The days seem shorter as Raid the North Extreme is rapidly approaching. About all the training hours have been banked, it is now time for banking sleep and final packing. The team is hoping that you take a moment each day to check our progress and give us a shout out. The long days and nights will start to run together, it will give us a needed boost as we transition from one discipline to another to know that our friends are out there, willing to give us a virtual pat on the back for what we have accomplished and kick in the butt to keep us moving down the trail.
Team Midwest Mountaineering Training in CO
You may be asking.... What is Raid the North Extreme? Here is a link to the event website. Read as much or as little as you would like. We are going up against some of the best teams in the world. Our goal.... to complete the event, have fun, maybe learn a little about ourselves and each other.
One item we are really excited about! British Columbia's West Kootenay! The are will have spectacular vistas, some of the best mountain biking in the world, epic paddling opportunities, and plenty of opportunity to suffer.
The teams will be equipped with SPOT tracking. This will enable you to follow our progress and see where we are with respect to other teams. It is unclear at this point where you will be able to do this, but I recommend visiting Checkpoint Tracker and the Raid the North Extreme sites. One of them will have a link to the tracking page.
October signaled the end of the Adventure Race Season for Midwest Mountaineering and we went out in style at the CheckPoint Tracker National Adventure Race Championships in Moab, Utah, aka The Moon. Paula Waite and Pete Wentzel made the trip to Moab with super recruits Cathy Diamond and Nick Rogne. We were really happy to have two experienced adventure racers join us as we battled wind, diesel fuel spray and icy mountain passes to reach the race start. The trip was relatively uneventful as we bonded as a team and ate some good food on the journey. We arrived in Moab a full 30+ hours in advance to stretch our legs, scout the area, and finalize race prep. What a great race location; rugged, beautiful and surreal.
TMMAR with Ian Adamson
One benefit to our early arrival was that we were fully packed and prepared and able to attend the presentation by Ian Adamson, Seven time World Adventure Race Champion and three time endurance Including current) record holder for the most distance in 24 hours in a kayak.
The race, attended by all the top teams in the nation, started at 8 AM on a cool, crisp, sunny day on 29 October. The first discipline would cover all the water activities for the race; riverboarding and kayaking. The start tunnel was a comical site with over 150 racers in bike helmets, flippers, wetsuits, all with riverboard in tow. The countdown ended and we all "flipper ran" to the dock for the plop in to the water. The team assembled and all jumped at once. Pete started kicking to catch his "large flippered" teammates and noticed an issue right away, his flipper straps had fallen off. He fumbled getting them back over his heals, turned, and the teammates were gone. A few more kicks and a strap broke. This is going to be a long two miles. The team negotiated the rapids and had a lot of fun in this section that ended way too quickly. Pete managed to keep his flippers on by curling his toes and kicking constantly, which pushed the flippers further on his feet. However, when he stood, the flipper came off and was lost in the mud. $45 worth of AR gear gone... love this sport.
The team transitioned to paddle, Paula and Nick putting down a pace that Cathy and Pete had a hard time maintaining. Both boats managed the rapids without tipping, pretty good for mid-westerners with infrequent exposure to the trickier situations brought on by the moving water. As the rapids passed, we settled in for the long 25 mile paddle. The rapids sections were behind us, the uncomfortable seating and long effort were muted by the incredible scenery. Paula and Nick got a few breaks as they waited for Pete and Cathy and the entire team took the opportunity to fuel for the long day in front of them.
Corona Arch
The team reached the end of the paddle, stripped off the water gear and prepared for the first trek section. Pete plotted the 7 controls as Paula read the coordinates and we set off for Poison Spider Mesa. The team was debating whether there was enough time to get all the controls before the mandatory stop at the tyrolean traverse when they walked through the corona Arch and to the Via Ferrata that took them to the top of the Mesa. All that changed when they saw the Queue at the via ferrata. The team ended up waiting nearly an hour at this section and quickly surmised that controls 5 and 6 were probably not within reach. The maps provided were pretty sketchy and it would take a full on team effort to make sense of them. The terrain was surreal, the maps were crap, and the footing was iffy, but all the teams had to deal with these items. Reaching the top of the mesa, we headed north west toward control #4, an easy start to get our bearings, or so we thought.
TMMAR Route on Poison Spider Mesa
The rules stated that we had to stay on the rock or trails, but the rock was at a 45 degree slope, and there weren't any trails. 15 minutes later we are at a standstill as Cathy plays spiderwoman with 2nd thoughts about her chosen profession. She wasn't going up, down, or sideways without help. Nick took it upon himself to help, but quickly realized that the only support he could give was morale. He talked Cathy down and we decide on more conservative, less direct routes. The trek was a combination of undulating smooth rock and big slabs piled up on top of each other like remnants from an earthquake. This team wouldn't be going anywhere at a running pace. A fast trek was the order for the day. In the end, the team was a bit disappointed in this section. With three good orienteers, the first two controls were located, but the team came upon them with other teams leaving, not quite a follow, but not a find. Control #8 was not to be located. The organizers placed the control within 50 meters of the map edge, frustrating as half the map was left empty (cut off in the pic). With little to go by on the maps, no control descriptions, and nothing to reorient from (off the map) the team wasted 30 minutes walking around, not realizing they had wandered off the map. We abandoned in order to get to the Tyrolean before the cut off and recognized our catching feature from across the valley, too late to go and get the control we had searched so long to locate.
