Race Report from the 2016 Adventure Racing World Championships

Here is Jason's race report:

AR World Champs- Shoalhaven, Australia with Nathalie Long, James Galipeau and navigator Todd Nowack. As a Canadian living in Australia he would be a perfect addition for this race.

After a week of screwing around with gear and bins I was happy to get them turning in just before the maps distribution. To limit any influence from Google maps we would get maps while locked in a conference room 3 hours before transferring to the start. We quickly outlined our route on the 2 sets of (38) A4 maps for the race.

The race would start with a Lemans start to the kayak in Jervis Bay with James and Nat in the SCR ski and Todd and I in the sit-on-top kayak. After clearing the initial mayhem we settled in around 25th place. Todd and I were not as fast as the surfski so we set up the tow which worked well as we paddled east towards the distant points. Approaching each of these points was tricky as there were waves breaking on shoals all around them.

We swapped paddling positions after each of the first 4 points trying to find a set-up with equal boat speeds between the two boats but none of them seemed to work well. We seemed to fade a little towards the end and were happy to get to the take out when we did. We were joined by a few surfacing dolphins just as we got there.

Going into this race we knew quick transitions were going to be important so additional focus would be required. It paid off early as we passed Tecnu in transition here.

This trek had a little of everything- Sandy beaches, coasteering and powerline running with awesome views as we traveled to the second paddle leg.

Somewhere along the way I managed to knock my head pretty hard on a low hanging branch as I jumped up on a ledge and momentarily saw a few early stars.

With another fast TA we were off on another relatively short leg as dusk settled in. We finally found a paddler combination which seemed to work well with James and I in the 3 person sit-on-top drafting off Nat and Todd in the surfski.

Next up would be some tough jeep trail riding with steep climbs and long, fast descents over never-ending water bars which were a lot of fun. We spent most of the night riding with Tecnu and caught a glimpse of Bones at the Pointer Gap Lookout.

The 'highlight' of the ride was the mandatory flagged hike-a-bike down from Florence Head which required multiple sketchy climbs and descents carrying our bikes. Despite the tough terrain we made solid progress and avoided the back-ups those deeper in the field would see here.

The second trek was the first real section of the race. We continued south along the coast and had our first swim of the event through a tidal pool. James, Nat and I decided to strip down and put everything in a dry bag for the crossing. Todd thought he could make it and just carried his shoes. Halfway across he realized his mistake and decided he could just throw his shoes to keep them dry. He skipped the first one across. The second one made it cleanly but the socks stuffed in it ejected part way across and I had to jump back in to save them from becoming shark food.

While we were goofing around we could see Tecnu and RADY'S chasing us down in the distance.

Just prior to heading west for the inland controls we stopped to tape some toes and then ran into Legendary Randy and a bunch of kangaroos.

CP17 was our first mistake of the race. We decided to attack it from the road instead of trying to find the jeep trail which went closer to the point. As we descended down a reentrant expecting to find a stream intersection we saw RADY'S in a reentrant heading the direction we expected the point to be in.

With the distraction we failed to keep track of our position on the map and talked ourselves into wandering around looking for it. Eventually cooler heads prevailed and we decided to re-attack from the jeep trail to the north. Once relocated we walked straight to the point. Looking at the GPS track it appears we just didn't walk up the second reentrant far enough.

We arrived at the Clyde River paddle with about 2 hours of flood tide to paddle up river with so we wasted no time getting onto the water despite that fact that we were starting to need some sleep.

We had the Czech team just in front of us and tried to chase them down but sleepmonsters were an issue and we lost focus. We hooked up the tow which helped to keep everyone awake and eventually we made it to the takeout. We changed, built the bikes and then headed off to the tents in the TA for an hour of sleep.

We knew this next leg was going to be tough given it had over 5000' of climbing according to the logistics map. We realized this very quickly as within the first 10k we had two significant bike pushes uphill. Not long after that the rain started and the temps dropped. Compounding this was a missed turn which forced a 3k backtrack. The rain wasn't bad on the long climbs but it made the long descents very cold and I was happy to have rain pants in the bag to put on.

The rain eventually stopped just before sunrise and the heat of the day started to dry out our clothing as we approached the TA. With the next trekking section heading out on the same road we were riding in on we passed Merrell and Columbia as they were heading out just minutes ahead of us.

