Training Log Archive: getawaystix

joined some buddies for their weekly game of pick-up. Hands-of-stone in full effect.

C • any truth to rumours 10

Section I - Abu D

With high winds & the cancellation of the originally planned 121k kayak the day before the organizers created an 11k circuit in a safe harbour, which we'd loop around 3 times. I was pleasantly surprised with the shorter leg, since after fighting a head cold for the first 4 days of the race it sunk-in and took a firm grip on my system during the rest day. I was not feeling good this last morning and had no idea how my body would react to the effort. Adding more stress to the situation, we were ranked in 8th, holding onto a slim 5 minute lead over the 9th placed Polish team.

After popping a few tylenol sinus off we go & things don't feel too bad, although I'm much less conscience of the spit & snot I'm spewing all over myself, fun. I count the kayaks ahead pulling into the 1st CP, and am pleased only 7 teams are ahead, and none of them are Polish. Approx. 1/2 way to the CP I'd seen Jack & Jenny not far behind, so it became immediately stressfull when after a minute, and roughly 10 more teams had passed before they arrived at the first CP, wtf? Turns out they'd received a siv of a boat with a big leak. We dump it, put them on tow and returned to damage control. At the next CP we see the Polish team a minute, or so ahead, but we're forced to stop & dump the leaky kayak at each CP, losing more time. Luckily, since we were doing loops, we'd asked one of the CP staff to radio ahead and see if we could get a replacement kayak, which they were able to do. Not sure what we would have done if we'd started the originally planned 121k section. Anyway, we swap kayaks after the first loop, and in the process, Bill & I decide to dump some water out of our kayak as well. Damn, the back-end feels real heavy, say it ain't so......yep, our rear-bulk-head is full of water. There's no time to collect another replacement, so we press on. We're moving well now and at the next CP there's an out & back stretch where we note the Polish team is now ~5min. ahead. We paddle like dogs for the rest of the race, completely stressed, but with 2 CP's remaining on the final lap we've managed to close the gap on the Poles to a minute and can relax somewhat thinking we'll maintain 8th. Not exactly a fun day of racing, and I feel so sick at the finish line I don't even feel like celebrating, my poor team-mates....

All in all I'd rank this event in my top 5 of all-time multi-day races. The unique environment experienced and the rock-star treatment we received before & after each leg were like nothing I've seen before.

C • Awesome Race 2

Section G - Abu D

Wild mass start in the night on sketchy paved roads. We managed to ride in the lead pack for the first 40k, or so, until the road got hilly, more broken and sand-covered. Again, there were a few crashes as the paved road would suddenly break-up & become rutted & sandy. Staying near the front was paramount. Amazing how the thought of riding on the roughest, bumbiest gravel road I've ever experienced was far more appealing than the sand-covered sections, perspective I guess. Everyone rode well & we had a decent leg.

Section H - Abu D

One of the most unique environments I've ever experienced. Worth the trip for this leg alone, it was other-worldly! We started from a small oasis resort and before long felt like we were on another planet. The heat was intense and we had a few discussions about the appropriate pace considering the distance, time of day etc.. We had to take 8 hours of mandatory rest along the route at 2, of 5 possible check-points. Into the first rest-allowed CP (3) and there were teams scattered everywhere, it was obvious the heat was taking it's toll. We opted to stop for 2.5hrs letting the hottest part of the day pass. Stopping during the day is good for getting out of, and recovering from the heat, but not so good for navigation & route-finding. I'd have preffered to keep moving. The navigation wasn't terribly difficult, since the maps were quite accurate (aerial photographs) and you could easily decipher between the large salt-flats and the sand dunes, however, it wasn't easy, or obvious how to figure out which sand dunes were big, or how to get through the dunes in the best way. Traveling by day was much easier, since you could pick your route from far away by sight, however, in the dark you were either following a bearing, or other teams foot-prints, which you hoped had crossed the area in day-light & picked a decent line.

Things were going reasonably well for us until roughly 4k shy of CP4 (just as darkness set in), when Bill lost the contents of his stomach. We did our best to get to CP4 without losing too much time, but this forced us to re-jig our rest strategy, since we would now need to stop here for the remainder of our required 8-hours of rest to let Bill recover, but it would leave over half of the trek reamining. Impressively, Bill recovered well after our 5.5-hour stop and we were able to resume a solid pace. Once onto CP5, with the sun rising, we realized it was going to be tight for us to make CP6 before 10am, which was the cut-off for the last bonus CP (there were bonus CP's scattered thoughout the trek). We upped the pace for 3 hours and travelled with the Danes and Poles for a bit, but after reaching CP5+ realized we most likley wouldn't reach 6 before the cut-off. At this point, the sun was back out in full force and was again taking it's toll. We reached CP6 ~20 min. past the cut-off and found we were the 2nd team to have missed it, but all things considered weren't very upset, since we'd arrived in 9th place. Preparing to leave CP6 and Bill lost his stomach again, in the process he came up with the best quote of the race "don't worry, I'll just be a minute", to the amusement of many journalists & CP staff who couldn't believe the resilience on display. Sure enough, before long we were slogging up dunes & crossing more salt-flats. This was easily the toughest part of the race as the heat kept cranking & there was no where to hide. I was very worried for Bill's condition, since I was feeling pretty crap myself, but he pulled it off & we managed a respectable 9th on the leg.