Reaching the Tyrolean, we queued up for another 40 minute wait. Teams were taking a long time to cross, and even though there were three routes, this bottleneck took time. Teams were starting to abandon hope of crossing as we made our way across. This was one skill the team was familiar with and we quickly made our way to the other side of the 350' wide valley with the floor 200' below. The team quickly headed further to the southwest and checked in at the rappel, 14 minutes before the cutoff. Phew. Following the instructions, we removed our shoes and socks and got ready to cross a waist deep pool of cool water to the rappel site. We were next in line when the clock struck 6:30 and we were told the site was closed.... but we were here in time... no, the rules state you have to be on the rope... no they don't... In the end, we made sure the log showed we were there in time, that we had punched well prior to the 6:30 cut off, and we headed backwards, up the valley in search of a way out, in the dark. The alternate way out was a 20 minute detour that eventually linked up with the exit from the rappel and we enjoyed the fun scrambling route off of the Mesa. Hard to believe we spent over two hours waiting or having to backtrack on a section that lasted 5 hours.
Back at the TA, the team donned their cycling gear, stowed their totes and headed off on the bike to the top of the mesa directly east of Moab. It was good to be moving and have a sustainable pace. We quickly settled in to a pace line and started passing teams, not knowing whether they had more or less controls than our team. It was a nice night out, not too cold, not too hot, clear, so we were able to see the stars. As we got to the edge of the Mesa, we started the steep, 400' climb. Put it in low gear and spin. Another team or two were passed in this section. We didn't know if there would be a queue at the end of the climb, but better to get there first.
We pulled in to the Slickrock TA and got our map and CP information. We are given the option of biking, trekking, or both. We quickly decided to try and bike as much as possible. It is the famous Slickrock trail.... We plot the points and plan on doing them in reverse order 21 down to 15. 21 and 20 are on the beginner loop, so we will be able to get familiar with the terrain while we bike this moonscape at night. Three of us are sporting AYUP Lights, so the night is almost day anyway. We head out, looking for turns in the trail and estimating distance. We come to the first point where we feel we need to dismount, drop our bikes and take the short jaunt to the control. Lights everywhere but near the control. We found it easy and trotted back to the bikes.
TMMAR's route on SlickRock
On the way to CP21, Pete found out what the white lines are for... to follow. The tendency is to follow your teammate, but when your teammate takes a turn, you end up cutting the corner. Pete hit a ledge at the bottom of a hill and went straight over the bars on to his head. Lucky it and his helmet are hard... Ten minutes later and Nick cuts a corner, a corner around a big pit in the rock with steep sides and a large pool of water. A skid, a slide, and a few chuckles and we all focus on the white lines instead of our teammates. CP20 came as easy as 21 and we are setting out again.
The cliff at CP 17
Things got a little confusing here. We went from an area of only singletrack, to single track and jeep trails. We figured the jeep trails would be easily identifiable, so we counted turns and jogs and tried to estimate distance. All of a sudden we are at Shrimp Rock, almost all the way to 17. What to do? The decision was made to pick up CP17, then return for 18 and 19. We measured carefully, but we didn't see the intersection where the path split on the way to 17... this is confusing. Luckily, the sharp turn past 17 was recognizable. We used it to confirm that we were in the correct spot. A quick backtrack and CP17 was found. Again, there were a lot of teams milling about, some on the south side of the trail? On the way to 17, we chose to go north then follow the depressions. Going past the easterly depression, Nick and Pete topped a knoll and were met with a black wall... The lights would not penetrate the blackness. Two more steps and you get a quick trip down 450'.
We took the now familiar route back to CP18, found the intersection and had a "Eureka" moment. Single track is dashes, jeep/alternate routes are dots... They are more spread out than the dashes, but locate-able. CP 18 was an easy find and we are off to drop our bikes at the next intersection. We dropped at the prominent intersection in our route, and set off on foot for 19. A longer trek, so we changed shoes for this one. The route was either widely spaced dots, or sand, so dropping the bikes was probably a good decision. We reached the area and went south west from the trail, not realizing that the trail map on our satellite photo was offset from the actual trail. We spent 25 minutes locating this control. An quick hike back to our bikes and we set out on the alternate/jeep path towards CP14.
Well, we found out why this is an alternate path. Rock so steep you have to rest your butt on your back tire on the downhills and have to zigzag your bike (on foot) up the uphills, if you can keep track of the dots. This was slow go, our mistake on the initial route which caused us to back track from 17 was taking it's toll. After a lot of effort, we see stripes and confused teams, proof that we are at the western intersection. A small bobble (wrong trail), and the team reorients and hits CP14. By comparison, the ride to CP 15 was easy, as was finding the control. We wanted to take the alternate route back, but couldn't find it and rode the single track back in to the start point.
The cutoff for the bike/trek was 7 AM and we roll in at 5:30. It is a little cooler now, and we are all a little hungry. Hard to eat when you are holding on for dear life. But, we only have one control left!!! Hard to go up from here right? Apparently not. We set off to the east on a long climb... A 34 mile slog that involves 4000 feet of climb and a fun 4500 foot descent to the finish. Tuck the maps in and ride... right? Not true... there were two turns that were pretty crucial to making it back efficiently. The first was easy to find, the second, where you turn on to the Kokopelli trail, was a little tougher to find, miss it and you start down with nowhere to go but back up. We debated the 2nd, could we make it to the final CP on an alternate route? In the end, we chose correctly and beat some other teams back by 30 minutes. Teams that were riding by us on the hill to the peak. Along the way we saw teams sitting in the middle of the road eating, a team sleeping, and a whole lot of incoherent nonsense. The super-elite teams don't get to see the babbling gaggle at the back. I think they are missing out. The peak was awesome, and so was the ride to the finish where we ate a little too much and went down for a nap.