This next trek was going to be a tough one with a lot of climbing early in the sun. In theory it was just following the trail through the Budawang Range and for the first 15k that was the case as we went up and through the pass below the Castle. There was multiple stream crossings to re-fill water which made the heat a little easier to deal with through the Monolith valley.

It was pretty amazing that I could be so cold just a few hours before in the rain and then wishing for clouds to hide the sun as we climbed up in the heat.

We spent most of the morning and afternoon changing places back and forth with the Czech team. once through the pass the trail become much tougher to follow and it took both Todd and I following along on our maps to stay on the route as we summited Mt. Tarin, Mt. Haighton and Sturgiss Mountain.

Around dusk we made our second mistake. We had just punched CP29 on a small hill. We dropped off the NE side of it by mistake instead of the NW. We hit a creek which we were expecting but there was no trail running along side of it. It took us about 90 minutes to figure out our mistake and correct it.

The remainder of the trek was in a valley and the trail and terrain improved as we went. Unfortunately our feet were starting to feel the distance and by the time we made it into the TA Nat, Todd and I were suffering with each step.

We were (over)due for some sleep when we arrived at the TA. We changed, built our bikes and then took another hour of sleep. For some reason the TA tents had not made it to the TA but it wasn't raining and my bivy sack was sufficiently warm.

We awoke just as the sun came up and set out on the next leg which would be a road bike ride to the caving. We traveled along well and made it to the next TA quicker than expected despite the headwind.

When we arrived at the Caving TA the only thing we could do was change into trekking shoes. We would have 5 hours off the clock to punch controls in 5 of 6 caves. Our hope was that we could get all 5 punched and then bank some sleep off the clock. Unfortunately we made a slight mistake going to one of the caves and the rest of the caving was slower than anticipated and we used all 5 hours to complete the stage.

The caves we went into were legit! I thought it would be a somewhat contrived event but each one had difficult and unique features to get through.

The most time-consuming cave had a feature called the Flattener which was about 15m long, 10m wide and just tall enough for one person to squeeze through on their stomach using your toes and fingertips to propel you though. Not a good place for someone with a fear of tight spaces.

Once back to the TA we packed up the bikes and loaded up the packs for the next packrafting leg.

In my mind the next three legs were going to be the toughest of the race.

We left the TA loaded down with the packrafts, paddles, pfd's and our bivy sacks knowing that we would not be able to paddle on the river given the dark zone for paddling at 8pm. Before we could paddle we had to punch CP36 on a slot canyon which led to the Shoalhaven River where the packrafting would occur. We made the decision to drop our non-mandatory gear, hike down to CP36 and punch, hike back up and then take the land route to the put-in. Our thinking was that the slot canyon could be a significant time suck if there was a lot of climbing required with our heavy packs.

When we finally hit the river we saw a few teams camped waiting for the paddle dark zone to lift and river left looked good for some trekking. We were able to cover around 8k before stopping for some sleep.

When we woke we continued along river left for a few more kms until we were cliffed out. We stripped down and swam across to the other side but then were able to continue to trek on river right until the 5am dark zone lift passing Sweco along the way as they slept.

Once we put on the rapids were pretty fun but shallow and we scrapped bottom quite a few times. Near the end Todd and I broached a rock and flipped in which was kind of comical. Sighting in the am looking straight into the rising sun was so difficult. Unfortunately we hung up on another rock and put a hole in the floor of the Gnu which we were able to fix with some Leukotape.

The flat portion of the paddle towards the end went pretty fast given the huge tailwind we were getting and we paddled into the dam TA in the morning sun.

We felt pretty good heading into the TA and just needed to grab more food and h2o.

We portaged down around the dam to the put in and set off with sunny skies. Unfortunately that didn't last too long and soon after we were in a few nasty downpours getting completely soaked. The rapids were marked on the map but it became tough to distinguish which rapids were worthy of mapping and which were not. Fortunately we did portage around the two rapids which presented some unsafe conditions.

At one point we had decided that we had made it past the mandatory portage rapid 50 and had also passed the next CP. After a paddle up river to where we thought it was we discovered (with the help of Merrell) that we were still up river of rapid 50 and needed to continue further down river.

