realized the mistake - bummer. CP 10 and CP11 were pretty easy and from CP11 we headed straight across to the berm north of CP12. This was also pretty easy going, but my now I was realizing my body was extremely fatigued (more than usual for this point in the race). I chalked it up to a hard week and the heat. We plugged on slowly and easily picking up CP13 and CP14. The trek took us 1:33, mostly slowed by my slow progress - FL Xtreme 1 raced through the same section in 1:06.
Green Paw hit the water just in front of us, we headed back out to the Intercoastal, this time short-cutting a bit with the help of the higher tide. We went north to the big island north of CP15 and saw the sport control that was just north of our CP15. We saw either FL Xtreme 1 or Primal Instinct heading towards CP16 on this section. We had to pull the boat and head to CP15 on foot, during one creek crossing Wanda lost her footing, she grabbed me for stability, but I was shin deep in mud and we both went down in the mud (me face first). She may be little, but she can tackle.
CP16 was an easy find, and we headed to the boat TA. On the way back to the main TA we had a lot of sport teams heading towards us. Knowing Jeff (course setter) would not have put all the sport teams through the bikewhack we did - I knew their had to be a trail across that we had missed when we headed for the boats. Sure enough we found the cross trail that we had missed earlier marked with ribbons - it was even rideable.
Back at the TA is was straight out on foot. It was now hot - this was an easy navigation section and we flew through it at a fast run-walk. Even though I had all good intentions of running, my body had other ideas, but I knew if we kept moving strong we still had a chance.
We changed our strategy on the bike. We knew we did not have enough time to get all the CP's se we decided to go the opposite direction getting CP30 first. Fl Xtreme 1 went the clockwise direction, Primal Instinct in front of us, and Green Paw (behind us at this point) also went counter clockwise. The idea was to get CP30 and the location of CP31 (which was at CP30) and go 2 for 1 on controls. This would have worked - we got CP30, and CP29 moving slowly but well. Then it all fell apart. All three teams going this direction took the direct route to CP28 - this turned out to be a horrible bikewhack - and by the time we realized how bad it was we were committed. Chest high fallen trees had to be crossed about every 5-10 yards. It was hot - and there is no cheating on picking up a bike, putting it across the tree, and then crossing. This was chewing up energy and time very fast.
I could tell Primal had gone this way seeing their tracks and the broken branches they had left. About halfway though this 1 KM bikewhack Green Paw passed us. By this time I was nauseous and fighting heat exhaustion. Wanda was in bad shape too. About 10 more minutes of this I puked out the contents of my stomach - and was amzed by the quantity of fluids I threw up (so was my team), I had drunk a lot, but my stomach was not absorbing it quickly enough. Even though I felt a little stronger with the nausea gone and some clouds cooled the temperature off helping also. Jim was a rock though this entire section, towing Wanda and also keeping an eye on me.
We decided to bail at this point, Wanda was having to stop and I was running on fumes and was at real risk with no fluids in my stomach and no ability to keep anything down. We headed west and then north on the long haul out. Once we hit pavement we felt better and went ahead and snagged CP31, which was CP19 from the foot section. Since we had a good 40 minutes and it was all pavement we also snagged CP21.
This was enough to put us in 4th place (which should keep us at the top of the point series - though we will be close with Green Paw). FL Xtreme 1 took first having an awesome race with everything falling into place nicely. Green Paw overcame a few setbacks and used an amazingly physical race to take second. Primal Instinct raced both smart and fast - never letting us get close enough to strike, and were rewarded with 3rd place.
Here is a map of the course, if anyone wants to see strategies for a particular leg simply comment or mail me - I'll be happy to explain.
View Nocatee Challenge Adventure Race in a larger map
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Wekiva Orienteering
I had to try this - here is an animated GPS track of the Red Course Orienteering from Wekiva this last weekend. Pretty cool to see this. The little slowdown you see at each flag is me untying the flag and then also tying it up correctly to be able to carry with my pack. Little note - I decided to try and find the little "alley" between CP 7 and CP 8 rather than the easy and obvious trail route, it is cool how it picks up those turns on the animation.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Solar Power Forum
We just recently hosted a Solar Power Forum here at Daytona State (I worked on hosting). The question I get A LOT is why is Solar power not taking off as fast in Florida as it is in other states - well here is one answer as to why Florida is lagging behind "non-sunshine" states;
1. A Solar PPA (or Power Purchasing Agreement) is an agreement where a company places a solar system on your property and then you pay (at a reduced rate) for the power it produces. The company maintains, insures, and monitors the system - and pays for the installation up-front. This model has become very popular in many states.