I think that the experience of this event, in this terrain, made the trip worthwhile. There has been a lot of debate about the format, opaque rules, etc., but if you step back and just ask if you had fun, it is pretty easy to smile about the event. Frustrating... all good events are. Hard... I would feel cheated if it wasn't. A lot of AR is about teamwork and bonding, this race provided plenty of opportunity to build that bank up. Thanks CP Tracker, see you next year. Hopefully, a little closer to the top of the finisher list. :-)
Jason Perreria, Wild Adventure Race Owner and Adventure Race enthusiast, ran across Midwest Mountaineering at the summit, 8419' above sea level, about an hour from the finish at the Checkpoint Tracker AR Championships. Thanks for the great picture Jason.
It has been too long since we created a new race report... too much time racing and not enough time blogging. We need to keep up with these items or we will forget how much fun we had with the Fat Otter 72 hour Raid, Planet Adventure 36 hour Old School AR, or Paula's first race as the Director of 180 Adventure's Stubborn Mule. Wow, that is a lot of racing. So, let's start it up again with the Thunder Rolls 24 Hour Adventure.
We raced down in Illinois at Thunder Rolls two years ago and had a great time. We put this race on the "to do" list early in the year. After all, we were all out of Boetje's Mustard. A free jar per member makes the trip down to this event worth the hours and dollars. It doesn't hurt that the race is top quality with a lot of twists. One not so fond memory of the race two years ago was the pack rafting. We had three racers in a raft built for two, meaning a small adult and a child... Rafts were on the gear list again. Surely it would be easier if we only have two people in the raft. A new entry on the gear list... walkie talkies. How are they going to be incorporated???
Paula, ready to unveil the magic bike!
Wow, this race is big. 38 teams representing some of the best the midwest has to put forward. A team is even present from Georgia. 38 teams.... wow. Our biggest race since the USARA National Champs in 2008.
Clark and Pete met Paula at the parking lot. The place was filling up fast, but the buzz was all about Paula's sweet new ride. No, she didn't get a new car. I still have to stare at the awful dent I put in it when I dropped a canoe on the front fender. Nope, Paula had a new rocket, a 2009 Trek Elite 9.9. I think the 9.9 must represent the weight of the bike. Pure sweetness. How are Clark and Pete going to keep up?
The race meeting over, we plot our control points (CP's) and formulate a plan for the race. Order of events:
Pete and Paula plot CP
Run
Portage
Canoe
Bike
Radi-O
Bike
Pack Raft
Orienteer
Ropes
Orienteer
Pizza!!!
Following a stirring National Anthem, we counted down to the midnight start and took off on a run with PFD's and paddles at the ready. Two miles later, we enter the parking lot where the boats are stored and start our assessment. Seats present and working (check), handles present and attached (check), no body damage (check), and we set off on the one mile portage. Paula with the map and paddles, Pete and Clark with the nice heavy canoe. Paula isn't the biggest fan of running. She is even more adamant that races aren't won in the first five minutes. She has been subjected too our jack rabbit starts in the past. So, out of the 38 teams in the 24 hour event, we were about 25 back coming in to the canoe selection. As other teams fumbled, we left the staging area passing about 15 teams with no plan. Paula may not run much, but she can march fast enough to make you jog. Into the woods we go with Paula shouting "on your left" and Pete and Clark straining to keep the canoe from ripping their arms off as they struggle to keep up. As we reached the 2nd control, we had picked off another five teams, but they weren't far back. We readied our gear, and headed straight through the woods to the water. Open river in front of us. A firefly family gathering of headlamps to our right.
Sometimes, getting to the race with an intact team is half the battle. At least you see it that way from a "before the race" perspective. The 2010 Adventure-O, hosted by the Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC) seemed to be one of those races. Coordinating training, getting crushed by rain when you do get a chance to train, and personnel swaps add to the excitement. From an "after the race" perspective, that was all trivial.
MNOC puts on excellent events. The group, composed of map geeks with a penchant for going deep in the woods, places a premium on navigation vs. outright physical prowess. They don't mind getting dirty, and certainly don't mind it when you get dirty. This years event was held at Savannah Portage State Park, near McGregor, MN. The course was set and vetted by two members with a lot of Adventure Race and Orienteering experience, Jerritt Johnston and Ian Harding. Special thanks to Pete Curtis for the photos he took and provided for our blog.
The TMMAR team was composed of Will Eddy, Clark Flowers, Suzanne Pfeifer, and Peter Wentzel. The format: short O-course, transition to bike for a medium length Bike-O, transition to kayak for four controls on big Sandy Lake, transition to bike for a longer Bike-O, and a final O section on foot. The race was given a 7.5 hour time limit. The weather was warmer than expected, highs in the mid 80's and a nice strong wind was expected to kick up.
We started out with a sprint for controls 1-4, right at 9:30 AM. Clark and Pete sharing the nav, with Will and Suzanne following close behind. Suzanne volunteered to be towed during the runs, admitting that running wasn't her strongest suit. PROPS to Suzanne. While the MNOC regulars sprinted the course with TMMAR practicing a fast follow, Suzanne volunteered to hook herself to a bungie cord while Will attempted to pull her over logs, rocks, stumps, holes and pits, so the team could get in front of traffic on the bike section. Not for the faint of heart. All went well until Will caught a root and twisted his ankle. This caused a minor change in pace, but we pressed on and finished the first O section, a little over a mile, in good position.
We transitioned well to bike and headed down the trail, looking for control 5 and 6. You knew it was going to be fun when there were already teams doing some head scratching as we left the first road and entered the XC trail system. Jerritt had warned us all, "Take it easy on the trails, especially the downhills, as there are a lot of hidden obstacles." So, we didn't bomb the first downhill, or the second, or the third, but that was getting a bit old.... We followed a group bobble (control confusion, map error, group think) and dismounted to find the first bike control in an area I thought was way too early. But, we did it non-the-less. Remounting and recalibrating, we cruised through a rutty section where Pete almost bit it, and secured the first bike control. We navigated the maze of trails, growing increasingly frustrated with having to dismount to cross trees and go slow through thick grass because, "you just don't know" what lies beneath. Pressing on, we witness a fellow racer find what lurked beneath. A quick stop to critique the triple flip (and ensure all his parts still worked) and we left with a new appreciation for "the junk below the weeds..."