Once past rapid 50 it was obvious that we were now out of the rapids as the water suddenly stopped flowing and our progress slowed. Temperatures continued to drop as we paddled on the river and the sun set. We made slow progress from here on as some struggled with sleep dep. and being cold. I ended up taking the map from Todd as he was very sleepy/low on calories. I was concerned that he wasn't able to pay enough attention and we might end up heading the wrong way.

As we approached the take-out in town the skies opened up again just as we were about to get off the river which made for a very cold exit. Fortunately there was a boathouse with showers at the TA and Nathalie was able to warm up along with the help of a dehydrated meal.

The original plan was to get an hour of sleep but as we were getting into dry clothes the rain stopped so we built our bikes and prepared to head out.

The last bike leg had about the same amount of climbing as the 2nd leg but over twice the distance and the hope was that it would be much more rideable and it proved to be so. Unfortunately we were all struggling with sleepiness so within the first 20k we decided to lay down for a 45 minute sleep which helped a ton and was just enough to get us to the finish.

It was a very cold night but we kept making forward progress and eventually daylight came and with it much warmer temps. There was definitely an eagerness to get to the finish driving the team.

As we approached the final TA we made a slight nav mistake which allowed 2 teams to pass us. When we arrived at the TA there was 3 teams there and Eastwind had just left.

Not exactly the finish we wanted but we certainly weren't going to waste the opportunity to pass some teams. We made our way out onto the beach and could see four teams ahead of us. We ran hard and were quick through the two swims and Todd made some great route choices. We passed all of the teams but Eastwind who despite our efforts still seemed to have a 1k lead on us.

As we approached the last CP we saw Eastwind's cameraman and he asked us if we had seen his team. We couldn't believe we had passed them along the way but didn't stick around to wonder how. 

We continued to run all the way to the finish expecting to see them come around each corner ahead of us but it wasn't to be and we finished a few minutes ahead of them in 21st place.

Race Summary:

Thursday - 12:31pm - Kayak 5:14:00 35.0 km   

Thursday - 5:45pm - Trek 2:03:00 14.0 km  

Thursday – 7:48pm - Kayak 1:44:00 13.0 km

Thursday – 9:32pm - Mtn Bike 9:09:00 95.0 km

 Friday – 6:41am - Trek 9:23:00 38.0 km  

Friday – 4:04pm - Kayak 6:24:00 37.0 km

Friday – 10:28pm – Mtn Bike 9:17:00 + 1 hour sleep  58.0 km   

Saturday – 8:45am - Trek 19:30:00 35.0 km

Sunday – 4:15am - Mtn Bike 5:48:00 + 1 hour sleep  70.0 km

Sunday – 10:02am - Trek (Caving) 5:00:00 5.0 km  

Sunday – 3:02pm - Trek & Packrafting 18:20:00 + 2 hours sleep  48.0 km

Monday – 11:22am - Kayak 11:44:00 56.0 km  

Monday – 11:06pm - Mtn Bike 11:16:00 + 45 min sleep 99.0 km  

Tuesday – 11:27pm - Trek 2:33:00  18.0 km

Tuesday - 2:00pm - Finish

Total: 121 hours 29 minutes (5 nights)
Sleep: 4 hours 45 minutes

Team Canada AR's Race Report From Wilderness Traverse

After a very chaotic summer, our team decided at the last minute to sign up for the Wilderness Traverse 24 hour adventure race in Parry Sound, Ontario. This race never disappoints and always draws a strong field, so we were excited to have the chance to race it again this year. After some scrambling to find a team mate, we (Jason, Nat, and James) finally managed to coax Ryan VanGorder to join us for the race. 

Stunning scenery on the paddle

We knew ahead of time that the race would feature 4 legs – paddle, bike, trek, and bike – with a swim on the trek section. But the rest was a mystery until we got the maps on Friday night. The paddle had what looked like two major options: 1. The Northern route, which looked shorter but had more portaging, and 2. The Southern route, which looked longer but with less portaging. The first bike was short and relatively straightforward. The trek looked like it would certainly be the crux of the race, with few big features on the map, and tons of water everywhere. The final bike looked like what we have come to expect in this region – a mix of roads and trails that would likely be more challenging than they appear on the map. 

