Team GOALS ARA is packing up and heading to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for Infiterra Sports' MiX . 104 hours of expedition racing goodness and an outside chance at bringing home my favorite animal of all time gulo gulo "The Glutton". Aw, they are sooooo cute!
You can follow all the race action at Checkpoint Tracker and even drop us a message while we are racing through the Shout Box. This will be Keith's first multi-day experience. I may try to have some fun pretending that he is the only one hallucinating on day three and that perhaps he has a serious medical condition.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Insanity
Something deep inside me would like to invite this fellow to race in or perhaps at least serve as official starter for The Longest Day. Hey, he's navigating with a compass, wearing a pith helmet and being told by police to stay off the major highways. He's an adventure racer. He just doesn't know it....
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Competition Heats Up
As is typical with local races, we're starting to get the registration rush for The Longest Day now that it's about a month away. Two quick items on that:
We do have a limited set of boats available so I would suggest not delaying too long if you are on the fence. That's the price for getting to paddle quality sea kayaks instead of tapping the nearly inexhaustible supply of flat bottomed/warped canoes. This race filled last year and we even went a little beyond when a couple late registrants brought their own (similar) watercraft. If you own a surf-ski and know how to use it don't think for a minute you're going to sneak it in by waiting for the race to fill. Brutally hard but fair competition is what I'm about. Everybody has to swim through the magma pool. ;)
We're getting a good spectrum of competitors. Youngsters with .edu e-mail extension representing the college crowd, Old friends, New faces from far away places and mixed throughout those categories some of the best navigators and racers in the US.
I'll be performing some more fieldwork soon. One question I may ask before the race:
Do you want me to be nice and give full disclosure on some things or would you prefer I stayed mum and let you figure things out for yourself in the field? (No there is not unexploded ordinance in the woods.) Make a comment below if you already have an opinion.
We do have a limited set of boats available so I would suggest not delaying too long if you are on the fence. That's the price for getting to paddle quality sea kayaks instead of tapping the nearly inexhaustible supply of flat bottomed/warped canoes. This race filled last year and we even went a little beyond when a couple late registrants brought their own (similar) watercraft. If you own a surf-ski and know how to use it don't think for a minute you're going to sneak it in by waiting for the race to fill. Brutally hard but fair competition is what I'm about. Everybody has to swim through the magma pool. ;)
We're getting a good spectrum of competitors. Youngsters with .edu e-mail extension representing the college crowd, Old friends, New faces from far away places and mixed throughout those categories some of the best navigators and racers in the US.
I'll be performing some more fieldwork soon. One question I may ask before the race:
Do you want me to be nice and give full disclosure on some things or would you prefer I stayed mum and let you figure things out for yourself in the field? (No there is not unexploded ordinance in the woods.) Make a comment below if you already have an opinion.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Hudson River Paddle Leg
The Longest Day 2007 will once again feature a paddle leg on the Hudson River. If you raced in 2006, then you probably know that the Hudson is no joke. It's a large body of water complete with tidal forces and huge hills on either side that function nicely as a funnel for any strong winds. In 2005 we had beautiful placid waters, so, you never know what you're going to get.
However, it doesn't do much good to plan for the best. If you haven't paddled much more than a pool toy on small ponds and lakes this Spring then I would urge you to get out to Cold Spring and spend a little time in the sea kayaks that Hudson Valley Outfitters will be provisioning for the race. They are available on a rental basis and they have expert instruction available. These boats are a joy to paddle once you get them moving, but a little training with the initial stability could go a long way. You know, that muscle memory stuff.
However, it doesn't do much good to plan for the best. If you haven't paddled much more than a pool toy on small ponds and lakes this Spring then I would urge you to get out to Cold Spring and spend a little time in the sea kayaks that Hudson Valley Outfitters will be provisioning for the race. They are available on a rental basis and they have expert instruction available. These boats are a joy to paddle once you get them moving, but a little training with the initial stability could go a long way. You know, that muscle memory stuff.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Savage Race Report
For as much as I claim to dislike sprint races, they seem to be going fairly well the last couple years. And for as much as I claim to like the expedition races, well, let's not get into that. Michigan Expedition (MiX) is just a few weeks away and as long as we don't hear anything about horses I'm hoping for something a bit better in those results.