We emerged from the woods, unscathed and did a quick road ride to the paddle put in. A quick transition and we are floating... and eating. Most of us had not been keeping up with our fuel and took a quick break to shove food in our mouth before pointing down course and trying to catch the five teams in front of us while seeking controls 7-10. Pete and Will in one boat, Clark and Suzanne in the other. Luckily, the forecast wind had not picked up yet and we followed a mild chop south to a sheltered bay where the controls were located. Pete, not being the smoothest motivator, responded to the other boats reminder that Will and he couldn't get too far in front, with a reminder to the other boat that they can't get too far behind. They didn't. You would have to go back nearly two years for TMMAR to have such a good paddle leg. We were setting a good pace coming off the first control when we ran into a bay full of grass. It looked to us that the whole bay was grass (we missed the channel) so we picked a thin spot, pointed in the right direction and let her rip. We looked like a cross between the Swedish Chef and the Tasmanian Devil tossing a salad. Grass, moss, fish, frogs, and unknown entities went flying in the air as we attempted to maintain pace through the obstacle. Coming out the far side, we saw that we made some serious time on the other teams. We hit the next control and did a U-turn, this time, it was more of a slap chop scenario. Equally effective. We passed a couple teams! Dig deep team. We quickly grabbed the last two controls and headed back to the transition point. The wind on the main lake had really picked up. Teams were struggling to get to the sheltered bay as we surfed the downwind waves back to dry land. We returned as the 2nd team to exit the water, passing 4 teams on the leg.
Off we go on the bike, in search of controls 11-16, catching up on food and arriving back at the XC trails with two other teams who pushed hard to catch us. Pete did a quick map swap and the other teams went ahead. Will put forth a huge effort int his next section. We tow when we run, we tow when we bike, and we tow when we paddle, only when necessary, but such is AR. Suzanne, an accomplished racer, came out of retirement for this event and admitted that she would need help on occasion. Towing is a team exercise. You rotate, you collaborate, you communicate and you get it done. Unless you forget to bring your towing equipment.... So the team had one tow rig, and will agreed to be the tow on the bicycle. Again, Suzanne gets props. Most people don't like to tow or be towed on anything but asphalt. Suzanne, held on through thick and thin.
We progressed down the trail, watching for key intersections and more obstacles. There were plenty of the later, and just enough of the former. The first half of this bike O saw plenty of logs, one tricky intersection, a crazy bridge, and a chest deep beaver lake that we carried our bikes across. Jerritt and Ian at their best. The second half made the race. Coming in to an intersection, it was clear that a lot of traffic went right, which was actually straight ahead. There was a hidden trail entrance that require a turn of approximately 135 degrees, which TMMAR took. A smile crossed our faces once we confirmed we were on the right path, some others were not.... Making the turn was half the battle. What followed was multiple dismounts, some voluntarily, others... not quite as graceful. Nobody got hurt, a few got laughed at, but the course was competed with TMMAR in 3rd place.
Final transition to the run went well. On to controls 17-24. We knew Orion was less than 10 minutes in front of us. A bobble on their part and maybe we could capture 2nd. We set off at a jog and found the first control with no issues. Getting in and out of the next control was problematic. Not from a navigation point of view, but the terrain between the controls was thick. A lot of trees down, then bog hopping, and then more trees. The flies were horrible. We got out of the thick stuff, grabbed the next control and moved east, deciding that trails may be a quicker route after all. We jumped on the continental divide trail (who knew?) and gained the next two controls in short order. A quick look at the watch showed we had to change strategy. Jogging the flats and downhills while walking the uphills was not going to get us back in time. Switch to jog the uphills and make your heart pound on everything else. Luckily, the controls and map were dead accurate and the next three controls came quickly. The last involving wading through a river...twice.... all of us. I am sure some other teams opted for a drier approach, but we didn't have the luxury of looking for that route. One final bushwhack through the woods and we are on the road home. A good pace to the finish led to a third place overall. The last team to sweep the course. Congrats to WEDALI and Orion for first in the 4 person and two person coed divisions. TMMAR took 2nd in the 4 person.
Good race, good times with the friends, new and old, from MNOC.
Clark called for a team training session for July 5th. 16 miles of road riding, followed by 8 miles of single track, followed by a run, then 16 miles of road riding back to the start. Of course, he called the training session in June, when the weather was an unknown. He also modified our route, since he knew that the river bottoms were nothing but sand. So, off we went at 10 AM this morning. Cloudy muggy weather. As we crossed the Minnesota River, we looked back at the river bottoms and commented that they might even be flooded. Looking ahead, we saw an elderly gentleman enter a puddle across the paved trail. The puddle seemed to go for quite a distance.... We ended up going through close to half a mile of water, some of it over the wheels, but with a gentle flow, some of it less deep, but moving quickly. All rideable and fun. There was a section that was over knee deep and too swift to ride, so we shouldered the bikes and waded through, holding each other for stability. On the far side we resumed a steady pace and finished our "road" ride to Murphy Hanrahan. Some fun single track and a sticky humid run later, we set out on our ride home to a nice clap of thunder. Three miles in and a steady rain was falling. Thirty seconds later and the sky was falling. We were all trying to negotiate traffic, spraying water, road grit, puddles, lakes, etc., but all we were thinking of was how to get back to the river bridge. Alternate routes??? 15-20 extra miles..... I think I hit a new high on my heart rate monitor on the first section. It had the fastest flowing water. The next section was the deepest, and still moved at a swift pace. After those sections of fun, the third was a cake walk, gentle water just below the top of the wheel. All are safe and sound and water logged back at Casa Flowers.