After an early morning bus ride to the start line, we snatched up two decent looking canoes and got ourselves ready for the race start. The start in canoes was the usual chaos – boats going in all directions, crazy waves everywhere, and the challenge of keeping contact with your team mates in the other canoe. Nathalie and James were paired up in one canoe, with Jason and Ryan doing the navigation from the other boat. After some jostling on the water, the cluster of teams began to thin out. We were up amongst the leaders when we pulled in to a bay briefly to see if it was our turnoff for the Southern route – it wasn’t. We lost some ground to the lead teams and paddled hard to get ourselves back into the mix. We had decided to take the Southern route, feeling that our paddling was stronger than our portaging versus the strong teams in the race. But it was a tough call to make and difficult to know which way would be faster. It looked as though about half the teams went on the southern route while the other half went north.  As it turned out, the Northern route, despite having more portaging, was about 10 to 20 minutes faster (based on teams were paddling with before the split in routes). We managed to get off the paddle tied for 5^th place in just over 5 ½ hours. 

Our paddle track (in red) on the Southern route vs. the Northern route (in blue)

 After a quick transition to the bike, we headed out for a quick hammer session in 5^th place. We posted a fast time on this section lasting just about 1 ½ hours and maintained our 5^th place overall. After another speedy transition, we set out in 4^th place for what we knew would be a long and challenging section of the race. We moved well through the bush, following our bearing and trying to match any features we could to the map. Everything seemed to be going well, until we came across a set of train tracks. While this was helpful in the sense of being a feature that we could easily find on the map (although we wouldn’t be sure where we were on the tracks), it was not at all where we expected to be. This was confirmed by the navigator staring into his map, slowly moving his eyes further away from the intended target, and finally finding the train tracks on the map – followed by a less-than-enthusiastic “oh sh*t…”. What had started as a b-line through the bush to try and catch the leaders quickly became an exercise in navigating to find another big feature so we could confirm where we were – not an easy thing to do in this area! 

Taking the scenic route (in red) to the first trekking CP!

 After finally re-orienting ourselves and getting back on track, we eventually made it to the first trekking CP, only to find out that we had lost about 1 ½ hours to the lead teams. We refocused and pushed on the get the rest of the trekking CPs as quickly as possible. At many points in the trek we were faced with the decision to swim across a long narrow channel of water (usually about 50m – 100m wide) or to contour around (sometimes 500m or more). Earlier in the evening we chose the swim option, but as it got dark we opted most of the time for the contouring. However, this did not preclude us from multiple romps through the muddy, swampy areas that seemed to be everywhere. We finally finished the trek about 3 ½ hours behind the leaders and in 9^th place.

Getting close to the finish line!

The final transition was slower than the previous two, as we were wet, cold, and somewhat disappointed to be so far behind the leaders. But we pushed on to the final section of the race knowing we were strong on the bike and were hopeful that we could gain back some of the ground we lost in the trek. The bike ride was challenging and quite cold at times overnight - particularly when we were on the open road or wading through swamps. But we rode well and managed to make up some ground for the most part. Unfortunately we struggled to find one particular trailhead that we thought was in a gravel pit, but turned out to be just before the gravel pit. However, we were still able to cross the finish line in 5^th place in the co-ed division and 7^th place overall.

While this was certainly not our best race, even a bad day on an adventure race course is still a good day J. We had some real highlights and some great challenges as well during the race and unfortunately this time we came out on the wrong end of some difficult navigation. But we still had a great time and worked well together. It was an unexpected and welcome opportunity for us to get in one more race before the adventure racing world championships in early November. It was great to race with Ryan and hopefully we will get another chance down the line to race with him again. But for now, it’s time to turn our sights to the few final weeks of training for the world championships!

What a great spot for a checkpoint!

James' 2016 Cowboy Tough Race Re-Cap - Racing With Team Adventure Medical Kits

[This is James’ personal recount of his race with Team Adventure Medical Kits at the 2016 Cameco Cowboy Tough Adventure Race. For a full 3-video recap of Team AMK’s race, please see the Team Adventure Medical Kits Facebook page].

About a year before the 2016 Cowboy Tough Adventure Race, I had approached Kyle Peter, the captain of Team Adventure Medical Kits (AMK), about the possibility of racing with their team. Having been an adventure racer for over 12 years, I have slowly honed my AR skills and worked my way up to racing with stronger and faster teams. Feeling as though I am getting into my best AR racing years, I wanted to see if there was an opportunity for me to test and push the limits of my skillset by racing with the top North American team (and also one of the best AR teams in the world). When Kyle approached me about racing the 2016 Cowboy Tough AR, I was game.

