Saturday May 5 |
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| Event: Fronteir Adventure Racing - Adventure Challenge
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 | Adventure Racing 6:40:00 [4] | |
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| Formerly known as the "adidas Divas", the Salomon Bobkittens were back to take on the first Adventure Challenge course of the year. Slice, T-dot, and I teamed up for a new configuration of racers and decided that we would start the race (a fast paved road ride) by trying to hold on to the back of the front pack. We would draft and if a team broke early with too much speed we would let them go and stick with the next pack. We had made a mistake in another race of trying to push too hard at the start and spent too much time trying to recover.
The pace was great off the start and it seemed like no one team was going to break and work on their own off of the start line so we just stuck with the pack. The ride was fun and we were up with the top 5 teams into CP1. We made the decision to backtrack to the road to avoid having to make decisions on trails that weren't on the map and it appeared to pay off as we jumped ahead of a couple of teams. We got to the first TA with Beowolf, Kinetic Konnection, and SRS and we all headed out on the trek at around the same time. By the time we made our way through the bush to CP4 Beowolf had jumped ahead of us and we were in 3rd. As we crossed the river we saw SRS coming in behind us to the CP. Now we had to find a snowmobile trail or try bushwhacking. We found a trail a little sooner than I would have thought but it was heading the right direction so Slice hooked T-dot up on tow as she was having a little GI distress and we moved well on the trail to the road and into TA 2. We saw Beowolf here just getting into their boat and after a quick TA we were in the boat as SRS came into the TA.
The paddle was okay (despite sitting in the middle) but this is where I think we have a disadvantage as an all-female team. SRS passed us on the portage as Slice and I had the boat on our shoulders and Benoit trotted by. It would be a great feat to catch them on the water so we just tried to maintain a steady pace. I jumped out of the boat at the optional rapid and ran the shore while the girls ran the rapid no problem. I wouldn't have been much help in the boat anyway as I was still woozy from being whacked in the head by Slice's paddle - thank goodness we had to wear helmets. Back in the boat I thought we were going to be really tight to make the 3 pm cutoff and I saw one potential area to cut off a loop on the river but by the time we got there it appeared that the river had changed and all of a sudden we were at the TA in a panic to get out on the advanced. Then we were told it had been extended by an hour. Phew!
Onto the advanced bike we hit some ATV trails and luckily didn't make any wrong turns.. the riding was a little slow in parts but we pushed on until I got a flat. We didn't know how far behind the next team was so speedy T-dot changed the tire, we pumped it and topped it with CO2 and then climbed back on our bikes. Once we hit the road we were cruising and really pushed the pace to the finish line.
Coming in fourth overall was great in such a strong field and once again we had a blast racing togther. We even saw a little kitten on the course and thought this was a good omen considering our new name.
Great weekend, great course, amazing weather..... |
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| C • Yay! 13 |
Thursday May 3 |
| Mountain Biking 1:45:00 [3] | |
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| On the way to the dentist again for some more extensive work, although not as extensive as it's going to get. Word of advice - don't avoid the dentist for 10 years! Rode some of the singletrack at Albion on the way there and back and it's in great shape. Another beautiful day.
I was also treated to a wonderful treat when I arrived at the office. A yummy, nutritious scone made by Crash. I think I may have found my new expedition AR food.
Bet you all wish your dental experiences were as great as mine!
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| C • Crash's Pumpkin Broccoli Walnut Biscuits 3 |
Wednesday May 2 |
| Mountain Biking 3:00:00 [2] | |
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| Cruised over to Caledon Hills Cycling to have my new rear wheel put on. Beautiful day and I have to say that my new wheels look SSAAAWWWEEET!
Still don't have my full voice back but I hope it gets there soon...
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| C • twas the week before race day . . . 3 |
Tuesday May 1 |
| Note | |
| (sick) |
| Thinking maybe I shouldn't do anything today so I can try to shake this thing before the race on the weekend! |
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| C • This thing... 6 |
Monday Apr 30 |
| Road Running 45:00 [3] | |
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| Out with Phatty despite feeling a little tired. Still don't have my voice back which makes work interesting to say the least. |
| Note | |
| (sick) |
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Sunday Apr 29 |
| Mountain Biking 4:15:00 [3] | |
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| Out with Phatty on the roads and rail trail around Caledon. Over to Inglewood to pick up some bike stuff and then onto the Forks of the Credit for some hill riding. The legs emptied out after about an hour and a half after yesterday's race so Phatty had to listen to me complain. Actually the fact that I had lost my voice completely meant that he missed most of the complaining. I didn't feel really sick just a little tired and irritated that there wasn't any noise coming out of my mouth.....beautiful day for a ride though.. |
| Note | |
| (sick) |
| No voice and lots of phlegm..mmmmmm |