I found myself in a world of hurt/panic this past Sunday. I was prepping for the upcoming Planet Adventure Old School 36 hour event. Paddles on the bike, all the gear organized.... this race requires you to carry 100% of the discipline gear (minus the canoe and bike) for all 36 hours. A lot of weight. I wanted to check the air pressure in my shock. I go to attach my pump, and the fitting breaks off of the pump. Sunday night... can't do anything but fret and pump my neighbors for information on a speedy repair. "Call bike shops.... and I think there might be a guy behind Alt.." Monday, 9 AM and the local shops start opening, I make a few calls and are greeted with doubtful commits. The Alt opens at 10, and I get the name of "the man" in town for suspensions. I checkout the Shockspital website and place a request. "HELP" By the time I get Brian on the phone, he has hung up with the SRAM folks and the part is on its way. Three day turn around, no problem. Today, I get the bad news that my part didn't arrive... but Brian had a solution. He pulled an old part, made sure it was fully functional, and told me to come back post race for the real deal. Thank you much!
Paula and I will be assisting Team MAAR at this event. Follow us and give us a shout out of your own!
Team Midwest Mountaineering Adventure Racing traveled to Southern Indiana for the 2nd year in a row to participate in the Purdue Outing Club's Annual Adventure Race, POCAR. Held in the Hoosier National Forest, the same rugged terrain as the previous year, we knew we were in for a good, hard race. We were excited for our first event of 2010 and also to have our new Icebreaker clothing to keep us warm. Icebreaker makes the best, in my opinion, merino wool athletic wear on the market. The best looking also. With unpredictable weather, we were thrilled to be prepared for any condition.
For the purpose of this narrative, we have relabeled the control points, CP's, numerically in the order we visited them. Teams were given the option of visiting the controls on their current leg in any order. The controls were named, b-28, u4, etc. It seems easier for you to follow if we just label them numerically. We had some GPS data logger issue early in the event, which sorted itself out on the way to CP2. The random path around the start and CP1 doesn't depict our course, the rest is accurate though.
The competition starts with a portion of the teams gaining entry to the race HQ to begin plotting the control locations. Teams are assigned one of three start times and given 25 minutes to get their work done. Then it is off to the races. We decided to take a safe attack point to the first control CP1, getting our feet wet, and headed up the main road. We found our attack point and dove in to the woods. We came in to the spur a little too far west, subjecting us to a climb that wasn't necessary. So much for taking a safe attack point.
CP2 was in a location that we had difficulty with the prior year. An area with multiple reentrants, we jumped too soon and ended up too far east this time. Deja' vu? We hoped, because we got things on track after this area in 2009.
Mass starts to an adventure race always create a train of teams. Why search for a control when you can follow a team? Although we didn't exactly put on a stellar navigation display to the first two controls, we are an experienced team with some competence. We don't like to follow, because the team you are following is often more likely to get you lost than to the control you are looking for. This is especially true early on, before the lead teams distance themselves. As we meandered towards CP3, we picked up the pace, hoping to shed a few teams in the area.
Friends and followers, we will have a real blog post coming in the near future that details our POCAR experience. For now, I will leave you with some rough stats and a video, produced by the Purdue student newspaper, with TMMAR featured in two separate spots.
Stats:
MN 1-2 Finish (Good friends and fellow AR Junkies joined us at POCAR this year. Congrats to the Rainbow Unicorns!!)
Approximately 40 miles of trekking/orienteering
7500' of elevation gain
50 Teams
TMMAR earns the unofficial "Best Dressed" category for their new Icebreaker kit.
The mind numbing exercise that occurs on trainers and treadmills takes it’s toll on us all during the winter. It’s always great to pry yourself from the warm confines of your home to get back outside and enjoy Mother Nature. So Pete and I participated in the MNOC Score-O at Lake Elmo. Pete and I needed some time to work together as a team to prepare for POCAR.
It was a cold day with a temp of 10.0 °F at the start of the race. Pete and I both navigated the course together. We bounced ideas off each other very well thru out the race. We ran the whole course, most of the time thru shin deep snow.
Our nav was good for the whole course to hit each point. We could have made a few better route choices. For example early in the race we choose to take a short cut by running across a lake. It was a great choice. The wind had blown much of the snow off the lake making it a very easy run and saved a lot of energy and time. Later in the race we made the same choice to run across a lake but this time the lake was in a much deeper valley and so was the snow. The wind didn’t blow any snow off the lake. It was almost knee deep in spots. It cost us at least 5 minutes.
We came in with 8 minutes to spare. With the extra five (making 13 minutes) we might have been able to eek out another point. Shoulda woulda coulda. Can’t hang your hat on that! Pete and I came fourth with 20 points in 1:22. It felt great to get out and see some great vistas, exercise, and share good times with friends.
Team Fat Otter is putting on a Raid this spring and Team Midwest Mountaineering Adventure Race is going to attend. Forms are sent in, check is cut, just need to train and prep. What is a RAID? Good question. My research didn't reveal anything definitive, but my intuition tells me it is the international term for an expedition length adventure race. Although not used much here, it is pervasive enough that equipment manufacturers place the Raid word in some of their product names, such as the Salomon Raid Revo.
We visited Wisconsin for another event last summer, the Sweaty Otter, also put on by Fat Otter racing. This event is as close as an event this length has ever been to home, Black River Falls Wisconsin.
The details:
20-23 May, 2010
4 Person (Pete, Will, Chris and Paula W.)
Teams are allowed 2 totes for gear, all other items must be carried. No support crew is allowed.