My preparation for this race was anything but usual. There were a number of mitigating circumstances (as I think there are for just about every adventure racer) that made things challenging in the final moth leading up to the race: Work commitments that took me out of the country for a few weeks and limited my capacity to train, an illness in the family that shifted the remaining free weekends into road trips to help care for the family member, and trying to recover properly from my first 120km ultra a little over a month before Cowboy Tough. But considering these and other circumstances, I went into the race feeling strong and ready for the challenges that lay ahead.

Oh, and this was the first time in the 3+ years since my girlfriend (and regular teammate) Nathalie and I started dating that we would be racing head-to-head in an adventure race ;-)

ARRIVAL IN CASPER

I was the first on my team to arrive in Casper, Wyoming for the race. I was greeted at the airport by Ted – the father of our “host” family. I’ve never been “hosted” for a race before, and this turned out to be an amazing experience for my team and I. Ted and his family were incredible hosts and went far above and beyond simple hospitality. They became instant fans of AR and of our team – going as far as making posters and meeting us out at various points on the course to cheer us on.

Pre-race organization was, as usual, nearly as challenging as parts of the race. It’s such an exhausting mental exercise to think through the entire race and make sure that you have the right amount of food, clothing, batteries, lights, equipment, and personal items you need for every section of the race – and then to make sure they all end up in the right gear bin (since you will not see them all in every transition area). THEN try to organize these things in the absolute most efficient and minimalistic way possible so that as little time as possible time is wasted in transitions! I knew that racing with AMK was going to be a step up in speed and efficiency for me, so I wanted to make extra sure that I was dialled in and wouldn’t  lag behind in the TAs.

RACE DAY

I woke up at around 4am on race morning feeling a little short on sleep (not surprising or unusual), but excited to get to racing. Finally it was time to put all the preparation to the test. We knew our team would have some stiff competition for this race – no less than 6 teams had a legitimate shot at a podium finish – and because the race was relatively short by expedition racing standards (winning team expected to finish in under 3 days), we also knew that we would have to race it more like a sprint than an expedition race.

One of my favourite moments in adventure racing is the few minutes just before race start. The nervous tension, contrasted with the excitement and anticipation, make for such an incredible feeling; you can’t wait to take on the challenge ahead, knowing full-well (and ever-so-slightly dreading) the amount of physical effort and sheer willpower that will be required to achieve both personal and team goals.

THE RACE IS ON!

I was very happy that the race started with a 7 mile controlled (escorted) lead-out on the bike. This gave me a chance to get my legs warmed up and to just ease into race mode (as opposed to the usual hammer-dropping at the start of most races, no matter how long they are). We started near the middle of the pack and slowly worked our way up near the front before we were set free and the racing started. 

 

We finished the first 50km bike with I believe 4 or 5 other teams all in the lead pack. Our transition was the quickest and put us on the water first – only to take what turned out to be a slower channel right near the start that allowed a couple teams to get ahead of us. The paddling turned out to be quite a challenge for our team; we couldn’t quite keep pace with the leaders (although we weren’t losing major time) no matter what we tried. We attempted to tow early on, but didn’t find much success mainly due to the currents and occasional rapids that made it difficult to keep the boats in-line. I actually ended up paddling in the bow and stern of each of our two boats at one point or another in the paddling sections as we tried to find the best configuration.  it’s extremely hard to get in proper nutrition and hydration when you are in the “chase” boat – the minute you stop for 1 or 2 strokes, you are too far behind to catch back up. 

Mid-way through the paddle, I knew we would be getting out of the boats soon for a short trekking section, so I decided to push hard to try and minimize the gap between us and the lead teams. I suffered quite a bit on the ensuing trek, as it was mainly climbing and running (so again not much time to take in food or water), but was luckily able to recover on the next paddle when I swapped into the faster boat. The next 1/2 hour was probably the most I’ve ever eaten or drank in a 30-minute period on a paddle in a race! It felt good to feel the energy slowly return to my body…

My first low point in the race came from pushing a little too hard in one section to try and stay in the draft of our other boat. As Kyle aptly pointed out at one point in the paddle:

Our next bike was a nighttime singletrack ride. This was a highlight of the race for me, as it’s rare that we get nice singletrack riding in an adventure race, I don’t often get the chance to ride singletrack at night (but I really enjoy it), and all 4 of us were quite strong technical riders. So it was a fun, fast ride for the most part (with the occasional bike pushing sections) and a nice way to break up the long paddling sections. 