Bottom line for consumer - pay nothing, enter long term lease for purchasing reduced rate power from PPA provider. This reduces your overall power bill - so you end up paying less for power (here is a good easy to read paper on it) http://www.solarpowerpartners.com/PDFs/Is%20a%20Solar%20PPA%20Right%20for%20you.pdf
2. Florida faces some challenges with PPA - Florida does not allow third party ownership PPA model and it is the only state where this is not even in debate. A court ruling from 1981 ruled that if a provider sold power to a single (defined as one) buyer - they would be considered a public utility (and all that this means). In 2007 the Florida Energy Commission recommended changing the statute to the governor, the recommendation was never taken up in the legislature. (http://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/843/MP_kwk5_a_.20090;jsessionid=32EDE11200E39248219052EC724AE9CA?sequence=1 )
3. The point that the group was making - was that until PPA becomes a viable option in Florida, we will not see widespread adoption of solar power within the state of Florida. They encouraged everyone to contact their elected officials to "move" on this issue.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
BOAR Adventure Race
After running the 8 K through the marshes of the St. John's - I guess running is a strong word since much of it was slogging through mud that sucked you in to the tops of your ankles - we were the second team to reach the boats. We had taken some good shortcuts that allowed us to get ahead of faster teams. The first team, Oscar and company was heading the wrong way on the river, we really needed to portage 1/4 mile back the way we came to Lake Cone and get in their.
Manny was just behind us with about 5-6 more teams close on their heels. I saw a small cut-through portage that would gain us a little bit of ground and get us out of the water too shallow to paddle. The first 3 steps into the water were solid and then the ground just dropped off completely. I was in a muck hole up to my neck. Luckily Jim was able to hop in the boat before he too got sucked in. I held on to the boat to stay above water and told them to paddle and toss me the rope we had been using to portage. The muck was bubbling up in front of me as I tried to move forward. A little to our left Manny was in the same predicament. I told Jim and Wanda to paddle hard and I would tow behind the boat trying to get my legs onto a plane with the water instead of straight down. A couple of minutes of that and I was now horizontal in the water (instead of vertical) and crawling across the black gook and water. Another 2 minutes and the ground was solid enough for me to pull myself into the boat and we were paddling. By this time the 5-6 teams that were behind us were now 5-6 teams in front of us.
And so goes adventure racing. We made some really good navigation choices on teh next 3 controls and another strategic portage (leaving CP9) that put us back in the lead for a few minutes.
This is how the day would go for this race. I think that at least 8 teams led this race at some point during the race. We had a tight group of strong teams with no one team able to pull ahead for much longer. In the end - it was Utility Mutants who would use their strong biking to get ahead of the pack. Nature Calls was on their heels for second place, and we pulled in third (FL Xtreme II) - with three more teams right on our wheels. We battled the marsh - had an incredible paddle, biked through some incredible headwinds. The navigation was relatively easy making for a tight race field and a tight finish. A beautiful day, an incredible area, - all made for an outstanding experience. Thanks to Manny for a course map (shown) and Pangea for a well set race - results are here http://www.pangeaadventureracing.com/event-details/events/2011-boar-ar
Manny was just behind us with about 5-6 more teams close on their heels. I saw a small cut-through portage that would gain us a little bit of ground and get us out of the water too shallow to paddle. The first 3 steps into the water were solid and then the ground just dropped off completely. I was in a muck hole up to my neck. Luckily Jim was able to hop in the boat before he too got sucked in. I held on to the boat to stay above water and told them to paddle and toss me the rope we had been using to portage. The muck was bubbling up in front of me as I tried to move forward. A little to our left Manny was in the same predicament. I told Jim and Wanda to paddle hard and I would tow behind the boat trying to get my legs onto a plane with the water instead of straight down. A couple of minutes of that and I was now horizontal in the water (instead of vertical) and crawling across the black gook and water. Another 2 minutes and the ground was solid enough for me to pull myself into the boat and we were paddling. By this time the 5-6 teams that were behind us were now 5-6 teams in front of us.
And so goes adventure racing. We made some really good navigation choices on teh next 3 controls and another strategic portage (leaving CP9) that put us back in the lead for a few minutes.
This is how the day would go for this race. I think that at least 8 teams led this race at some point during the race. We had a tight group of strong teams with no one team able to pull ahead for much longer. In the end - it was Utility Mutants who would use their strong biking to get ahead of the pack. Nature Calls was on their heels for second place, and we pulled in third (FL Xtreme II) - with three more teams right on our wheels. We battled the marsh - had an incredible paddle, biked through some incredible headwinds. The navigation was relatively easy making for a tight race field and a tight finish. A beautiful day, an incredible area, - all made for an outstanding experience. Thanks to Manny for a course map (shown) and Pangea for a well set race - results are here http://www.pangeaadventureracing.com/event-details/events/2011-boar-ar
Monday, February 21, 2011
Adventure Race conquered in just two hours - Central Florida Future
Adventure Race conquered in just two hours - Central Florida Future
Team Pangea Racing with Greg Owens and Nikki Carlson.