We have always wanted to do a race longer than 24 hours. They are difficult just to get to the starting line. Logistics, team commits, expense and travel all create issues. Thank you Team Fat Otter, for putting on an expedition style race so close to home. We are pumped!
Team Midwest Mountaineering has been busy training in this harsh Minnesota winter. Cold weather and snow has made training difficult, but we have still managed some 3 hour outdoor runs, weight training, yoga, XC skiing and other cross training activities. Why? POCAR. The Purdue Outing Club has been organizing an Adventure Race for a number of years. They host a collegiate and an open division with team sizes between four and six members. Not wanting to go small on the only event they host, they go for multi-day, allowing 48 hours for teams to complete the course. Your prize, a patch for finishing. It doesn't seem like much, but not many earn the patch.
48 hours is enough time to see large temperature and weather swings. You have to be prepared for anything that can happen. Last year, the Midwest Mountaineering finished in twenty hours. Trekking up and down hills, for 40 miles, most of it in the dark. We can't plan on 20 hours this year. You don't know what the combination of course and weather will bring. Train for the worse case scenario. Pack for the worse case scenario. Mentally prep for the worse case scenario.
Last year was not without issues. Forty miles on frozen ground is hard on the feet. William went with borrowed shoes and still bemoans that decision. We opted not to carry trekking poles, but will probably carry them this year. Paula opted not to whine, even though the bottom of her feet earned her the right too. The right to whine, not to quit. Last year was a victory for Team Midwest Mountaineering. Not because we were the fastest or best prepared, but because we were persistent. We kept going when the front runners bailed.
More to come when we return. Wish us luck. Post a comment!
Clark set a course and navigated us through a POCAR training session on 20 December. Here are his thoughts:
I’ve seen the pictures of the torn up feet from last years POCAR. I am determined not to let my feet look the same. The team is completing long group runs once a week. The main purpose is to make sure everyone has a good level of fitness, but I am hoping it toughens my feet up. We started running for two hours and are now up to two hours forty minutes. I am hoping we are up to three thirty before we take off.
Yesterdays run was great. The weather was nice in a Minnesota sort of way. Couple of fresh inches of snow, temp in the mid twenty’s, overcast. What more can you ask for? Pete says the terrain at POCAR is pretty hilly, so I tried to set up a run that would hit as many hills in Bloomington as I could. The two inches of Mother Nature’s natural slurpy on the ground made the old ankles work hard. There were some great views of Bush Lake and the downtown Skyline on the route. The feet started to get some hot spots on the arches toward the end of the run. I think the sloppy uneven snow was the culprit. I am sure there will be plenty of that at the race.
The 13th Annual Possum Trot was held at Knob Noster State Park in Missouri on 13 December, 2009. I (Pete) went down with 11 other MNOC members to compete in this goat style orienteering event. It was my first event of this type, which reminded me of Adventure Racing with the mass start, following, and sadistic course setters. The course measured 15.1 km and included 600 meters of climb. Contestants were allowed to skip any two controls on the course, which adds a little strategy in to the mix.
The weather was overcast, but relatively warm in the low 40's. This was great for running, but the warmth melted the layer of snow, making for a muddy, slick track. The 9AM start featured contestants from Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado and England. 36 in total including several Possum Trot champs, medalists from the US Champs, and one World Champion.
We got the maps two minutes early and I discussed potential skips with fellow MNOC racers. Good potential double skips from 7-10 and 15-18. Nice one control skips at 5,7,9,17,19,21,25 and 29. My strategy was to be a follower for as long as I could hold on to the lead bunch. The race started and we flew. Andrei, followed by 4-5 MNOC racers all in blue and white. By the 4th control, after 5 climbs, we were pretty strung out, at least I was... I navigated to the 5th control by watching the leaders leave the reentrant. I knew I had to get back on the map. I followed a racer toward the 6th control, but didn't understand his route choice and set out on my own. Six and seven came easy and I decided to skip early and go straight to 10. I could then grab the leaders as they came through a few controls down the road. Well the leaders skipped also and I boomed the control. (wasted a lot of time). The cue sheet listed a man made object, which I anticipated being somewhat larger than a 3/4 buried, rusty 55 gallon drum. Anyway, I eventually found the control and went on to 11, bobbling it slightly and found Andrei and Ian coming up. I tagged along on their run, contributing on a few control finds, but mostly observing Andrei's 20+ years of experience. Andrei started pulling away after control 15 and was a ghost by the time we left 17. I followed Ian and Jason until 18, where they decided to take their first skip.
I navigated the rest of the race solo. Moving steadily, but not as quickly as I was during the collaborative effort. A few lessons I am tucking away for future events: not all slow go woods is slow go, all clear woods aren't clear, paths aren't always the easiest route (especially those churned up by horses that have since frozen). I was still feeling pretty good coming into the last 5 controls, tired, but not tanked. Coming in to 27 I started noticing more competitors and set my mind on catching them. I didn't know if they were on the long or short course, but I could tell they were hunting the same controls. I bobbled/boomed 28 and 29, which also caused positional changes among the top 6 finishers, and found my self in a sprint between myself and two others whose combined age is probably 10 years below mine. Route choice helped me pass one and longer legs got me past the other.
I ended up 12th in a competitive field. All those ahead of me have done multiple events of this type, except for one fleet footed female who proved to be a very adept follower. I am looking forward to travelling down towards Kansas City again.
It has been a long time since we posted an event result on our blog. The season got underway and team priorities changed as time passed. The team had a great deal of success and fun in 2009 and we are looking forward to 2010 to build on our efforts.