GOALS ARA's annual spring event moved to Marsh Creek State Park this year. We knew the maps would probably be fairly bad. Cradle of Liberty had a section in the park in 2006 and Bruce had an old copy of the trail map. No contour lines, just a bunch of color coded trail tracings on a rough depiction of the land surfaces. Since Bruce had been there before he picked up the navigation for the day and I was happy to just concentrate on my breathing so I could keep up. Luckily for me the recovery week coming off Endorphin Fix had been a little rough on Bruce and Kristen. They were hacking and coughing and a little beaten up with turned ankles and the sort. We had good pace all day and unlike 2006's Savage (where I suffered mightily) I managed to hang in all day and even set pace for a bit on the run. Nice not to feel like the anchor at a sprint for a change.
The start was total mayhem but good fun. Bill tends to have a "field breaker" at the start of his sprint races where one person from each team rushes off to secure a passport for the team while the other memebers wait at the start. This version was more aptly described as a cross between a Salmon Spawn and one of those sad Christmas shopping videos where 100 peopel nearly kill each other at the opening of a store to secure one of the three copies of that year's "hot" toy. Captains started running down hill about 200 meters away from the edge of Marsh Creek Lake, charged into the cold water to about a chest-deep height where the Park Rangers distributed passports from their boat to the throng. Bruce was our fish/shopper and managed to get in and out fairly quickly. Kristen and I pointed and laughed with the other 150 or so dry teammates at the edge of the lake.
Did I mention there were 120 teams of 2 or 3 people at this race? That's a huge number to send off to a mountain bike or canoe section immeditely following a 1 minute field break. Fortunately, Bill randomizes the order in which sections are completed and further, allows teams to clear points in any order within a section. This keeps it interesting as at any given time you may or may not be on the same section or chasing the same CP as the teams that you are "racing". Our order for the day was: Mountain Bike, Canoe, Special Tests and Trail Run.
Teams were given the race maps during check-in and while we waited for the start we had designed a loop for the Mountain Bike that was "backwards" heading to CPs 5 though 9 first on the far side of the damn and then coming back for CPs 1 through 4 in the woods adjacent to the TA. Drawing bike first and taking off on this backwards loop separated us from the field very quickly. Some other teams came out that way too but our speed and crazy loop design helped us avoid any bottlenecks and had us exiting the twisty, narrow trails of that section without encountering much opposing traffic either. Coming back to the other side we ran into our biggest difficulty of the day: I snapped the chain on my bike by failing to downshift just before turning up onto a steep pitch. We were fairly efficient and had the chain back together within 2-3 minutes. Because it was a fast field repair I babied it the rest of the way (jumping off and running the bike on anything steep) but it held fine. 200 meters up the trail the race photographer captured me and Kristen basking in post-repair glory. Or grunting out the last meters of one of the day's harder climbs.
We checked in at the end of the bike and got the news from the CP folks that no other "bike first" teams had returned yet. Nice to hear that it was a good split, chain break and all. But it didn't mean much. We rushed off to paddle (nearly leaving the map behind) but caught ourselves before pushing off. The wind was strong on the open surface of the lake but we didn't really get the brunt of it until the end of our clockwise loop. About halfway through the leg we caught up to the Tryad Personal Training crew who informed us that they had already completed the Run and the Special Tests. Tryad had slugged it out with us at the 2006 Edge Sprint Race (eventually winning after we gave them a little help by picking up a time penalty) and we knew they would be tough again today. We finished the canoe only moments ahead of them and set about the Special Tests.
The tests were: a wall climb on a trailer-mounted tower, a buddy carry where each team member had to be carried about 50 meters or so and finally, the dreaded "float the ping-pong ball to the top of the leaky pvc pipe" test that has become a GOALS ARA standard. (Editor's note: There is a really unfortunate photo of Bruce and Kristen struggling to carry my fat load the length of the buddy course, don't expect to see that posted anywhere on this page there have been enough of those sorts of photos of me in the past.) The only expression of gratitude by my teammates at the end was that it was me and not our pal Jeremy (and his 10-15 additional pounds) who had shown up to race that day.