Here is the article on the UCF Adventure Race. There were 20 CP's placed around the UCF campus and 3 challenges. The challenges were the ropes course, Paddle and Puzzle, and an Orienteering/Compass course. The compass course was the only one to give us trouble, you had 2 use compass bearings and pacing to get through a maze of small flags - picking up letters at each flag you landed on and then unscrambling them to make a word (K E T C J A were our letters). The flags were really close together meaning a small bearing error would take you to the wrong flag. It took us 3 tries to finally land the successful word.
We blasted through all the other challenges (morse code decipher, balance puzzle, riddles, math problems, blindfold maze, complete the lyrics) quickly and had a nice fast time. For an example here is the paddle puzzle - O T T F F S S E _ - fill in the missing letter.
UCF provides a great venue and it was pretty cool to see a lot of younger racers get enthused about adventure racing.
Team Pangea Racing with Greg Owens and Nikki Carlson.
Here is the article on the UCF Adventure Race. There were 20 CP's placed around the UCF campus and 3 challenges. The challenges were the ropes course, Paddle and Puzzle, and an Orienteering/Compass course. The compass course was the only one to give us trouble, you had 2 use compass bearings and pacing to get through a maze of small flags - picking up letters at each flag you landed on and then unscrambling them to make a word (K E T C J A were our letters). The flags were really close together meaning a small bearing error would take you to the wrong flag. It took us 3 tries to finally land the successful word.
We blasted through all the other challenges (morse code decipher, balance puzzle, riddles, math problems, blindfold maze, complete the lyrics) quickly and had a nice fast time. For an example here is the paddle puzzle - O T T F F S S E _ - fill in the missing letter.
UCF provides a great venue and it was pretty cool to see a lot of younger racers get enthused about adventure racing.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Treasure Coast AR 2011
Well the first (for me) of the season was a blast! This year I am racing with Florida XTreme 2 as part of the Pangea series (and preparing for some big races including the Idaho 7 day). Jim and Wanda are great team-mates - fast and fun. The TCAR started at South River Outfitters (http://www.southriveroutfitters.com/) in Stuart FL.
It was a cold morning - but it was projected to warm up nicely (mid 60's). A short run was followed by a paddle. We were first into the water (even though we were 4th coming into the boats). We had a decent paddle - though a lack of a middle seat really meant Wanda was not able to contribute to much to the effort. A big strategic move was hopping out of the boat at CP8 and running to CP12 and back to the boats. That move probable saved us 10 minutes in the race, though did slow down our paddle a little. We were still 7th coming out of the water in a really tight race. Eco-choice had come out of the water 20 minutes earlier (they are a really fast paddling team).
The next leg was the trek and we moved into a quick run making quick work of the next few CP's working with FL Xtreme 1. Also here Jim and Wanda's local knowledge of the park helped. We got to the paddle board section with a few other teams and sent Wands (the only one who had used one before) out on the short paddle board loop. Jim got to the do the short swim (it was cold) to pick up one CP on an island. As we hit the TA - we saw Super Frogs heading south on bikes - they had already picked up the one CP north of the TA. FL Xtreme 1 and 2 headed north to CP16 (an out and back loop).
We simply flew through this bike leg. The navigation was relatively straightforward and Jim and Wanda's local knowledge allowed us to choose some pretty optimal routes avoiding bad trails. We caught up wit Super Frogs 3 controls from the finish line and we knew it would be a head to head sprint to the finish line. At the next to last CP we were able to get about a 20 secod jump on them by spotting an open gap joining the trail we were riding on and the trail that the control was on. We dropped the bikes as i shouted out commands - drop the bikes! straight in and left! Back out! I appreciate my team putting up with me. I could tell Wanda was hurting (at least until she looked behind and saw Super Frogs right on our tail), but it was not a long sprint. Tem feet from the finish Wanda clips another bike in the TA and goes over her handle bars. I hop off my bike and grab her as we run to the finish. 3 hrs, 48 minutes, 18 seconds.
Sine we had plenty of time - we grabbed the map and passport and headed out to do the Sport course that had started about an hour earlier. That was fun too, I got to try out the paddle boarding (so did Jim) as we did that course. We also got to have a little extra paddle challenge. On the sport paddle we passed a 2PF team (Real Deal Double D) - both cute girls struggling a bit on the paddle. We tossed a tow rope on their boat and towed them most of the way through the paddle - which is really more challenging than it looks and it looked challenging.