After a little bit of time for a sleep due to a dark zone just before the dawn of Day 2, we hit the water with 3 other teams for an early morning re-start on the paddle. This was an uneventful paddle on a beautiful morning… that is, until Garrett and I managed to send ourselves for a little swim on the only really threatening rapid of the race. Technically we made it through the rapid, but we had taken on so much water that we eventually did the “slow roll” into the water. As we floated down the river, Garrett and I were slightly comforted by the sight of other teams ahead of us salvaging their own overturned boats. Nevertheless, it took a fair bit of time and energy to get ourselves to shore – we were however very lucky that when we overturned, everything in our boat got “vacuum-sealed” under the boat and stayed with us until we could flip the boat back over on the shoreline. As luck would have it, the next section of the river consisted mainly of high canyon walls that blocked out the morning sun – and any heat that it could have provided us. So we shivered away for a while until we could finally take advantage of the day’s increasing heat. 

Once off the paddle, we hopped on the bikes for about 70 kilometres of riding, mainly gravel and paved roads. Early on we worked with the Swedish Armed Forces team to try to catch up with Tecnu (who were in the lead), but eventually we pulled away from them and proceeded on our own. I was struggling a little during this bike section. I just felt like my energy output was more than it should be, just to keep pace with my teammates. Something didn’t feel right, but I was unable to identify it at the time. My nutrition and hydration felt fine and my output was steady, but I just felt like I was working harder than I should be. I pushed on, trying to be cautious of not red-lining, while at the same time making sure I wasn’t slowing the team down.

Our first “real” trek of the race was next – a section that started out with a nice clear trail which eventually disappeared and then seemingly randomly (and momentarily) reappeared - but always on the opposite side of a stream that we were following. Needless to say, we did a lot of stream-hopping – which turned out to be my worst discipline of the race! I think I slipped off rocks and stumbled into the stream more times than I successfully crossed it – A great way to make wet feet an issue in a desert-like region!

THE CRUX

Next up could be described as the “crux” of the race – in general for its difficulty for all teams in the middle of the race, but particularly for its role as a turning point in our team’s race. This climb up to Laramie Peak - the highest point of the racecourse (above 10,000 feet) – and back, started out with Tecnu in the lead, about 25 minutes ahead of us. The section was also billed as a “King of the Mountain” section with the team boasting the fastest time from the TA to the summit and back to the TA winning the KOM title and $250. It became apparent to me very early on in this section that our team felt it was time for us to make a move. We held a pretty steady pace on the roads leading up to the trailhead. I then mistakenly assumed that since we would be steadily climbing from the start of the trail to the peak, that we would not likely be doing much running from that point on… Boy was I wrong! Not only did we run anything that was relatively flat, but I found out later that Garrett was encouraging Kyle at the front to run a few extra strides every time the trail dictated that it was time to start walking again. 

Mentally I had to work to get re-focused to push a little harder than anticipated to get to the peak, but I managed to hang on. I was expecting that as we got closer to the top we would see Tecnu on their way back down from the peak and this would give us an idea of the time gap. But about 2/3 of the way up, we spotted them ahead of us on the trail, also on their way up. As you can imagine, this gave me (and the entire team) a much needed boost of energy. After catching and chatting with Tecnu for a little bit, we pushed on to the peak while they gave chase and held on. Both teams arrived at the summit together – a great feeling to reach the top of such a tough and fast climb, and to have caught the lead team! 

We quickly started back down the mountain, trying to get as close to the end of the trail as possible before we would run out of daylight. My renewed energy and enjoyment of technical downhill running made this section quite fun, albeit still quite challenging. There were plenty of loose rocks to make things dicey at high speed.   As it turned out, we were able to put another 15 minutes on Tecnu on the way down the mountain.  