2009 started with a big win at POCAR in southern Indiana. This January event hosted by the Purdue Outing Club is a three discipline event involving orienteering, trekking, and mystery events. We kept up a steady effort and crossed the finish line in a fraction over 20 hours. The final team came in as we were headed home, 27 hours after our finish. We completed 40+ miles of hilly trekking and tricky nav. Great job Paula W., William and Pete. Interesting note: The temperature when we left Minneapolis was 24 below zero. The temperature at the start of the race was about 20 degrees. Balmy!
In February, Clark was in an automobile accident that sidelined him for all but one race of the 2009 season. He is truly chomping at the bit for the 2010 season.
Spring saw Pete and David team up for some local fun runs. They finished first in both the AR Tuneup hosted by MNOC, and the annual bike-hike-BBQ put on by local enthusiasts. While these are fun events, the competition is stiff, a fun way to work out the kinks of a long winter.
The first race of the year was the Wild 12 Hour in Redwing, MN. Paula W., William and Pete competed with super sub Alan Eastland. A strong start on an 8 mile trek put us in third place as we entered the water.
Some minor difficulties on our poorest discipline dropped us one place to 4th. Leaving the water, we completed a word jumble to regain third place, only to lose it again at the transition to the bike. Still among the lead groups, we chose to complete the rappel section before setting out on the long leg of the bike section. A navigation error by one of the lead teams put us back in third place, where we stayed until the end. This race ended up a 7 hour sprint between the lead teams with only 35 minutes separating the top 4 finishers. We missed 2nd by three minutes.
The Wild 6 Hour took on a new format in 2009. A score-O format with random event order took the place of the traditional format. The event was held in William O'Brien State Park, just north of Stillwater, MN. Once again, TMMAR struggled to put together a full roster.
This event featured our first race with new team member Chris Mehus, and a last minute sub, Nicky. Chris is a proven performer, while Nicky was a willing participant, but had no idea what she signed up for. We chose to go bike, boat, followed by the O-section. The bike section was a convoluted score O on six overlapping maps with very small CP designations. We wasted a lot of time trying to figure the maps out and ended up skipping some easy points inadvertently. We finished strong, even though we had one minor mishap when Pete dumped Nicky on tow. Boating in MN this summer was not the best, with low water levels on most rivers, but we persevered and posted one of the better paddle times. Not bad for having one person with no boating experience. With only the trek section ahead of us, we set out on a blistering pace. A week of the flu, and the heat started catching up with Nicky and we had to stop for some personal maintenance. We did the best we could with teamwork and efficient navigation and came in just under the six hour bell. Again, 3rd place overall. Well done team.
The end of June saw Pete and Paula W. compete as a two person coed team for the first time. They chose to enter the Race for the Booty, in eastern Wisconsin near the Northern Kettle Moraine. 37 teams were lined up for the start at 0500 in the AM for this 14 hour event. The format for this event was similar to the Wild Summer Sprint, in that teams selected which leg they wanted to go on first when they signed in the day prior to the event. The choices were paddle, paddle, or bike/orienteer. Paula arrived early and secured one of the coveted bike leg slots. 5 minutes after the start, Paula and Pete found themselves the only ones left in the lodge, plotting their course and setting up a strategy. A 15 mile bike, found them caught up with several teams, and the only team at the first orienteering point. Most of the teams chose a different order for the first event, which puzzled us somewhat, because there were only two logical choices. We set out in to the mosquito infested woods on some really sketchy maps and ended up back at our bikes 5 minutes later, either the maps were really poor, or we weren't in the correct location. It was a combination of both. We readjusted and knocked out the first section and loaded up for the single track section. Some great single track riding, followed by two more orienteering sections, separated by road biking found us hunting for water and headed back to the transition point. No idea that we were the first to finish bike leg. We set out on the canoe, another sketchy map in hand, and played hike a boat down the river to collect two controls, turn around and hike a boat back. We checked in, got the final boat map and learned that an all male team was approx. 30 minutes in front of us, having completed one of the boat legs first. Alternating between paddling, hike a boat and cramping, we collected the last two points and were faced with a climbing challenge to complete the race. We finished 30 minutes out of first place. One of two teams to complete the entire course. The only coed finishers. In the end, only 15 of 37 teams were categorized as finishers, all the others.... DNF. I am sure this is due to the sketchy maps in very difficult terrain. Interesting note: This race is run by two people with no support. A big endeavor. They are in to in enough to get their Pirate Logo tattooed on to their arms....
In July, the team competed in the Minnesota Orienteering Club's annual Adventure O. This 7-8 hour event places a premium on navigation. A misplaced plot, and a stutter in the first O section through a damper on a great event. However, racing with Clark, and new teammate Paula Meyers, made the well designed event enjoyable. The order of the day was Orienteer, Creek Trek, bike on trails, kayak, bike on trails, single track, and bike on trails to the finish. The team ran well, but had some organizational troubles since we hadn't raced together in a long time, or ever for that matter. Highlights include a good paddle section, one of the best the team has completed, and some fun single track cycling. This event had some great variety in terrain that was remarkably unique compared to most MN events.