We ran out of the transition, climbing the same hill that had snapped my bike's chain earlier in the day. We completed a clockwise circuit of Cps 2-8(?) on the foot section. As we headed in we came across Chris Bartges and his teammate who were cruising downhill on foot. Chris raced MegaDose with us in 2006 and was clearly moving well. We swapped a quick "Last Leg?" and matched responses: "Yes!" There was one point (CP1) set apart from the opposite side of the TA, as we passed through we confirmed for staff that we were on the hunt for the last target. Bruce kicked the pace up until we reached a flooded section of trail along the perimeter of the recently rain-filled lake. There were some teams picking their way through some thorn bushes to avoid the water. Bruce didn't hesitate though and charged into the waist deep water. CP1 was just ahead, we punched it and turned back for the TA. One more time through the flooded trail section and back across the parking lot to the finish line.
The verdict: 3hours 11minutes of work and 1st Place overall! :)
Chris Bartges and team came in across the line as we were cracking open the post-race cold drinks. A few minutes later Too Many Kids came in followed a minute later by the gang from Tryad Personal Training. A good day out, some awesome competition and smiles all around I can honestly say that I look forward to the next sprint on our schedule: GOALS ARA's The Edge in October 2007.
GOALS ARA's annual spring event moved to Marsh Creek State Park this year. We knew the maps would probably be fairly bad. Cradle of Liberty had a section in the park in 2006 and Bruce had an old copy of the trail map. No contour lines, just a bunch of color coded trail tracings on a rough depiction of the land surfaces. Since Bruce had been there before he picked up the navigation for the day and I was happy to just concentrate on my breathing so I could keep up. Luckily for me the recovery week coming off Endorphin Fix had been a little rough on Bruce and Kristen. They were hacking and coughing and a little beaten up with turned ankles and the sort. We had good pace all day and unlike 2006's Savage (where I suffered mightily) I managed to hang in all day and even set pace for a bit on the run. Nice not to feel like the anchor at a sprint for a change.
The start was total mayhem but good fun. Bill tends to have a "field breaker" at the start of his sprint races where one person from each team rushes off to secure a passport for the team while the other memebers wait at the start. This version was more aptly described as a cross between a Salmon Spawn and one of those sad Christmas shopping videos where 100 peopel nearly kill each other at the opening of a store to secure one of the three copies of that year's "hot" toy. Captains started running down hill about 200 meters away from the edge of Marsh Creek Lake, charged into the cold water to about a chest-deep height where the Park Rangers distributed passports from their boat to the throng. Bruce was our fish/shopper and managed to get in and out fairly quickly. Kristen and I pointed and laughed with the other 150 or so dry teammates at the edge of the lake.
Did I mention there were 120 teams of 2 or 3 people at this race? That's a huge number to send off to a mountain bike or canoe section immeditely following a 1 minute field break. Fortunately, Bill randomizes the order in which sections are completed and further, allows teams to clear points in any order within a section. This keeps it interesting as at any given time you may or may not be on the same section or chasing the same CP as the teams that you are "racing". Our order for the day was: Mountain Bike, Canoe, Special Tests and Trail Run.
Teams were given the race maps during check-in and while we waited for the start we had designed a loop for the Mountain Bike that was "backwards" heading to CPs 5 though 9 first on the far side of the damn and then coming back for CPs 1 through 4 in the woods adjacent to the TA. Drawing bike first and taking off on this backwards loop separated us from the field very quickly. Some other teams came out that way too but our speed and crazy loop design helped us avoid any bottlenecks and had us exiting the twisty, narrow trails of that section without encountering much opposing traffic either. Coming back to the other side we ran into our biggest difficulty of the day: I snapped the chain on my bike by failing to downshift just before turning up onto a steep pitch. We were fairly efficient and had the chain back together within 2-3 minutes. Because it was a fast field repair I babied it the rest of the way (jumping off and running the bike on anything steep) but it held fine. 200 meters up the trail the race photographer captured me and Kristen basking in post-repair glory. Or grunting out the last meters of one of the day's harder climbs.