The new Pangea site is really cool and has all the splits! http://pangea.ph3.us/event-details/events/2011-treasure-coast-ar
I think Meg took some pictures ( I did not bring my camera - doh!) they'd be at http://www.megrobertsgalleries.com/Adventure-Racing There are some pictures up on the facebook site. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1434195394828&id=1831247678#!/pangeaadventureracing
Big thanks to Mark Roberts - great course design.
It was a cold morning - but it was projected to warm up nicely (mid 60's). A short run was followed by a paddle. We were first into the water (even though we were 4th coming into the boats). We had a decent paddle - though a lack of a middle seat really meant Wanda was not able to contribute to much to the effort. A big strategic move was hopping out of the boat at CP8 and running to CP12 and back to the boats. That move probable saved us 10 minutes in the race, though did slow down our paddle a little. We were still 7th coming out of the water in a really tight race. Eco-choice had come out of the water 20 minutes earlier (they are a really fast paddling team).
The next leg was the trek and we moved into a quick run making quick work of the next few CP's working with FL Xtreme 1. Also here Jim and Wanda's local knowledge of the park helped. We got to the paddle board section with a few other teams and sent Wands (the only one who had used one before) out on the short paddle board loop. Jim got to the do the short swim (it was cold) to pick up one CP on an island. As we hit the TA - we saw Super Frogs heading south on bikes - they had already picked up the one CP north of the TA. FL Xtreme 1 and 2 headed north to CP16 (an out and back loop).
We simply flew through this bike leg. The navigation was relatively straightforward and Jim and Wanda's local knowledge allowed us to choose some pretty optimal routes avoiding bad trails. We caught up wit Super Frogs 3 controls from the finish line and we knew it would be a head to head sprint to the finish line. At the next to last CP we were able to get about a 20 secod jump on them by spotting an open gap joining the trail we were riding on and the trail that the control was on. We dropped the bikes as i shouted out commands - drop the bikes! straight in and left! Back out! I appreciate my team putting up with me. I could tell Wanda was hurting (at least until she looked behind and saw Super Frogs right on our tail), but it was not a long sprint. Tem feet from the finish Wanda clips another bike in the TA and goes over her handle bars. I hop off my bike and grab her as we run to the finish. 3 hrs, 48 minutes, 18 seconds.
Sine we had plenty of time - we grabbed the map and passport and headed out to do the Sport course that had started about an hour earlier. That was fun too, I got to try out the paddle boarding (so did Jim) as we did that course. We also got to have a little extra paddle challenge. On the sport paddle we passed a 2PF team (Real Deal Double D) - both cute girls struggling a bit on the paddle. We tossed a tow rope on their boat and towed them most of the way through the paddle - which is really more challenging than it looks and it looked challenging.
The new Pangea site is really cool and has all the splits! http://pangea.ph3.us/event-details/events/2011-treasure-coast-ar
I think Meg took some pictures ( I did not bring my camera - doh!) they'd be at http://www.megrobertsgalleries.com/Adventure-Racing There are some pictures up on the facebook site. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1434195394828&id=1831247678#!/pangeaadventureracing
Big thanks to Mark Roberts - great course design.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Resolution Adventure Race
A video would be worth more than a thousand words. Here is a recap of the race. The elite race started at 8 AM with a quick run and 5 checkpoints taking teams to the water and a beautiful morning paddle. The 5th checkpoint was the most challenging and some teams had to take multiple attacks to successfully find it in the open woods. The paddle also proved to have some navigation challenges (keeping a few teams out there for hours) - but the top teams moved through it in under 2 hours also completing the paddle challenge (a marked paddle course).
The elite teams then ran back to the main TA picking up 6 more checkpoints along the route.
After completing the run-paddle-run the elite teams were out on the challenging bike course. Even though this was a short bike by elite course standards, it also had a spiderweb network of trails and very challenging navigation.
Meanwhile the sport teams were gathering for a long pre-race in preparation for the sport course. The teams would split into two groups, one doing a bike-paddle-bike, the other doing a bike-run-bike. Teams would complete one section and then return to the main TA for the passport to do the other leg.
In the end it was a beautiful day for racing and plenty of teams cleared both courses. Results are at the Pangea Web Site - http://www.pangeaadventureracing.com/ The next race is the Treasure Coast Adventure Race - I should the race from the perspective of a racer as I'll be out there with Jim and Wanda, team Florida XTreme.
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