August saw the Midwest Mountaineering Adventure Race Team head to the Northern Kettle Morraine in WI for the second time in one year. This time the event was the Sweaty Otter, put on by Fat Otter racing. Both Paula's, Chris, William, and Pete went down to compete as both a 2 person and a 3 person coed team. The team stayed at the Long Lake campground and endured a nice thunderstorm the night prior to the race. Not the best way to get a good nights sleep. A cold wet breakfast greeted us in the AM, but the team loaded up and met Paula W. at the transition area with clearing skies on the horizon. The sun came out 15 minutes prior to the start and what was cool and wet quickly became hot and muggy. The start of the race featured a 3 mile single track run, extended leMans start to a road ride. The initial ride consisted of a que sheet map (turn right leaving the parking lot, left at first intersection, etc.) to the top of a local ski hill, about a 7 mile ride. Arriving at the top of the ski hill, we were given the race maps and headed off to the next section, a road ride to a horse barn where we had to haul 10 hay bales per person from a trailer, 50 yards to a loft. Back on the bikes, we traveled a few miles to a local lake for a swim. This was a new event for some of the team and not one we were overly proficient with. All members survived. At this point we were firmly bedded in the middle of the pack, hovering around the top 30% mark. A return to the start for a quick refuel and a mountain bike repeat of a portion of the run start with some extra trail thrown in. After safely completing the single track, all five of us set out for the first large O section, consisting of 9 points. A few easy points, a few hard points and some good teamwork later and we exited the O section in second place. Next up was a good road bike session with two micro O sections in the middle, 2 controls each. Next up, a midnight start to a paddle. The paddle consisted of a series of bearings which bounced you off the shore until you reached the first control. Paula W. and Pete each plotted the azimuths and came up with the same location for the first control. 45 minutes later we were off what turned out to be a frustrating water section for most teams. Back on the bikes, we found ourselves tied for first after one of the leading teams members had to drop. The coed male team we were chasing seemed to always be a few minutes ahead of us. A medium ride put us back on foot for another 9 point O section. This one was wet, having to wade bogs several times. Some tricky nav that had controls hidden so well you would have to almost run in to them (I have never been on a night O section that had zero reflective tape) Another good section of team work had us catch the leaders, and leave about two minutes after they did (faster runners). Back on the bike and we are off to the start area for the last section, another large Orienteering section. This section combined both distance and difficulty to make sure we got our monies worth. A slight falter on the 2nd to last point had us backtrack, a loss of about 10 minutes. The leading team was nowhere to be found, so our assumption was they had completed. Coming around the bend to the last point, we find them punching the last control. They take off at a sprint while we punch and follow. That didn't last as we saw we could not stay in a group and catch them. All were smiling as we came in to the finish, 2nd and third overall, 1st place in both coed 2 and 3 person, and 2 of only 4 teams to complete the course.
Sweatty Otter turned out to be our last event of the year. The economy caught up to our priorities outside of racing. We abandoned the idea of a visit to nationals, cleaned up our gear and enjoyed the fall, training and sweating together, dreaming of next year.
Will, Chris, Clark, Paula M., and Pete met for a 10 mile run at Highland Park. Cool weather and new snow on the ski slopes made for an interesting run. Pretty soon we will be dodging XC skiers.
Not an official race but it is structure and operated like an AR Sprint. This week Pete and I again as two person. The race was up north of Elk River in the Sand Dunes State Park. This race is structured to be 4-6 hours with Orienteering, Running, Cycling and some Kayaking.
We started at 9:15 and based on experience we jumped out in a quick lead to make sure we stayed ahead of the CP1 pile up. After grabbing the next five CP’s we transitioned to our bikes for about 12 miles and a few CP’s. Back on foot for some more orienteering using nothing but a satellite map of the area. Back on the bike for another CP before we transitioned to the Kayaks. This leg was on a marshy lake. Lots of weeds and cattails. Three CP’s hidden the weeds and back to the bikes for a few more miles and the last three CP’s. These ended up being in an area where “hiking the bike” was necessary as the sand was so loose and tons of downed debris.
Pete did a great job at navigating this race as we spent less than five total minutes looking for all 19 CP’s. For the most part, they were right where we expected. Even though we finished in three hours even this race kicked my ass. Not sure if it is the lack of sleep, poor nutrition, out of shape or just……a tough sprint.
Team,
David and Pete took an unofficial first place at the Bike Hike BBQ this past weekend. We beat Justin and Molly from WEDALI who were riding with Tom Puzak from 24-7 by 1-2 minutes. Tom rode the whole event with a broken finger....one hand on the handlebars. We were neck and neck, then Molly had a flat. We got to the orienteering section, and searched for CP10 for about 10 minutes. It wasn't out yet (Dan Williams strikes again.....).
David showed me how to properly descend a cliff.... at least how to properly descend the first 10%. The rest was an excerpt from Will'e Coyote. Complete with the poof at the bottom of the cliff. I made it down 25% before I did my imitation.
No bragging rights for this event. It was fun and a great day.
Okay....I lied below. I have no idea if TMMAR is 'still going strong' but I am going to assume they are still going strong. I know they made it through CP 8. Here is a recap of the race (still going on) as provided by USARA:
Course Description Friday 11:07 PM
As requested by a race follower in Philadelphia (some may know him as Dr. Evil), here is a brief overview of the race:
The teams began with a quick two-mile prologue before setting off on the water for a 15-mile paddle leg. All teams were in canoes; third seats were expressly prohibited (including beach balls).
Following the paddle, teams trekked from checkpoint 3 to 4, where they picked up their bikes and headed on an extended mountain bike leg, grabbing checkpoints 5, 6, and 7 before reaching checkpoint 8 and the first major orienteering section.
Racers dropped their bikes at checkpoint 8 and embarked on a seven-mile foot loop, where they could get checkpoints 9, 10, 11, and 12 in any order. Checkpoint 13 was located mere feet from checkpoint 8, and after they punched in there, they picked up their bikes again for a short ride to checkpoint 14.
Teams followed another orienteering loop, estimated at 8 miles, to checkpoints 15-17 (again, in whatever order they chose). At 18, they picked up their bikes and headed off on their final leg, a bike-o section whereby teams could get 19-23 in any order, then 24, then 25-28 in any order, and finally 29 before coasting into the finish at the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Center on Main Street in downtown Blue Ridge.
Because the race was a ROGAINE format, several checkpoints were optional and a number of teams elected to short-course themselves after checkpoint 13, biking directly back to the finish. It's unclear to us at race central whether this will result in a DNF or an official finish with fewer points.
Posts