The ensuing bike leg into the night was another low point for me. I was still finding myself working a little too hard for my liking just to keep up. The nighttime riding on long straight-ish roads also caused me to lose focus a bit and revert to a pattern of falling off the pace for a bit and then catching back up, which I think was concerning my team mates a bit. Mari asked me a few times if I was alright, which I took as a polite hint that I needed to get re-focused and get my butt back into the formation or ask for help ;-). Also, I was developing some lower back pain that would force me to try and stretch often as I rode along, again causing me to slow down and then catch back up. I think we were all (as a team) a little unfocused on this section and we didn’t move as efficiently on this ride as we could have. But this isn’t unusual for the second night of an expedition race with little sleep…

After the bike we started into another trek section. As we expected to arrive at the ropes before the dark zone would be lifted (at 5:20am), we opted to do this looped section of checkpoints in a way that would have us ending at the ropes (as these CPs could be gotten in any order). We struggled for about 30 minutes longer than we should have on one CP early in this section which was really our only navigational bobble in the race. But we made some smart decisions in difficult terrain and Kyle quickly got us back on track. We arrived at the ropes about 40 minutes before they were to open, allowing us to get a little more sleep off the clock… You know you are on a team that means business when your captain goes to sleep wearing his harness so that he can be on the ropes less than 5 minutes after being woken up! Once we’d all ascended and rappelled down the ropes, we completed the trek and hopped back on the bikes.

Shortly after staring this bike section, I FINALLY figured out why I had been feeling like I was working so hard (on top of the fact that my teammates are very fast!)… my seat was a fair bit lower than it should be. I felt like a bit of an idiot for not having figured out the problem much earlier in the race, but once I fixed it, I felt SOOOOO much better and stronger… It’s amazing how much difference a few millimetres can make on a bike! While this bike section (and the next) were by no means easy, I felt so much better as my output matched that of my teammates much more closely. This renewed my energy levels for the next relatively short trek in a large, wide-open area strewn with tons of small brush to trip us up. 

We were able to move quite well in this terrain and it felt good to be keeping a solid pace later in the race. Back on the bike again for more long gravel road riding and headwind-fighting, we were beginning to feel the heat of the day catching up to us. We didn’t quite calculate our water needs correctly on this bike section and it caused us to suffer a little on the way up to Muddy Mountain.  But we finally made it and shifted our focus to the last orienteering section of the race. Kyle made quick work of the navigation on this section and we continued to move at a good pace as our thoughts started shifting to getting ourselves across the finish line. The final ride down Muddy Mountain was a little sketchy with plenty of loose gravel, and the ride up and over Casper Mountain was full of anticipation. 

As we headed up Casper Mountain, we were very surprised to see Tecnu coming toward us down the hill. Confusion gave way to empathy as we figured out that they had climbed the wrong mountain first (likely due to a race map that originally had the last TA plotted on Casper Mountain, but for which teams were notified in the briefing of the change). Knowing how hard all the teams (including ourselves) are pushing in any adventure race, it’s easy to imagine (or remember!) the frustration that comes with making a big navigation error and the extra effort that’s needed to correct it – particularly when it involves going up and down two mountains…

THE FINISH

The ride down from Casper Mountain and into the city was generally relaxed. It was nice to not have to race all the way to the finish line and even better to be finishing in daylight! We crossed the line just before 8pm (a little over 2.5 days of racing) and congratulated each other for a great effort on a tough race course against some strong teams. All in all I think we raced a clean, efficient, and fast race. I was not at the top of my game at certain points in the race, but I felt like I did the right things to get myself back on track when needed, and I knew I had the help and support of my teammates available at all times if I needed it. It was a real pleasure to race with such a dialed-in team that does all the little things to be the best they can be. What impressed me most is the attitude and actions of each team member to establish the team as a single unit at all times. There was this constant vigilance within the team about staying close and connected, and doing things together as much as possible. Having studied sport psychology/team dynamics and having been a part of many sports teams over the years, it was great to see the difference this makes both from a performance and personal/psychological standpoint.  

 I felt like I was able to fit in well with the team’s mix of passion, dedication and abilities, along with their calm-but-driven attitude. At the same time, I learned some great lessons about how to be a more efficient and effective racer. I have come away with a clearer picture of what it takes to race at the highest level in AR and I am even more determined to keep getting stronger and smarter in my racing. Without revealing any secrets ;-), I hope to bring back some of this wisdom to my teammates on Team Canada AR when we race at the 2016 AR World Championships in Australia in November.