We checked in at the end of the bike and got the news from the CP folks that no other "bike first" teams had returned yet. Nice to hear that it was a good split, chain break and all. But it didn't mean much. We rushed off to paddle (nearly leaving the map behind) but caught ourselves before pushing off. The wind was strong on the open surface of the lake but we didn't really get the brunt of it until the end of our clockwise loop. About halfway through the leg we caught up to the Tryad Personal Training crew who informed us that they had already completed the Run and the Special Tests. Tryad had slugged it out with us at the 2006 Edge Sprint Race (eventually winning after we gave them a little help by picking up a time penalty) and we knew they would be tough again today. We finished the canoe only moments ahead of them and set about the Special Tests.
The tests were: a wall climb on a trailer-mounted tower, a buddy carry where each team member had to be carried about 50 meters or so and finally, the dreaded "float the ping-pong ball to the top of the leaky pvc pipe" test that has become a GOALS ARA standard. (Editor's note: There is a really unfortunate photo of Bruce and Kristen struggling to carry my fat load the length of the buddy course, don't expect to see that posted anywhere on this page there have been enough of those sorts of photos of me in the past.) The only expression of gratitude by my teammates at the end was that it was me and not our pal Jeremy (and his 10-15 additional pounds) who had shown up to race that day.
We ran out of the transition, climbing the same hill that had snapped my bike's chain earlier in the day. We completed a clockwise circuit of Cps 2-8(?) on the foot section. As we headed in we came across Chris Bartges and his teammate who were cruising downhill on foot. Chris raced MegaDose with us in 2006 and was clearly moving well. We swapped a quick "Last Leg?" and matched responses: "Yes!" There was one point (CP1) set apart from the opposite side of the TA, as we passed through we confirmed for staff that we were on the hunt for the last target. Bruce kicked the pace up until we reached a flooded section of trail along the perimeter of the recently rain-filled lake. There were some teams picking their way through some thorn bushes to avoid the water. Bruce didn't hesitate though and charged into the waist deep water. CP1 was just ahead, we punched it and turned back for the TA. One more time through the flooded trail section and back across the parking lot to the finish line.
The verdict: 3hours 11minutes of work and 1st Place overall! :)
Chris Bartges and team came in across the line as we were cracking open the post-race cold drinks. A few minutes later Too Many Kids came in followed a minute later by the gang from Tryad Personal Training. A good day out, some awesome competition and smiles all around I can honestly say that I look forward to the next sprint on our schedule: GOALS ARA's The Edge in October 2007.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Big Packs or Volunteers
I've settled on a course design for this year's race.
The good news: The finish line will be at the end of the Score-O section (if you've been with us either of the past two years you'll remember the anti-climatic downhill ride to the start location at the end of the day.) There will be none of that this year.
The bad news: You MAY have to carry pfds and paddles during one or more sections of the race as a result. I say "may" because if we have enough VOLUNTEERS we could hypothetically arrange some gear drops and/or transport gear back to the finish line.
We don't need help all day to pull off this sort of support. Maybe a little early in the morning and a little more around lunch time. So, as you are making preparations, if you can convince a friend, family member, injured teammate or two to come out and give us a small hand for a couple hours you may be able to save yourself marching or riding all over creation with a kayak paddle and pfd sticking up out of your pack.
PS - If anybody out there is reading this stuff, could you post a comment just to let me know? Thanks :)
The good news: The finish line will be at the end of the Score-O section (if you've been with us either of the past two years you'll remember the anti-climatic downhill ride to the start location at the end of the day.) There will be none of that this year.
The bad news: You MAY have to carry pfds and paddles during one or more sections of the race as a result. I say "may" because if we have enough VOLUNTEERS we could hypothetically arrange some gear drops and/or transport gear back to the finish line.
We don't need help all day to pull off this sort of support. Maybe a little early in the morning and a little more around lunch time. So, as you are making preparations, if you can convince a friend, family member, injured teammate or two to come out and give us a small hand for a couple hours you may be able to save yourself marching or riding all over creation with a kayak paddle and pfd sticking up out of your pack.
PS - If anybody out there is reading this stuff, could you post a comment just to let me know? Thanks :)
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